Nigerian observer 03 01 2015

THE WEEKEND

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Weekend

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

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PUBLISHED SINCE OCTOBER 6, 1990 • Vol. XI NO. 3,269 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 20 15

• Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; Finance Minister

• Christine Lagarde, IMF boss

• Deziani Alizon-Madueke, Petroleum Minister

2015

Why Nigerian Economy May Collapse - Report

D

ECLINING crude oil price, battered naira, if there is a worst time for Nigeria’s economy to be in distress, it is now. With insurgency in Northern Nigeria, each day causing more havoc, creating more victims, more destructions and more distrust in the economy, Nigeria is potentially coming face to face with the storm it has avoided for decades.

Analysts say Nigeria had a chance to build a strong economic and political base. But like all the other opportunities, the nation has had, we squandered it.

Nigeria, they assert has been in denial about the unsustainability of corruption within the system. In time of boom the nation can endure the waste, but in time of austerity, corruption will eat up what remains of the Details on pgs. 4/5 nation.

I Am Not A Lesbian

- Yvonne Nelson Pg. 3

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N ws WEO Holds End Of Year Activities

By LAMAI CASSIUS

EDO North NonG o v e r n m e n t a l Organization (NGO), Women Enhancement Organization (WEO) Auchi has organized over the weekend 2014 annual children party and end of year activities to show love and care to the less privileged ones in the society.

In her welcome address, the Director of the Organization, Dr. Mrs. P. O. Idogho said the annual

children party was organized by WEO to show love and care to the less privileged people and also to create awareness in the prevention of discrimination against orphans, vulnerable children, widows, caregivers and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

According to her, WEO is a non-religious, nonpartisan, non-political and nongovernmental organization that provides opportunities to the less

privileged ones in the society to acquire education, literacy, numeracy, skills, training in business management, entrepreneurship studies and computer appreciation The director who is also the Rector of Auchi Polytechnic said the NGO is actively working in four communities in Etsako west and currently taking care of 250 caregivers, 1200 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and 260 PLWHA while it has also engaged in social

2015: Kifasi Cautions Against Religious, THE Head of Service of identify progressive the Federation, Mr Danladi Ethnic Voting elements with distinct Kifasi, has urged people of Taraba to vote for credible and tested candidates that would introduce change and ensure development in the state.

He made the call on Friday in Jalingo at a breakfast organised in his honour by Global Achievers Group for Jonathan 2015.

The head of service told his audience that what Taraba and indeed Nigeria urgently needed were credible and tested candidates, saying people should not mind the ethnic or religious backgrounds of candidates but what they could offer.

He said what Taraba and Nigeria urgently required was development in terms of basic amenities and infrastructure.

He added that “we need someone who will provide these needs to the masses.

We should not bother about candidate’s

religious, ethnic or geopolitical backgrounds.’’

Buttressing his point, Kifasi said he observed that when Boko Haram attacked any location, they do not select whether it was a Muslim or Christian location.

He then wondered why Nigerians were still talking about religion and ethnicity when everyone was a target for destruction.

He emphasised that the electorate should get wiser and choose political leaders in the forthcoming polls based on their credentials and political pedigree with a view to achieving results in terms of development and unity of the country and its various federating components.

Earlier, Mr Aboki Boyenga, the state’s Coordinator of the group, had said that the objective of the Global Achievers Group was to sensitise the public on the need to

records of achievement and support them to stand elective office.

He said that the breakfast was to honour the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, who is the patron of the group and the first son of Taraba to occupy the post.

Boyenga added that Kifasi was an exemplary leader who had achieved great heights in the course of his career in civil service and deserved the honour.

The group would continue to identify and encourage achievers that would move the state and the country forward, he noted.

- Labaran Maku

respond to the petition he submitted to it on the outcome of the state’s governorship primaries conducted by the PDP. “I want to assure my supporters that no amount of conspiracy by a few people will stop me from contesting the 2015 general elections,” he said.

He advised the electorate not to vote for candidates on religious or ethnic basis, but to choose those with dispositions to tackle the challenges confronting the state.

He urged all his supporters to support the

orphanage homes such as Iteseogena Orphanage, Onosoagbe support group,

Osikpamobo SLA, Fadama SLA and Aloaye SLA among others.

VICE-President Namadi Sambo on Thursday said he was personally in support of the creation of New Gurara State out of the present Kaduna State.

Sambo, who made his position known at the annual Afan Festival held at Kagoro, Kaduna State, said the demand for Gurara state was a positive agitation aimed at uplifting the quality of lives of the people.

According to him, the Federal Government recognises the inalienable rights of the citizens to operate within the confines of the law for selfdetermination, promotion and harnessing the potential of its people.

“Therefore, the sociopolitical emancipation of a people lies in their conscious effort to champion a cause that will progressively move them to the next level,’’ he noted.

The vice-president

expressed Federal Government’s sympathy over the loss of lives and property in the Southern part of Kaduna State, saying government was committed to setting up a military formation that would ensure adequate security in the area.

He said “we shall defeat the evil of this insurgency and terrorist acts. God willing, we shall have peace and development in our dear country.’’

While congratulating the people for the New Year, Sambo emphasised that the year was an important year, being an election year, stressing that government was committed to delivering free and fair elections.

He, therefore, urged the people to be peaceful during and after the elections, saying “no ambition of any politician is worth the blood of any Nigerian.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has felicitated with Muslims across the country as they join their

counterparts around the world to commemorate Eid-el-Maulud (the birth of Prophet Muhammad) on Friday.

Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said this is in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

President Jonathan, according to Abati, urged all adherents of Islam in the country to use the occasion to offer special prayers at Jumat (Friday worship) for the success of the forthcoming general elections.

He said: “the President reassures Muslims and all other Nigerians that the Federal Government will do all within its powers to ensure that the general elections in February are credible and violence-free.

“Jonathan believes that this is essential to ensure that Nigeria remains politically stable and continues on a steady path to the fulfilment of its peoples’ collective vision of a strong, united and prosperous nation.”

Abati said that President

Jonathan called on Muslims to seize the opportunity of the New Year and Eid-el-Maulud holidays to deeply reflect on the need for greater application of the prophet’s teachings.

The teachings, according to him, border on piety, charity, tolerance, justice and peaceful coexistence with others in the collective effort to overcome current national challenges.

“Jonathan assures the Muslims and other Nigerians that his administration will continue to be guided by the ideals of fairness, equity and justice for all in its leadership of the country.

“He also assures them that on his watch as President, no Nigerian will ever be discriminated against on the basis of religion, ethnicity or social standing.

“The President reaffirms his personal commitment to working diligently and tirelessly to ensure the successful implementation

SENATE Chief Whip, Sen. Bello Gwarzo, has stressed the need for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians to foster unity in the country.

re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, even though he might not contest on the platform of PDP. The former minister said Jonathan deserved a second term because of what he had done in transforming all the sectors of the nation’s economy.

Maku said “Jonathan is the best President this country has ever produced.’’

While calling on his supporters to remain law abiding, he said he would, in a matter of days, unveil his new platform to the public.

I Support Creation Of New Gurara State - Sambo

Eid-el-Maulud: Jonathan Felicitates With Muslims, Calls For Special Prayers

Senate Chief Whip Urges Nigerians To Live In Peace

My Governorship Ambition In 2015 Intact MR Labaran Maku, the immediate past Minister of Information, on Thursday, said that his ambition to contest in the 2015 governorship election in Nasarawa State is intact.

The former minister said this while delivering his New Year Message at St. Williams Cathedral, Lafia.

Maku said that in spite of what happened recently at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election, he was still moving on with his ambition to contest in the 2015 governorship election.

He disclosed that the Appeal Panel had yet to

and humanitarian services in other communities in Edo State.

She said apart from distribution of educational materials to the OVC, WEO has also paid WEAC/NECO enrolment fees for one Mr. Abu Idowu, a double orphan from Iyakpi community in Etsako West Local government.

Speaking with journalists, the Director, Dr. Mrs. P.O. Idogho promised to continue the NGO even after her tenureship as the Rector however stated that the NGO was established in 2004 even before she became the Rector. “ I belong to a society in the church that cares for the less privileged people while the NGO is an organization that I cherish so much which I hope to continue” she emphasized.

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of items such as bags of rice, jerry cans of vegetable oil, clothes, bags of salt, detergents etc to 10

This is contained in a New Year message signed by his Media Assistant, Ibrahim Garba, made available to newsmen in Kano on Thursday.

Gwarzo, who also congratulated the Muslim community on the occasion of the Eid-elMaulud, prayed for the sustenance of peace in the New Year.

He said “the Senate Chief Whip wishes to extend his goodwill message to all Nigerians during this New Year.

“He also prayed that the lives of people will be filled with joy and happiness in the New Year.’’

Gwarzo, who is representing Kano North Senatorial District, appealed to Nigerians to continue to pray for peaceful conduct of this year’s general elections in the country.

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B haviour

I Am Not A Lesbian

- Movie Star Yvonne Nelson MY interview with top Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson-was a revelation in so many ways. Of the leading Nollywood stars, Yvonne is among those I had not had a close relationship with. I had watched her from afar, seen countless number of her movies and had always thought she was a great and talented actress — someone who combined poise, beauty and style. I had also heard of some unsavory things ascribed to her— the rumors of sexual orientation which some say verged between pure lesbianism and bisexualism — all manner of shenanigans that had been whispered and published about her.

Some years ago, she came out with a movie, Heart of Men”, in which she seemed to have appeared in frontal nudity— a development that set off a firestorm of protest among Nollywood lovers —with many condemning the exploitation of graphic sexual images to promote and sell movies — which was a deviation of what Nollywood had always been seen to represent: a family friendly entertainment medium.

