Nigerian observer 01 10 2014

THE NIGERIAN

The Nigerian

1

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol . 39 NO.089 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 20 14 . N 100.00

Mixed reactions as Nigeria marks 54th Independence Anniversary

NIGERIA @ 54 Page 15

A century of United Cultures

BY MARTIN ERHARUYI/IKPONMWOBA OSAZEE J/ MORIZA ROBINDON, IMASAGBON FIDELIS AND MBADUGH KINGSLEY BENIN CITY - As preparations for the

Nigeria 54 th independence

anniversary peaked yesterday, mixed reactions from the public have, however, trailed the importance of its celebration.

Some respondents who spoke with The Nigerian OBSERVER expressed diverse views on the nation’s 54th anniversary.

Continues on page 2

Oshiomhole signs N159bn 2015 Budget into Law

BENIN CITY- Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has signed the State’s 2015 Appropriation Bill of N159.3 billion into law. The amount is about N3 billion higher than the N156.551 billion Appropriation Bill he earlier presented to the House.

“However in making Speaking shortly after our budget, we have assenting to the Bill, taken into account, not Governor Oshiomhole just our wishes but the said “the Executive branch means we think will be had proposed N156 billion available; receipts from estimate and the House in the federation accounts its wisdom decided to and our own projected increase the budget to Internally Generated N159.3 billion. This is Revenue and other roughly an increase of possible sources of about N3 billion. funding.

“There is a lot we can do “I have signed this into and we want to do in the Law confident that we area of infrastructure and can do and we will have other capital projects that to do everything we will like to execute and possible to ensure that there is no question that the laudable objectives there is space for us to as captured by the accommodate more budget are realised”. projects.

NATURAL MEDICINE

Page 19

How to preserve your eyesight

Oshiomhole said, “I want to reassure you, Mr. Speaker that in line with our tradition, we will sustain the tradition of spending prudently, of costing our projects and ensuring that we will

sustain the tradition of blocking leakages in governance as well as aggressively pursuing revenue drive so that we can find the resources to deliver on the promise of this budget.

“It is also my hope that the efforts which the Federal Government is making and is currently making with regards to improving security on oil installations, that all of that will lead to reduction

if not putting an end to the incidence of crude oil theft. Once we can attain that, then all the oil revenue accruing to the state will become available for distribution from the federation account.

“I want to use this opportunity to say that having signed this budget in to law, there is no any other evidence about the Continues on page 2

3 Boko Haram bag 25yrs jail term

By JOSES SEDE ABUJA - Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday, sentenced three Boko Haram members to 25 years imprisonment each.

However, journalists were not allowed to cover the judgment.

Only lawyers in the prosecution and defence teams were allowed in

court.

A source, who witnessed the verdict, but craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told reporters that the fourth defendant was acquitted.

The court, on December 3 last year, barred journalists from covering the trial of 17 suspected members of the sect.

TIT BIT

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

- Mother Teresa

Justice Ibrahim Buba made the order following an application by the Lagos State Attorney-General and prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ade Ipaye.

Men of the Department of Security Continues on page 2

COMMISSIONING: Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole cutting the tape to commission the 500 capacity lecture theatre built by the state government in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

2nd left is the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Cordelia Agbebaku and other guests at the occasion. Photo: CHARITY OZIGBO-ESERE.

BENIN CITY- As part of efforts towards preventing the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease in public schools, the Edo State Government has presented Anti-Ebola materials to schools in five Local Government Areas across the State. under the first phase of its Ebola Prevention Programme.

The State Commissioner for Basic

Education, Hon. Patrick Agumede, presented the items - which included buckets, hand-washing sanitizers and soaps to the Chief Inspectors of Education (CLEs) and representatives of the benefiting council areas of Oredo, Egor, IkpobaOkha, Esan -West and Etsako -West.

Hon. Aguinede noted that the presentation of the Ebola prevention kits

EDSG presents anti-Ebola kits to schools to public schools in Edo State was a continuous exercise, maintaining that

the 18 Local Government Areas will be covered in the

subsequent phase. He restated the commitment of the Oshiomhole-led administration towards the healthy well-being of teaching and nonContinues on page 2

Tambuwal congratulates Nigerians Nigeria’s Independence ABUJA - Speaker of at 54 Day anniversary issued the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has urged Nigerians to work tirelessly to promote

the tenets of democracy, good governance and responsible citizenry.

In a statement to mark

in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Continues on page 2

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

News

Mixed reactions as Nigeria marks 54th Independence Anniversary

Continued from page 1

A clergy and educationist, Mr. Enorense Ehigator Opined that irrespective of the challenges bedeviling the nation currently, there is still need to celebrate it; saying that the nation has been self-dependent in achieving her developmental strides.

Commenting on the measures that could be taken to address the current challenges in Nigeria, he said, “the leaders and the led, we need to address ourselves. We are all involved; we need to invest more on the educational system of our children and teaming youths so that they can be self reliant.

“If we give attention to education as we do to football, the nation will witness a remarkable change? He said.

Collins Orhue, a self-

Oshiomhole signs N159bn 2015 Budget into Law Continued from page 1 fact that Edo State is working and the various arms of government are functioning optimally”, he said.

The Governor said in a democracy and under our labour laws, any one including elected persons, in the executive, legislature or judiciary can decide to come to work or absent themselves from work because there is no force labour provided that he who doesn’t work appreciates the full consequences of his actions.

He said, “The fact of the continued absence from legislative duties on the part of some of your members cannot possibly invalidate proceedings of the House particularly when the House forms a generous quorum”.

The Governor berated some sections of the electronic media for distorting the true situation in the Edo State House of Assembly, saying “these electronic media chose to report the activities of individuals as if we have two parliaments in Edo State.

“For me, it is most laughable and the fact that we have now signed into law the bill signed by the House of Assembly, I hope it settles this. I want to appeal to those who own electric media not to put them to wrong use.”

employed graduate was of the opinion of diverting the huge amount pumped into such celebrations to the empowerment of unemployed youths, saying that the independence anniversary is worth thanking God. Orhue lauded the President Goodluck Jonathan’s led administration for her efforts at addressing the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as well as the fight against insurgence in the country.

He however urged the unemployed to create jobs for themselves, where there is none.

Mrs. Grace Akpor, a Civil Servant said that the reason for the celebration should be based on God’s gift of life, saying that the present challenges of unemployment and insurgency in the country does not call for celebration.

She therefore advocated discipline on the part of the leaders so as to make the nation a better place.

Another civil servant, Mr. Eloka Ilodi attributed the

need for the celebration to the fact that the nation had ability to stand the test of time in spite of the political and insurgent problems.

He added that the leaders should make the masses’ welfare paramount while urging them to shun greed.

Alfred Akin said, Nigeria at 54 is an aplaudable achievement worth celebrating, saying that, Nigeria should be security conscious at the various celebration venue.

He noted that, celebrating the country’s independence in unity and harmony would help protect the image of Nigeria among country of nations.

The branch manager of a popular commercial Bank in the state, Mr. Yomi Adekunle expressed his support for the celebration, adding that, the present National development in the country, particularly in the banking sector are enough to celebrate.

Mr. Adekunle commended the Nigeria government over the curtailment of Ebola virus diseases that

3 Boko Haram bag 25yrs jail term Continued from page 1

Services (DSS) had prevented journalists from covering the suspects’ arraignment last November 27.

The accused are – Ali Mohammed, Adamu Karumi, Ibrahim Usman, Bala Haruna, Idris Ali, Mohammed Murtala, Kadiri Mohammed, Mustapha Daura, Abba Duguri, Sanni Adamu, Danjuma Yahaya, Musa Audu, Mati Daura, Farouk Haruna, Abdullahi Azeez, Ibrahim Bukar and Zula Diani.

The Attorney-General, it was learnt, had entered a nolle prosequi (Latin for “do not prosecute”) in respect of two of the defendants, who were subsequently discharged.

Later, another 11 were also discharged in the course of the trial following another nolle prosequi by the prosecution.

Only four – the first to fourth defendants – went through a full trial.

The suspects were first

charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, illegal possession of firearms, and being members of a proscribed organisation.

They allegedly committed the offences on March 21 last year, at Plot 5, Road 69, Lekki Phase I Housing Estate, and at No. 24, Oyegbeni St., Ijora-Oloye, Apapa-Iganmu, Lagos.

They were alleged to have in their possession three packets of explosive construction pipes, 15 detonators, and 11 AK47 rifles with 30 rounds of live ammunitions.

EDSG presents anti-Ebola kits to schools

Continued from page 1

teaching staff, as well as pupils and students in the public school system.

In their various remarks, spokespersons of the benefiting local government areas lauded the state government for the initiative, while pledging to deploy the anti-Ebola kits for effective use in schools under their jurisdiction.

In another development the Edo State Commissioner for

Basic Education, Hon. Patrick Aguinede, has commissioned a block of six classrooms, with administrative office and toilet facilities at Egba Community Primary School, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government.

Speaking shortly before commissioning the school project, constructed by the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Commission

Tambuwal congratulates Nigerians at 54

Continued from page 1 Imam Imam, Tambuwal appealed to the political elite to moderate their utterances and be mindful of their responsibility to the country.

He said with elections scheduled for early 2015, all leaders must avoid acts that heat up the polity. According to him, what is of paramount importance now is for political office holders to approach

bewaileded the country recently and expressed his believe, that the Boko Haram Insurgency would soon be a thing of the past.

Also speaking, Blessing Ebeagor hinted that celebrating Nigeria at 54 would add value to the Nation.

She said, “It is worth celebrating at least, when there is life, there is hope, so there is hope for our Nation”.

However, another staff of a Commercial bank, Mr. Vincent Omoregie stated that, the current development in the banking sector is enough for Nigerians to appreciate God, especially on the independence day like today, noting that many banks in Nigeria are today of international standard.

In his opinion, Elder Sunday Owie said celebrating Nigeria at 54, while the country develop in a slow pace with security threat is irrelevant.

He added that only the few Nigerian politicians benefit from the national cake while a vast majority live below the poverty line.

elections with the intentions to play by the rules.

The Speaker reiterated his earlier calls that the people must isolate and expose all obstacles that hamper the attainment of peace, development, and progress of the nation.

While congratulating Nigerians on the country’s 54th independence anniversary, Tambuwal restated the commitment of

the House of Representatives to uphold the ideals of a united Nigeria which he said shall take its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Meanwhile the House is on two weeks break, so as to enable the members of the House observe the Independence day celebration and Id-El Kabir on 1st, 6th and 7th of Oct., 2014 respectively.

(EDSOOPADEC), Hon. Aguinede noted that the present administration, under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, will continue to give priority attention to the provision of basic infrastructure targeted at improving the quality of life of Edo people.

The Basic Education Commissioner stated that more public schools will be transformed, under the State Government red roof revolution programme, while school furniture have been procured for distribution to public schools across the State — in order to enhance effective teaching and learning.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman of Egba Community Development Association, Pastor Osarenren Ighiwiyisi, commended the State Government for constructing the school project in the locality. He pledged the continuous support and prayers of the elders and people of Egba Community for Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

Coalition of parties honours Oseni Elamah

BY VICTOR OMOALU BENIN CITY - The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service, Chief (Sir) Oseni Elamah was among the distinguished personalities honoured with an excellence award by the Coalition of Registered political parties (CRPP), Edo State.

The award was in recognition of Chief Elamah’s commitment towards effective and efficiency in administration/ transformation of the revenue system into a success story that has helped to enhance the living standard of the good people of Edo State through the provision of democratic dividends across the state by the state government.

The State Chairman, CRPP, Dr. Samson Isibor said, “CRPP is giving this award to make a statement that the opposition political parties are not just there to criticize or oppose every policies or actions of the government of the day but to commend and give credence to any good work done that has positive bearing on the masses of Edo State.

He expressed optimism that the award would motivate and spur the recipients to do more for the people.

Dr. Isibor commended the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on the recent budget presentation, describing it as a peopleoriented budget.

In his response, the Executive Chairman, EIRS, Chief Oseni Elamah thanked the CRPP for the honour done him.

He described officials of the revenue agency as star blazers who have ensured the desired transformation in the revenue system.

The EIRS boss, however, harped on the need for the people, especially taxable persons to register and obtain the tax identification number as that would guarantee them as eligible citizens.

He stressed the need for the people to support the comrade governor’s effort to the door steps of the people by paying their taxes.

While enjoining the people to rally support for comrade governor Oshiomhole toward making Nigeria at large a better society for its citizens, chief Elamah, however, noted that the honour would further spur him to be more committed, focused as well as strive towards excellence.

Fellowship holds Independence Day prayer BENIN CITY - The Edo rally today

Easter Prayer Breakfast Fellowship will today Wednesday, hold its sixth edition of Independence Day Prayer Rally which is an intercessory session for Nigeria at 54.

The programme is scheduled to take place at the Gloria Garden Event Centre, 14 Commercial Avenue, between Central Road and Ikpokpan Street,

GRA, Benin City at 1:00pm prompt.

A statement by the Secretary of the Fellowship Mr. Dan Aigbavboa made available to The NIGERIAN OBSERVER in Benin City yesterday, indicates that the theme of the prayer rally is “Rend Your Heart And Not Your Garments” and anointed Ministers of God will be ministering.

School of Health Tech Matriculates 531 BENIN CITY- Edo State School of Health Technology, Benin City yesterday held its 28 Matriculation Ceremony where the 531 students admitted into the School for the 2013/2014 academic year subscribed to relevant oath.

Congratulating the Matriculating Students on their Success in passing all the hurdles of securing admission into the school, Edo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. (Mrs) Aihanuwa Eregie reminded the students that Matriculation oath, apart from being a bond of making them bonafide students of the school was also a pledge to be of good conduct and to abide by the rules and regulations of the institution.

Dr. Eregie stated that it is on record that the school occupies an enviable position that is free from cultism and unruly behaviour and enjoined the new students to ensure that such position is maintained.

The Health Commissioner emphasized that Primary Health Care remains the Pivot of Health Care Policy of Edo State, which is why the School was established to produce manpower required for the implementation of Primary Health Care Services.

She charged staff and Students of the institution to continue to play complementary roles to sustain the high standards that the institution has always maintained.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Peter Ugbodaga who was also the Chairman of the Occasion said that Edo State Government has been working seriously towards ensuring that the School becomes one of the best in Nigeria.

He added that Government is poised to moving the school to a higher pedestal, noting that every thing is being put in place to accredit more courses for the institution.

On his part, the Principal of

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

News Pa Edokpayi Burial Begins Tomorrow BENIN CITY- The burial ceremony of Pa Jonathan Osaboloen Edokpayi begins tomorrow, Friday October 3, 2014, according to a statement by the Edokpayi Erhabor family of Igue-Iheya Community and Ariowa of Ema-Okokhuo.

According to the statement the body will be convened tomorrow at 8 pm from the University of Benin Anatomy Department to his residence, No, 44 Uselu-Lagos Road by Textile Mill Junction, Benin City and lying –in- state at 10am.

At 4pm same day, there will be service of songs and interment thereafter.

On Saturday October 4, 2014, there will be socials at Eghosa Grammar School, New Lagos Road, by Okhoro Road Junction, Benin City.

The burial ceremony will climax on Sunday Ocotober 5, with outing service at the Habilation Church of God Int’l (Centre of Spiritual Excellence), No 115 Upper Second Cemetery Road, off Agho Street, Benin City.

Reception follows at his residence.

BNCL Mgt Assures Group Of Publicity

By OMORODION

LAWRENCE /KINGSLEY MBADUGHAL/ UGAGBE STANLEY IKPONMWOBA OSAZE/JENNIFER OWOBU /GLORIA ONI

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (2nd left), Vice Chancellor, Ambrose Alli Univerversity, Ekpoma, Prof. Cordelia Agbebaku, State Commissioner Secondary, Tertiary and Technoical Education, Barr. Washungton Osifo and His Housing and Urban Development Counterpart, Arch Francis Evbuomwan at a ceremony for the commissioning of Projects in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

Photo: CHARITY OZIBO

BENIN CITY- The Acting General Manager of Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, (BNCL), publisher of the OBSERVER titles, Rev. Monday Aigbe, has assured of full publicity of the forth coming Oronmila House Festival which holds on Sunday, October 26, 2014.

Rev. Aigbe gave the assurance during the courtesy visit to Management of BNCL by the organisers at the cooperate headquarters of BNCL. While appreciating the

Compol Promises Adequate Security

Independence:

By MIKE OSAROGIAGBON BENIN CITY –The Commissioner of police Edo State Mr. Foluso Adebanjo has stated that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure a water –tight security during and after today’s Nigeria 54th Independence celebration in the state.

The Commissioner stated this in a telephone chat with our crime reporter in Benin City, yesterday.

COMPOL Adebanjo also

disclosed that Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers (DPO’S) Operatives of the criminal investigation Department (CID), antikidnapping section, Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) Operation Thunder Storm and other operational men of Edo Police Command have been fully mobilized for adequate security

during the celebration.

He maintained that heads of departments and units in the command have also been directed to monitor their men to ensure security is beefed up in their various domains.

The state police boss further revealed that the command has intensified police patrol in Benin City and its environs. He advised

members of the public, particularly fun seekers to comport themselves within the armbit of the law Compol Adebanjo however added that the moves are in compliance with the recent directive of the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Suleman Abba that all states Police Commands should beef up security during and after today’s celebration. Adebayo said the Edo Police command would deal ruthlessly with any trouble maker or criminal caught during or after the celebration.

organisers for the visit and their commendation for the newspaper, the General manager said, though he is a clergy, he believes in freedom of religion and has respect for tradition and culture.

Leader and founder, Oronmila House Group, Ifa High Priest, Chief B.I Osaigbovo expressed profound appreciation to the General Manager and his management team for keeping the newspaper on the news stand, as one of the oldest state aimed newspaper in the country.

According to him, “the production quality of the newspaper has improved while the cover pages which is in colour, and can compete with any other Newspaper in the world, especially in the features and news reporting.

Chief Osaigbovo also said that Oronmila is basically the tradition of the land, and has nothing to do with fetishness, human sacrifices and rituals.

The founder of Oronmila House however noted that Oronmila is against any form of criminality, social vices and human trafficking added that oronmila is a solution provider to the many problems confronting mankind.

High point of the visit was the presentation of a congratulatory card to the General Manager on his appointment and elevation to the status of a Reverend in the ministering of the gospel.

Pa Obigho For Burial The family of Ehigbor Tomorrow Obigho of Ughenokhua,

Pa Jonathan Osaboloen Edokpayi

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (right) receiving a gift from the representative of Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Professor Timothy Audu during the commissioning ceremony of projects in the University.

With them is the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Cordelia Agbebaku. Photo: CHARITY OZIBO

Christ Embassy Organises Public Lecture

By VICTOR OMOALU

BENIN CITY- Further to its commitment towards developing the youth for nation building through its Reach Out Nigeria (RON) initiative with Rhapsody of Realities, the Believers Love World (aka Christ Embassy) Edo State yesterday organised a public lecture aimed at impacting positive change in the youths.

The Benin Zonal Pastor, Mary Owase noted that the event was held with a view to shedding more light on positive change amongst the youths amides the numerous challenges facing them in the quest to contribute towards

nation building.

Pastor Owase stressed that the impact of the youths towards nation building which she said has been overemphasized over the years by Christ Embassy informed the decision for the advent of the Reach Out Nigeria initiative with Rhapsody of Realities in 2007.

She described this year’s theme, “Inspiring hope’ as apt, saying that whatever challenges facing someone, there is still hope.

She therefore urged the people, especially the youths to imbibe the spirit of righteousness as it gives one

the ability to stand in fellowship with God. The Guest Lecturer Deacon (Dr) Vincent Agenmonmen harped on the need for the youths to have a positive mindset if they must impact positively on nation building.

Dr. Agonmonmen noted that the tree of nation building has been moving tremendously since the introduction of Reach Out Nigeria with Rhapsody of Realities by Christ Embassy.

He pointed out that the Nigeria nation needs leaders who can think creatively to move the country forward.

He also stressed the need for

youths to commence the change from their inner selves, if they imbibe the desired positive change that could help drive the economy.

Usugbenu, Irrua in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State has released the programme for the burial of late Pa Godfrey Egbadon Ehigbo Obigho who died on May 4, 2014 at the age of 131 years.

According to a release on Friday October 3, 2014 the body of the late Obigho would be conveyed from the Edo State Hospitals Management Board, Iruekpen for Ughenokhua, Irrua, in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State for Service of songs and interment at his residence at 5pm.

