Sunday telegraph, sunday april 10, 2016

I’m homeless, but I don’t blame anybody – Chief Lari Williams }37

St Matthew-Daniel:

Queens College told us Osifala has been accused of sex abuse 5 times

SUNDAY Sunday, APRIL 10, 2016 Vol. 3 No. 781

}10&51

Sanctity of Truth

/newtelegraph

Fresh crises hit APC

Cold war between Tinubu, Buhari }3 New PDP leaders realign Senators close ranks to replace Saraki

Don’t create grazing reserve in S/E, Igbo leaders warn FG }4

…herdsmen can’t occupy Biafra territory - IPOB

N150

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

Doris Simeon

Why I don’t talk to Stella Damasus }36

NEWS

Presidency Warns Shekarau:

Stop insulting Nigerians’ intelligence

NEWS

}4

Dss arrests shekau’s deputy, mastermind of un building bombing

lAbuja polls: Three wounded, five arrested, 500 ballot papers missing }5&9

2

SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Contents | 10.04.16 BODY & SOUL

A legal gem Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa, a legal luminary and an accomplished academic, throws more light on legal issues concerning women rights and teenage marriage

}24

POLITICS

APC’s search for cohesion Despite the last meetings of the All Progressives Congress, there are seeming rumblings in the party that suggest that the peace therein is momentary

}15

BUSINESS

Comatose textile industry Efforts to revive the Nigeria textile industry can only succeed if cotton farming is revived and smuggling of China made textiles blocked

}39

FAITH

Herdsmen attacks As attacks by Fulani herdsmen spreads, Rev. Jeremiah Gado urges the Federal Government to make a move to stop the menace

}38

SPORT

Yobo's many feathers Apart from holding the record of the first Nigerian soccer star with 101 caps for the Super Eagles, there are other things Nigerians do not know about Joseph Yobo

}53

Magazine

Abandoned

The moment my family and friends knew I’ve contracted Tuberculosis, an AIDS-related disease they all abandoned me and started counting days for me to die

SUNDAY

Editorial

W

The curse called oil

ealth brings along with it some of the good things of life that is what distinguishes the rich from the poor. It becomes an absurdity to find a rich person begging for food to eat when he has all it takes to feed himself right inside his kitchen.

That is the story of Nigeria today, one of the richest oil producing nations in the globe, running helter skelter unable to manage the resource with which God has abundantly blessed it. Once again the fuel lines are back and in the midst of plenty our government has no solution to the crisis.

To be fair to the Muhammadu Buhari government, it did not put us in this mess. However, one of the reasons why compatriots believed in him as he campaigned for the Presidency last year was because his party, the All Progressives Alliance (APC), promised change. Expectations were high that a new regime would make Nigeria a better place to live in.

Buhari was a special attraction especially when there was talk of managing our mono economy which depends on oil. Voters were made to believe that the APC candidate had read so many books on the Black Gold to back his experience as the pioneer chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He was also minister of Petroleum.

Just as Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was preparing his handover notes, scarcity of petroleum products enveloped the nation. Politicians blamed it on the outgoing government. Jonathan was even said to be sabotaging the incoming government through his cronies who were in control of importation and distribution of fuel.

Less than six months into his Presidency, Buhari, who appointed himself Petroleum Minister, watched as his countrymen and women faced a harsh Yuletide. All pleas fell on deaf ears as commuters, transporters and traders went through difficulty at a time joy was the message.

The present situation is not only worrisome it is a huge shame. It has remained the same old story that Nigerians were told right from the days of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Dollars, market forces, sabotage. The govern-

ment will always blame every other sector but itself. The petroleum ministry is headed by the President and the Minister of State is the Chairman of the NNPC. If between these two they cannot find a solution, the import is that we are in deep trouble.

This country has four refineries yet we rush to other oil producing nations to import fuel. Nigeria produces oil and shamelessly continues to suffer the effects of the demon called market forces.

The same politicians that promised to fix everything troubling this country seem to be dozing off while the people cry out in anger and pain.

Presently there are plans to unbundle the NNPC as part of government’s determination to be seen as doing something. Reactions coming from oil workers indicate that we are in for a longer round of crisis as they claim the plan did not carry all stakeholders along.

What this means is that in the next couple of weeks there will be more hardship for everyone. It will take meetings upon meetings to reach an agreement and experience has shown that since government and labour are like Iran and Iraq, always at war and never apart, instead of progress there will be a lot of drama. While all these are going on, the economy will continue to suffer.

To show how our leaders have ruined this country through our oil wealth, a visit to countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will suffice. Many of those who failed to manage our oil now frequent the Middle East to squander our stolen wealth.

Young Nigerian women go to the UAE to prostitute, many of our well trained doctors and nurses are the best in Saudi Arabia and our engineers are overseeing crude oil business in Qatar.

A country so blessed cannot be so depleted in terms of manpower if we put our acts together.

We are convinced just like our so called friends across the globe that while others have used oil wealth to oil their economy, Nigeria has used it to impoverish Nigerians. With nothing to show for all the trillions accruable from oil over the years we dare say the discovery of oil instead of curing our economic ailment has become a curse.

}20&37 DAILY TELEGRAPH PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief

Funke Egbemode

Managing Editor, Business & Strategy n Yemi Ajayi

Managing Editor, Publication & Operations n Emeka Obasi

Managing Editor, South n Emeka Madunagu Managing Editor, North & Abuja n Laurence Ani

Editor n Ayodele Ojo Editor, Sunday n Juliet Bumah Editor, Saturday n Waheed Bakare Deputy Editor n Tunde Sulaiman

Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam Asst. Editor, News & Politics n Biyi Adegoroye

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed Sales/Circulation Manager n Oyebanji Abiodun Head, Arts & Creative n Ugochukwu Nnakwe Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

3

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

NEWS

Cracks in APC over Saraki, tussle for 2019 Biyi Adegoroye, Chukwu David and Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

T

he ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is now facing a serious political upheaval as a result of the on-going trial of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged falsification of assets declaration.

Another issue that is also causing division in the party is the hustle for control of power in 2019 by some elements in the party, coupled with perceived marginalisation of the members of the New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the APC. With the call by the Transition Monitoring Group and other organisations for the resignation of Saraki and moves to replace him, not a few politicians are said to be aligning with Senator David Mark as an option, especially as President Muhammadu Buhari has allegedly told APC leadership that he does not care about who emerges as Senate President.

Sunday Telegraph reports that the trial of the Senate boss has created cracks and divisions in the ranks of the APC both in the Senate and at the level of the leadership, thereby producing what can be described as pro and anti Saraki camps.

The pro Saraki group is made up of APC Senators and other members of the party, who are doggedly supporting Saraki in the face of his present political ordeal, occasioned by his occupation of the Senate Presidential seat, against the party’s decision.

The anti Saraki elements are the members of the party, within and outside the Senate, who are against him in tandem with the position of the APC’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is yet to forgive Saraki for working against the party’s arrangement in the election of the National Assembly leadership last year and want him out of the office by all means.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that members of the New PDP in APC, where Saraki belongs, out of frustration, have started aligning with the PDP to defeat the APC in the event that Saraki is compelled to vacate office through the impending judgment of the CCT. According to sources, the New PDP is of the view that allowing Saraki to go indicates the determination of the APC power

brokers to sacrifice him, not minding how much the decision would negatively affect the political future and fortunes of the party in the country.

New Telegraph’s inquiries further revealed that Saraki’s ordeal has compelled the various political entities that fused to form the APC, to begin to question the domineering posture of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in the power configuration of the present administration.

President Buhari contested the presidential election in 2011 on the platform of the CPC, which he failed, and told Nigerians that it would be his last attempt at aspiring to rule Nigeria; before his party teamed up with others to form the APC, which ultimately wrestled power from the PDP last year.

Sources close to the APC said that elements of the New PDP in APC were highly enraged that members of the defunct CPC in the new alliance, who are mainly the people at the centre of this administration, are on a tactical move to engulf and send them into political oblivion in the power equation in the country.

The New PDP is also angry, according to our sources, over what they considered as the continuous harassment, intimidation and humiliation of Senator Saraki, whom they described as one of the formidable forces that took power off the grip of the PDP in the last general elections.

According to Saraki loyalists, he was used to weaken the former ruling party by persuading many Senators and governors to pull out of the PDP in 2013 to join the now ruling APC. Former governors of Gombe, Zamfara and Nasarawa states, Senators Danjuma Goje, Ahmed Sani and Abdullahi Adamu, respectively, were amongst those that worked with Saraki to break away from the PDP in the Senate.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that the desperate attempt to use the CCT to humiliate Saraki out of office will definitely boomerang, as the APC might be on its way out of power soon as the ripple effects of such development will also negatively affect the fortunes of the party in future elections.

Former Governor of Kano State, Senator Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, and others who joined the APC from the PDP, are seen to be targets for political victimisation by the Buhari-

•Saraki’ll rather go down than to beg Tinubu - APC chieftain led government in their respective states Our correspondent, however, learnt that they were not folding their arms, as they were said to be realigning the PDP to fashion a way out and, perhaps, engineer the downfall of the APC in 2019.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the APC closed to Senator Saraki, yesterday, revealed that the Senate President would rather go down than kowtow the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Tinubu.

According to the political associate of Saraki, who preferred anonymity, the Senate President was the only APC chieftain who never revered Tinubu in APC and believes he has no reason to revere the APC leader.

The source stated that Tinubu’s grudge against Saraki was not that he (Saraki) went against his position on the Senate Presidency, but that he (Saraki) does not accord him the respect other APC chieftains’ accord to him.

According to the source, Saraki believes that he has the same political credentials if not more as Tinubu and therefore does not see any reason why he should defer to him.

The source pointed out: “Saraki was governor of Kwara State for eight years just the same way Tinubu was in Lagos and he is also a senator just the way Tinubu was. Saraki controls Kwara State politics just as Tinubu controls Lagos State”.

The source further explained that Tinubu believes that if Saraki was not checked and is allowed to have his way in the party, he (Saraki) might become the rallying point in the party ahead of 2019 elections But Tinubu’s camp may not be enjoying the support of President Buhari in all his political interest. One such political interest is the return of former Ogun State governor, Chief Segun Osoba, to APC and the alleged plan to hand over to him the headship of the party by Tinubu.

This new political permutation in Ogun State according some party members is not going well with the governor, Senator Ibukunle Amosun who enjoys the supports of Buhari.

President Buhari is said to be trying to build another political support in the South-West that would counter the activi-

ties and interest of Tinubu in the geo-political zone, a source at the APC National Secretariat stated.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President of the Senate, yesterday, claimed that it had uncovered plots by some politicians to sponsor anti-Saraki protests across the country.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President of the Senate, Yusuf Olaniyonu, the alleged protest marches and demonstrations was intended to give some hired people placards to disturb public peace.

Saraki’s office stated that sponsors of the proposed protest marches were seeking to forcefully mobilise and pollute public opinion against the embattled President of the Senate.

The statement reads: “As part of their plan, they are already distributing money and other materials to some faceless civil society organisations, market men and women associations and other shadowy groups with a view to instigate demonstrations in Lagos, Abuja and Ilorin starting from Monday, April 11.

“They believe that the on-going trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal pro-

vides them the opportunity to stampede Dr. Saraki out of office so that their defeated objective of getting their lackey into the office of Senate President will be realised. This is another desperate move by these spineless politicians to achieve through the back door what they failed to realise on the floor of the Senate.

“We are alerting members of the public to the antics of these desperate politicians which may result into breach of public peace, order and health.

Dr. Saraki is a peace-loving and law abiding politician.

“The trial at the CCT is just beginning and while the prosecution’s witness has started giving evidence, he is yet to be crossexamined by the defence team. The defence has also not opened its own case.

We urge members of the public to patiently wait for the conclusion of the case.

“Since the fundamental principle of our legal system is that an accused person is presumed innocent until he is found guilty, Dr. Saraki will not allow any distraction to take him away from his responsibility as President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly.”

Commissioner of Police in charge of elections, Mr. Folunso Adebanjo (right) at Area 8, Garki during the 2016 Federal Capital Territory Area Council polls in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO:NAN

Two cheat death in Lagos as fire guts 4 tankers Muritala Ayinla Lagos

T

here was tension yesterday along the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday when fire gutted four tankers, leaving a driver and his assistant severely burnt.

Although, as the time of filling this report, nobody could ascertain the cause of the inferno which threw the entire area into confusion, Sunday Telegraph learnt that the inferno might not have been unconnected with illegal bunkering activities in the park.

It was learnt that the en-

tire vicinity would have gone up in flames as a result of the presence of another truck laden with 33,000 litres of fuel was not hurriedly moved out of the park.

The State Director of Fire Service, Mr Rasaq Fadipe said that the agency was not privy to the cause of

the fire but added that the tankers had burnt before the arrival of the fire service men.

He added that the agency was able to salvage the content of the fourth tanker which was hurriedly driven out of the park to avoid also being caught in the inferno.

4

SUNDAY 10 APRIL, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NEWS

Don’t create grazing reserves in SouthEast, Igbo leaders warn FG T

Paul Ogbuokiri

he Federal Government and National Assembly will be unwittingly disturbing national peace, if they go ahead and make into law, the National Grazing Reserve Bill currently passing through a fast-tracked legislative process.

This is coming as prominent Igbo leaders, at the weekend, raised the alarm that there is a plot to use the National Grazing Commission, which the bill intends to create, for the purpose of seizing people’s lands in the South East geopolitical zone for use as grazing reserves and cattle ranches.

Igbo socio-cultural group, Igboekulie, said that the revelation is more annoying as the part of the mandate of the proposed National Grazing Reserve Commission (NGRC) is to compulsorily acquire people’s land in the South East and other places, and use same to set up grazing reserves though the region does not rear cattle.

President of the group, Mr. Ben Onuora, expressed shock over the bill, in a chat with Sunday Telegraph yesterday, wondering how it passed through such accelerated legislative hurdles to the second reading with the people whom it will effect most, not hearing about it.

Onuora, a prominent Lagos based lawyer, noted Anule Emmanuel Abuja

T

he Presidency has warned former Governor of Kano State Ibrahim Shakarau to stop instigating Nigerians against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President Garba Shehu yesterday rejected allegations by the former governor that the Buhari administration is insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.

Reacting to the allegation in Abuja, Mallam Shehu said the “audacity of Shekarau to preach about sensitivity is incredibly amazing, considering the large-scale stealing of public funds by the unseated PDP government at the expense of the welfare of the people.”

According to Shehu, the greatest insensitivity to

that compulsory acquisition of land under the Land Use Act must be for public purpose for it to be valid. “Therefore, acquiring land indirectly for the use of a few people to do their business would seem to fall short of that legal requirement which has been confirmed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” he said.

He further said that in Nigeria, the South East zone has the least geographical area. “Its land ownership is mostly family/individual. Perhaps, it has the highest person to land ratio in Nigeria. It, therefore, follows that unlike the core North, it does not possess the luxury of ‘free’ land for grazing,” the Igboekulie leader said.

A distraught Igbo leader with high stake in the government of Imo State said that it is amazing that this bill is rapidly crossing the processes of becoming law without most Nigerians knowing much about it even when it’s impact is likely to be far reaching.

Where are the Southern members of the National Assembly, especially those from the South East? This is the time for them to stand and be counted.

He called for massive public demonstrations of the IPOB to arouse public awareness and indignation. “If this bill sails through, Southern Cameroon should prepare to receive millions of Igbo refugees. The picture is so clear. The history of Fulani

•Herdsmen cannot occupy Biafra territory - IPOB systematic occupation of Nigeria is clear about this. First, it was religious reforms, now grazing reserves 1000km away from their native homes. Where in a multi-ethnic country do you set such a time bomb? May be they should give the Igbo swathes of territory in Sokoto, Katsina etc in exchange,” he said.

In its reaction to the issue yesterday, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), said it will defend the territory against annexation by the Hausa Fulani under the guise of pro-

viding grazing places for their cattle. It added that the proposed grazing reserve is one of the many strategies deployed by the Nigerian government to over-running Biafra.

Spokesperson of the pro-Biafra group, Emma Powerful, said the corrupt manner the bill passed through second reading without the federal lawmakers from the South East raising the alarm over it, clearly shows that they lack the capacity to represent the people at that level.

The bill which is titled, ‘An Act to Provide for the Establishment of the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment and Development) Commission for the Preservation and Control of National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes and Other Matters Connected Therewith’, was sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure in 2008 during the 6th National Assembly but it received hostile reception.

Among others, the bill states that if passed into law, the following lands

may be subject to the provisions of the Act to be constituted as National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes: (a) Lands at the disposal of the Federal Government of Nigeria. (b) Any land in respect of which it appears to the Commission that grazing in such land should be practiced. (c) Any land acquired by the Commission through purchase, assignment, gift or otherwise howsoever. 6. State Governments shall be given notice first before land acquisition and gazetting. 7.

L-R: Wife of the deceased, Mrs. Margaret Alamieyeseigha; former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson at the Valedictory State Executive Council Session in honour of the first civilian Governor of the State, Late Chief Diepreye Alamiyeseigha, at the newly unveiled Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa…yesterday

Presidency warns Shakarau ...says he is insulting Nigerians’ intelligence the welfare of the people is epic corruption for which, he said, “the PDP had a notorious and unrivaled record in our recent democratic history of bad governance.”

Shehu explained that the greed of PDP leaders “respects no boundaries of decency and rationality, so much that they could illegally steal any funds within their grip or reach, including monies meant for the security of Nigerians and the welfare of soldiers fighting terrorism in the North-East.”

He said Shekarau’s colleagues in the PDP government that he served have been coughing out mon-

ies that they illegally stole while in office.

According to the presidential aide, “bringing misery to your fellow countrymen and women on account of your greed and thievery is the worst example of insensitivity.”

He noted that the wellbeing of the citizens was at the heart of the President and for this reason, “the administration is seeking permanent solutions, not temporary ones to the county’s economic woes by first securing it, developing infrastructure and diversifying its economy.

“The several measures will bear fruition in a mat-

ter of time,” he said.

On the current fuel scarcity, the Presidential Media Aide said the Buhari administration has saved one trillion naira on account of removing subsidy which was fraudulently making some cabals richer at the expense of the welfare of the people who were being short-changed.

He explained that the Buhari administration has significantly reduced the rate of corruption and frustrated people with corrupt and fraudulent tendencies, adding that those that benefited from subsidy fraud are using their illegal gains to finance smear campaigns against

the Buhari administration on the social media and other forums.

Addressing the issue of insecurity, Malam Garba Shehu said the Boko Haram terrorist group has been so “thoroughly militarily weakened that they no longer have the capabilities and staying power to confront our troops, or occupy any part of Nigerian territory without being decisively expelled.”

He recalled that markets and bus stations that were closed three years ago in the Northeast are now being reopened, thanks to the decisive restoration of relative peace in the area

by “our now motivated and reinvigorated troops.”

“The Buhari administration is also proud to say that poor Nigerians that were once displaced by terrorist attacks are now returning to their liberated towns and villages, and this government won’t relent until it rids the country of the vestiges of terrorism”, Garba further stated.

He reminded Shekarau that the commitment of the Buhari administration to fighting corruption is firm and irrevocable, and that “every stolen kobo would be recovered and channeled into improving the welfare of Nigerians.”

5

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016

News

Onyekachi Eze Abuja

Amadi Nnamdi Abuja

F

ive young men in their early 30s were nabbed yesterday for impersonation and fraud in the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.

Luck ran out of the impersonators when an electoral officer on duty at the polling unit spotted out that the impersonators were carrying another person’s permanent voter’s card.

On spotting the illegality, the electoral officer quickly alerted the security agents attached to the polling unit and the impersonator as well as his accomplice was immediately transported to Nyanya Police station.

The incident momentarily rattled the relative peace hitherto enjoyed at the polling unit which witnessed voter apathy.

The polling unit which has 2,142 as the total number of voters on the register only recorded a total of 184 voters, out of which the All Progressives Congress (APC) garnered 170 votes of the valid votes cast.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled a total of 55 and nine votes, to place second and third respectively.

The declared councillorship result for Nyanya Ward 2 also saw APC sweep the highest number of total votes cast at the ward.

The presiding officer announced that APC scored

FCT council elections: Five arrested for impersonation, fraud ...as APC sweeps wards

106 votes, PDP 47 votes and APGA who came a distant third with 11 votes, leaving the other two minority parties ACD and PPA to share the remaining 3 votes.

The election at Nyanya Ward was conducted under a peaceful and secured atmosphere as a good number of combined security forces were on ground to ensure a smooth electoral process which started around 9: am in the morning and culminated at exactly 5:15 pm yesterday after the process was initially interrupted by a heavy rainfall Two persons were reportedly wounded in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT ) as a group of youths went on rampage, following the discovery that 500 ballot papers were missing in the polling unit where they were supposed to cast their ballot during the area council polls.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that trouble started when the youths noticed that there was insufficient ballot papers to go round the number of voters at the polling unit. An eye witness told one of our correspondents that the youths complained to the presiding officer of the Dabi polling unit who counted the ballot papers and discovered that instead

Low turnout at Ife Central election Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

T

he bye-election held in Ile-Ife to fill the vacant seat of Ife Central House of Assembly Constituency of Osun State was nearly marred by low turnout and electoral fraud yesterday as scores of suspected hoodlums were apprehended while attempting to snatch ballot boxes at Akodi Obalufe and other areas of the town.

The attempts by these political hoodlums to perpetrate electoral fraud were vehemently resisted by the voters who guarded their votes.

Sunday Telegraph investigations revealed that, the apprehended hoodlums are now in the custody of the security men who were fully on ground to ensure the exercise went on peacefully.

Investigation conducted round the constituency revealed that low turnout was recorded in every polling unit where voting took place.

Commenting on the exercise, a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Prince Sikiru Ayedun, said “only core party men and some interested people usually vote in bye- elections.”

He added. “The turnout was poor because of some people believed that the electoral system has been corrupted and people no longer believe that their votes count.”

Also, a former Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Sports and Special Needs, Biyi Odunlade, frowned at the low turnout recorded but commended “INEC for creating enabling environment for electorate to exercise their rights.”

However, the three contenders, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Prince Tilewa Sijuwade Peoples Democratic Party’s Chief Dipo Eluwole, and Accord Party’s Olusegun Ayodele Fanibe, commended INEC on steps taken to see that thing went on well.

of 3000 ballot papers, they had 2,500.

Meanwhile, the elections recorded low turnout of voters.

In most polling units within the territory visited, there were generally few numbers of voters present to exercise their franchise even though election materials and personnel of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) arrived polling units and voting points as early as between 7.30 and 8 am.

INEC ad hoc staff said they were not under pressure by voters unlike in previous elections.

The apathy was noticeable in highbrow areas of Asokoro, Maitama, Wise II and environs. A party agent, Wisdom Johnson, attributed this to disregard of the third tier of government by Nigerians, especially the rich men living in these areas.

At Dutse Alhaji primary school, an INEC ad hoc staff, Patrick disclosed that out of 1000 voters expected

to cast their votes at the polling unit, only 100 had voted at about 1am.

At Dutse Makaranta primary school, only 80 persons out of 479 voters exercised their franchise.

The story was the same in Nyanya, Kubwa, Lugbe, Karu and other satellite towns in the territory.

People’s indifference was blamed on the biting fuel scarcity in the country as well as poor management of the nation’s resources.

The situation was further worsened by heavy downpour in most parts of the territory, which prevented

eligible voters from performing their civic responsibilities.

The elections were however, devoid of violence except in Kwali Area Council where there was reported protest by some youths in Dabi polling unit over alleged missing of 500 ballot papers.

The violence, which led to injuries of some people allegedly ensued when the presiding officer discovered that, instead of 3, 000 ballot papers in the polling unit after accreditation and voting, he only counted 2, 500.

A victim of a tanker, which exploded and caught fire along the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road, Lagos on Saturday, receiving treatment in hospital (Inset): is the burnt tanker

How FG may fund budget shortfall – Adeosun

T

he Federal Government might use money set aside for funding joint venture projects with foreign and local oil firms to make up any shortfall in the 2016 budget if government revenue projections are not met, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said yesterday.

The West African nation has been trying to boost tax revenues and the non-oil income to fund a record $30 billion 2016 budget aimed at reviving Africa’s biggest economy hit by the slump in oil prices.

“The Plan B is around the cash calls,” Adeosun told Reuters and the Financial Times in an interview in Lagos when asked how the budget would be funded if revenue projections fell short.

Cash calls are the govern-

• Eyes selling Chinese Panda bonds ment’s financial obligations to joint venture projects between state oil firm NNPC and international and local oil companies.

“If the revenue doesn’t come in we have got N1 trillion in the budget for cash calls. We will not fund those cash calls from the budget,” the minister said.

“We will force those cash calls out into the modified carrier arrangement and we will release that money back into the federation account.

That’s where the fiscal buffer sits,” she said.

Modified Carry Agreements are loans provided by oil majors to NNPC for investing in oil exploration and production projects.

Nigeria’s oil and gas output has been relatively stagnant as new projects have been held up by delays in government funding for its share of joint ventures with foreign and local firms.

NNPC has been to trying to cut back debt owed to the oil firms, reducing it to $3 billion by December, down from $3.5-$4 billion, NNPC head Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said last month.

The 2016 budget, which anticipates a deficit of N2.2 trillion ($11 billion), would triple capital expenditure to invest in roads and power supply to diversify the economy away from oil, which accounts for 70 percent of national income.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government is also considering selling Chinese Panda bonds to help finance the 2016 budget.

The OPEC member is also looking to sell Eurobonds, apart from loans from multilateral agencies, Adeosun said.

“Initially we were looking simply at the Eurobond market but then we began to explore opportunities in the Renminbi market, so there is a possibility of issuing a Panda bond,” she said.

She said Nigeria was expecting to post budget deficits for the next two to three years. For 2016 the government expected a deficit of N2.2 trillion, she added.

6

SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

news Biyi Adegoroye Lagos

Muhammad Kabir Kano

Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

N

igerians Saturday ventilated their displeasure over the current socio-economic hardship in the country as some of them booed the nation’s number two citizen, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo at Kano and called on Federal Goverbnment to address the issues The Vice President, who was on a state visit to the ancient city, was on the receiving end of the peoples’ anger when he visited Sabon Gari, where hundreds of residents of the Kano suburb chanted in Hausa: “We are suffering, no fuel no power and no money!”

A number of them also carried placards with various inscriptions alluding to the current situation in the

Anger in the land

l Kano residents boo Osibanjo l Govt is inflicting pains, says Rep l I feel your pain, says Buhari country.

However, Osibanjo told them that government is aware of their sufferings and soon, succour would come their way. The Vice President pointed out that several government policies aimed at alleviating the plight of the Nigerian citizenry have been rolled out.

Prof Osibanjo, who visited Sabon Gari Market that was recently gutted by fire, pledged the Federal Government’s readiness to assist the victims of the fire disaster, in which over 3, 800 shops were razed.

“We will make sure that we provide and support you with what we have to

ensure that people do not suffer. I am here to bring greetings from President Muhammadu Buhari and to tell you that he is with you and standing with you even at this trying moment,” he said.

In many parts of the country, there is outright blackout following the closure of electricity dams in Sapele and Shiroro, a development further exacerbated by fuel scarcity.

The member representing Ohaji/ Egbema/Oguta / Oru West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chief Goodluck Nana Opiah, lashed out at the All Progressives Congress (APC) for not living

up to the expectations of Nigerians since it took over power last year, adding that Nigerians are now very distrustful of the current leadership as they watch their performance of all levels of government with disillusionment.

The legislator, who made the assertion in a key note address he presented at St Luke’s Anglican Church, Eziorsu, Diocese on the Lake, to mark the end of the Third Session of the Third Synod of the Diocese, pointed out that Nigerians are so distrustful of the government that they are beginning to ask if the current trend of events is part of the ‘change’ promised Nigerians.

L-R: All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Mr. Akinwale Akingbade (middle) and the party’s governorship candidate in Delta State, Ortega Emeror, during Asiwaju Tinubu’s 64th birthday reception in Abuja, recently

‘Lagos ready for rainy season’

N EWS I N BRIEF

The Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Abiodun Tobun, said on Saturday that the state government had prepared adequately for the rainy season.

Tobun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the government had reconstructed collapsed drains and repaired many roads to cope with the flood waters. ``The Lagos State Government is proactive and ever ready. It is the vision of the state government to ensure that residents are adequately taken care of and that they face little or no challenge during rainy season. ``All hands are on deck, and currently, the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure is fixing collapsed drains, while the Ministry of Environment is also doing all round de-silting of the waterways and dredging the channels. ``So, we are ready, most of those roads that are not motorable are now being rehabilitated, while some were being patched by the State Public Works Corporation,” he said.

The lawmaker said the corporation in collaboration with other state agencies were making efforts to ensure a hitch-free season.

On the ongoing repair of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway by the state government, Tobun said the contractor had completed 50 per cent of the job.

Ngige, Fashola to commission NERC forum offices In its efforts to boost an investorfriendly environment, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory commission (NERC) is to commission two additional forum offices in the South-East zone of the country.

The two offices areas, which are under the jurisdiction of the Enugu Electricity Distribution company (EEDC), billed for commissioning include Awka (Anambra State) and Abakaliki (Ebonyi State).

The minister of labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, will be commissioning the Awka forum office come April 14 while the minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola to commission the Abakaliki office on April 28.

The commissioning according to a statement signed by the Head, Communications EEDC, Emeka Ezeh, brings the total of the forum offices within its coverage areas to three, namely Enugu, Abakaliki and Awka with a zonal office in Owerri the Imo State capital.

According to Ezeh, the setting up of the forum offices by NERC was to ensure electricity disputes are resolved and that customers have a say in what affects them as customers of electricity providers.

He said with the commissioning of the additional offices, customers can now lodge their complaints at any of the NERC outlets.

Corp member donates library to school

A corps member from Imo State, Mr. Uchebuakor Chukwuemeka has donated a school library to Opokuma South Secondary School, Opokuma in KolokumaOpokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The N400,000 worth library and reading room was recently commissioned by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Head of Community Development Service (CDS) in Bayelsa State, Mrs. Precious Ari. In her speech, she commended Chukwuemeka for a job well done, and encouraged other corps members to emulate the selflessness expressed by the donors in identifying community felt-needs and embarking on project to improve them.

The facility can accommodate 17 users and a library official at a time, with multiple-spaced bookshelves made up 24 storage compartments.

This incidentally is the first and only library in the school and is stocked with various educational materials including textbooks covering over 15 subject areas, storybooks, and dictionaries among others.

The commissioning ceremony was well attended by community leaders, traditional rulers, illustrious sons of Opokuma clan, staff and students of the school.

The principal of the school while presenting his address underscored the essential position library holds in any academic environment.

Opiah noted that, “in view of the current hardship in the nation and considering the pre-election campaign theatrics of the ruling party, APC, Nigerians need no soothsayer to know that APC means ‘All Promises Cancelled’” According to him, the decay of the institutional framework and declining capacity for sustained economic development require urgent institutional reforms to build up socio-economic management ability. He added that if any government wants to succeed in delivering its promises to the people, it must ensure accountability, transparency and good governance.

Proffering solutions to the problems of Nigeria, the federal legislator, who is a former Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, called for reforms in all sectors of the country just as the public institutions must be result-driven.

But President Muhammadu Buhari commended Nigerians for their perseverance while urging them not to lose confidence in the ability of his administration to bring about the change they so much desire.

Speaking at the 2015 Vanguard Awards in Lagos on Friday night, where he was honoured with the Personality of the Year Award 2015, the President said he is keenly aware of the difficulties that Nigerians are facing at this time, resulting mostly from the fuel scarcity, poor power supply, inflation etc. ‘’As a government that was propelled into office by the power of the people, we cannot but feel the

pains of our compatriots, and we deeply empathise with them. We are working round the clock to ease the pains of Nigerians, and the efforts of the government have started yielding fruits as we seek to make the petroleum products available nationwide, restore gas supply to the power generating firms, reflate the economy and put Nigerians back to work,’’ he said.

The President, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he understands that Nigerians have started questioning whether this indeed is the CHANGE they voted for, while some have even gone as far as saying that by voting for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigerians have entered ‘’One Chance’’. ‘’Well, I can tell Nigerians that our Change Agenda is real, and that indeed, they will get the change they voted for. Nigerians have not entered ‘One Chance’, because the ‘One Chance’ drivers and their conductors have been driven out of town,’’ said the President. ‘’’’Change is a process, and that process has begun...

The pains of today are temporary, and will soon give way to abundance joy as we put our country firmly on the path of sustainable growth and development.’’

Buhari said all Nigerians, the Civil Society Organisations and the media are the real heroes of the last general elections in particular and the country’s democracy in general, adding: ‘’And they, more than anyone or group of people, deserve all the accolades.’’

Buhari off to China for greater Chinese support for Nigeria

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resident Muhammadu Buhari departs Abuja today for a five-day working visit to China in a visit aimed at securing greater support of Beijing for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, especially in the power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing sectors.

According to a statement issued by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Buhari will hold talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples’ Congress, Zhang Dejiang, with the view to strengthening bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and China.

It further stated that the

talks would be in line with the Federal Government’s agenda for the rapid diversification of the Nigerian economy, with emphasis on agriculture and solid minerals development.

It is expected that in the course of the visit, several new agreements and memorandums of understanding to boost trade and economic relations between Nigeria and China will be concluded and signed.

The agreements include a Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Boost Industrial Activities and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

We don’t use private chartered flights – CBN Spokesman

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not use chartered flights for its operations, the bank’s Ag. Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said in a statement, Saturday, in response to a news story published by a national daily (not New Telegraph).

The statement by the CBN said: “The CBN has, for several years in the past, used private and official chartered flights in making urgent travels to meet needs in remote, not-easily- accessible lo-

cations or in cases where timing might be critical to matters of urgent national importance.

“This practice was in place long before the assumption of office of the current Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

“Indeed, in recognition of this critical need in its smooth operations, the CBN had in the 1990s acquired a dedicated jet for this purpose and for urgent currency movement.

This was however taken over by the military administration when there was a more urgent need

for it at the State House.

“Thereafter, the CBN occasionally used the chartered services of private operators and those of the Presidential Fleet when available, both of which were paid for.

“However in 2015, in response to the economic downturn and the costcutting stance of Government, Mr. Emefiele ordered the stoppage of the use of chartered flights by the Bank. Since then, neither Mr. Emefiele nor any of the Deputy Governors has used the services of private chartered flights

and the CBN has not paid a kobo for private jet services.

“Mr. Emefiele and indeed other principal officers of the CBN have religiously maintained the modest disposition of using regular flights, including doing several trips by road to and from different parts of the country.

“It is also important to note here that no private jet was used by Mr. Emefiele, his immediate family, or indeed other principal officers of the Bank during the burial of Mr. Emefiele’s mother.”

L-R: Pastor in-charge of RCCG Lagos Region 20, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and Regional Pastor, RCCG, Pastor Johnson Kalejaiye; during Fund Raising Ceremony of RCCG, Throne of God Parish with the theme - The Glory of this Latter House, at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki Expressway, Lagos... Saturday

News

France earmarks 450,000 euros for Nigerian water projects Caleb Onwe Abuja

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he efforts of the present administration in developing the water sector to create jobs and ensure food security have received more boost with the donation of 450,00 euros by a French agency.

French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu in Abuja.

Gauer, stated that France through AFD has been collaborating with Nigeria through the Ministry of Water Resources in co- financing of the implementation of the Second National Urban Water Sector Reform Project, sponsoring of PPP Training to the tune of 50,000 euros. He added that AFD has also approved a grant of about Euro 450,000 that is being utilised for feasibility study in some parts of the country.

Responding, Mr. Adamu called on France to join in the efforts of keeping the Lake Chad alive in order to guarantee the survival of over 40 million people living within the Chad Basin.

The minister stated that

Private refinery will end fuel crises, says senator Sola Adeyemo

Maiduguri records first rain in 2016

N EWS I N BRIEF

Maiduguri recorded its first rainfall in 2016 on Saturday, lasting for about 40 minutes, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

NAN further reports that the rain, which was witnessed in all parts of the city, began at about 1.25 p.m., providing relief for the residents, who had been complaining of heat.

Some of the residents, who spoke, expressed delight at the rain. ``We thank God for the rain; it has actually helped in reducing the high temperature in the environment. ``We pray that the rain will continue for the next few days so that low temperature will be sustained,’’ Malam Ahmadu Maitagiya said.

Alhaji Modu Rijiya, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in camp in Maiduguri described the rain ``as a sign of blessing from God.’’ ``Rain is a blessing from God, the early onset of this year’s rain shows that things will be better for us in the state this year. ``We are hoping to go back home and farm in our communities,’’ Rijiya said.

Mr Moses Balami, also an IDP, however, urged the state government to provide fertilisers and other farm inputs for farmers in the librated communities.

Balami said that this was enable them begin early preparation for the farming season.

But an official of Nigeria Metrological Services (NIMET) office in Borno, who preferred anonymity advised farmers not to plant yet.

FG to return Nigeria’s best brains abroad

Plans are afoot by the Federal Government of Nigeria to recall home all Nigeria’s best brains in the Diaspora to engage them in the nation’s industries, with a view to increasing the level of competitiveness, in such critical sector of the economy.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said this very recently, adding that such bring back-home-the Diaspora-Nigerian programme would be targeted first on such Nigerians resident and working in neighbouring West African nations. He further explained no country could become great without using the talents of its people, saying that there were plans by government to bring back its best brains in the Diaspora to Nigeria. The minister, who made this known while receiving members of the National Mathematical Centre in his office in Abuja, led by its Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Adewale Solarin, also remarked that past Nigeria’s governments had failed to diversify the nation’s economy, due to inability to accord science and technology recognition, as driver of socio-economic growth and development.

Onu said without the application of science and technology in a country’s growth roadmap, such nation would not be able to gain relevance in today’s international community. He stated, “We need to bring all our professionals home, because there is no country that will become great on the basis of what other people can do for it.

“I will make sure that those Nigerians in the Diaspora are brought home starting from West African nations which is what we should do, bringing the best brains to the country and let us even start from West African countries.

Aregbesola mourns APC chieftain Obadofin

The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has extended his condolences to the family of Obadofin of Aiyegunle Gbedde, in Ijumu Local Government of Kogi over the death of Comrade Rotimi Yaqub Obadofin.

In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola described the death of the pro-democracy activist, governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State as sudden and shocking.

Aregbesola, describing Obadofin as one of the most committed activists whose struggles contributed to the birth of the current democratic experience, said he had fought along many known activists whose roles have been well documented in Nigeria’s recent history.

“He was a fighter for the numerous democratic battles we fought and he was relentless. It is most unfortunate that he must leave at this time when we are struggling to consolidate on our previous struggles. I pray for the repose of his soul,” the statement added.

It added, “It is my fervent prayer that Allah will grant him Aljanah Firdaus and give the people of Kogi State the fortitude to bear the loss.

We also pray Allah to comfort his family and give them courage and hope.”

Lake Chad, once one of Africa’s largest bodies of fresh water, has dramatically decreased in size due to climate change and human demand for water and if nothing is done to reverse this trend, civilisation within this axis would not be able to survive.

Lake Chad is now a ghost of its former self. Since 1963, the lake has shrunk to nearly a 20th of its original size, due both to climatic straddling the borders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon in West Africa, Lake Chad has been a source of freshwater for irrigation projects in each of these countries.

The Minister noted that most of the surrounding countries around the lake are mostly French colonies.

As AFD is a public development-finance institute that is working to fight poverty and support economic growth in developing counties and French overseas communities, AFD should consider coming to the aid of Lake Chad.