Added to an alleged fight for supremacy between her and fellow Ghanaian actress — Jackie Appiah — a development that was said to have resulted in her much publicized one-

By EKERETE UDOH

year ban from Nollywoodyou begin to have a profile of an actress who may come across as a diva and somewhat opinionated.

It was with mindset that I welcomed the chance to interview Yvonne Nelson, when her representative called and informed me that the pretty actress was in New York, and would love to talk to me. And so, on the balmy and unseasonably warm evening of March, 2012, I drove to the Marriot Hotel located at the heart of Times Square, Manhattan, where she was staying, to do this interview.

Bad girl roles The first revelation was that Yvonne Nelson is an exceedingly pretty actress —far prettier in real life than in her movies.

Second, she is a far cry from those bad girl roles she plays in movies.

Yvonne neither smokes nor drinks. An offer of drinks from me was flatly but graciously rejected.

Her depiction as a diva also felt flat because the Yvonne that I saw and interviewed was thoroughly grounded and even shy.

So why all the misconceptions?, I asked her. In a diction and vocal cadence that showed a highly educated and urbane mind, Yvonne told me she had been hugely misunderstood. ‘That is why Tam willing to address some of those misconceptions now.

Even though it pains me to have to talk about them, but I will. I am nothing close to the roles I play in movies. People should understand that I am an actresses and I get scripts that expect me to act in a certain manner. As a c o n s u m m a t e professional, I am not going to turn down those scripts because I was expected to act in a certain manner,” she said.

“I am aware that some people took exception to the role I played in the movie “Heart of Men”

where there appeared to be some form of frontal nudity, but the truth of the matter is that there was no such overt display of nudity. But let’s even for the sake of argument say there was some nudity, why are we so judgmental and somewhat hypocritical? The same people who took issues with that movie watch Hollywood movies where sexually graphic scenes are shown in a most morally appalling manner.

We don’t condemn such roles; we, as a matter of fact, celebrate such roles.

I am not an advocate of nudity or sexually graphic images in our movies. I have actually spoken against some of those tendencies; Twill never appear frontally nude in any movie no matter the fees promised. “I have morals and my morals are held closely to my chest.

As you may recall, I was not the only person in that scene; there were others, and I am always at a loss when my role appeared to have been the one that

garnered the most reaction. If you have been following the industry, which I believe you do, overt resort to nudity has been greatly reduced. It was a phase-one that was experimented by some producers and realizing that it ran counter to the values that Nollywood or Gallywood espoused, the producers went back to doing stories that are heavy on family values.”

One of the rumors that dominated the industry, last year, was one that centered on her sexual orientation. It was widely speculated that Yvonne Nelson was a lesbian or, at best, a bi-sexual. Until this moment, Yvonne had not commented on that rumor and when I asked her what her real sexual orientation was, she looked me straight in the

“I am nothing close to the roles I play in movies.

People should understand that I am an actress and I get scripts that expect me to act in a certain manner. As a consummate professional, I am not going to turn down those scripts because I was expected to act in a certain manner...”

eye and said ‘look at me....what do you think?

Of course, I am not a lesbian. Lesbianism is against my religious beliefs, it’s against my cultural norms and I think it was very mischievous for people to insinuate such about someone they hardly knew. The rumor was started by a notorious website in Ghana last year when they reported that they had never seen me with a man. In their warped and twisted calculation, I was thus a lesbian. Can you imagine such crass reasoning?

That they had not seen me with a man, and may have seen me with my girlfriends going out to have fun, and then automatically I was a lesbian. It was a hatchet job — an attempt to discredit me, but they all failed. I am heterosexual and would remain one till the end. When you are in the public light as I have been blessed and privileged to being, your life becomes a public property and some mischievous people will say all manner of things about you. It comes with the territory, so I forgive them.”

• Culled from Vanguard.

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• President Goodluck Jonathan

• Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance

• Mr. Godwin Emiefele; CBN Governor

2015

Why Nigerian Economy May Collapse - Report

NIGERIA has a very high ranking on all the lists of the most-unstable countries in the world. Not long ago, Maplecroft, grouped Nigeria with the worst ten in Africa.

Heading the team of mostunstable nations are Somalia and Sudan. Others are South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Libya and Egypt.

The ranking looked at conflict, terrorism and political pressure.

Forget the urban legend that there is a United States CIA’s plot to fulfill their purported prediction that Nigeria would cease to exist in 2015. If Nigeria collapses in 2015, the country to be held responsible, is Nigeria itself.

Before you raise your hands in protest, it won’t be for the reason you think.

In another list compiled by Foreign Policy Group and Fund for Peace in 2013, Nigeria was ranked 16th in the world with a 100.7 points on the failed state index.

The index indicators are factors like demographic pressure, human rights, uneven development, economic decline, delegitimization of the state, public service, security apparatus, factionalized elite and others.

The good news is that Nigeria is also on the list of the highest growing economies in the world.

Some of the richest people in the world are Nigerians, too. So, all things being equal, the economic factor will balance out the instability factor and allow Nigeria to soldier on beyond 2015. In fact, that is how Nigeria has been soldiering on, defying all predictions of doom. When Nigeria last visited the precipice, which was during the civil war, it was able to pull back and survive, thanks to the oil boom that followed.

In his speech during the declaration of his interest for a second term, President Goodluck Jonathan touted Nigeria’s economic growth as one of his accomplishments. At 7% growth per year, Nigeria is one of the top performing economies in the world. The president gloated, “Nigerian economy is on the right path.”

Nigerian economy is not on the right path. In fact, it is in distress. Even the eternal optimist, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is beginning to sound the alarm bell.

Here is how we got to where we are:

BY RUDOLF OKONKWO

“Forget the urban legend that there is a United States CIA’s plot to fulfill their purported prediction that Nigeria would cease to exist in 2015. If Nigeria collapses in 2015, the country to be held responsible, is Nigeria itself.”

You must have heard of the declining crude oil price.

Unlike past fluctuations in price of crude oil, this one is so bad that everyone is going to feel the effect. If the austerity measures announced by Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have not affected you directly, the recent devaluation of the Naira would.

All these are happening because Saudi Arabia is locked in a mortal fight to destroy the US crude oil production. Experts believe that the United States, with its 11 million barrels production a day this summer, became the world’s largest oil producer, beating the former number

one, Saudi Arabia. Most of America’s new oil is produced through fracking, an exploration system that extracts oil from shale rock using the process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. This process of splitting rocks using highpressure liquid is expensive and is believed to be profitable as long as crude oil price is high. The thinking in Saudi Arabia is that allowing crude oil price to fall below $60 a barrel will knock off the US shale production.

At the last meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, in Vienna, the cartel failed to do what is needed to

increase price – that is, cut the production quota of each of the 12-member countries. While Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, and Ecuador pushed for cut in production, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE opted for retention of the current production quota.

That failure led to a further drop in price of crude oil to a five-year low. At $72 per barrel of Brent crude, Nigeria’s oil is now selling below Nigeria’s 2014 budget benchmark of $77.5 per barrel.

What this means is that Nigeria will find a way to make up the short fall in revenue.

Technically, nothing will be going into the Excess Crude Account until oil price recovers. And whatever was there has been all but depleted.

Initially, Nigeria raided its External Reserve to support its expenditures but that move was not sustainable.

That led to the decision to devalue the Naira and reduce pressure on the Central Bank to keep burning dollars in foreign reserve in support of the Naira.

On the American side, the fall in oil price has been a foreign policy political weapon. America’s lack of dependence on foreign oil

means that it doesn’t have to worry about every little crisis that flares up in the Middle East. In other ways, the fall in oil price means that countries like Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Syria are under economic pressure. That helps America’s foreign policy entanglements with these countries. Iran is being forced to stay on the table to discuss its unclear ambition by a combination of sanctions and falling oil price. Russia has lost over $100 billion from falling crude oil price and is under severe economic pressure that it is moderating its ambitions in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. In Syria, ISIS that has been financing its campaign of terror from illicit oil sell is now having difficulty selling oil in a world market that is glutted. For Venezuela, America doesn’t have to worry about the radical leftist government in the country when declining revenue is forcing the government to deal with a growing number of disaffected citizens.

Given these economic and political conditions, there is little interest in America or Saudi Arabia to see an increase in oil price Continued on page 5

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soon. What this means is that Nigeria must brace itself for a crude oil price that could fall below $60 a barrel. In trying to calm the fear of Nigerians, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala assured Nigerians that the country would withstand crude oil price of $60 a barrel.

But what about a $20 dollar a barrel price of crude? Will Nigeria still stand or will it collapse? If by next year the price of crude oil falls to $25.42 a barrel that it was in May 1999 when President Olusegun Obasanjo’s started his first term as president, Nigeria may collapse. Here is why.

Lets begin with Nigeria’s budget. Nigeria’s budget can be divided into four parts: statutory transfers, debts services, recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure. In 2014, Nigeria budgeted N4.64 trillion. This is divided as follows: N399.7 bn or 8.61% for statutory transfer, N712 bn or 15.34& for debt service, N2.43 trillion or 52.35% for recurrent expenditure and N1.1 trillion or 23.7% for capital expenditure. The United Nations Development Programme recommends 70% of the budget to Capital Expenditure and 30% to Recurrent Expenditure.

In the last ten years, Nigeria’s budget allocation has not come any close to the UNDP’s recommendation. The best we have performed in the last ten years was in 2010 when Recurrent Expenditure got 56.77% while Capital Expenditure got 40.23%. Actionaid Country director, Hussaine Abdu, lamented about Nigeria’s inability to produce a progressive budget in line with UNDP recommendation.