Saturday October 4, 2014 at noon, there will be social dance at St Michael primary

School, Ughenokhua, Usugbenu, Irrua The ceremony will climax on Sunday October 5, 2014 with family rites.

Pa Godfrey Egbadon Ehigbo Obigho

245 Areas Covered By Cocoa Farmers Responding to the complaints Field School made

By DOROTHY by the Odionwere of

EGBOBAMWONYI

BENIN CITY- State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Abdul Oroh made this known during the conference/ Inaugural ceremony of Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) held at Ugbogui, Ovia South West Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner who was represented by the General Manager, Tree Crop Unit, Mr. Amos Erhabor emphasized that the state is blessed agriculturally,

even as he added that the state has done well in the area of assistance and encouragement to the farmers.

He said that during last year’s roll out, some of the registered farmers were able to access inputs and therefore enjoined all registered cocoa farmers to go to their various redemption centres to redeem their inputs.

Oroh disclosed for that this 2014, the federal government will give cocoa pods to farmers, while assuring farmers of the state of benefit from the gestures.

Ugbogui, Chief Uwaifo Osemwengie regarding the menace posed by cattle rearers in the area, Oroh said that it has become a national issue which has gone beyond destruction of farm produce.

He added that cattle rearers have even gone as far as taking to robbery and molesting women.

On her part, the representative of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Vera Okotie implored members of CFAN to continue to work together to seek the support of state and federal government.

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

News Adamawa: INEC Meets Stakeholders Over Michika, Madagali Voters

Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Egberanmwen Odubu (right) addressing an aspirant to the State House of Assembly, Mr. Osagie Anthony Eboigbodin (arrowed) and other supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during a visit where he formally informed the deputy governor of his intention. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

YOLA - Ahead of the October 11 Adamawa governorship byelection, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is meeting with stakeholders from Michika and Madagali local government areas.

The meeting was organised by INEC in order to ascertain the fate of voters in the affected areas recently over run by insurgents.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Alhaji Kassim Gaidam, told newsmen that the meeting was to enlighten them on their rights during the election.

“We have been meeting with stakeholders from the two areas including council chairmen, councillors and religious leaders on how to address the issue.

“They suggest the possibility of using Mubi or Yola as centres as

Accused Regains Freedom After 4 Months In Prison GWAGWALADA (FCT) -An Upper Area Court sitting in Gwagwalada, FCT, has discharged an accused, Goodluck Odoh, 39, after spending four months in prison custody.

Odoh, who lives at Madam Mercy Road, Dagiri, Gwagwalada, FCT, was arraigned on a two-count charge of criminal trespass and theft.

When the case was mentioned on Wednesday, the prosecutor, ASP Modupe Musa, told the court that the matter was for hearing, but the nominal complainant was not in court.

Musa said “the nominal complainant, Mercy Felix, had never appeared in court since the matter was brought before you, your worship.

“We have made efforts to reach her, but all proved abortive.’’

The prosecutor had earlier told the court that sometimes in April, the accused trespassed into Felix’s building site at Phase 3 and stole her black GP water tank.

She said that the water tank was valued at N22,000.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Alhassan Kusherki, therefore discharged the accused since the nominal complainant was no longer interested in the case.

L-R: 2013/2014 Honours Award Winners, Mr. Onuh Micheal (MON), the Head, Presidential Stewards, who has served under nine different heads of states/presidents; a taxi driver, Mr. Imeh Usuah, who returned the sum of N18m (eighteen million Naira) forgotten in his car by a customer and Mr. Solomon Dauda (MON), a traffic warden, for his acrobatic agility in controling traffic, at the investiture in Abuja recently.

most of the eligible voters from these areas are now residing in them,” he said.

Reports also say that most residents from the affected areas had fled to other parts of the state and neighbouring Cameroon Republic as a result of insecurity.

According to him, INEC was yet to reach any final solution on the matter, adding that he was awaiting directive from the commission’s headquaters.

“We are yet to reach a final solution as you know everything is subject to approval by INEC headquarters in Abuja,” Kassim said.

However, some of the potential voters from the two areas particularly those in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Yola and Mubi told reporters

that they abandoned their voters’ cards along with other valuables due to the impromptu nature they left home.

“We hope that INEC will realise that we left behind our voters cards in our homes after we fled and put that into consideration when it finally decide to allow us to vote and exercise our civic right,” said Hamman Madagali, a victim.

Statistics from INEC Voters Register in Adamawa indicated that there were not less than 148,375 voters in the two local government areas.

The breakdown shows that there were 82,291 voters in Michika and 66,084 voters from Madagali.

ABAKALIKI - The Ebonyi State government has said that it had engaged the services of seven private firms to evacuate refuse dumps in Abakaliki on monthly basis.

The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Mr David Egbu, made the disclosure at a news conference in Abakaliki shortly after the monthly sanitation in the state.

Egbu said the project would cost the state N16 million monthly, as the town had been divided into seven environmental zones to make the job easier for the contractors.

He said “the state executive council realised that the task has overwhelmed the state environmental sanitation agency and decided to contract it to private firms.

“The evacuation will commence on Oct. 1, and it is hoped to contribute in returning

to the party would be reintegrated into the party without bias.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Aneneih, said the zone had every reason to be proud of its contribution to national development.

the state to its position as one of the cleanest in the country.

“However, the project is different from the contract awarded to private firms to sweep urban roads, streets and evacuate dirt from gutters.’’

The commissioner urged residents to do their own part in ensuring the success of the project, as environmental sanitation was the responsibility of every citizen.

He said “residents should ensure that they dispose refuse in refuse bags and place them at designated points for easy evacuation.

“Residents should endeavour to pay their dues for refuse evacuation promptly because the contractors will be paid mainly from the revenue accrued from the dues.’’

Reports state that heaps of refuse littered various parts of the town, a situation that could lead to an epidemic.

Meanwhile, 70 people were arrested by the state environmental agency officials for violating the Saturday sanitation regulations.

Their offences included loitering, travelling and engaging in recreational activities while the exercise lasted.

The offenders were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, ranging from two to six months or options of fines ranging from N2,000 to N10,000.

He urged the gathering to be prepared to pay the supreme sacrifice through death.

“Death is inevitable. The only antidote to gaining eternal rest in the hereafter is to be righteous and Godly since whatever that has a beginning must surely have an end.

“I want to urge every one of us whether rich or poor, high or low, to know that death is a price we

this world that will pave the way for us to gain the desired eternal rest upon our demise,’’ Alalobo said.

Alhaji Luqman Owolewa, the incumbent chairman of the local government, described the late Adewumi as “a refined and forthright politician’’ who contributed to the development of the council and the state.

Adewumi is survived by his wife and children.

Ebonyi Engages 7 Firms To Evacuate Refuse

We Have Reduced Poverty By 50 Percent - Jonathan BENIN - President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the country had reduced its poverty rate by 50 per cent.

Jonathan said this while speaking at the South South Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) political rally in Benin, tagged ‘Unity Mega Rally.’

He said that the PDP, as a party, believed in stomach infrastructure because the party must ensure that there was food security and job creation in the country.

He noted that any leader who claimed not to believe in stomach infrastructure was not ready to lead, as “ you cannot lead hungry people.’’

He desrcibed the PDP as the only stable party since its formation that had never changed its name, logo or motto, adding that it is the only party that gives its members the freedom to climb to the highest level.

He said that all the nation

needed was unity, and gave the assurance that although all the roads could not be rehabilitated at once, his administration would continue to improve on all infrastracture in the country.

He also gave the reassurance that since the nation was able to conquer the Ebola Virus Disease, it would also conquer the Boko Haram insurgency.

The president however appealed to the party loyalists to be decent in their various electioneering competitions in order not to create enermies among themselves.

Earlier, Vice President Namadi Sambo said the presenet administration had completed seven power projects with a total of 2,000 mega watts for the South South under the Transformation Agenda.

Similarly, Senate President David Mark described Jonathan

as ‘’ a good sell’’ hence his unianimous adoption by the party as its choice candidate for 2015.

The PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, described the president as a bridge builder and unifying factor.

He reassured that all defectors

Imam Extols Virtues Of Late Council OMU-ARAN (KWARA) all must pay one day.

The Chief Imam of Omu-Aran Boss “It is only our good deeds in Central Mosque, Alhaji Sodiq Alalobo, has extolled the virtues of late Alhaji Abdulkareem Adewunmi, the former chairman of Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara who died on September 24.

In his sermon at the fidau prayer, the Imam described the deceased as “an honest and dedicated leader’’ who impacted positively on the wellbeing of the people.

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South West Tomiwa, Oyo-Born Hip Hop Star Unveiled IBADAN - Politicians, entertainment writers and notable Nollywood stars thronged the Oyo NUJ Press Centre to unveil a new hip hop star, Tomiwa Olanrewaju, popularly called TM. Reports state that TM, a UKbased hip hop star and the second in a family of four, hailed from Iseyin in Oyo State.

He started as a song writer at tender age and had recorded his first studio song entitled “Debe Debe’’, featuring Jaywon, a Nigerian hip hop star.

He had also released a new album entitled “Ike’’, where he featured Flavour Nabania Speaking at the event, Alhaji Saheed Yusuf, the Caretaker Chairman, Iseyin Local Government and his Ibadan North counterpart, Mr Idris Lapade, described Olanrewaju as a pride to the nation.

Yusuf said Oyo State and Nigeria must be proud to have found another talent in Olanrewaju, who had chosen to promote the nation through his music.

Lapade described the hip hop star as a boy embedded with natural potential in music, which stood him out among his peers.

He said “as I am looking at Tomiwa today, I believe that very soon he will be among the first

top 10 hip hop stars in Nigeria, and maybe Africa and the world at large.’’

A Nollywood star, Mrs Rose Odika, also described Olanrewaju as a courageous young man, adding that it was not easy to come into limelight.

Odika, who is the Oyo State Chairperson, Theatre and Motion Picture Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), prayed that God used Olanrewaju to change the world positively with his music.

“I am urging him to embrace God so that he will surpass his peers in the highly competitive entertainment world,’’ she said.

Similarly, Mr Gbenga Opadotun, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), Oyo State Council, commended Olanrewaju for adopting music as part of his education.

He said “parents are advised to encourage their wards to embrace other vocational skills and should join hands in the promotion of identified potential in the society.’’

Also, Mr Bolaji Adeoye, the Chairman, Music Promoters Association of Nigeria (MUPAN), Oyo State Chapter, urged Nigerians to emulate Olanrewaju’s courage and called on people to support him.

Speaking to newsmen at the

Oyo Governorship Aspirants Adopt Electronic Campaign IBADAN - Some governorship aspirants in Oyo State have adopted the use of electronic campaign bill boards to beat the ban on indiscriminate posting of campaign posters by the state Signage And Advertisement Agency (OYSAA).

Reports state that PDP and APC aspirants have been using the electronic device to market their programmes to the electorate.

The campaign bill boards are noticeable at strategic areas around Sango, Mokola, Challenge and Eleyele areas of Ibadan, the state capital.

Mr Yinka Adepoju, DirectorGeneral of OYSAA, told newsmen on Sunday in Ibadan that he was not satisfied with the level of compliance by the

aspirants with the ban as the manual posters still defaced the environment.

Adepoju said that was why the agency’s staff were removing the posters along the roads to enforce the ban.

“The political party aspirants, who are interested in pasting campaign posters, must come to our office to register so that they will be guided on know to do it.

“Any aspirant, who is interested in pasting posters must follow the agency’s due process by complying with the laid down procedures,” he said.

Adepoju threatened to sanction any erring politician henceforth no matter the party he or she belonged, adding that the aspirants had even jumped the gun by starting to campaign now.

Front Row: Past President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Mr. Remi Makinde; President, Mr. Steve Onu; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on New Town Development, Mrs. Felicia Fisayo; Commissioner for Town Planning, Mr. Toyin Ayinde and Secretary to State Government, Dr. Ranti Adebule with others, during a visit of members of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners to Governor Fashola in Lagos recently.

NAICOM Develops Roadmap

Insurance Sector:

LAGOS -The Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Fola Daniel has announced that the commission was developing a new insurance industry development roadmap.

Daniel announced this in Lagos at the inauguration of Public Enlightenment and Consumer Protection Programmes of the Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria (ISCAN).

Daniel, represented by Mr George Onekhena, the NAICOM,

Deputy Commissioner Finance and Administration, said that the development plan would help to consolidate and ensure the targeted goals of the insurance sector.

According him, the commission will incorporate all stakeholders including consumer associations in the proposed national insurance blueprint. ‘’The way insurance industry is now, is not helpful to majority of the citizenry because people need

insurance to live a good life. ‘’People should be able to take at least a life insurance regardless of their financial capacity. ‘’This is what insurance is all about and the commission feels that the development plan will help with this situation,’’ he said.

Daniel said that insurance companies should support the activities of ISCAN, adding that it was a business meant for all the stakeholders.

Trader Docked For Stealing Cheque Book

LAGOS -A 45-year-old trader, Akeem Balogun, has appeared before an Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, over alleged theft of a cheque book with intent to commit felony.

Balogun, who resides at No. 2, Ademola, St., Ikorodu, Lagos, is facing a charge of stealing.

The Prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Sept.11 at Stanbic-IBTC Bank.

He said that the accused stole a cheque booklet, property of Taoheed Global Resources Ltd.

and attempted to withdraw N150,000 from the company’s account.

“The accused brought a cheque with number 00105390110 to withdraw N150,000 from the bank, and when the cheque was sent for confirmation, it was discovered that the account was opened at the Saki Branch in Oyo State.

Olatunde said that the owner of the cheque was called in Saudi Arabia, where he resided and he denied issuing the cheque.

The offence, Olatunde said,

Secretary to Edo State Government, Prof.

Julius Ihonvbere (right) presenting an award of Excellence to the Executive Chairman, Edo State Internal Revenue Service, Chief Oseni Elamah, as the most performing/ resourceful executive chairman of the year 2013/2014 by the Coalition of Registered Political parties, Edo State.

contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 285 prescribes a threeyear jail term as penalty for anyone convicted of stealing.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, Mr. Akeem Fashola, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till Oct. 23 for mention.

He said that the support was necessary as ISCAN activities would increase the public demand for insurance.

The commissioner said it would also help to reposition the general perception about listed insurance companies stocks at the capital market as well as create new employment.

He said that NAICOM would continue to work towards its main duty of protecting policy holders and third parties especially victims of hit and run drivers.

The National President of ISCAN, Admiral Isaac Areola (rtd), said the Association was formed because of problems of marketing insurance products in Nigeria. ‘‘As old as insurance is in the country, its presence has not been felt by the people,“ he said.

Areola said that while insisting and ensuring that claims were paid to consumers, the Association would also create massive awareness among the public on the essence of insurance.

Oyo 2015: Alao-Akala Inaugurates Campaign Office IBADAN - A former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, who is seeking to contest the governorship position again, has inaugurated his campaign office.

Alao-Akala, in his address at the inauguration of the office in Ibadan on Saturday, said he would tackle poverty if voted back into office.

The aspirant, whose address was read by his wife, Kemi, said “the major mission of the Akala 2015 project is to come to the aid of the suffering masses of this state.

“By this, I mean the common man on the street of Ibarapa, the yam seller from Ogbomoso and generally the market women in the state,” he said.

Reports state that Alao-Akala, who is contesting on the platform of the PDP, was the governor of the state between 2007 and 2011.

The former governor listed his achievements to include award of

scholarship to indigent students, beautification of the state and renovation of primary and secondary schools.

He promised to run an efficient administration with a special focus on the people’s welfare.

According to him, his ambition is not to rule but to uplift the state as well as serve the people.

Mr Niran Adeyoju, the Coordinator of his campaign office, said the team was committed to ensuring the reelection of Alao-Akala.

“It is gratifying to note that the good people of the state including artisans, market women, students, professionals and motorcyclists have all called on Akala to run again,” he said.

He said that the people wanted him back in office because his last tenure witnessed tremendous development.

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News MDGs: LG To Spend N200m

L-R: Director, field operation group, FIRS, Mr Ajayi Bamidele; representative of Executive Secretary, TETFUND, Mr Oladipo Salau and Rector, Lagos State Polytechnic, at the 2014 joint TETFUND/FIRS interactive forum in Lagos recently.

KIRIKASAMMA (JIGAWA) - The Kirikasamma Local Government Council of Jigawa has expressed willingness to spend N200 million on the implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) projects.

The council Chairman, Alhaji Mahmoud Mattafari, told newsmen in Kirikasamma that the amount would be spent on the execution of first set of the MDGs’ projects in the area.

Mattafari said that the council planned to execute various projects in the areas of agriculture, health, water, sanitation, environment, women and economic empowerment.

He added that under the project agreement, the MDGs would provide N100 million, while the state and the local council would contribute N60 million and N40 million respectively.

A car almost diving into a canal at Itowolo, Ikorodu in Lagos recently.

Focus On Tourism Devt, Nigerians Urge Govt

LOKOJA - Residents of Lokoja, Kogi, have called on government at all levels to focus more attention on the development of the tourism sector.

The residents spoke to

newsmen on the sideline of the World Tourism Day (WTD).

World Tourism Day (WTD) is held annually on September 27 to create awareness, among the international community, of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and

economic value.

Mr Ajayi Balogun, a retired civil servant, who worked with Kogi Ministry of Tourism, said that government was not doing enough to develop tourism, especially at the state and local levels.

NIMASA Promises Job Placement For LAGOS -The Nigerian New Cadets The NSDP was introduced by Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has promised possible job placements for the first batch of graduates from the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

Mr Ziakede Akpobolokemi, the Director-General of the agency, gave the promise on Saturday at a reception organised for the graduands at Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja.

“We promise to do everything possible to provide jobs for these

graduates because when the youth are hungry there will be trouble.

“Investing in the youth is the best assurance for a peaceful nation,” he said.

Reports state that the 22 graduates left for the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt in 2010 where they studied Marine Engineering and Nautical Sciences.

NIMASA to build manpower capacity to address the needs for local content in vessel manning.

The NIMASA director-general said the programme was on course to achieving its plan by creating a pool for manpower for the maritime industry both locally!4éd internationally.

Akpobolokemi disclosed that the students had completed their four-year training including seatime experience mandatory for international standards in seafaring.

He further called on the three tiers of government to extend their dragnet into communities to develop tourist sites available in those areas.

Doing so, he added, would be in line with this year’s theme of the event, “Tourism and Community Development.

“Apart from the fact that tourism brings development, it will also provide employment opportunities for the youth, thereby reducing unemployment in the state.

“Tourism is widely acknowledged for its capacity to respond to national and global challenges, therefore, government should give priority to developing tourist centres in the country,” he said.

Mr Adesayo Alao, also a retired civil servant, called on the Kogi Government to harness the great tourism potential that abound in the state.

The chairman said that the council had set up a 28-man committee to facilitate successful implementation of the programme.

Mattafari said the committee was mandated to identify communities where the MDGs projects would be sited.

He said that the committee would also work toward ensuring effective supervision and monitoring of the projects.

“We are executing various

agriculture, health, water, women and economic empowerment projects under the MDGs. “This is the first time we are participating in the MDGs programme and we are geared toward achieving the set goals.’’

He said membership of the committee was made up of the council’s officials, community and religious leaders, representatives of NGOs, farmers and women groups.

ABUJA - The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says it has proposed the establishment of 200,000 telecentres across the country.

The Director-General of the agency, Mr Peter Jack, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja at the closing ceremony of a training organised by the agency for the physically challenged in the society.

He added that when operational, the people with disabilities that qualified would be employed in the telecentres.

Mr Jonathan Olaonipeku, Director, Human Resources, represented the directorgeneral at the occasion.

The director-general also disclosed that NITDA had trained 50 people living with disabilities on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

According to Jack, the training is aimed at reducing the ICT knowledge gap of the people with disabilities and to make them self reliant.

“In line with the President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, NITDA has taken up the training of persons living with disabilities as part of the agency’s capacity development programme.

“The objective of the

programme is not only to train the vulnerable ones among us, but to empower them to make living for themselves with the use of ICT. “We did not train them without empowering them, we have given them one laptop each, which they can use to take care of themselves.

“ICT is one of the sectors of the economy that they can be employers of labour with one laptop each,” he said.

He lamented lack of social protection for persons living with disabilities and their exposure to discrimination and dependence on others.