On the issue of the Lake Chad, he said that all hands must be on deck in reviving the lake and with France interest in irrigation, the lake would once again become a source of freshwater for irrigation projects

Ibadan

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enator Fatai Buhari, who is representing the Oyo North Senatorial district yesterday said that the only solution to the fuel crisis in the country was private partnership by the Federal Government with private organisations on oil business.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT, told Sunday Telegraph that the Federal Government needed to fast track steps on Private Public Partnership (PPP) for the ailing oil industry to come out of the woods it had been thrown for ages.

Worried by the level of scarcity of petroleum product and the agonies that many Nigerians have been undergoing, especially artisans whose businesses have been advice rely affected, Buhari promised that President Buhari will fix and make the nation’s refineries function effectively with the PPP plan aimed at turning around the oil industry as well as the dilapidated refineries.

His words: “We are in this mess of fuel scarcity

because we don’t have maintenance culture. If we had maintained the existing refineries in the country we would not have needed to import fuel, and I am sure with PPP there will be a total turn-around of the situation.

“Beyond oil, we are also looking at how our ICT can also serve as a huge source of income for us, Korea didn’t have oil but they built their economy on ICT and today the country is one of the most advanced countries of the world”.

Speaking on the call by many Nigerians that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who is facing corruption trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, should have resigned, Buhari who is a member of the Appropriation Committee in the Red carpet chamber, said if he were Saraki; he would have resigned as President of the Senate.

His words: “I hate to talk about personalities but on issues. But on this matter, as a person, I would have done the same thing the President of Iceland did, I would have resigned from that position whether I am right or wrong.

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

news

Buhari tasks Army on war against insurgency

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has enjoined the Nigerian Armed Forces to sustain the tempo in the ongoing war against insurgency in the NorthEast of the country to stamp out terrorism.

Buhari gave the task on Saturday while inaugurating the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL) mega filling station in Minna.

The President was represented by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin.

“I applaud the successes of the armed forces in counter insurgency operations in the North-East and urge you to sustain the tempo,” Buhari said.

He noted that one of the top priorities of his administration was to enhance the capacity of the armed forces to enable them discharge their duties effectively.

Buhari, who said that his administration will continue to provide the needed support for the armed forces for efficient service delivery, also commended the zeal of the armed forces in tackling other security issues across the country.

He noted that establishment of the filling station was in line with policy direction of his administration, saying it’s part of current ef-

fort to re-position the Nigerian Army to meet contemporary realities.’’

Buhari said that the project would afford the army optimum utilisation of its human and material assets into practical business ventures.

“The measure would improve the wellbeing of the armed forces personnel, their families and the country. The business venture would afford the army the opportunity to serve the country in their various areas of specialisation for enhanced service delivery,” he added.

Also speaking, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, urged Nigerian Army to remain professionally responsive and loyal to the constitution of the country.

Buratai commended the Federal Government for its continuous support for the army in tackling insecurity in the North-East.

He later inaugurated a multi office complex and quarter guards at the Headquarters of Training and Doctrine Command, Nigerian Army, Minna, rehabilitated by the office of the COAS. Earlier, Brig. Gen. Umaru Mohammed, Managing Director, NAPL, said that the business venture was an investment arm of the Nigerian Army.

Alamieyeseigha laid to rest in Amassoma

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he remains of late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the first civilian governor of Bayelsa, has been laid to rest in Amassoma, Southern-Ijaw local government area of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deceased was buried after a commendation service by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) on Saturday.

Speaking at the burial ceremony, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa said Alamieyeseigha’s demise was a trying time to the people of Ijaw nation.

Dickson described him as a bridge builder” who believed in what is right for his people.

A bridge builder has departed in our state; a man who knows what is right and just.

We know we have lost a true hero but we have put ourselves together and pray for his gentle soul to rest in peace,” he said.

Former president Goodluck Jonathan described the deceased as a man of vision who brought development to the state.

Jonathan said that his legacy on education and infrastructural development would not be forgotten in the history of Bayelsa and Ijaw nation.

He brought to us the Niger-Delta University (NDU); he was a man with vision, champion for peace, unity and social integration,” he said.

Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, the acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Alamieyeseigha’s death was regrettable to the nation, prayed for God’s grace and urged the deceased family to bear the loss.

Sheriff said that the late former governor was a real hero, who championed the emancipation of his people.

He was a real gem and true keeper of his people; may his soul rest in peace,” he prayed.

General hospital in Yobe rejects PDP’s donations …as lawmaker blames APC Ibrahim Jirgi Damaturu

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he Management of the General Hospital, Potiskum in Yobe State, has rejected donations made to the hospital by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House member, representing Nangere/Potiskum Federal Constituency, Hon Sabo Garba.

Hon Garba, who won election to the Federal parliament on the platform of the PDP, beat the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Ali Yakubu Mainasara, at the last general elections.

Speaking on the reason

behind the rejection of the donations, a staff of the hospital, who spoke on the position of anonymity told Sunday Telegraph that the management and staff of the hospital will be punished or sacked by the APC run-state government if they receive the items from the opposition PDP. According to them, the state government had directed the Commissioner of Health to warn the staff of the hospital to against accepting any form of donations from opposition parties, including PDP. Sequel to this, the PDP lawmaker has blamed the state government and APC

for instigating the people against PDP and rejecting donations from him. He noted that such act is a pointer to the fact that Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, has failed the state.

Garba, who insist the state government, has failed to deliver the campaign promises to the citizens, said, “If Yobe APC is blaming PDP and rejecting donations from its members, we PDP members, in Yobe, are also blaming Yobe State government for 16 years of misrule.”

He wondered the ills in donating equipment to the general hospital, saying that the hospital is in urgent need of facelift.

“I personally sent my own donations to help people of the state irrespective of political, religious and tribes differences. I am just doing it with a good faith in order to promote our hospital. The hospital is the oldest in the northeast region, yet there is no water or light; and there is lack of sufficient beds,” the lawmaker added.

He, however, appealed to state government not to play politics with the state’s health sector, saying, “I want to assure you that, it’s our responsibility to help our people in anywhere, both PDP and APC. We will continue to do our best to move our constituency forward.”

L-R: General Manager, Mobile Network Operations and Engineering, ntel, Mr. Anthony Adegbola; General Manager, Programme Office, Ms. Yemi Keri; Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kamar Abass; General Manager, Product and Services, Mr. Jide Mafolabumi; Director, Human Resources, Mr. Ibrahim Umar and Director, Consumer Marketing and Sales, Mr. Inusa Bello during the media event to announce commencement of ntel 4G LTE Network into the Nigerian market in Lagos at the weekend.

Obiano seeks partnership with Synagogue: NUPENG, NLC storm Ethiopian Airline on cargo airport court premises

NEWS IN BRIEF

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra has called for partnership between the State and Ethiopian Airline in the construction of a cargo airport at Umueri in the state.

Obiano, who spoke on Saturday when he received a delegation of the Ethiopian airline, said the partnership would be under “Build, Operate and Transfer’’ arrangement.

The governor described Anambra as a centre of business and commercial activities in Nigeria and promised to assist traders in the state to maximise profit.

He urged the airline to set up a ticketing office in the Onitsha main market.

Obiano also expressed willingness to partner with the airline in constructing a helipad to shuttle passengers between the state and Enugu airport.

Mr Theodross Selasia, Traffic and Sales Manager of the Ethiopian Airline in Nigeria, said the visit was to seek partnership for mutual business flight service.

We are on a tour of the South-East of Nigeria to actualise this objective,’’ he said.

In a remark, Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu urged the airline to upgrade the standard of its services to the people.

Chukwulobelu said that the new agriculture produce export initiative that the state was exploring presented a viable business opportunity for the airline.

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Lagos State Chapters, stormed the premises of the Ikeja High Court to register their support for Prophet T.B. Joshua of Church of All Nations during the resumed hearing into the case, involving the contractors that handled the construction of the collapsed building on Friday.

While the delegation from NUPENG carried placards with inscriptions: “We Want Justice for T.B. Joshua,” its counterpart from NLC told journalists that from all indications, the building must have been bombed, arguing that the way it collapsed was strange and does not suggest structural failure in any way.

They promised to meet the Lagos State Government to demand a review of the whole matter, stressing that the state should not allow a miscarriage of justice.

Meanwhile, Justice Lawal Akapo of the Ikeja High Court has adjourned proceedings to Tuesday, April 19, 2016 for ruling in the applications filed by counsel to the defendants at the Court of Appeal. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), E.L Akpofure (SAN), Titilayo Akinlawon (SAN) and Olalekan Ojo, all counsel to the defendants, argued that the court should stay action pending the determination of the suit they have filed at the Court of Appeal.

No going back on April 11 resumption date, says Adebule Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, on Saturday said that schools in Lagos State will resume the third term academic session as scheduled on Monday April 11.

Adebule, who said this in a statement made available to Sunday Telegraph, said the resumption date is not postponed as rumoured.

There has been speculation that the state government might consider shifting the resumption date, owing to the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, which is particularly biting hard in Lagos State.

But according to the Deputy Governor, who also oversees the Education Ministry: “Although the state’s Ministry of Education recognises the stress associated with the current fuel scarcity and its attendant consequences, higher premium must be placed on the development of the leaders of tomorrow.”

Adebule, therefore, appealed to parents to look beyond the present situation and encourage the children to face their future with renewed vigour as the call for a shift in the resumption date will only distort the academic calendar.

She urged proprietors of private schools, head teachers and principals of public schools to do everything humanly possible to see that the school calendar runs uninterrupted.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

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News

DSS arrests Shekau’s deputy, mastermind of UN building bombing lSays IPOB plans ethnic terrorism Emmanuel Onani

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he Department of State Services (DSS), yesterday, said it has arrested a founding member of the Boko Haram sect and mastermind of the August 26, 2011 bomb attack on the United Nations (UN) building in Abuja, one Mohammed Usman.

The secret service, in a statement signed by Mr. Tony Opuiyo, said the arrest of the high-profile sect leader, who had used several pseudonyms, including Khalid AlBarnawi and Mallam Dauda, took place in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on April 1.

It said the suspect’s arrest is, indeed, a breakthrough in its determination to stem the tide of terrorism and insurgency in the country, considering the fact that the sect leader was not only a founding member of the Boko Haram sect, but also “the Amir of the break-away faction, Jama’at Ansarul Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).

Among other deadly bomb attacks masterminded by the high profile suspect, according to the DSS, were those that occurred in Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, and Sokoto states. The Service further linked Al-Barnawi with the kidnapping of two European civil engineers in Kebbi State in May, 2011, and their subsequent murder in Sokoto State; the kidnap of a German engineer, Edgar Raupach in January, 2012, the kidnap and murder of

seven expatriate staff of Setraco Construction Company at Jama’are, in Bauchi State in February, 2013, as well as the attack of Nigerian troops at Okene in Kogi State, while on transit to Abuja for an official assignment.

“This Service wishes to inform the general public that further to its efforts to stem the tide of terrorism in the country, it has recorded another major breakthrough in the arrest of one Mohammed Usman, widely known as Khalid Al-Barnawi alias Kafuru.

“Khalid Al-Barnawi was apprehended by the Service on 1st April, 2016, in Lokoja, Kogi State, while hiding under a false cover. Al-Barnawi was a founding member of the Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid Da’wah Wa’l-Jihad (Boko Haram) and later the Amir of the break-away faction, Jama’at Ansarul Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).

“Khalid Al-Barnawi is a trained terrorist commander, who has been coordinating terrorist activities in Nigeria, while talent-spotting and recruiting vulnerable young and able Nigerians for terrorist training by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in North African States and the Middle-East,” the statement said. It noted that the “arrest has strengthened the Service’s resolve that no matter how long and far perpetrators of crime and their sponsors may run, this Service in collaboration with other sister security agencies, will bring them to justice.”

Corruption: Why Jonathan, wife have not been arrested –Investigation Onwuka Nzeshi

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ABUJA

n spite of the clamour in some quarters that former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and his wife, Dame Patience, be arrested to answer to the series of allegations of corruption levelled against them, anti - corruption bodies and security agencies have refrained from apprehending them due to the lack of evidence and the political sensitivity of the issue.

In the last 10 months, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested, detained and currently prosecuting key officials of the Jonathan administration for their alleged involvement in corrupt activities. Notable among them are the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and former Chief of Defence Stafff, Air Marshall. Alex Badeh (rtd) both of whom are being tried for allegedly misappropriating huge funds meant to purchase arms for the fight against insurgency and terrorism in the North East region.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that the EFCC had been handicapped on the issue because even though officials of the Jonathan administration have been allegedly

lIt’s politically explosive - source

involved in acts of corruption, none of these acts have been directly linked to Jonathan and his wife.

A highly placed security source disclosed that “much of the corruption people link with Jonathan are matter of perception, no facts.”

Our source said that though President Muhamnadu Buhari had been under intense pressure to arrest his predecessor in office, he had refrained from succumbing to the pressure because apart from the inability of the EFCC to directly link Jonathan with acts of corruption, it was a politically sensitive issue.

“Buhari is weighing a lot of options because arresting the former President is not as easy as people think. It could be politically explosive given the way the 2015 elections went and the statemanly manner in which Jonathan exited the exalted office. No matter what people may say, Jonathan did his best given the circumstances he found himself. He conducted a credible election and stood by the results of that election even when it did not favour him and his party. It would amount to an overkill to start dragging such a personality up and down. Don’t forget

that as it is today, Jonathan still has some measure of support among the populace who believe he was a victim of sectional and ethnic politics,” said our source.

Sunday Telegraph investigations revealed that part of the reasons for the reluctance to arrest Jonathan was the apprehension that it might provoke some negative reactions especially from the militants in the creeks of the Niger Delta which would further worsen the poor state of the economy. An arrest of Jonathan, it was learnt, could also worsen the feelings of discontentment against the Buhari administration which in the the last 10 months, has been largely unable to find its bearing contrary to the expectations of the electorate.

Since Jonathan handed over to the new government, the economy has taken a nose dive with fuel scarcity and power cuts becoming the order of the day.

Already, many Nigerians have started asking questions whether they made the right decision in voting in President Buhari and many opinion polls conducted on different platforms have seen many respondents

showing preference for the last regime.

About two weeks ago, the EFCC arrested and is currently holding in custody former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Mr. Azibaola Roberts, over alleged links with the arms scandal.

Roberts, who was arrested on March 23, alongside his colleague, Dakoru Atukpa, is the owner of Oneplus Holdings, which was among the three hundred firms indicted by the Audit Panel on arms procurement, between 2007 and 2015.

The arrest of the duo has been interpreted by some analysts as an indication that the security agencies might be closing in on Jonathan and his family.

Roberts’ counsel, Mr. Goddy Uche (SAN), has alleged a case of vendetta against former President Jonathan, saying the suspect was allegedly being persecuted owing to his relationship with the former leader.

Uche accused the Federal Government of shying away from its responsibility to pay Roberts’ company an honorarium of $4m, being an outstanding payment for an assignment which his client helped the Federal Government execute.

Lawmaker proposes EIB in place of PIB Chukwu David Abuja

W

orried by the controversies that have frustrated the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) over time in the National Assembly, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf has advocated the replacement of the proposal with Extractive Industry Bill (EIB).

Senator Yusuf, who represents Taraba Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also opined that deregulation of the downstream oil sector would be the only solution that could end the perennial fuel crisis in the country.

Asserting these positions in an interview with journalists at the National Assembly yesterday, on controversies already trailing the New PIB, Yusuf observed that the hindrances to the passage of the bill had been those of conflict of interests between the oil producing communities and

the non-oil producing areas of the country. He therefore, said that the only solution to the unending crash of interests would be to enact a law that would provide legal framework for all extractive industries across the country to be fully explored and exploited while the host communities of all extractive industries would be given their due benefits as would be specified by the EIB. He said, “the answer is simple, let us change from PIB to Extractive Industry Bill (EIB) because every part of this country has an extractive industry. So, if we do that, the host communities will benefit in those extractive industries.

“It will just solve our problem once and for all. Today, petroleum is not as important as it used to be; not that it will not be important again. We have gold somewhere; we have diamond somewhere, we have sapphire somewhere; we have other solid minerals, they are all extractive, we have gas somewhere.

L-R: Chairman, Nkanu East LGA Caretaker Committee, Mr. Ikechukwu Ubagu; Commissioner for Works, Enugu State,Mr.Patrick Ikpwenwa; philontropist, Prince Lawrence Ezeh; and a staff of the state Ministry of Works inspecting the Ojolowo Bridge along Agbani-Ugbawka-Nara Road reconstructed by Prince Eze...recently

New electricity tariff beneficial

NEWS IN BRIEF

A pro-democracy advocacy outfit, Centre for Labour and Workers Advancement (CELWA), has said that the new electricity policy in the country would benefit Nigerian citizens.

The group in a statement issued by its president, Mr. Kola Oba, said the new electricity tariff regime in Nigeria will discourage corruption in the power sector and abolish estimated or fixed charges.

It stated that new tariff will allow consumers to pay for what they consume and insist on settling payments only if they have meters.

“The policy is about zero tolerance for over-billing of consumers just as it will establish a consumer friendly dispute resolution strategy that allows consumer to use electricity until resolution of contested electricity bill.

“Consumers cannot be disconnected unfairly, while the new regime will also ensure a just and fair pricing of electricity, and new consumers cannot also be connected without provision of meters. When in operation it will block illegal theft of electricity in conveyance and reduce high incidence of collection losses.

Annual lecture holds at Bells University

As the nation’s economic challenges worsen, with epileptic electric power supply, crippling fuel scarcity as well as massive job losses the College (Faculty) of Management Sciences(COLMAS), Bells University of Technology, Ota in Ogun State is providing a platform to address the problems.

In the light of this, it has put in place an arrangement to host its 2015/16 Annual College Lecture with the thematically relevant topic: Recurring Nigerian Economic Crisis - Lessons and Prospects.

The Guest Lecturer is one of Nigeria’s top technocrats, Mr. Ayo Ajayi, the former, Managing Director, United Africa Company ( UAC ) during whose eventful tenure the multinational company grew meteorically.

It is billed to take place on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at the Multipurpose Hall of Nigeria’s premier private university of technology, at 12 noon prompt.

10

SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NEWS

St Matthew-Daniel QC told us Osifala has been accused of sex abuse 5 times

Mrs. Laila St Matthew-Daniel is the Chairperson of Queens College Old Girls Association’s fact -finding committee on the alleged sexual harassment against a teacher at the College. The transformational trainer and executive coaching consultant, founder and president, ACTS Generation, Nigeria, in this no-hold-bared interview with PAUL OGBUOKIRI and STANLEY IHEDIGBO, gives an insight into the findings of the committee Why is it that in this part of the world, when a girl child or woman is molested, they find it difficult to come out and let the people know, so that the society can take it up from there?

In the society itself, there is this culture of silence, stigmatisaition and depending on what it is. Most times we don’t want to say that the marriage has broken or that they are failures. Also, most times, their families will say, keep it within our families. Don’t let it be known and these are false sense of our pride and arrogance that you should not let people know that you are a failure.

And I spoke about stigmatisation depending on when it has to do with sexual harassment or rape. In some parts of the country, they will say that it will bring down bride price. If she is still a girl or a woman, it is still the same. We have a way of being very insensitive to those who are in pain and we can be very callous. It is a trend that is so endemic in our society. They feel more ok to mock people, especially those in pains,

than to offer comfort, which shows you the state of mind of the society at large.

A lot of people have been wronged and cracked, that they found it impossible to be empathetic and passionate. That is what you see. Sometimes, you see mob actions, somebody is accused of stealing and they never found out what the person stole, the next thing they are doing is striping the person naked. There is a wrong sense to want to dehumanise people in our society, so a lot of people don’t talk, especially the women or girl child. The victim is subject of indignation and finger pointing. It is on the person, who has been a victim to convince the people that it truly happened.

This strange attitude we have towards the victim is not same abroad.

Despite the efforts groups like your NGO are making to see that people respect human dignity and the rights of the girl child, there seems to be an upsurge in abuse of women in the society. The Ese Oruru case and the alleged molestation of students by a Queens College teacher, being some unfortunate examples. Are you worried by this?

I don’t think that there is an upsurge, what I think is that the media is now helping to expose a bad situation that had long been in existence in our society. Also, I think that the media took the case of Ese very seriously. I am sure there are a lot of girls who have disappeared without traces in our society. Ese would not have been known if the media

had not brought it out and an NGO had not started to make a case. So, it is the media and the NGOs. So, would you say the media and NGOs are doing enough?

They are not doing enough and we will do more. The media needs to be more proactive than reactionary. That is why I have some training for the media on how to react to all these things. We are not really proactive and after some time, you will not hear anything again. There must be follow-up until a case is pursued to its ultimate conclusion. We don’t follow up on issues to be able to know what is happening and I find out that a lot of our journalists don’t do investigative journalism. They do reactionary journalism. They should give us details and through that, maybe, we will begin to have awards in Nigeria for forensic journalism.

There may be upsurge probably because whenever the economy is down, people’s abilities to react to emotional stress is very minimal, but that again, is not an excuse and I come back to the fact that you are in control of how you react to a conflict. You can either decide to act or take a deep breath and analyse it within a split second or take an alternative non- reactionary action. So, it may be a certain kind of explosion which comes back to the fact that we have a lot of mental health issues. A lot of people don’t know how to handle their emotions; they are emotionally immature totally. Sexually too, you find a lot of men defiling young girls and I think there is a need for some people to take it on as a research subject to find out the cause. Maybe somebody has told them if they have sex with young girls, they become millionaires. Like we heard that in Rwanda and Congo, soldiers who were asked why the first thing they do when they get to a place was to rape young girls, they said that their marabout told them that once they can sleep with virgins, they will be immune to the bullets.

So, that is the reason and suddenly, there is an upsurge or maybe our people are now becoming a little bit more vocal. Instead of leaving it for the head of the community to talk about or settle people are now ready to shout and go to the police station and make a lot of noise. Journalists are on ground to pick up this information and we still have to do a data collection research to find out

St. Matthew-Daniel

whether the media are reporting it more or people are now breaking the code of silence.

You headed the fact- finding committee set up by the QCOGA on this raging allegation of sexual molestation of the school girls. What do you have to say on it?

I saw your publication last Sunday; somebody sent it to me online, and it was like a passionate study of the cases. It was well written and the Queens College situation, as you know, I was in the fact finding panel for 48 hours and my job was over. It is unfortunate they way they approached the whole thing. Some people look at the issue from a myopic point of view and have refused to take a broad look at it.

On that Saturday, a blogger posted something that somebody sent to her and at the end of the post, the blogger said ‘what advice do you have for Chinenye?’ That was at the bottom where they wrote, is it a case of right or wrong and somebody ran with it. By 5 o’clock, another blogger has posted the other side of the story, where the school principal, the Parent Teachers Association’s chairperson, the Vice Principal and the Head Girl, all came out and said that whoever that person was that made that allegation against the man was a liar.

That was what got people interested and wondered how a government school came out like that and did an interview within two hours. When did they do the investigation? The Queens College Old Girls Association called and said that members should come to a meeting on Sunday. They got in touch with the Principal and the PTA to come and explaine what was happening to their school. It was very important that everybody that passed through that school within a short time came down to the school. All came, even the highly revered Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, quite a few SANs and other old elegant women.

Everybody was sitting down there and the principal came. Although, it was the PTA chairperson that came at first to speak and it was a shock, the way she started.

How Mr. Olaseni Osifala was a fantastic human being and an excellent teacher. That was when the whole place exploded and we told them that we came there to find out what happened the previous day and what investigation they did that warranted them to come out with statement on the social media. Putting the statement on the Queens College website and the first thing they have to say was the virtues of Osifala.

We ask her, who were there when they were having the investigation? We asked them if there was an external person there or a child psychologist because the most difficult people to interview are children because they operate under the influence of the adults around them.

Later, the principal came up to speak, though she was calmer and more dignifies, she still went through the same process the PTA woman followed. I was trained to listen and when you hear a thing, you will be careful how you jump into conclusion. We didn’t know that the man had been accused by the girls over five times under different principals of the school; the PTA woman and the principal told us. We didn’t come there to judge anybody but to find out what Continues on page 51

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016

11

OPINION Another toast for Tinubu at 64 Sam Kargbo

S

ome ten years ago, in January 2006, I wrote, in one of my newspaper columns, ‘A Season’s Toast’ to ‘that average-sized man with the heart of a lion and the deeds of Samson called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who (was) playing the yeoman’s job of selling modernity to good old Lagos and setting it firmly on the path of global glory and esteem.

Up to 1999, Lagos was considered an ‘undevelopable’ city, its chaotic population and obscure growth pattern scaring even addicted optimists. The world’s record books depicted Lagos as a dirty, unplanned and bizarre city progressing into being one of the most populated cities of the 21st century. However, by the middle of Bola Tinubu’s second term as governor of the state, Lagos was wearing a distinctive modern look and bringing home ‘the edifying fact that someone somewhere is working earnestly to make Lagos have a feel of modernity. It became unmistakable that someone is almost defying the laws of nature by bringing sanity and decorum to good old Lagos.’

That toast was concluded thus: ‘From what Tinubu is doing with Lagos, it is certain that he is a good manager, user, protector and projector of power. He exemplifies the generation of politicians that realizes that Nigeria has a lot of catching up to do. He is himself a political dividend impacting the polity with a dynamic and revolutionary vision. Tinubu (I am told) believes in and works with experts who are themselves anxious to secure a space in tomorrow’s politics. I am also told that he empowers these young women and men adequately and that it is the combined output of his team that is making the wonders in Lagos. If the Tinubu metaphor survives 2007 and stays around with us for a handful of years, Lagos and indeed hardworking Lagosians would

board the global train of sustained development and growth. It is because of this that I wish Tinubu and his team of technocrats a prosperous and revitalized 2006.’

Publishing that eulogy at that time took more than courage and bravery. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had overrun the other states in the Southwest and diminished the hope of ascendancy of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the region, was breathing over Lagos. To many, it was only a matter of time for Lagos to fall and surrender to the federal might. To worsen matters for Tinubu, he was executing policies that jolted the elite and the middle class in the state. He was embarking on an aggressive internal revenue generation drive involving multiple forms of taxation. Many of my friends believed that that article was too brazen and against the grain and groundswell of emotions and opinions at the time and would hurt me one way or the other.

However, I foresaw in Tinubu a functional hero with a better tomorrow. To me, anybody that lived or had visited Lagos before Tinubu’s tenure would realize that the progressive modernization of Lagos was ‘a result of hard and well-reasoned work. It (was) an indication that all is not lost and that very soon the privileged young men adorning the political cloaks of the nation would realise that the destiny of the most populous black nation in the world is in their hands and, therefore, must brace up to face history with pride and dignity.’

You cannot, therefore, imagine how proud and gratified I am today. Ten years after that toast, Tinubu stands out as one of the greatest politicians and leaders of his generation.

Many have gone to the extent of declaring him the greatest living politician in Nigeria.

I am tempted to agree with them. Tinubu is phenomenal. Through deliberate and well thought out policies and sustained hard work, he was able to put Lagos State on the path of sustainable development and growth. His

choice of lieutenants and aides defines him as developmental-minded and merit-driven.

He works with men and women of quality capable of adding value to his political profile.

For emphasis, the direct beneficiaries of Tinubu’s benevolence include the following men and women (on the list of politicians and technocrats published by Jumi Rhodes in airaland Forum of 24th November, 2015): Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (Nigeria’s Vice-President, was Tinubu’s Commissioner for Justice); Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) (Minister of Power, Works & Housing, was Tinubu’s Chief of Staff); Dr. Babatunde Fowler (former Lagos Tax Chief now Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS); Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State Governor); Engr.

Rauf Aregbesola (Osun State Governor; Ex-Lagos Commissioner for Works); Alhaji Lai Muhammed (Minister of Information, was Chief of Staff – Governor’s Office – during Tinubu’s 1st term); Mr. Dele Alake (one-time Special Adviser, Information & Strategy, for Tinubu); Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN (ex-Lagos Commissioner, Special Duties); Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Minister of Solid Minerals; Former Ekiti State Governor); Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State Governor); Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora; Senator Ganiu Solomon; Senator Solomon Adeola (former House of Representatives member now Senator);Senator Gbenga Ashafa; Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (House of Representatives member); Mrs. Kemi Nelson; Senator Babajide Omoworare; Mr. Ade Ipaye and Mr. Wale Edun.

For Tinubu, his list of beneficiaries is verifiable. From entertainment to the media, from the hospitality business to real estate, from retail business to oil and gas, from socialites to professionals, from the streets to the entire corporate Nigeria, from culture to politics, from Nigeria to the larger world, the name Tinubu looms large.

If Tinubu were to be an institution, he would have been an investment and devel-

opment bank. He buys and invests in ideas.

Most of his contemporaries have frittered their wealth and opportunities because of lack of inventiveness and unwillingness to invest in people outside their thin and unprofessional families.

Tinubu is feared by irredentists who consider his image to be too large for their comfort.

They are fearful that if not pushed back he is capable of vanquishing their influence over the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. Others, however, are cashing in on the belief that Tinubu has invested too much in APC to be tempted to work against it. In the wake of the rift within the ranks of the party concerning the coup staged last year (2015) against the party by some National Assembly members, I interrogated a senator – a former governor – whom I know to be close to Tinubu and should be on the side of the party. He immediately confessed to me that Tinubu is justifiably angry with him but that the collateral damage of disappointing Tinubu was less than allowing the younger and inexperienced senators to take over the entire leadership of the Senate. Besides being modifiers, he and his friends must be in a position to mediate and reunite the two factions in the Senate.

Many may be bragging out there about the ability of APC to come back to power in 2019, but not many are confident that APC can do so without Tinubu, which is why I feel happy for the party when I saw everybody congregating including Mr. President around him to cheer him on his 64th birthday. On my part, I am proud to declare that before Tinubu became the Lion – Emperor or Jagaban – of Bourdillon, the Svengali of Nigeria, I had seen the lion in him, and I was the very first to identify him as a lion. That was one decade ago.

Sam Kargbo is Principal Partner Jackson, Kargbo & Associates Legal Practitioners, Abuja

PMB and the future of the North East Louis Okoroma

T

he North East region of the country has had a raw deal in recent times. This is due to the unsavoury and murderous activities of the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency which has ravaged the region since 2009. From a situation where the problem was the irritating disturbance of a radical religious group, through poor handling, excessive political consideration and sheer negligence on the part of officials of the state, the matter grew and snowballed into a religiousbased terrorist insurgency that led to death and destruction on a massive scale.

For some anxious period, the activities of the insurgents, their fire-power and the illprepared and ill-equipped response by the nation’s security forces resulted in a situation where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation was at stake. This happened when the nation’s security forces could not contain and defeat the terrorists, and in shocking moves, swathes of Nigeria’s territory in the form of some local governments and communities in places far from the presence of our security forces were commandeered and taken over by these insurgents. At that time, the terrorists in romantic fashion, and aping their colleagues in Somalia, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, talked of creating an Islamic Caliphate in those areas of the North east of Nigeria!

However, all that is now history as the

coming of Muhammadu Buhari put a stop to the romantic idea of a Caliphate, in any part of Nigeria! Being used to fighting rebels and putting them on the run, in his days as a young army commander, the coming of Buhari, as a democratically elected President changed the turn of events on the battlefield against the terrorists. His reputation and resolve to defeat the insurgents and his personality, as well as diplomacy involving regional countries, imbued the nation’s security forces in the North East combat theatre with new resolve and determination, and with time, the terrorists who were talking of establishing a Caliphate were now on the run!

The security forces, as well as their sister armies from neighbouring countries, organised as the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) are now engaged in mopping up operations to clear the North East region of Nigeria and adjoining areas in Cameroun, Niger and Chad, of the remaining bandits.

Having achieved significant and spectacular victory against the terrorists, the challenge before the country and the international community, is to embark on reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement and return of the millions of the displaced persons in the three most affected states of the region. These states are Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

Towards this end, the government of PMB is already moving fast in a no nonsense manner. To cater for the feeding and wellbeing of the refugees or IDP’s, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)

is present at most of the IDP camps with the help of the Red Cross and relevant NGO’s, providing relief materials and health services to several thousand women, children and the elderly in these camps. Secondly, the President ordered the Nigeria Custom Service to distribute seized contraband items cleared by the courts as government property to the IDP’s. Third, the President has set up a Development and Rehabilitation committee for the North East under the Chairmanship of General T. Y Danjuma (rtd) and comprising eminent and committed Nigerians to oversee the rehabilitation effort that is due to commence in the next couple of months. Four, the government has given permission and access to friendly nations, interested NGO’s and other foreign partners of the country who are interested in restoring and re- developing the devastated region, to enter the affected areas to assess the situation to determine the level of their participation in the reconstruction process.

It should be noted that the story of the North East region even when the Boko Haram held sway has not altogether been forlorn. A lot of humanitarian effort has been invested in feeding and empowering the IDP’s preparing the ground and ensuring that the refugees are in one piece waiting for the envisaged massive reconstruction and rehabilitation to be carried out by the Federal Government and its partners.

One such endeavour which has kept hope alive in most of the IDP camps especially

in Adamawa State is the initiative by the American University of Nigeria (AUN), and its affiliate organisation, the Adamawa Peace Initiative (AUN-API). Under the tireless and enthusiastic leadership of the President of the American University of Nigeria, Dr. Margee Ensign, the AUN- API has been feeding, clothing, educating and empowering several thousand refugees in IDP camps in Adamawa State for the past four years.

This it has done with its own resources and contributions from concerned foreign countries, NGO’s and corporate organisations in the country.

The AUN-API in collaboration at times with state governments in the affected areas, and other companies owned by the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, have organised conferences on security and post conflict rehabilitation in the North East and increased awareness of the people and government alike on the challenges facing the region in a post-conflict milieu. With its commitment and pioneering endeavour in community development through involving its students and staff in working for the wellbeing of the refugees, there is no doubt that the AUN-API would continue to be an asset to the region in the years to come. PMB and the Federal Government have worthy partners here.

Louis Okoroma, a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Abuja.

12

Sunday Mail

SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

@

EMAIL

thesundayletters@gmail. com and sundayletters@ newtelegraphonline.com

MAIL BAG

* Letters to the Editor

The Sunday Telegraph

Ethnic tension in Mile 12 Market Dear Editor,

Just recently, I was among those who commemorated and celebrated the 16th anniversary of the peace enjoyed in Mile 12 market after the last ethnic attacks in November 1999. To me, the return of ethnic tensions in the market and its environs is an evidence of government’s failure to adequately cater for its citizenry and this new wave of conflicts should, therefore, serve as a wake-up call for local, state and national governments to live up to their social responsibilities.

Over the years, the Lagos State government has failed to give concrete attention to peace building in the market.

Whenever there is a fight between ethnic groups, what government does is to cease hostilities using military capacities and force parties to negotiate the agreement without tracking, monitoring and committing resources to the peace-building process in the area.

Following the end of the violent attacks between Hausa and Yoruba in the market in 1999, government has done practically nothing towards further building peace within the market. Apart from forcing an agreement and setting up of an Inter-Ethnic Forum, which was short-lived, most of the peace-building initiatives responsible for the stable peace enjoyed in the market were put in place by the stakeholders (market and religious leaders) in the market. In the wake of calls by some members of the Lagos State House of Assembly to relocate the market, it is important to point out that it is not the market that is responsible for the ethnic conflicts in the area. Relocation of the market to any part of Lagos State is no guarantee of peace in the area. Though it may ease the traffic problem experienced along Ketu-Ikorodu axis but ultimately it will not ensure peaceful coexistence between the ethnic groups. It is important to note that contact between Hausa and Yoruba or any other ethnic group by itself cannot generate ethnic tension but rather it is the socio-economic context of their contact that generates ethnic conflicts. Some of the triggers of the ethnic tensions in the area include lack of social amenities.

As at today, the market lacks good road network, public toilets, health facilities and so forth. As if that is not enough, conflict and dispute resolution mechanism in the market has been commercialised. The aim, instead of resolving conflicts,

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Put the looters through the grill Dear Editor,

Porters waiting for daily bread at Oyingbo Market... Lagos

restoring and building relationships has been to generate revenues for market leaders and government.

Traders are charged before issues of conflicts and disputes are entertained and resolved. This has been largely responsible for traders not to willingly report disagreements and conflicts to appropriate authorities. The recent ethnic clash in Mile 12 is not because Hausa are blood thirsty, neither is it because Yoruba are not accommodating. Reducing ethnic conflicts to primordial causes implies sheer ignorance.

Government must provide adequate social amenities for the people, set up a permanent inter-ethnic forum charged with the responsibility of educating Nigerians on the need for oneness and peaceful coexistence. An early warning mechanism to spotlight conflict flashpoints must also be put in place.

LAWAL ADENIRAN, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

What can you do for Nigeria?

Dear Editor,

Since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29, 2015, Nigerians have been making demands in the media on issues they would want the government to address. The wish list of citizens is so long but the government alone cannot solve all problems confronting our country.

We all have to find solutions to the numerous problems beginning right from the family level, community,

local, state, national, civil society organisations, faith and community based organisations and Nigerians in the Diaspora. The challenges before Nigeria are enormous and require that all good hands must be on deck in order to tackle head-on these problems.

It is, therefore, worrisome that Nigerians daily make demands on government without indicating what they can do to make a difference to their neighbourhoods, communities, and the country. Or what they can do to inculcate moral values in their children for the betterment of society. The level of indiscipline in our country is mind-boggling. A visitor arriving Abuja, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is welcomed by pedestrians dashing across the expressway at great risk to their lives and those of motorists instead of using the overhead bridges provided for their safety.

Equally disturbing is the fear of head-on collision with motorists who drive against the traffic without regards to the great risk they pose to other road users. Why has the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) not deemed it necessary to address the nuisance being perpetrated on the Airport Expressway.

The roads leading into the capital city from Zuba and Keffi axis expose visitors to the slums and squalor of Abuja.

The Keffi dual carriage-way now serves as a refuse dump.

Zuba road, which has the Zuma Rock tourist site, is equally filthy. This kind of attitude does not support development. The inhabitants of these settlements should organise themselves to watch over their environment to

ensure that refuse is only dumped in designated collection points.

The Nasarawa State government is doing its best but the sheer huge population of these settlements namely; Marraba, One Man Village, New Nyanya, Ado, Karu and Masaka present a great challenge which calls for all good hands to be on deck to tackle this problem. This is just one example of the numerous challenges facing our country.

Government alone cannot address all the problems. It is, therefore, necessary for all Nigerians to join hands with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the numerous challenges.

RAHILA AHMADU (MRS), ASOKORO, ABUJA.

No to violence in Rivers Dear Editor, Yes, I fully support President Muhammadu Buhari on his vow to deal ruthlessly with all perpetrators of violence in Rivers State! All lovers of peace and security must rally round our President to stop violence and wanton killings by criminals in all parts of Nigeria! But permit me to remind President Buhari that he should also deal ruthlessly with the Fulani herdsmen who allegedly killed over 300 citizens of Agatu in Benue State and destroyed multi-million naira farms of the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State! The Fulani cattle rearers appear too audacious, murder-

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

ous and blood-thirsty in many parts of Nigeria! All these criminal acts must stop now in the national interest!