“No country develops under such provisions,” he said, “because what grows a country or builds the economy is the amount of investments you are making on infrastructure and other structural issues that you require to strengthen your economy.”

Looking at what the government could do with the current economic austerity, the budget would be a good place to start.

With debt service taking up 15.34% of the budget, recurrent expenditure at 52.35% and statutory transfer at 8.61%, the only

Nigeria Economy May Collapse

place that the government has room to maneuver without having to fire workers or upset bureaucrats, is in capital expenditure. So instead of increasing it, the government may be forced to decrease it further, never mind the recent nonbudgeted ordering of N9.6 bn cooking stoves.

In the last four years, crude oil price has hovered around $100 a barrel. The Nigerian government has been swimming in petrol dollars.

Looking at

trillion. But the lowest budget in the last 5 years of Jonathan’s administration was N4.2 trillion.

The additional money did not just come from the revenue from crude oil.

Nigeria’s gas production within this same period has tripled. In his declaration speech, President Jonathan reported that, “in terms of gas supply, we have grown from less than 500 million cubic feet per day, 4 years ago, to about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day currently.

Our goal is to attain 4 billion

it has avoided for decades.

If Nigeria collapses in 2015, don’t look anywhere else for the blame; put the blame where it belongssquarely at the feet of Nigeria. In the last 15 years of democracy and relative peace, Nigeria had a chance to build a strong economic and political base. But like all the other opportunities the nation has had, we squandered it. For so long, Nigeria has been in denial about the unsustainability of the corruption within its system.

“Nigerian economy is not on the right path. In fact, it is in distress. Even the eternal optimist, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is beginning to sound the alarm bell.”

government figures, economists determined that Nigeria’s total crude oil sell came to about $470B in all 5 years of President Jonathan’s administration and $489B for Yaradua, Obasanjo, Abdusalami, Abacha administrations combined. Adjusted for inflation, the numbers are $488.8B for Jonathan and $594B Yaradua, Obasanjo, Abdusalami, Abacha combined. The boom is reflected in the budgets, too.

In 2004, Nigeria’s budget was N1.79 trillion. In the last year of Obasanjo’s administration(2007), Nigeria budgeted N2.26

cubic feet per day, over the next 4 years.”

These increases in revenue had not translated into a stable economy that could withstand a shock as normal as a change in oil price. In fact, as more money came, Nigeria became more unstable.

If there is a worst time for Nigeria’s economy to be in distress, it is now. With the insurgency in the Northern Nigeria, each day causing more havoc, creating more victims, more destructions and more distrust in the economy, Nigeria is potentially coming face to face with that perfect storm

In time of boom, the nation can endure the waste, but in time of austerity, corruption will eat up what remains of the nation.

In January of 2012, a presidential committee on public service reform discovered that top government officials in Nigeria take home N1.126 trillion a year in salaries and allowances – out of a national budget of N4.6 trillion. These public officers constitute just 0.013 per cent of Nigeria’s population.

They include 108 senators who each make over $1.7m a year. That alone is $183.4 million (N28 billion). Then

the 360 members of the House of Representatives each takes home over $1.2 million, which amounts to $432 million (N65bn). Again, each state governor collects an average of N200 million naira a month just as security vote. In a year, they each get N2.4 billion naira.

So, our 36 governors take home N87 billion naira on security votes alone every year. Add our 38 ministers and ministers of state, 100 plus heads of federal and state agencies, over 432 state commissioners, 774 local government area chairmen or caretakers, almost 10,000 councilors and you will understand where the N1.126 trillion goes.

Nigeria had a chance to trim down this N1.126 trillion waste but the leadership of the country, who are the beneficiaries, did not have the will-power to do so. Like the N260 billion naira spent from 2009 to 2013 on exNiger Delta militants, these wastes are nothing but hush money paid to postpone doing the right and difficult things needed to birth a modern sociopolitical structure that is fair and balanced, a structure that is sustainable in the long run.

Sadly, the day of reckoning is here. The consequence of Nigeria’s self-denial is staring us all in the face.

A ministry of finance committee led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede looked at the subsidy claims of 2011 and discovered that the Federal Government had overpaid importers and marketers of petrol by a whopping N430 billion naira.

In 2012, Ngozi OkonjoIweala proudly announced that Jonathan’s government had recovered N29 billion naira from oil marketers out of N234 billion certified as stolen. Whatever happened to the rest of the stolen money? Have we stopped paying subsidies two years after? Of course, not.

Whatever happened to the promise to retool and repair our refineries? How much did we waste trying to repair our refineries? How much are we paying in subsidies today? Shouldn’t the subsidies we are still paying be coming down now that oil price is falling?

You will think that those handling our economy will be answering these

questions publicly. But no, they are not. We are beneath them.

The subsidy scam is part of the elaborate corruption industry that feeds the mammoth Nigerian unsustainable structure. It has become so entangled in the fabric of the nation that a half-hearted attempt at disentanglement will result in chaos. What could not be done in a time of economic boom cannot be done in a time of economic crisis. A lot of people in Nigeria have been fed fat by corruption.

In crunch time, as the nation tightens its belt, the corruption industry will morph and move and when pushed hard will marinate the nation and serve the country for the forces of destruction to eat up.

Since 2009 crude oil thieves have been increasing the amount of Nigeria’s oil that they steal.

According to the 2012 Ribadu Report, crude oil thieves in 2011 stole over 100,000 barrels a day. That is over $3.6 billion dollars a year. Some foreign sources put the figure of oil theft at 250,000 barrels a day. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala in 2012 told the Vanguard newspaper that the loss to oil theft could be up to $12 billion that year.

If Nigeria had closed avenues for oil theft, that oil could be shipped abroad and refined for Nigerian use, allowing the citizens to enjoy low fuel cost like other oil producing countries when they pay for just the cost of shipping and refining.

Meanwhile, as oil price falls, the oil thieves are not going to go out of business.

Instead, they need to steal more to make up for the losses due to falling price.

With their children in the most expensive schools abroad, dozens of girlfriends to show the good things in life and with private jets to maintain, the oil thieves and all the other looters of the Nigerian economy, are going to do whatever is necessary to maintain their lifestyles.

The one thing that Jonathan administration can do to reverse the impending collapse is to acknowledge in words and in deeds that what is not sustainable is really not sustainable. And that includes this government itself.

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N tion

9 Years After His Crashed Third Term Gambit, Is Obasanjo On Another Mission To Cause CONFUSION?

By JIDE AJANI

THIS story examines former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest dance steps, a break-dance of twists and turns with one suspected objective: the actualisation of a selfserving agenda that is at variance with the projection of a united Nigeria. Yet, a more perceptive incumbent President would have pulled all the stops to successfully rein-in Obasanjo. Instead, aides and confidants, who are far; very far; from being adroit at statecraft, continue to mislead President Goodluck Jonathan, as part of a turf battle that is raging inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

Interestingly, the perceived shoddiness of the Presidency, a Presidency foisted on Nigerians by Obasanjo and which he ought to be working to adequately address, is being allowed to flounder because of self-conceited considerations by political leaders who ought to work at nation-building. Said to be desperately working for a stalemate immediately after February’s presidential election, some political leaders in Nigeria, as this report will show, are going for broke.

YOU ARE ALL MARKED Sometime last year, Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, at a private meeting with two former aides and a former minister (while they were still hibernating in the All Progressive Congress,

APC) implored them to ensure that Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not return as President in 2015. At a time when the cluelessness of Nigeria’s presidency was manifestly waxing more embarrassing by the day, especially with a First Lady that had become gung ho, Obasanjo’s move appeared

admonished it to do whatever it would take to ensure that Jonathan did not return.

Again, Obasanjo, just this month, repeated the same threat of stopping the President in a BBC Hausa Service radio interview.

According to him, Jonathan must be stopped.

I WILL JAIL YOU Last month, one of the key

• OBJ

“The second plank is that Obasanjo himself would overheat the polity with incendiary comments. He has already started doing that. Unfortunately, however, the book he wrote, My Watch, is already suffering credibility crisis because in that book, only Obasanjo comes out clean.” altruistic. Nigeria needed to be saved from the Jonathans — or so it seemed.

It was at that meeting that Obasanjo revealed that should Jonathan return next year as President and Commander-in-Chief, those at that meeting would have to go on exile because, according to a source who was in attendance, the former Nigerian leader said, ‘Jonathan would go after all of you here, including me; so you all would have to go on exile. But I, Obasanjo, would be here. Therefore, he must be stopped’ by whatever means!

During a closed door meeting with the leadership of the APC sometime late last year, Obasanjo

pillars in the merger that gave birth to the APC redefected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The reason for his movement back to PDP could not be ascertained by Sunday Vanguard at press time.

However, Obasanjo is, according to sources, not taking matters lying low. He did not like the idea of his protégé returning to the PDP. Just a fortnight ago, after the re defection of the said confidant from the Northeast and who is considered very close to Obasanjo, the latter, reportedly, sent two former state governors of South west extraction to the said confidant to convince him on why he should return to the APC. According to a very

dependable source, for two hours, the former governors tried in vain to convince the said confidant.

Undaunted, a telephone call was placed to Obasanjo in Maputo.

It was understood that for almost an hour, the former President also, in vain, tried to convince his erstwhile protégé that he should return to the APC. Strangely, Obasanjo ended the not- so-pleasant conversation on the note that should the said confidant refuse to return to APC, he, Obasanjo, would jail him.

But the question is where will the former President get the power to jail somebody?

Meanwhile, Obasanjo, whose statements and actions should not be taken

lightly, is believed to have his agenda close to his chest.