Reports state that the 50 beneficiaries were drawn from the 36 states and FCT. Earlier, the President, Global Hope and Justice for the Less Privileged, Mr Paul Ihekwoaba, also physically challenged, said ICT was pivotal to the global trend of ensuring all-inclusive human development.

Ihekwoaba, who said that the training would help to address unemployment among youths with disabilities, challenged them to discover their potentials to be self-reliant and less-dependent on others.

“It will also help to reduce poverty and hardships facing people with disabilities in using ICT by enriching and empowering their human capacity to be economically independent.”

NITDA Proposes 200,000 Telecentres, Trains 50 Physically Challenged

Ogun To Construct N200bn Mega City

ABEOKUTA - Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun has said that the state government had concluded plans to construct a mega city that would gulp over N200 billion in the state.

Amosun made this known in Ewekoro area of Ewekoro Local Government in continuation of his local government assessment tour.

The governor said that the mega city would cut across Obafemi Owode, Ifo and Ewekoro Local Government Areas.

He said his ambition was to develop the state and exploit all the resources the state was blessed with for the benefit of the people.

The governor disclosed that when completed, the mega city would be the best in Nigeria and in Africa.

He added that the Presidency had approved the construction of the abandoned airport at Alamala area of the state.

Amosun said it had been his agenda to complete the airport since his first day in office, saying it was not a crime for Lagos State to have an airport and Ogun having its own.

He said that work on perimetre fencing was ongoing at the proposed site of the airport, adding that serious work would start very soon.

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News House Supports War Against Boko Haram CALABAR - Rep. John Owan-Enoh (PDP-Cross River) says the House supports Federal Government’s military action against the Boko Haram insurgency.

Owan-Enoh said this in Calabar while addressing newsmen on his stewardship and aspiration to contest the Cross River Central Senatorial seat in 2015 general elections.

“It appears that the Nigerian government is now getting it right. The government has done very well to contain insurgency in parts of the country.

“And I think what remains now is for them to continue in that direction. The National Assembly is very supportive of government actions,’’ he said.

He said that his desire to move up to the senate was due to pressure from his constituents, adding that he was not anointed by anybody.

Owan-Enoh, who is the Chairman, House Committee on

Boko Haram:

- Rep

Appropriation, called on the media to disregard rumours that the PDP had given automatic tickets to all legislators.

“No PDP anywhere has endorsed any lawmaker; it is only the office of the president that has the right of first refusal and not any other.

“There is no reason for the PDP to give any lawmaker automatic ticket and it will never happen,’’ he said.

Owan-Enoh stressed the need for the media to always uphold the principle of fair hearing before going to the press, to give balanced reportage of all concerned.

According to him, arrangements have been concluded for his formal declaration for the Senate in the 2015 elections.

Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, is currently representing the Cross River Central and has also indicated interest to retain the seat in 2015.

Five Security Vehicles presented to Rivers Government by MTN Foundation in Port Harcourt recently.

Embrace Skills Acquisition,

GUSAU - The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has urged youths in Zamfara to participate in the various skill acquisition programmes of the directorate.

Alhaji Muhammad Alhassan, the State

NDE Urges Youths

Coordinator of the directorate, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Gusau.

He said the programmes were aimed at

Borno Residents Laud Military He commended the military for

MAIDUGURI - Some residents of Maiduguri, Borno, commended the Nigerian military for its gallant efforts aimed at tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in the NorthEast region.

The inhabitants told newsmen in Maiduguri that with the current tempo of military operation against the sect members they were optimistic that the insurgency would soon come to an end.

Alhaji Jubrin Gunda, a lawyer, said it was obvious that the Boko Haram insurgency would end in

a very short time going by recent developments in the campaign.

“The Boko Haram insurgents are in disarray now, most of their leaders have either been captured or killed.

“The field fighters are in a confused state; they have been surrendering to the authorities with their weapons en masse. “ I belief that peace will return to Borno in a month’s time because the insurgency will die soon,” Gunda, who is also the Secretary of Borno Youths Vigilante group, known as Civilian JTF, said.

the renewed efforts in fighting the insurgents.

“Whatever happened in the past is gone. All what I know is that the military is ready to flush out the insurgents now and the efforts have been most successful,” he said.

He also expressed optimism that the military would flush out the remaining insurgents hiding in Bama, Gwoza and other areas.

“What is happening is that the insurgents are now getting fewer in number, even those staying in Bama or Gwoza do not stay in the night for fear of the military

invasion.

“What they do is to appear in the day time and escape into their hiding places in the evening,” he said.

The lawyer said a number of insurgents had been trying to escape from Sambisa forest to other parts of the state.

“Even those arrested in Biu on Tuesday were just trying to escape from their den, following the death of their leaders.

“So many others are also on the run to avoid being captured,” he said.

L-R: Secretary to the Government of Rivers, Mr. George Feyii; Rivers Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, Chief of Staff, Rivers Government House, Mr. Tony Okocha and Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Dennis Okoro, at the presentation of some security vehicles to Rivers Government by MTN Foundation in Port Harcourt recently.

complementing Federal Government’s efforts at reducing poverty and unemployment.

Alhassan observed that youths in the state were not taking full advantage of the different programmes of the directorate as they concentrated on its computer programme.

The state director described the attitude of the youths as “a bad habit’’.

According to him, the NDE is conducting various programmes in the state

such as National Open Apprenticeship (NOAS), Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP), and Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), among others.

He said that the programmes were meant to equip the youth with skills to make them self reliant and enjoined them to change for a new leaf for good.

“The only way for our youths to get out of unemployment problems is to dedicate themselves and learn one skill or the other, government alone cannot provide job for all,’’ he said.

Ebola: Disease Surveil-

lance System Strong In Oyo State -CMD

IBADAN - Prof.Temitope Alonge, the Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has said that disease surveillance system had been strong in Oyo State.

Alonge told newsmen in Ibadan that, as a result of this strong surveillance system, any endemic situation in the area could be curtailed.

The CMD disclosed that the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) scare in Oyo was responsible for the close collaboration between the state government and the UCH in trying to curb the spread of the EVD. He commended the state government for its constant support whenever the UCH management called on it.

The CMD said that UCH got some reagents, body-bags, as

well as professional assistance from the state Ministry of Health during the last outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.

He said that the disease surveillance committee included the State Epidemiologist, Dr Abbas Gbolahan, whose office was in charge of disease control and contact tracing.

Alonge said he was not in tune with some health experts who believed that isolated centres for heamorrhagic diseases should be set up outside the towns.

He said the action was unethical, unprofessional and unacceptable.

He also said that another isolated centre was being designed for the Sepeteri Health Centre— owned by the UCH.

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Abuja National Awards

Ezeife Commends FG ABUJA - Former Anambra state Governor, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has commended the Federal Government for making it a duty to honour Nigerians who distinguished themselves in their various endeavours by giving them national awards.

Ezeife made the commendation in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

He said national award served as motivation for recipients and would make them to contribute more to the growth of the country.

The former governor, who said that the award was a challenge to other Nigerians to do their best, however, called for better criteria for selection of awardees, pointing out that it should be given strictly on merit.

Ezeife, who was also a delegate at the National Conference, also commended the Federal Government and other stakeholders for the prompt containment of the Ebola Virus disease (EVD).

He said “I say bravo to President Goodluck Jonathan with the way and manner government tackled the EVD outbreak. I can imagine the great ravage Ebola could have done to the greatest concentration of blacks on earth.

“The aggressive alacrity with which President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, confronted the dreaded monster must be celebrated.’’

According to him, the ability of the Federal Government to contain EVD is an indication that God is using Jonathan for his purpose in Nigeria.

“The knowledge of this fact is a clear sign that God’s purpose is yet to be completed through him.’’

The former governor enjoined the Federal Government to honour the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh; the first doctor that attended to the Ebola infected LiberianAmerican, Patrick Sawyer.

He said Adadevoh paid the supreme price to ensure that Sawyer remained confined, thereby saving the lives of millions of Nigerians from contracting the disease.

Ezeife, who stressed that the late doctor should be listed for national award no matter how long, added that “it would have been remarkable if she was included in the 2014 National Award list.’’

L-R: Country Director, World Bank, Nigeria, Ms Marie-Francoise, Marie-Nelly, Deputy Governor of Kogi, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi; representative of the Minister of industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Abdulkadir Musa and Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Hajiya Saratu Umar, at the launch of World Bank’s Doing Business in Nigeria 2014 in Abuja recently.

Female Clerics Caution Against Criticism Of Oritsejafor, Others ABUJA -The Nigerian Women in Clergy (WIC), a faith-based women group, has expressed concerns over the spate of criticisms surrounding Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Prophet TB Joshua and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome by some Nigerians.

This is contained in statement signed by the President of the group, Mrs Nonnie Robertson, and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

It said the group was worried about the kind of comments made by Nigerians about the activities of the three clergymen, urging Nigerians to rather reflect more on issues plaguing the country.

“We have observed with great concern the manner in which Nigerians are overtly engrossed in various scandalous cases involving some prominent leaders in the body of Christ.

“This is the time for serious intercession for the country.

Nigeria is at a crossroad, the power tussle is more spiritual than political.

“The body of Christ is under attack physically and spiritually worldwide. We must focus on the issue at hand,’’ Robertson was quoted as saying.

According to the statement, WIC specifically refers to the

marriage ignominy of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome; the $9.3m arms deal involving the private jet of CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; the Synagogue building collapse saga and many others.

The statement said it was not in any man’s position to pass judgment on the three clergymen and therefore called on Nigerians to desist from making such comments.

“Nigerian Women in Clergy have added their voices to the ongoing crisis plummeting churches and men of God in Nigeria, by calling on God to take control of the several allegations flying around His servants.

Deputy Governor of Kogi, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi (left), with the country Director, World Bank, Nigeria, Ms Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, at the launch of World Bank’s Doing Business in Nigeria 2014 in Abuja recently.

“Nigerians should tread the path of caution by allowing God to judge his own case instead of dragging the body of Christ in the mud.

“While we do not condone or approve of any of the cases, we urge Christians to desist from judging these pastors as God will judge them eventually,’’ Robertson was quoted as saying.

It said the group was not

speaking in defence of the clergymen in question but that it felt some of the comments were directed towards the church rather than the persons concerned.

On the controversial $ 9.3 million seized in South Africa, the group urged for caution and called for a thorough investigation rather than scandalising Oritsejafor.

“We must not allow the dust of the allegation stain our relationship with God as a nation.

Sagay, Briggs Urge Special Protection In ABUJA - A constitutional Courts lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, has called for special protection in courts in the country to forestall violence.

Sagay made the call in a telephone interview with newsmen on Saturday in Abuja.

Sagay, who was reacting to attacks on a judge in Ekiti State on Sept. 25, by some persons believed to be thugs, urged politicians to caution their loyalists against violence.

He described the attack in Ekiti as barbaric and undemocratic. “ In view of the attacks on our courts in recent times, particularly in volatile areas, courts need special protection.

“Some politicians have taken the politics of this country to the Stone Age and it is totally unacceptable,’’ he said.

In the same vein, a human rights activist, Ms Ankio Briggs, condemned the attack on the judiciary in Ekiti State.

Briggs, who said the development in state was worrisome, also expressed concern over abuse of freedom by some Nigerians.

She called on youth to engage in meaningful ventures, rather

than engaging in acts capable of destabilising the country.

“The violence we witness in the country is often carried out by youths and this is because they are not being adequately catered for.”

She called on the state governments to invest in youths to reduce youth related violence.

“As such the investment politicians are making in the youths is that of violence, this is deplorable and unacceptable.

“No matter their grievances, youths need to exercise restraint, avoid violence and eschew being used by politicians against their people, `` she said.

According to her, the politicians do not engage their children in such violence because their children are based outside the country.

She reminded youths that politicians only used them for unlawful acts for selfish gains.

“If you ask the youth in Ekiti State why they have resorted to violence, the reason they will give you is politics. Fine, if they say it is politics, are they politicians?”

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Business + Economy Funding, Major Obstacle To Film Making - Nollywood Producer

Policemen on alert at Deidei over riot at the market in Abuja recently.

ABUJA - A Nigerian Movie Producer, Mr Elvis Obaseki, said Nigerian filmmakers were faced with the major challenge of funding.

Obaseki told newsmen in Abuja that the inability of film makers to access corporate funding was a major challenge for the industry.

The movie producer said that some filmmakers run into financial challenges during production which affects the quality and quantity of movies produced.

He said that the inability of industry stakeholders to access Federal Government’s N3 billion intervention fund called “Project: Act Nollywood’’ was slowing down activities in the industry.

According to Obaseki, training of film makers was the only benefit the industry had recorded so far

One of the cars destroyed by Rioters at Deidei Market in Abuja recently.

following the N300 million capacity-building fund released by the federal government.

Obaseki said that 28 film directors had so far benefitted from the training.

“About 28 film directors have been to America for training and they are back; film producers are planning to go now,’’ he said.

The N300 million capacitybuilding fund was meant for two purposes of training of film makers and grants to existing Nigerian-owned private institutes that offer training courses in the movie industry.

Fashion Industry Is Revenue Earner

LAGOS - A Fashion Designer, Mrs Funmi Ajila-Ladipo, has said the Federal Government could generate huge revenue from the fashion industry, if well explored.

Ajila-Ladipo, who is the President of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN), told newsmen in Lagos that more investments in the sector would promote competition with their foreign counterparts.

“Stakeholders in the Nigerian fashion industry are of the

NDIC To Review Insurance Of Mortgage Banks

ABUJA - The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it will review the insurance coverage it provides for Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) to ensure effective operations of the sector.

The NDIC Managing Director, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, made the disclosure at the opening of a two-day workshop for PMBs in Abuja.

“Going forward, we hope to review the insurance coverage that we do provide, you are aware that right now it is N200,000 in case of any failure.

“We are thinking why not segregate slightly from what is obtained in the Micro Finance Banks (MFB), given the huge portfolio and risks you carry.

“And also in return, given the quantum of premium that you give,’’ he said.

According to him, the

corporation is also reviewing the basis of premium of the PMBs in the country.

He said that instead of using the flat rate which was the initial practice, the corporation would introduce risk-based premium assessing system.

This, he said, was obtainable with the Money Deposit Banks.

“That way, we will be able to promote safer and best practices and in the process, the best manned and managed institutions will have less premium burden on them,’’ he said.

On the workshop, he said that discussion would be focused on the state of affairs

of the mortgage institutions and risk management and its importance.

He said that weak corporate governance and poor risk management frameworks could result in risky behaviours by the PMBs, adding that it could help to create huge toxic assets and ultimately put insured deposits at risk.

Ibrahim said that the supervisory authorities were concerned about build up of toxic assets with Micro Finance Banks which stood at about 45.7 per cent as at December 2013 against the prescribed maximum of 5 per cent.

“Our attention is now being focused on both the MFBs and PMBs sub sectors so as to address the emerging challenges.

“Our efforts can only be successful if the operators can embrace good corporate governance and sound risk management practices.

“We cannot afford the repeat of 2008/2009 crisis,’’ he said.

Ibrahim said PMBs in Nigeria could create significant impact if they adhere to the recommended corporate governance practices based on effective risk management practices instituted by regulatory authorities.

He said that PMBs should be interested in enhanced risk management standards as some mortgage portfolios were on

The first training fund of N150 million was dedicated to training and skills acquisition for Nollywood practitioners in all competencies, while the other N150 million went to Nigerian-owned private institutes that offer movie courses.

Some scriptwriters, directors, producers, production engineers, technical assistants, actors, cinematographers and make-up artists have benefitted from the fund.

Pencil Film and Television Institute (PEFTI) founded in 2004

by Wale Adenuga is one of the Nigerian-owned private film institutes that would benefit from the capacity-building fund.

predominantly variable interest rate Ibrahim added that government was making effort to rejuvenate the sector through its recent initiative on mortgage and housing policies.

He said that the ratio of mortgage finance as a percentage of Gross Domestic Products currently stood at one per cent, while countries like South Africa at 29 per cent, Mexico at 10 per cent and Malaysia at 29 per cent.

The managing director said the corporation would continue to ensure that all insured institutions were put on the path of sustainable growth and development.

He appealed to all PMBs to pay their annual premium promptly.

- Designer

opinion that the sector has begun to deliver on its mandate.

“Since the fashion industry is one of the biggest employers of labour worldwide, the quality of Africa’s style is competing with international standard. “ Government must show more commitment toward the development of the industry.

“The Federal Government can do more in creating an enabling environment to boost the development of the sector, especially in the area of incentives, “ Ajila-Ladipo said.

She urged the Federal Government and private investors to show more interest in the fashion industry.

The fashion designer urged the government to support talented citizens with soft loans to sustain their businesses.

“The major challenge which the industry is facing is lack of funds; most fashion designers go out of business due to insufficient funds.

“If the government can address that area, it will boost the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), “ she said.

Ajila-Ladipo said the government would in turn get huge revenue on the investments.