KUNLE ROTIMI, LAGOS

Indiscriminate and insensitive billing

by Ikeja Disco Dear Editor, It is quite appalling the way consumers are being indiscriminately and insensitively charged for electricity not utilised. Despite the fact that power supply has been very epileptic in the past months, electricity bills have continued to be outrageously on the high side. In many neighbourhoods, we experience load shedding as it is called, a case whereby you have electricity for a particular number of days and no electricity for the other days. Cumulatively in a month we have electricity supply for 12 days or even less out of the 31days in a month. I am sincerely appealing to our state governor, His Excellency Akinwunmi Ambode to please come to our aid and save us from these fraudulent practices. Let them as a matter of urgency put in place the promised prepaid meters so we can pay for only what is consumed or find a way of accurately charging consumers with post-paid meters what is actually consumed in a month. This exploitation must be stopped once and for all.

ROBERT OLUGBENGA, LAGOS

I always believe that corruption thrives in our society because the perpetrators live to enjoy their loot. It is a damning shame that the legal system that is supposed to enforce order is not separated from the menace. Very often, we believe that there are no men of weak morals in America. The truth is that they exist but only a fool will indulge. The wrath of their laws is more punishing than the stamp of the hot rod on a slave.

In our simplistic approach to criminality, some of us accuse President Buhari of brutality in his treatment of the rogue elements that have made us paupers.

Although they live like kings while mocking us for our imbecility; whether it is our belief in religion or our intractable ethnic docility, we bend backwards to give tolerance to stupidity. Evidently, we cannot escape the hardship of our foolish attendance to civility. Therefore, anyone suspected of looting must be put through the grill of the criminal justice system. The horror of being thrown into detention among a pack of hungry wolves that have marked their space in the cell of hell will squeeze your humanity to infinitesimal stature. But that is just the beginning because slowly you will find out that the world is a very lonely place. The judges, the lawyers and the police will assist in bringing you down. They will prefer to designate you as the suspect in the face of all your fancy titles. The message is simple; let our people know that crime does not pay. If you are selfish enough to take undue advantage of public resources, you must be made to cough it out.

PIUS OKANEME, UMUOJI, ANAMBRA STATE YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD! SEND YOUR LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS TO THESUNDAYLETTERS@ GMAIL.COM. LETTERS SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 200 WORDS AND MUST HAVE THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE SENDER

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

Execut ve As a businessman are you satisfied with the performance of governments in Nigeria?

I will say no. The reason I say so is that, if you look at the Nigeria of yesteryears, when I was a young boy, you will agree with me that the cost of education was not as expensive as it is today. In those days, if we want to drink water, we just go to the tap use our palm to scoop the water and drink.

Some of our past leaders have really disappointed us. Our country is really blessed with enough mineral resources, yet the citizenry is wallowing in abject poverty. So, I think the government can do better by making more business friendly policies to help the economy grow. I will like to advise the youths to be more alive to their responsibilities. With regard to our present economic situation, I believe that there is nothing God cannot do, we should seek Him all the time and Nigeria will return to its glory.

What has life taught you as a young man?

I grew up like the ordinary village boy on the street. I was born into a polygamous home, and it happened that my father’s first wife’s daughter is older than my mother. My father married four wives, so that can give an idea of where I am coming from.

My father was a disciplinarian and he taught me to be disciplined and that is what I am still enjoying today.

What kind of business are you into?

Well, I have been a businessman. We import goods from Switzerland, Germany, USA, China and South Korea to mention but a few. We import mainly automobile products, batteries, tyres and other spare parts.

How long have you been in the business?

It is about a decade now. Growing the business was not easy, like you know about business in this country.

But God directed my feet towards this particular type of business. Today, I thank God for the success story.

What were your childhood dreams and challenges you encountered on your way to success?

Hahaha! Well, nothing is smooth, but because of the determination in me to make ends meet, I was ready to make things happen. By the grace of God, things worked out the way I planned it. But really, at the beginning, it wasn’t too smooth looking at my background. I come from a very poor and humble background. My father did not own a bicycle, so you can imagine how tough it was raising the capital. I tried all my possible best to be what I am today.

Looking at where you are coming from and where you are now, would you say you are a fulfilled businessman?

Hmm…I will say yes and no. When I say ‘yes,’ God has really blessed me so much that as of today, I can fit into the elite class but at the same time, I did not want to lose my focus because I believe I can still touch life more than I have been able to do. I believe in assisting the less privileged. God bless you to be a blessing to others. So, that is why I said no. With God always on my side, I know he will give me wisdom to do more to the society.

I started my business with just N50 – John Momah Chief John Momah is the Managing Director of Johngate Industrial Company. He is a native of Nnewi in Anambra State. In this interview with EDWIN USOBOH, the renowned businessman shares his grass to grace story No doubt a lot of youths out there will want to emulate your business virtues, what advice do you have for them?

My advice to them is first and foremost, trust in God and commit everything to Him. Secondly, you must have plans and be focused. Some people believe that one needs somebody to lift one up before one can succeed. I used to tell people that care to listen that it is a lie. Often, you do not need anybody but your determination to make your dreams come true is what drives you. So, you can achieve what you want to achieve without anybody lifting you up. Like me, I started very little but today, the result are everywhere around the world.

Where do you consider your turning point in business?

I started my business with N50.00, but I would say my turning point was when I met some business associates.

They were from Shaki, Oyo State. One day, they came to me saying that they heard a lot about me, that I am very focused and determined. They were told that if they support me, by giving me cash to do business, I will do it well and return their money to them fast. On that faithful day, they gave me N12 million, I collected it and within me, I said to myself, I must not disappoint them. Few months later, they came back and their money was ready including the little interest I paid on the money. So, I started from there, with the money, I was able to import bicycles, batteries and other goods. So, from there, I sold and sent their money back to them.

I can say that was my turning point.

Who can you say is your mentor in business and role model?

God is my mentor. I admire Chief C o s m a s Maduka, Chairman Coscharis Group. We are from the same town, I usually say to myself, if he can make it, I also will make it, and God has been on my side.

What will you say has been the role of your

wife in your life?

Yes, I thank God that he gave me the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh and the person that understands me.

I thank God for giving me my better half, she is my all in all; she gave me a lot of encouragement and support, even when the going was rough. After God, there is no other person except my wife.

What are your hobbies?

I will say prayers. I like to go to the house of God. It’s good to serve the Lord.

Your favourite meal is what?

As a village brought up my favourite meal is swallow. I like the life of swallow and oha or Achii soup.

What kind of perfumes appeal to you?

I just wear any good perfume, but most times, I use Versace.

In your own view, what do you think the present administration can put in place to help businesses strive in this country?

This country is really blessed when it comes to mineral resources for any business to strive, but the government needs to encourage the business class.

I believe with government’s intervention in the country, businesses can be good again.

How has the ban on imports affected your business?

It is really affecting some businessmen but I don't see it affecting people like us, who do legitimate businesses. I will like the Federal Government to be soft on the import policies, although the government is trying to encourage import substitution policy, whereby the local production of goods is encouraged. I believe that if government encourages the manufacturers the more, the local production of our goods will be reached.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NEWS

Osu warns FG against mandatory education policy Tai Anyanwu

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he Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Monsignor, Gabriel Osu, has asked the Federal Government to provide explanation on the alleged adoption of a controversial compulsory curriculum for basic education in the country.

Monsignor Osu, in a statement in Lagos, said the Federal Ministry of Education is currently making moves to implement a the educational curriculum intended to compel pupils to merge religion and national values, and subjects like Christian Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Civic Education, Social Studies, and Security Education into one compulsory subject for both Islamic and Christian

pupils.

His words: “We live in a country where the rumour mills work relentlessly and unceasingly, a land where conspiracy theories are never in short supply.

There are rumours that a new curriculum of basic education is either about to be adopted, or has already been adopted by the Federal Ministry of Education, and that it is already being implemented.

“It is said that this curriculum, with the intention of merging religion and national values, merges subjects like Christian Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Civic Education, Social Studies, and Security Education into one compulsory subject. These compulsory subjects will be taught to our children from Primary 1 to Junior Second-

ary School 3.

“That our young and impressionable minds will be taught in this “compulsory” subject that Jesus neither died on the cross nor resurrected; that all the children to be taught this subject would be required to memorise and recite the Quran; that they (children) will be taught or are being taught already that they may disobey their parents if they do not allow them to become Muslim,” Osu said.

Although the Catholic spokesman reasoned that this may just be one of the many misleading information that emanate from the social media, he expressed concern that if the rumour had some atom of truth, it would be gravely impudent to present Islam to a Christian child in ways that devalue Islam.

According to him, in the same way, it would amount to a grave disservice to interreligious relationship if Christianity were to be presented to a Muslim child in ways that devalue the teachings of Christianity.

“A curriculum that teaches a child to disobey his or her parents if they object to the child’s conversion to another religion is an affront to religious sensibilities in a multi-religious entity like ours.

“Whether or not this ‘curriculum’ is real, however, we must admit that the question of the relationship between the government and the citizen in Nigeria is a recurring decimal,” he added.

Osu noted that the general history of Nigeria is replete with instances of

arrogant presumption of omniscience and omnipotence of government and its officials.

“Despite our ‘democratic’ credentials, there is nothing on the ground that suggests that such presumption is about to end soon. Public office holders repeatedly ignore the fact that they are elected or appointed to serve the citizens. Where the public servant dictates to the citizens, whose money pays his salary the tail is wagging the dog. But what is true of our general history as a country is infelicitously exemplified in the education sector.”

He pointed out that policy makers in the education sector, with consistent obstinacy, refuse to listen to participants in the sector.

According to Osu, the unfortunate sequel is part

of all ill-conceived policies that have destroyed education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Insisting that education cannot thrive in a dictatorship, the cleric, said the Federal Ministry of Education should, as a matter of urgency, clear the air.

“This country needs religious harmony. But the need cannot be met by clandestinely imposing a curriculum that offends the beliefs of any of the faith communities in Nigeria,” he lamented.

When the deputy Director of press and Public relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ben Goong, was contacted he neither declined nor confirm the rumour. He, however, asked that the ministry be given more time to clear the air.

‘We fulfilled campaign promises’ Alhassan Yusuf Bauchi

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lawmaker in the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Muhammad Tukur, said he has made remarkable impacts on his constituency by executing constituency projects.

Tukur, representing Tafawa Balewa constituency, said that about 70 per cent of the projects earmarked for the past one year were achieved.

He said he worked assiduously towards the development of his constituency and increased the polling units to 109, while N10 million was set aside for the benefit of the area.

He also spoke about the provision of scholarship to students in high institutions, saying that they invested another N10million

in the area of health services to fight against communicable diseases, gastroenteritis, prevalence of Lassa fever for which drugs have been provided.

Tukur further said all surgical operations in his constituency have been taken care of with a view to providing succour to the people of the area. Others include the promotion of general hospitals from where cases are transferred to Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital.

In the area of infrastructure, the lawmaker said that 12 bore-holes have been constructed while 36 of them will soon receive the attention of the speaker of the House of Assembly, Kawuwa Damina along with the senator representing the area with aimed of providing adequate water supply for the people.

Lawmaker empowers constituents

T

he lawmaker representing Dass Local Government Constituency, in the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hajiya Maryam Garba Bagel said she has moved about 10 motions along side humanitarian interventions within nine months of her legislative work in the assembly.

According to her, by the adoption of the motions vast interventions in health, education, and water sectors and youths empowerment were made in harmony with the change mantra of the present administration in the state.

She said she also carried payment of medical bills of 10 patients and payment of school fees to five students and awarded scholarship to 10 persons.

On skills acquisition, Bagel added that she paid for the hostels and school training fees in addition with N5, 000 monthly allowances for the period of six months for different people undergoing skills acquisition under the federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity located at the Government Reserved Area in the state.

Bagel pledged to continue

L-R Executive Director (Technical), Ledex Company, France; Mr. Paul Kerkhofs; MD/CEO, Cited Development Limited, Captain Dayo Ogunleye; and Executive Director (Finance), Selective Security Limited, Mrs. Toyin Obilana, during the public presentation of E40 Inteligent and Ping Pong Light Bulb, held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos... recently.

Reps committed to Buhari’s anti-graft war, says Dogara Philip Nyam Abuja

T

he 8th session of the House of Representatives is committed to supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s war againt corruption, Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, has said.

Dogara spoke when he delivered a speech as guest speaker at the fourth convocation ceremony of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo state on Saturday, according to a statement issued by his spokesman Mr. Turaki Hassan.

Speaking on the topic: “Legislative Oversight as

a Critical Component of Good Governance,” Dogara, however, acknowledged that, “ the oversight activities of the legislature faces enormous challenges and setbacks that should be overcome, if it is to lead to good governance that we are all looking for.”

“The 8th House of Representatives committed itself to fighting corruption and abuse of office in its Legislative Agenda and is supporting the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, in its effort to eradicate corruption in Nigeria,” he stated.

The speaker who identified some of the challenges being faced by legislature in Nige-

ria to include; lack of cooperation by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) in the executive branch; public misconception on the mandate, role and activities of the legislature; also said inadequate funding of oversight activities such that in highly technical areas of oversight, there may not be enough resources to engage the kind of technical assistance required to conduct a proper oversight, all constitute some of the major challenges.

He said, there may be a few bad eggs that may not live up to their oath of office and legislative duties, but the leadership is dedicated to ensuring that any proven

case of misdemeanour by any member is appropriately dealt with.

“There is no doubt that good governance is essential for the achievement of social, political and economic progress in society. It is the means through which the State can effectively address the allocation and management of resources to enable it respond to the collective good of society without discrimination”.

Nigeria, according to Dogara, as a fledgling democracy with a chequered history of military rule is yet to attain its full potential in the practice of good governance through legislative oversight.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016

Why we suspended Sylva – Bayelsa APC chairman p.16

Ohuabunwa: 2016 budget, most controversial ever p.17

The Sunday Interview

It’s a shame Chibok girls are still missing, two years after - Dr. Ekhomu p.18, 19

POLITICS Johnchuks Onuanyim ABUJA

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or those who think that there is peace in the All Progressives Congress (APC) they might be far from the realities on ground as the party could be said to be sitting on keg of gun powered. The series of meetings of the party held two weeks ago was to restore peace to the party that came into power in May last year.

Before the meetings of the two organs of the party - the Caucus and the National Executive Committee, (NEC) -there was tension as a result of allegations that some members of the National Working Committee, (NWC) were going to be relieved of the positions.

For instance, when the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was proceeding on his 10-day working vacation, it was alleged that he was going on terminal leave. This didn’t come to pass as he resumed but with the shadow of his being relieved of his position following him.

To some members of the party, OdigieOyegun should be relieved of his office because activities in the party and in government were static. Party members were not enjoying the political largesse that they had expected as those who won elections and are in power. Some chieftains and party staff believed that the APC national chairman was the cause of low pace activities in the party due to his “ineptitude and his inability to enjoy confidence of those in government.”

And the only way to get Odigie-Oyegun sack was to engineer the meetings of the party’s highest decision bodies, such as meetings of the Board of Trustees, (BoT), Caucus and NEC. It was believed that any of these meetings would raise a vote of no confidence on Odigie-Oyegun and he would be asked to step down as national chairman and would be replaced with people like Tony Momoh and others whose names have been touted in the media.

The plot against Odigie-Oyegun by his detractors did not come to pass as the Caucus and the NEC meetings that held dwelled on how to strengthen the party for a greater height rather than the sack of the party’s national chairman. The BoT of the party could not hold for the reason that the Board has to been properly constituted.

But for some party members, that was postponing the evil day. With Odigie-Oyegun IN the saddle of leadership some believe there can never cohesion in the party.

One person that believes this and would always voice it out is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Timi Frank.

Recently in a chat with the media, Frank spoke on the division in the party as a result of the unconstitutional behaviour of some leaders. Also Frank has condemned the prosecution of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in courts. Senator Saraki, who was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party before joining APC, is being prosecuted for false declaration of his assets.

It has been observed that there is no way Saraki will be humiliated by the courts and he and his supporters would be happy with APC. An adage in Igboland says that when you kill a goat for whatever reason, the owner will surface.

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Biyi Adegoroye Assistant Editor biyi.fire@yahoo.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing

Company Limited

APC and the search for internal cohesion

Buhari

Frank, who has been denied the Acting spokesperson of APC is a staunch supporter of former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bukola. What this means is that Atiku and Bukola are politically woven together.

This complex situation and its implications became manifest recently when a daily newspaper allegedly reported that APC is planning to suspend Atiku from the party.

Whether this would be achieved or not remains to be seen. But one thing that is glaring is that Atiku is not a politician that would be suspended and he would not fight back.

Also of importance in the crisis in APC is the fact that members of the legacy parties are trying to decimate PDP members in APC. To them, they believe that they had formed APC before some PDP members joined. The key PDP members that joined APC seem to be having problems in the party.

Former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso is having problems in his state, with the leadership of APC backing the Governor, Abdullahi Ganduji against him. Kwakwanso was one of the five governors that left PDP in 2013 to join APC. Speaking on what happened at the caucus meeting that was allegedly planned for Odigie-Oyegun’s removal, a member said: “What happened was that we reviewed the performance of the party and also looked at the 2014 expenditure and also the budget of

Odigie-Oyegun

the party. We also hammered on the issue of appointments in the party.

“The issue of the replacement of the national chairman was not raised, members agreed to go back to the spirit that made them to win elections last year,” he said.

At the two meetings, which were chaired

by Odigie-Oyegun, the key players in the party were there, except the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu. Since APC came to power last year May, the last NEC meeting was the second in the series and Tinubu did not attend any of the meetings.

His reasons to avoid the meetings of the second largest decision making body of the party (NEC) has not been ascertained, except that it is being alleged that he is still not happy with the leadership of the party on the role they played for the emergence of the leadership of the 8th National Assembly.

The caucus was able to lay out what should be adopted at the NEC outside what have been achieved by government and the policy direction presented by President Muhammadu Buhari. The achievements and policy direction presented was to reassure party members that the government was on cause notwithstanding the criticism against it.

He also mentioned such areas like the security of the country, diversifying the economy by paying attention to Agriculture and Solid Minerals, unbundling the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for greater efficiency.

An elated Odigie-Oyegun, said: “Naturally, this would have been the time to roll out the drums and to celebrate loudly, but I think that being a government and a party that is responsive, we are very well aware of the hardships in the land and for that reason, it should be a period of introspection, a period for memories and a period for reminiscences.

“Yes, it is true, these are hard times, but hard times create challenges. Challenges call for men and women to agree in leadership, united, focused, passionate in the policies that they stand for, which means that this party must rediscover itself, which means that this party must stand as one behind the success of our president and for the policies that we stand for and for the promises he has made to the Nigerian people.”

To him, this is a time to stand together, which means that “this is a time to rededicate ourselves and the party to the vision to which the people of this nation voted. We must leave this arena once more as a strong, united fighting force dedicated to delivering on the promises made by Mr. President to the Nigerian people”.

But political pundits believe that for the APC to enjoy the expected internal cohesion there must be justice in the distribution of posts among the legacy parties. Party chieftains must also be appointed into relevant positions in government and in the party to elicit party loyalty and avoid damaging criticism of its leadership.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

politics How realistic is the allegation your executive made against the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Bayelsa State in the last election, Chief Timipre Sylva?

Well, I don’t know the allegation you are talking about.

What the State Chairman, the Deputy, the Secretary and others that were there when we addressed the press, said was that the list that was forwarded by Timipre Sylva on his letter headed paper to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is not the original list that was forwarded by the party and himself. And as a party we discussed with him to let him know that his action did not go down well with the party. That names of people we don’t know as members of the party were forwarded for appointments.

So, we decided to let him know that as a party we would not toe that line. You see, a lot of things were discussed with him before. Before his election, a lot of things happened; the struggle of making him a party flag bearer was enough for him to see or know that the party structure in the state believed in him as a person. For us to go and hoist an APC flag in a former President’s state and the torment that we passed through, the number of times that we were jailed; are enough to let him know that we have stood by him all these years. To some of us our families are not still back to Nigeria. Our families are still in exile because of what we passed through We wouldn’t want our families to see us being jailed, so that there would be no panic in the families.

Well, the issue here is the leader of our party, Chief Timipre Sylva and the state Exco are in disagreement because of the names he has forwarded, which are not in tandem with the ones we all agreed uponand forwarded earlier. So we only said that those names he forwarded should be changed, but he said they cannot be changed. That is one argument. Two, he also told us that he wants to retire from politics to go into business, and after discussing with him some of us told him that even though we do business, we are still in politics and we will not retire the same time. So it doesn’t mean if you want to retire as a leader of our party, you will retire with all the federal appointments that would come to Bayelsa State.

That is the issue here and as a leader, he knows what to do.

Talking about the names on the list that is causing problem, can you mention one or two that are not members of the party and did not work for the party in the state?

One of the names on that list is from Okpoma and he works in shell. He has never been in APC. I don’t know him and I have never seen him. Another name on that list is his private secretary, Dofie, who we also know has not been to Yenegoa for APC business except the day Sylva comes. You see, let us not deceive ourselves. Sylva himself knows that there are people who have made him proud as a leader. Sylva only came to APC in Bayelsa, the second day Muhammadu Buhari visited after he has been made flag bearer. That was the first time Sylva visited Yenegoa since he left office. People have suffered and laboured for this party. Let us agree that he lost election, so he is coming from depressed position, but others also are coming from an angry position but as leaders, we need to sit down and discuss and agree on issues. It must not be I have said so and this is what I think and it is final. We think that decisions are not good for us. That is the disagreement here. We need real party men and women to be appointed in positions from Bayelsa State APC. That is the bone of contention.

Why the issue about involvement of Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri? Is he not a committed member of the party?

I don’t think Heineken has shown any commitment in our party. I saw Heineken in APC after he lost senatorial election. Senator Lokpobori and I flew the same plane a particular day before the presidential election; Lokpobori challenged me and told me that my party, APC does not have the capacity to win any election. In fact, we approached him to come and take a ticket on the platform of APC for the senatorial election and he told us we don’t have the capacity. A party that does not have capacity to win election, formed government and then he becomes a minister. So, the question is, when did he join the party to be a minister and how did he join the party to be a minister? However, that is not the bone of contention here for me as a state chairman, but if it comes to the time for us to prove our allegation against him, as a party we will prove it. We are not scared of that. Heineken knows that he is not a member of APC; he knows how he managed to be minister. So, we are not scared about that, we are talking as APC members that everybody knows. We have suffered for APC and we have been in cell for more than 16 times for APC. Lokpobori should tell me how many times that the police have embarrassed him because of APC. As I speak with you, in Southern Ijaw election, my leader, Sylva has been on national televisions telling Nigerians how firm I am in Southern Ijaw. He has told Nigerians that because he has me in Southern Ijaw he would win Southern Ijaw where the whole votes are from. Southern Ijaw is the largest local government where I was the chairman. In our first election, we got close to 60, 000 votes difference. It shows capacity

Why we suspended Sylva – Bayelsa APC chairman The All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State has been in crisis over political appointments accruing to the state in recent times. In this interview with JOHNCHUCKS ONUANYIM, the state party chairman, Chief Tiwei Timipa Orunimighe, narrates the genesis of the crisis and why the APC lost the last governorship election the party divided into three places. Two of the parts came to APC because of me and other reasons, not because of Sylva. It was a difficult task for us to make Bayelsans believe in him. Don’t forget that he has been governor there before and he knows that the APC I lead in Bayelsa State rebranded him. It is not a fight; we are disagreeing on the issue of the names he sent to the SGF. Would you say that the alleged betrayal of the party in anyway contributed to his losing the election?

I wouldn’t know. He should know. In fact Sylva should realise that it was his attitude that made us to lose the election, because we had everything correct but he is refusing to know or realise that fact. He cannot because he is worried today and fails to realise that his attitude and character made us lose election. Everything you tell Sylva, he would tell you leave that he knows it. I can assure you, during our election not even one national member, not even one APC governor or APC member from any other state visited us. That shows that we were left alone, but in other states, you will see people coming for solidarity visits during elections - sitting down with the leaders talking on the election. We were left alone.

So, what happened and how did we get to that level. It shows clearly that there was a disconnect somewhere politically.

Orunimighe

that is the local government that is making us to be in the tribunal. So, where is the betrayal coming from? The governor of Bayelsa State then came to Southern Ijaw because the election of Southern Ijaw was postponed, I almost insulted the governor because I confronted him by telling him that he does not have the right to be in a different local government in an election day. But the governor told me that he is the chief security officer of the state and he can go anywhere.

I insisted that he has no right to go everywhere and I challenged him. When the man was trying to lure me to his side, Sylva was aware and I want to say that there is nothing Dickson and his government has tried to do with me that Sylva is not aware. When he promised to make me Chief of Staff or two commissioners at the time APC was becoming a party, I said no. Is it when we had finished primaries and were going for the election that I would betray him?

So, when you talk about betrayal, I look at the tendencies.

Somebody is trying to be funny somewhere.

But Sylva is saying that you are angry because you lost the ticket to be his running mate and you also lost ministerial nomination?

I never for one day in my life asked Sylva to choose me as his running mate. It was Sylva that came to my house in Port Harcourt and asked me to be his running mate. What I asked for in the system was a different thing entirely; he knows that. He came to my house because of my popularity and said he wanted me to run with him. He said so and he was the same person that disappointed. Yes after the issue I was angry everybody knows that. The followership of

During the APC primaries in Bayelsa State, it was alleged that all other aspirants were muzzled down for Sylva.

What was responsible for that?

Well, you wouldn’t use the word muzzled down because as a person, if you ask me we had a committee that went around talking to so many people and agreeing, that is the spirit of politics. We did that a lot and that is the same spirit we want Sylva to drive. The spirit of talking with each other, not to look at the state chairman and said because I am his senior or because I am closer to the President nothing would happen. We made him to be famous as the number one person in the party in Bayelsa State and as a people, if we rebel against him, it would also give him a problem. We don’t want to rebel against him. We want to sit down with him and discuss and agree on issues. I don’t want people to say that we muzzled people down for him. I had my own reasons and reservations why as a state chairman I felt that Sylva was the right candidate.

Basically from moral and politically grounds he still has his connections with the president. You see as a state and politicians, there are some issues that you must look at.

We looked at the development of Bayelsa; we looked at our IGR; we looked at the federal allocation that comes to Bayelsa; and we looked at the level of development that is needed. And if you asked, does Bayelsa have the capacity to develop itself? The answer is no. We need the collaboration from the Federal Government and who has this connection, I felt it is Sylva. Today, Seriake Dickson as governor how many times does he see the President to discuss issues about Bayelsa? Though it is the President prerogative to develop the Nigerian people, but as a leader of state you must go with your problems because others are coming with theirs for the President to know what it takes to developer Bayelsa people. That would be the thing that we would be lacking if we don’t have the person that is connected with the President. So, I had my own reasons why APC should go for Timipre Sylva. So the issue here is not that we didn’t make the right choice in Sylva, the issue is the appointment list he has sent. I always like to toe the path of truth, which Sylva knows.

As an APC NEC member, what do you make of the crisis in your party?

I don’t think we have crisis. We don’t have crisis in the APC at the national level. It is just a group of persons and their interests that are trying to outplay the general interest of the large political party. It is normal. Don’t forget, APC is an amalgamation; we are still in the process of getting to understand each other very well. Those are the issues playing out. I don’t think we have crisis because a party that has crisis shouldn’t be as focused as this.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

columns

Tough decisions vital to grow economy Akinwunmi Ambode

I

sincerely appreciate this initiative of the Management of The Nation Newspapers in organising the maiden edition of National Forum on the Economy with the theme: “National Economy, The Way Forward”.

Despite boasting the biggest economy in Africa, Nigeria’s economy remains largely undiversified with crude oil sales accounting for over 90 per cent of total revenue. As a result, our economy is always vulnerable to volatilities in the international oil market coupled with the impact of many years of corruption and wastages. This is the reason for our present economic nightmare.

It is very unfortunate that we wasted the golden opportunity to deploy the trillions of dollars earned from our oil exports to develop the critical sectors of the economy including power, agriculture, industries, solid minerals, transportation infrastructure among others.

No doubt, if we had done the right thing as some other oil producing countries did, keeping in mind that crude oil is a finite resource, we would not be experiencing the devastating effect of oil price crash on the scale we are experiencing it now.

We are now being forced to do, with pains, what we should have done with ease years ago. The task of charting a new direction for the economy is not go-

ing to be a tea party. Various policy options must be identified and assessed on the basis of our current situation and needs. Moving our economy forward requires thinking outside the box and doing things differently. We need creativity, innovation and the courage to take difficult and tough decisions.

The leadership of the country at national and state levels must have the courage to take tough decisions and make sacrifices in the near term which will, in the long run, make our economy stronger and sustainable and, consequently result in prosperity across all regions of Nigeria.

One way to revive our economy will be to explore and expand interState relations, strengthen regional competitiveness by maximising economies of scale, regional optimisation of assets and endowments and mitigation of afflictions and natural disasters. Other potential areas for inter-State collaboration include transport infrastructure to facilitate market linkages, education, market development, human capacity building, security and intelligence sharing, among others.

I must stress, however, that this idea is not an entirely uncharted territory for Nigeria. Prior to the oil boom era, Agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and contributed about 65% to the country’s GDP and represented close to 70% of total

INEC Diary ezekatchy@yahoo.co.uk

B

Onyekachi Eze

y the time you read this piece, some (if not all) the results of last Saturday’s Area Council elections in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) might have been announced. That is, assuming there is no hitch in the conduct of the polls.

The elections which were earlier scheduled for March 19 were delayed by three weeks because the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Jacob Jatau said the commission was unable to recruit enough ad hoc staff to man the polls.

Luckily, the authorities of the University of Abuja was able to come to the commission’s rescue to make up the shortfall in the number of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who were usually mobil-

ised to conduct such elections, with students of the university. About 3, 900 of the over 9,000 ad hoc staff who served in yesterday’s elections were students of the University of Abuja.

INEC has been faced with the challenges of conducting transparent elections since last year’s governorship election in Kogi State.

Subsequent elections and re-run elections were either inconclusive or suffered outright postponement.

At a stakeholders’ meeting with Abuja residents on Tuesday, April 4, most of the people present warned against inconclusive or postponement of polls.

This was the same fear expressed that same day by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

exports. Through farming, Nigeria was able to feed its population while major cash crops were exported to earn foreign exchange.

From the cocoa and rubber plantations in the West, the groundnut pyramids and cotton in the North, to palm oil in the East; each region was identified by its economic areas of comparative advantage which were collectively harnessed towards ensuring food security and inclusive growth across the country.

Given our current economic challenge, I believe it is time we take a cue from our old ‘playbook’ for a viable ‘game plan’ to revive our national economy. States and regions must once again begin to leverage on their respec-

tive areas of comparative advantage by establishing partnerships towards establishing inter-State or inter-regional commodity value chain. We must restart inter-state/regional cooperation.

It was in realization of this that Lagos and Kebbi States signed a Memorandum of Understanding a few weeks ago. Kebbi Stateis the largest producer of rice in Nigeria while Lagos state, the most populous state in Africa, consumes rice, mostly imported rice, worth N135b annually. With this partnership, which covers food production, processing and distribution, Lagos State and Kebbi State have taken steps to explore our areas of comparative advantages to achieve

food security for Nigeria and save our foreign exchange. In specific terms, this collaboration will produce 70% of Nigeria’s rice demand. The multiplier effect of this collaboration will be felt in the areas of job creation, the development of ancillary industries, the strengthening of our local currency against the Dollar and other major international currencies.

I believe more of this inter-state collaboration should be encouraged as a major driving force for the diversification of the economy. There are many more areas of collaboration to be explored in the nation. The political leadership must develop the will to make this initiative work, to achieve food security and promote backward integration for industrial growth.

I wish to state at this point that Lagos State has always embraced inter-state cooperation as a strategy to fast-track economic growth and development. Prior to the agreement with Kebbi State in the Northwestern Nigeria, Lagos State has collaborated with States from within the western region in the areas of comparative advantage for the partner States.

Lagos State currently has 84 hectares of land in Osogbo, Osun State, out of which 20 hectares is used for palm produce, while others are used for rice farming, cassava and maize. Lagos State also acquired additional 1,000

hectares of land in Osun, 500 hectares in Ogun and Oyo each and 50 hectares in Abuja to support farming. In addition, all granite used in construction in Lagos State are being sourced from quarries located in Ogun State. These relationships have proved especially beneficial for Lagos State given its low land mass and the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the State.

It must however be noted that for regional or inter-state cooperation to yield the desired result in terms of enhanced inclusive growth, we must put in place a functional modern rail and water transportation system. The movement of goods, materials and people by road is not only inefficient but fraught with risks, safety hazards and detrimental to our roads.

The Lagos/Kebbi initiative for example will involve movement of thousands of tons of paddy rice to Lagos for processing in the mills. This can only be achieved more efficiently through a modern rail system which at present remains largely undeveloped.

Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we must brace ourselves, take the tough but right decisions, individually and collectively, so that we can have a better tomorrow. Together, we can make Nigeria greater.

Ambode is the governor of Lagos State

FCT elections: Has INEC got it right?

Such remarks were by no means, compliments but an indictment on the electoral umpire. But rather than seeing this as derogatory, the commission should see it as a wakeup call, an opportunity to redeem itself from the past electoral embarrassment.

However, INEC alone should not be held responsible for the inconclusiveness of the past elections. In all fairness, it is rather the political actors that created the environment that led to an inconclusive election.

At a Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections in Abuja last week, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu said the commission faced more challenges conducting re-run and bye-elections than the general elections because of concentration of individual politician’s attention at staggered elec-

tions. In other words, what is considered an advantage becomes a problem!

The Chairman’s remark can make more meaning with regard to last year’s governorship election in Bayelsa State, and last month’s National and State Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers State. These elections were marred by violence, kidnapping, murder and other electoral malpractices.

In such situation, INEC was helpless, given the fact that the commission is not in charge of security during an election.

For instance, the commission said it was ready for the conduct of last year’s presidential and National Assembly elections on February 14, but the military high command said it could not guarantee security of INEC personnel and materials on that day because of military cam-

paign against Boko Haram insurgency in North-East!

The elections were later delayed for six weeks when the military would provide security.

Though, INEC has its own shortcomings but government and the people of Nigeria should first provide an environment for free and transparent elections.

One of the greatest threats to yesterday elections was lack of public enlightenment. This was the responsibility of both INEC and participating political parties. Unfortunately, leaders of political parties believe that mobilisation of the electorate was the sole responsibility of INEC. The likely effect is that those who might eventually emerge as chairmen and councilors might not be elected by majority of registered voters.

Professor Jatua, as at

Tuesday last week said only 646, 883 out of 1, 020, 799 registered voters have collected their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs). This represents about 66. 03 per cent of registered voters.

This is no guarantee that half of this number voted in the elections.

In 2015 general elections only 28, 587, 564 out of over 50 million people voted in the election. Out of this figure, President Muhammadu Buhari got 15, 424, 9E1 votes more than 12, 853, 162 votes cast for former President Goodluck Jonathan. This shows the level of apathy of Nigerians in the electoral process.

Abuja is the most peaceful territory in the country at the moment. INEC therefore, have no reason not to conduct free, credible and transparent elections. If this fails, there will be no other part of the country the commission could succeed.

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The Sunday Interview

SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

It’s a shame Chibok girls are still missing, two years after - Dr. Ekhomu In the next few days, it will be two years since the abduction of about 300 students from Federal Government College, Chibok in Adamawa State by Boko Haram. Up till now, the fate of 219 of these teenagers still hang in the balance. Security experts of international repute and President of Trans-World Security, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, in this interview with BIYI ADEGOROYE speaks on the theatrical manner the issue was handled, terrorism and other security issues in the polity How do you assess the security situation in the country at the moment?

The security situation is still very dicey, and it is at a very high threat level, what we call credible threat in security parlance. But it is gratifying that the military has done very well in reclaiming major towns and 14 local governments from Boko Haram and pacifying those areas. However, we still have a lot of reports of the country sides in the North-East which are yet to be pacified, which are still eminently under insurgents’ control and with that kind of situation we can’t say that that had been laid to rest.

But we must acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been achieved in that regard. The highways are safe but if people go off the highways they are in trouble. We still have occasional ambushes of travelers on the road, and so on and so forth. So there is some semblance of normalcy in that area.

But things are still far from normal. I say this because we should not engage in some form of psychological dissuasion. That is telling ourselves that a problem has been solved whereas we are just duping ourselves. That is what is driving the current case of Internally Displaced Persons. A lot of government officials would say ‘go back to your villages and resettle because they are now safe,’ but when they get there, the people get slaughtered. We don’t want that, rather we want to continue and complete the military phase, and this is not just about capturing the metropolis, major towns and the highways, but what about the hinterlands and the landmines which the terrorists have planted in the abandoned houses?

The home-borne improvised explosive devices are there. Some of the few houses left standing contain explosives set as bubby traps that are waiting to explode – asking people to go back to such houses would amount to asking them to commit suicide.

Yes, we don’t want to have over four million people living in IDP camps, but that is the reality on the ground. Efforts should be made to properly govern those areas, ensure they are safe, resettle the people, provide them with medical and other facilities and ensure they are occupied.

It’s a challenge and it is also an opportunity; challenge because we have over four million living in IDP camps, It now behooves on the business class to come up with what they can do there to make them productive, so that they do not waste away or merely play football like some of them do or even organise cultural dances like we have seen some of the women do, or having a lot of babies.

In the same vein is the infiltration of some of the IDPs by the terrorists. Why do you think the place has been so vulnerable?

Well, there are several factors responsible for this. Anybody that comes that says he is an IDP will probably be viewed with some sympathy, but I am aware that security checks are now being conducted on them to ensure they do not have any harmful items on them before they are admitted into such places. Another thing they also do is to create IDP enclaves such that people from places like Gwoza in Borno State, are directed to IDP camps nearby. Now let us

Dr. Ekhomu

take a town like Gwoza, this is a big town with a population of over 100,000 people.

So how easy is it to know everybody that comes from there? So when the security agencies ask what town are you from and he says Barma, they might ask him to move in. so it is pretty difficult. And this goes back to what is wrong with governance in Nigeria- the fact that we don’t know who really is a Nigerian. We have a situation where not every Nigerian is known and accounted for and that is why we have a lot of manipulations when it comes to censuses.

We really don’t know who is a Nigerian.

So a guy who is from Niger Republic says ‘I am from Gwoza’ and you allow him to enter into the IDP camp because you are unable to prove he is bona fide, his identity. If he says ‘I am James Matthew from Gwoza,’ somebody should be checking the data base to confirm such claims. But that is not there. So there should be three or four points of references there- people from

Gwoza should be able to confirm. But that due diligence is not there, he just goes by acclamation.

We are still having security problems in the camps because the enemy is very determined, they can sneak in and since they have bomb-making techniques, they utilise it. And we are not very security conscious in this country because we have failed to put items like fertilizers under control, because a lot of these terrorists know that it is a component of IEDs. In other countries, the security agents know buyers and users of fertilisers and the farms they are taking it to. But here it is the other way round.

You will be surprised to know that even with the level of terrorism in the NorthEast, there are still lots of people there who say they are into blasting and quarrying.

This means a high level of explosives like dynamites are available to them because these are the items you need for blasting and quarrying. This is happening despite

the fact that in places like Bara, Ashaka and a number of other places, Boko Haram has consistently seized ordinances from blasting and quarrying. So I wonder whether there is an unintended policy of arming these terrorists. I am making this point because despite the searches, the explosives are still out there. The Genie is still out of the bottle. There have to be a lot of control and searches because criminals have ingenuous ways of concealing such items. Now the biggest problem in IDP camps is lack of information. Hence we have to be able to bring in trained private security people into the camps to identify and train some of the young idle IDPs, give them uniforms so as to be able to work with the military and policemen there in providing security.