OBASANJO’S MOVES An Ebora is likened to a spirit – a strange one - in Yoruba folklore.

For those who know Obasanjo too well, he doesn’t shoot in the dark; and if and when he does, he already knows the spot where his target is. His comments and statements are almost always weighted not necessarily on sincerity but on forbearance hinged on a self- conceited agenda.

According to Obasanjo, in his much fractured and derided book, My Watch, which Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has condemned as a pack of lies, the former President wrote of Jonathan

“Jonathan is lacking in broad vision, knowledge, confidence, understanding, concentration, capacity, sense of security, courage, moral and ethical principles, character and passion to move the nation forward on a fast trajectory.”

That was not all. He went on: “Under Jonathan, we seem to have gone from frying pan to fire. If in the past corruption was in the corridors of power, it would seem now to be in the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of power” Obasanjo has not said anything new and this would not be the first time he would be taking on a sitting leader.

However, what makes this instance very curious is that

Continues on pg. 7

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N tion

What Is Obasanjo Up To?

...to have an interim government to be presided over by him?

Continued from pg. 6

it is this self-same Obasanjo who, against an agreement on power rotation signed, sealed and delivered on December 22, 2002, in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, urged Jonathan to run for election in 2011.

Diplomatic sources and political leaders across geo political zones in the country disclosed that Obasanjo’s agenda is not about saving Nigeria from Jonathan.

In fact, a very authoritative source, who remains very close to Obasanjo but who does not share his beliefs, confided in Newsmen “The APC does not understand the game Obasanjo is playing. Obasanjo has committed himself to some northern political leaders and traditional institutions that he would return power to the North in 2015. It is obvious that Obasanjo is no longer interested in the success of the PDP. But the APC leaders should ask him why he has not openly declared as a member of their party?”

The counterpoise, however, as put forward by Sunday Vanguard, is: How does Obasanjo’s membership of a political party obviate the genuineness of his observations about President Jonathan?

In what would shock Nigerians, the source made it clear that Obasanjo’s sudden realization that Jonathan must be stopped is not about Nigeria but about Obasanjo.

AGENDA WITHIN AGENDA According to another source, the only thing that can stop the PDP from running away with victory next year would be an opposition that can match the ruling party. APC, which was the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, with the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, was meant to address that challenge.

However, unknown to the APC leadership, sources say Obasanjo’s agenda is purely to force a stalemate at the polls such that Nigerians will have only one option which is a third way — neither Jonathan nor Buhari,” an interim arrangement or a

government of national unity.

The first plank of Obasanjo’s grand design is, according to sources, to overwhelm leaders of the opposition with uncommon support for their cause. That way, he would be welcomed and seen as part of their party. That has already been achieved — but Obasanjo has never claimed to be a member of APC. The second plank is that Obasanjo himself would overheat the polity with incendiary comments. He has already started doing that.

Unfortunately, however, the book he wrote, My Watch, is already suffering credibility crisis because in that book, only Obasanjo comes out clean.

But, more significantly, the book is meant to sensitize the international community rightly or wrongly, to the fact that the Jonathan Presidency is a never-dowell contraption headed by a President who is, at best, confused and, at worst, incompetent. As part of this plan, sufficient public angst would have a fertile ground on which to germinate and set the stage of massive outpouring of resentment.

Another component of this leg is the drive to engineer discontent in the polity through verifiable and unverifiable claims and counter claims that would further drive the wedge between both leading political parties.

That way, a diplomatic source concluded, “any outcome of the 2015 presidential election would not be acceptable to the losing party”.

The source went on: But you know what that means for Nigeria once parties refuse to accept the results of an election. What Obasanjo has succeeded in doing is to help shore up the opposition which is good for democracy; but it is also good for his own agenda which is a return to power.”

The downside, however, is that Obasanjo’s own agenda goes beyond having a strong opposition.

Another source disclosed: “The whole idea of supporting the APC is to force a stalemate at the polls. Obasanjo does not do anything without his own interest.”

To buttress the point of the former Nigerian leader’s interest, was told of the existence of the report of a probe into the activities of Petroleum Trust Fund.

The Obasanjo former aide added “Since the first election in 2015 is the

CONCERN OF LEADERS As investigations for the scripting of this piece was on going, Bolaji Akinyemi, a professor, and former Foreign Affairs Minister and who just served as Deputy Chairman, National Conference, 2014, alerted

From the Olympian height of nationalism, logging a record in 1979 as the first African military leader to voluntarily hand over power to civilians, Obasanjo has fumbled down the hill with a deafening fall occasioned by his attempt at tenure elongation in 2006.

Nigerians that danger looms. He sent an open letter to both Jonathan and Buhari, calling on both men to conduct their campaigns with decorum as well as ensure that they abide by the outcome of next year’s presidential election in order not to set Nigeria on fire. He also called on leaders to intervene and meet with both candidates.

Since Monday when the letter was published, as if driven by a peculiar spirit, both camps have not ceased to tone down their rhetoric of assault. This is exactly the type of scenario Obasanjo had allegedly envisaged.

Mercifully, a few of those leaders of thought that Akinyemi suggested should meet with both candidates appear to be on the same page with the former minister and erudite scholar.

A former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, agrees totally with the observations of Akinyemi.

In separate interviews with Col. Abubakar Umar, the Caliphate and other prominent Nigerians, they all agreed that Akinyemi had hit the nail on the head.

WHEN OBASANJO SPEAKS

Perhaps, a more thorough interrogation of the man, Obasanjo, would have revealed a self-conceited individual whose only claim to goodness is opportunistic.

Yet, consider the following: In 1983, during the deadly days of the post-1983 election violence, Obasanjo took a swipe at the then President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari for running a clueless government. Soon after, precisely on December 31, that year, the military struck.

Again in the early second half of 1985, Obasanjo, while delivering a lecture somewhere in the South West, lampooned the General Muhammadu Buhari junta and, barely two months later, Buhari was toppled.

When Obasaiijo tried something similar in 1989 against the Ibrahim Babangida administration attempting to ride on the back of the riots against the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP of that government, younger military officers out-shouted Obasanjo.

Whereas Obasanjo, who holds the traditional title of Balogun of Owu, doubling as the Ekenn Egba, had counseled that Babangida’s SAP must

• President Goodluck Jonathan

presidential election, any unpalatable fallout may make it difficult for subsequent elections to hold. In the event that that happens, Nigerians should begin to brace for an interim arrangement which is what Obasanjo is working towards. To him, it is either Jonathan is removed or another arrangement is put in place”.

When Obasanjo threatens that he would jail an individual, the question is, how? — he is no longer President. But the scenario, said to be anticipated is that the need to legislate for an interim government would not need too much push as Nigeria’s National Assembly, by February ending, would house a preponderant of legislators whose stake would amount for nothing because they were not re-nominated by their parties for another term.

The dangerous mix of having a stalemate and an assemblage of disgruntled law would make for a tantalizing cocktail for disaster in a country of clashing socio-political, economic and religious interests. The international community would wade in and would rather support an interim arrangement than sees a unstable nation.

have a human face and a milk of human kindness, Navy Captain Okhai Mike Akhigbe charged back on behalf of that government, describing Obasanjo as a frustrated chicken farmer.

That silenced Obasanjo for a while.

It was not until the troubling days of June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment a time when it would have been expected of Obasanjo to be on the side of decency, common sense and logic, that the former President found his voice in a most ludicrous and egregious manner.

Rather than keep quiet in the face of nothingmeaningful and helpful to say, Obasanjo declared that the winner of that ejection, Bashorun MKO Abiola, was not the messiah Nigerians were waiting for. That statement further emboldened the military to stay the course and cause of annulment In retrospect today maximum dictator Sani Abacha, by a twist of ironic tragic-comedy, hauled Obasanjo into prison as a way of stopping his serial pranks — the coup tribunal actually ordered Obasanjo kept out for life.

Interestingly, had those administrations Obasanjo criticized found accommodation for his influence, all would have been well in his estimation!

For a traditional man, it takes a strange individual to do what Obasanjo does with relish. After imposing Umar Musa Yar’Adua on Nigeria, it was the same Obasanjo who railed against the former when his illness became imminently terminal.

And after campaigning for Jonathan to become President in 2011, and when the centre could no longer hold for both men, Obasanjo switched on his atavistic and cantankerous mode.

Make no mistake, it is only a manifestly shambling and shambolic presidency like Jonathan’s that would be a receptacle for all manner of dirt. And which is why an Obasanjo, with the attendant ills of his administration would not see anything good about Jonathan, his protégé.

• Culled from Vanguard

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e

P rspective

• Dr.Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Finance Minister

• President Goodluck Jonathan

CLO To FG

• Mr. Godwin Emiefele; CBN Governor

Walk The Talk On Austerity AS the world marks Human Rights Day 2014, Anambra CLO wants government to walk the talk on austerity measures In 1950, the UN General Assembly decided that every December 10th would be celebrated as Human Rights Day. This is the direct fallout of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Document which is regarded as the world’s reference point from where different nations fashioned out their constitutionally enshrined human rights laws.

This year 2014, the UN Human Rights Office proclaimed the theme of Human Rights Day as Human Rights “365”which encompasses and proclaims that each and every day of the year, all 365, should be considered Human Rights Day. The theme celebrates the fundamental ideas in the Universal Declaration on which the holiday was originally established, reminding and reinforcing the ideal that every human on earth, despite location, sexuality, race, political, economic or social background is at all times entitled to the full range of human rights, and that human rights belong equally to each of us. Further, the 2014

theme of “Human Rights 365? seeks to remind people that these equal rights bind us together as a community, not just locally, but globally and create a place of equal values and ideas.