THE NIGERIAN

11

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY (30/09/2014) Close

Value

NEIMETH

18,558

2,878,531.38

30

39

2,860

0

0 0

Change

1.05

1.06

0.01

0

3,147,328

3,338,860.30

NEM

0.8

0.79

-0.01

0

977,832

768,858.96

NESTLE

1100

1090

-10

0

499,231

543,594,275.80

3,718.00

NEWGOLD

1934

1912

-22

0

8

15,296.00

9,980,027

89,740,988.41

NIGERINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

9,163,396

4,581,698.00

0

3,282,867

10,429,009.05

NNFM

21.99

21.99

0

0

5,650

119,953.00

0

159,186

237,975.28

NPFMCRFBK

0.94

0.98

0.04

0

2,328,986

2,163,917.74

1876.73

1882.26

5.53

0

248,706,684

6,261,945,865.00

Stocks

Open

Deals

7UP

147.73

147.73

0

0

ABBEYBDS

1.3

1.3

0

0

ACADEMY

1.32

1.32

0

0

ACCESS

8.99

8.99

0

AFRIPRUD

3.16

3.16

AGLEVENT

1.54

1.54

Units

AIICO

0.8

0.81

0.01

0

4,579,604

3,714,380.91

NSE30

AIRSERVICE

2.01

2.01

0

0

14,810

31,249.10

NSE50

2032.65

2039.66

7.01

0

306,055,270

6,443,445,670.00

ASHAKACEM

32.9

31.56

-1.34

0

688,698

21,942,015.52

NSEASI

41105.38

41210.1

104.72

0

479,687,542

6,644,705,773.00

BERGER

8.6

8.6

0

0

75,718

641,290.02

NSEBNK

423.03

425.15

2.12

0

161,760,401

2,674,825,588.00

BETAGLAS

18.85

18.85

0

0

4,670

88,730.00

NSECNSMRGDS

1028.06

1032.43

4.37

0

18,303,446

1,417,796,269.00

CADBURY

52.5

52.5

0

0

2,143,644

112,669,352.10

NSEINDUSTR

2754.67

2736.83

-17.84

0

5,610,947

675,046,428.10

148.77

149.19

0.42

0

29,858,598

39,415,743.13

CAP

39

39

0

0

144,819

5,635,395.15

NSEINS

CAVERTON

5.25

5.1

-0.15

0

372,900

1,889,038.00

NSELOTUSISLM

2732.54

2725.87

-6.67

0

18,537,417

1,863,437,647.00

CCNN

14.7

14.99

0.29

0

476,550

7,097,476.50

NSEOILGAS

451.96

460.84

8.88

0

17,228,445

446,943,162.50

CHAMPION

10.18

10.18

0

0

1,366

14,053.88

OANDO

25.06

26.28

1.22

0

14,829,865

386,188,218.80

CHAMS

0.5

0.5

0

0

50,890,100

25,447,340.00

OKOMUOIL

34

34

0

0

441,435

15,041,034.30

CILEASING

0.5

0.5

0

0

800,000

400,000.00

PAINTCOM

1.6

1.6

0

0

4,624

7,028.48

2.49

2.49

0

0

10,000

23,700.00

CONOIL

47.01

47.01

0

0

51,637

2,460,933.65

PHARMDEKO

CONTINSURE

0.95

0.95

0

0

5,000

4,950.00

PORTPAINT

5.5

5.5

0

0

810

4,455.00

CORNERST

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,097,400

548,940.00

PREMBREW

4.4

4.4

0

0

13,600

56,188.00

COSTAIN

0.95

0.91

-0.04

0

2,982,523

2,716,995.93

PRESCO

37.5

37.5

0

0

120,125

4,292,669.50

COURTVILLE

0.53

0.52

-0.01

0

8,643,596

4,503,544.90

PRESTIGE

0.5

0.5

0

0

10,000

5,000.00

34

35

1

0

2,546,170

89,010,144.19

CUSTODYINS

4.3

4.3

0

0

844,986

3,629,760.60

PZ

CUTIX

1.85

1.9

0.05

0

672,612

1,217,525.87

REDSTAREX

4.59

4.59

0

0

80,400

353,810.00

DANGCEM

222.99

222

-0.99

0

2,036,642

446,473,871.40

RESORTSAL

0.5

0.5

0

0

10,000

5,000.00

DANGSUGAR

8.48

8.3

-0.18

0

583,515

4,829,700.82

ROYALEX

0.57

0.59

0.02

0

1,029,192

607,127.52

DIAMONDBNK

6.19

6.28

0.09

0

11,255,492

70,608,032.88

RTBRISCOE

0.93

0.89

-0.04

0

450,912

401,706.12

DNMEYER

1.1

1.05

-0.05

0

1,065,140

1,118,397.00

SEPLAT

667

645

-22

0

34,460

22,286,965.00

2.73

2.64

-0.09

0

14,889,442

39,807,164.89

ETERNA

3.79

3.84

0.05

0

2,110,194

7,801,201.57

SKYEBANK

ETI

18.5

18.7

0.2

0

6,387,622

116,251,713.90

STANBIC

32

33.6

1.6

0

4,848,959

162,867,250.30

FBNH

13.86

13.41

-0.45

0

22,575,095

306,118,021.60

STERLNBANK

2.2

2.25

0.05

0

23,797,489

52,440,772.45

FCMB

4.3

4.3

0

0

9,220,593

38,490,920.60

TOTAL

180

180

0

0

13,799

2,433,372.34

FIDELITYBK

1.96

1.99

0.03

0

3,188,859

6,346,114.83

TRANSCORP

5.76

5.8

0.04

0

46,324,386

268,516,658.90

FIDSON

3.4

3.33

-0.07

0

593,100

1,977,352.45

TRIPPLEG

1.86

1.86

0

0

5,670

10,035.90

15.1

15.85

0.75

0

210,812

3,222,999.05

FLOURMILL

61.98

61.98

0

0

163,079

10,057,805.52

UAC-PROP

FO

229

225

-4

0

192,981

42,870,053.52

UACN

57.49

57.75

0.26

0

6,910,153

399,085,941.50

FTNCOCOA

0.52

0.5

-0.02

0

2,934,300

1,471,116.00

UBA

6.96

6.62

-0.34

0

6,437,665

43,329,549.69

GLAXOSMITH

64.99

62.61

-2.38

0

139,660

8,849,480.46

UBCAP

2.05

2.12

0.07

0

5,842,376

12,257,552.43

GNI

0.5

0.5

0

0

4,092,525

2,046,262.50

UBN

9

8.69

-0.31

0

1,377,881

11,968,589.61

GUARANTY

29.73

29.75

0.02

0

32,832,259

976,399,098.90

UNHOMES

0.5

0.5

0

0

312,500

156,250.00

GUINNESS

206

214.98

8.98

0

688,553

143,557,089.90

UNILEVER

49.2

46.85

-2.35

0

250,716

11,766,376.06

HONYFLOUR

4

3.91

-0.09

0

567,414

2,234,077.54

UNIONDAC

0.5

0.5

0

0

3,908,315

1,954,157.50

IKEJAHOTEL

1.59

1.66

0.07

0

29,063,665

48,238,333.90

UNITYBNK

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,077,000

538,500.00

INTBREW

30.01

30

-0.01

0

8,081,528

242,471,513.40

UPDCREIT

8.68

8.68

0

0

10,000

82,500.00

INTENEGINS

0.55

0.53

-0.02

0

8,189,829

4,360,609.37

UPL

4.13

4.13

0

0

4,390

17,252.70

18.76

18.76

0

0

10

187.6

JAPAULOIL

0.5

0.5

0

0

3,658,204

1,829,102.00

VETGRIF30

JBERGER

67.2

67.2

0

0

2,974

194,588.36

VITAFOAM

4.29

4.29

0

0

604,490

2,525,615.88

LAWUNION

0.5

0.5

0

0

10,000

5,000.00

VONO

1.56

1.49

-0.07

0

13,798,998

20,560,507.02

LEARNAFRCA

1.35

1.35

0

0

2,085,156

2,820,222.67

WAPCO

128.65

126.76

-1.89

0

1,505,804

191,938,640.10

LINKASSURE

0.5

0.5

0

0

57,700

28,850.00

WAPIC

0.72

0.74

0.02

0

3,665,205

2,712,194.26

LIVESTOCK

2.88

2.9

0.02

0

365,000

1,054,211.05

WEMABANK

0.88

0.91

0.03

0

1,506,671

1,368,290.79

ZENITHBANK

24.6

24.5

-0.1

0

51,613,665

1,267,933,563.00

MANSARD

3.15

3

-0.15

0

8,733,461

26,200,863.00

MAYBAKER

1.86

1.77

-0.09

0

149,422

265,376.94

MBENEFIT

0.54

0.54

0

0

1,636,700

883,858.00

Stock

Close

Gain

Stock

Close

Loss

MOBIL

172.04

173.01

0.97

0

29,969

5,189,382.59

MULTITREX

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,731,174

865,587.00

5.02

-0.01

0

412,786

2,071,445.58

104.72 8.98 8.88 7.01 5.53 4.37 2.12 1.6 1.22 1

NEWGOLD SEPLAT NSEINDUSTR 17.84 NESTLE NSELOTUSISLM FO GLAXOSMITH UNILEVER WAPCO ASHAKACEM

-22 -22 -

5.03

41210.1 214.98 460.84 2039.66 1882.26 1032.43 425.15 33.6 26.28 35

1912 645 2736.83

NAHCO

NSEASI GUINNESS NSEOILGAS NSE50 NSE30 NSECNSMRGDS NSEBNK STANBIC OANDO PZ

1090 2725.87 225 62.61 46.85 126.76 31.56

-10 -6.67 -4 -2.38 -2.35 -1.89 -1.34

NASCON

9.29

9.7

0.41

0

630,796

5,846,386.26

NB

177.26

176

-1.26

0

1,387,169

245,442,922.90

TOP 10 GAINERS

TOP TOP 10 10 LOSERS GAINERS

THE NIGERIAN

12

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

NIGERIA today marks its 54th anniversary as a nation. Expectedly everyone should be in high spirit of what the anniversary has to offer.

This is perhaps the right attitude , because every such celebrations bring hope. For some Nigerians , it has been particularly calamitous and devastating and equally frustrating for those who faced hunger, deprivation, unemployment, sickness and many more.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has many questions to answer from Nigerians who are dissatisfied with efforts to contain the Boko Haram insurgents who abducted over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State and sadly many have also lost their lives in numerous bomb blasts orchestrated by the insurgents in Kano, Abuja, Maiduguri and other places. There are allegations that there are sponsors of the deadly organization within government circles and the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) was mentioned as harbouring some of such elements give cause for concern.

NIGERIANS are waiting for President Jonathan to unmask these individuals who are enemies of the Nigerian nation and indeed should have been independence gift to a society continually seeking good governance and is so much ravaged by corruption with values and morals thrown over board. With the elections to various elective offices scheduled for February next year and quite so

THE NIGERIAN

Nigeria At 54

close, the chase to ensure victory at the polls has already commenced in the usual fashion of political schemings, all with the task to secure their cherished and prized goal either to return to office to repeat their tenures as stipulated by the constitution or to gain such offices on fresh notes. On this ground, funds stashed aside are being brought out to spend on political leaders who will support their tickets while the electorate wait to cast their votes for uncelebrated candidates who have nothing to offer Nigerians.

TRULY, the independence anniversary is a time to assess our growth as a nation in all spheres to determine if we have really prospered as a nation in the last 54 years against the background of system infrastructure, particularly roads and health facilities including social welfare from which the indigent population should have gained some solace and relief.

ONLY recently, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was imported to Nigeria from Liberia by one Sawyer who was on a trip to the country. The efforts by the federal government to contain the

disease is most commendable to the extent that the disease was limited to Lagos and Port Harcourt and all precautions were taken in public enlightenment and education.

WE however,urge the federal government as well as the states to improve the living conditions and security of lives and property of the people as a critical factor of development as it is the only way the nation can move forward.

THEREFORE, the Nigerian observer implores the administration of President Jonathan in its avowed commitment to better the lives of people to not only fulfill its transformation programmes but to deal decisively with issues that affect the people.

AGAINST this background, the Nigerian observer asks governments at both the federal and state levels to fulfill their electoral promises to the people as they form the bed rock of good governance and visible indices of development.

EACH election year we continually hear the old mantra, rehearsed and rephrased promises that are never forward looking because the wherewithal to implement them have never been there, as they are backed by greed and avarice that is the bane of our society. We hope and look forward to a better anniversary with a new report card that will be a pleasant October package to Nigerians in 2015.

THE NIGERIAN

13

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Natural Medicine

With Dr. MAO 08030717341

How To Preserve Your Eyesight

DAILY SUN of January 27, 2010 carried an interview with Igwe (DR.) Charles Abangwu, a son of Eha Alumona in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state. A highlight of the interview was that at 90, age had not affected his vision. It was as perfect as that of a teenager.

Hear his testimony: ‘I read the littlest of italics without glasses or strain on my eyes. I have never used eye glasses”. Only a few people can match his experience. This is because he appears to be one of those people with the genes for good vision at old age.

Most people don’t therefore, fall within his experiential bracket. For this reason, people need to know certain tips for preserving their eyesight. To start with, we should learn to eat for the eyes. The book PERFECT EYESIGHT FOR LIFE contains a list of nourishing food for the eyes. Another worthwhile book is THROW AWAY YOUR GLASSES by Michael Cutler” It informs you of the 18 key nutrients your eyes require for healthy vision. They are. Vit A, Vit B6, Vit C with bioflavonoicls, Vit E, selenium, copper, lutein, zeaxan thin, ginkgo biloba, eyebright elderberry, taurine, bilberry, lycopene, N. Acetyl cystiene, EDTA and tocotrienols.

Don’t forget, too, that eating lots of fruits and vegetables supplies the eyes with the nutrients they need. Choose organic fruits/ vegetables for best results whenever they are available.

In addition, avoiding eyestrain is another way

of preserving your digital age, several people have eyestrain from long hours in front of the computer.

One way of preventing computer eyestrain?

Learn to break up computer work for at least every 30 minutes.

Such work stoppages help the eyes.

Furthermore, to minimize computer eyestrain, always increase the font size of your work once you are in your middle ages or when you notice that your vision is losing its sharpness. By increasing computer font size to see any display on the monitor your eyes are better for it.

From the foregoing, it is evident that as you age, your eyes undergo changes for instance, they begin to lose their capacity to make contrasts and to focus properly. Hence, once again, apart from increasing the computer font size you work with, you need brighter lights at any of your work stations.

Therefore, use more light to illuminate your reading desk, office, or computer /television screens. If you don’t then you will strain to see properly so that with time you will start having problems with

your eyesight.

Also, to prevent eyestrain, avoid staring at darkness.

Unfortunately, people do so often at night because of the frequent blackouts

by BEDC these days.

Each time the lights are

should give a warning by blinking the light.

Expectedly, people would then have the opportunity of closing their eyes to await the final blackout. This practice would help the transition of the eyes

light and ultraviolet rays.

So between 10am to 3.

3pm on a sunny day wear your prescription sunglasses. Don’t look up directly at the sun.

In addition, you must routinely protect your eyes from

organisms in the water.

Be warned too that using unclean well water may get your eyes infected with germs.

Similarly, water from boreholes or the rain could be unclean from source and still get

switched or just go off, the eyes suddenly are forced to stare at the blanket darkness enveloping everywhere.

Invariably, BEDC can be said to be contributinly to eyesight damage today. How I wish BEDC knew this. Well, this is an advice for them.

Before it takes light,, it

from light to darkness and so curb the eye shock or strain to the eyes arising from sudden power outage.

Still, another eyesight preservation tip: Avoid all reflections of the sun entering your eyes. They can damage your eyesight just like the sun overhead with its heat,

containination. There are two ways you can do this.

Firstly wash your hands well with clean, running water before picking your eyes with your fingers.

Secondly, always bathe with clean water. If you don’t, you may end up infecting your eyes with micro-

contaminated during storage. Therefore, it is important you have handy, water purifier or disinfectants like izal and dettol for use in killing germs in your bath water or water for washing your hands. In passing I need to say here that a lot of us assume that all water in overhead tank are clean. Lies. Most of such tanks have never been washed since they were erected. Invariably, they are a cesspool of germs. The fact that the tank water appears clean does not mean there are no germs in it. Unknown to you, the eye infection you have frequently may be traceable to the water from the tank you use for bathing which gets into your eyes. From the

“Therefore, use more light to illuminate your reading desk, office, or computer /television screens. If you don’t then you will strain to see properly so that with time you will start having problems with your eyesight.”

THE NIGERIAN

14

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 With Victor Aniukwu

New Horizon

Recipe For Forgiveness FORGIVENESS in the dictionary states this par topic as, the one who no longer has the wish to punish someone or someone who no longer has hard feelings against somebody who has offended him in the present in the past. From all ramification forgiveness is a fortune and furthermore a MASTER ERASER. We can quickly state here that what is happening in ones life is due to lack of forgiveness. Note here that every resentment in life is an impression stamped on the consciousness. So forgiveness is the master eraser for the completeness of our spiritual realization.

Factually everyone wants to have a new consciousness without cleaning the murky consciousness that we have accumulated within the mind.

M O R E DEFINITIONS OF FORGIVENESS 1. To cease to bear resentment against 2. To stop being angry with 3. To pardon or to overlook 4. To give or to replace ill feeling in order to gain the sense of peace and harmony.

5. To give love to someone It is a verified truism to state here categorically and emphatically, materially and spiritually that if you have a problem, you surely have something to forgive, anyone who finds himself in an unpleasant circumstance has something to forgive.

Anyone who finds himself in debt has a need to forgive. More so wherever there is suffering, lack,

confusion or misery of any kind, there is need to forgive.

Generally resentment, anger, condemnation, the desire to set even, paying back in his own coin, or to see someone punished, these are things that rot your soul and tear down your health.

If you have to overcome pain and injury of the past, you must learn to forgive.

Not so much for the sake of the other person as for your own. To hurt or to hate scares the soul and works illness into the flesh and the illness will never be healed until you forgive.

Forgiveness begins with the one who recognizes the offence and when you get the offence out of your own heart, there and then you have forgiven. More so the reconciliation which you bring about within yourself will affect your brother/ sister and will bring about automatic forgiveness towards you on his own part. Forgiveness is not a casual act, the word means a blotting out or a cleansing out of transgression. it takes time and persistence for true forgiveness to invade the subconscious mind. Finally you may not know or be consciously aware of whom or what you need to forgive, though it will be revealed to you as you invoke forgiveness.

So the important thing is that you willingly speak words o forgiveness and let those words do these cleaning works for you.

And if only one person will truly forgive, his problems can be solved regardless of who else is involved and whether the other person wants to forgive or not. The person who dares to forgive gains control of the situation. You may not

have appeared to have any prior power to solve the problem but suddenly there will be a solution. The person who forgives will find a divine solution appearing before him as never before. Materially or Spiritually one must learn to forgive if one wants to be permanently healed.

Health cannot be accepted by a body filled with poison of bitterness or

unforgiveness. When your good is delayed, that is the time to forgive.

Forgiveness can sweep all that have delayed you towards perfection, fulfillment or any achievement.

The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good. No good thing can be withheld from a forgiving mind. Now listen to this analogy — If

Jesus Christ has not dared to forgive or say on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, He would not have experienced resurrection. Forgiveness is all powerful that heals all ills. It makes the weak strong, the cowardly to be courageous, the ignorant to be wise, it makes the mournful to be happy and finally it unlocks whatever

has stood between you and good fortune. With a sad note, remember that the unforgiving mind is full of fear and offers love no room. It is sad without hope for respite and release from pains. It is stunned with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees. It is always afraid to forge ahead and afraid to stay on ground. It does not believe that giving and receiving

“Forgiveness is not a casual act, the word means a blotting out or a cleansing out of transgression. it takes time and persistence for true forgiveness to invade the subconscious mind.”

are the same Karma of your own making. Without forgiveness the mind is in chains, believing in its own futility, because it cannot bring itself to blot out resentment.

With forgiveness does light shine through the dream of darkness, offering it hope and giving it means to realize the freedom that is its inheritance. The illusion is that there is something to forgive. And those who forgive are releasing themselves from illusion

There are three types of forgiveness in this present dispensation.

1. O P E N FORGIVENESS: This calls for broad minded people who do not wait but openly arid within their heart forgive anyone that steps on their shoe or toes.

This is two ways action involved.

In this dimension, only few people belong to this group. They are self equipoise. Those in this category are human beings.

while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to illusion.

Forgiveness is the means by which illusion disappears. Through your forgiveness the truth about your true self return to your memory. Therefore in your forgiveness lies your perfection or salvation. It wipes away the empty dream of separation and sin. It sees no sin therefore releasing it. Forgiveness sweeps away distortions and opens the hidden alter to the truth by which it stands between illusion and truth. In fact it is acquired and not inherent. In the present generation, forgiveness is uncommon.

They contain the good qualities of patience, tolerant, fore-bearing, unruffled towards ugly situations, unbiased, focused, simple and high mood, contentment, sharing and caring, m a g n a n i m o u s , interlocking spirit etc. they steadily progress with contentment. They are not overzealous about wealth accumulation because they know one of the secrets of true living- that everyone has been allocated his quota of any thing about life and they will come when they will come to Continues on Pg 24

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Nigeria @ 54

A Century Of United Cultures ONE hundred years ago, the Name Nigeria emerged to unite the peoples of Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern culture.

Though tribes and tongues differ the nation stand united. NEWS! A nation is a community of people having common culture, language, territory, fatherland or native land.

Traditionally, the ancestors founded secure places to dwell and faithfully found kingdoms, caliphates and empires.

Greater parts of the nation were occupied by force of arm, between 1861 and 1906. A lapse followed, society degenerated and European traders became preacher and saviour.

Lagos was ceded to the British crown, Kano was invaded, Sokoto captured, Great Benin was set on fire and ordered government established.

In telling the birth of Nigeria a century ago, in 1914, the power of adaptation to the British rule, the civil servants proved right the working together of the people and experiment in orderly democratic living.

The Europeans had little respect for the traditional form of government. They pursued a policy of replacing them by “governing councils” in which the British consul was the executive head, rather than the paramount ruler.

Sir Lord Lugard was appointed High Commissioner of the Northern protectorate and could possibly negotiate the occupation of the North.

Sir Lord Lugard was sensitive about the role of the military in civil administration and felt it necessary to justify the

By AMBROSE 0. EKHOSUEHI

appointment of military officers as civil residents; a characteristic that when in civil employ; rule is often marked by less militarism than that of the civilians.

The Northern and Southern protectorates were amalgamated thus uniting the Northern people and southern people into an administrative entity called Nigeria in 1914.

This Great country was born in 1914, named Nigeria, under the leadership of Sir Lord Lugard; the Governor General; 1914 to 1922.

The North and South though merged retain their own identities. Nigeria council for the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria came “into existence”.

The provisions of the order in council empowered the Legislative council to make Laws. In 1939, the Southern protectorate split into Eastern provinces and Western provinces.

The Administrations of sir Hugh Clifford 1922 to 1926, Sir Graham Thompson 1926 to 1931, Sir Donald Camerou 1931 to 1937, sir Bernard Bourdilion 1937 to 1945.

The period 1939 to 1945, suffered severe economic depression experienced by the outbreak of the second World War (World War II).

In 1945, sir Arthur Richard became the Governor General of Nigeria. The Richard’s constitution objectives were to promote the unity of Nigeria; to provide adequately within that

unity for the diverse elements, which make up the country- Nigeria. To secure greater participations by Africans in the discussion of their own affairs.

In 1951, Sir John Macpherson became the Governor general and in 1954 Sir Lytleton came on

board, A new constitution came into force on October 1, 1954 and Nigeria became a Federation.

Nigeria became a component of five parts — the Northern Region, Eastern Region, Western Region; Federal Capital Territory of Lagos and the

Cameroons.

It makes provisions for the office of the GovernorGeneral at the Federal level and Lieutenant-General as Regional Governors, and the office of Regional premiers.