We heard about the kidnap of an army colonel in Kaduna last week and recently, a prominent pastor and two of his deputies were also kidnapped there. What is

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016

the link between profit kidnap and terrorism?

The kidnap and subsequent murder of Colonel Inusa were very unfortunate.

The two horrific acts denote the level of insecurity in the land and in Kaduna State in particular. I don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theories that he was kidnapped by Boko Haram or by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. Col. Inusa was not uniformed or in company of his troops. At the time of the attack, he was on a private visit to his in-laws in company of his wife. I want to believe it was a case of kidnap for ransom, but I was surprised that his decomposing body was found a couple of days after the attack. Something must have gone terribly wrong when he was in captivity that provoked his murder. The fact is that so many things are not clear respecting this kidnap.

It is interesting that the Inspector-General of Police has deployed the AIG in-charge of Zone 7 to Kaduna to fish out the perpetrators of the current wave of kidnap. A remarkable outcome is the arrest of three suspects over the kidnap cases. But one very important take-away from this is that Kaduna needs a new security architecture to deal with these heinous crimes.

You will recall that some pastors were also kidnapped recently and sometime ago the Secretary to the State Government was also abducted, though that was done by a Niger Delta group.

Still on this issue of kidnap, what security measures can we put in place to ensure safety in our schools, especially with the recent cases at Babington Macaulay School, Ikorodu and all?

There are many security measures we can put in place in the schools. But we must start with threat assessment where we identify the kind of threats out there that can affect the schools. You now do vulnerability assessment - what are the loop holes? Like that hole in the fence at Babington which they jumped throughthat was a vulnerability issue. Now since there had been a previous kidnap attempt in the Boys School, that should have given an indication that there would probably be an attempt, and in this case they went for the girls and they seized and made away with them. Now we know that response to incidents like this is largely slow here particularly by the authorities, so nobody should have expected a quick response.

How was the reporting to the authority like in the case of Babington School?

Now in schools, there should be an alarm system. If there was one in that school and they set up a yab tone or air raid siren immediately they children were kidnapped, that would have probably scared off the kidnappers, because, die hard as they may seem, they are not ready to die really, rather they want to live to enjoy their loot. Now, the schools should also have trained and certified security officers. And if they are trained, is there any attestation for such training? What is their skill level?

Because you need to have special skills to conduct these assessments and come up with mitigation measures, because every school presents a different phase to you because of the location, the number of students, the culture of the school and even the economic capacity of the schools. Some schools can afford say installation of CCTV cameras and the likes. What about the staff, because they are the alter parents, hence they should have minimal security awareness training, while every school has one security officer because of the current threat level in the country. We should also start to compile statistics of incident history of attacks on schools in this country, because for a long time when Boko Haram was attacking those schools, Ibrahim Shekau said he had now chosen to attack schools, killing people and packing away 200 girls first, before he attacked the Girl Secondary School, Chibok and took away over 219 of them.

The latter is unique because he kidnapped them in one fell swoop, but before then he

The Sunday Interview

19

had been going to schools to kidnap girls and nothing happened. You can see now from the statistics of kidnapped girls who had been rescued, you can see that he had kidnapped over 5,000 women and girls in that whole area during his campaign and even till last week, the military were still releasing over 168 women and children. So nobody should tell me that that conflict is over, otherwise. Where were those people?

By next week, it will be two years since the kidnap of the Chibok Schoolgirls. How does it feel, especially as a father and a security expert? What does this imply about the capacity of Nigeria to protect her citizens?

Right from April 14, 2014 when these girls were seized, I felt very sad. Two days later I was a guest on NTA Platform and spoke about that seizure and as at then the news was still coming in tickles. Before then, I had called for behavioural analysis of Boko Haram to know their mindset and their next line of action. But unfortunately, maybe we don’t understand in this country, this came to past. Since then, some have been released and some escaped and now even President Muhammadu Buhari, during his media chat said we still had about 219 in custody of the insurgents. Having said that, how does this portray Nigeria to the outside world? It just shows that we still are not there yet in terms of keeping our citizens safe. The fact is that bad things do happen just like the girls were kidnapped, but then the thing to do is to get them released, preferably by the force of arms. And they have not released them up till now. It just shows that we really have a long way to go in terms of getting our acts together and protecting our citizens in this country. We know that Boko Haram is a different kind of threat. Right from when this thing happened, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, because I am not one of those who were optimistic that these girls would be released. And I said then that if within two days these girls were not released, we are really in deep shit, because I knew that these guys would not say that out of benevolence, the girls can go. I knew that these girls were going to be in for a very difficult time and the testimony we have been reading from women released from Boko Haram is that some of these girls were being used to slaughter people and they were normally sexually assaulted.

That attack itself was predatory because the Boko Haram people have no political values. They kidnapped them because they were children and girls to come and serve as sex slaves and to be married off, and those who were headstrong were terminated. It is just very unfortunate.

But it was said that the international community even had identified the location of the girls. Why did they fail to assist?

Well, I think there is a lot of second guessing going on now. At that time, and this is my field of study, many foreign countries promised to help. Of all the nations that pledged, and I stand to be corrected, it was only the Americans who visited Nigeria.

Though everybody condemned it, nobody ever came to the Nigerian soil, to Sambisa in Borno State for the quest. The British were coming but their aircraft broke down and that was the end. But when the Americans came, their mission was to run an ISR - intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; they came to fly those missions, because they do it with overhead platforms.

Now, at one point then, the then Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said ‘we know where the Chibok girls are,’ and he was cautioned by Nigerians then that what they were concerned about was the release of the girls, which was probably what is being referenced that there was a chatter (an intelligence stuff they picked with technical intercepts), that they were held here in our territory for a while. But some of them were being sold to Yemen, some to Sudan and Shekau even

Dr. Ekhomu

spoke that ‘I sell women. Allah has told me to sell them. Why are you sending them to school?’ What are we debating here? So he sold some and kept some as wives to his commanders.

Having said that, there was a chatter that was picked up by the USISR team which was relayed to the Nigerian authority, and that was when it was said that the government knew where they were but felt that if they moved in with force, they might be killed. If I had been asked to advise President Goodluck Jonathan then, I would have said unleash violence on the location, kill the girls along with the terrorists. Because the life they were living in captivity is unimaginable. As we speak, I don’t think we can find 25 or 30 of them alive, except the wives of commanders and others who have been sold off. They were dehumanised, bastadised, beastilised and reduced to the lowest level of humanity.

We know the behavioural pattern of these terrorists and what they are capable of and that is what we are seeing now.

What happened is a poor commentary on Nigeria’s capability to take care of its citizens and I think that commentary should change; it does not speak well of us. It does not speak well of us as a people who are entrusted with public trust to take care of the citizens. That constitutional provision that the security and welfare of the people are the primary duties of the government has not been taken care of.

How do we assess the performance of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Multi-National Force put in place to confront the terrorists?

I think they have done well, but aside from the LCBC, we now have them as the Multi-National Joint Task Force. So their area of operation is being covered, because you know what came out of the AU mandate that strengthened them. Nigeria is part of it and it has been giving its funding while the rest of the West African countries are not paying, but that is usual, because Nigeria normally does the heavy lifting in the continent.

If you have noticed, all those cross-border attacks have stopped and they have reclaimed more local governments hitherto under Boko Haram, and more recently, Cameroun has joined more ferociously and a lot of the fight has now shifted towards North-West Cameroun. I think they have been effective because since they came together they have been providing better fire power and capability, because as a

country you may have the manpower, but you need the logistics to ride the operation, the materials and weapons, because Boko Haram was an awesome element at one time. Don’t forget too that the present Chief of Army Staff was the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force.

A number of Nigerians are embittered by the level of violence before, during and after elections in the country. Why has this been the case in the Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers states elections?

It is a very serious problem, even the Bayelsa issue was a war. It is so sad. You will recall that in those days political assassination was the issue. Look at what happened in Edo, Lagos, Ekiti and other states. You see, election is war in this country and the reason is that the government of the day, whether it is that of Jonathan or Buhari has not been able to tame the gladiators and how do you tame them? Before the aborted February 14, 2015 elections, I said they should put in place SAEVI- Special Election Anti-Violence Investigations unit. You see, when we had drug problems, we put in NDLEA, corruption we put ICPC and human trafficking we have NAPTIP. So when we talk about elections, the source of political power which is fundamental, we lose our senses to lament that they killed people in Rivers and the rest of them. It is important we put a unit in place from the federal and state antirobbery squads, CIDs and all to prevent any electoral violence and when there is one, they should make immediate arrest of anybody to ensure the perpetrators face the full weight of the law. Elections are heavily militerised and the desperation on the part of politicians in shocking. I want to see politicians who participate in or sponsor violence put in jail or disqualified from contesting elections.

Otherwise, when crime pays more, people will flock into it. Before the elections, we said people should make audio and video records with their phones and send such clips to some dedicated numbers. Let us start doing that and ensure they are prosecuted, they will start doing things right.

The kind of election violence we see here is alien in other climes. Elections take place in other countries while people go about their normal duties, but here they shut down the economy and declare holidays to elect people who are not capable of keeping us safe. Rivers is one of the biggest economies outside Lagos; it is therefore shocking that such full scale violence occurred there.

The Sunday Magazine

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Family, friends counting days for m

•No one shares even plate with me •Nigeria ranks fourth among 22 countries with TB burdens – NTS

“N

Chijioke Iremeka obody wants to live or interact with somebody with AIDS. If one manages to relate with you from a distance, none comes near tuberculosis patient because TB is infectious. I have friends but none of them comes close. They all left me to my fate, including my family. The moment my people knew I have AIDS, they all left me except my mother, who still comes around,” laments Bassey Effiong (Pseudo name).

This is time for sober reflection for a graduate of Theatre Arts, University of Calabar, who is seriously down with Tuberculosis and AIDS at Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Ebute Metta, Lagos. Effiong wished he could turn the hand of clock but such wishful thinking is a mirage. He didn’t feel sick until his prolonged cough, which was later diagnosed to be TB came. He had always wished away the thought of having HIV, the reason he didn’t bother to go for HIV test to determine his status, despite his “rough life.”

He continued: “Each time she comes around, she usually cries because she will soon be losing a son. She knew that I will die very soon. Every other person has started counting days for me. I have accepted my fate because I lived a very rough life in the school and such life is hunting me today.

“Whatever happens, I have given my fate to God, any day he calls me, I will go. I want to use this opportunity to appeal to those, who are still living the life of waywardness to stop as AIDS is real. I never knew it would catch up with me. It’s still surprising to me how it happened. I have lost all, including my body. The only asset I have now is God. TB has taken my life savings and that is even the more reason I have been left alone to die.

“None of my friends, whether male or female, still comes around me. It’s only churches and NGOs that come and make one feel all is well when I know all is not well. For those of us who do not have money for drugs, we depend on the mercy of churches, philanthropists and NGOs. I know I am going to die soon and that is my greatest fear. It’s not easy, sitting down knowing that you are going to die soon.

Thoughts of it, kills your happiness, no matter how you pretend.”

In another development, another TB patient, Sola, who had to defer his admission to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State until he is completely healed said, “My family relate with me very well but the only thing there is that I’m left alone in a room and could not come together with the rest of other people in the house.

“Also, I don’t have to share some utensils with the rest of my family because of the illness. I don’t share things like plate, cup and spoon with them. Apart from these denials, they are there for me. It cost me thousands of naira to transport myself to the hospital for the treatment. But one thing more, I had to defer my admission because of the disease, pending my recovery.”

Nkechi Okezie, was another victim of tuberculosis, an AIDS-related disease, who died late 2013. Nkechi, who was hoping to leave the hospital alive, didn’t know she would soon be laid to rest. She contracted HIV many years ago, but was living on that lifeline until she contracted tuberculosis,

TB patients in the hospital

which was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She died of TB. “Nkechi was my church member before her demise in 2013. She had contracted HIV, which she didn’t communicate to anybody until it developed into full blown AIDS. She was an usher in the church and was committed to all manner of sanctuary cleaning jobs, perhaps, hoping that one day, such illness would go but that was a wishful thinking as a stroke of TB sent her to early grave, at 35,” Vincent Agwu, her church member, whom she pleaded for prayers said.

“Please pray for me so that this cough will stop and for me to come out of this isolation ward. I have the strong feeling in my heart that I will make it out of this ward. I want to be discharged soon,” according to Agwu, was the last he heard from her.

He said, “Of course, her people abandoned her at the Yaba Infectious Hospital to die on the claim that they didn’t have money and societal stigma that goes with the medical conditions. We (Church) carried her all through and members contributed money to run a number of medical tests on her and fed her as well.

“Church also appointed people, who stayed with her even in the isolated ward on rotational basis. In the isolation ward, people moved in with nose cover as a preventive measure. But all that we did to save her life was in vain. Doctors said tuberculosis in HIV is a dangerous combination that has high level of fatality.

“In some cases, Nkechi had said that God

is wicked but we didn’t know why until this development. May be she had expected that God would have seen her services and heal her. It was unfortunate we lost her. I saw Nkechi last that Sunday afternoon, after church service, when I led the team that prayed for her. She was happy to see us and was hoping to come back even as her body had started ‘vibrating’. But a day later, on Tuesday, she called our Pastor that she was struggling to breathe and after praying for her, she died two hours later.”

Nkechi is now counted among the estimated nine million cases and 1.5million annual deaths resulting from TB in the world, which Nigerian Thoracic Society (NTS) is fighting to end through unity and other public enlightenment campaigns.

Today, NTS has raised the alert that Nigeria ranks fourth among the 22 countries of the world with highest disease burden and urged the Nigerian government to increase funding to research and development of new TB diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.

The body made this call during the just concluded 2016 World TB Day with the theme: ‘Unite to End TB.’ NTS, a body of professionals with expertise in lung and chest diseases, has been working and collaborating with major stakeholders in order to ensure universal access to TB care.

The society, among other activities, has been working hard on innovative approaches to treatment and formulation of guidelines that is well suited and evidencebased for Nigeria.

According to the NTS President, Prof.

Peters Etete, tuberculosis is the single commonest infectious disease worldwide with an estimated nine million cases and 1.5million deaths annually.

“Rates of tuberculosis are increasing rapidly in Africa, in parallel with the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. Nigeria ranks fourth among the 22 countries with highest disease burden globally. Though TB is a medical disease, it has a lot of socio economic confounders,” he said.

He noted that the presence of the HIV/ AIDS pandemic has further led to the increase in the occurrence of TB, saying that the problem has been further compounded by the emergence of multi-drug resistance and even more recently, the extensively drug resistant TB. Globally, he continued, up to half a million people developed multidrug-resistant TB, with extensively drug-resistant TB reported by 100 countries, noting that there is slow progress in tackling drug-resistant TB. He noted that three in four drug-resistant TB cases remain without a diagnosis, saying that TB affects the economically productive age group in the community, thereby affecting productivity.

A more worrisome situation, Etete pointed out, remains the fact that about one in three people with TB are never diagnosed.

To him, these set of people will not be treated and will continue to transmit the disease in the community.

Sequel to this, every March 24 of each year, the world marks the discovery of the

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Body Soul S U N D AY, A P R I L 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

I’ll rather go to hell (2) 26 Arrest ingrown hair 29 Why I don’t talk to Stella Damasus – Doris Simeon 36

Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa: A legal gem

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Contents 10.04.2016

COVER

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I’ll ra ther go to 26 hell ( 2) Arres t ing ro wn h 29 air Wh Ste y I don’t – Dolla Damastalk to ris us 36 Simeon

Midi skirt is quick to be dressed up or down, the length and look is also great for weekend and social events and appropriate for any occasion

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FASHION

Improving the quality of the life of people and changing my world for the better motivates me.

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BEAUTY ZONE Ingrown hair is an inflammation or irritation caused by hair growing back into the skin instead of rising from it

MY PASSION

Pro Ats f. Ayod A le enuwa ele gal : gem

I will never ever give up on love or marriage or trying again, I still believe in love

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he blazer with a Tshirt look is often debated if it is acceptable or not but when worn correctly, it can look both classic and effortlessly stylish

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GLAM DUDES

3, 20

She was sleeping peacefully in his arm.

He took another look at her smooth brown body and got excited again...

He raised his head and brushed his lips on her forehead. Then he saw it. Lying on the bed, close to the edge was the sheath. Unused! “Oh my gawd,” he exclaimed

}30

reservoir of dox to have a ra pa d a ’s It ur backyard an u to yet ng water at yo Unfortunately, to welcome yo ki re in su dr ea pl y es is m It’s irst. el cr complain of th ul week. The fu d ourn we’ve foun another beautif really taking a toll on still io at tu si e th is is at y th tr un aco st e in th filling city long queues at lves. ssant fuel scar the citizens as sad story se a ll te n tio to end the ince me a rhetorical na e ow th H er ov l d le al devi tions s beco of a country be natu- in this country ha ently, aders. Consequ ack le e th by its own to n tio bl es of qu cy er cm ur e ral reso left at th trust! the citizens are e w od G in es. , ed marketers. Inde and Soul on our Body All the same, ght you ou is week, we br enteru package for th yo ep ke ies to interesting stor essor tained. we have Prof On our cover, gem l ga le uwa, a Ayodele Atsen ished academic. pl and an accom ugh various leShe led us thro ing on womer gal issues both sure you will I’m . ts en righ ucating. ed find it truly pages are n io sh fa Our to bring ed ag also pack to your ld the stylish wor . doorstep es on our The new seri Life is d an k or Bed, W you glued ep ke to re su its captito your sit with uly an tr ’s vating tale. It ld enjoy. ou w u yo edition ul week rf de Have a won ahead!

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T h e Te a m Vanessa Okwara (Editor) Wole Adepoju (Snr. Correspondent) Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent) Abiola Alaba Peters Edwin Usoboh (Graphics) Isma’il Akintunde (Graphics) +234 (0) 818 0515840, +234 (0) 701 110 1014 vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com, julietbumah@gmail.com

Associates

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BED, WORK & LIFE

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Helen Paul

Eyitayo Aloh

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StyleSta ker

Stella Uzo Savvy fashionista Biwom Iklaki

W

hen the ‘who is who’ of fashion are mentioned, the name Stella Uzo of ‘Jadore fashion’, will not be far from their lips. It is not rocket science really; her blog is crawling with some of the most “out of this world” styling choices. Her wardrobe engineering skills are off the charts and for this she has the following of all and sundry that have a passion for all things fashion.

Because her style is edgy, fun, flirty and often sexy, she has an eclectic following of over 86, 000 on Instagram, as there is always something for everyone no matter your styling p re f e re n c e .

She obviously loves to experiment with prints, patterns and colours and shoe designs as is evident in her clothing pieces.

Born in Enugu State, Nigeria where she lived until she was 14 years old, she currently has a Bachelors’ degree in Nursing and a Masters in Business Administration. She is married with a son. Stella has a soft spot for florals, black and white, lace, tulle, skater dresses and peplum (tops and skirts).

Her all time soft spot is for shoes which she admits that she refuses to count. She has confessed however, that her husband doesn’t understand why she has to accumulate so many shoes.

One of our favourite looks of her is in this peonies print prom dress with a nude belt and neon sandals. We also love her in black and white tulle as she ends up looking so sweet and flirty all at once.

Watch out Stella, as we will not stop stalking you whenever you step out.

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Ayodele Atsenuwa: Forced A professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Lagos, Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa, is truly an accomplished academic. For about 28 years, she has been engaged in academic research and teaching at various levels, with a lot of experience in the areas of human rights advocacy and community development. With her beautiful smile and great accent, she speaks with VANESSA OKWARA on varying issues and her marriage of 25 years In your opinion are women gaining their voices now in Nigeria in the area of gender equality?

Yes I think so. Take for example; when I joined this faculty, I was the third woman in the faculty. Today, I will say that no less than 10 of my colleagues are female.

Sometime ago, I saw a case that was decided in Port Harcourt where a father was convicted for the rape of his daughter. We didn’t get such cases to court before. What we want now is to win beyond these individual cases. About two years ago, there were two cases decided by the Supreme Court where it was affirmed that women had an equal right to inheritance regardless of what the custom of the people said. Now a number of women are yet to use that law. The change within the community is yet to get to where it should be but now if you are bold enough and take a step forward, you will get your right.

Before, it was not like this but now up to the Supreme Court level, it is clear cut law that if you would stick your neck out, the law is there for you.

Does that mean that places where women do not inherit properties like in the East, they can go ahead and seek justice?

Yes, these two cases, Nweke versus Nweke and Ukeje versus Ukeje, women’s right to inheritance a r e

affirmed. Those women went home with their entitlement. That is why access to basic education for women is very important. In 1930’s and 40’s, a lot of women didn’t have access to education. If you talked about it they will say what is a woman good for? It is slow in coming but the awareness is helping a lot. That is why we want to reach out to the gatekeepers of culture in various communities. We must find a way to speak to the men’s group.

Government cannot change people’s culture but they can give legislation.

Then government can go ahead and influence the law. I am a gender activist but I always argue; we talk a lot to women to value their rights but the m e n a l s o need to be aware.

How can we get the men to accept gender equality?

I

will still say we have made modest gains. We have enough men who are for gender equality and zero tolerance for domestic violence. But we need to work more.

We want to modify our cultural values. What we need is to streamline it into the education system so that from nursery, we are helping that boy to understand that we have zero tolerance for violence against women. I was at the Ministry of Women Affairs a few weeks back and I was told that that there is a revised version of the Women Policy. If there is a policy, we are still a long way off but it is not a signifier of failure. Some progress is being made.

Unfortunately, we have a dearth of data in this country, so it is always difficult to see whether it is on the increase and that makes it very difficult.

What is your take on the Child Rights Act and its implementation in Nigeria?

Yes, we have a law that affirms the rights of the children.

If the law didn’t affirm the rights, you will not be able to establish that there has been a violation. The scale of rot on this issue is so much that even when we make some progress, it’s so insignificant. The structures are not in place and where they are, they are so weak! Let’s take the case of Ese Oruru and the police reaction when the case was first reported to them. They didn’t do anything different from what police do in all the reports that come to them. They exhibit a high level of nonchalance. So if we have systemic failure, you can’t be expecting that specific aspects of the law will function perfectly. What it all means is that we have systemic rot and weak capacity.

When has the government enforced the minimum wage or the maternity rights that have been in existence since the 1960’s? The Child Rights Law is in existence but it is not being enforced at all. In many of the states that have even passed the law, some of the institutions that the law requested for their creation are not in place. Also there is no sufficient awareness.

What’s your opinion on the incessant abduction of teenage girls and marrying them off without parents’ consent?

The good thing is that the victims are speaking out. We now know there is a practice. The law against abducting girls has been in the statutes since 1904. It was always known. The criminal law was there to prohibit it even in those days. In each of the cases, we are aware that these cases were reported but there was inaction by the relevant authorities. There are also traditional institutions and they are powerful in these communities that if you are not from that area, say you are from Bayelsa State for example, you are powerless to fight these institutions. So we have a problem of non-enforcement of the law. As a criminal justice lawyer, I would say sometimes the problem is not even with the punishment but with the enforcement.

I have no doubt that judges will convict such cases but the problem is if the police mess up with the investigation. The judge can only convict on the evidence. In such cases we have now, it is immaterial if the girl consented or not because the law says if she’s not up to 16 years which was the benchmark as at that time.

What we need to do is to reach out to the traditional and religious institutions to talk to the people concerned.

Public enlightenment by the local governments is also very

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teenage marriage is criminal important and publicly condemns such abductions in their locality. They should hold a conference of Imams and Area Court Judges to look into such cases and make policy statements to say that they have zero tolerance for this.

What was growing up like?

It was pretty good! I grew up in Surulere.

I would say that my parents were classy if you use that term in Nigeria. I went to a public private school. Then everybody went to public private school because they were very good. We lived in our own home back then in Surulere, with a telephone in our home as far back as the 1970’s. Our public/private school had fountains where we could drink from and wash our hands.

I would say my parents were comfortable.

I never went to lessons though I had help from my mum who was a teacher. She coached us at home.

Your educational background My secondary school was at Federal Girls’ Government School, Oyo. We were the first set to be in that school because it was not in existence when I was filing the form during my common entrance examination. I also went to secondary school pretty early. The quality of education then was very good and we had no need for lesson teachers like we have normalised in Nigeria today. I went to University of Ife and studied Law. I received a Bachelor of Law degree from University of Ife before proceeding to the University of London in 1987 and obtained a Master of Laws degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and another Master of Law degree from the University of Warwick (Law in Development). I have been teaching since February 1988 and this is my 28th year in the university.

Why did you decide to study law and Criminal Law in particular?

I studied Law not because I dreamed of becoming a lawyer. I was just the normal Nigerian child who knows that if you are not a science student, you would simply go for a Law degree. If you ask me, I would say that my parents didn’t consciously pressure me but I think the message that we received from society then was that if you are not a science student, you study law and if you didn’t make law you study English. Then, there were not many schools offering Mass Communication courses.

What they had then was journalism institutes. Those were the only professions that we picked up.

Why specialty in criminology?

When I was a child, I had actually wanted to join the police. This is because I had the privilege of attending a passing out parade at the Nigeria Police College in Lagos. Those were the days when they wore a white shirt over black trousers, before 1974. It was dignifying and something I really wanted to do. Along the line, I also picked up that I was inclined to development and the desire to change my society.

By that time, I had known I was more a development oriented person. I put all these pieces together and by the time I got into Law School, I had come into my own and I was able to stand up and say I was not interested in Corporate Law, which everybody aspired to study. Actually that was what my offer read but I was bold enough to say that I have come to my own and I went ahead to do what I considered approximated to the change agent I had wanted to be.

You are known more as a feminist.

Have you always wanted to be one?

No, I didn’t even know that there was any such thing until I went for my masters degree. But I would say that I was privileged to grow up where I was not constantly reminded that I was female. I always say today that my mum was the first feminist, even though she may not know the theory.

She was so committed to equality that as a teacher, she strove for everybody doing their best. You are not allowed to slack because you are a girl. I can’t recall being forced to any domestic work because I was girl. I went to a girl’s school and I was not also being constantly reminded that I was a girl. So I was not sensitive to such nuances. Also at law school, the law equalises everybody. By the time I went for my masters, the course outline was more defined.

I started becoming aware about women and children cases. That was how I went into human rights; especially concerning women and child issues.

When did you get your professorship?

That was 2011.

How long have you been married?

We will be 25 years in November this year. I’m from Oyo State while my husband is from Delta State.

That’s a Silver Jubilee celebration. Are you planning anything special?

Yes, but It’s something we will like to keep private to ourselves.

How has it been theses past 25 years in marriage?

I thank God, it’s been wonderful.

How supportive has your husband been to your career?

He has been very supportive or else by now there would be no marriage. My husband also values my judgment. My husband does not tele-guide me like I see some husbands do to some of my students who are married.

How many kids?

I have two kids and I had them in different generations.

I have a young adult and one who is still a child. So I have an adult and I have a child.

What are the qualities you saw in your husband that made him different from the others?

I didn’t get married right after school. I had done my masters and started working before I got married. I saw him and liked him and felt he was somebody that we could work together and we are in the same church. We had the same core values and we got along well.

What’s the secret behind the success of your marriage these 25 years?

To be very honest, I would say that it’s the God centeredness in both of us. First of all, that a person has a love for God that shapes even their interactions with you, it means that in our relationship, everybody tries to work for the best of t h e

other. It is having settled in our minds and saying I’m not going to do this to my spouse. When you are settled on what your core values are, then that becomes the basis on which you live on. It’s not about you anymore but for the good of the other. You constantly prune yourself and want to be a better person every day. There is no way you try to be a better person that the people around you won’t love you.

What is your fashion style?

I can’t say I have any style, I’m just me.

I can be bold and daring. I always say, I’m not in competition with my students.

I can be myself without trying too hard.

There are some people my age who are not comfortable in their own skin. They are constantly competing with those in their twenties in terms of fashion. So I would say I don’t even have any fashion sense. I won’t define myself as a fashionista but I will not be unkempt.

How do you keep healthy?

I will not say that I have a designed diet.

I’m not doing as much as I should. The same thing goes with exercise. To keep fit, when you work in this law faculty, you would appreciate the exercise of climbing

these stairs. I climb the stairs to my faculty probably four or five times every day as I go back and forth from my office to my classes, because all my classes are downstairs. I have never in the past 26 years got too tired to climb the staircase.

Do you have a particular beauty routine?

I don’t even have at all. That is just not me. There is nothing I cannot do without.

I do not wear makeup and I can wear if I so desire. I just do what I want to do at any point in time.

How do you relax?

Fortunately like I said, I have a child, so I watch cartoons. So I have no option but to relax because life with him requires some form of relaxation. We spend a lot of time together. I love reading novels and I travel through the world of documentaries. One thing I do anytime is to buy a book. I know they cost more at the airport, but somehow, I always buy something I can read on the way at the airports when I travel.

What motivates you?

Improving the quality of the life of people and changing my world for the better motivates me. I want to leave my world better than I met it. I believe my little bit contributes to a whole. I’m one of the people who believe it can be done, even when many people don’t. I believe in doing the little I can and feel good about it and hopefully that one will multiply.

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with

Juliet Bumah +234 81 1 675 9770

julietbumah@gmail.com

Juliet Bumah

I’ll rather go to hell (2)

G

etting Ruth into a conversation was a task.

After dinner, they went to a local pub for drinks.

They were served roasted Guinea fowl with pepper sauce.

While the women took beer, Nosa requested for a local brew.

“This is called ‘Power drink’.

It’s a drink for brave men,” he told Richie as the bar boy placed two bottles on their table.

Richie picked up one of the bottles and examined the dark content. The light was weak, but then, the ‘drink’ was served in a beer bottle with no label. He poured a little into the glass and sipped. He swirled it in his mouth.

“Hmmmmmmmmm...This tastes good with the bush fowl,” he said, and took a mouthful.

Ruth had loosened up a bit.

Maybe it was the beer. The music blaring from the speakers made the ambience romantic.

The girls were on their second bottles each. Richie looked at Ruth and she smiled. They couldn’t say much to each other because of the din, but they seemed to like each other. After three bottles each of ‘Power drink.’, Nosa paid the bill and they left for the car park.

Richie felt a bit light in the head. Every drop of blood in his veins seemed to be moving to his crotch.

“This ‘Power drink’ sure has power,” he whispered to Nosa.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet. You will wake up very strong in the morning,” Nosa told him. When they got to the car, Nosa asked Anna to join him in the front.

Richie and Ruth got into the back.

Nosa and Richie talked politics as they drove through the streets. In-between, Nosa told Richie - in coded language - he could go with Ruth.

Did he need any prompting? His body was already on heat. He could swear that every drop of that local brew flowed directly into that part of the brain that would make a man think of nothing else than the pleasure that only a supple body could give.

Nosa and Anna spoke in low tones. She turned to Ruth and they chatted in their local dialect. Richie felt Ruth relax a bit.

“Hope you’re good,” he asked her. She replied in the affirmative, without looking up. He touched her right hand. Very soft and smooth. She didn’t resist him.

He held on to the hand until they got to his hotel, about five minutes drive from Nosa’s house.

“Will pick you up at 8am,” Nosa told Richie as he drove off with Anna.

Immediately they got into the hotel room, Ruth dropped her little handbag on the table and entered the bathroom, closing the door gently. Richie heard the water running. He changed into a boxers.

He rummaged in his bag and brought out a single sheath. It had been in his bag for a long while. He was not in the habit of picking strangers but this night was different. Blame it on Power drink. He took it and dropped it beside him. Between his

legs, power throbbed. He sat up when the water stopped running.

She came out some minutes later with a towel tied loosely around her, holding her gown which she took to the wardrobe and hung carefully. She looked so beautiful.

She smiled shyly at him as she walked towards the bed.

Two paces away, the towel dropped, revealing the most beautiful body Richie could swear he had seen in his life. She bent immediately to pick the towel but Richie was there in a flash. He took her arm and waltz her around, taking in her firm large boobs, flat tummy and wide hips. Only one word came into his mind: goddess!

Ruth looked into his eyes and looked down. Her eyes caught the excited man pushing to be freed from the cotton boxers. She dropped on her knees, freed the man who unfurled, standing ‘long’ in its full glory. Immediately she moved her tongue towards it, Richie lost all sense of reasoning.

He couldn’t remember how many times he stood and was conquered that night.

The combination of Power drink and Ruth was more than he could handle. He looked at the wall clock, 4.27am.

Ruth! He wondered at the strength in that lithe but well moulded frame. She was sleeping peacefully in his arm. He took another look at her smooth brown body and got excited again. He removed his arm gently from under her head. She shifted to make herself comfortable and slept on.

He raised his head and brushed his lips on her forehead. Then he saw it. Lying on

the bed, close to the edge was the sheath.

Unused! “Oh my gawd,” he exclaimed. .....

Patra was on a lonely path, walking. She looked around and saw a car parked in front of a beautiful house.

Then she heard the song.

“Love is wicked, love is wicked...love is wicked...”

She moved slowly towards the car.

Beautiful song! Brick & Lace’s ‘Love is wicked’ did something good to her senses anytime she heard the song. She started swaying to the rhythm as she inched close to the car.

All of a sudden, the car disappeared and the music seemed to rise from within her. She looked around, scared, made to run and woke up with a start.

Her phone was ringing. She had dozed off.

She reached for the phone, a Blackberry Passport. It stopped ringing before she could take the call. She wasn’t eager to know who wanted to speak with her. She was in no mood to talk but someone was determined to speak with her. The phone rang again. She looked at it. No name, just numbers. She allowed it ring out.

‘Love is Wicked!’

Then it rang again. It was Richie.

Patra allowed the phone to ring. ‘Love is wicked’ sang and stopped. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She dialed Room Service and requested for a bottle of cognac, coke and ice. It got to her in less than five minutes. Good service. She poured a large drink, and settled on the couch.

Richie called again. She tapped the green button and listened.

“Honey where are you?” Richie asked.

“Of what use is that information to you?

Go marry that woman. Yes, I know I have not been able to give you a child but I’m not God. So, go marry the woman,” Patra said with tear-laden voice.

“I’m sorry, honey. Please forgive me. I know I deserve to be shot...” Richie began and Patra cut in, “Then what are you waiting for? Pull the trigger and spare me the agony of poisoning you.”

Richie’s heart lurched. Poison? He saw a pack of rat poison somewhere in the house and had wondered what his wife needed that for. His mind went back to the well-prepared rice and stew he saw on the dinning table which he ate about an hour earlier. Earth has no fury than a woman scorned! He couldn’t remember who said that, he didn’t need to.

He broke out in cold sweat. His bowel moved and he had an urgent urge to use the restroom.

He asked in a whisper, “Baby, you said ‘poison’? What do you mean?”

His voice was shaking, barely audible.

“I ate the food you kept on the dinning table. Was it poisoned?”

“I’m sure if it was, you would have known by now. Look, leave me alone.

You have hurt me so much.” Patra cut the phone and rejected another call from Richie.

He rushed into the restroom. **** It’s getting more interesting innit? You certainly wouldn’t want to miss an edition. So, keep a date with me here on Sunday!...........

•Send your observations to: julietbumah@gmail.com

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Here Beyond Thigh high slit obsession Vanessa Okwara

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f you’ve got it, flaunt it has become a cliché among fashionistas as they do their ‘thing’ on the red carpet. Ladies with beautiful straight legs cannot help but show off what they have by wearing clothes slit high up their thighs. The more daring ladies take the slit a little higher, all the way up to the waist, showing off their smooth legs and thighs.

Thigh high slits took a more histrionic place at red carpet events when Angelina Jolie lead the way, stepping out in a dramatic dark velvet gown which boasted a thigh-high split to devastating effect. Jolie’s leggy Versace dress at the 2012 Oscars started a slow burn trend that still has celebrities showing off their buffed gams at red carpet events.

Celebrates both here and beyond have not failed to wow on red carpet with a dress that boasts a thigh high slit.

For best effects, High slits look better on clinging dresses that accentuates the curves and brings out the shape of the woman. It can be made from any type of material raging from sequins, Lycra, chiffon and the crape. These fabrics easily cling to the body, making it easy for fashion designers to cut eye catching slits that draw your attention immediately to the thighs.

Wearing high slit dresses have only one code though: make sure you have the legs to show for it or else you commit a fashion blunder when your thighs come out looking like that of an elephant.

Body&Soul

Body&Soul

SUNDAY APRIL 10, 20

Mid Vanessa Okwara

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here are certain wardrobe e no girl can really live witho those is a midi skirt. It’s per that don’t like wearing trousers that, if you don’t have the legs f then Midi skirt is your best op maximum effect with your styli This waist-defining skirt is no l it’s a wardrobe essential or we c best thing that has ever happen They’re versatile, comfortable, fla nine, sexy, demure, and perfect and size.

Midi skirt is quick to be dressed the length and look is also great and social events and appropria casion The midi skirt is really havin and it is perfect for pulling off ladylike trends. There are diffe wear the midi skirt. Wear them w lars and pumps for a polished

Editor’s current obsession

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di effect

essentials that out and one of rfect for ladies rs. Aside from for miniskirts, ption to create ing. longer a trend; can say it’s the ned in fashion. attering, femifor any shape

d up or down, t for weekend ate for any oc-

ng a moment ff the demure erent ways to with crisp collook or work

a more playful angle by teaming them with cropped tops.

A midi skirt is a perfect office staple. Wearing it with a demure top tucked into the waistline, with the addition of appealing makeup, sharp heels will give you the ultimate business hours polish. Throw on a jacket for a more corporate approach.

Considering the midi skirt’s length, the right shoe can make or mar your outfit.

We recommend sporting a heel, strappy sandals. No matter what midi you’ve got on, strappy heels give you an easy boost, elongating your total look and upping the fancy factor. Choose a neutral pair to lend your outfit a subtle lift without taking away from the pattern on your skirt. No flats are allowed to prevent you from looking dowdy.

Always balance your looks when wearing a midi skirt. If you choose a floral or printed midi, break up your look with neutral separates and accent your outfit with complementing accessories.

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z ne Arrest ingrown hair Biwom Iklaki

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ngrown hair is one of those pesky beauty problems that both men and women have to contend with. It is an inflammation or irritation caused by hair growing back into the skin instead of rising from it. This often happens when people shave, wax or tweeze to remove hair from their bodies which may make the hair curl and grow sideways into the skin.

When the hair enters the body, the area becomes inflamed; your body interprets it as a foreign body. It results in pain, bumps, itching, and painful pus-filled blisters.

Home remedies Release the ingrown hair In most cases, ingrown hair goes away on their own, but in other cases, they could become infected and leave the skin swollen, dark and could leave a scar.

Remove the hair When you have ingrown hair and it won’t go away, get a pair of tweezers or a needle and sterilise them before use. If you are using tweezers, gently get hold of the curled hair and pull it straight. If using a needle, insert the needle under the curl and pull.

When you straighten the hair, leave it be because if you remove it, the one that grows back will likely be ingrown. If you are unable to grasp the hair with your needle or tweezers, give it a few days, the hair will grow some more so you can grasp it.

If the area is particularly irritated, avoid waxing, shaving with creams or razor and tweezing, otherwise, the irritation may become much worse.

Prevention You can prevent ingrown hair by avoiding removing the hair or using creams, laser or electrolysis which lessens the risk or ingrown hair.

Exfoliate and moisturise your skin daily.

This removes the dead cells and keeps the area soft and smooth which is important for the growing hair to push through without issues.

Consider a warm shower before shaving.

This moisturises the skin and makes the hair easier to remove.

You should use a sharp single blade to avoid shaving too close to the skin.

Apply cold compresses to the area after shaving in order to reduce irritation.