This year ’s theme seems more topical than ever, and the UN Human Rights Office stands together on this day with millions of men and women globally, who risk their all for human rights.

2014 will unfortunately be remembered as a year of several human rights violations, and daunting challenges to overcome.

According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, this year’s theme is important to remember throughout the coming year, mainly so the world does not meet the same challenges again. In 2014, countries and communities that were

COMRADE ALOYSIUS ATTAH

recently breaking ground and finding progress in terms of human rights are now retreating and fast, so that conditions for people are worse than ever. However, the UN Human Rights Office reminds us that this is a constant battle and despite the failures of 2014, there have been, significant, ongoing, global advances in achieving our human rights. More success is on the horizon, 2014 marks the 30th year anniversary for Convention against Torture and in addition this year saw the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

It is in line with the reality that the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon said about this

year’s theme and I quote “I call on States to honor their obligations to protect human rights everyday of the year. I call on people to hold their governments to account” Unfortunately, despite all efforts by the global rights body and other human rights groups, there are still several violations going on under different guises. As we speak right now, many are being tortured in various detention centers both in Nigeria and across the globe to own up for offences they never committed. The Rights of the Child have been thrown to the dogs, Child labour is still on the increase in Nigeria, human and child trafficking, rape of minors, women are still objects

subjected to various forms of inhuman and degrading treatment owing to some archaic and barbaric cultural practices.

It is a grim and pathetic situation that according to a research by Lydia Smith of the International Business Times, UK, “an estimated 27 million people are currently enslaved in the human trafficking trade globally.

In 2012, 112 countries tortured their citizens and 101 countries repressed their people’s right to freedom of expression.

There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, which is around 27% of children, or more than one in four.

According to UNICEF, 22,000 children worldwide die each day due to poverty.

More than 300,000

“100 years of our existence as a Nation and 54 years down the line as an independent country, no doubt we have much to celebrate but why must we remain in this cesspool of corruption, mediocrity and all motion, no movement?”

children under the age of 18 are being exploited as child soldiers in armed conflicts worldwide.

Women make up 80% of all refugees and displaced people and are at heightened risk of physical or sexual violence or trafficking.

Around 15 million girls are forced into child marriage around the world every year. One in three girls in the developing world is married by their 18th birthday, increasing their risk of isolation and violence, and limiting their chance to have an education.

The total number of child laborers remains high, with UNICEF and the International Labour O r g a n i z a t i o n acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged five to 17 are involved worldwide.

Every 90 seconds, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth.

Most of these deaths are preventable, but due to g e n d e r - b a s e d discrimination many women are not given the proper education or care they need.

At least 20.9 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide.

More than 3.2 million Syrians are currently living as refugees, in the largest displacement Continues on pg. 9

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e

P rspective Though this was also an issue discussed at the National Confab, it is expedient that the federal and state governments take the bull by the horn now and hand off any form of sponsorship of both Christian and Muslim pilgrims without further delay.

Continued from pg. 8

crisis in a generation” STATE OF THE NATION 100 years of our existence as a Nation and 54 years down the line as an independent country, no doubt we have much to celebrate but why must we remain in this cesspool of corruption, mediocrity and all motion, no movement?

A land so blessed with abundant natural resources, our problem is self inflicted and man made.

According to the Global Coalition against Corruption, the T r a n s p a r e n c y International, Nigeria in its 2014 report ranked 136th most Corrupt Country out of the 174 countries sampled. Some other Countries like Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa and our neighboring Ghana all towered positively above Nigeria in a better stead but instead of our leaders taking concrete steps to fight corruption, the government mouthpiece started celebrating that the improvement from the 144th position ranked last year was a sign that the Jonathan administration is really committed to fighting corruption.

The continuous rampage of Boko Haram and other insurgent activities have caused untold havoc to the people and the economy.

We have lost several soldiers whose families can never be the same again. Many lives and properties gone down the drain while the economy is also seriously affected.

According to the information contained in a report- Global Overview 2014: People Internally displaced by Conflict and violence released by the

CLO To FG

Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Nigeria has 3.3 million persons displaced by conflict- the highest number in Africa According to the report, there are 3.3 million IDPs in Nigeria and 470,500 individuals were displaced in 2013 alone. On a global scale, Nigeria is only ranked behind Syria with 6.5 million IDPs and Colombia with 5.7 million IDPs. Recently, the Minister of Finance and the Supervising Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala told Nigerians that considering the present economic

realities on ground, Nigerians should brace up for austerity measures.

Flanked by the DirectorGeneral, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr Bright Okogu; the AccountantGeneral of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla; the Acting Chair, FIRS, Alhaji Kabir Mashi, and other top government officials, Okonjo-Iweala said the Federal Government had decided to adopt austerity measures as a buffer for the economy in the face of a dwindling oil price in the international market.

The minister said that part of the austerity measures is to cut down on foreign travels, payment of more taxes on

luxury goods like champagne and private jet owners among others.

It is our position that every action of government in this regard is all coated in insincerity. While nothing was said about cutting down on the emoluments of political office holders and their retinue of aides as well as the profligate lifestyle of the various governments, it amounts to do as I say and not what I do for the proposed austerity measures.

Vincent Akanmode , a columnist in a National Newspaper captured the situation concisely when he wrote that “The only misgiving about the latest call for sacrifice is that it is coming from a civilian

administration that has little or no regard for prudent management of the nation’s resources.

And contrary to OkonjoIweala’s claim that the executive arm of government had in its discussions on national budgets with the National Assembly in the last three years consistently advocated prudence and low benchmark to encourage more savings, the records show that the administration has been one of the most reckless.

In 2005, the Obasanjo administration successfully negotiated a debt write-off deal of about $18 billion after a cash payment of about $12 billion to free the nation from the Paris Club debts of over $30 billion.

Today, the nation’s debt stock stands at more than $44 billion because the government cannot control its propensity to borrow and spend at will.

“The nation’s budgets under the Jonathan administration have seen billions of naira dedicated to all manner of funny items from chewing stick to chewing gum. Why, for instance, would the government budget N2.2 billion for a banquet hall in Aso Rock or propose N34.5 million for the feeding of lions in the zoo at the presidential villa when millions of Nigerians do not know where their next meal would come from? In the 2014 budget, for instance, the government, which already had 10 aircraft in its fleet, proposed another sum of N1.6 billion as deposit for another aircraft to raise the number to 11.

In 2011 alone, about N18 billion was said to have been spent to maintain the president’s jet.

Consider this against the fact that the Queen of England and the British Prime Minister have no

private jets, but depend on the British Airways for their flights, one would begin to appreciate the extent to which our leaders are insensitive to the plight of ordinary Nigerian” It is also on this premise also that we call for the total scrapping of government funding of religious pilgrimages in Nigeria. Nigerians are so religious but yet we refuse to imbibe the teachings of the various religions in our conduct. Yearly, about 110,000 pilgrims are sponsored to Mecca and Jerusalem where about N14.93 billion are wasted in such exercise. While it is not our intention to cast aspersions on the integrity of the supposed pilgrims, it is an open secret that such pilgrimages have been turned to jamboree and political patronage where those who are government cronies, apologists and other relationships are selected at the expense of the collective treasury of the people.

Though this was also an issue discussed at the National Confab, it is expedient that the federal and state governments take the bull by the horn now and hand off any form of sponsorship of both Christian and Muslim pilgrims without further delay. There are so many avenues where the huge sum expended on this can be channeled to touch the lives of Nigerians positively. Let those who are so passionate to travel several miles abroad to go and pray for Nigerians and to do their personal spiritual exercise which according to them is another precondition for making heaven, do so at their own expense and we can know the truly committed ones among them.

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V ewpoint

i JONATHAN

In The Footsteps Of A Slave Master?

IN the year 1712 on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia, a notorious slave master, William Lynch delivered his infamous speech on the manipulation of the Black slave.

Quoting from the speech introduction, Willie said: “I have a full proof method for controlling your black slaves. I guarantee every one of you that, if installed correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 hundreds years. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves; and i take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust and envy for control purposes.”

The speech went on to present how the cultivation of envy, segregation, distrust, fear and resentment between and among Black slaves will enable the slave master assert permanent control over the slaves who will be rendered helpless and hopeless for generations to come.

Lynch said, “Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become selfrefueling and selfgenerating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.”

The full speech which details the planting of seeds of chaos between old and young, intelligent and not, men and women and all other recruit-able ‘differences,’ can be read here and elsewhere on

By PEREGRINO BRIMAH

the internet: http:// w w w. f i n a l c a l l . c o m / artman/publish/ Perspectives_1/ We il _Lynch_e l ter_The_Makn i g_of_a_Sa l ve.shtml . It is a must read for every Black man.

On October 1st, 2010, there was a bombing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital that marred the Independence Day celebrations. The Niger Delta terrorist group, MEND immediately took responsibility for the deadly act; however the Nigerian President saw this and some say was directly involved – being alleged to be a patron of the MEND group according to US STRATFOR intelligence think tank— and even requested this terror act for use as a means of creating a solid reference event to divide Nigerians among religious and geographical lines for utility in securing his electoral victories.

Indeed in furthering of the colonial ‘divide and rule’ doctrine, the deliberate accusation of ‘northern elements’ in the terror event would serve to harness and secure sectional votes for the President in the 2011 elections.

Rather than arrest whoever was involved, be they from the North or wherever else, and defeat the terrorists in the jungles, the Jonathan government for its six straight years, never indicted a single sponsor of the terror group. Not

one! You see, the terror was a superb weapon in the hands of the nation’s leadership to mislead the weak and gullible and consolidate the support of the desperate and fanatical.