In 1957, the constitutional conference approved that Nigeria

“Traditionally, the ancestors founded secure places to dwell and faithfully found kingdoms, caliphates and empires. Greater parts of the nation were occupied by force of arm, between 1861 and 1906.” would become an independent state in October 1, 1960. Nigerian affairs were left entirely in the hands of Nigerians.

Nigeria became an independent and sovereign nation with effect from

October 1, 1960. Sir James Robertson the last colonial ruler ended the colonial era on that date October 1, 1960 and handed over to a Nigerian citizen Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; the first Prime Minister of the Federation of Nigeria, in executive capacity.

“The Europeans had little respect for the traditional form of government. They pursued a policy of replacing them by “governing councils” in which the British consul was the executive head, rather than the paramount ruler.”

On November 17, 1960, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was appointed the GovernorGeneral of Nigeria; and in 1963, Nigeria became a Republic.

In the mid 1960, there were crises and the unending resolve of the crises led into series of military take over of Government, and consequently hand over to civilian Governments.

The national sovereign conference and resource control are acclaimed as way forward for Nigeria, as Nigerians, old, young, literate, illiterate troop in jubilation, joy and happiness, celebrating independent freedom.

Faith of our heroes past, shall never be in vain, inspite of dungeon, fire and sword; to hand on to our children a banner without stain and our flag, a symbol that truth and justice reign in peace or battle honoured, while singing, the Anthem: “Arise o compatriot/Nigeria’s call obey/to serve our father land/with Love and strength and faith/ The Labour of our heroes past/, shall never be in vain/To serve with heart and Might/One nation bound in Freedom, peace and unity.

O God of creation, direct our noble cause/ guide our leaders right/ Help our youth the truth to know/ in Love and honesty to grow/ And living just and true/ Great Lofty heights attain/ to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign”.

This cherish anthem is sung as the Nigeria’s flag fly high and the banner raise in lofty height to celebrate fifty-four years of independence and a century of united cultures.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Midweek ON November 25, 2005, the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (the protocol) entered into force, after being ratified by 15 African governments Two years earlier, in July of 2003, the African Union —the regional body that is charged with promoting unity and solidarity among its 53 member nations—adopted this landmark treaty to supplement time regional human rights charter, the African Charter on human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter). Time protocol provides broad protection for women’s human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights.

The significance and potential of the protocol go well beyond Africa. The treaty affirms reproductive choice and autonomy as a key human right and contains a number of global firsts. For example, it represents the first time that an international human rights instrument has explicitly articulated a woman’s right to abortion when pregnancy results from sexual assault, rape, or incest; when continuation of the pregnancy endanger the life or health of the pregnant woman; and in cases of grave fetal defects that are incompatible with life, Another first is the protocol’s call for the prohibition of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) which have ravaged the lives of countless young women in Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the worst indicators of women’s health -particularly of reproductive health — of any world region. These indicators include time highest number of HIV-positive women and the highest infant, maternal and HIV-related death rates worldwide. The ability of a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body and her reproductive life are key to improving these indicators. The protocol can help advocates pressure government to address the underlying social, political, and health care issues that contribute to the dismal state of women’s health throughout the continent.

This briefing paper offers concrete suggestions for women’s health and rights advocates within and beyond Africa. It provides detailed information that can help African women use the protocol to exercise their reproductive rights, and suggests ways that governments can implement the protocol’s landmark provisions.

The paper can also be useful to advocates outside Africa who are seeking to establish similar guarantees.

Protocol On The Righ

Instrument For Advancing Re WHY A PROTOCOL ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS? Although the African Charter is the primary treaty providing a framework for human rights in the region, its provisions on women’s rights arc largely seen as ineffective and inadequate.

The charter recognizes and affirms women’s rights in three provisions. First, article 18(3) requires states parties to “ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of the women.”

Second, article provides that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the charter shall be enjoyed by all, irrespective of race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, national and social origin, economic status, birth or other status. Third, article of the African Charter states that every individual shall be equal before the law and shall be entitled to equal protection of the law. And yet the protocol note that “despite t lie ratification of the African Charter ... women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practice The protocol, which resulted from years of activism by women’s rights supporters in the region, has attempted to reinvigorate the African Charter’s commitment to women’s equality by adding rights that were missing from charter and clarifying government’s obligations with respect to women’s rights. Only one out of the more than sixty articles in the African Charter makes specific reference to women. The following are key shortcomings of the treaty as it pertains to women: • its failure to explicitly define discrimination against women; • its lack of guarantees to the rights to consent to marriage and equality in marriage; and • its emphasis on traditional values and practices that have long impeded the advancement of women’s rights in Africa.

In Africa, some of the most serious violations of women’s rights take place in the private sphere of the family and are reinforced by traditional norms and cultural values.’’ Articles 17(2) and (3) of the Africa

Charter state that every individual “ may freely take part it in the cultural life of his community” and that “ promotion and protection of morals and traditional values recognized by the community shall be the duty of the State.”

Article 27(1) of the African Charter further provides that “every individual shall have duties towards his family and society.” Moreover, the only specific reference to women’s rights in the charter is contained in a clause concerning “the family and tradition, thereby reproducing the essential tension that plagues the realization of the rights of women” in Africa. ‘ Indeed, the African Charter has been interpreted to protect customary and religious laws that violate women’s rights, such as the rights to equality and nondiscrimination; to life, liberty, and security of the person; and to protection from cruel and degrading treatment.’

In a recent ruling by the Zimbabwean Supreme Court, for example, the court held that domestic laws discriminating against women carry greater weight than international instruments protecting women front discrimination. And in considering whether a woman could inherit her father’s estate, that court relied on traditional conceptions of the family and the male patriarch—as stressed under the African Charter—as the sources of women’s status, rather than on the rights and standards guaranteed under international legal instruments.

Advocates for women’s rights recognized these weaknesses and sought to address them by adopting an additional protocol that focused solely on women’s rights. In April THE PROTOCOL IN BRIEF The protocol requires states to “ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected and promoted.’

The protocol also calls upon states to: • provide adequate, affordable, and accessible health services to women; • establish and strengthen prenatal, delivery, and

postnatal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while breast-feeding; • prohibit all medical or scientific experiments on women without their informed consent; • guarantee women’s right to consent to marriage; • set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years; • ensure equal rights for women in marriage; • protect women against all form of violence during armed conflict and consider such acts war crimes; • enact and enforce laws prohibiting all forms of violence against women, including unwanted or forced sex; and • reform laws and practices that discriminate against women 1997, a draft protocol was created and was finally ratified some six years later. The adoption of t protocol signifies a renewed political commitment to the advancement of women’s rights as human rights in Africa. Furthermore, attempts to strengthen the African human rights system through the reinvigorated African Union, which replaced the Organization of African Unity, and through the creation of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (the African Court), should embolden ad to press for more vigorous enforcement of the protocol.

KEY WOMEN’S RIGHTS PROVISIONS IN THE PROTOCOL This section examines key reproductive rights protections in the protocol within the context of existing international protections for women. The section supplies direct relevant quotes from the protocol; the full text of the treaty can be found at http://www. africa-union.org.

Global and Regional Standards for Reproductive Rights At the regional level, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the African Charter on the Right and Welfare of the Child contain provisions—including the rights to equality, life, liberty, security of the person, health, and

protection from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment—that underlie women’s sexual and reproductive rights. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights has been ratified by every country on the continent and legally obligates every African state to respect, promote, and fulfill the rights guaranteed to

Elimination of All Forms o Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); • the International Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Racial Discrimination; • the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC); • the international Covenant on

African women.

In addition to the regional treaties, African women’s sexual and reproductive rights are embedded in the six major United Nations international human rights treaties: • the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; • the Convention on the

Economic, Social, and Cultura Rights (ICESCR); and • the International Covenan on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR).

These treaties are legally binding instruments that requir all ratifying countries to tak action at time national level to respect, protect, and fulfil women’s rights.

The content of women’

Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Comparisons

Estimated total number living with HIV/AIDS (ends of 2004) % of HIV positive adults who are women (end of 2004) Estimated total deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2004 Estimated maternal mortality ratio (2000)(maternal deaths p 100,000 live births) Number of maternal death (2000) Lifetime risk of maternal death (2000) 1 in Infant Mortality Rate(2004)(per 1,000) Sub-Saharan Africa 25,400,00 52% 2,300,000 920 247,000 16 104 South &South East Asia 7,100,000 29% 490,000 330 (Asia) 253,00 (Asia) 94 (Asia)67 (South Asia) North Africa and Middle East540,000 46% 28,000 130 (Northern Africa ) 4,600 (Northern African ), 210 (Northern African) 45 Latin America 1,700,000 35% 95,000 190 22,000 160 27 Developed regions 570,000 (Western Europe) 28% (Western Europe ) 16,000 (Western Europe ) 2,500 2,500 2,800 5 Global 39,400,000 44% 3,100,000 400 529,000 74 54 *source UNAID &WHO, AIDS EPIEMIC UPDATE 2004 (2004),WHO ET AT., MATERNAL MORALITY IN 2000 (2004),UNICEF, STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005(2004)

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Midweek

hts Of Women In Africa

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sexual and reproductive rights under international law is further elaborated in the work of committees (known as treaty monitoring bodies) that monitor government compliance with time rights and obligations espoused by these six key international human rights

treaties. On the basis of reports and information submitted to them, treaty monitoring bodies issue country-specific recommendations (known as concluding observations) to help states parties meet treaty obligations. The committees also issue general committee to aid all member states in interpreting the broad provisions of international human rights treaties. These increasingly comprehensive interpretations, while not legally binding’s to elaborate on the content and meaning of particular rights and thereby facilitate improved observance of these rights. Both the committees’ general comments and their concluding observations have generally embraced reproductive and sexual health for women.

In general, regional treaties and organizations are more likely than global ones to have an impact on local human rights because regional agreements are less likely to be seen as being imposed by outsiders. An effective regional human rights system is based on a region’s shared legal, political,

socioeconomic, and intellectual traditions I. Provisions Relating to Reproductive Health and Reproductive Autonomy A. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES I. States Parties shall ensure

that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive berth, is respected and promoted. This includes: a) the right to control their fertility; b) the right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children; c) the right to choose any method of contraception; d) the right to self protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; e) the right to be informed on ones health status and on the health, status of ones partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognized standards and best practices; 1) the right to have family planning education.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and communication program to women especially

those in rural areas; b) establish and strengthen existing pm-natal, delivery and pre-natal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while they are breast –feeding The protocol is the first legally binding human rights instrument to expressly articulate women’s reproductive rights as human rights, and to expressly guarantee a woman’s right to control her Fertility. It also provides a more detailed articulation than global human rights instruments of women’s right to reproductive health and family planning services. The protocol affirms women’s right to reproductive choice and autonomy, and clarifies African states’ duties in relation to women’s sexual and reproductive health.

Existing global human rights standards recognize women’s right to “the highest attainable standard of health to equality in “access to health care services, including those related to family planning.” Among the current global human rights treaties, women’s right to Family planning is expressly recognized only in CEDAW and the CRC. CEDAW additionally guarantees women’s right to “appropriate services in connection with pregnancy” and to “decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children, and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights.” The CRC affirms women’s right to “necessary medical assistance and health care” to “appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mother, and to “Family planning education and services.”

B. Abortion States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: c) protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.

The protocol is the first human rights instrument to expressly articulate a woman’s right to abortion in specified circumstances.

No other human rights treaty explicitly articulates women’s right to abortion. The Human Rights Committee, the treaty monitoring body that supervises government compliance with the ICCPR, has interpreted existing global human rights standards to guarantee a women’s right to safe and legal abortion, under certain circumstances. This pertains to the interpretation of stated rights to equality, nondiscrimination, life, liberty, security of the person, and the highest attainable standard of health.

The CEDAW Committee, the treaty monitoring body that monitors government compliance with CEDAW, has framed the issue of maternal mortality due to

unsafe abortion as a violation of women’s right to life. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the treaty monitoring body that monitors government compliance with the CRC, has also linked illegal, unsafe abortions to high rates of maternal mortality, and has expressed concern over the impact of punitive legislation on maternal mortality rates.

C. HIV/AIDS 1. States Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected and promoted. this includes... c) the right to choose any method of contraception; d) the right to self protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS e) the right to be informed on one’s health status and on the health status of one’s partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognised standards and best practices.

The protocol is the only treaty to specifically address women’s rights in relation to HIV/AIDS, and to identify protection HIV/AIDS as a key component of women’s sexual and reproductive rights. In addition to guaranteeing women’s right to protection from sexually transmissible in including HIV/AIDS, the protocol guarantees women’s right to adequate, affordable, and accessible health services. It also articulates a state’s duly to protect girls and women from practices and situations that increase their risk of infection, such as child marriage, wartime sexual violence, and FC/FCM. HIV/AIDS is not expressly mentioned in any other global or regional human rights treaty.

Existing global human rights standards on the right to equality, to the highest attainable standard o health, and to life have all been interpreted to indirectly guarantee women’s rights in relation to HIV/AIDS. For example, the CEDAW Committee has acknowledged that inequality and discrimination against girls and women play a role in making women more vulnerable to HIV infection, and the committee has asked governments to adopt a human rights-based approach to HIVIAIDS. However, no global human right’s instrument other then the protocol has expressly articulated the standards governing women’s right and states’ duties in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

States Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected a promoted. This includes... the right to have family planning education.

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information

education and communication programmes to women especially those in rural areas.

The protocol guarantees women’s right to family planning education, thus reaffirming the right to family planning explicitly recognized in CEDAW and the CRC. CEDAW recognizes “access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families,, including information and advice on family planning” as a key component right to equality in education. The CRC requires states parties to “develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.

Provisions in other human rights instruments protecting “the right to receive and impart information” have also been interpreted as safeguarding women’s right to sexual education.

11. Provisions Relating to Violence Against Women A. BODILY INTEGRITY “Violence against women” means all acts perpetrated against women which cause or could cause them physical, sexual, psychological and economic harm including the threat to take such acts; or to undertake the imposition of arbitrary restrictions on or deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life in peace tune and during situations of armed conflicts or of war.”

States Parties shall adopt and implement appropriate measures to ensure the protection of every women’s right to respect for her dignity and protection of women from all forms violence, particularly sexual and verbal violence.

States Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to: a) enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex whether the violence takes place in private or public.

The protocol goes beyond existing global and regional treaties by affording specific legal protection against gender-based violence, in both the public and private sphere, including domestic abuse and marital rape.

The protocol significantly advances woolens rights by relocating everyday abuses in the private sphere of the home to the public realm of rights violations for which states must be held accountable. In addition, the protocol is unique in its express guarantee of women’s right to be protected from threats of both physical and verbal violence.

None of the existing global human rights treaties define or openly address violence against women. This gap in the protection afforded to women was, in part, due to a historic legal distinction between rights violations that occur in the public sphere and those that occur in the private sphere, until relatively recently, the so-called “private” violence of domestic abuse, marital rape, and harmful traditional practices

escaped specific mention and legal scrutiny under international, regional, and national laws.

The CRC, the most recent of the global human rights treaties, requires states to ‘protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation.’ However, this provision of the convention is expressed in gender-neutral terms and does not recognize the particular vulnerability of girls and female adolescents to violence. Nor does it articulate specific state obligations in relation to gender-based violence.

Provisions in other global treaties—ie., those guaranteeing the rights to equality, nondiscrimination, life, liberty, security of the person, and the highest attainable standard of health-have been interpreted to include women’s right to be protected from violence. For example, in its General Recommendation on Violence against Women, the CEDAW Committee states the definition of discrimination includes gender— based violence. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.” The Human Rights Committee has also identified domestic violence and sexual violence as violations of women’s right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

B. PRACTICES HARMFUL TO WOMEN “Harmful practices” means all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity.

States Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patients of conduct of women and men through public education, information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for women and States Parties shall prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices which negatively affect the human rights of women and which are contrary to recognised international standards. States Parties shall take all necessary legislative and other measures to eliminate such, practices, including: a) creation of public awareness in all sectors of society regarding harmful practices through information, formal and informal education and out reach programmer b) prohibition, through legislative measures hacked by sanctions, of all forms female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalisation and’ paramedicalisation of female genital mutilation and all other practices in order to eradicate them; c) provision of necessary support to victims of harmful practices through basic services such as health services, legal and judicial support, emotional and psychological counselling as well as vocational training to make them selfsupporting; d) protection of women who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices or all other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.

A brief for civil societies

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

The Nation

With Dr. MAO 08030717341

The Problem With Nigeria

SECURITY can simply be refered to as the state of peace and confident in the protection of the life and prosperity of an individual, state or nation.

Development on the other hand can be seen as the state where one is said to witness some levels of satisfaction, fulfillment and progress in life and in every sphere of human existence both at the national and international level.

The importance of security and national development of Third World Countries like Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Apart from peace, love and unity that comes along with security and development, it creates in the minds of the masses the sense of belonging and fulfillment.

Nigeria as a nation has witnessed comparatively, great progress since her independence in 1960. This of course will not erase the fact that she had experience series of challenges in the past decades.

No mater how great or developed a nation might seem, challenges are inevitable.

Although challenges defers, nation(s) cannot do without it as it is a paramecia for growth and development.

The independence of a nation stands as a major achievement and Nigeria is not left out. Since her independent, Nigeria have had course to rejoice.

Responding to a question posed by someone in Naira land Forum on the 30 th of September, 2012, the question reads: “What has Nigeria achieved so far?

A patriotic Nigerian answered by saying: “the question we should asking is “what have I done as a Nigerian to make my country better…?....I see progress (Even though its largely from the private sector) it could be better though. “ I know young self made entrepreneurs (all under 30yrs) that have been able to build successful business and they employ people. The citizens are more aware and rather than wait for the Government to spoon feed them are already rallying round themselves to make things happen.

“There’s this saying that goes thus “don’t complain about something you have no plans of doing anything about”. The easiest job in the world is to criticize. As for me, I’m off to develop a solution to a problem in Nigeria that people will not want to pay for me to solve”.

Therefore, Nigerians need to understand that irrespective of whatever is confronting them, their resolution as to how to resolve it should be a focal point that must not be neglected.

One of the major challenges confronting Nigeria as a young democracy relates to the issues

BY PIUS.O. ABAH/FAITH ISIKHUEMEN

of achieving a greater measure of peace, unity, national integration and stability amongst the various national groups that constitutes her society (Okam 1991) As a geopolitical entity, Nigeria has brought together divergently and ethnically different nations. These nations, whether major or minor, in their varying degrees of success or failure, have constituted one centrifugal force or another within this single polity. This political unhealthiness constitutes a major divisive force of great magnitude in terms of the peaceful and corporate existence of Nigeria.

Indeed, these negative force constitute enormous problems and predicaments which are seriously antithetical to the attainment of sustainable social and national integration in the country.

In thus time, many factors which have been allowed to operate vulgarly within the society framework of Nigeria are all dragging or rather tending the society towards a situation of social disorder and national insecurity.

Some of the these factors which impinge on religious bigotry, ethnicity, educational, imbalance, class feeling and competition have persisted in Nigeria to the extent of producing in the young insanity, stupidity, economic and political injustice and ruthlessness (okam, 2002).

How saddened it is to state the Nigeria has become so intolerably tensed, so filled with misfortune and despair that most people have lost their power of balance judgement, which is needed for getting away from the slough in which her populace is staggering (okam and chukwu 2005).

In the circumstance of these predicaments and challenges, our age in Nigeria is so painful that many of the best minds in the country are seized with despair because our societies are characterized by displays of disharmony in various political and social frameworks.

These societies are also

menaced by problems of uncertainties and instability which not only wedged away from each other but which equally militate the socioeconomic advancement of the country as a whole. Thus, Nigeria is plagued by multidimensional problems; problems which are

between country-men and town-men, between the schooled and the unschooled.

Consequently, Nigeria is faced with the task of breaking down barriers and increasing the opportunities for individuals or groups so as to be enabled to benefit from socio-economic opportunities which may be available to them.

Our experiences are so sad

national integration in Nigeria, a bane to national development and sustainability.

In Nigeria, politics and government are regarded as means of disturbing patronage, direct allocation of employment and development opportunities and privileged in the country. Access to political control and to government is an insurance against

antithetical to peace; problems of social-economic imbalance; problems of instability and inequality.

These predicaments have handicapped Nigeria’s emancipation from her colonial history to a status which is based on an equal footing with other developed countries in the world of mankind.