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Body&Soul

dude

Pull off blazer with T-Shirt look Vanessa Okwara

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he blazer with the t-shirt is a controversial outfit in the fashion world. The blazer with a T-shirt look is often debated if it is acceptable or not but when worn correctly, it can look both classic and effortlessly stylish.

Blazers are a great way to dress up an outfit for those times that a guy just wants to wear his comfortable jeans.

Leaving the house in a T-shirt and jeans is easy, but it can also look lazy. Add a slim-fit blazer to that T-shirt, and your look instantly goes from casual to killer. To start off, make sure both your blazer and T-shirt are slim fitting and you stick to a simple crew T-shirt with minimal to no branding. Anything that’s too loud is going to take away from the formal look and make it seem like you’ve just thrown a blazer over your casual wear.

A plain white t-shirt is the most versatile option, but colour t-shirts can have a vibrant effect. Graphic t-shirts create a super-casual look and give

OF THE WEEK

you the opportunity to express more of your personality. This look goes great when paired with the right jeans and a blazer.

Most guys also like to wear comfortable tee shirts on their days off. While guys should not simply throw a blazer on over an undershirt, many tee shirts look great under a blazer. A tee shirt should not be skin tight, but it should also not be too baggy. Graphic tee shirts, especially band tee shirts or shirts with a welldesigned image, are popular with guys and are a great way for a guy to show off his personality and preferences. With these shirts, a guy can find incredibly soft blazers made out of sweatshirt fabric.

A guy wearing blazer over a graphic tee shirt will look stylish without any extra effort. Paired with some canvas sneakers or even flip flops, this type of outfit is perfect for looking good without much work. White sneakers look clean-cut and leave a nice impression, but colourful sneakers may help achieve a more casual look.

Timi Dakolo

Soft spoken vocalist Vanessa Okwara

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imi Dakolo is a singer, songwriter and soulful performer. He has been called The Voice and has been dubbed Nigeria’s King of soul.

Timi Dakolo shot to stardom when he emerged winner of the inaugural season of Idols West Africa in 2007. With his victory, he got a recording contract with Sony BMG, in addition to other prizes.

Timi Dakolo was born in Accra, Ghana to a Nigerian father, Bayelsa-native David and a Ghanaian mother, Norah, who died when Dakolo was thirteen. His grandmother Ateni Dakolo and his aunty Susan Larry, who lived in Port Harcourt, raised him and he credits her as his early singing teacher and has a deep relationship with her. Before going to Idols West Africa, Timi was a student of Communication Studies in the University of Port Harcourt.

His big break however came in 2007 when he auditioned for the reality show Idols West Africa in Calabar, Cross Rivers. His vocals impressed the judges, and were seen as a contender for the prize. A week before the viewing of the Top 24 performances, Dakolo received the news that his grandmother had died. He still went ahead to win the competition and upon his return recorded the rock ballad ‘Heaven please’ to pay her tribute. The song featured rap assistance from M.I and won the Best Recording at the Hip Hop World Awards (now Headies).

Timi is a cool guy who loves to been seen on red carpet in either casuals or all dressed up in suit and bow tie for special events. He is happily married to the love of his life Busola and they share 3 beautiful children together; 2 girls and a boy.

Dakolo’s latest single ‘Iyawo mi’ is dedicated to his wife and was released in time for the Valentine season.

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Body&Soul

KITCHEN DECOR

​Define contemporary kitchens Biwom Iklaki Things that make anything contemporary often fall under a few narratives such as; practical, minimalist, simple, and elegant.

This is also true for your kitchen décor as they too have contemporary styles which must stay true to the spirit of the contemporary.

Some of the features that would reflect this spirit are as follows: Flat cabinets

The cabinet fronts are often flat to reflect simplicity.

Steer clear of millings and furrows but favour lacquered and highly glossy fronts.

your appliances will not look detached from the rest of the kitchen design.

Modern appliances

To stay true to the rule of minimalism, you must steer clear of gaudy and colourful decorations which include paintings, mismatched wall decorations and tiles. It should be such that your kitchen resembles a lab which would portray a space that is clean, ergonomic and deprived of unnecessary items.

You cannot lay claim to a contemporary kitchen without an assortment of modern appliances. The trick is to have them built in so that they can hide behind the minimalist forms of your cabinets. This way, your kitchen will take up a homogenous design and

Shy to approach her I’m a student in my 2nd year studying Physics. I’ve fallen into love many times before this one but later I realised all of those were just a matter of physical appearance. The girl I love right now is simply amazing! We are in the same class and the way she talks, every time she looks at me, makes me want to forget all my troubles. But the problem with me is that I am unable to express my feelings to her for fear of being denied.

She only relates with me as a friend, reading partner and course mate. Actually communication between us will stop if it happens and that is killing me. I don’t know what to do, whether to tell her or let it go the way it’s going? Please I need suggestions on the best approach to take.

Bola, Ibadan Learning the importance of safe sex I lost my virginity at the age of 16 to a neighbour and since then I’ve been sexually active. At the age of 18, I got involved with a 21-yearold guy. My relationship with this young man grew very close. I started sneaking around with him a lot; before choir practice on Saturday

Lack of ornamentation

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and so on.

One day I went by his house to visit him and we ended up having sex on the floor in his room without protection.

Three weeks after we had sex, I saw that I had boils all over my private part and had to go and see a doctor. I was told that I had been infected with Syphilis. I could not tell my parents for fear of what they will do to me. So I kept going to the chemist shop for self-medication. Today, two years after, I still have this disease reoccurring even after I’ve been treated severally for STD. Girls, don’t hide from your parents or anyone else if you are having problems regarding your health so won’t suffer the agony I’m going through today.

Prisca, Benin My partner wants to get married but I’m not ready I’m in a relationship with

this girl for about three years now and things have been moving smoothly until her best friend got married. Since then, she has been making my life a living hell with different hints on when we should get married. She keeps whining that I’ve not even proposed to her, or gotten her an engagement ring. I’ve tried severally to explain to her that I’m not ready for marriage now, especially with the economic situation in the country but she does not want to listen.

Lately, she has been giving me cold shoulders and hardly visits me the way she does before. I really love this girl and don’t want to lose her but the truth is that I’m not ready financially to settle down but she just does not want to understand with me and I don’t know how to convince her.

Emeka, Lagos

my name is Anthony Chukwudi from Delta State. I am 45 years old single father of three. I live in Benin. I need a lady between 40-45 years for a serious relationship-090867330025 my name is Kolade from Ibadan., a trader and a Christian. I need a working class lady between 30-46 years for a wife-08180956493 I am Dennis, 38 years old. I am handsome, single and caring. i need a lady between 30-40 years old for marriage-07081958420 I am Femi, 35 years old. I am from Ogun State. I need a lady that is ready for marriage-09039453040 my name is Prince Sylvester. I am living in Enugu. I need a pretty sexy slim Christian lady for wife07089979805 my name is Harrison. I am 27 years old. I am handsome, fair, tall and romantic. I live and work in Lagos. I desire a busty working class lady for a relationship09090575528 my name is Idris, 43 ears old graduate and a civil servant. I need a Muslim lady that si single and not a single mother. she must be serious and ready for marriage- 08033086629

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Wole Adepoju 07037763410

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Hon. Yusuf Lasun decorated

Nekan Olateru Olagbegi dreams of Alagbaka

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Beatrice Abebe smiles again

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enry Abebe was from a noble family and had a father who was the first indigenous boss of United African Company, UAC, Dr. Christopher Abebe.

Coupled with great looks and living up to expectations as a young man, it was only natural that he would have a bevy of ladies to choose from when it was time for him to quit the bachelors’ club. Eventually, beautiful lady, Beatrice, happened to be the lucky one that swept him off his feet after which they got married and lived happily as man and wife.

Just as life is unpredictable, Beatrice had to share in the grief of her husband whose four siblings passed on untimely in the spate of a decade. Although in between the grief, she had the feel of a great life as a social butterfly and part of a well to do and influential family. Beatrice was in for a greater loss when her husband, Henry, a former boss of Nigeria Port Authority, gave up the ghost after a brief illness in 2014, thereby making him the fifth to pass on among the seven children of their father. Saying the beautiful mother of four would have been devastated would amount to an understatement as she apparently recoiled into her shell unlike when she was the toast of her peers who dotted on her even as far back as when her sister in-law, late Stella Obasanjo, was the first lady.

All the same, according to the usual saying that tough times don’t last but tough people do, beautiful Beatrice have taken her loss in her stride and moved on with her life. She has been basking in the euphoria that brought back her smiles and made her put behind her troubles to savour the joy of a new dawn when she recently celebrated her birthday.

According to her, she just wanted the day to roll by like a normal day but her children convinced her that there was need to celebrate her; especially as it was her 50th birthday, a golden jubilee and drums were rolled out for the celebration. Although the party was not elaborate to the full stretch of their capability, it was modest and of course a classy one that had in attendance family, friends and well-wishers who felt they should be present to felicitate and share in the joy of the day with the birthday girl.

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rowing up in Ilobu, Osun State born Yusufu Sulaiman Lasun had both natural and artificial obstacles that were capable of making him derail or lose hope. Yet, as if he had seen far ahead and known what the future held for him, he held tenaciously to his dreams and aspirations. His quest to be educated was almost marred at the University of Ibadan, before he eventually found his way to Obafemi Awolowo University, where he graduated as a Mechanical Engineer.

His steadfastness and doggedness actually paid off as Lasun, went on to have a flourishing career as an engineer at different places where he worked before he decided to contribute his quota in uplifting his people and the development of his state when he made attempt and secured a seat in the lower chambers of the National Assembly to represent the people of Oshogbo/Olorunda/ Orolurepodun Federal Constituency in 2011. The thirst to better the lot of his people has endeared him to them while he has also risen to become the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. Perhaps for his tireless efforts to make good his promises and probably make his people happy and proud of him for representing them well, the politician and his wife, Rashidat, were decorated with chieftaincy titles.

In a well-attended ceremony by his law maker colleagues and other well-wishers, Lasun and his wife were installed by the traditional ruler of Obaagun, HRH Oba Jimoh Adebisi, Olobaagun of Obaagun, as Bashorun Obaagun and Yeye Obaagun, respectively.

overnor Olusegun Mimiko, has served a term as the Governor of the Sunshine State, Ondo, and his second term is running to an end with countdown to his exit from the Alagbaka seat of power. Another eligible individual in the person of Prince Nekan Olateru Olagbegi, may have joined the swelling numbers of politicians who are interested in succeeding him in a matter of months when his tenure finally elapses.

Prince Nekan, the younger brother to the present Olowo of Owo, Oba David Olateru Olagbegi, is the Coordinator of Public Private Partnerships in the present administration -what has been branded as part of his selling points. He intends to build on the amazing transformation of Governor Mimiko as well as take the state to greater heights.

Born to the prominent, popular and noble Owo royal family, Nekan, after his elementary education, did his High school both in Ibadan and Akure before proceeding to the United States of America, for his university education.

Having distinguished and represented his school as a Tennis player back home, with sports and academics scholarship, he completed his Master’s degree in accountancy and worked in high profile firms like Price Waterhouse Cooper and Arthur Anderson, as an accountant and a consultant before setting up his firm, Conet Consulting Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. This politician, who is believed to be exceptionally creative, may have received a major boost as young people in the state under the umbrella, Sunshine Youth Forum, has tipped him as one of the preferred successors of Mimiko.

Break imminent for Faleke

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t’s no longer news that the former Chairman of Ojodu Local Development Centre, Honorable James Abiodun Faleke, who currently represents Ikeja Federal Constituency, at the House of Representatives, has been occupied with the battle of how to retrieve his acclaimed mandate from the recently sworn in governor of Kogi State. It will be recalled that Faleke was the running mate to the APC candidate in the last Kogi governorship election, Prince Audu Abubarkar, who died at the verge of winning.

However, the amiable and well-loved politician will, in matter of weeks, have to take a break from the struggle to attend to what could be described as a family responsibility.

The father to his socialite wife, Bukola, who runs a Spa in Lagos, Pa Shofolan, passed away at the age of 88 few weeks ago.

According to information made available to us, the 5th and 6th of May, have been fixed for the burial in Lagos and the high society is already preparing to support one of its own.

Kunle Adedayo, wife honour late son

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t was such a great loss for Kunle and Yinka Adedayo when death snatched their only child few years ago; everyone sympathised with them as they reeled in grief.

Gracefully, this couple that owns frontline eatery, Tasty Fried Chicken, Kunle, and Yinka Adedayo, have been able to cope with the loss especially with the presence and aid of the two kids left behind by their son.

The amiable couple, few months ago invited well-meaning people to the launch of a foundation in honour of the late son and the event turned out to be a great one.

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Body&Soul

RazzleDazzle

Abiola Alaba Peters

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I’m in love with two Nigerian actors – Ufedo Sunshine

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ne of the youngest and brightest acts in Nollywood at the moment is Ufedo Sunshine, who is not only endowed intellectually, but physically as well.

Born Ufedo B. Itodo Osuala in Jos, from a Christian background, she is a fast-rising Nollywood actress and entrepreneur. Sunshine, who also doubles as the owner of Bemztouch, a fashion house in Lekki, describes acting as a passion which she began at the age of

Emeka Ike emerges AGN interim President

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ctor, Emeka Ike, has been pronounced as the interim president of Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), pending its elections. The National Treasurer of the AGN, St. Maradona J. Mikevine, said the guild has adopted Ike to temporarily serve for two years and thereafter, conduct a unified election. It would be recalled that on March 23rd, the National Secretary of AGN, Femi Durojaiye, in a statement, said the former President, Ibinabo Fiberesima, would step down as the president and Emeka Ike, who has been angling for the position, would take over as president. Mikevine called a press conference to clear the air and set the record straight in respect of the leadership crisis rocking Actors’ Guild of Nigeria.

“This is the best way forward after years of injustice and unfairness perpetrated against Emeka Ike and his executives. The court has given its verdict; the industry should please allow us enjoy the fruit of our victory at the court,” the National Secretary stated.

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On how acting began for her, selling points and challenges, she has this to say, “I started acting professionally when I was at the university in Ghana. A friend of mine told me about this movie coming up then, he took me to the audition venue and I was auditioned and given the role. It was challenging being my first job then, and I was nervous. My delivery and performance when acting are my selling points. I’m generally in my zone whenever I’m in front of the camera, though it didn’t end there. My back view and lips are my strongest selling points physically.

My first movie made me realise that. My colleagues were like ‘you are endowed’.

The actress cum fashion house owner revealed that she has been sexually harassed severally by producers and directors. She also expressed her disappointment over the fake lifestyle of most of her colleagues.

She said, “Oh yes! Not once not twice. Some boldly said to me, ‘if you don’t give in, then forget the role’. I have lost a couple of acting jobs due to my refusal. But I’m glad I did not give in. When you have God, you have everything, that’s me. I feel sorry for the desperate girls falling like chickens. They are the ones giving the industry a terrible name. Some of them will be showing off what they can’t really afford, while they are struggling to pay their bills.

“The fake lifestyle some actors live is appalling. Get closer to them and you would be disappointed. Today you would read so and so actress just bought a house, tomorrow you would hear so and so actor has done this and that. Meanwhile most of them are struggling to meet up with the fake life. It’s too much stress you know.”

She however said if there is anyone in the industry she can date, then it must be Joseph Benjamin or Ramsey Noah.

Omoni Oboli ‘Wives on Strike,’ an infectious comedy I will not leave my marriage for any woman – Caroline Ekanem Danjuma

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arlier in the week, Nollywood actress, Caroline Ekanem-Danjuma, posted a comment on her Instagram regarding her husband’s randy lifestyle that has become a subject of public discussion. This came shortly after her husband, Danjuma, was pictured having a private dinner with a mystery woman. Caroline made it clear that she has no time to fight other women and will not leave her marriage for any woman. She also said all men cheat and people should stop reporting her husband to her as he’s still a good father to his children and benefactor to her even if he’s not the best husband. Some of her Instagram followers were not happy with her statement and replied her with harsh words.

Vanessa Okwara

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ne of the most eagerly anticipated Nollywood movies of the year, ‘Wives on Strike’, premiered last Sunday, at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas VIP Screening Room in Lagos. As expected, the list of stars at the event was seemingly endless – Omoni Oboli, Uche Jombo, Ufuoma McDermott, Chioma Akpotha, Kehinde Bankole, Bovi, Julius Agwu, Monalisa Chinda, Ashionye, Blessing Egbe, 2face and Annie Idibia, Soni and Betty Irabor and so many more.

‘Wives on Strike’, is a movie that baits the Nigerian government and society with an interesting story addressing early girl-child marriage affecting the Nigerian society.

Director/producer, Omoni Oboli, creates a funny and comical movie full of wit, and a meaningful message targeted at Nigerian citizens. ‘Wives on Strike’, which was filmed two years ago should have no trouble finding an audience as the film adopts the use of Pidgin English which presents the dialogue of the actors in such a way everyone can understand it.

I’m not Peter Okoye’s replacement –Muno Edwin Usoboh

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uno Oriero, the first artiste signed to Paul Okoye’s waves-making Rudeboy Recordz, has cleared the air on speculations that he is a potential replacement for Peter Okoye, the other half of P-Square.

Muno, who is still basking in the euphoria of the success recorded by his debut singles (Never Regret & Slow Slow), reiterated that no matter what, Peter remains an integral part of P-Square, and no one can take his place.

“For crying out loud, Peter and Paul are not just brothers –they are twins, so it is reasonably impossible to come between them. Twin brothers may quarrel, but the special bond between them cannot be underestimated. Blood is thicker than water.

“They have both inspired me in many ways, and I respect them a lot. I actually count myself really lucky for the privilege of working closely with the most successful twin brothers in Africa, and maybe in the world,” Muno stated.

Speaking on the recently settled rift between Peter and Paul, the effervescent vocalist added, “We all quarrel with our siblings, so it is not something that is out of this world.

The only difference here is because they are super celebrities, and I think the media also blew it beyond proportion.

But thank God normalcy has returned.”

Funke Akindele confirms relationship with singer, JJC

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lthough it is no longer news that three years after her first marriage to Lagos big boy, Kehinde Almaroof Oloyede, crashed, famous Nigerian actress, Funke Akindele, has found new love. The ‘Jenifa’ movie star was reportedly in a sizzling romance with Nigerian music act, Rasheed Bello, popularly known as JJC, and the affair may lead to the altar anytime soon. It was also reported in the media that, Funke, who is counting down to her 40th birthday, has moved into the singer’s house at Prime Water Garden in Ikate, Lagos State. The love birds have been romantically linked earlier this year but have both denied it on several occasions until recently when they could no longer keep the affair secret. Apart from leaving a trail of their romance on social media, the entertainers were seen together at a wedding in the UK recently.

In February, 2016, there were reports that JJC had proposed to the popular actress which she allegedly agreed.

Prior to this, Akindele hasn’t said anything about her relationship with the singer. But recent visit by RazzleDazzle to one of her social media accounts, SNAPCHAT, shows both entertainment personalities are very much in love as Funke Akindele shared a picture of herself and JJC cuddled up in bed. But before the exposure, the pair were said to have attended the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards together. Funke Akindele’s estranged husband, Almaroof, is said to have had three wives and seven kids before Funke. Her new lover, JJC, is also fathering three children aged 18, 15 and 10, out of wedlock, and from three different women.

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Body&Soul

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You too can find love again!

CONNECT NG

ou always hear people say things like ‘after the rain comes sun shine’ when you have gone through a harrowing experience or trying to recover from a broken heart.

When they are comforting you with these words, it may never look like it will ever happen but trust me, time does heal all wounds.

Wallowing in self-pity is never the best way to get over heartbreaks but we do it all the same. You wear a forlorn face laden with sadness and depression as if the world came to an end and you were the only one left behind. Broken relationships always leave a bitter taste in the mouth when you remember the heartache and for some people, it takes years before they get over the pain and move on.

But you know what, making a clean break and creating a fresh start is the best way to forget the past and move on with your life. There’s no need crying over spilt milk or indulging in vengeful thoughts that will turn you to a bitter old hag. These things have a way of reflecting in your attitude towards others, so avoid them as much as you can.

Make up your mind to start afresh and get determined not to make the same mistakes twice. You do this by making sure you don’t choose the next person just because they happen to look like or act like your Ex. This usually have a boomeranging effect in the long run. You’ll end up not being truly satisfied with that person because you keep comparing him/her with your ex and most of the time, they fall off the high pedestal

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vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com you have placed them.

In creating a fresh relationship, first of all make sure you are healed of all hurts from the former relationship.

There’s no need carrying an excess baggage full of complexes and inhibitions to the love zone of a new relationship. No one likes to hear how wonderful your ex was when they are on a date with you. Be sure you are totally healed from a broken heart before jumping into a fresh relationship.

The next thing to do is to build up your friendship data base. Most people find romance at the work place or through a network of acquaintances.

No one likes to hear how wonderful your ex was when they are on a date with you. Be sure you are totally healed from a broken heart before jumping into a fresh relationship

If this isn’t happening for you, you may need to extend your friendship circle.

Best way to do this is to spend more time on leisure activities that you enjoy and meet other individuals who like the same things. The more friends you have, the more chances you have of meeting that special someone. Try meeting new friends by changing the circle of friends you had with your ex. That way you will not easily run into your former lover or make the mistake of dating any of their friends. People who do that end up spoiling the friendship that exists between their ex and their new partner and I don’t think that is really the ideal way to create a new relationship. Its best you always create a fresh relationship on a clean slate away from old reminders of your former relationship.

When you have cast your net into the ocean of new friends, I’m sure you’ll definitely catch an interesting fish! So don’t be shy to accept an invitation for a date no matter how trivial the outing may seem. You never know if that simple date will be the begin-

ning of a budding and lasting relationship. You can be invited to go for a quick drink or a simple lunch date or even a special dinner date. Accept it graciously and prepare your mind to have a lovely time. First dates can be frightening and fraught, so don’t expect too much. Just relax, have fun and get comfortable dating again.

If you had a good time on the date, there’s no harm in texting or phoning to say how much you enjoyed it. Most ladies are shy to do this for fear of appearing too forward or desperate.

All the same, don’t insist on another date if the other person seems less than keen at the end of the first date.

A gentle ‘Would you like to meet up again sometime?’ should be enough to establish if there’s any spark between the two of you. If you don’t want to meet again, it’s good manners to gently let the other person know the truth. Try: ‘I think you are very nice, but I don’t think we could have the kind of relationship I’m looking for.’ That way, you’ll save yourself the trouble of wading off an unwanted fly trying to perch on your love zone and preventing you from creating further room to meet someone else.

New relationships are always sweet and exciting at the beginning. When you have found that new love, enjoy the feeling of being in love again and make sure that this time you put in your best and eliminate all the mistakes you made in previous relationships that could cause a break up in the new one. I wish you all the best in your new found love!

This is not the new Africa of Fuse ODG

hanaian musician, Fuse OGD, has wowed many with his songs and I am not going to take away from the fact that he is a talented musician. However, if he hopes to follow in the footsteps of African musician activists such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Maria Makeba, then he had better start explaining the ideology behind his TINA philosophy.

Now, to the uninitiated, FUSE ODG wears a cap in almost all of his music videos with the logo TINA. In the remix of his popular hit ‘Antenna’ featuring Haitian musician turned politician, Jean Wycleff, the meaning of TINA is given as This Is New Africa. Now that is curious beyond belief.

What is wrong with the ‘old” Africa’?

What distinguishes the new Africa of Fuse from the old? Not much in the way of explanation is provided and so I can only draw conclusions from the lyrics of his songs.

In the single with the same title, TINA, the acronym takes on the persona of a woman who can conquer all natural elements to save her children and express her love. Fuse sings: “Even when the sea come carry me go/My Tina go come and save me o/Not even the walls of Jericho can stop her touching her baby o”.

The invocation of the biblical event of the Walls of Jericho is ironic albeit in a rather confusing manner. The walls of Jericho represents the conquest of Jews and not Africans and so I wonder what the relevance is in a new song. Is Fuse now saying that Africans must embrace the Jews and their ways to define the new? Sorry mate, nothing new

here as this has been the premise of all Christian religion from the colonial era till now. That Africans have managed to embrace Christianity without losing their culture represents the strength of the African tradition and as such the old can be said to be resilient and not in need of the new. Perhaps, by using the female gender specific depiction of Tina, he is evoking the power of the woman at Jericho, Rehab, who survived the demolition of those walls.

Well, long before now, the land of Africa has been productive and has taken on the female function. Way back in 1986, a Nigerian music group, Jambos Express (wonder where they are now?) sang ‘Mother Africa’ and they

urged her in the lyrics to come show her children the way. So, the feminine trope evoked by Fuse is as old well worn as the land of Africa itself. Still, nothing new.

The same female empowered sentiment is expressed in the popular single ‘Antenna’ as he expresses the effect of a woman on him. An antenna is a guiding instrument and also helps the reception of radio frequency. I can only imagine that Fuse is referencing the guiding role of women in the African life and I must commend him for this.

However, he calls this Tina a diva that she hurts his head. Now that is new but it is far from positive and I doubt if he really wants a ‘new’ Africa popu-

I can only conclude that the TINA philosophy is ill conceived and not well thought out. May I simply offer a word of advice in telling Fuse to ditch the whole TINA stuff until he can clearly articulate a philosophy that demonstrates respect for Africa

lated by dangerous women especially when he has already said this same woman is phenomenal and elevating in another single. I can only conclude that the TINA philosophy is ill conceived and not well thought out. May I simply offer a word of advice in telling Fuse to ditch the whole TINA stuff until he can clearly articulate a philosophy that demonstrates respect for Africa as I believe that is the intention behind TINA. Nothing is wrong with Africa and its culture to warrant a new one. In the TINA video, Fuse celebrated Africa with different attires from Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries. I can only speak to the Nigerian part when I say that none of the materials he showed is new. The Gele, Iro and Buba worn by the Yoruba women in his video are as old as the dawn of the black race. They are an attestation to the civilisation in existence before the white colonists set foot in Africa. I guess the same is true of the Ghanaian Kente fabric that he proudly displays. This are not relics of some backward old culture, no. They represent the best in African culture, an heritage to be proud of without needing to change it for something better, which to me is what new represents, an improvement over the old one.

I like the songs of this artiste, I am just not feeling his TINA philosophy and that is what this is about, the whole TINA thing. I can only recommend that he follows in the path of Fela, do some deep research into Africa and then come up with a philosophy that celebrate and promote African cultures and the values inherent in them.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

WINE & DINE

Body&Soul

Chocolate red wine: a tasty experience Ibukunoluwa Kayode

O

ver the centuries, wine is regarded as a refreshing tranquilizer drink made to sweeten the tongue. All wines from the red, white and pink to chocolates come from different grape fruits, each with unique taste. They are infused with inviting aromas that add to the craving to have a sip.

Just like every other wine, Chocolate red wine is a tasty experience that comes with a load of health benefits. The wine makers, according to Franklin Liquors, take this pairing to the next level, marrying chocolate flavour with red wine to create a sumptuous drink with the proprietary red blend of the finest vinifera varietals.

With a touch of oak and a kiss of sweetness, they create the perfect fruit driven foil for rich dark chocolate which unfolds in silken

layers across the palate.

The aromas are those of black cherry and dark chocolate with a hint of cocoa powder. Anyone can indulge in it at any given occasion.

Chocolate wines hold minimum of 12.2per cent alcohol by volume and are enjoyed when served at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Chocolate are believed to help protect the cardiovascular system. The reason being that cocoa bean is rich in a class of plant nutrients called flavonoids, which help to protect against environmental toxins and help repair damages.

The antioxidants loaded in chocolate wines according to research, is believe to help the body cells resist damage caused by free radicals that are formed by normal bodily processes such as breathing and from environmental contaminants like cigarette smoke and fumes.

Edonmblo, Ugep snack Biwom Iklaki

2 smoked fish

ross River state can boast of many different cultures that gives it a vibrant appeal to others. From its 18 local government areas, it can proudly strut over 30 indigenous cultures with individual appeal. One of such local governments is Ugep local government in the Central Senatorial district. They also boast of the cultural attraction called ‘lebokwu’ festival where maidens come out dressed in brassieres and loincloths with iron rings wrapped from their shins to their ankles and painted with native chalk.

¼ cup palm oil

C

Edonmblo is a snack from this unique area and eaten by wrapping a piece of fish in a leaf and dipping the entire wrap into the palm oil sauce and tossing into your mouth. Some people follow up this snack with a swig from some vodka or whiskey. It is prepared with...

Ingredients I bundle uncut afang/utazi

2 bulbs onions (chopped) 1 stock cube 1 cup pepper (pounded) Salt to taste Peppersoup spices (ground) Strong vodka (optional) Preparation Wash the leaves and set aside to drain. Heat up the oil and add the onions to soften, and then add the pepper. Peppersoup spices, stock cube and salt. Mix thoroughly and leave to simmer for 2 minutes and set down. Serve sauce in a bowl with the leaves in a tray. The vodka can be served in a shot glass.

Weird or cool? Send your comments

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

Why I don’t talk to Stella Damasus – Doris Simeon Award winning, light skinned and beautiful Doris Simeon is a talented actress, master of ceremony and TV show host. Simeon, who made her first debut as an actress on popular TV comedy series, Papa Ajasco, rose to the top of her career, starring in over a hundred movies. ABIOLA ALABA PETERS, engages the Lagos born and estranged wife of ace filmmaker, Daniel Ademinokan in this interview How would you describe 2016 so far?

Well, I can’t complain. I just thank God for his grace, his mercies, the gift of life and endless blessings.

You have been off the movie scene for a while. What happened?

It’s just that I’m really scared. I just have to be choosy when it comes to acting now.

There is a level you get to in your career, one needs to be careful so as not to spoil all you’ve built over the years on the screen with one stupid movie. So I’m only just trying to be careful and choosy in the kind of productions that I find myself.

Is it true that if you are not light skinned in the industry, you can’t get a role?

No, that is not true, whoever said that is lying. We have many dark skinned actresses in the industry that are doing great. Funke Akindele isn’t light skinned; Liz Da Silver and many more. We have some topnotch dark skinned actresses that have done so well. It’s a thing of choice; it’s even funny when somebody just comes up and says, ‘oh I don’t like the way God created me’ and decides to change it, so it’s a thing of choice.

I don’t believe in that notion.

What is new about you that people don’t know?

Well, I have been working on so many projects. I produced my short film last year. It’s not out though; I’m still working on how to push it out. I also just finished a comedy sitcom called ‘Sisi Clara’ and I’m still working on other projects as well. I’m also working on NGOs. I’m planning to do different productions. I want to make my production company a content TV provider for online TV stations.

You run a beauty house. How do you marry acting and beauty business?

Well, I have stylists that are always there; so it’s really not too hectic for me.

How has it’s been so far?

It’s been great, fun and sweet.

Why did you venture into the beauty business?

It’s something I love. It actually runs in my family. My mum was a hairdresser before she passed on, so we all learnt from her. I’d always wanted to own a beauty parlour. I did not open it because I wanted to; it is something I really love to do.

You were rumoured to be in a relationship with a journalist called Wale Olaleye. How true was that story?

This Wale you are talking about just got married last August. So if he got married to me, people will know and it will be all over the Internet, everybody knows his wife now.

So who is Wale to you?

He is just a friend.

You never dated?

No comment on that. You see, one will always have a relationship with a guy and people will want to build a story around it and even if Wale and I dated and I moved to his house, that was before he got married. So if they say all those things about me, I’m not moved because it’s a normal thing and I’m used to it. Even if I’m walking on the street with another person I’m probably working

with, people will still make out stories from it, so I’m not bothered.

So are you in a relationship now?

I’m in a relationship with God, my business, my career for now and my son.

That’s to say you’ve given up on love and marriage?

No, not at all, I believe that when God says its time, its time. I will never ever give up on love or marriage or trying again, I still believe in love.

How often do you see your son, are you with him now?

No, I am not.

Would you accept your ex-husband if he comes begging?

No, I won’t, all I want is my son.

Do you have your son now?

No I don’t.

So what do you hope to do about that?

Well, we are still in court, so I don’t say much about it.

Are you both still in touch?

We are in court; let both parties be for now.

What about Stella?

I am not Stella’s friend, she and I don’t talk.

We’ve never worked together before, so we are not friends, I don’t have any business with her.

What could ever make you quit acting?

I have actually not thought of it. Even if there is no money in it again, the passion brought me into it, so for that, I can’t stop it for anything.

That’s to say acting has paid you well?

Yes, very well, I love my profession.

What can you do for love?

If it’s for love of a child or my children, I will do anything even to the point of death.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done for love?

I don’t think I’ve done anything too extraordinary for love.

For how much can you play nude?

Ha! I can’t, no matter the money involved, I can never! Maybe if I was white and I’ve been groomed in that sense, but thank God I’m a Nigerian. I can’t dare it. I’m a cultured woman and I know my culture won’t permit me, so I can’t.

What’s your take about these regular marriage breakups in the entertainment industry?

I really don’t think it’s only in the industry. I think people hear about us more often maybe because we are in the spotlight; it’s everywhere. Even pastors also suffer the same thing, so it’s not just the entertainers alone. There was a day in my church when we were about having our anniversary. We were talking to the pastor and his wife came and was saying we should leave her husband alone to rest that he was just coming in from travel. So you can imagine whatever it is they must have been going through at home. It’s because we are in the spotlight that is why people hear of ours. Because of

this my marriage issue, I go to court all the time. I see and hear cases; it is everywhere.

But as entertainers, we hear things a lot and we have developed thick skin, because there are some words you will hear and you will almost commit suicide.

What is the wildest thing you’ve heard about yourself?

That should be when they were rumouring that my husband left me because I was cheating on him and all that, it’s not really new to me. I just felt it’s one of those things they say, sometimes some will even say it as if they were there, but I’m not moved like I said earlier.

What is that thing about Doris that people really do not know?

A lot of people think I’m quiet, but the truth is that I’m very playful. I can play from morning till night, even when I’m working, I play a lot. I’m a happy person. I love to meet people, talk to people and advice people.

Some people see me from afar and conclude that I am a pompous person, some say they are afraid to approach me because they are scared and don’t know what they will hear from me. If you approach me and I snub you, then you can talk, but if you’ve not and you just sit there and conclude I’m a snub, how would you know me?

I know some of my colleagues who are so pompous. I try to correct them each time I see them exhibiting such attitude. We are colleagues, if we don’t talk to ourselves, who will? So please I’m a very free and playful person.

Would your next love come from the entertainment circle?

No! I think we’ve seen much of ourselves; but I can’t really say. I might say no, and God says yes, so that is why I always put God first in all I do, but if it’s my own choice, I don’t think I will want i t from the entertain-

ment i n dustry.

Five

years from today, where do you see your brand?

My brand, Doris Simeon Universal Studio, I wish and pray to be bigger than this.

What is that one thing you would like to be remembered for?

Putting smiles on people’s faces, I love to make people happy.

What is the most expensive item in your closet?

That should be my wristwatches and my shoes; I have some other things as well.

What is your best food?

Ijebu garri and Akara (beans cake) fried with palm oil.

Best designer?

I really do not have. I’m so in love with Nigerian designers, I love something simple and nice If you have the chance to change one thing about yourself, what would that be?

To make money earlier, maybe from age 10.

I said 10 because I don’t want to be greedy.

See small Emmanuella that said ‘this is not my real face oooo!’

How old is she?

But she is now in money, so to start making money early is what I’d like to change.

Your celebrity male crush? ldris Elba and Will Smith.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

Sunday Magazine

me die – TB patient organism that causes tuberculosis by Robert Koch in 1882. This year’s theme was ‘Unite to End TB’. Globally, of the estimated nine million TB cases in 2013, only 5.7 million were reported to various national TB programme.

This, according to him, leaves over three million people with TB, whose diagnosis were missed or were not reported. He noted that it constitutes the pool for new infections and diseases, especially in most disease burden countries.

“This calls for renewed focus and innovative strategies to reach and provide care for the over three million including expansion of Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS), the current TB treatment strategy which has been acclaimed as the most cost effective health care model,” he added.

Signs and symptoms to report, as Nigeria seeks to end TB In a bid to end the scourge of TB in Nigeria and in the world at large, Secretary General of the Society, Dr. O.O. Adewole, said this year’s focus comes in line with the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ set by the End TB Strategy and the ‘Global Plan to End TB,’ 2016-2020, aiming to eliminate TB by 2035.

“It challenges us to look at the fight against TB in an entirely new way: that every step we take should be a step that counts for people and will lead us towards TB elimination. NTS has equally been involved in community mobilisation and public education on various chest diseases including TB. Over the years, the association had been providing education, awareness.

“We are equally using this medium to encourage all patients and individuals with cough of over two to three weeks with sputum production, haemoptysis (coughing out of blood), chest wall pain, noisy breathing, breathlessness, frequent colds, loss of weight, loss of appetite, fever and night sweats, to report to the nearest health facility for necessary tests,” he added.

According to him, it’s encouraged that those diagnosed with TB should consistently take their drugs for the required months in order to avoid drug resistance.

Health professionals, physicians, health bodies should make extra effort in educating patients and effectively applying the DOTS therapy.

“In co-infected cases, the top priority is to treat TB efficiently using standardised regimens and to follow proper management procedures in giving the anti-retroviral drugs. Nigeria has made some significant strides towards TB control, but we know we can do better and faster to achieve the End TB Goal.

“Since the disease is equally a social mal-

NTS President, Prof. Etete

ady, improvement in living conditions of the people will also assist in effective control. We commend the activities of other bodies and agencies involved in TB control in Nigeria like the STOP TB Nigeria, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, The Damien Foundation, Institute of Human Virology, Aids Preventive Initiative in Nigeria, other donors and development partners.

“The NTS is ready to collaborate with the government in looking at innovative control approaches that would reduce the ravaging effect of the disease, ensuring a TB-free country and work force.”

Project Coordinator, Asthma and Chest Care Foundation, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Prof.

Gregory Erhabor, said: “When you find out that you are coughing and wheezing for over two weeks; having fever at night, I suggest you go to the nearest treatment centre for a test. When you get there, your sputum will be taken for a test. Treatment centres are in most teaching hospitals.

“You need to find out those, who have the problem. There should be a concerted effort here. The journalists, religious leaders, physicians, community leaders, village heads and school teachers among others should be involved. Smoking, alcoholism, dirty and overcrowded environment among others compound the problem of TB. Balance diet will help to improve your immune system against TB.” Why TB patients are undertreated in Nigeria Speaking on why TB patients are undertreated, which leads to resistant TB, Prof.

Erhabor, people are undertreated because most of them report to the hospital very late. It’s said that before a person, who has cough reports to the hospital, he would have infected six other persons. They go to wrong places to take wrong medications.

Sometimes, they patronise roadside drug vendors or ill-equipped private hospital.

He noted that drugs centres for the treatment of TB are not universally handled and even when people go to these centres to receive treatment, when they felt ok, they leave without completing their drugs and this also leads to multi drugs resistance.

“Also, there is issue of lack of door step centre. There is paucity of screening centres and sometimes, the centres are far away from the beneficiaries. When this happens, the people have to be motivated to go and complete their drugs.

“In some cases, they do not have money to transport themselves to the treatment centres. There is also the fear of treating HIV patient, who has TB. These compound the problem already at hand and this why government has to be involved in this project.

“The most important approach to this, which is practiced in other countries, is what is referred to as “One Stop” treatment. In ‘one stop’ treatment, we look at TB and HIV together. Look at them as diseases we must fight together.