Nigeria’s President did not create the sectional tensions, however rather than dampen this divide which was deliberately implanted in Nigeria during the colonial years; and rather than bring Nigerians together as they had set on the path to with the President who hails from the South-south actually recording more patronage and votes from the North than he did from his own region; Nigeria’s President catapulted the fading divides and for the better part of his six years in office, continued to aggressively push this singular weapon, investing his entire publicity office in aggressively promoting the distrust between Nigerians, North and South, Muslim and Christian.

Differences which do exist but should be reasons for pride and only valuable in competing in excellence were sponsored as reasons to hate and kill in the embraced policy of the dotty regime.

Boko Haram was left to rein its terror on the people for the six years.

The Nigerian government used in their words, ‘kid gloves’ against the terrorists, leaving them to

• President Goodluck Jonathan

gather in strength and morale and to continue to rein maximal havoc on the land, killing and displacing thousands of Muslims and Christians.

One message was constantly propagated from the Presidency: that it was elements in the North who wanted power so bad, they were sponsoring this death of their own resident people just to get rid of him. It worked… but for only so long.

A soft-spoken seasoned General, known for his discipline and integrity yet quietness and unbeaten tolerance was the scapegoat. The evilgenius, Reuben Abati was employed to spin a sweet, malicious tale, taking all statements salvageable from anyone in the North and spinning them into a palatable lie to be tossed at the General. The Femi twins were also heavily paid and given poppycock narratives to spin and respin, day in, day out, all in the hope of discrediting the Governor ’s most feared ‘adversary.’

And when the General took the Reuben Presidential aide to court and won a victory, the Nigerian President hastily begged the General to settle out of court and accept a published retraction of the libelous claims [See Guardian of July 11, 2013, “Re: For the attention of General Buhari.”] Yet, despite the published apology, which not as many happened to read—as is the nature of the spread of truth vs.

slander—the Nigerian leadership did not desist for a day, but unleashed all other attack dogs to continue spewing the tale and planting the seeds of hate and distrust among the people in pure colonial style.

Nigerians remained distracted for almost the entirety of his rule; and as a true slave master, the President took advantage of this and prided himself in rapidly making his handful of Cabal coterie wealthy beyond imagination, owners of the plantations while the people fought each other and cried over the unabating terror. The People of the nation got poorer and poorer while the President continued to sell all the State assets to this handful of fellow slavemaster Cabal as the people fought each other and pointed fingers at each other day after day.

Billionaires were made, billions were looted from all sectors of the economy, and the Cabal competed in flying private jets and driving armored vehicles.

The Boko Haram terrorist group which was actually centered and tactically controlled from French-speaking neighboring Chad; a terrorist network operated from foreign soil against the Nigerian State was the perfect distraction and poison.

Unlike the great leaders of Africa; the likes of Thomas Sankara, the Nkrumahs, the Garangs and the Gaddafi’s who rather saw for Africa the

need and possibility to join together not just ethnic groups but entire nations into one holistic single unit, the Nigerian ruler prided himself in investing through his clergy, the Wendell Simlins, Mujahids, Ayos and others, in ripping Nigeria to bits, heart, body and spirit. Corruption was liberated from stealing as terror became the tool of the State.

Alas, all bad things come to an end as Mahatma Gandhi said, “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.” Nigerians pulled though. The people came together more than ever; and as Christians surrounded and protected Muslims while they prayed during the January 2012 #OccupyNigeria protests against the ruler’s sudden malevolent removal of the fuel subsidy in favor of his protected Cabal cronies; so also Muslims began to sacrifice their lives fighting against the terror and formed protective barriers around Churches during Christians religious services.

It was game over. The colonialist and the colonial minded evil planers planned and plotted, but the Lord proved that He is the best of planers and plotters [Quran 8:30]. For everything there is a season; and Nigerians decided this is the season to cast away [Ecclesiastes 3:6].

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s Security Challenges: The Way Out I sues WHEN I saw the Failed State Index done by the United States Think-Thank Fund for Peace and which ranked Nigeria as 14th under the alert section, I was overwhelmed with sadness as this shouldn’t be so for the giant of Africa.

Under the surge of emotion I was prompted to write this little piece on what I feel should be the best way out of Nigeria’s challenges.

Prominent and most troubling of these challenges is the Boko Haram terrorism presently afflicting the nation. The activities of this extremist Islamist sect have seriously undermined the peace and tranquility of this great nation and it is my belief that if nothing is done urgently, we shall soon see the rise of more terrorist groups. Not only is terrorism threatening the continued existence of the nation, the rate of robbery

and other violent crimes is on the increase. We can’t go about our business without the fear of our lives.

It is obvious that we need good leaders who have a different set of values. We need leaders of impeccable character and integrity. Enough is enough of leaders using what belongs to the nation for their personal use. One thing that is prominently lacking in Nigeria is integrity.

Our leaders have failed to show and exhibit this quality, so the citizens have no choice but to follow the examples of those leading them. That is the reason for the increase in fraud cases.

Everybody now wants to have a share of the “national cake” and this should not be so. We need leaders who will deliver their agenda for the nation

By AGHOGHO ETA and not just use it for campaign purposes only.

Until our leaders begin to live in transparency and integrity, true democracy can never be practised.

God said whoever desires to be great must first learn to serve.

Greatness is not about how much wealth you can amass for yourself but in how much you can give out. That is another thing we are missing in this nation.

Everybody wants to amass wealth but very few people are willing to live for the betterment of others. I believe very strongly that if the mind-set of the youth is changed toward true service to the nation and her people, Nigeria would be out of the turmoil in no time.

This mind-set will help reduce the stink of

corruption as public servants will no longer occupy offices just for their own benefit, but will use every opportunity to empower their followers in every way. Let us not forget that Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.

We need to learn that being the president or governor doesn’t make you the number one citizen but the number one servant. Service is one of the fundamental keys to greatness and a nation built on service to its people will always prosper.

Also, I believe that the issue of amnesty being given to terror groups shouldn’t be one up for debate. Amnesty giving will only lead to more terror groups who have seen that being a terrorist will only lead to wealth with little or

no consequences.

I believe that the state should carry out her responsibility properly and secure its citizens and fish out those who are responsible for the violence within. I believe that the Boko Haram violence was influenced by the perceived reward accorded the militant group MEND whose members went scot free after killing so many innocent citizens.

The best this nation can do for the innocent that have been lost is to let justice prevail by jailing every identified and arrested member of the group. The security agencies should be empowered to carry out their job diligently and end this nightmare of terrorism in this nation.

Nigeria should never negotiate with terrorists as

doing so can only but encourage more terror groups to spring up.

Lastly, we are all Nigerians and as such everyone should be charged with the responsibility of looking out for the other. If we do not create language barriers or geographical barriers, we would be on our way to becoming the giant of the world. Let us not dim the potential that we have in this nation with unnecessary ethnic and religious battles.

Every Nigerian should be viewed as a brother and in our entire endeavour let us work towards making Nigeria as a better place to live in. We should develop love toward one another, as love covers a multitude of sins. Just like our anthem says, “peace and unity” remain the basis for moving Nigeria forward.

God bless Nigeria!!!

Nigeria: Beyond Oil And Gas WHEN Nigeria announced recently that it had become Africa’s biggest economy, you could be forgiven for thinking that oil was the only reason.

After all, Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa. What many people didn’t realise was the growing role of agriculture in boosting Nigeria’s economy and the lives of its large rural population.

However, Nigeria needs to spend much more on agriculture than its current commitment of only 1.6 per cent of the national budget.

But the Agricultural Programme is already proving its potential to produce a dramatic turnaround that sets an example for other African countries, as shown in the Africa Progress Report 2014.

African economies have been growing fast in the past decade, but few of the benefits are reaching the poor, especially when the growth is fuelled by oil and mineral export, which tends to create few jobs.

Agricultural growth can change that, because it reduces poverty twice as

fast as growth in other sectors.

Agricultural revolution is the only hope for Nigeria’s food security.

The problem will worsen unless Nigeria addresses the problem of overdependence on oil and develop the agriculture sector.

We can never go wrong with agriculture, the fast population growth and the associated increase in the demand for livestock products present many d e v e l o p m e n t opportunities. Livestock production will become the biggest contributor to agriculture in coming decades, with consumption of animalbased foods the fastest growing sub-food category in Africa. The key challenge is determining how to intensify livestock productivity in a sustainable manner.

Agriculture is an invariable avenue to create sustainable jobs and ensure food security in the country. The recent Federal Government agricultural policies, packages and investments in this sector in terms of agricultural credit

packages to farmers and agro-products exporters demand your interest to partake in this untapped and rewarding business of food production.

However, you are herewith invited to attend JOVANA FARMS nationwide sensitisation agro-seminars designed to equip you with all the necessary requisite knowledge for a successful animal farming career and show poverty red card.

Investors should stop shunning agriculture for quick returns. We all should encourage agriculture and produce surplus food in Nigeria; so as to bring about the diversification of the Nigerian economy rather than expending billions of dollars annually on importation of food. Micro and medium scale agricultural enterprises would be drivers for achieving the goal of Nigeria beyond oil.

Government should give greater support for smallscale farmers, and more locally focused production and consumption of food.

Nigeria was able to feed

itself in the 1960s. But then oil was discovered.

The country began to depend on oil to drive growth and development.

Yet Nigeria has abundant resources, millions hectares of arable land, two of Africa’s largest rivers and a large, youthful workforce. Our leaders should stop thinking that the survival of this country depends only on oil and gas. Countries like Malaysia, Republic of Korea, and Japan, etc do not have much minerals or solid minerals but they have very robust and thriving economy.