Corbin (1983:11) reflects Nigeria’s problems of disharmony, instability and lack of sustainable and meaningful development thus: there are barriers between groups and classes within the same political entity as a result of birth, occupation, language, race and religions there are barriers between generations,

and painful that there are rational grounds for despair amongst the Nigerian populace generally. In other words, the basis of happiness for most Nigerians seem not exit. Even if these existed, Nigeria’s leadership and human resources have not considered it sufficiently necessary to choose to source them for security peace and stability and for engaging and entrancing sustainable security and development including national sustainable security and development including national integration within the socio-political fabrics of the country.

Some perceived predicament and negative implication for social insecurity and stunted

domination or operation by any ethnic group.

No wonder Alemika (2007) elucidated further that the reluctance of government to recognize, promote and protect a provenance of institutions which are typical of democratic societies has subjected the Nigerian polity into becoming a victim of the vicious circle which emanates from a relegation from the rule of law to the background apart from a number of challenges and ugly circumstances which are antithetical to the maintenance and sustenance of democracy in the country.

Thus, he subscribes to the view that the various governments that have been bestowed with the realms of power and authority in this country have very largely failed to recognize or perform in respect to get dictates of the profile of citizenship in a democratic society.

In this perspective he disclosed that government in Nigeria, at least, in formal constitutional and normative terms, have largely failed to subscribe sufficiently and effectively to a commitment or endorsement and implementation of economic and socio-political principles and relations in the task of enhancing and sustaining democratic governance in the pursuit of national integration

“Consequently, Nigeria is faced with the task of breaking down barriers and increasing the opportunities for individuals or groups so as to be enabled to benefit from socio-economic opportunities which may be available to them.”

and development Nigeria.

In essence, governments have largely relegated to the background a number of principles and functions which bear on the maintenance of the profile of democratic citizenship principle and national integration to the larger Nigerian society as follows: (a) Recognnition and protection if inherent dignity and equal worth of all citizens (b) The rights and empowerment of all citizens to participate in the economic affairs of their country to the full extent of their ability and capacity. (c) Equal opportunity and access to the resources of society by all citizens. (d) Fair distribute of resources of society, reflecting an optional balance between the virtues of merit of desert and care. (e) Recognition and protection of civil, political, socio and economic rights of all citizens on equal basis, without discrimination; (f) Minimum inequality in the distribution of valuable goods, services, statues and honour among citizens (g) Relations among citizens, between groups and between citizens that government is governed by laws enacted by either citizen or by their representatives elected through a free and fair electoral process. (h) Government are constituted through period of fair elections and mandated to hold and exercise power to further the interest of the equality of the citizens.

Ideally, the various governments in Nigeria, right from the era of our independence in 1960, are expected to promote and respect the forgoing norms and practice in the interest of individuals including integration, sustainability and development.

In other words, governments are expected to institute mechanisms and devices which are designed to check against individuals or groups and rulers that seek to understand or subvert the above-mentioned norms and practices.

Nigeria sink deeper into the cries of underdevelopment; it carries the youth with attendant restiveness and misdemeanors which characterizes a very large proportion of their behaviours.

In addition, Tunde(2002), considers that the state of the Nigerian youth today is the barometer with which we can measure the nation’s sociopolitical climate.

Security and development are two cardinal factor’s that must be given utmost priority in the Nigerian systems. This is because, it is the route that leads to peace, progress and unity of any country

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

THE NIGERIAN

21

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Place Of Prayer The Needed Word For The Needed Change AS husbands, a discovered fault in your wife should become your assignment, and vice versa. Marriage is two imperfect people coming together to live as one. If you were both perfect, there would not be any reason for two of you to come together. Your coming together is divinely orchestrated by God so that you will bring out the best in one another. Every time you find that your spouse is not measuring up to the standard you expect of him/her, it is an indication that there is still work to do.

If your Church is not changing, there is needed information you have not accessed and applied.

Spiritual children are given to spiritual parents so they can groom them towards spiritual maturity. You were placed as Shepherd over your sheep so that you will lead them by your rod and staff. When God put them under you, He went to rest because He knows you have capacity to handle them.

Therefore, anytime they exhibit traits and characters that are not reflective of the norms that you preach, it is an indication that you still have work to do in their lives.

No one steps into leadership except by the ordering of God. A leader is empowered by God to effect a change.

Inside every leader, there are strategies to effect

change. Inside every Parent, Husband and Pastor, there is divine information for the needed change. Every change is a product of applied information.

Your access to this divine information is the problem.

If inspite of all your efforts the status quo remains, i.e. things refuse to change, then there are two factors responsible: You lack the required information that will bring about the needed change. You have the required information, but you are not implementing it.

For you to bring about change in the midst of chaos, you need knowledge and wisdom.

Knowledge is specific or general awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths or principle.

Wisdom is the ability to make sensible decisions and judgement based on knowledge acquired.

Wisdom is, therefore, the application of knowledge.

All changes are products of knowledge acquired and wisdom applied.

In the beginning, God caused change in the midst of the chaos in the Universe by acquiring knowledge from the Holy Spirit. All the miracles of Jesus were products of knowledge acquired and wisdom applied. He had different methods for solving different problems. That a

particular method was effective in dealing with a particular situation does not mean it will be effective in dealing with the next issue.

Continuous success is a factor of always knowing the correct method for every new challenge.

You get these two from your stay with God or from those who stayed with God. In science, Newton’s first law of motion state

word, you must have the ability to hear His voice.

This is why intimacy with God is needed.

Intimacy with God is an indispensable principle for success in life and ministry.

Every change that has ever affected lives and caused a revival came about as a result of information gained from God and applied. If you stay long enough with a communicator, even if

that: an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force. Until you act, you can’t expect a change. This force is the word of God, One word from God can stop several years of labour.

But to access God’s

he has made up his mind not to communicate, he will eventually communicate. At worse, he will make a statement.

If you are not hearing from God, it means you have not stayed long enough.

The first time Jesus was called the son of God was after He spent 40

“For you to bring about change in the midst of chaos, you need knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is specific or general awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths or principle. Wisdom is the ability to make sensible decisions and judgement based on knowledge acquired. Wisdom is, therefore, the application of knowledge.”

With Pastor Samuel O. Osaghae SMS Only 08030809339

days with God. It is not about the length of stay, but the principle of staying with God. Staying with God was the secret of Jesus’ success in ministry.

Changes have been proven to be products of what was heard. Every change you see in any human being is a reaction to information

prepared for them that love him, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things yea, the deep things of God, I Corinthians 2:910.

The extent to which you can interact with an individual depends on the extent of your knowledge of Him. The Holy Spirit is the God of the present dispensation. Unless you

received. A friend can turn over night into an enemy because of what was heard. To be a world changer, you must be someone who is intimate with God. What you need to change the world is a word from God.

know Him enough, you will not enjoy His fullness.

As you interact with the Holy Spirit who is the revealer of secrets and the custodian of information, there is no way that you will be void of the needed information, That is why you need to access the needed word for the needed change.

Discover keys to accessing the voice of God, factors that activate hearing, and 42 functions of the Holy Spirit that will improve your knowledge of Him. All of these have been elaborately dealt with in Chapters of my new bookThe New Testament Pattern of Prayer Warfare.

Grab a copy of the book for a more elaborate study.

God bless you.

The Holy Spirit is the Minister of informationHowbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come, John 16:13. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

International Features AFGHANISTAN swore in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as its second elected president on Monday, embarking on a new era with a national unity government poised to confront a resilient Taliban insurgency by signing an agreement with the United States that would guarantee a continuing American military presence.

As Hamid Karzai left the political stage, the new president was locked into an uneasy partnership with his defeated rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who became the country’s first chief executive.

With a hug for the cameras, both sides appeared determined to reach across factions and avoid a descent into an abyss similar to what has happened in Iraq, where the government’s failure to mend lingering sectarian divisions following a full U.S. withdrawal helped give rise to the brutal Islamic State group.

The new Afghan government was expected Tuesday to sign a security agreement that provides a legal framework for the United States to keep about 9,800 troops in the country to train, advise and assist Afghan national security forces after the current international combat mission ends Dec. 31. That number of troops is expected to be cut in half by the end of 2015, and the U.S. would leave only about 1,000 in a security office after the end of 2016.Karzai, the outgoing president, had refused to approve the deal, which is intended to help Afghan security forces combat the resilient Taliban insurgency.

The Afghan government also is expected to sign an agreement this week with NATO that would outline the parameters of 4,000 to 5,000 additional international troops — mostly from Britain, Germany, Italy and Turkey — to stay in Afghanistan in a noncombat role after the end of this year.

Without a post-2014 residual force, U.S. military officials say there is a risk that the Afghan security force will deteriorate, units would run out of fuel, pay systems would fail and there would be a reduction in the overall readiness of the Afghan police and army. They say alQaida is in “survival mode” in Afghanistan, but that if all international forces left this year, the terrorist network would see it as a victory, regroup and again use the region to plan and conduct operations against the West.

But there are serious questions about the ability of the Afghan security forces to take on the militants, even with a residual U.S. force — down from a high of more than 130,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan several years

ago.

“Afghanistan doesn’t have the full military necessary to defend the country,” said Mohammad Doud Kalakani, a member of the Afghan parliament. “No air force, no tanks, limited artillery.”

U.S. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, RCalif., said Monday that he hoped President Barack Obama will view the signing of the security agreement as a “roadmap for a robust continued engagement, and not a path to premature withdrawal.”

McKeon also wants the administration to rethink its plans to draw down U.S. forces.

“We are witnessing now in Iraq what happens when the U.S. falters on that commitment and adopts a posture inconsistent with our security interests,” McKeon said.

U.S.-Afghan relations will likely improve under Ghani Ahmadzai, a 65-year-old numbers-based technocrat who worked at the World Bank.

Karzai, the country’s only leader since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, frequently criticized

Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (left) shakes hands with Afghanistan’s Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi as he takes the Oath during his inauguration as president in Kabul.

Afghan President Sworn-In, Paving Way For US Pact

the U.S. government and irritated American leaders with his mercurial behavior; Karzai was criticized in turn for his inability or unwillingness to tackle corruption in his own government.

On Monday, however, Karzai wore a wide smile as he greeted his presidential guards upon entering the palace, where he presided over the first peaceful transfer of power in the nation’s history. It was made possible by a constitution that he helped draft and that prohibited him from serving a third five-year term.

Ghani Ahmadzai’s first act in office was to swear in Abdullah as chief executive, a role that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry helped create to give voice to both Afghanistan’s northern and southern flanks of power.

“Afghans have taken a moment of challenge and turned it into a moment of real opportunity,” Kerry said Monday in a statement congratulating both men.The deal settled months of political tensions that threatened to push the fragile country into civil war. But it remains to be seen how well the two Afghan leaders will work together, and whether the agreement will last.

They still must agree on Cabinet appointments.

The nearly six-month-long election was marred by allegations of massive vote fraud, a staple of Afghanistan’s last two presidential votes.

Ghani Ahmadzai won a June runoff with 55 percent of votes cast, according to official results, though 1 million votes were thrown out. Abdullah’s coalition continues to believe the election was stolen but accepted the chief executive compromise to avoid violence.

Bloodshed may be in Afghanistan’s future anyway.

Taliban militants this summer — for the first time since attacks truly picked up in 2005 — fought Afghan Army troops instead of the powerful U.S. and NATO military machine.

The Afghan army saw its fatality rate skyrocket and the Taliban make gains.

Ghani Ahmadzai has said he would also welcome talks with the Taliban, who control vast rural sections of southern and eastern Afghanistan.

“We are tired of war,” he said in his inauguration speech.

“Our message is peace, (but) this doesn’t mean we are weak.”

Peace did not prevail on Monday, according to police reports. A suicide bomber detonated explosives at an intersection that leads to Kabul’s airport, killing a half

dozen people. A bigger attack took place in eastern Paktia province, where a car bomb and gunfire attack by militants sparked a battle that killed seven Taliban fighters, four police officers and two civilians.

The dual attacks served as a reminder that Taliban violence remains a part of daily life despite the deaths of more than 2,000 U.S. service members in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion that toppled the Taliban regime for harboring alQaida militants responsible for 9/11.

“I hope Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai can bring peace and the rule the law in Afghanistan as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai could not bring peace,” said Abdul Rahman, a 30-year-old police officer. “Our people have been suffering from the instability and poverty.”

The new president made pledges sure to please not only the international community but many Afghans as well.

Ghani Ahmadzai said that women will play a prominent role in government and that corruption will be tackled. He introduced his wife to the country, a sharp contrast to Karzai’s wife, who almost never appeared in public.Ghani

Ahmadzai wore a dark black turban popular in the country’s south as he swore in his two vice presidents and then Abdullah and his deputies.

Abdullah, a former foreign minister, spoke first and thanked Karzai for his service and the people of the country for casting votes in the millions despite threats by Taliban militants.

“We are committed as one in the national unity government,” Abdullah said.

“Our commitment will be fulfilled together as a unified team to create national unity.”Ghani Ahmadzai then congratulated Karzai for a peaceful and democratic transition of power, and he thanked Abdullah for making the national unity government possible.

“We want to be held accountable. I am your leader but I am no better than you. If I make mistakes, you should hold me accountable,” Ghani Ahmadzai said.

Though Kerry played a big role in reaching the deal, he did not attend the inauguration.

Only one world leader was in attendance: Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain.

Karzai, who has cautioned the successor government about its future dealings with the U.S., took a bold swipe at the U.S. during his farewell address last

week. “They should take a careful path with America and the West,” Karzai said.

The U.S. has invested $104 billion in Afghanistan since 2001 to train and equip the country’s security forces, pave roads, upgrade hospitals, build schools and help modernize the nation, but the United States was omitted from a list of countries Karzai thanked in his speech. The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, James Cunningham, said Karzai’s remarks were ungrateful and not representative of widespread Afghan public opinion.

In his statement, however, Kerry paid tribute to Karzai, who inherited a broken country when the Americans and their allies chose him more than a decade ago as a leader they hoped could cross ethnic lines, embrace former enemies and bring Afghans together.

“It’s no secret that our relationship with President Karzai has been punctuated by disagreements,” Kerry said. But “he is a nationalist, a patriot, and an important figure who stepped forward when his country needed him, and helped profoundly shape one of the most challenging periods in Afghan history that has seen remarkable progress.”

Courtesy: AP

THE NIGERIAN

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

International Features

US, Kurds Strike At Islamic State In Syria U.S. warplanes attacked Islamic State targets in Syria overnight, in raids that a group monitoring the war said killed civilians as well as jihadist fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, in an area controlled by Islamic State, killing at least two civilian workers.

Strikes on a building on a road leading out of the town also killed a number of Islamic State fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory which gathers information from sources in Syria.

The U.S. military said on Monday an American air strike overnight targeted Islamic State vehicles in a staging area adjacent to a grain storage facility near Manbij, but it had no evidence so far of civilian casualties.

While raids in Iraq and Syria have taken a toll on Islamic State equipment and fighters on the ground, there is no sign yet that the tide is being turned against the group, which controls large areas of both countries.

A U.S. Air Force general said Islamic State militants are changing their tactics in the face of American air strikes in Iraq and Syria, abandoning large formations such as convoys that had been easier for the U.S. military to target.

“They are a smart adversary, and they have seen that that’s not effective for their survival, so they are now dispersing themselves,” said Air Force Major General Jeffrey Harrigian at a Pentagon news conference.

This “requires us to work harder to locate them, and then develop the situation to appropriately target them”, he said.

In a statement to the United Nations that appeared to give approval of U.S. and Arab air strikes in Syria against the militants, Syria’s foreign minister said his country backed the

campaign against Islamic State.

Syria “stands with any international effort aimed at fighting and combating terrorism”, said Walid alMoualem, whose government has long been

have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.

Islamic State, a Sunni militant group which broke off from al Qaeda, alarmed the West and the Middle East by sweeping through northern Iraq in June,

describing them last week in an address to the United Nations as a “network of death”.

His acknowledgment in an interview broadcast on Sunday that U.S. intelligence had

Men inspect a damaged plastics factory that was targeted on Sunday by US-led air strikes at the Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa.

an international pariah because of what critics say is its brutality in a civil war that has killed 190,000 people.

The U.S.-led strikes have so far failed to halt an advance by Islamic State fighters in northern Syria on Kobani, a Kurdish town on the border with Turkey where fighting over the past week caused the fastest refugee flight of Syria’s three-year-old war.

At least 15 Turkish tanks could be seen at the frontier, some with guns pointed towards Syrian territory.

More tanks and armored vehicles moved towards the border after shells landed in Turkey on Sunday and Monday.

ARAB ALLIES The United States has been bombing Islamic State and other groups in Syria for a week with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in neighboring Iraq since last month. European countries

slaughtering prisoners and ordering Shi’ites and non-Muslims to convert or die.

It is battling Shi’ite backed governments in both Iraq and Syria, as well as other Sunni groups in Syria and Kurdish groups in both countries, part of complex multi-sided civil wars in which nearly every country in the Middle East has a stake.

The head of Syria’s al Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, a Sunni militant group which is a rival of Islamic State and has also been targeted by U.S. strikes, said Islamists would carry out attacks on the West in retaliation for the campaign.

Obama has worked since August to build an international coalition to combat the fighters,

underestimated Islamic State offered an explanation for why Washington appeared to have been taken by surprise when the fighters surged through northern Iraq in June.

The militants had gone underground when U.S. forces quashed al Qaeda in Iraq with the aid of local tribes during the U.S. war there which ended in 2011, Obama told CBS’s “60 Minutes”.

“But over the past couple of years, during the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you have huge swathes of the country that are completely ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos.”

BATTLE ON BORDER Gunfire rang out from across the border and a plume of smoke rose over Kobani as periodic shelling

by Islamic State fighters

took place. Kurds watching the fighting from the Turkish side of the border said the Syrian Kurdish group, the YPG, was putting up a strong defense.

“Many Islamic State fighters have been killed.

They’re not taking the bodies with them,” said Ayhan, a Turkish Kurd who had spoken by phone with one of his friends fighting with the YPG. He said Kurdish forces had picked up eight Islamic State bodies.

At Mursitpinar, the nearby border crossing, scores of young men were returning to Syria saying they would join the fight. More refugees were fleeing in the opposite direction.

“Because of the bombs, everyone is running away.

We heard people have been killed,” said Xelil, a 39year-old engineer who fled Kobani on Monday. “The YPG have got light weapons but Islamic State has big guns and tanks.”

A local official in Kobani said Islamic State continued to besiege the town from the east, west and south and that the militants were 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts.

“From the morning there has been shelling into Kobani and ... maybe about 20 rockets,” Idris Nassan, deputy foreign minister in a local Kurdish administration said by phone. He said the rockets had killed at least three people in the town.

Turkey has not permitted its own Kurds to cross to join the battle: “If they’ve got Syrian identity or passports, they can go. But only Syrians, not Turks,” said one Turkish official at the border where security has been tightened.

A NATO member with the most powerful army in the area, Turkey has so far kept out of the U.S.-led coalition, angering many of its own Kurds who say the policy has abandoned their cousins in Syria to the wrath of Islamic State fighters.

GAS PLANT The Syrian Observatory, which monitors the conflict with a network of sources on the ground, said U.S.-led strikes had hit a Conoco gas plant controlled by Islamic State outside Deir al-Zor city in eastern Syria, wounding several fighters.

The plant feeds a power

station in Homs that provides several provinces with electricity and powers oilfield generators, the Observatory said.

The observatory also said warplanes had hit mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, killing civilian workers.

“We are aware of media reports alleging civilian casualties, but have no evidence to corroborate these claims,” Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman at the U.S. military’s Central Command said, adding the military however took such reports seriously and would look into them further.

Courtesy: REUTERS. CHANGE OF NAME

OGUNBUMOJO – I, formerly known as Caleb Ogunbumojo now wish to be known, called and addressed as Caleb Oluwabumojo. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

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All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

RECONCILIATION OF NAME

I, Ipadeola Josiah Adeniyi is the same person as Ipadeola Josiah Osamuyi.

I now wish to be properly known and addressed as Ipadeola Josiah Adeniyi. All former documents remain valid.

Government House, Edo State and the general public take note.

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Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

THE NIGERIAN

24

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 With Victor Aniukwu

New Horizon Continued from Pg 20

you. Such a personality does not take vows nor oaths to become rich or richer. He follows the simple path of life.