“In the past, people used to be afraid that when they treat TB patients, they are likely to be infected with the other. But now, we tried not to separate them, we treat them together. Any TB patient that comes, we screen him for HIV and vice versa. If we noticed that they are related, we treat them together. So, ‘one stop’ treatment is the way out,” he said.

However, some medical experts are of view that the government is not doing enough in this struggle. The country, over time, has depended on external forces to solve this problem, which makes the country far away from eliminating TB in our lifetime as was the theme of last year’s World TB Day.

I’m homeless, but I don’t blame anybody – Chief Lari Williams Veteran actor, lecturer and celebrated playwright, Chief Lari Williams, recently featured in the popular TV show ‘MTN’S Who Deserves To Be A Millionaire’ where he won N1 million.

Williams, a Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), speaks on his deteriorated health and other issues in this interview with EDWIN USOBOH Two people have just played with you to win N1 million. Congratulations sir.

I am grateful to God and to them.

How do you feel?

I feel great. I am happy. God is good, you people are good. The people that were with me in the hot seat are good as well.

Though we couldn’t go beyond one million naira but believe me, this show has given me a new lease of life. It’s been a big relief. One has come a long way, you know.

Really?

I tell you Can you let us into your background then?

My name is Lari Williams. I’m an actor, a poet, a lecturer and a playwright. I studied journalism at the London School of Journalism, Park Lane. I proceeded to Morley College to study English where I developed an interest in drama. I then went to study drama at Mountview Theatre School, London. In order to become a professional actor, I went to Stratford E15 Acting School also in England. I set up a group named Calabash Artists in England.

My academic career was wrapped up at the University of Iowa, Iowa State, USA. I produced my first full-length play titled ‘Colanut Junction’ in 1971. I employed the likes of Olu Jacobs, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycet, Dele Jegede, etc to work on the play. We also did a production at the London Commonwealth Hall. I consider that as one of my biggest achievements.

Quite impressive, Chief. Then, when did you come back home?

I came back to Nigeria in 1977 after I got an invitation from the FESTAC ’77 committee as a musical poet. I decided to remain in Nigeria after FESTAC with my family, and I also started teaching arts at the National Theatre. I also got roles in soaps like ‘Village Headmaster, Ripples, Mirror in The Sun, etc.

So how have you been faring?

Things have been difficult because even though we were pioneers of this industry, most of the acting roles did not pay enough. We were just doing arts for art’s sake. I also practice as a journalist and I have had a column in the Vanguard newspaper called ‘Stage & Screens’ for over 28 years. I have no option, in spite of health challenges; I need to do so as to be able to

keep body and soul together.

You mean you still write?

Ah, I do. Even, I still train young people who are passionate about theatre arts, I write plays as well. I am presently trying to put my play on even though I can’t afford the cost. I have not folded my hands, I have been busy with projects but it has been difficult because as you know, there is no pension for people in my profession.

In essence, do you mean all these efforts bear little rewards?

Rewards you said? (Shaking his head) I am presently homeless and I do not want to blame anybody for not helping out. As the first president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, I am sure my colleagues must have heard about my condition, coupled with cataracts - my eye problem, I cannot see very well again, but help cannot be forced out of anybody.

Apart from being a former president of the Actors Guild, what other honours have you?

Honours and awards? Honestly I’ve lost counts. And I mean it (laughs). I have received a lot of them for which I am proud.

In recognition of (my) selfless service to the nation, I became a recipient of the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ endorsed by a former president, and most importantly I am an awardee of the National Honours; Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR. When were you given the award?

2008.

What do you think would have made government to come up with an award for the person of Chief Lari Williams?

How would I have known? I was only contributing in my little way, but all the same, I thank God and good people of Nigeria. It is still part of these that has brought about my invitation to this programme – Who Deserves To Be A Millionaire? Am I the only worthy person out there? I pray God would continue to show love to them, grant them peace, make the company grow and bless them forever.

They have made me to see how good Nigerians and some corporate bodies can be. Well, this is an experience to me at my age! God will bless the organisers; I am full of gratitude to MTN and the show’s producers.

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

FG should do more to stop herdsmen attacks –Rev Gado You have been mentioned as one of the top contenders for the Presidency of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the coming election, what do you consider as your strong and weak points?

To answer this question would be selfserving. I suggest you go and investigate.

I have been in office as ECWA President since 2012 and my record is there for all to see.

What have you done in the past that should make you stand out as the right person for the leadership of the umbrella Christian body?

Please check-out my records as ECWA President and as you need to also bear in mind that leadership is also not only about doing but being.

Who are the major contenders and aren’t you intimidated by your opponents?

I do not know who they are when the nomination process is completed we will know them. I am confident in whom I am in Christ and the mission of Christ or the assignment Jesus Christ gave me to do for Him. Therefore nobody intimidates me because I have the mind of Christ.

Hausa Fulani herdsmen have been attacking Christian communities in Central Nigeria and now have extended the aggression to some southern states and all these have gone on unchecked by government. As a Christian leader what is your reaction?

No government, no matter how powerful, can protect all communities all the time; so where this is the case, leaders of such communities must take necessary measures to secure their communities I urge the government at all levels to do more to protect all Nigerians especially minorities.

The president, himself a Fulaniman, has done little or nothing to condemn the incessant attacks of the herdsmen. What is your take on this?

The President of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Gado, has held a number of leadership positions within ECWA both in Nigeria and the USA where has spent many years. Described as a gentleman with a smiling face, he is being tipped to step into the shoes of Papa Ayo Oritshejafor particular when some Christian leaders are calling for a northerner to take over as CAN President. Gado urges President Muhammadu Buhari to do something quickly to stop the incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen in this interview with Tai Anyanwu

a life time or even in a generation. So, those who come after must build on and improve where possible on what those who came before did. As to what the agenda will be should God put me in that office stay tuned. To give you a hint, it will be God’s agenda for our nation, Nigeria.

Governor Nasir El Rufai’s anti public preaching bill is generating lots of reactions from both Islamic and Christian clerics what are your thoughts about the development The disciples of old faced this challenge.

They were forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. They answer the disciples gave is appropriate here: They told the authorities to judge for themselves whether it is right to obey man than God. Christians in Nigeria have been the most law abiding citizens

and yet the most penalized. God set up authorities (Romans 13) to go after those who do wrong not those who do right.

Gado

In the spirit of Easter what are the lessons and your advice for Nigerians?

The lessons of Easter are obvious. Easter is about the supreme sacrifice that no other person paid except Jesus Christ. He died and resurrected and now about to return to receive those who believe in him into his everlasting kingdom. Easter is about service, sacrifice and rescue. I urge Nigerians to use this period to reflect on the importance of service, sacrifice and selflessness. Let us renounce greed, selfishness, self-centeredness and bigotry so that we can rescue our nation and make it more powerful.

Muslim shopkeeper killed for wishing Christians happy Easter

A

Muslim taxi driver has admitted to killing a fellow Muslim shopkeeper in Glasgow for “disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad.”

Asad Shah had posted a message no his Facebook account hours before he was brutally

murdered, wishing his customers “Good Friday and a very Happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation… Let’s follow the real footstep of beloved holy Jesus Christ and get the real success in both worlds.”

Around 9 p.m. he was attacked in the street outside his

shop and stabbed at least 30 times.

But on Wednesday, the man charged with the murder, 32-year-old Tanveer Ahmed, said that he didn’t kill Shah over his Facebook post. Rather, he said, it was because Shah was an Ahmadi Muslim, and had

“disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.”

“Mr Shah claimed to be a prophet,” he said in a statement.

“If I had not done this others would and there would have been more killing and violence in the world.”

I hope you are not implying that the reason he has done little or nothing is because he is a Fulani and in support of what the Fulani are doing. By the way is it true that he has done little to nothing and is the conclusion being drawn from this that he will do nothing too quick and too soon? Will this be fair to him and will it not be giving up on him too soon? In any case I urge him to do something quickly because as PMB once said he belongs to everybody on the one hand and on the other hand he belongs to nobody. He is President of Nigeria and all the 601 tribes in Nigeria belong to him and he belongs to them. All Nigerians are under his protective custody. Nigerians are watching!

It is rumoured that President Buhari has an interest in you succeeding Ayo Oritshejafor, why do you think he is interested in you?

Check out and you will find out that those peddling this rumour are those who are threatened by my candidacy. In response to the rumour the Presidency issued a statement to the effect that PMB is not interested in any candidate. The rumour is an attempt to black mail me.

Honest, God loving, truth loving people should disregard it.

What is your assessment of CAN under the watch of Ayo Oritshejafor and what is your agenda for the Christian body when you become CAN’s president?

Papa Ayo did his best under very difficult circumstances. The gospel agenda cannot be accomplished in six years or in

L-R: Parish Priest St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Ifako, Rev Father Chiamaka; Arbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins; and Parish Priest of St. Kizito Catholic Church Iju, Rev. Fr. Paul Ighabor; during the Sacrament of Confirmation held at St. Kizito Parish last Sunday, for newly confirmed members Photo: Josephine Damisa

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

News

NEITI board sets agenda for Nigeria’s resource governance p.40

Interview

News

CBN N40bn rice fund is boosting farming – Owoye p.41

Ford to invest $1.6bn in new Mexico small-car plant p.43

Business

Paul Ogbuokiri Head, Business

paulogbuokiri@newtelegraph

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

2016 Promasidor Quill Awards entry closes April 14

P

L-R: The Managing Consultant, FM&T, Dr. Chris Asoluka; The Head, Cultural Affairs, US Embassy, Abuja, Robert Kerr; President, Guardian of the Nation International (GOTNI), Mr. Linus Okorie and Managing Director/CEO, Heritage Bank and Guest Speaker, Mr. Ifie Sekibo as he receives the GOTNI Leader of the Year Award after his speech at the 2016 Leadership Clinic, Abuja…recently.

Reinventing Nigeria’s comatose textile industry

T

Paul Ogbuokiri

he textile industry was one of the booming subsectors of the Nigerian economy in the post independence years. Fed by locally grown cotton and with huge demand for clothing by a fast growing population, it provided direct and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of Nigerians for several decades.

In the golden era of Nigeria’s textile industry between 1985 and 1991, the sector recorded an annual growth of 67 per cent and as at 1991, it employed about 25 per cent workers in the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Some of the textile companies that enjoyed the boom then include Kaduna Textile Ltd (KTL), Arewa Textile Plc, United Nigerian Textile Plc, Supertex, Nortex Nigerian Ltd and Finetex Nigeria Ltd. Others were Gaskiya Textiles Mill, Kano Textile Ltd, Aba Textile, Zamfara Textile Ltd, Asaba Textile Ltd, African Textile Mill Plc, Tofa Textile and several others.

In that period the functional textiles companies numbered around 180, employing about a million people, it accounted for over 60 per cent of the textile industry capacity in West Africa, empowering millions of house-

holds across all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

The story, however, changed in the early nineties when the sector took a massive dive into an industrial abyss. At a point during the crisis in the sector, from about 180 thriving textile companies, the number came down to almost zero, with textile giants such as United Nigerian Textile Company bowing to the pressure imposed by a hostile operating environment.

According to the President of the National Union of Textile, Garments and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTWN), Comrade Oladele Hunsu, the textile industry in the 1980s was the second largest employer of labour after the Federal Government. “However, over the years, there was a steady decline in operations of the textiles firms and then an eventual collapse of the industry, which has led to loss of jobs, dearth of skilled manpower, low capacity utilization and drop in government revenue due to lack of excise duties,” he said.

The dip in the fortunes of the industry, he said, was due to the influx of textiles and fabrics into the country from all over the world and mainly from China and India. He added that the downturn in the sector

was a result of government’s lack of political will to ban imported textiles and poor monitoring of the country’s porous borders. “This will continue to impact negatively on the textile industry if not checked,” he said.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that while the country imports over N300 billion worth of textiles and garments yearly, the government loses over N75 billion per year in unpaid duties due to massive smuggling.

Comrade Hanusu said unless the combination of huge infrastructural deficits and cheap imports from Asia is tackled the failure recorded by past attempts to revive the sector through fiscal policy and monetary interventions will befall the move by the Buhari administration to get the mills

Meanwhile, BoI in 2013 said about N60 billion was disbursed to various beneficiaries under the intervention scheme and that resulted in the reopening of United Nigeria Textiles Limited in Kaduna

rolling again in the country’s cotton, textile and garment companies.

But the expectations are very high amid fears that this would turn out to be another talk just to excite industry stakeholders and a horde of retrenched workers as well as prospective investor.

Stakeholders expect this government to build on the N100 billion intervention fund thrown at the problem in 2009 when the Umaru Yar’Adua administration formally inaugurated the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Revival Fund currently managed by the Bank of Industry (BoI), through loans to textile companies.

Meanwhile, BoI in 2013 said about N60 billion was disbursed to various beneficiaries under the intervention scheme and that resulted in the re-opening of United Nigeria Textiles Limited in Kaduna.

The bank added that its intervention rescued over 8,070 lost jobs, even as the capacity utilisation of most beneficiaries also rose sharply from below 10 per cent to about 60 per cent.”

According to Comrade Haunsu, in reality, this is a CO N T I N U E D O N PAGE 40

romasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell Milk has said entries for this year’s Promasidor Quill Awards will close at midnight on April 14, 2016.

Mr. Andrew Enahoro Head, Legal/ Public Relations, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, who made the assertion in an interview in his office in Lagos this week, said journalists who are yet to submit their entries to complete their application process before the deadline.

Enahoro acknowledged that Promsidor had already received many entries for the different categories of the awards, but he expressed optimism that many more entries would still be uploaded before the deadline.

He therefore advised prospective contestants for this year’s Awards to upload their entries as Promasidor would not extend the entry window for any of the seven categories. The categories are: Best Report on Children and Nutrition, Brand Advocate of the Year; Best CSR and Industry Report of the Year; Best Photo Story of the Year; Education Reporter of the Year; Best Online Reporter of the Year; and Future Writer of the Year.

Otedola

Forte Oil plans to raise $500m for expansion

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orte Oil Plc, which owns a power plant and sells gasoline in Nigeria, said it plans to raise as much as N100 billion ($502 million) in equity or debt this year as it aims to double profit and expand during an economic slowdown in Africa’s biggest oil producer.

The company plans to get approval this month and raise the capital by the third quarter, Chief Financial Officer Julius Omodayo-Owotuga said in phone interview Tuesday from Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

The company is “already looking at” acquiring retail outlets to boost gasoline sales after a cut in the pump price by the government led to a 27 per cent decline in its revenue in 2015, he said.

Lagos-based Forte Oil expects an expansion in the downstream business and increase in the operations of its Geregu power station to 435 megawatts capacity by July from about 150 megawatts currently, which will cushion any slowdown from the decline in oil prices, according to OmodayoOwotuga.

The company forecasts profit to almost double this year to 11 billion naira from N5.8 billion in 2015, while revenue is expected to grow to N224 billion from N124.6 billion.

Nigeria is struggling to cope with a plunge in crude, which accounted for about two-thirds of government revenue in 2014.

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Business Global profits recession leaves investors with nowhere to hide

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Governor, Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai (middle), unveiling the commemorative plaque and flanked by MD/CEO, Africa and MiddleEast Olam International, Venkataramani Srivathsan; Elder Statesman and former Chairman Transition Committee, Alhaji Ahmed Joda; (r), Head, Corporate and Government Relations , Olam Nigeria, Ade Adefeko and Vice President, Olam Nigeria, Reji George at the groundbreaking ceremony of Nigeria’s largest N20 billion Integrated Animal Feed Mill, Poultry Breeding Farms and Hatchery held at Chikpiri Gabas Village, Chikun LGA, Kaduna State...Friday

NEITI board sets agenda for Nigeria’s resource governance

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he reconstituted board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has outlined its priorities, saying it would translate the implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The Chairman of the board, Kayode Fayemi, said at the inauguration of the reconstituted board in Abuja, that the transparency agency’s intervention in the extractive industries governance must help resolve some of the country’s key national development challenges.

Fayemi, who is also the Minister of Solid Minerals

Development, identified areas NEITI could impact to include ensuring that revenues from oil, gas and mining resulted in poverty reduction.

He said other areas are creation of jobs for the people; provision of security of lives and property; access to health care, education and social welfare as well as improved infrastructure.

Fayemi said Nigeria’s membership of the global EITI would have been meaningless without NEITI’s intervention in the extractive industry governance, leading to the realisation of its goals.

The inauguration of the board preceded a three-

day induction programme for members of the board in Abuja.

The minister said the responsibility of the NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group was to develop and establish policy targets on how the implementation of NEITI reports findings and recommendations could boost revenue generation. He described the induction programme for members as a forum for strategic thinking and knowledge sharing on ways to efficiently address the identified challenges in line with the EITI and NEITI mandates.

Fayemi reaffirmed President Muhammadu

Buhari’s commitment to “building better systems and procedures to strengthen the capacity of relevant government agencies to halt mismanagement, inefficiency, lack of transparency in the extractive sector as well as the diversification of the economy.”

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio, outlined key challenges facing the agency, namely implementation of remedial issues in successive NEITI reports, human capacity development for the multi-stakeholders, and the alignment of NEITI-EITI principles to government economic reform programmes.

Reinventing Nigeria’s comatose textile industry CO N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 9

far cry from the 500,000 job placements the industry when mills were rolling before the dip in fortunes, especially with the lifting of the official cover on importation of textiles. The situation has, of course, never been the same again.

The China Customs said the export value of that country’s textile and garment alone amounted to $206.5 billion in 2014. Comrade Hanusu said that a large portion of that money China is making is from Nigeria, which ironically before now was a major world cotton producer.

He said that if the country can do the right things to attract the necessary investments into cotton farming and textile manufacturing, she could become a major producer and exporter of textiles in the world.

“This is because one of the reasons the Nigerian textile industry collapsed was the cheap exports from China.

Nigeria used to be the major supplier of (Ankara) good quality wax-resist textile.

However, in the early 2000s, cheap imitations of these products were produced and exported from China to West Africa. Some would be slammed with Made-inNigeria labels and then sold in Nigeria,” he said.

The Chinese rose by attacking the heart of the industry: the wax-print and African-print segment. According to experts at Business Journal, the Chinese in doing their business in Nigeria preferred to produce the goods in their country and export to Nigeria.

Many calls were made to China to build textile industries in Nigeria but they never did; not even the ban of 2002 by former President

Olusegun Obasanjo could deter them.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was among the many Nigerians that have called on China to build industries in Nigeria.

“Our over-reliance on foreign products is hurting our economy and the only way to stop this trend is to tackle the problems in the manufacturing sector,” said the Emir, when he met with China’s Ambassador to Nigeria at his palace recently.

However, the DirectorGeneral, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, has said that the problem with the Nigerian textile industry is high cost of production, smuggling, technology, and logistics.

According to him, the global textile industry has moved on from where it used to be years ago “and we can no longer compete

with bigger brands. We cannot continue to use obsolete technology and expect to compete effectively with the rest of the world. It has now become survival of the fittest. There is also no enforcement of fiscal policy to ensure protection of the industry. The whole country is flooded with substandard and even contraband textile materials. The exchange rate and even the interest rate are not helping matters.”

Meanwhile, there is a clamour that the industry wants government protection, not only through monetary donation, but also by making strong the currency in the face of rising Chinese competition.

It is also being advised that in the face of scarcity of foreign exchange, Nigeria can no longer continue to engage in frivolous importation of foreign made goods including textiles.

he profits recession is global -- and that’s bad news for the world economy and for equity markets, say researchers at the Institute of International Finance, a Washington-based association that represents close to 500 financial institutions from 70 countries.

In their April “Capital Markets Monitor,” IIF Executive Managing Director, Hung Tran and his team blamed the global decline in earnings on poor productivity growth, weak demand and a general lack of pricing power. U.S. companies also are being squeezed by rising labour costs as they add people to their payrolls.

The pervasiveness of the downturn means there’s nowhere for corporations to turn. “In the past, if you had poor performance at home, you could recoup and compensate for that with overseas investment,” Tran said in an interview. “But if you suffer declines in profits domestically and internationally, you tend to retrench.”

That in turn raises the odds of an economic recession.

He put the chances of a U.S. downturn within two years at around 30 to 35 percent due to the earnings slump, up from 20 to 25 percent.

The prolonged profits recession makes Tran and his associates sceptical that the recent rebound in global stock markets can last. They see prices stuck in a downward trend.

“With profits expected to remain under pressure for the foreseeable future, this situation will eventually exert downward pressure on equity prices,” they wrote in their report.

Kemi Adeosun

MSCI exit may risk $500m holdings, RenCap says

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SCI Inc.’s decision to consider dropping Nigeria from its Frontier Markets Index has put $500 million of stock investments in Africa’s biggest economy under threat, according to Renaissance Capital Ltd. Investors following the index have $500 million staked in Nigeria, half what they would have if they were properly tracking the benchmark, and those holdings are “under threat” should MSCI exclude Nigeria, according to Charles Robertson, chief economist at Renaissance, a Moscowbased investment bank focused on developing markets.

“The risk has become acute,” Robertson said in an emailed note. “Being excluded from such indexes creates a higher hurdle to attract future investments. Nigeria would have to become so attractive to foreign investors that they would make it an off-index investment.”

MSCI is reviewing Nigeria’s position because of foreignexchange controls imposed by the central bank that have led to the “continuous deterioration of foreign-exchange market liquidity,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. It will make a decision by April 29.

The central bank’s currency-trading restrictions, which President Muhammadu Buhari backs, have already caused Nigeria to be excluded from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Barclays Plc local-currency emerging market bond indexes, tracked by hundreds of billions of dollars of funds.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index fell 0.1 to 25,346.77 at 12:13 p.m. in Lagos, extending losses this year to 12 percent, and taking the market capitalization to $44.3 billion. Turnover dropped to $672 million in the first quarter, the lowest since at least 2009, when Bloomberg began compiling data. Volumes may continue to fall as foreign investors shun the market while they wait for a devaluation of the naira and as Africa’s biggest economy grows at its slowest pace in 17 years, according to Robert Omotunde, an analyst at Lagos-based broker Afrinvest West Africa Ltd. “A lot of foreign investors are cautious because of the foreign-exchange risk that’s just waiting to crystallize,” Omotunde said on Thursday. “And some listed companies are barely keeping afloat.”

Nigeria has the third-biggest weighting in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index after Kuwait and Argentina. Nigerian Breweries Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc are among the 15 stocks included from the country.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

Business/ INTERVIEW

CBN N40bn rice fund is boosting farming – Owoye The National President of Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RIMIDAN), Mr. Tunji Owoeye in this interview with STANLEY IHEDIGBO, said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N40 billion intervention fund in is exciting farmers What is the country’s capacity in rice production?

Members of our association are investors in rice production and have invested heavily in commercial rice plantation. We have state governments like Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano and Benue that have done so much work in reactivating and getting their rice farmers back to work.

The Central Bank of Nigeria is also helping in this regard with N40 billion loans for rice production across the varieties belts.

The effort of the Central Bank with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari will improve the sector. There has been a lot of improvement in rice production and most farmers are excited to produce rice today. The rice millers in Kebbi State are fully operational; also rice millers are fully operational in other rice producing states. Because CBN is intervening in the sector and so, we are excited to be part of this.

And a lot of people are asking us when the country will be self-sufficient in rice production. I am confident that with this kind intervention, we are getting from CBN, which is giving a one digit interest rate loan, also with the kind of interventions we are getting from other financial institutions in the country, before the end of the life of this administration; we will be close to the point of self-sufficiency.

It is because of the grounds already covered on the journey to the country becoming self sufficiency in rice production that we were taken aback when government reopened our borders allowing foreign rice to be brought into the country. We were not aware that government wanted to ensure that it gets the revenue from the rice from the rice that would have entered the country free.

Do you believe that the people who need the intervention fund will be able to access it?

If you ask farmers in Kebbi today, they will tell you that they are happy because they are getting a lot of funding coming to them. The same thing is going on in Zamfara and Kano states, and the way it works, the farmers have formed themselves into cooperatives. They are using an anchor processor as a coordinating unit, so in each of these locations, a processor is made and accounts are opened for the all farmers, and they take their harvest to the processor, and they are paid. Also, lending to the farmers is made through the processor and the farmers. These have started and I think, the rice farmers are excited about the development.

Owoye

The Comptroller General of Customs recently reversed himself and has lifted the ban on importation of rice through the nation’s land borders, what is your take on this policy somersault?

I want to thank the Federal Government xxxx and the Comptroller General of Customs for taking a second look at its reopening of the land borders for the importation of rice.

As stakeholders in this business, we knew that though government meant well in lifting the ban, but we were certain that it was because Nigeria Customs Service does not have the men and material to police the country’s several unapproved routes, we know that the action will hurt the huge investments investor have made in the development of rice production in the country.

happy to begin to produce rice paddies and of cause today, there is a lot of awareness. And more Nigerian farmers are taking up the opportunity this support have given them to produce additional of hectares of rice paddy.

When this is happening, the mills that have not being working because there were no rice paddies will become operational. Capacities will increase in the mills.

From you explanation, one won’t be wrong to say that most of the country’s rice is produced by the northern part of the country?

There are a lot of rice farmers in the southern part of the country as well but the rice in the south East like the Abakaliki is massive, Ogun State also has Ofada rice. In Lagos there are equally rice farmers there. But what I am saying is that the northern region has the biggest facilities for production because of the availability of land. Number two, rice thrives better in irrigation areas and that is available in the northern region. We still have rains in the south which means we plant rice once during the rainy season but the north has the capacity to produce rice twice in a year because of the irrigation facilities that they have and there are more rice farmers in the north than the south. So, traditionally, there are bigger farmers in north who are committed than the farmer in the south.

As a big farmer, yourself, how is your company, Elephant Group assisting the small farmers?

As a company, we have a lot of out grower schemes we do with rice cooperatives in Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Etiki states.

And we are starting one in Lagos, also we are taking one to Niger State; it is part of our social corporate responsibility, supporting the small farmers in the region.

The price of rice has gone up that the common man can hardly afford it. How long do you think the gap between what is needed to feed the nation and what is available will be bridged?

You heard the president tell Nigerians to adjust their tastes because as a nation we don’t have the luxury of financing multi-million dollar rice imports and you noticed that the Central Bank also included rice in the 41 item it will not be allocated foreign exchange to for its importation. Because imported rice is not a priority for the country today and as such we cannot allocate our scare foreign exchange to it. Again, it is not only rice that its price gone up, most imported goods have as well because of the scarce foreign exchange.

We still have rains in Can Nigerian farmers produce the south which means we enough to feed the people? plant rice once during the rainy Not today, we don’t have season but the north has the capacity the capacity now, but a jour- to produce rice twice in a year because of ney of thousand miles start the irrigation facilities that they have and with the first step and we needed the political will and there are more rice farmers in the north we got that now in President than the south. So, traditionally, there Buhari in November when he are bigger farmers in north who are inaugurated this agro fund procommitted than the farmer in gramme, which means that the desired paddy rice to process for the the south Nigeria people will be available. And the support is coming and farmers are

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Business

Textile firms back genetically modified cotton production in Nigeria

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he Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) has expressed its approval for the introduction of genetically modified cotton into the country.

The association in a recent statement signed by its acting Director-General, Hamma Kwajaffa, said a timely introduction of GM cotton, especially the Bt cotton variety, which has high resistance to pests, is capable of repositioning Nigeria’s moribund textile industry.

This is coming barely two days after several rights groups and faith-based organisations kicked against an attempt by Mosanto Agriculture Ltd., a supplier of agricultural products, to obtain approval for environmental introduction and commercial production of genetically modified cotton and maize from the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).

The groups’ concerns stemmed from their belief that any introduction of GM products portends grave consequences for the health and environmental safety of Nigerians.

The groups also argued that the climate in Africa is not conducive for genetically modified cotton and any attempt to introduce it would fail.

But in its approval statement, NTMA said the introduction of GM cotton will not harm the environment and will benefit farmers and improve textile quality in the country.

“This protection is expected to improve cotton lint quality and farmers will benefit increase yields due to reduced insect-pest damage.

“The agency (NBMA) in furtherance of its mandate has commenced the process of reviewing this application presently before it. The application is currently undergoing a science-based review process together with relevant regulatory agencies and independent experts to ascertain that the proposed product is safe to human and animal health and to the environment.”

Kwajaffa said the textile industry has endured a shortage of cotton in recent times.

“Of recent the textile in-

Infrastructure, others crucial to secure Nigeria’s long-term success - report

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mproving Nigeria’s infrastructure through prioritized investments would help to secure its long-term success as Africa’s largest economy, according to a new report

by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

According to statement from the firm, tagged: ‘Unlocking Nigeria’s Potential: The Path to Well-Being’, identified infrastructure, education, health, governance, and civil society as areas that required immediate attention, and outlines the root causes of these challenges and a series of actions that can drive meaningful progress.

It stated that the most critical focus, must be addressing Nigeria’s weak infrastructure and doing so would enable the country to make much-needed progress in the other key areas and diversify sources of foreign exchange.

Senior Partner and Chairman of BCG’s Lagos office and a co-author of the report, Luis Gravito, said: “Economic pressure, including low oil prices, a possible recession, and a declining naira, make it imperative that the country move quickly to address major gaps—and infrastructure

should be priority one. Swift and disciplined action will allow Nigeria to fully harness its vast resources and potential, most notably its vibrant and entrepreneurial population.”

He said: “The value of Nigeria’s infrastructure stock is about 35 per cent of GDP, compared with an average of about 70 per cent for large economies. A key reason for the shortfall: Nigeria invested just $664 per capita (adjusted for purchasingpower parity) in infrastructure annually from 2009 to 2013, or 3 per cent of GDP, compared with an average of $3,060, or 5 per cent of GDP, for several peer countries. Without decisive intervention, that gap is likely to widen”.

Principal partner in the Lagos office and a co-author of the report, Dr. Wiebe Boer, said: “Nigeria must address major gaps, from the power generation, transmission and distribution network, to roads and railway, sanitation systems, and technology infrastructure.

These issues have major ripple effects, including impacts on health and on the country’s ability to diversify its economy, expand its pool of tradable goods, and create badly needed jobs.”

dustry has had a barrage of shortage of the commodity and even when available it by far surpasses the international price so, the thinking is that when it is produced in surplus, local industry should be able to purchase it at regulated prices and again farmers would be able to export,” he said.

Kwajaffa highlighted the opportunity cost of cotton farming in the country.

“Cotton farming in Nigeria over the years has suffered because the opportunity cost of planting cotton has remained high. Cotton does not compete favourably against other lower risk crops and this has led to a dwindling of farmers involved in cultivating the crop over time.”

He, therefore, urged regulators to embark on sensitising stakeholders about the

benefits of genetically modified cotton in the country, adding that several countries across the world have embraced the technology.

“Finally it behoves on the Bt Cotton regulators to engage the farmers in high level education as the whole GMO farming emanates from educated farmers like in the US, India, Brazil, Greece, Argentina etc.

“It is estimated that about

30,000 Nigerians are employed in the textile industry and an additional one million small farmers and labourers are both in direct cotton production and within the value chain, probably supporting five million more people.

This is a sharp contrast from over 400,000 people employed across over 250 textile mills in the country in the 80s.”

L-R: Human Resources Manager, Pacific International Drilling West Africa, Timothy Oyeniyi; Political Counsellor, South African High Commission, Peter Makwerela; Director, West Africa Clients & Industries Leader, Marie-Therese Phido; Partner, Akintola Williams Deloitte, Femi Abegunde; Executive Secretary, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Iyke Ejimofor; Director, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Ebun Soniya; CEO, Deloitte Africa, Lwazi Bam; Minister of Solid Minerals Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Director, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Osayaba Giwa-Osagie; Chairman, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Foluso Phillips; Director, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Amina Oyagbola; Treasurer, Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce, Sam Oniovosa; Partner, KPMG Professional Services , Ajibola Olomola and the CEO Designate, Akintola Williams Deloitte, Fatai Folarin; at the Chamber’s breakfast meeting recently in Lagos.

Tomato paste manufacturer decries influx of imported brands

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Stanley Ihedigbo

he President/Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods, Chief Eric Umeofia has decried the influx of fake and substandard brands of tomato paste into the country, blaming the country’s porous borders and consumer education for the trend.

He said in a recent interview with Sunday Telegraph that with the Nigerian market flooded with these substandard and cheap tomato paste smuggled across the borders, tested local brands like vitali, Ric-Giko and Sonia are left to fight for their survival.

This is coming as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said that there is need for massive consumer education in the area of knowing a tomato paste brand that is healthy to avoid the present trend of self-poisoning that is going on in the country.

NAFDAC said its officials recently visited 27 markets and four major supermarkets around Lagos State and picked 330 samples of tomato pastes

for laboratory analysis.

According to the agency, out of 314 results released, 286 of them were found to have originated from China, representing 91.1 per cent, and they were found to be unsatisfactory in terms of tomato content.

Only 28 were found to be satisfactory, even though both satisfactory and unsatisfactory tomato pastes had the same red colour (red colour and thickness seems to be the only way consumers determine quality tomato paste).

However, the red colour in most of the tomato pastes imported into Nigeria was achieved through an addition of colorant, which is prohibited, dangerous to health and shows that Chinese companies are merely adding colour, rather than the raw material called concentrates, into tomato pastes imported into Nigeria.

According to the medical report, these colouring stick to veins, arteries and vital organs and accumulate to cause cancer, hypertension and other diseases.

Another revelation was that the majority of the imported tomato pastes in the country do not contain

lycopene, thereby exposing millions of Nigerians to cancer and other deadly diseases.

Lycopene is free radicalfighting antioxidants and free radicals are damaging molecules that float around in the body disrupting cells and promoting disease.

Also antioxidants, such as lycopene, destroy free radicals so they can’t attach to the cells and wreak havoc on the immune system.

According to Umeofia, the deception by the imported substandard tomato paste was completed by reducing the content of tomato concentrates and filling up the space with starch to boost thickness.

He said that if the con importers of the substandard tomato paste are not stopped, the local manufacturers will close shop.

According to him, Erisco has a 450,000 metric tonnes per annum capacity plant in Lagos, built at the cost of $150 million and equipped to steer a tomato paste revolution in the country and end the annual wastage of over 75 per cent of fresh tomatoes across Nigeria.

Umeofia also said: “With 1,000 containers of tomato coming into Lagos port ev-

ery week. Nigeria is losing $1billion to tomato paste importers every year.”

He further said: “About two months ago, our tomato plant almost closed down. We couldn’t sell our tomato because of the fake ones in the market. NAFDAC refused to do its work.

Luckily, the Federal Government said no product that can be made in Nigeria will have foreign exchange allocation. That was when our business started to rise like Lazarus. Now, we have recalled all the staff we sent away and are employing more.

Eric Umeofia

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

Auto beat Motoring tips What to do after driving through the flood After driving through a flooded road, it is likely your brakes become less effective. First thing to do is test your brake while driving at a speed of less than 30 km/hour. If the brakes are in order, keep going.

If otherwise, it means you need to clean water off the surfaces of your brake pads. How do you do this?

Simple.

Cleaning the Brake:

Take off normally.

Ford

Ford to invest $1.6bn in new Mexico small-car plant

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Paul Ogbuokiri ord Motor Co. on Thursday said it will invest $1.6 billion to build a new small-car assembly plant in Mexico, creating 2,800 jobs by 2020.

The factory will be in the state of San Luis Potosi, Ford said in a statement. Construction will begin this summer, and production is scheduled to begin in two years.

Ford said the move will not affect jobs in the U.S., where it has hired 25,000 workers in the past five years.

Still, the news reinvigorated criticism from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others over Mexico’s growing role in the North American auto industry.

“We’re a proud American company,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s President of the Americas, told Automotive News today. “We set up our global manufacturing footprint and our facilities where we think it makes the most sense for our business.”

UAW President Dennis Williams called the news “very troubling.”

“For every investment in Mexico, it means jobs that could have and should have been available right here in the USA,” Williams said in a statement. “Companies continue to run to low-wage countries and import back into the United States.

This is a broken system that needs to be fixed.”

Ford had previously said it plans to discontinue production of the Focus and C-Max compact cars at its Michigan Assembly Plant in 2018.

Hinrichs declined to identify which vehicles the plant will make or give an indication of the plant’s annual production capacity. UAW officials and analysts have said they expect Focus assembly to move to Mexico in 2018.

The move comes amid waning demand for small cars, which are generally among the least-profitable vehicle segments, as consumers buy more crossovers, SUVs and pickups

Nissan breaks monthly auto sales record

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Nissan Group sold more vehicles in the U.S. in March than it has in any previous month, according to company figures released Friday.

The record-high pace of sales for the industry and discounting helped power Nissan to a 12.7 per cent gain in March, compared to a year earlier. The Japanese automaker sold 163,559 vehicles in the U.S. in March.

Sales were strong across the board for Nissan, with 9 per cent growth for cross-

overs, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks and 16 per cent growth for sales. One standout was the Nissan Murano crossover, which gained 56.1 per cent to 8,657 units in March.

To be sure, incentives are helping fuel the sales gains.

Nissan’s average incentives per vehicle were $3,362 in March, up 5.6 per cent from a year earlier, and more than any mainstream foreign automaker, according to TrueCar. The company’s namesake Nissan brand rose 13 per

cent, while the Infiniti luxury brand rose 10 per cent.

Audi

instead. Ford is expected to build a midsize pickup and eventually at least one SUV at the Michigan Assembly Plant after Focus production ends there, though it has not made any official announcement.

Cruising on second gear at a speed of not more than 30km/hour, press the brake pedal slightly without lifting your foot off acceleration pedal.

Continue accelerating and braking at the same time.

After a while, test the brake again without accelerating.

If not yet effective enough, go through the process once again and test your brake.

Once it is all normal, continue your journey as normal.

To avoid any problem at all, you are better off listening to weather forecast daily and avoid travelling in your vehicle, if it is going to rain heavily.

As you drive this raining season, please be careful.

Audi launches facelifted A3

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udi is giving the A3 a mid-life refresh with subtle styling tweaks along with new engines and the option of the Audi virtual cockpit. It will be available to order from May with the first cars arriving in the summer. Prices are expected to start at £18,000.

Visually, the revised A3, A3 Sportback and A3 Cabriolet don’t exactly look particularly different, aside from slightly different headlights that copy the new A4. There are also new colours - Ara blue, Cosmic blue, Nano grey, Tango red and Vegas yellow.

Alongside the existing engines, Audi is launching a 1.0 TFSI three-cylinder unit, already used in the A1. It may seem too small for the A3 but having tried it in the A1, we think it will surprise quite a few people thanks to its get up and go.

Maximum power is 115PS and, thanks to the fact it is turbocharged, it has

200Nm of torque available from very low revs. Audi has yet to reveal economy information yet, but in the A1 is returns an official 67.3mpg so expect a figure in the early 60s.

The other new engine is a 2.0 TFSI with 190PS which is available with a newer seven speed S tronic automatic gearbox replacing the previous sixspeed transmission. Our recommended engine remains the excellent 1.4 TFSI COD (cylinder on demand) with 150PS which suits the A3 perfectly.

The same diesels are carried over including the 2.0 TDI which is available in two versions - 150PS and 184PS - or there’s the more economical 1.6 TDI with 110PS. It comes with a six-speed manual as standard or there’s an optional seven speed S tronic.

Standard A3 models are in SE trim, which comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, while Sport gets 17-inch and S line 18inch. Even bigger 19-inch wheels - in new designs - are available as an option.

Standard equipment includes cruise control and a newly designed three-spoke steering wheel, both now available on all models.

There is also the option of the Audi virtual cockpit, first seen on the latest TT. This replaces the standard analogue dials with 12.3-inch TFT screen which shows everything from speedto information on music tracks and navigation.