Whereas the United States of America has oil and gas far more than Nigeria, its economy depends on agriculture, manufacturing, industry and technology.

The World Bank makes it clear that the foundation for development and for breaking the backbone of poverty is investment in agriculture. The greatest need of the poor is food; without food, life itself will be impossible. Mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion etc.

The corporate bodies can engage the army of unemployed youths who are mostly school leavers, with senior secondary school certificates and graduates of tertiary institutions.

If big companies can venture into agriculture, then this country will bounce back.

Nigeria is a fertile area for agriculture; but many of us

abandoned agriculture for the oil and other sectors of the economy. We feel farming is only meant for our grandparents in the village.

Agriculture, in other words, can sustain our economy more than oil.

One day, the oil will run out; but Nigeria will always have its fertile land, its rivers, its youthful workforce and its huge domestic market. Investing now can turn that potential into prosperity.

Jovana farms organises nationwide sensitisation training seminars on the practical ways of making it through small scale animal farming.

Attend our nationwide seminars nearest to you and know more opportunities in agriculture.

“Investors should stop shunning agriculture for quick returns. We all should encourage agriculture and produce surplus food in Nigeria; so as to bring about the diversification of the Nigerian economy rather than expending billions of dollars annually on importation of food.”

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o

P litics

“Turning electioneering campaigns into a tug of war is a slap on the face of the electorates. The voters deserve much more respect. They deserve more than the blabbing, that lacks substance which are most often erroneously taken for electioneering campaigns by the contestants.”

2015 Polls: Between Issues And Tussles

ELECTIONS offer voters the platform to make vital choices. Irrespective of its scope, whether local or national, elections give voters the chance to reflect on the issues which really matter to them and make a decision on which candidate to support. In a democracy, election campaigns, where candidates make attempts to persuade voters to support them, precede most elections.

Campaigns present a windowpane for voters to study, discover and choose the candidates that truly represent their positions on critical issues that affect their future.

Ideally, campaigns are always very critical to the final outcome of elections. In advanced democracies, voters’ preferences at polls are usually influenced by the performances of candidates during campaigns.

But do campaigns really sway voters in our nation?

Historically, electioneering campaigns in Nigeria do not usually address major issues that bother on the interests, welfare and security of the people. It, therefore, often leaves the voter with little or no premise to determine who usually gets his votes. Rather than addressing very germane issues, campaigns in our climes, more often than not, are characterized by name callings, mudslinging,

thuggery, hooliganisms, maiming and killing. And whenever the contestants choose to address issues, they often limit the scope of discourse to the usually divisive lines of religion, ethnicity and tribal sentiments.

Characteristically, as the all important electioneering year 2015 approaches, it is evident that nothing has really changed in terms of the style and pattern of political parties towards political campaigns. The incessant clamour by the media, civil society organisations, the academia, electoral monitoring groups, NGOs and other related bodies for aspirants and political parties to run issue based campaigns, seems to be yielding very little or no result.

On the contrary, what pervades the polity is the usually needless acrimony that unnecessarily heats up the political atmosphere.

From Sokoto to Maiduguri, Jos to Minna, Port-Harcourt to Benin City and Ibadan to Ado Ekiti, there is palpable tension, occasioned by unhealthy political happenings, almost everywhere. It beats one’s imagination that those that aspire to lead us often resort to tussles rather than concentrating on salient national issues that would engender socio-political and

By TAYO OGUNBIYI

economic growth. Why, for instance in the 21st century, should maiming ad killing become campaign strategies? Why should arson be a technique for political advocacy?

Turning electioneering campaigns into a tug of war is a slap on the face of the electorates. The voters deserve much more respect.

They deserve more than the blabbing, that lacks substance which are most often erroneously taken for electioneering campaigns by the contestants. It is this aberration that is partly responsible for the predominance of voters’ apathy in the country. Most voters, rightly or wrongly, usually conclude that since the major issues that directly have significant bearing on their daily livings are not often extensively discussed by politicians during campaigns, they would rather stay away from the polls.

It is, therefore, imperative for all stakeholders in the electoral process to put in place a system that encourages dialogue, among aspirants, on relevant issues during political campaigns. There is need to put in place a structure that promotes healthy debates on burning

national issues among aspirants. This would afford voters the opportunity to appraise the personality, character and other qualities of the respective aspirants. It is important that the electorates have a platform through which they could accurately gauge the preparedness, intellectual ability and emotional frame of these men before deciding on whom is most deserving of their precious votes.

For instance, on the national stage, the electorates need to know the position of candidates on the state of our refineries and what they hope to do (scientifically, technically and pragmatically) to turn them around. They, equally, need to know, from those aspiring for the presidency why we have continued to import fuel as an oil producing nation and how they would reverse the trend.

Also, the various aspirants must furnish voters with their vision for the power sector.

Without a doubt, the power sector remains a major driver of the economy. With a stable power supply, there would be more jobs and the economy would become more prosperous.

Therefore, considering the centrality of power to the economic wellbeing of the people, presidential aspirants must

intimate the electorates with a comprehensive and realistic blueprint on how they hope to transform the power sector. The electorates also deserve to know the precise mega watts of power that the country requires for the citizenry to enjoy constant power supply. They need to know what mega watts we currently generate and how they (the candidates) wish to bridge the evident short-fall.

Education, security, public health, job creation, infrastructure development and the stabilization of the economy, among others, are some of the critical issues that those aspiring for public offices at the national level need to dwell on during their electoral campaigns. The electorates ought to have a better understanding of the official positions of respective aspirants on these vital areas. For instance, it is not enough to keep blabbing about the deteriorating security situation in the country, it behooves on those aspiring to lead us to make available, for the voting public, a broad- plan that outline how they intend to deal with the situation.

This process is not restricted to those seeking political offices at the national level. It should go for those aspiring to lead at the other tiers of government. In view

of the dwindling oil revenue, it is important, for instance, for governorship aspirants to explain to the electorates how they hope to generate the needed fund to execute their programmes. It is not enough for a governorship aspirant, whose state’s total monthly expenditure surpasses total monthly income, to promise heavens and earth without making available his funding strategy.

Most often than not, such aspirants, having secured electoral victory, usually turn round to justify their inability to deliver on electoral promises on lack of fund.

Having practiced democracy for fourteen unbroken years, it is time to focus on getting it right. We should no longer hide under the usual pretext of a ‘nascent democracy’ to do things in crude fashion. This is the time to get it right. As we march towards 2015 general elections, all stakeholders must insist on getting the various political aspirants and political parties do things correctly. It is criminal to stand by and watch while a significant few continues to hold the nation to ransom through unethical political conduct. In the words of African-American human right activist, Martins Luther King Jr.: “Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent on things that matter”

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O inion

Under OBJ’s WATCH FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo released his autobiography, My Watch, on Tuesday, December 9 at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

He defied an Abuja High Court order obtained by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Buruji Kashamu, barring him from releasing the book. Rather than obey the order, Obasanjo wanted Justice Valentine Ashi sanctioned.

The judge had ordered that the book launch be put on hold over claims by Kashamu that the threevolume series contained details of a libel case involving a drug trafficking allegation Obasanjo made against him, which is already before the court.

Obasanjo’s excuse that the book had been published before the order was made is as ludicrous as it is bizarre.

But that is quintessential Obasanjo, who has no respect for others, who revels in desecrating hallowed institutions.

Holding him in contempt of court, Ashi on Wednesday, December 10 gave him 21 days to demonstrate why he should not be punished for publishing the book.

“The fact that the book was published in November is irrelevant. As long as the substantive suit is not yet determined, no party is entitled to publish or comment on material facts that are yet to be decided on by the court,” the judge said.

I have not read the book, but excerpts published on the internet show that it is essentially an ego trip. As a former president, his autobiography should be a historical document, based on issues and rooted in facts; but just as he did in My Command, his account of the civil war, he displayed a lack of generous spirit in My Watch.

He portrayed himself as the only saint in Nigeria.

Nothing buttresses this more than what he wrote about the late President Umaru Yar ’Adua, his successor. He accused Yar’Adua of persecuting former Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, because of Ribadu’s refusal to marry his daughter and for his romance with a lady whom Taminu Kurfi, an official of the Yar ’Adua administration, was dating.

“It was revealed, for instance,” Obasanjo claimed, “that Tanimu’s main reason for wanting to fight Nuhu to a standstill was the allegation that a woman he was interested in marrying was showing more interest in Nuhu! I understand that Tanimu, in the end, married the lady and I wondered if that would be the end of the war of attrition against Nuhu.

This was about the same time that Umaru encouraged Nuhu to marry one of his daughters, an idea which Nuhu spurned.

Could that have been partly responsible for Umaru’s fury?”

Obasanjo also alleged in the book that the fight between former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nasir el-Rufai, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Baba Gana Kingibe, was over the infidelity of one of Kingibe’s wives.

“The Kingibe case as revealed is quite similar to Tanimu’s, as a woman is at the centre of it also. Nasir el-Rufai was accused of knowingly harbouring a boyfriend of one of Kingibe’s wives in his guest house, where this wife and her boyfriend would meet.

If Nasir chose to make his house available to his friend out of hospitality, one wonders if he could also determine which guest, male or female, his friend would receive. It would have been a different case if Nasir himself was accused of dating Kingibe’s wife.”

By IKECHUKWU AMAECHI

Obasanjo wrote all this despite the fact that his son, Gbenga, divorced his wife in 2008 after deposing in a court affidavit that she slept with his father (Obasanjo).

Memoirs are supposed to be encompassing; so, Obasanjo should have recounted in the book what transpired between himself and his daughter-in-law.