2. P A R T I A L FORGIVENESS- This set of human beings are difficult to understand.

They instantly forgive outwardly but inwardly they have all grudges lined up for future action to follow up. They are more deadly than the seen cobra.

They laugh, play, joke, talk, make fun, greet nicely, welcomes you in and out that you may not know their inside wishes for you in the near future. You are hereby warned — forewarned is forearmed.

Remember that salutation is not love. Not all that glitters is gold. Don’t rush to grab that beautiful apple of Sodom for it is too soft to hold. The moment you touch it, it breaks and its contents is nothing but giant maggots that will scare you away from that beautiful apple and so it is never palatable for the wise. People in this category are compared to the apple of Sodom that is attractive outwardly but makes no meaning to ones existence because it does not give satisfaction with its outward beauty because of its contamination from the inside content. Fruits are meant to bear seeds for reproduction but the apple of Sodom bears maggots inside its apple fruit. What a kind of fruit. It’s a sinful fruit.

3 .

UNFORGIVENESS: This kind of human beings hardly or don’t forgive.

They should be avoided if possible or kept at arms length. There are three categories of forgiveness in human beings and the choice amongst these three

... For Forgiveness

is strictly yours, because if you can show me your friends, I can equally tell who you are.

From the above write up, let us take a resolution of ourselves to make a list of people you are willing to forgive. Also make a list of what the saints call “FORTUNES TO RECEIVE” for each person you forgive, you create a space for greater good to yourself.

five elements. Water, air, fire, earth and ether. All these materials are but vanity. They appear at a point in time, and also disappear at a specific point in time. The above five elements put together, remains ignorant and meaningless to nature, until the super soul of God,

Finally make an affirmation to yourself, that something better now manifest for good of all concerned in the Divine order of the Lord to forgive, for I am now willing to consciously receive all the gifts God has giving to me without any hindrance. Hope this message meets you in good faith. To err is human, to forgive is divine.

THIS BODY This body has been acclaimed a lump of Ignorance. It is made of

passes into this five elements at the time of conception. That super soul is the direct mercy from the supreme God to all living entities. The super soul cannot be destroyed, it cannot be bought by money, it cannot be sold, it cannot be withheld by anyone, it cannot be seen by ordinary eyes, it cannot be burnt by fire. The super soul remains the ultimate beauty of this body. It illuminates this body into life.

In reality this body

consist of three wholesome bodies: 1.

THE BODY ITSELF: Comprises of five elements— air, earth, water, fire, ether. The body at this stage is not alive but a death matter or incomplete. This body been physical can be seen and felt. At night this body

goes to sleep and remains in one place. That’s all until it awakens.

2. THE SOUL: Consists of three elements — Intelligence, false ego and mind. These key factors are imbibed within the spirit soul. The spirit soul cannot be seen by the ordinary eyes. At night when the body is asleep, the spirit soul continues to function. The body does not go on a dream trip, It is the spirit soul that goes on a dream trip, while the body is at sleep. After

“This set of human beings are difficult to understand. They instantly forgive outwardly but inwardly they have all grudges lined up for future action to follow up. They are more deadly than the seen cobra. They laugh, play, joke, talk, make fun, greet nicely, welcomes you in and out that you may not know their inside wishes for you in the near future.”

having a dream you will find yourself in the same position you slept. This spirit soul has the powers to migrate within and outside the body capturing various experiences and observations according to ones projection of the mind. In every Art and Act there is qualification and

guidance. When the student is ready, the master is always there. Generally the spirit soul has the ability to migrate within the lower planets, the middle planets and the higher planets at will in relation to the quality of our various projections. This strongly depends also on the quality of our body structure to carry out such projection.

At all time the body Is undergoing various training directly or indirectly. All yielding different results, it could be in a conscious or unconscious mood. Note that the spirit soul is always in action. It is a massager on a higher realm of consciousness. Also what the mind which is pad of the Spirit Soul can conceive and believe, the

mind can achieve with time. This remains as one part of the experiences that the spirit soul carries along when the body goes to sleep. The functions of the spirit soul is tremendous.

And finally at death, the spirit soul carries the super soul to the next body of existence.

3. THE SUPER SOUL: The supreme spirit of the supreme God. It is ever primaeral, eternal, indestructible, full of bliss and knowledge. The super soul in compared to two birds on a tree. One represents the super soul on the tree. It is never hungry nor thirsty. It is on the tree watching what the other bird is doing. The super soul is always self satisfied within itself. The second bird represents human beings. It is always very busy trying to taste all the fruits on the tree. At one time the bird tastes a ripe sweet fruit and becomes happy. At one time the bird tastes unripe bitter fruit and becomes unhappy. This activity is going on daily.

The super soul bird on the tree is the supreme spirit of God. It does not interfere with our free will but expects the other human bird struggling for survival to turn around to the super soul bird that in full of knowledge and ask for help to get out of such whole life struggle. That becomes the nature of the living entities on earth. Always hankering and forgetting to call sincerely on the supreme super soul for help. Only the supreme super soul of God in every 8.4 million species of life can give COMPLETE satisfaction to the living entities. The super soul migrates in this material world along side various species of bodies until perfection is attained, which qualifies a living entity to go back home back to God head.

Remember that the pure in Heart! shall see God. There is no other way to see and live with God but to strive to become pure in HEART.

THE NIGERIAN

25

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Spiritual Platform Dealing With The Strong Man Or Woman Delegated Against Families WE shall look at the family against what the scriptures say in Micah 7:2-6, Matthew 10:36 and Genesis 37:7ff. We shall reproduce Micah 7:2-6 “The good man, is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood: they hunt every man his brother with a net.

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince a reward; and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter- in -law against her mother-in -law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”

The theme is the family which has internal and external problems. But What is the family? The dictionary defines the family in several ways as a destiny attack primary social group intense hatred consisting of parents and incest their offspring drug addition One’s wife or husband and inexplicable one’s children (nuclear sickness family— mine) a group serial accidents descended from a common abandonment of ancestor (extended family projects system-mine) poverty The extended family is mental problems equivalent to a household and wickedness the common ancestry may evil family pattern have existed for hundreds of (drunkenness, HBP, diabetes, years. The household Cancer,) consists of parents uncles, first born attacks aunts, brothers and sisters barrenness and their progenitors. There alcoholism is no human being that does rebellious children not come from a family. In taboo many communities laziness particularly in Africa, the Witchcraft attacks. family is closely knit together. The family is These are evil seeds that important in the society as the Satan, through his agents combined strength of these plants in families. A families is the strength of the strongman or in rare cases, society. Often you hear the Strongwoman is put in charge family being called the of a family to enforce these underbelly of the society. If evil seeds. This is the reason you succeed in destroying the why many families are family you succeed in undergoing harrowing destroying the society. experiences which will Our foundation continue unless they know scripture, Micah 7:2-6 tells us what to do. These are not many things about the human beings but evil prince household: demons under whom are - son against the lesser demons. These father strongmen have to be dealt - daughter against with and thereafter expel the her mother demons from the families.

- daughter in law This is in accordance with against mother in law what Jesus Christ said in - brother against Matthew 12:29 “Or else how brother. can one enter into a - Joseph’s brothers strongman’s house, and spoil sold him into slavery. his goods except he first bind These speak of household the strongman? And then he wickedness, Satan engineers will spoil his house!! Of a hatred in families and truth, if an armed robber visits encourages evil seeds a house, what he does first is including to demobilize the head of the confusion family, disarm him and failures Possibly lock him up or tie backwardness him so that he (armed robber) pulling down can have access to the family stars properties in the house. This premature deaths same procedure is required in marital problems the spiritual realm. The

demon strongman must be arrested, bound and cast out and consigned to abyss (abode of demons, Luke 8:3 1). It is also called other names: “place of the dead”, Romans 10:7, “bottomless pit” or “place of torments”, Revelation 9:1-2 The demons do not like to hear these pronouncements but to demobilize them, you just have to cast them out and send them to the pit and command

them to remain there.

Two testimonies will establish the dangers of household wickedness Testimony 1. A medical doctor bought a scanning machine. He installed it in a good location but no one came for consultation. Within 14 days the equipment packed up. In desperation he was directed to a fellowship where fire prayers are said. He himself started to pray aggressive fire prayers, including night vigils. One night, suddenly his 3 daughters came to him and confessed that they were witches and that they were responsible for their father’s predicament.

Testimony 2. A young man had an usual experience.

Despite his education, his life was upside down. Nothing worked. He was directed to a serious prayer fellowship where serious prayers are

prayed. In a dream one night, he was taken to his father’s compound in the village.

There he saw a group of men frying something in a fryingpan. An angel asked him to draw near to see what they were frying. He drew near and saw that they were frying his placenta!! This was the source of his problem. God intervened and today he is. doing well.

You can deal with the strongman in charge of your

family. God sent you into your family for a purpose to make your contribution to its growth. If in the process of your life the family is experiencing unusual difficulties you are expected to stand up and fight. Victory is assured by God as is quite clear from the following scriptures Deuteronomy 28:7 “The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.”

Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.”

I Sam 30:8 “And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop?

Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover

With Rt Rev (Dr.) C. I. Umane GSM: 0803579951 all.”

For victory to come you must realize that you must come clean before God. (1) Confess your sins and ask God for forgiveness.

(2) Confess the sins of your forefathers and ask God to forgive your family.

finances market/trade promotion health breakthrough dreams business contracts prosperity

Prayer Points: End each in

12. You -(select) sustaining evil family patterns in my life die poverty

the name of Jesus.

1. Every strongman delegated against my family -fall down and die 2. Every idol of my father’s house - fall down and die 3. Every idol of my mother’s house -fall down and die 4. My family Haman -die 5. You strongman or woman assigned by family idols against my life-die 6. Any idol power speaking against my destiny — scatter by fire 7. My buried blessings — come out by fire 8. Community idols — loose your hold over my life and die 9. Fire of God — locate my Pharaoh 10. My Pharaoh — fall and perish in the Red Sea 11. You strongman/ woman delegated against my(select) -loose your hold and die

premature death laziness rebellious children alcoholism mental problems gambling incest drug addiction 13. You failure- I reject you 14.You confusion — I reject you 15. You garment of hatred over my life- catch fire and burn to ashes 16.

Serial accidents—I bind you and cast from my family 17.

Spirit of barrenness in my life — be bound and be cast out of my life.

18. My first male child — be loosed from bondage 19.

Local wickedness deployed against my life — be disgraced and paralyzed 20. I am an overcomer in Jesus’ name.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Giroud Signs New Arsenal Deal

Stoke Boss Hails ‘Exceptional’ NIGERIA winger Victor Victor Moses Moses has earned the praise of his manager at Stoke City, Mark Hughes after their lone goal victory over Newcastle United in Monday night.

Moses, who is on loan from Chelsea, crossed the ball for Peter Crouch to nod in and give the home side their first victory at the Britannia Stadium. “[Moses has] been exceptional,” Hughes told media after the victory. “He’s a man on a mission, I would

suggest.

“He hasn’t had a lot of football in the last two seasons and he just wants to play.

“Every time he gets into those wide positions you sense something is going to happen.”

Striker Crouch also praised the contribution of the Nigerian to the Potters’ victory.

“Victor’s been our main threat so far this year, and he’s

going to get quality balls into the box,” Crouch told Sky Sports. “It was a great delivery and I’m pleased with the goal.”

The 23-year-old has been recalled to the Super Eagles squad that will face Sudan, home and away, in continuation of the qualifying series of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria need to win both matches in order to brighten chances of reaching Morocco in January after their poor opening haul of one point in two matches.

Olivier Giroud

Prem Star Now Has Two Wives And A Mistress After Wedding

Cheick Tiote

A top Premier League footballer, who reportedly already has three children by his wife and mistress, has just taken a second bride after a recent wedding.

Cheick Tiote married Laeticia Doukrou in a traditional ceremony earlier this month, according to numerous reports, with his representative explaining that

taking another wife was ‘nothing unusual’ for someone of his beliefs.

The 28-year-old’s second wedding is believed to have come as a surprise to his first wife, Madah, who is said to have only found out about it on Facebook.

Madah is understood to live with Tiote and their two children in a £1.5 million house in Ponteland, Newcastle. She is reported to have fainted with shock when she saw the

seasons as a Chelsea manager, Mourinho finished without a trophy last season. The 51year-old knows a second successive campaign without something to show for it would bring pressure. That is ultimately what led to his shock Chelsea exit in September 2007; having relinquished the title to Manchester United the season before, the hierarchy deemed

-Jose Mourinho

I’ll Stay Here For As Long As Chelsea Want

JOSE Mourinho says he will stay at Chelsea for as long as club owner Roman Abramovich wants him to.

Mourinho’s side have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the Premier League season but the Portuguese knows his job will come under threat should he not deliver silverware again this season.

“I will only leave when Mr Abramovich calls me to tell me it is over,” Mourinho told Portuguese newspaper Record.

Jose Mourinho

“Only on that day will I look for other solutions.

“Last time [at Chelsea] it was different because even though I was heart and soul in the project I was leading, I always asked myself ‘which will be the next one?’ Now it’s the first time I don’t think about it.”

For the first time in four full

an FA Cup and League Cup double not good enough.

Mourinho then left following the club’s indifferent start to the 200708 campaign. Should it happen again, however, Mourinho indicated he would be open to take over at another Premier League club.

He said: “If it had to be, yes, but my priority will always be Chelsea and never think about the interest of others. I know football and know I won’t be here five, eight, 10 years if I don’t manage to win. Of course not. When I have to think about the matter then we’ll see.

“The difference is that last time I didn’t have the aim of staying many, many years. Now I’ll stay as long as they want me to. I really am the happy one.”

Mourinho’s side travel to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday night. It is a former stomping ground for Mourinho, who was part of Sir Bobby Robson’s backroom staff at the club before Robson was sacked in 1993.

“I have the best memories of Sporting. I only had one bad one, which was the day we learned Sporting was going to dispense with the services of manager Bobby Robson,” Mourinho said. “It was a project in which people had their heart and soul and the manager felt they could become champions. I was the do-it-all boy, willing to help.

“He had a nice group who believed it was possible to win the league. It wasn’t. But that’s part of football.”

photographs of her husband marrying another woman.

Ivorian news website iMatin reported that Madah wasn’t aware of her husband taking a second wife, and found out about it through social media. The website reported that she fainted when she saw the photos of her husband marrying another woman - whose name she did not know - on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the midfielder has also had a one-year-old child with his mistress, Zimbabwean Nkosiphile Mpofu.

The Newcastle midfielder’s agent has confirmed the reports that he has married for a second time, but claimed that it is not very unusual given his religious beliefs and background.

Jean Musampa said: “I can say that he did get married and that it is his second marriage. This is nothing unusual. He is a Muslim.”

According to a report in The Sun, Tiote has insisted to friends that having several partners is commonplace in his native Ivory Coast.

“He doesn’t see a problem with having two wives,” the paper reported a source as saying.

“It’s perfectly acceptable in his culture. He doesn’t see he has done anything wrong and doesn’t know what the fuss is all about.”

Newcastle United have not commented on the reports.

In October 2013, Tiote avoided prison after admitting to possessing a fake driving licence, for which he was given a sevenmonth suspended sentence and 180 hours of unpaid community work.

Andre Santos

ARSENAL striker Olivier Giroud has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Emirates Stadium until 2018, according to reports.

The Frenchman joined the Gunners in 2012 from Ligue 1 side Montpellier, and netted 41 goals in his first two seasons with the north London club.

It was widely reported earlier this month that Arsenal had opened contract talks with Giroud and Theo Walcott, despite the pair carrying longterm injuries, and an agreement has now been reached with the 27-year-old forward, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph although the club are yet to confirm the deal.

Giroud’s deal is worth a reported £80,000 per week and will keep him with Arsene Wenger’s men until the end of the 2017-18 season.

Former Arsenal Defender Joins Pires At FC Goa FORMER Brazil left-back Andre Santos has signed a deal to take part in the inaugural Indian Super League alongside ex-Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires at FC Goa. Santos, 31, who had spells with Fenerbahce in Turkey as well as Arsenal and Brazilian clubs Corinthians, Gremio and Flamengo, is the latest high-profile name to sign up for the eight-team league that begins in a fortnight and runs for 10 weeks.

Santos, who had a difficult two-year spell in England at Arsenal before leaving in 2013, was a free agent after departing Flamengo earlier this year.

He will link up with 40year-old Pires, who came out of retirement to take part in the new league after a highly successful career and club and international level, including six trophy-laden years with Arsenal before departing in 2006.

Another Arsenal alumni, former Sweden midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, is among the list of marquee players in the new league along with exItaly striker Alessandro Del Piero and Pires’s old France team-mate David Trezeguet.

Former international coaches Zico, Peter Reid and Ricki Herbert have also taken managerial positions in the competition.

THE NIGERIAN

29

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

I Turned Down Barca To Join PSG

Udinese Go Third, Lazio Thump Palermo ANTONIO Di Natale scored twice as Udinese beat Parma 4-2 in an entertaining clash at the Stadio Friuli in Serie A. An audacious Panenka penalty from Parma’s Antonio Cassano capped a lively opening period that saw the teams share four goals, with the visitors edging ahead through 18-year-old Jose Mauri and Udinese responding via a Di Natale double.

The hosts regained the lead after the interval thanks to Thomas Heurtaux before Afriyie Acquah’s dismissal left the visitors with a mountain to climb.

And Cyril Thereau sealed victory with six minutes remaining as Udinese climbed into third position in the league.

“Udinese had five opportunities and scored four times, so our carelessness cost us,” Parma manager Roberto

Morata:

Madrid Didn’t Believe In Me ALVARO Morata has revealed that he decided to leave Real Madrid for Juventus this summer because he felt Carlo Ancelotti did not believe in him.

The Spain Under-21 international made 23 La Liga appearances for Madrid in 2013-14, but featured from the start on just three occasions, much to his own frustration.

“My departure from Real Madrid was a complex situation,” Morata told Onda Cero.

“I wanted to feel important at Madrid and I hoped that the coach would have faith in me.

“But there were five or six options ahead of me in attack.”

The 21-year-old added that he’s happy with life at his current club and is looking forward to his return to Madrid as Juventus take on Atletico in the Champions League on Wednesday.

“I’m very happy here at Juventus, with the club and with life in general. It is what I expected. I knew Juventus were one of Europe’s biggest clubs and the biggest in Italy.

“The match versus Atletico’s going to be a difficult game in a fantastic competition.

“We know Atleti are one of Europe’s strongest teams and although we expect a tough game we are going to the Calderon with the intention of securing maximum points.”

Donadoni told Sky Sport Italia.

“We have not been good enough, and we must take advantage of our opportunities next time. We took Udinese for granted too easily, and there were situations which we should’ve handled better.”

In Monday’s late kick-off, Filip Djordjevic netted a hattrick and Marco Parolo scored in second-half injury time as Lazio thrashed Palermo 4-0.

“I’m very happy about these three goals. A striker needs to score in order to have confidence,” Djordevic told reporters post-match.

“I’m very happy for the team, and tonight we played with so much malice and aggression.”

DAVID Luiz claims Barcelona twice tried to sign him before he eventually opted to join Paris Saint-Germain.

The Brazilian central defender will come up against Barca when the French outfit entertain them in a Champions League match at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, although the former Chelsea man has revealed he could have been lining up for the Catalans instead.

“It’s true they tried to tempt me a couple of times and everything looked good. But eventually I realised the team that really wanted to buy me was PSG,” Luiz told AS. Luiz joined the Ligue 1 giants from Chelsea during the summer for a reported +50m and believes his new team has not yet realised its full potential.

“We’re progressing every week and need to find a better version for our style of play,

David Luiz

-David Luiz

something similar to Barca. We know there is much room for improvement and are aware that is how the big teams think.

“Over the years I’ve learned that if you think you’ve reached the top of the ladder then you are heading for a fall. That’s not a good mentality to have.

“You must be ambitious, with humility, because you can always improve. We are on the right road and PSG will get back to what they were last season,” asserted Luiz, who was questioned about facing Neymar and Lionel Messi.

“With Neymar nothing surprises me what he does. He has an unusual quality and is a real phenomenon, while Messi is another genius, a different player, although Barca have other great players besides those two.

“They have a very strong squad, which helps them play great football. Therefore, the first thing I do at all times is thank God for giving me the opportunity to play in these kind of games. I’m very happy because of that.”

The 27-year-old was asked if he thought Barcelona had changed since Luis Enrique took the reins at the Camp Nou before the start of this season.