Alongside the A3 and A3 Sportback, there are also changes for the S3 versions which get a hike in power - up by 10PS to 310PS. The A3 Sportback e-tron also gets the same revisions as the rest of the range.

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SUNDAY 10 APRIL 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2016

Weak Macros Mar Investor

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he equities market closed the week in the negative zone following losses in three out of five trading days. The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NSEASI), which measures the performance of the equities market, waned by 0.70% WoW to drag YtD return to -11.57%, even as twenty-seven (27) counters appreciated in value against forty-one (41) decliners. Also, during the week ended, total volume and value of transactions diminished by 11.97% and 3.50% respectively.

ETRANZACT emerged as the top gainer for the week, following bullish investor sentiments which drove the share value up by 26.97% to NGN3.39.

Other top advancers in the week were TIGERBRANDS, FCMB, CUSTODYINS, and ACADEMY, with respective gains of 11.76%, 10.11%, 8.87%, and 8.47% WoW. On the flip side, ASHAKACEM pared the most, having lost 14.21% during the week ended to close at NGN19.56. PORTPAINT (-14.06%), CCNN (-13.95%), OANDO (-11.57%), and ETERNA (-10.86%) also featured on the list of top laggards for the week.

Market activities appeared tempered during the week ended, with few earnings releases and positive news flow to drive position taking. We believe the persistent fuel shortages amidst weak economic fundamentals may continue to impair investor sentiments, hence we do not anticipate a significant change in market performance in the coming week In this report, we review events from the week just ended, with emphasis on key drivers and drags of market performance, while presenting our expectations for the coming week.

Agric. Sector: Year-to-Date return climbs to 3.98% Based on the movement of our MERIAGRI index, the Agric Sector appreciated by 2.21% WoW, translating to a year to date return of 3.98% for the sector. Sector breadth closed the week at 1.00x, reflecting one advancer and one loser.

OKOMUOIL (+4.69%) recorded the sector’s only WoW positive movement, settling at NGN31.25 at the close of the week, while LIVESTOCK pared by 6.67% WoW bringing the counter’s price to NGN0.98. ELLAHLAKES, FTNCOCOA and PRESCO stayed flat over the week.

The Agric. sector remains an attractive sector for investors based on the relevance of the sector to economic growth, thus, we advise investors positioning in sector counters based on objective assessment of company fundamentals.

Banking sector: MERI-BNK Closes Red, Despite Buy Sentiments The banking sector, measured by the MERI-BNK index, finished the week down, declining by 0.71% WoW to further pressure the year to date loss to -21.59%. Sector breadth (1.33x) skewed in favour of advancers, following eight (8) stocks that recorded value appreciations, as against six (6) decliners.

FCMB led the gainers, after the ticker advanced by 10.11% to close the week at NGN0.98. The ticker was followed by DIAMONDBNK, FIDELITYBK, SKYEBANK, and UBA which gained 8.33%, 4.55%, 3.30%, and 1.89% accordingly.

Conversely, UNITYBNK, STANBIC, STERLNBANK, WEMABANK, and ETI recorded respective declines of 8.33%, 7.44%, 4.76%, 3.90%, and 2.63%.

FBN Holdings Plc notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange and investing public about the board’s approval of its 2015 audited financial statements which has been forwarded to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for further approval. The

…as NSEASI sheds 0.70% WoW

bank also noted that its quiet period will be lifted on filing the CBN approved accounts with the exchange.

In view of lack of drivers for performance, we expect the sector to trade sideways over the coming weeks. We advise investors seeking to take position to take advantage of the attractive market prices of some of the sector’s fundamentally justified stocks.

Consumer Goods: DANGSUGAR Sheds 10.83% WoW In the week ended, the Consumer Goods sector returned -0.14% WoW pushing the year-to-date return to -18.01%, as measured by the NSEFBT10 index. We opine that the performance during the week was largely due to activities on heavyweights within the sector as the bearish momentum continues to mount.

TIGERBRANDS advanced by 11.76% week-on-week to emerge as the highest gainer in the week. The counter was trailed by AGLEVENT, NASCON, FLOURMILL, NB and CHAMPION with respective WoW returns of 8.11%, 5.64%, 4.86%, 3.30% and 0.65%.

Contrarily, the decliners for the week were DANGSUGAR, UACN, 7UP, NESTLE, INTBREW, HONYFLOUR and UNILEVER returning -10.83%, -5.27%, -4.55%, -3.57%, -2.39% -2.08% and -1.69% accordingly.

We do not foresee a departure from this trend in the mid-term, and expect increased sell–offs as closure dates of dividend payments draw closer. Thus, we advise investors with long term investment horizon to position in fundamentally justified counters currently trading below their intrinsic values Health Sector: Sector Records No Ad-

vancer Sell sentiments rocked the sector counters, as four (4) stocks waned in value, while other counters traded flat. Consequently, the MERI-HLTH index plunged by 0.07% WoW. FIDSON (-5.26% WoW) pared further in the week, topping the laggards list, to close at NGN2.34. NEIMETH, PHARMDEKO, and GLAXOSMITH were the other decliners, trimming by 4.35%, 4.21%, and 0.04% WoW to settle at NGN0.66, NGN2.05, and NGN24.97 respectively.

We do not anticipate major activities on sector counters in the week, even as we expect the release of the remaining corporate scorecards from the sector companies.

Industrial Goods: In Line with Weak Economic Fundamentals It was a generally negative week in the industrial goods sector as the Meri-Ind index closed the week 1.47% down, with none of the sector stocks recording price gains. Subsequently, YtD return settled at -2.97%.

ASHAKACEM, led the week’s eight decliners, having shed 14.21% WoW. PORTPAINT, CCNN, PAINTCOM, CUTIX, WAPCO, DANGCEM and BERGER were the other losers with respective price movements of -14.06%, -13.95%, -5.00%, -2.07%, -1.97% -1.17% and -0.44%.

Given the direct relationship between economic growth and industrial sector growth, we do not envisage a marked change in investor sentiments towards building material stocks in the coming weeks. We however acknowledge that the eventual passage of the 2016 budget, and expectations of increased economic activities may help to influence sector mood positively.

Insurance Sector: CONTINSURE Releases Impressive Scorecard CUSTODYINS, CONTINSURE and NEM emerged as the top performing stocks in the week, after the respective counters advanced by 8.87%, 4.40% and 2.36% WoW. Conversely, AIICO (-9.52%) and MANSARD (-0.53%), having suffered some level of profit taking during the week, emerged as the top underperformers in the week ended.

Consequently, the NSEINS10 index pared by 0.15% WoW, pushing the yearto-date loss to -10.71%.

AIICO Insurance Plc (AIICO) and Continental Reinsurance Plc (CONTINSURE), among other insurers, released their FY2015 financial scorecards during the week. AIICO recorded year-on-year declines of 2.71%, 45.09% and 46.45% in gross premium written (GWP), Profit before Taxes (PBT) and Profit after Taxes (PAT) respectively. The company however declared a dividend of NGN0.05/ share, implying a dividend yield of 5.95% as at declaration date. CONTINSURE on the other hand, reported impressive growths in GWP (+20.08%), PBT (+83.61%) and PAT (+150.43%).

Following the release of FY2015 results by key high-yielding sector stocks, we anticipate weak investment activities on the sector counters in the coming week.

Oil & Gas Sector: Sector Breadth Settles at Equilibrium Positive investor sentiments outweighed negative sentiments in the week, as the NSEOILG5 index advanced by 0.24% WoW. The sector breadth settled at equilibrium as equal number (2) of counters gained and waned in value accordingly.

OANDO (-11.57% WoW) topped the laggards’ chart due to profit taking activities, coupled with undesirable news flow during the week. The counter was joined on the losers chart by ETERNA (-10.86% WoW). TOTAL and SEPLAT were the only advancers in the week, gaining 4.34% and 3.43% WoW to close at NGN160.50 and NGN310.30 correspondingly.

The price of crude oil, as measured by Brent, closed the week at USD41.26pb (+6.70% WoW), after dipping to its 26day low of USD37.69 on Monday 4th April 2016.

We anticipate reduced levels of activities on the sector counters in the coming week, barring positive news inflow capable of spurring investor sentiments.

Services Sector: MERISER advances by 1.25% WoW Following a 1.25% WoW rise, the yearto-date return of our MERISER INDEX rebounded within negative borders to -0.29%. Market activity saw three (3) gainers emerge against two (2) losers, placing the sectoral breadth at 1.50x.

ACADEMY emerged as the best performer, climbing by 8.47% WoW to close the week at NGN0.64. The counter was closely followed by CAVERTON with a gain of 8.27% WoW. NAHCO also marked an appearance on the gainers chart, appreciating by 4.57% WoW to close at NGN3.89. LEARNAFRCA emerged the worst performing stock in the week, paring by 10.00% WoW. The counter was followed by TRANSEXPR with a 4.81% WoW depreciation.

The services sector witnessed an uptick this week as investors took advantage of stocks trading at comparatively low prices. As we believe the prevalent trend to be bearish, we advise investors to take positions in undervalued counters with strong fundamentals.

46

Business

Clinical Consultant pharmacist EMMANUEL A.NWANKWO

SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

What is Salt (2)

agmerendis@yahoo.com

08148877648 (SMS only) PROCESSED FOODS According to American Heart Association and also according to National Health and nutrition survey 77% of salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Part of our diet now in Nigeria is also processed food, when you are eating processed food; you are certainly taking too much salt without knowing it. It is your right to know that.

WHY IS SALT ADDED TO PROCESSED FOODS? Answer: salt is a preservative. Salt is added to these foods to increase their storage life and makes them to taste better. So whenever you are consuming processed food you remember that you are taking too much salt, therefore if you eat a lot of fast food you are putting too much salt in your body. Some processed food are canned beef, canned soup, frozen food, convenience food, soy sauce, white bread, instant noodles, Ketchup, baked beans, snacks, canned fish, canned tomatoes, canned drinks, canned vegetables, canned fruits etc. You have the right to know that the content of salt in this processed food is extremely high in salt.

Researchers at the University of Washington, USA, in 2013 found that too much salt is among the things that cause the highest death for men in 188 countries of the world. Smoking, High blood pressure, Obesity (Being too fat or High Body Mass Index (BMI), Diet High in salt, Diabetes (High Fasting plasma glucose), Poor Diet, High Cholesterol, Low Physical Exercise, High Alcohol use and Diet low in fruits and vegetable.

According to the same research also in 2013, for women, the risk is associated with High Blood Pressure, Smoking, Obesity (Body Mass index), High salt Intake,

Diabetes, High cholesterol, Lack of Exercise, Poor Kidney, Low Fruit and low vegetable intake and Cancer.

The diseases we are now having more in Nigeria are: High Blood Pressure which causes (Stroke, Heart Disease, Kidney Disease and Stomach cancer), Diabetes and Cancer.

All these Diseases require us to change our life styles and the way we approach our eating habits.

In 2013 High Blood pressure alone killed 10.4 million people in the world.

Collectively High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Smoking and Obesity killed 30.9 million.

People have the right to know that more people are dying every year from high blood pressure, Diabetes, Obesity and smoking than the years before.

Patient has the right to know the amount of salt in the processed food before they buy. Canned fish, canned corned beef, canned milk, Tin Food and Tin Tomatoes etc.

Compare with salt daily requirement. So when you are buying canned, processed food, you should read the label for salt or ask for salt content of what you are buying.

DO WE EAT TOO MUCH SALT? Answer: Yes. The average American eats about 15 Ibs (Fifteen Pounds) 6.8kg of salt every year. Most studies show that salt plays a major role in cases of high blood pressure, heart burn, ulcer and gastric cancer. Studies also show that too much salt causes osteoporosis (detrimental to your bone density) (bone problem).Too much salt can hinder calcium absorption in your body causing your bone to be weak, because calcium helps the bone to be strong.

What do you do if you feel like adding more salt to your food?

Answer: Do not add more salt, instead add Garlic, Carrot, Vitamin C (citrus), Pepper, Spinach, and Herbs Spices. Any of these or combination

of them to your meal is dangerous because most food has enough natural salt in them to make it taste good and palatable.

Patients have the right to know the meaning of all these on their processed food label to enable you make a wise decision.

1. Lightly salted means 50% less salt.

2. Light in salt means 50% less salt.

3. Low in salt means 140mg or less salt.

4. Very low salt means 35mg salt.

5. Salt free means less than 5mg of salt.

6. Reduced salt means 25% less salt.

But if you have very strong and extreme salt craving, it may be symptoms of Addison Diseases (Abdominal hormonal disease) and Barrters Syndrome (a rare Kidney disease), always talk to your personal physician.

According to National Heart, Blood and Lungs Institute and Research from New York Times, most people don’t need more than 2.4gm on (2.4gm) of sodium (salt) per day, equivalent of one teaspoonful of salt per day, with latest Medical advice about high salt intake, it is probably a good health advice to pay attention to how much salt you eat and no more than one teaspoonful of salt daily.

Patient need to know types of salt which are Table salt and Sea salt.

FDA (American Food and Drug administration) requires each of the two salts to have 97.5% of sodium chloride, therefore salt you buy must have 97.5% sodium chloride according to FDA/NAFDAC. We need to know that Table Salt must have iodine. Iodine was added to table salt to prevent the enlargement of our thyroid gland which is caused by hormone imbalance. So, iodized salt is better than non-iodized salt especially in country like Nigeria. Iodized salt will help combat hyperthyroidism, which can stunt the physical and mental growth of our children.

BRIEFS

Firm commits $150m to poultry farming in Kaduna, Kwara

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lam International, a leading agri-business operating across the value chain in 70 countries, last week announced that it is investing $150 million (about N30.0 billion) to set up two state-of-the-art animal feed mills, poultry breeding farms and a hatchery to produce day-oldchicks in Nigeria.

At a co-hosted ground breaking ceremony held in Kaduna State on Friday, Olam Group Nigeria and Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir elRufai, welcomed the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Innocent Ogbeh representing the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. The event marks the commencement of works on the project site where Olam is setting up Nigeria’s largest integrated animal feed mill, breeding farms and hatchery.

Olam’s CEO for Africa, Mr. Venkataramani Srivathsan, said, “This is the latest investment by Olam in Nigeria’s domestic food and agricultural production sector after our recent investments in wheat milling assets and the ongoing development of our 10,000-hectare rice farm and mill in Nasarawa State.

“This new venture into animal feed is a win-win for Olam and Nigeria. Domestically produced meat is being hampered by a lack of good quality feed, support for farmers and availability of young stock, but consumption is set to increase.

By investing in poultry and fish feed, we can utilize the wheat bran from our wheat milling operations, as well as maximize our sourcing networks to buy corn and soy from local farmers. Our investment in the hatchery will help boost poultry production and, in the long run, help reduce the country’s reliance on imports.

This development underlines the continued confidence we share in Nigeria’s ambition for self-sufficiency.”

Of the $150 million in total investments, approximately $100 million (N20 billion) has been committed to building and operating the facilities in Kaduna State while $50 million (about N10 billion) is for a second investment in an integrated poultry and fish feed mill located in Kwara State.

Another look Success Nuggets Victor Okwudiri 08037674300 (SMS only)

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n my article ‘The Law of Vision,’ I shared the story of a colleague of mine who was looking for me while I was in front of him. He was asking “Where is Victor?” His attention was then called to the fact that I was right in front of him. It was unbelievable.

Aside the lesson about the Law of Vision I learnt from that occurrence, I learnt another lesson, which is what I want to share with you today. I was in front of my colleague, whereas he was looking for me. Amazing!

Right?

Interestingly, that is what many of us do.

We look outside for what we have inside or around us.

In his book ‘ACRES OF DIAMOND,’ Russel Conwell, told the story of a man who sold his parcel of land to go search for diamond. Years later, it was discovered that the same land had diamond. How heart breaking!

Just like my colleague in my office and the diamond seeker told about in Russel Conwell’s ‘Acres of Diamond,’ many of us look for things that are already in us or

Some developing nations go looking for foreign aid, when they have adequate human and natural resources with which to create wealth around us.

Have you heard the Nigerian proverb, “What you are looking for in Sokoto is in your ‘shokoto’? It implies that what you are looking for afar is close to you, and it is true. Some developing nations go looking for foreign aid, when they have adequate human and natural resources with which to create wealth.

Some people have been frustrated sending their CVs from one organisation to another, when they have skills that can make them multi-millionaire entrepreneurs.

Some who already have a job are looking for another job, when they have not given their present job their very best to warrant their being promoted with a pay raise.

Some are looking for a wife in distant places, when they have good female friends around them.

Some are looking for fun when they have a family with which they can have all the fun they want. Some want to lead their countries, whereas they neglect their families, which constitute one the best platforms for developing leadership

skills.

Some are looking for big money, when they have not managed well the seeming little God has given them.

Some are looking for opportunities, when they can actually create one.

For example, some are looking for big platforms to exhibit their public speaking skills, when they can actually start a blog that will eventually give them the audiences at big platforms.

Friend, it is time to take another look, and, this time, INWARDS and around us.

Oh! How I love that Peak Milk advert that says “IT’S IN YOU”! Friend, I tell you the truth: It is in you. If only you can believe it and begin to explore your depths in faith, you will see that there is far more to you and what you can achieve than you think. The issue with us is that we sometimes under-estimate ourselves. Whether it is a result of modesty or sheer inferiority complex, there is something not right about that. Under-estimating yourself is like under-estimating God who created you, and under-valuing the potentials He has blessed you with.

God forbid!

Dear friend, I charge you to, henceforth, value who you are and what you have both within and around you. Harness them in pursuit of your success.

I have no problem with looking outwards. My point is, look INWARDS first.

Please follow me on Twitter @VictorOkwudiri

Ogbeh

Orange to invest in Nigerian e-commerce group, Africa Internet

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rench Telecommunications Company Orange is to invest 75 million euro ($85 million) in Nigerian e-commerce group Africa Internet Group (AIG) and become a shareholder, the two companies said last week.

AIG, which was founded in Nigeria in 2012, already counts Goldman Sachs, South African telecoms group, MTN, and Germany’s Rocket Internet among its shareholders.

It owns several technology firms across 26 African countries including online retailer, Jumia, delivery app, HelloFood, hotel booking platform, Jovago, and online real estate marketplace Lamudi.

“With this strategic investment, Orange now has the capacity to play a leading role in the fast-growing e-commerce market in Africa,” Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO of Orange, said in a joint statement with AIG. “This investment will enable us to significantly develop our ability to market products and services developed by Orange Middle East and Africa over the Internet,” he added.

Orange said last week that it plans to grow in Africa, among other regions, after its talks to buy French peer, Bouygues Telecom collapsed.

“We are thrilled by Orange’s equity investment and are eager to translate our strategic partnership into unique offers for our customers,” said AIG founders and co-CEOs Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

News Religious tourism will boost forex -Stakeholders p.48

Interview

FG should do more to stop herdsmen attacks –Rev Gado p.38

sermon

Preventing a showdown in your marriage p.51

FAITH

Tai Anyanwu Head, religous Desk titus.anyanwu@newtelegraph online.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Kidnapped girl shares story of abuse, escape from ISIS

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Oloruntimilehin

Asake

Anthony

CAN election: Manipulators risk God’s wrath, clerics warn

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Tai Anyanwu hristian leaders have been warned to allow God to guide them in the choosing who becomes the next President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in the interest of the unity of the body of Christ or risk the anger of God. The counsel comes on the heel of allegations that some people including the presidency have plans to have their anointed candidate step into the shoes of the outgoing CAN leader, Papa Ayo Oritshejafor.

It would be recalled that while the presidency has been accused of having an agenda to install a northerner candidate, Orishajafor is also alleged of plotting to pave way for his favoured candidate to succeed him.

Reacting to the development in Lagos, the Presiding Minister of Omnipotence Mission of God, Rev. Joshua Oloruntimilehin, said: “My warning to anyone who might be wanting to manipulate the outcome of the forthcoming CAN election is that everyone should allow the will of God to be done in the interest unity in the body of Christ.

“Let God choose the right person to become the next CAN President; if anyone tries to interfere with the process that person will see the backside of God.” Similarly, the General Overseer of Kings in Christ Church, Rev, Chidi

Anthony, explained that matters of leadership in Christendom should be handled differently with utmost respect to God. “Whoever has such plan to selfishly install a leader over CAN outside the supreme will of God should stay out of it else the wrath of God will come upon the person. God is not a respecter of any man. I want to warn those who are also forming caucuses in order to manipulate the outcome of the CAN election to remember that when Korah questioned the authority of Moses, the earth opened and swallowed him and his likes up because the anger of God came upon them,” he warned.

Anthony urged the stakeholders to just allow the will of God to prevail during the election adding that it does not really matter whether the next CAN President emerged from the North, South East or West.

“My advice is that they should allow God to work. They should not bring in politics into the affairs of CAN, but allow God to direct and produce the right person as he did in the election of previous CAN Presidents. Whosoever tries to manipulate the polls will not live to tell the story,” he warned.

Oloruntimilehin, however, noted that it is only who God wants to step into a position of leadership would finally become victorious sighting a biblical reference in the case of David.

“If God wants anybody to a leader, he will be. Jesse had 11 sons and wanted his eldest son to be anointed

king; but God chose the youngest son David to be king of his people Israel,” he pointed out.

Supporting that position, the General Overseer of City of Refuge Church, Lagos, Bishop Osca Osai, added: “The church structure of leadership is not political and therefore the will of God will prevail at the end of the day. People should not bring in politics by all these reportage, but let them know that God will always bring in the person he wants to use.”

He explained even if the whole world favours one person, and God is against it, it won’t work. The counsel of our God will always stand,” he affirmed.

Meanwhile the electoral college inaugurated last week has been given an extra one week, which expires coming week, to present the names of the most suitable contenders to the National Executive Council of CAN for election proper, CAN scribe, Musa Asake said.

Whoever has such plan to selfishly install a leader over CAN outside the supreme will of God should stay out of it else the wrath of God will come upon the person

Pakistani Christian girl who escaped ISIS captivity after being tortured, raped, and forced to convert to Islam, has shared how she never lost her faith in Jesus Christ throughout the horrific ordeal.

“I was sleeping along with my mother on a single bed during a power-cut time in my house yard,” she told International Christian Concern (ICC), describing the evening she was abducted.

“At around midnight, five armed men with masks climbed over the boundary wall and entered into [our] house. The armed men brutally beat the entire family and threatened them [with] severe consequences if they shouted for help,” she recalled.

Komal continued: “Then, the kidnappers dragged me from my mother’s lap to their car in the street. My eyes and mouth were covered with a piece of cloth and they took me to [an] unknown place where five of them raped me in front of each other, taking turns.”

Over the next few months, Komal suffered unrelenting abuse at the hands of the militants.

“Burning my female parts with cigarettes was a routine exercise for them,” she said. “Almost for two months they beat me every day for nothing and did not give [me] enough food to eat.”

Even worse - Komal, who was eventually impregnated by one of her rapists, was forced to legally change her religion from Christianity to Islam and marry one of her captors with forged documents claiming she was 18.

Church calls for special prayers for the nation

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igerians have asked to give themselves to fervent prayers to avert total derailment of government mechanism.

Making the call in Lagos, founder of King in Christ Church, Chidi Anthony said that the situation in the country is nothing to write home about.

“People are crying because they cannot afford skyrocketing cost of transportation and general rise in prices of commodities due to the fuel crisis.

“We have equally seen total blackout for some days now. This is not the government we are praying for; this is not the change we are praying for. But then I know that the situation needs God’s divine intervention,” he urged.Anthony explained that his ministry would be devoting special prayer sessions at the Greater Than the Pool of Bethsaida programme, slated from April 12 to 17, to offer prayers for God to intervene in the affairs of the country.

He added that: “I am not against the presidency, but as a human being he appears confused; he needs God’s divine direction. We are inviting Nigerians to come and join us lift the President up in prayer.

“So we need to call God to give our leaders the wisdom so that we will come out of the problems we are facing today. We want to have a session to pray for this nation, to pray for everybody.”

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

faith

T

Tai Anyanwu

Idahosa

Night of prayer turns night of fun Tai Anyanwu

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pparently pre-occupied with the challenges of our times, the presiding minister of Illumination Assembly, Bishop Isaac Idahosa, called out his congregation to aim torrents of pray bombs to heaven’s gate.

The cleric also invited some of his friends from the music and entertainment industry to create a short into the presence of God to the programme titled ‘Night of Thousands Times More’.

His target: “We are coming to lift Nigeria up before God to restore our growth a thousand times.”

It was on April Fool’s Day; but Idahosa did want to embark on a fool’s journey. As a man of faith, his strategy for receiving open heaven was clear.

“We are bringing artistes to sing here because, there is power in worship. The bible says the father seeketh such who will worship him in truth. When we come in total worship and praise, God inhabits our praises and gives us strategy to be able to conquer the true enemies of Nigeria,” he explained.

Similarly, his burden for the nation informed his choice of prayer point for the night.

Idahosa explained: “My prayer for this nation is we are coming out of it bigger and stronger, we will be stronger than the hurdles of this country and that we will survive it much earlier than what people anticipate. We must find things to contribute towards the betterment of Nigeria.”

And real love for Nigeria is required of Nigerians as a catalyst to fire and sustain the process of accomplishing the desired national restoration.

“The love for our country will help us not to stir up people’s emotion to wanting to fight policy that are good on the making the process.

We must be patience, pray that the fear of God should be within every of the nationality of Nigeria to be able to do the right at the right time,” the cleric said.

Before 11 pm on the fateful night, the large worship arena was parked with people.

Characteristically, the fashion conscious general overseer took the stage under a convivial atmosphere.

The presence of popular Gospel artistes, Okposo, Praise Machine, and standup comedian, Akpororo, soon proved to be a good appetizer for more than enough fun the night.

With a proven stage skill, Okposo lead the congregation into soulful worship, and gradually worked the crowd into height of adoration. The night of prayer exploded into a paradise of fun and excitement as praise machine and Okporor brought their prowess to complement the events of the night.

Apkoror, who was accompanied by his wife, testified to the night’s excitement.

“Sammie Okposo is too much, I enjoyed his songs’ ministration, and during his ministration I was in the spirit throughout, he is a worshipper.”

He added: “In fact I enjoyed it more than every other person that came. I couldn’t have failed to attend this program, I had an important show to attend to, but I had to cancel it because it is my daddy program, Bishop Isaac Idahosa.”

Praise Machine added: “It was wonderfully made and designed by God to unite Nigerians together, the capacity was filled up. We all commit our nation as a whole into the hands of God. God came down through our worship and the spirit of God move like ever before, it was really a night of thousand times more.”

Okposo thanked God for the success of the programme.

“I am believing God for testimonies from people to come back and say in the areas of their lives that are having difficulties that God opened ways, chains were broken, people were able to move to the next level of their lives from glory to glory and to be able to testify that they have actually seen increase in their lives which what a thousand times more means. For me, I want people to be able to testify of God’s goodness, his grace, increase, and miracles, business and finances, in their lives,” Okposo explained.

Religious tourism will boost forex -Stakeholders

he Federal Government has been urged to consider encouraging religious tourism as a major source of foreign exchange earner even as the country seeks to diversify her economy.

Stakeholders in the after sales pay up the drivers like T B Joshua, plete, visitors would be tourism industry told balance and make their Prophet Jeremiah of Mer- able to stable stay, pray, Sunday Telegraph, that to own profit, because the cyland Church, Warri, east and relax there, Sununderestimate the sec- church’s visitors provide Delta State and others are day telegraph learnt. tor’s foreign exchange constant patronage.” encouraged, the nation Air conditioned miniearning potential would Ogbeide, however, would lose necessary buses shuttle visitors to only amount to loss of recalled that the tragic foreign exchange also. the beautiful array of the needed income.

“If the persecution wooden structures that incident of September Similarly, an interna- 2014 had brought the against T B Joshua and overlooked the water and tional travel advisor, bubbling Ikotun market his Synagogue continues lush foliage where aniJohn Parker in a recent to a standstill due to loss and foreigners are not mals are allowed to exist review recommended of patronage. “The num- coming this will translate in their natural habitat. that it was time for Ni- ber of church visitors, to loss of money for govgeria to develop her reli- who come with dollars, ernment, airline operagious tourism potentials. euros, pounds and other tors, and airport authorAccordingly investiga- foreign currencies to en- ity; not just hoteliers,” tions by Sunday Telegraph rich the local economy Effiong asserted. revealed that over two has reduced drastically.

When Sunday “Many hoteliers con- Telegraph visitmillion religious tourists visit Nigeria to take verted their guest houses ed the SCOAN, part in special spiritual to residential apartments the imposing revival programmes and because they thought that edifice situated annual conventions by government would seize within the chadifferent churches. the church. But today, otic environs Our correspondent it is a case of different of Ikotun learnt that prior to the strokes for different guest area of Lacollapse of its guest house operators as only a gos State, aphouse in September 2014 few who kept hope alive peared calm. in which 115 people died; are now smiling back to A pilgrim, Prophet T B Joshua’s the banks; as normalcy who spoke to Synagogue Church of All gradually returned to our corresponNations (SCOAN) alone SCOAN,” he said . dent, said: “For attracted more than a Another hotelier in the me, the Synamillion pilgrims to Lagos area, Chief Jerry Omoro- gogue remains a yearly. dion, urged the Federal place for spiritual The Manager of Pho- Government to make the renewal and relaxnix Pilgrims Hotel in the best of the country’s re- ation.” church’s vicinity, Paul ligious tourism by findA few minutes’ Ogbeide, noted that since ing a way of coming to drive from T B Joshua resumed min- affable settlement in the the church, istering after his retreat protracted court cases takes one to following the tragic in- with the church. the ‘prayer cident, religious tourists “Tell me, in the whole mountain,’ from across the world of Africa, which other which has especially from African, single destination is ca- r e a c h e d Asia and Europe, and pable of attracting such advanced even America are coming large and diverse num- s t a g e back in their thousands ber of tourists from all of conto attend the weekly de- over the world like The s t r u c liverance service at the Synagogue, Church of t i o n .

SCOAN. All Nations? Nigeria W h e n “From Thursdays, our should be proud of this it is rooms are fully booked and it should not be de- comby foreign visitors who stroyed,” he lamented. stay for one week to one The stakeholder counmonth while those visit- selled government to ening from different parts courage religious tourof Nigeria stay about two ism, pointing out that days. if any form of antagonism against key “Aside hospitality operators, these religious tourists affect the livelihood of many people positively and various sectors benefit from their financial resources,” Ogbeide explained.

A resident, King David Efiong, who makes a living by connecting visitors with hoteliers, addSimilarly, ed that banks, currency changers and market an international men and women in travel advisor, John Ikotun and its environs also depended Parker in a recent review solely on these rerecommended that it ligious tourists for survival. is time for Nigeria to His words: “Eatery operators in the vicindevelop her religious ity do swift business tourism by taking food stuffs Joshua on credit from sellers in Ikotun market, cook and

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Why I say I am very sorry

Password to long life Victory and success have security codes or passwords. A password is a secret word or phrase you need to know in order to be allowed into a place. Victory and success are like a place, or platform with a password without which you cannot really possess. Victory or success has been expressed in an indirect way such that only a few can understand enjoy and experience. This also applies to good health and long life.

The word I am very sorry is a highly coded word that allows one to a place of victory, success and in fact, a place of peace.

Indeed, many persons in prisons today could have been free if they had dared to say I am very sorry. Some persons who had died could have been alive if they had known the code word I am very sorry. A lot of persons are where they are today, biting their fingers because they had not known the secret of peaceful and happy life – I am very sorry. Even wars could have been averted with these four – word – pass-

Word of Life Bishop. Moses Kattey moseskatteyabp@yahoo.co.uk

0808 770 7486

took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

(Judges 12:5, 6) What the word Shibboleth was to Ephraimites is what I am very sorry is to the entire world today.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit In a religious war somewhere in a black nation, each of the religious groups designed and adopted a code or password to help them identify the enemies. One of the religious groups adopted the phrase In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the - -and expected not of the Christian religion said: In the name of the father, and of the son and of the mother; In the name of the father and of the son and of the sister; In the name of the father and of the son and

Indeed, many persons in prisons today could have been free if they had dared to say I am very sorry word.

Shibboleth or Sibboleth In Jephtha’s time of the Old Testament, there was a password or code introduced that determined the escape and fate of soldiers on the battlefield.

And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so that when those Ephramites which where escaped said.

Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto them, art thou Ephramite?

If he said, Nay: Then they said unto him, say now, shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they

of the friend; Etc. That answer determined where the person is today.

In time of crisis and dispute somebody must say I am very sorry God is always ready to intervene in a dispute and crisis. The Lord wants to hear the password from at least one of the two parties involved in the dispute. The Lord wants to hear one of the opposing parties telling the other party, I am very sorry. It does not matter who is the offender or who offended. For God to intervene, one party must say we are very sorry or I am very sorry.

If the offender refuses to say I am very sorry let the aggrieved say so, so that he can move forward and be at peace, and live long since somebody must say it.

I repeat, since somebody must say I am very sorry for peace to reign, God expects you to say it if the person (s) who offended you, the guilty one(s) cannot say it.

For me, if one person must say I am very sorry for peace to reign, it must be me.

Preventing a showdown in your marriage

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t is not easy to stay in a relationship and never have any form of disagreement at one point in time or the other.

In fact, a true relationship usually has some moments of disagreements which goes a long way to determine the stuff that the people in the relationship are made of.

Disagreements lead to argument and argument results in quarrels. It is not easy as the disagreement starts boiling, to draw a line between these three.

No matter the degree of anger, couples should try to be sensitive enough to know when disagreement grows into an argument and then to a quarrel.

People whose eyes are filled with tears still see.

That you are in a funeral procession does not mean that you will forget yourself and let an oncoming vehicle hit you. Nigerians say “trouble no dey blow whistle”. I completely disagree with this old and accepted thought. Every trouble has a whistle which it blows before it (the trouble) finally ‘arrives’. The only difference is that the time of the blowing of the whistle and the ‘arrival’ of the trouble may be short or long. Yet, the signals are always

Marriage & Family Intimacy

Bishop Charles Ighele holyspiritmissioninc@yahoo.com

07066579379/09098845521 there. But when you are not wise or sensitive enough to determine how a disagreement, argument, quarrel should be brought to an end, you will just keep disagreeing, arguing or quarrelling until you crash.

A normal person should know where he or she is travelling to before embarking on a journey.

Do not just disagree, argue or quarrel on any topic without determining beforehand your bus stop.

Clearly make your point or study your spouse to know when to RETREAT and talk another day. It is by retreating, suspension of movement and advancing, that the finest generals win their wars and not only by advancing.

A wise wife, husband, father, mother etc sees a crash coming into their marriage and family and they use skill to avoid it.

You have the ability to prevent minor or big issues from degenerating into a showdown. Do not put

up the attitude of ‘I shall give my spouse whatever he/she wants.’ Rather make sure that you do not allow a disagreement to degenerate into argument but whereby it does, do not allow a further move to quarreling stage. At the point of quarrelling, it is not always easy to put things under control if you are not very cautious and matured.

Some people go into disagreement with heavy emotion and with all their strength. You see such people making their points with deep sentiments. They try to make the disagreement to end in their favour. We should not always let issues end to our favour but rather we should give up for peace sake and give room for amicable settlement before it degenerates to worse situations.

It is immature to say “There will be a showdown in this house today”.

When a disagreement brews, never have a mo-

tive of seeing to the end of it but have an attitude of allowing the disagreement to be settled as fast as possible. An attitude of ‘let there be a showdown’ does not give place to peace. It shows that the person is ever ready to cause commotion in the house or home. How you handle such moments will determine how you intend your home to be. We have nothing to gain in our families if we keep allowing showdowns. Showdown will only give us bad names and make people around us to avoid us and our family members.

The motive behind whatsoever thing we do is very paramount in determining the end result. Have a motive of allowing peace at all times to prevail in every circumstance and you will see yourself pursuing it with everything within you. A contrary motive will mean that you have already made up your mind to face any issue as it comes without guarding your heart. Having a peaceful home is very easy to maintain but the only prize to pay is for us to exercise the ability in us to overlook certain things that would ordinarily have caused problem. Prevent showdowns, pursue peace, and follow peace with all men Hebrews 12:14.

Faith

Mystery of Anxiety Bishop John Ogbansiegbe 0803 341 6327 (SMS Only)

Outside the truth is camouflage, fantasy

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pathway is a place destined to be trodden by feet. It is a way for foot passengers.

It is a course, a route or a line along which anything moves. It is a course of action. It is subject to choice.

In the world, every person is free to choose the spiritual pathway to follow in order to get their destination. A pathway outside our Lord Jesus Christ is an exercise in futility.

In the book of St. John14:6-7, our Lord Jesus Christ declared: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father but by me.” He is the way, the way of living, the way to walk in order to please God. He said in his word; I am the method, the strategy and pattern of living and serving God. I am the way which God has been trying to show mankind since creation. Jesus is the practical demonstration of what God has in mind for holiness and righteousness. He is the sample of God in fellowship, wisdom, obedience, service and power.

Here is the truth He is the reality, the actual thing. He is not only truthful in his dealings, but he is the very truth, his way and lifestyle is the way of truth and every other .is a camouflage and mere fantasy. Any other way outside Christ is mere deception and repetition, which is empty. Our Lord Jesus is the tangible living reality. He is the meaningful thing to life, the authentic way. Most men have lived in this world like Solomon of the old.

Solomon thought that life was in the abundance of properties a man could accumulate. Or the number of beautiful women around or gold and silver that can be accumulated or a number of titles and big names, but he discovered and declared that all was vanity. He said: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity – Ecclesiastics 1:2. True life is only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the life “In him was life and the life was the light of men” John 1:4. He is the only life. Every other lifestyle is a shadow and a mere reflection. Following the pathway of Christ is not an option if you must live.

If this life is the light of

Most men have lived in this world like Solomon of the old.

Solomon thought that life was in the abundance of properties a man could accumulate men, it means that any other life outside Christ is life in darkness, confusion and bondage. His life as light brings illumination, direction and order to mankind.

No man commeth to the father’s expectation, standard of approval, taste, favour and acceptance except by Jesus Christ, the way, yea the unique pathway. His lifestyle is the only lifestyle that can lead you to heaven. This is the unique pathway which recognizes the Lordship of Christ. It is the pathway where the believer in Christ is guided, directed and co-ordinated by the Holy Spirit. It is the pathway of righteousness and holiness for which the world of God declared in Roman 1:4 “And declared to the son of God with Power, according to the Holy Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The uniqueness of this pathway is the fact that it is the pathway of holiness.

The condition or requirement for road worthiness to ply tread on this pathway is holiness. In this pathway, one strong Angel together with the Holy Spirit are always there at a checkpoint, checking the particulars of every passer-by, to know whether you are qualified to ply and tread on that pathway. What are the checkpoints? They want to whether you are qualified in purity, righteousness, sanctification and holiness. If they see any atom of sin or guilt in you, you are at once disqualified.

In Matthew 5:8, the word declared : “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” Second Timothy 2:8 says: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure and having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His, therefore let every man that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Hebrew 12:14 added: “Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

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Faith

Insight

Rev. Femi Akinola www.thehebrewsng.com

01-790 3163; 0808 584 5864

Qualities of kingdom entrepreneur

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Kingdom Entrepreneur is a spiritual entrepreneur who cannot carry on business like the secular (or conventional) business man because the principles are not the same. Many so-called Kingdom business people are still on the ground today because they are operating their business the same way the unbelievers run their business. The ways of God are forever higher than our ways. To thrive and produce expected result as a Kingdom entrepreneur, there are Kingdom principles which you must operate; Vision “And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” Habakkuk 2:2 Vision is foresight. It is the ability to look in the same direction and see opportunities that your competitors cannot see. It is operating cutting-edge principles which your competitors don’t have access to. It is the ability to see divine ideas through diligent search into the scriptures.

When you operate by vision, you see the end from the beginning. If a man’s vision is tampered with, motion is truncated.

Nothing destroys vision like selfish ambition.

Ambition is a number one vision killer; ambition is self-centered while vision is selfless. You have to understand that your vision is first about God’s Kingdom, not about your empire and self aggrandizement.

Until a Kingdom entrepreneur operates by vision, he cannot fulfill God’s mandate in business on earth.

Diligence In operating vision and Kingdom principles, you must be diligent. A man who isn’t diligent in his dealings cannot reach his full potential.

A diligent man will not run his business like the conventional business man does. He will be punctual, not just working hard but also working smart and focused on results too.

He doesn’t cut corners to be rich or to increase his profit margin or even keep what belongs to others.

He is proactive, dynamic and very principled in his approach to business. He’s able to grow and improve himself through personal development, attending

short professional courses.

Integrity “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” Matthew 5:37 “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”

Luke 6:31 Don’t do business like the everyday businessman who cheat and play smart on their customers to in order to make extra gain.

Always remember that you can lose more than ten potential customers by cheating just one. Many businessmen pray amiss because they are not operating Kingdom principles.

Prayer cannot help the man who lacks integrity.

Generosity “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” Proverbs 11:25 John D. Rockefeller has been dead for decades now but his businesses are still thriving because of his generosity in his lifetime.

Longevity in business does not happen by chance, it is the result of a deliberate act of generosity.

Let your business tithe, and even beyond tithing, let your business ‘be generous’; let it pay school fees of helpless children, take care of the poor and meet Kingdom needs.

So many potentially great businesses have liquidated as a result of lack of accountability and stinginess. Who or what is your business representing? If you must prosper as a Kingdom businessman, then you must represent God without reservation in all ramifications.

As much as it is very important for your business to be generous and give to humanity, you must bear in mind that God is a jealous God. Your generosity to man must not be at the detriment of the Kingdom as this is the greatest investment. The point here is that, in a bid to outsmart principles, many business people give little to charity and then choose not to tithe or give to Kingdom projects, believing that they have done enough by giving little to charity.

There’s no cheaper way to come down and evaporate into thin air than by circumventing Kingdom commitments.

You must give to charity, but most importantly, you must learn to give to God than you give to man.

Watch what you do with your time “…..Cain worked the soil.

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord” - Gen. 4: 2-3.

Cain worked but it took time for the fruits to appear.

Time is the most precious commodity at man’s disposal. Time determines everything that defines a man’s life.

It takes time to work It takes time to sell It takes time to think It takes time to make money Every achievement of man is measured against time but time is not measured against anything.

Time is the highest and most precious currency.

Anyone who has no regard for time cannot be a success. Great men are people who use time wisely. They are timeconscious people. They are people who set tasks to be achieved within the smallest time.

The man that takes ten days to do a ten-hour job is a guaranteed failure.

He has robbed himself of other precious achievement opportunities by investing too much time on one project. Don’t be that man or woman.

You must render timely service No one knows with ac-

THE EXTRA MILE PRINCIPLE

Bishop (Dr.) Mark Omonze facebook@bishopmarkomonze email@mark_omonze@yahoo.com

08033084546

curacy, how much time we have to live on the earth. It is important that our time here is spent making the best possible impact and achievements.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven - Eccl: 3:1. No matter what goals you have in life, there is time for each specific activity. Each activity has its own specially allotted time. Never think you don’t have time, there is always time for everything. A great man knows how to set time frame for all his activities and all his goals. You must learn how to apportion time to certain tasks. Learning to run with time should be a vital part of you.

You must set your priorities in proper order and apportion time to each priority accordingly. Never spend time on inconsequential things.

Life is full of problems.

Problems consume more of our time than solutions.

However, learning

to spend more time on solutions than problems is what great achievers have learnt to do.

Every problem has an amount of time and attention it deserves.

Great achievers know how to use experts to solve problems that they can’t figure out rather than waste time trying to solve it on their own. It makes no sense that you spend so much time trying to fix your car yourself when you have no clue as to what is wrong with it.

When you can hire an auto repair mechanic, and save yourself the time and face other tasks.

Every situation you face today, someone else has faced it already. Drawing knowledge from the experience of others through apprenticeship, study, counsel, and friendships is one of the greatest investments you can make with your time.

Time spent learning is never wasted time, however too much learning can

be bad. If you spend most of your life in school, and never come out to practice, the knowledge you acquired becomes wasted.

Watch what you do with your time Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied With Bread Prov. 20:13 Sleep Is Important. You Need To Take Good Time To Rest Your Body, But When There Is Work To Be Done, Make Sure You Are Not Caught Asleep On The Job. One Of The Follies In Life Is Someone Who Values Sleep Over Work. Sleep Can Be A Very Terrible Time-Thief. To Be Successful You Must Learn To Push Yourself As Far As Possible While Taking Into Account The Need For Adequate Rest. As The Bible Says, There Is Time For Everything.

Sleep Also Speaks Of Being Passive, Lazy, And A Lack Of Passion For Work.

For You To Succeed You Must Have A Drive For Work And Achievement.

The Best Salesperson And Negotiations Are People Of Passion.

Never Be Lacking In Zeal, but Keep Your Spiritual Fervor Serving the Lord Rom 12:11

Don’t add human strategies to God’s call, cleric counsels The General Overseer of Fresh Apostolic Power Ministry, PASTOR GBOLAHAM BELLO, was born into a Muslim family. But association with a Christian friend of his, who willingly followed him to Islamic fellowship, fired his conversion into Christianity. He speaks about his Christian experience in this interview How did you encounter Christ?

I used to have a Christian friend who used to invite me to a Christian gathering called Business Fellowship; he also followed me to our Muslim gathering.

Accepting my invitation pushed me more to attend Christian gathering too but it was difficult back then. The business gathering normally has their yearly all branches meeting to round off the year which I also attended. To the glory of God, the man of God who preached that day spoke the language I understood from then I was able to understand why Jesus Christ died for us. The Pastor made an altar call which I came out and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and saviour. It was 1995, that was when I got born again but Fresh Apostolic Power Ministry is just three years old.

What have been your challenges?

Accepting Christ into my life was the greatest thing that ever happened to me but my challenge was my parents abandoning me, my friends and our Muslim community. However, I was able to push more into knowing Him which has brought me this far. Thank God, it another story entirely, no more rejections.

What is your catalyst, I mean your source of inspiration?

I draw my strength from God who has called me, so every inspiration I need to be able to deliver his message

a particular office. Also they should concentrate on God’s word say it the way it was given to you don’t add human strategies. The moment you disconnect yourself from God everything you do becomes error.

Emma

to his people is made available for me at all times. You can see that I am a stammerer but when I stand on the altar to preach I flow very well, that is to tell you that I draw my strength from God, I don’t take water before ministration, once I tried it I got uncomfortable. God and the Holy Spirit are my inspiration.

What is your advice for young ministries?

If God calls you concentrate on his calling and stay connected to the calling. The moment you disconnected from God you lose his grace. You must also know your area of calling and remain there. God can only call you to

How often do you organise programmes?

We don’t just organise programmes like other churches do for pulling crowds to raise money. Our major reasons for organising programmes is to preach the word of God undiluted to favour the owner of the church which is God. We organise programmes to call people into order, we do have prophetic gatherings where we prophecy to people according to their problems and they get solution instantly. We also have a programme that comes up twice a year called Business Prayer Retreat. We just rounded up a programme between February 22 and 25, 2016, it was a week of divine encounter, theme: “Who is that Person?” Our guest speaker was Prophet Adebayo S. Joshua. God really proved himself to be God during the programme – salvation from sin, healing and miracles took place, break-through and lots of testimonies were recorded. We just rounded up “Liberation Week” from 23rd, 24th, 25th and 27th of March at the church auditorium 4, Sanboye Oladunmi Street off Baba Awori Street, Revelation, Benwa, Lagos State.

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NEWS

We saw girls at different stages of undress with men around, St. Matthew-Daniel Continues from page 10

the true situation in the school was. Why were pictures put out on that the same day on the social media and the collage site? This is a place that should protect the identity of the children. Why did they allow an independent blogger to come into the school the same day to have interview and take pictures of the girls that the same Saturday by 5pm? Those were the questions the old girls asked her before she said that she was ready for an independent investigation and we told her that we could not conduct an investigation but was on a fact-finding mission. She said we could go around the place and speak to the girls. Of course, we know that no girl would talk to us in that atmosphere and we said ok. Right there, the women started to pick people to come out and be part of the panel. I was picked because they know that my NGO works with the sexually abused people and victims of violence. It was not a planed thing. Also, we were told that the Chinenye was coming that day but the uproar that happened between Saturday afternoon and Sunday, stopped her from coming.

The fact-finding committee was constituted and we went around the school, we saw the deplorable condition that the college had become. It was not the school I attended many years ago and it had become worse than a barracks, clothes were hanging on the windows. The girls were in different stages of undress and I had to ask them why they were in such dresses because there were men in that compound.

There were three different houses, demarcated by the side. One house they said belongs to the driver and his family, the other house we saw a little boy there we asked him where his father was and he said that his father works in the office. The third house we learnt was where the cook lives. Also, we went beside the place, they told us there was a fence that separates the teacher’s quarters from the hotels. And as old as I am, I can jump the wall to the other side and these are things that are evidential.

So we put out something we called ‘hotline’ within those two days we did our factfinding and I cannot say anything about it because all of these things have been put together and it is left for the panel to investigate those observations.

So, I cannot understand how the PTA chairperson has gone on attack of the old girls association. That means that number one, she feels that the panel that was put together is incompetent; that is why she is granting interviews all over the place.

Secondly, I saw in a newspaper that the Class of 79 is the one behind the allegation of sexual harassment and she went ahead to mention the Head of Service, that she is an old girl and is planning to remove her. This is libelous and they don’t know what they are doing. Are they saying that those senior girls that were there, matured women are stupid or they are ganging up against the principal?

But, the PTA is alleging that the old girls are planning to install one of their own, a fellow old girl as the principal of the school.

Are you saying that you people are not interested in that exulted position?

That is what I am saying, they started the whole thing, something was posted online by a blogger and they came to refute it and the old girls met to find out what was happening. This is an allegation that is worrisome about the girl child and what will that have to do with unseating a principal? What is this diversionary game, leaving what is the focus on the girl child and putting it to religion and witch-hunting of

the principal? I also read that the principal accused the old girls of being behind the allegation with the intention to soil the image of the college and I ask which image does the college have now. They also said that we are crying more that the bereaved, we are the bereaved. Parents are not old girls, so the bereaved are those who QC is their alma mater and I don’t understand what they are talking about. It is very important for the old girls to make sure that their school is not dying because if it dies, they will carry the burden. They are the ones that the name, QC, will follow till they die not the PTA. Nigerians should remember that Mr. Osifala has not been found guilty and he is innocent until proven guilty. What has come out is that there is a claim of sexually impropriate and everybody has said that he is a very good teacher. He has the skill even if the child is a dullard, he can make her learn but they said that attitude that suggests that he could do that. So nobody has said he did it, rather the school is the one running from pillar to post, not waiting for the panel set up to conclude its sittings. The fact-finding committee just wants the allegations to be investigated, especially when they are the ones who gave us the information that five times, such allegations had came up under different principals on the same person and for us that was a source of concern.

Chinenye is like whistleblower; we tried to find out, we cannot say whether she is afraid, whether it is a code of silence or fear that what is happening is going to affect her daughter or whatever. But the fact remains that the information was not brought out on the blogger’s site but the principal did.

The same way they said that Osifala had been getting every award in the school and because of that people are jealous of him.

So, people who are jealous of him are using the girls against him. Is he the only man in the school? Have you not heard of people who have won awards who are in fantastic positions, later on it was realised that they got the award through fraud. If he is the only one winning all the awards in the last five years, it means that the rest of the teachers are not qualified to be there. Do they expect us to sit down and watch after they have given us that vital information about the teacher, which is important to be investigated? It is not more about the whistleblower, but why the same man and what do they mean by soiling the image of the college? The name of the school has already been soiled if a teacher was accused of sexual harassment in the same school and nothing was done about it. Queens College was known as a school of high integrity and what will it sound like that the old girls heard about it and did not do anything about it? Nigerians will say that the QCOGA are all footdragging and in a sane society, if such allegation is made against a teacher, the person is either fired or transferred.

The allegation that the old girls is against the principal because she was not an old girl of the school is so nauseating, because I have it on good authority that when the principal came, the old girls association launched the principal with befitting Founders Day’s Event.

The day after, they gave a 500KVA generator. They built the music room with

state-of-the art equipment and renovated the hotels. They did dinner room chairs, changed electric fans in the school and donated trophies for the Sports Day and prizes. Even, the old girls are planning to repaint the school. How many old girls have ever been the principal of the school?

Queens College has become a pinnacle for the civil servants where the post of the principal is for two years. I am talking like a concerned citizen whose main interest is the girl child. I think there is something wrong with the school’s policy and something needs to be done to put things right there. This may be a good opportunity for the Unity Schools to tighten up a little bit for sexual education and may be they don’t know that there are certain ways to talk to a girl that is improper, or touch a girl that is improper.

We need to ask questions based on what we are hearing and what we observed and people should answer us rather than diverting to things that have nothing to do with that because, for me who is an investigative person, when I see these acts of diversion of attention, I say what are they hiding and what do they want to divert our attention from? Let us face the situation. I don’t want all these sentiments of Muslim or Christian or Igbo or Yoruba and Hausa.

Also, it was when we started asking questions that they went and brought down pictures, the head girl’s statement and the principal’s interview; which the bloggers posted on the internet and which the school posted on its site. As a civil servant, she was not supposed to speak. It was their reaction that escalated it. But they did not know was that some people have copied those

things before they removed them. Even the one on the blogger’s page has been pulled down but Premium Times carried just the interview till today (Thursday).

Again, on Monday, the students who were supposed to be writing exams came out to protest. Who gave them the placards they were carrying and who organised them for the protest? I, as a lay man, was looking at postcards and the handwriting on them were the same? In the university, the students can protest from the canteen to the hotels but in a girls’ school, underage school girls, they came out and they were protesting, defending Mr. Osifala, who accused him? In Macbeth, he said, you are protesting too much and when you protest too much about something, what are you hiding or what are you covering up or what are the things you don’t want to say?

We learnt that the panel has started to interview people on this matter but invitations were not extended to some key stakeholders. What is your take on this?

I have heard of it that some key people in the PTA like the vice chairperson was not invited and I don’t understand why the vice chairperson was not brought into it. So, I said to myself, are they selecting people that should meet with the panel? There is news flying about the whole place that Mr. Osifala has so much money with him.

It was posted on the Internet he has brought a new jeep -a biology teacher. Also, the school authority, in the course of their defending him, told us that he has completed his house in Lagos without taking any mortgage. These are interesting revelations.

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news

Nigeria’s telecoms industry’s investment profile hits $32bn

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he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says about $32 billion has been invested in the nation’s telecommunications industry from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and local investors.

The Executive ViceChairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this in Lagos at a forum organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

Danbatta, who gave a keynote address entitled: ``State of the Industry, A Regulator’s Perspective”, recalled that before 2001, few people had access to telephones and the internet.

He said only about 500,000 lines were available for a population of 90 million people in Nigeria before the advent of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that

former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration had in 2001 inaugurated GSM with the licensing of Econet and MTN. Danbatta said Internet connectivity was abysmal, while investors were reluctant to come to Nigeria.

However, the Digital Mobile License auction of 2001 changed the story.

Since then, over $32 billion has been invested in telecommunications industry, both from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and local investors.

With over 152 million active telephone lines and nearly 97 million connections to the Internet, Nigeria now has 107 per cent teledensity.

Growth of the sector is followed by massive job creation whereby several millions of Nigerians and expatriates have been gainfully employed directly and indirectly by the operators. ``Even companies and Value Added Service (VAS)

providers, among others also employed.

Indeed by the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) estimation, Nigeria telecommunications industry remained the fastest growing in the world for more than five years, so much that it is still investors’ preferred destination,’’ he said.

Danbatta noted that people also had access to the internet through their smart devices and banking had been made much easier because of telecommunications.

“The NCC chief said: Electronic commerce now boomed; as people have access to shop online from the comfort of their homes, offices and the smart devices.”

The NCC boss said the licensing process for the 2.6 Gigahertz (GHz) had begun following the release of Information Memorandum (IM).

He added that the licensing process was expected

to be concluded on May 16, adding that there are 14 slots available for grabs through an auction process.

Danbatta said the operator of 2.3GHz would soon begin to provide broadband services, towards increasing Internet penetration in the country.

Meanwhile, the NCC said on Saturday that inactive mobile telephone lines on its networks dropped to 62.61 million in February, 2016.

This is contained in the commission’s ``Monthly Subscriber Data’’ released in Lagos and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The document showed that the inactive Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards reduced by 523,233 in the month from 63.13 million recorded in January.

It said that ``connected numbers’’ figure was 214.23 million during the period, reducing by 260,644 from 214.49 million recorded in January.

The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks connected 3,677,676 subscribers as against 3,678,068 recorded in the month of January, thereby losing 392 customers in February.

The Fixed Wired/Wireless operators recorded 353,923 connected numbers in Feb-

ruary as against 351,625 in January, adding 2,298 numbers to their networks.

Furthermore, the active subscribers on the telecommunications networks in the month of February stood at 151,620,358, increasing by 262,589 from the 151,357,769 telecommunications users in January.

Army kills 4 bandits, injures others in Zamfara Idris Salisu

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our men suspected to be armed bandits have been killed and many others injured during an exchange of gunfire between them and the Army in Ajja forest in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The spokesperson of the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Abdullahi Adamu, Commanding Officer 223 Light Tank Battalion Nigerian Army, Gusau, disclosed this to newsmen while displaying items recovered from the suspects.

He stated that in the early

hours of Friday the Army unit in Zamfara State as part of the anti-banditry and cattle rustling operation of the 1st Division stationed in Kaduna, carried out a raid on the suspected bandit camp situated in Ajja forest of Gusau Local Government Area and in the process succeeded in the killing four while several others escaped with wounds.

According to the Commanding Officer, the unit had in the cause of the confrontation with the bandits also destroyed their camp and recovered a number of weapons and ammunitions.

Why I’m not celebrating at 68, by Mark

I

L-R Chief Security Officer of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Peter Okolo, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, and Chief Security officer of Diamond Bank, Mr. Felix Nnachi after a meeting of Bank’s chief security officers with the IGP recently

Solution to Cross Word Puzzle

NAFDAC seizes N40m fake, unregistered drugs; seals pharmacies in Osun

NEWS IN BRIEF

Operatives of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have sealed some pharmacies in Osogbo and Ilesa in Osun State after confiscating huge quantum of fake and unregistered drugs worth over N35million in the state.

Some of the pharmacies sealed in Osogbo include Akol Pharmaceutical Limited near Ladoke Akitola University Teaching Hospital and Raphabalm Pharmacy located at Alekuwodo while Felfam Healthcare and Supermarket at Fegbewesa was given strong warning.

NAFDAC also sealed Topawo feeds Services at Alekuwodo and Atlab Farm Products located at Okinni, Osogbo for selling unregistered animal feeds. The Managing Director of the company, who was accused of flagrant violations of the Agency’s regulations, was arrested and transferred to Lagos for further interrogation.

mmediate past President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has said that his 68th birthday was devoid of the usual fanfare in order to identify with his constituents massacred in Agatu, in Benue State.

Speaking at a Thanksgiving Church service to mark the day, he bemoaned the situation in Agatu on account of the clashes between the people and Fulani herdsmen that have claimed thousands of lives and properties.

Mark said: “I am not celebrating on account of the situation we find ourselves today. My heart bleeds when I see my people massacred in Agatu. I am saddened that suddenly our people became refugees in their homes.

“I pray that peace returns as soon as possible so that the survivors and all the displaced people scattered in various internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps return to their ancestral homes to resume their normal lives. “ I urge the state and federal government to do everything possible to resettle the beleaguered Agatu people. We must do all

we can to live in peace in Nigeria. I earnestly crave for a crime free society where all citizens are free to pursue their legitimate ambitions anywhere without molestation.”

In a statement signed by Paul Mumeh, his Media Assistant, Mark said that it was only in a peaceful environment that meaningful development can take place.

Senator Mark reflected on his sometimes tortuous political journey in life and submitted, “I have forgiven all those who offended me . I also request that all those I may have offended forgive me too.”

He added:”Even those who hate me with passion, may God touch their hearts to allow me exist.

For me and my family, we will continue to serve and thank God.” In their homilies, the presiding priests, Rev Father Sylvester Onmoke and Rev Father Kenneth Odeh, urged Senator Mark to emulate the virtues of Jesus Christ and forgive all those who worked against him or have wronged him in the course of his political journey.

SUNDAY

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016

SPORTS

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Deputy Sports Editor Dapo Sotuminu daposotu@yahoo.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Things Nigerians don’t know about Yobo

Dapo Sotuminu

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etired Nigerian superstar soccer player, Joseph Phillip Yobo was born on September 6, 1980, he started playing for Nigeria in 1998 as player in the coach Tunde Disu’s tutored Flying Eagles team, then as a support striker. He played at the African Under-20 Nations Cup in Ghana 99 while he was a youth player at Standard Liege of Belgium. He made his first team debut at the Belgian club in 2000, and went on to appear 46 times. In 2001, he was bought by Marseille. Soon after making his debut, Yobo was loaned to Tenerife. After around nine months. He returned to Marseille, before joining Everton, again on loan, in July 2002. A £1 million fee was required to register the player, and he became the first signing of David Moyes.

An option to make the move permanent was taken up and completed in 2003 after a dispute between Yobo and Marseille was settled, with Everton agreeing a fixed ad-

ditional fee of £4 million. Yobo, went on to play for Nigeria’s Under-20 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, Nigeria’99. In that World Cup, Yobo was adjudged by the Techincal Study group that wrote the report on the Nigeria’99 as the most promising young striker in the world at that time. After participating in Nigeria’s run to the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship quarter-finals, Yobo made his senior international debut in the Eagles colours against Zambia in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier on March 24, 2001. He played in all six of the team’s matches in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations and was included in the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he was again everpresent, assisting Julius Aghahowa’s goal in a 2–1 loss to Sweden.

Yobo made his second World Cup appearance at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, after which he assumed the captaincy on the international retirement of Nwankwo Kanu. The veteran defender was no longer a first choice player at the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but lifted the trophy after appearing as an 89th-minute substitute in Nigeria’s 1–0 final defeat of Burkina Faso.

Instead of forging ahead to exploit the possibility of becoming one of the best strikers in the world after the report of the FIFA study group, Yobo chose to be a defender, where he rose to the pinnacle of his career as one of the best defenders in the world. He played professionally from 1998 to 2014 when he retired from active football.

Here are some of the things Nigerians do not know about the superstar centre-back Joseph Yobo from when he started his professional and national team career in 1998 until his retirement in 2014.

He is from the same tribe as the late environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa.

Yobo was born in Kono, Khana, a part of the Ogoni Kingdom in Nigeria. The late Ken Saro Wiwa - was a well-known environmental activist who worked to bring

awareness about the environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland. The area where the two men grew up lacks basic amenities such as running water, electricity, or sufficient resources in schools.

Yobo played every minute of every game of the 2006-2007 season, while at Everton after making a permanent move to the club in 2003. He quickly became one of the most consistent players on the squad. He was one of only seven players in the league to play every minute of every game in the 2006-2007 season, along with teammate Joleon Lescott. Yobo became the record appearance holder for an overseas player at Everton in April 2007, having played with the team since 2002, and held this until early 2012.

The former Super Eagles captain and his wife, Adaeze Igwe, married after only knowing each other for three months. YoContinued on page 54

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SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Sport

Things Nigerians don’t know about Yobo C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 3

John Fashanu. The couple welcomed a baby boy named Joey Yobo in April 2010.

Albert Yobo is the younger brother of former Nigeria international Joseph Yobo.

Yobo’s younger brother, Norum Yobo, was kidnapped in July 2008 and held for ransom in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. He was held for 12 days, before eventually being released on July 17. He was taken at gunpoint along with three other men on July 5, 2008, while making his way home from a nightclub.

Yobo came back to play for the Super Eagles in 2014 following an injury that kept him out of the game for five months. While playing for Turkish club, Fenerbahce S.K., Yobo sat out for nearly five months with a knee injury. Yobo played in 30 official matches and scored a goal, helping his team win the league title.

On September 6, 2011, Fenerbahçe and Everton agreed on another loan deal for €700,000 and Yobo signed a one-year contract worth €2.35 million. On August 4, 2012, he re-signed for Fenerbahçe once again, but this time on a permanent basis on a three-year contract, after having played for Everton for 10 years. Before the 2014-2015 season his contract with Fenerbahce was terminated with mutual agreement. On 31 August 2014 was awarded with the plaque of appreciation and have been released from Fenerbahce. He was loaned to Norwich City in 2014, where he began playing again shortly before the FIFA World Cup in Bra-

Keyamo says Pinnick-led board intact Dapo Sotuninu

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enowned Constitutional lawyer, Festus Keyamo, who has been hired by the board of the Nigeria Football Federation led by its president, Amaju Pinnick, to defend them against Ambassador Chris Giwa whose lawyers claimed they got a federal high court judgment dislodging the present board of the NFF and installing the Giwa group, has declared that, the board of the football federation under Amaju is still in charge of the football house.

Keyamo said: “What the court granted on Friday, April 8, 2016, which was completely misinterpreted, clearly means that the court also restored its final Order made on the 30th of October, 2014, before the case was struck out.

“This set aside all the previous Orders made, especially the one nullifying the NFF election held in Warri on 30th September, 2014. In fact, the court could not have granted the Plaintiffs a final Order at an interlocutory stage. Anyone who feels otherwise should go back to Court.

“In any event, we are dissatisfied with the re-listing of the case and a Motion or an application urging the Court to

set aside its Ruling has been filed and is pending before the Court. The Defendants have also lodged an appeal against the Ruling of the Court and have also filed an application for stay of further proceedings pending the determination of the Appeal. It is expected that as law abiding citizens, no steps would be taken by any party to frustrate the judicial process.”

The erudite lawyer also noted that the media reports to the effect that the Federal High Court sitting in Jos sacked the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led by Mr. Amaju Pinnick and installed Mr. Chris Giwa as the new Chairman of the NFF is nothing but total and complete falsehood. We are constrained to issue this statement to set the records straight owing to the sensitive nature of football administration in Nigeria.

“For the purpose of clarity, at no time did the Honourable Court order the installation of one Chris Giwa as Chairman of the NFF as neither Chris Giwa nor Amaju Pinnick are parties to the present suit in Jos. It is therefore a distortion of the Order of the Honourable Court to assume that Chris Giwa was ordered to resume as the Chairman of the NFF.”

Policemen mount guard at NFF Glass House

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n the order of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, some armed uniformed policemen were seen at the premises of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Saturday afternoon in Abuja according to them to protect the country’s football house against usurpers who made a dash to the premises to take control after a court judgment on Friday.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police who led the security personnel, Mr. Jonah Bitrus, stated that, they are working on instructions from the office of the Inspector General of Police to protect the football house from some usurpers parading themselves as rightful occupants of the Glass House. We were told that their action almost led to a breakdown of law and order on Friday as placards carrying touts almost attacked innocent Nigerians because of some misinterpreted court judgment.

Bitrus added: “It would be wrong for anybody to say that because the Federal High Court sacks a particular state governor, the opposition group will pack their bags and occupy government house? We hear the NFF have since appealed the ruling and until the Supreme court agrees with the ruling of the Federal high court, the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board remains the only rightful body backed by law to occupy the glasshouse.

zil, but many had doubts about his fitness and abilities after being out for so long. In response to his detractors, who thought that he shouldn’t be included in the Eagles list for the Mundial, Yobo said:, “I don’t owe anybody anything. I’ve only said one thing and that is that I thank my bosses for believing in me, for believing that I can still do this and this is very important for me…This is football. I’m still hungry; I still enjoy what I do, especially for my family because I do most things for them. My son is coming up now; he needs to see me play.”

He is the first Nigerian player dead or alive to attain a landmark centenary cap of 100 for the Super Eagles. Yobo, was capped 101 times for the Nigerian national team before his retirement. He represented Nigeria at three FIFA World Cups (2002, 2010, and 2014) and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments (2002 to 2012). He assumed the captaincy of the team after the 2010 FIFA World Cup following the international retirement of Nwankwo Kanu.

After losing to France 2-0 in the quarter finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a game which saw Nigeria’s exit and an own goal

by Yobo, the team captain announced his international retirement following his 100th appearance. He said in an interview: “This is it. I can look back on my career with great pride. I wanted to leave on a high note for my country. Defeat by France was not the right way to go but I’m happy with all I’ve done for the national team. It’s time to give a chance to other people to come through.

Our football has a bright future and I am confident this team can achieve success sooner rather than later.”

He has an estimated net worth of over N8 billion ($48 million-plus). Pulling in more than N400 million ($2.4 million) per year plus endorsements during his time at Everton.

Yobo, accumulated a fairly impressive net worth over the course of his career. He has a mansion in Victoria Garden City, Lagos; another in Abuja; a duplex in London; and sizable stakes in top oil companies and banks.

Yobo was accused of damaging a penthouse flat in Liverpool in March 2014. Ray Smith, the landlord who rented a Liverpool flat to Yobo, claimed that the interior of the flat was badly damaged with burn marks everywhere, the kitchen and bathroom were covered in filth, and there were holes in the walls. The landlord took photos to the newspaper showing the state of the apartment. Yobo denied the reports, claiming his brother Gideon stayed at the apartment. The soccer star agreed to pay for anything that was damaged.

He set up the Joseph Yobo Charity Foundation in 2007 to help underprivileged children in Nigeria. The Joseph Yobo Charity Foundation as at July 18, 2007, had handed out over 300 scholarship awards to Nigerian children, ranging from primary schools to the university level, to help promote education and make schooling a possibility for those who wouldn’t be able to otherwise afford it.

“What I am doing with this foundation is to help people in a similar situation achieve their full potential in whatever they do, and I am proud to be able to help.”

Yobo also started a football academy in the Ogoni region of Nigeria, and runs frequent football camps in the country’s capital, Lagos.

Today, he owns a football club that plays in the Nigerian amateur league, Yobo FC of Lagos.

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THE LORD’S CHOSEN TRAIN TRAVELS TO Orlu

FAITH

A 2-day Holy Ghost inspired international crusade of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries titled; ‘God’s Time To Take Over,’ will take place behind new Building Material Market, oppsite New Stadium, Umuowa, Orlu, Imo State. The event which kicks off at 8:00am daily on Saturday April 16 and Sunday 17, 2016, will witness tremendous out- pouring power of God as of old. Science Editor, STANLEY CHIBUIHEM AMALAHA, captures the preparatory event in pictures

Everyone present will be enraptured in heavenly bliss. As exhilarating praise will flow from graceful hearts to His Majesty on high

Imo State headquarters of The Lord’s Chosen CRM, Owerri

General Overseer, The Lord’s Chosen CRM, Pastor Lazarus Muoka

A section of brethern from Imo State headquarters of The Lord’s Chosen, CRM, Owerri, preparing for the crusade

Poster of the event

Another section of brethern from Imo State headquarters of The Lord’s Chosen, CRM, Owerri

business

CBN N40bn rice fund is boosting farming – Owoye }41

FAITH

Sanctity of Truth

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NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

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CAN election: Manipulators risk God’s wrath, clerics warn }47

When will the abuse of women and the girl child stop? (Part 2) ENCORE THE SAD STORY OF A MINOR CALLED ESE ORURU This is the second and final part of the series,“When will the abuse of women and the girl child stop”. We conclude today with the sad story of a minor called Ese Oruru.

She is a metaphor for the wanton abuse of women and the girl child in Nigeria Ese, whose parents hail from Uwheru, Ughelli North LGA, Delta State, is the youngest child of Charles Oruru and Rose Oruru. It all began like a fairy tale where Kelvin Oruru, (16), shared assignments with her younger sister, Ese (then 13), in their mother’s canteen at Opolo, Yenagoa.

Sometimes, their mother allowed Kelvin and Ese to attend to her customers whenever she went to restock her shop.

At about 11am on that fateful day, Ese disappeared. Kelvin searched for her in vain.

The mother raised alarm that attracted neighbours and passerby, upon hearing of Ese’s disappearance.

THE TRIP TO KANO Mrs Oruru and Rabiu embarked on the journey on 14th August, 2015, arriving Kano after midnight. Rabiu took Mrs Oruru to Tufu, the village Head in Kura LGA. Next day, when the Chief heard of the visit, he became angry with Rabiu for bringing Mrs Oruru to Kano. Mrs Oruru was told that her daughter had been converted to Islam and renamed Aisha. The Chief also stated that Ese’s custody was with the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi II. MRS ORURU’S VISIT TO THE PALACE Mrs Oruru accompanied by Rabiu, boldly headed to the Emir’s palace. On getting there, she was pushed out by the youths.

The Emir’s adviser bluntly refused being involved in the matter.

At Kura Police Station, she was informed that the Tufa Chief had gotten approval from the station, and that her daughter had already converted to Islam. If seen, she would not be allowed to touch Ese and if she touched her, either Ese or mother would die. They drove fear in to her.

Three days later, Mrs Oruru and another Police officer from Kwani Police Station took her to the Emir’s palace where the Emir sat in Council. To her utmost surprise, she beheld her daughter driven into the palace in a black SUV, accompanied by Police officers and Yinusa, who had earlier phoned Ese’s mother, to deny kidnapping Ese. The case was later transferred to Kano State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), where Mrs Oruru was assured that her daughter would reunite with her in Yenagoa.

ANOTHER FRUITLESS TRIP BY ORURU’S FATHER Following his wife’s inability to secure his daughter’s release, Charles Oruru went to Kano, with Daidi and the Hausa Community Chairman, K.C. Dahiru, who had already been arrested by the Police at Ekeki, and later transferred to CID, Yenagoa.

In Kano, he was told that the Emir had long written to the Sharia Council to release Ese to her parents. This, the Sharia Council failed to

The

Nigerian Project

MIKE OZEKHOME san, ofr mike.ozekhome@yahoo.com 08094777755 (sms only) do, but rather instructed the father to return to Yenagoa, and await young Ese’s reunion.

It was a game of musical chairs.

THE EMERGENCE OF PREGNANT ESE A team from the Medical Department of the Police Force was later directed by the IGP, Solomon Arase, to carry out a comprehensive medical examination on her at the Police Medical Facility, Abuja. Lo and behold, Ese was five months pregnant! She was thus handed over to the Gender and Child Protection Unit. A kid was pregnant for a kid!

There was general angst among the people and organizations, who condemned it as an act of extreme wickedness. The Arewa Youth consultative Forum, Ijaw groups, gender organizations and other NGOs castigated this ugly act. Governor Seriaki Dickson of Bayelsa State also ordered the prosecution of Yinusa by the State’s Ministry of Justice, which has since commenced.

EALIER ATTEMPTS TO VARY THE DEFINITION OF AN ADULT

BY THE SENATE Sometime in 2014, the Nigerian Senate had tried to water down the provisions of Section 29 of the Constitution, regarding the renunciation of citizenship, thereby endangering the girl-child more. Section 29 (4) b of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that: “any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age”, also defines “full age” to mean “the age of 18 years and above”. Had the bill sailed through, the direct implication would have been that those girl-children who are under 18 years, but who have had the magnified misfortune of being forced into marriages across the country, would also have qualified to be described as ‘adults’, because they were already married, any way. The Senate, mercifully, failed to garner the majority of required votes.

REALITY TO BE FACED BY YOUNG ESE Mixed feelings of joy and sadness trailed Ese’s reunion with her family. The kid is heavily pregnant. A student of Epie Community Secondary School, Opolo, Yenagoa LGA, Ese, daughter of Charles Oruru, formerly a wood merchant, now jobless, and Rose Oruru, a food vendor, was unknown until now. She is now a celebrity for the wrong reason NOW THIS As a nation, it is our duty to preserve the rights of women and children, individu-

STORM I was in South Africa up to weekend. These are not the best of times for President of ANC and South Africa, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, the Kwazulu Natal Province local idol who had succeeded Thabo Mbeki as President after he had been sacked by the same Mbeki as Deputy President.

South Africans are baying for his blood, the same people who had laid down their lives for him. Zuma’s staunchest supporters have moved from “kill for Zuma” to “anyone but Zuma”; from passionate rendition of “Awuleth Umshini Wam” (bring me my machine gun), to angry chants of “Dubul “Zuma” (Shoot Zuma). For a man who miraculously wriggled out of corruption charges, he has lurched from one flawed decision to another, with a litany of corruption charges hanging on his neck. As he desperately clings to power, surrounded by the most corrupt elements in the system, and literally handing over governance of South Africa to the Gupta brothers, a merchantilistic Indian family, South Africans are calling, not just for his bald head, but for his blood and life in jail. Can be escape this time around?

The lesson here is simple. A leader can fritter away his goodwill in a short while once the people feel shortchanged. Any lessons for PMB here?

ally and collectively, because children constitute our future and the measure of our success. It is high time we came to terms with the fact that our individual rights are parallel to that of others and that we can only get as much as we serve.

So far, Nigeria has made some progress by taking positive steps towards the observance of women and children's rights in general. Some of these actions are enactment of The Nigerian Child's Rights Act, 2003; adoption of a gender policy in 2007; establishment of science schools for girls; establishment of Women Development Centres in Nigeria’s 36 states; adoption of the Trafficking in Person’s (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act; establishment of a National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons; adop- LAST LINE tion of a National policy on HIV/AIDS, Are PMB, Federal, Kano and Bayelsa Govreproductive health and female genital ernments, Nigeria Police Force, Emir Sanusi, mutilation, etc. But, we need to do more. Nigerians, etal, reading and digesting this Sunday sermon in the Nigerian Project by AND THIS Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR? PRESIDENT ZUMA IN THE EYE OF THE • Follow me on twitter @ MikeozekhomeSAN

Cross Word Puzzle

with Olulana Kayode 08023183727 Instructions on how to play the game •With reference to the ‘clues across’ and ‘clues down’ below, you shall try to provide answers to the clues, by writing the answer in the puzzle box provided on the left side.

•The number in parenthesis indicates the total number of letters making up the solution or answer you will provide.

•Keep on answering all the questions until all the spaces in the puzzle box are completely filled up.

Good luck!

Clues Across 1 6 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 20

Arrange information in table, (8).

Monetary worth, (5).

Gen. Babangida's acronym, (3).

Taurus's sign in astronomy, (4).

Indicating negative response, (2).

5th month of Jewish calendar, (2).

Depart, (2).

China, abbr. (2).

Shaft on which wheel turns, (4).

Small tattered piece of cloth, (3).

Member of army medical corps, (5).

Deliberate destruction, (8).

Clues Down 1 2 3 4 5 7 12 13 16 19

Ex Zimbabwean Prime Minister, (10).

Large bundle, (4).

Andorra, abbr. (2).

Absence from own country, (5).

Jewish Temple, (10).

Diminish, (3).

Former capital of Nigeria, (5).

Jewel, (3).

Females' hostel in Ibadan Varsity, (4).

Decibel, abbr. (2).

Turn to page 52 for solution

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