“It’s a constant thing in football in that everything has to evolve, even week by week. I like the big teams and Barca have been at the top for a very long time, as they have shown by winning so many titles and playing football like nobody else.

“In all honesty it has been wonderful what they’ve done over the years,” he admitted.

Kaka Tops Clint Dempsay As Highest-Paid Player In MLS

ACCORDING to the latest list of MLS salaries — released by the MLS Players Union — the highest-paid player in the league is one who hasn’t even played a minute for his MLS club this season.

That of course would be pinch — and in some cases a Kaka. In July, the former AC few truckloads — of salt.

Milan attacker signed with Players come and go expansion side Orlando City — throughout the season, which is not slated to begin play obscuring the total outlay made until 2015 — and was then by clubs as it relates to their loaned to Brazilian side Sao players. Other contracts can be Paulo. His guaranteed front or back-loaded. For compensation of nearly $7.2 example, it is a dead certainty million makes him the highest that former Spain international paid player in league history, and current New York City FC just ahead of Seattle Sounders forward David Villa will make forward Clint Dempsey, who many times more than the checks in at a hefty $6.7 $60,000 in guaranteed compensation that is being million.

Based on these numbers, reported by the MLSPU. Orlando City’s Kaka is the Orlando City’s player payroll is already bigger than every MLS highest-paid player in MLS club save for the L.A. Galaxy, history.

But the numbers do provide Seattle Sounders, New York a glimpse into the salary Red Bulls, and Toronto FC. It should be noted that the machinations of every MLS numbers must be taken with a club. According to this round of

Kaka

figures, Toronto will shell out the highest amount of guaranteed compensation at $16.7 million. Chivas USA, which sources say will be shut down at the end of the campaign, came in with the lowest amount of guaranteed compensation at $3.3 million, followed closely by Columbus ($3.54 million) and Colorado ($3.51 million).

Columbus is a club that has made its dollars count, however, spending just over $82,000 for every point in the standings. The best in this regard is D.C. United, which spent $77,654 per point. As has long been the case in MLS, spending loads of cash is no guarantee of success. One only has to witness Toronto’s struggle just to make the playoffs, despite its league-high payroll. It does help if such deep coffers are spent wisely, as is the case with L.A. and

Seattle.

Among the other notable salaries, U.S. international Jermaine Jones, who was at the center of a tug-of-war between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire, will make $3.25 million in guaranteed compensation.

Fellow U.S. international DaMarcus Beasley will earn just over $779,000, while Sporting Kansas City teammates Matt Besler and Graham Zusi will make $633,250 and $631,389, respectively.

Collina Hails New Concussion Rules UEFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina says new concussion rules that come into force in the Champions League this week will clear up any doubts about when players are able to continue after suffering a head impact.

The new rules agreed by UEFA and FIFA will affect all matches and give referees the ability to stop games for up to three minutes to allow the team doctor to carry out an on-pitch assessment of the injured player.

Following that assessment, only the team doctor will have the authority to decide whether the player can continue or not.

Collina said: “I am pleased the new procedure in case of concussion will be implemented this week, just a few days after it was approved

by UEFA’s executive committee.

“In my opinion, the new procedure gives referees a clear view of who makes the final decision on whether a player can continue to play or

has to leave the game - it is the team doctor and no-one else. I hope this will lead to improved health and safety of players overall.”

The new rules follow several cases last season notably Uruguay’s Alvaro Pereira and Germany’s Christoph Kramer at the 2014 World Cup, and Everton’s Romelu Lukaku and Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris in the Premier League - of players carrying on despite suffering head injuries.

Pierluigi Collina

THE NIGERIAN

30

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Tennis: Top Seed Wawrinka

Humbled By Wildcard In Japan

Rafael Nadal

Li Named Ambassador For WTA Finals In Singapore RECENTLY retired Chinese tennis trailblazer Li Na, Asia’s only Grand Slam singles winner, has been appointed as an ambassador for next month’s season ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore.

The 32-year-old was in position to qualify for the lucrative October 17-26 tournament before announcing she was quitting a fortnight ago after being worn down by the effects of long-term knee injuries.

This year’s Australian Open winner and the 2011 French Open champion

will take on her new role for the first two editions of the event, which is switching to Singapore next month for the start of a five-year term.

“This will be a great opportunity for the fans from around the world over to get close to a tennis legend who has inspired a nation and done so much

for the game in Asia Pacific,” WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster said.

“She has inspired a generation of young girls throughout Asia-Pacific with hopes that, they too, can achieve the dream of playing in the WTA Finals.”

The top eight women’s singles and doubles teams will take part in Singapore, only the second Asian country to stage the event after Qatar hosted three editions from 2008.

LOCAL wildcard Tatsuma Ito claimed the biggest win of his career when he ousted top seed and world number four Stan Wawrinka 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the Japan Open on Tuesday.

The world number 103 sealed the stunning victory on his second match point, blasting a backhand volley into an open court after his wide serve had forced Wawrinka out of position.

The Australian Open winner struggled throughout the contest at the ATP 500 event, dropping serve four times and hitting 25 unforced errors in his first tour event since losing to Ito’s compatriot Kei Nishikori at the U.S. Open earlier this month.

Wawrinka, who helped Switzerland reach the final of

the Davis Cup two weeks ago, lost his serve in the third game on the Tokyo hard court, only to break back and hold for a 5-4 lead in the first set.

However, the 29-year-old failed to take advantage as the Japanese, who has never made an ATP final and had only two previous wins on tour this year, took the set and an early lead in the second with a run of five straight games.

Wawrinka threatened a break back at 3-2 down but the busy Ito, wearing his baseball cap back to front, survived the scare and broke the Swiss once again as he confidently finished off the match against a dejected opponent.

The loss delays Wawrinka’s bid to qualify for the seasonending ATP World Tour Finals in London, which the Swiss

could have achieved had he reached the final in Tokyo.

He is fourth in the race for one of the eight spots available at the November event.

Ito, 26, has no hope of making it to London but will instead look forward to a second round clash against German Benjamin Becker, who advanced after Finn Jarkko Nieminen retired from their match through fatigue when trailing 7-5 4-1.

Sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut also failed to go the distance in his match, the Spaniard pulling out with a thigh injury after blowing six match points against Gilles Simon of France.

Simon led 4-6 7-6(7) 2-1 when his opponent called it a day.

Stan Wawrinka

Nadal Wins On Return, Djokovic Stays Perfect In Beijing

Na Li

Norway Call Up 15year-Old For Qualifiers NORWAY coach Per-Mattias Hogmo has called up Stromsgodset’s talented teenage playmaker Martin Odegaard to add creativity to his squad for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Malta and Bulgaria.

The 15-year-old attacking midfielder will join a side whose attacking limitations were harshly exposed by Italy, who beat the Norwegians 2-0 in Oslo in their opening qualifier in September.

Despite having more possession than the Italians, the home side did not manage a single shot on target, disappointing the sold-out crowd hoping for a good start to the campaign.

“Martin has performed at a high level for a longer period,” Hogmo

told a news conference in Oslo.

“He has shown quality in the Tippeligaen and he created chances on his debut.”

Odegaard became Norway’s youngest player when he made his debut in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates in August at the age of 15 years and 253 days.

The playmaker’s exciting dribbles and incisive passes for Stromsgodset have attracted the attention of top clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and scouts have been flocking to Drammen, just outside Oslo, to watch him.

Second-bottom of Group H, Norway are away to bottom side Malta on Oct. 10 before hosting Bulgaria.

RAFA Nadal enjoyed an emphatic return to singles action as he powered past Richard Gasquet at the China Open on Tuesday, while world number one Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to continue his perfect run in Beijing.

Spanish world number two Nadal, playing his first singles match in three months following a wrist injury, extended his record to 13-0 against the Frenchman with a brisk 6-4 6-0 win after Djokovic had beaten Spain’s Guillermo GarciaLopez 6-2 6-1.

An early break for Nadal in the third game put him on course for the first set but only after the left hander saved a break point with an ace when trying to serve it out.

A dejected Gasquet was then broken in the opening game of the second set as Nadal’s confidence soared, the Spaniard pummelling some trademark forehand winners as he wrapped up the first round win with a 27th fizzing winner.

Nadal’s last match before Beijing was a last 16 defeat to Australian Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon.

He made a low key doubles return on Monday when he teamed up with compatriot

Pablo Andujar but the Spanish duo were defeated by Czech Tomas Berdych and American John Isner.

Nadal will face German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk in the second round after the world number 122 defeated big serving Ivo Karlovic 6-4 2-6 75.

Djokovic had less time away than Nadal but showed more rust in his first appearance on the ATP Tour since losing to Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open earlier this month.

The world number one traded five breaks of serve in the opening six games against Garcia-Lopez before Djokovic took a grasp of the match by holding for only the second time to lead 5-2.

He then broke Garcia-Lopez for a fourth time to seal the set with the Spaniard his own worst enemy, landing only 38 percent of his first serves.

The Serb looked more assured in the second set as he dropped just 14 points to take it 6-1 and make it a perfect 20 wins and no losses on Beijing’s blue courts as he bids for a fifth title

here.

Third seed Berdych also dropped just three games in a first round win as the Czech downed tall Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-1 6-2.

Berdych won the ATP 500 event in 2011, when Djokovic didn’t enter, and needs a similarly strong week to book a spot at the season ending ATP

Novak Djokovic

World Tour finals in London.

The Czech currently holds the eighth and final qualifying position for the prestigious November tournament, but many of his challengers for a berth are competing in Beijing or Tokyo this week.

One of those is Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who faced a tough encounter with Spain’s Fernando Versaco in Monday’s night session before prevailing 6-1 3-6 6-3.

THE NIGERIAN

31

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Foundation Seeks Solution To NFA Crisis

Aba Half Marathon To Be Transmitted Live No fewer than two big media networks in Nigeria have agreed to broadcast the 2014 Aba Half-Marathon live, the Project Manager of the event, Mr Seye Adebayo, said on Monday.

Adebayo, who refused to name the networks, told newsmen in Aba, that many foreign athletes had indicated interest to participate in the marathon, scheduled to hold on December 21, 2014.

According to him, the marathon’s growing popularity, which has earned it listing with the International Amateur Athletics Federation calendar, will help showcase Aba to the world.

“Two of the biggest media networks in the country have bought into the Marathon; they are very interested.

“They are going to participate. We are working out on getting live transmission for the marathon this year.

“So even people who are at home across the country can sit in the comfort of their homes and know, oh the race is going on in Aba. “So and so is the one leading the race; you will get real time feedbacks on the progress of the runners.“ Adebayo said that the marathon would help to develop quality athletes for the country, adding that the development of marathon would yield economic benefits for the state and the country through sports tourism.

On the alleged complaint by the Abia chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that the 2013 edition of the marathon disrupted church service of their members living on the marathon routes, Adebayo said the organisers received no such complaint.

He said, “Well on the issue of CAN, you talked about, officially or in any other way, we have not received any complaint from CAN. “The kind of community service we believe we are rendering is less than 30 minutes inconvenience which really is nothing.

“One of the teachings of Christ is on tolerance. So, I believe if CAN has any issue and it approaches us we can work around it with the aid of security agencies.“ Adebayo said that the Aba Half Marathon had instituted two prize categories for the 2014 edition for local athletes and their foreign counterparts.

According to him, this is in line with the original idea of the marathon which is aimed at encouraging and developing local athletes for future world athletic competitions.

STAKEHOLDERS in football have been urged to find lasting solution to the crisis rocking the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

Emmanuel Babayaro, the founder of Friends of Football Foundation, a NGO, made the call on Monday in Abuja while addressing a news conference.

“Without pointing accusing fingers at any group or persons, let us for once put the country first and make that sacrifice for the greater good of the entire nation.

“Posterity judges our every action and therefore our steps must be guided by principles of fair play and equity.

“Football is even more vulnerable as the actions of a few can directly affect the entire nation, thus the need for all involved to imbibe the spirit of patriotism, discipline and selfsacrifice,’’ Babayaro said.

He appealed to the judiciary and security agencies to unite in the bid

Asisat Oshoala

Asisat Oshoala Dedicates National Award To Parents, Mates 2014 Fifa U20 World Cup best player and top scorer Asisat Oshoala has credited her national award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) to her parents and mates at club and national team.

Oshoala emerged highest Falcons, she also did not leave goal scorer with seven goals out her former and current and won three woman-of-the- clubs - FC Robo of Lagos and match awards at the Fifa U20 Rivers Angels of Port Women’s World Cup in Harcourt respectively for Canada, where Nigeria praise underlining their finished as runners up after contribution to her glowing they lost 1-0 to Germany in career. the finals.

“It’s my second time having The Rivers Angels star was a handshake with the decorated by Nigeria’s President [Jonathan] and I am President Goodluck Jonathan really happy about it because on Monday 29, September at there are a lot of Nigerians out the international Conference there wishing to just see him Centre, Abuja. not to talk of hand shake with After pouring applause on him. her teammates at the “Having this second Falconets and the Super opportunity to shake hands

with him I am really happy about it and I know it is the grace of God at work in my life. For me it’s a dream come true,” Oshoala was quoted as saying by the media officer of the Super Falcons, Gracious Akujobi.

“I dedicate the award to Almighty Allah who has kept and been with me ever since I started playing football up to this moment. I also dedicate the award to my parents and my family who are always praying for me,” Oshoala said.

“I also thank my teammates, especially the U-20 girls who enabled me score those goals that gave me this award, not forgetting teammates in Super Falcons and my previous and present team FC Robo and

Gov’s Cup Championship

Eight Teams Hit Q/Finals EIGHT teams have advanced to the quarters final stage of the ongoing 2014 ALDON Governor ’s Football Championship in Edo State.

The teams that advanced at the end of the group stage are Etsako West, Oredo, Esan West, Orhionmwon, Egor, Esan North East, Owan West

and Ovia North East.

According to the quarter final fixtures made available to OBSERVERsports by ZUID Sports International, the organizers of the championship, Etsako West will battle Ovia North East at the Uselu Secondary School, Egor Zone while Esan West will face Egor at

the Igueben Zone.

Owan West will go head to head with Oredo at the Abudu Zone while Esan North East will lock horns with Orhionmwon at the Sabongidda Zone.

All Matches will be played on Friday, 3rd October 2014, by 4Pm at their respective venues

Rivers Angels,” she continued.

“I also thank my coaches who have trained me and made me into what I am right now. To my fans and every one, I say thank you.”

“I feel great and appreciated, that there are senior players who are greater than me but they are yet to get this award.

“It’s a sign to me that God has done marvellously well for me and I won’t relax on this I will strive to achieve more,” she concluded.

to find lasting to the problems bedivilling the sector.

“The judiciary, they say, is the last hope of the common man, while football is the livelihood of the common man.

He reiterated the call for the establishment of a Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Nigeria.

“When Nigeria joined FIFA, it accepted its statuses and was bonded by it; part of its status clearly states that all football matters should be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) only.

“One would naturally expect that our learned ones should help us uphold this law…’’

“We are therefore using this medium to appeal to the Attorney General, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Sports as well as the Chief Justice of the Federation to take the necessary action.

“They must as a matter of urgency constitute a committee to facilitate the establishment of CAS in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Babayaro said his foundation would go on a nationwide tour for data collation and consultations with stakeholders to aid the growth and development of football in the country.

“We will be very active from the grass-roots level to the top, covering every nook and cranny of our great country through elaborate network of partnerships and programmes,’’ he said.

LMC Clears The Air On Nembe City

By EDET ELIJAH EGOMA

THE League Management Company (LMC) has clarified that Nembe City were returned to play their home games at the Krisdera stadium, Omoku to allow their appeal against the banishment to Benin to be heard by the (NFF) Organising and Diciplinary Committee.

In a Statement to Goal, the Chief operating officer of the LMC, Salihu Abubakar said that decisions of the league body on disciplinary matters are never final but subject to the ruling of the relevant organ of the NFF Abubakar also disclosed a

second consideration which arose from concerns raised by the Edo State Football Association over the logistics challenges of hosting the match.

He said that giving the timing of the Edo State FA response, it was not possible to move the match to any other venue with the away team already on their way for Match Day 29 fixtures Nembe City was banned from playing their next three home games at the krisdera Stadium after their fans, players and officials unruly behavior in their last match where their fans invaded the pitch in protest of extra time penalty awarded by the referee against Nembe.

THE NIGERIAN

CMYK

32

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

THE Senate resumed plenary on Tuesday, September 17 after two months of recess with a shocker from its President, David Mark. Yes, David Mark shocked Nigerians, especially lovers of democracy and democratic tenets when he said Nigerians should not expect elections in 2015 because the nation is at war. Hear him: “There is no question of election, it is not even on the table now. We are in a state of war.” I must say that this is a very dangerous signal coming from the hallowed chamber.

And it’s coming from no less a person than the presiding officer himself. This is the more reason why I am worried and all lovers of democracy must be concerned. From the comments of Mark, especially his attempt to convince his colleagues to toe his wacko line of thought, it was very clear that some anti-people forces are at work, a grand design was in the offing for a tenure elongation under the guise of insurgency in the North Eastern flank of the country, a reminisence of the 2007 plot hatched by General Olusegun Obasanjo and his hawks. They are on the move again. So, Nigerians must shine their eyes. Mark tried to cajole other senators saying that “the issue is beyond that of mere internal security. It is about how we execute the war. If Boko Haram has captured most of the parts of the country we represent and has created a

A Dangerous Kite From David Mark caliphate, it means that some of the senators from those areas can no longer be in this chamber. This is why we must pay attention to this matter”. What a very cunny and subtle way to incite one’s colleagues!

Despite his repeated denials, Nigerians must not go to sleep, they must keep a close watch on Mark and give him a close mark. He may not be alone in this wicked plot, hence, Nigerians must shine their eyes.

I must say here that this is nothing but a political dress rehearsal for the wicked plans the cabal, as represented by Mark has for our dear country Nigeria. Mark however beat a quick retreat and swallowed his words following the barrage of criticism that greeted the antidemocratic comments.

He tried to fly a kite but it fell flat on his face, an archaic idea that was fashionable only in the 70s up to the late 90s.

Nigerians are now more matured politically and they are ready to resist any attempt to scuttle their political wishes and aspirations. After 15 years in the senate, about eight of which he presided over the affairs of the upper chamber, one would have expected Mark to have fully and completely purged himself of the military mentality. Old habits, they say, die hard, this is why it will be pretty difficult to cure him of the military virus in his blood. Unfortunately, Mark seems to have infected his deputy, Ike

Ekweremadu with this politically deadly virus.

His own contribution during the debate gave him out as being part of the well orchestrated plot for tenure elongation. His

Ekweremadu was said to have argued that some provisions of the Constitutional were clear, adding that if the nation is at war, the issue of election could be

David Mark, Senate President.

line of arguement was in tandem with the submission of his boss.

He was quoted in the media to have expressed fears that the 2015 general elections might suffer serious problems because of the prevailing security situation.

jettisoned. Ekweremadu, a lawyer will be a very good material for the new deal and Mark is an old fox in the political chass game in Nigeria dated back to his days in the military. In fact, he is a good student of the Evil Genius from the Niger.

T

his Wednesday With

Ebomhiana Musa What a wonderful combination of political “assets” from the Red Chamber!

Those scheming for a tenure elongation maybe relying on some loopholes in the 1999 constitution to be exploited to actualize their dream.

For instance, Ekweremadu was quick to allude to Section 135 of the 1999 Constitution in the cause of his contribution.

According to this section, “If the federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the president considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the national assembly may by resolution extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time, but no such extention shall exceed a period of six months at any one time”. However, this section is specifically for the office of President while sections 180, 64 and 105 deal with the extension of tenure for state governors, federal legislators and members

of the state house of assembly respectively.

Following this dangerous kite flown by Mark, the main opposition party in the country, All Progressive Congress, APC raised the alarm, warning of the consequences of postponing the scheduled 2015 elections. According to its spokesman, Lai Mohammed, “Election is the lifeblood of democracy, the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy.” The party went further to say that “anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight at the heart of democracy”. It said it saw it coming and had exposed it at several fora that “the Jonathan administration has deliberately allowed the insurgency in the North east , an opposition stronghold, to fester so he can cash in unit to get reelected.”

“ I must say here that this is nothing but a political dress rehearsal for the wicked plans the cabal, as represented by Mark has for our dear country Nigeria. Mark however beat a quick retreat and swallowed his words following the barrage of criticism that greeted the anti-democratic comments.”

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