How else can one explain his narrative of his encounter with governors who came to see him after the Governors Forum election debacle other than sheer mischief?

“Two governors from the (PDP) – Liyel Imoke of Cross River and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State – and Godswill Akpabio from Akwa Ibom State by himself, came to me in Abuja, appealing to me to intervene in the situation of the Governors Forum, particularly in the disagreement within the PDP governors. Akpabio said starkly in his frank and outspoken manner: ‘We have messed up and don’t leave us alone. For me, I don’t want to go to jail and my children are too young.

I will report our meeting to the President.”

In Obasanjo’s usual style, every Nigerian is a liar, a thief or incompetent, except himself. You wonder what he actually achieved in all the years he ruled the country. It is obvious that My Watch is Obasanjo’s last desperate attempt to damage President Goodluck Jonathan politically and make him unelectable in 2015. His timing of the launch on the eve of Jonathan’s nomination by the PDP was deliberate.

Obasanjo intends to use the book to inflict mortal damage,

hence his choice of words and narrative.

He wrote: “Jonathan is lacking in broad vision, knowledge, confidence, understanding, concentration, capacity, sense of security, courage, moral and ethical

under Jonathan we seem to have gone from frying pan to fire. If in the past corruption was in the corridors of power, it would seem now to be in the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of power. If what is called ‘corruption’ is stealing, under the watch of Goodluck Jonathan, then government has become

elections that he foisted on the country. I remember the unexplained political assassinations, including the killing of his Justice Minister and Attorney General of the Federation, Bola Ige. I remember the illegal impeachment of governors, including Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Rasheed Ladoja

legalised and protected robbery.”

Then, Obasanjo threw the sucker punch, describing Jonathan as an inept, ineffective, inefficient, careless, clueless, callous, insensitive, and a selfish leader. Most times when you hear Obasanjo talk, you wonder if he is not the same man who ruled Nigeria for eight years. I have been wondering if he could have allowed anyone to write this kind of book about him when he was in power.

Obasanjo forced Audu Ogbeh to resign his chairmanship of the PDP because Ogbeh chastised him over the role he played in the kidnap of Governor Chris Ngige. I remember the instability in the Senate and how he orchestrated the impeachment of about four Senate presidents.

Obasanjo chased out the founding fathers of the PDP, which was formed when he was in prison. I remember the do-or-die

of Oyo State.

Obasanjo used the EFCC to hound political opponents. I remember how, he, a man who came out of prison, wretched and almost broken, became one of the richest Nigerians alive today after eight years in power as president, and I wonder where he got the money. If Obasanjo had allowed the people to be the pivot of our democracy, we wouldn’t have had a Ya r ’ A d u a / J o n a t h a n presidency in the first place.

He used his eight-year tenure to enthrone political imposition and gangsterism. Yet, he has the guts to throw stones. I don’t blame him. I blame the system that has tolerated him for so long.

What Obasanjo has done with his new memoirs is to challenge others to document their own account, and expose him for what and who he is – as General Alabi Isama did in his book, The Tragedy of Victory, which eviscerated Obasanjo’s war memoirs.

• Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

principles, character and passion to move the nation forward on a fast trajectory.

Although he might wish to do well, he does not know how nor does he have the capacity to. To compound his problem he has not surrounded himself with aides sufficiently imbued with the qualities and abilities to help him out.

Most of them are greedy hangers-on or hungry lackluster characters interested only in their mouths and their pockets.”

Obasanjo branded Jonathan the most corrupt leader Nigeria ever had. “In the area of corruption …

In Obasanjo’s usual style, every Nigerian is a liar, a thief or incompetent, except himself. You wonder what he actually achieved in all the years he ruled the country.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Akumazi: Monarch Wants Uduaghan

To Complete Health Centre H.R.M Obi Stephen Chukwuyemeze Osagie III J.P Agbogidi one (1) the Obi of Akwumazi Kingdom in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, has facilitated Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa over his victory the Gubernatorial Primary election and charged other political parties to accept defeat like good sportsmen.

H.R.M urged them to shun litigation as a means of resolving perceived electoral malpractices as time was no more favourable.

The majesty advised Senator (Dr.) Okowa to reciprocate the good gesture accorded him by his party faithful during the gubernatorial primary election.

He admonished Okowa to reward them by providing social amenities and infrastructures to communities and complete abandoned protects such as water-bore holes solar energy street lights constructing the link roads to surrounding villages and within the towns.

H.R.M Obi Osagie III J.P appealed to Delta State government to construct access

roads from Akwumazi to Ekwuoma community to enable farmers evacuate their farm produce as farming is their chief occupation in the area.

He also urged government to always find out the problems of the community from the palace, adding that the palace would be able to give

account or the conduct of any person of the community deemed fit for government appointment. He suggested that the state traditional council should be enlarged to accommodate more traditional rulers.

H.R.M Osagie frowned the way Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan abandoned Health

Centre which he came to inspect and promised the community, people that he will come and give support by completing the project.

He thanked Mr. Ehidu Aniagwu for his philanthropist attitude towards the people of Akwumazi Community prayed God for wisdom, strength and resources to continue to assist the people in his community to a greater height.

Vigilante Group Boss Urges Govt For Assistance COMRADE Friday Iraiwu Chairman of Vigilante Group of Nigerian (V.G.N) Owa-Eke Unit Owa-Oyibu Division in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State has called on government to equip the group in Delta State.

According to him since the introduction of the vigilance outfit crime has drastically reduced to the barest minimum, adding that vigilance work is a voluntary service to help keep peace and tranquility and ensure security of life

and property within the community.

Comrade Iraiwu appealed to the government, in the three tiers, philanthropist, churches, Non Government Organisations (NGOs) meaningful citizens of owa-eke both at home and Diaspora to help provide the vigilante outfit security logistics such patrol van, motorcycles, touch lights, rain-boots, vain cap, uniforms and monthly stipends to enable them buy fuel for their machines and

recharge card for emergency.

The chairman said the vigilance group is a non political body and can not be influenced by politicians.

According to him, they work with the Obi and the police.

He said any case that has to do with spiritual or tradition will be handed to the palace while criminal cases are referred to the police.

According to him, theirs is to carry out arrest and direct it to the body concerned. He thanked the police for heir cooperation, because without the police, they cannot work.

Obayagbon Of Ekpon Lauds Prominent Son

A prominent personality in Ekpon Community Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State, Chief (Dr.) James Eriata, the Obayangbon of Ekpon Community, has felicitated with Barr. Odiana Eriata on his political journey.

Speaking with newsmen in his office at Ekpon in Igueben

local government area of the state, he described Barr.

Odiana as the best man in the race, stating that it is only a matter of time before the house of assembly in

H.R.H. Mburichen Odili

Igueben constituency becomes certain for the Barrister Odiana.

Chief Dr. Obayangbon noted that the Barrister has promised to tackle the security challenges in his constituency, focus on poverty reduction, job creation for the youths, infrastructural development among other issues, starting that he is certain Edolites will benefits from the Barr. Odiana’s administration representative of Igueben local government area in Edo House of Assembly.

He re-emphasized the assertion of the Barr that opportunities abound for young people who would dare to dream big, work small, and work hard towards actualizing their dreams, nothing that the Barrister is determined to address the issues retarding youths progress.

The chief noted that the three criteria used to measure preference for a leader are competence, integrity and acceptability stating that Barr.

Odiana Eriata has got them all as he is acceptable to the generality of the people.

Chief Dr. Jame Eriata who is also a tradomedical practitioner, specialises in the cure of stroke, diabetes pile, mental problem, barrenness, weak erection, epilepsy, ulcer among others.

DELTA WATCH With JOEL CHUKWAGHONIM

Community Leader Urges Youths To Shun Crime A prominent chief in Ekpon Community in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State, Chief John Okpeka, the Ozomor of Ekpon Community has expressed his profound gratitude to the state government for its three point agenda. He however pointed out that Ekpon is a large community but his community had not benefited from programmes.

He said the programme may not have been evenly distributed as a result of complexity and bottle necks within the system.

The chief advised the government not to be tired of providing infrastructure and social amenities to communities because, according to him, every developing community must not relent in its quest for social amenities.

According to Chief Okpeka the needs of the community include the construction of Humeko road that links the neighbouring community in Delta State where Edo and Delta State have boundary, building of model market centre in the community, sinking of bore-holes. The Chief commended the efforts of the chiefs in the community for

their cordial relationship and the youths for maintenance of peace and tranquility, adding that though the vigilante are operating by using their efforts to combat crime in the area, as the youths are not indulged in crime.

Chief Ozomor called on all sons and daughters of Ekpon Community to come enmasse to exercise their franchise by voting for a credible candidates who will represent their interest.

He advised the Government and the electorates to be careful, to shun all vices of electoral malpractices so that free and fair elections could be ensured.

Chief John Okpeka

Okpara-Uku Congratulates Okowa

THE Okpara-Uku of Idumuesah Community, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, H.R.H. Mburichen Odili has congratulated senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa on his emergence as governorship candidate in Delta State.

H.R.H Mburichen made the statement in a chat with newsmen in his palace Idumuesah recently, advised electorates not to allow the politicians use them as thugs in the forthcoming election as politics is not a do or die affairs.

He also charged the candidates not to influence the electorates with material things to enable them vote for candidates of their choice in

the forthcoming 2015 elections, adding that when the electorates are not influenced with material things they would be able to vote for a candidate that will lead them people well and the people will achieve their goals.

Furthermore, the OkparaUku called on Idumuesah sons and daughters to always visit home to give their quotas, appealed to political representatives to always remember their bearings. He also advised them to always visit wards and constituencies to know the problem in the areas and find ways to solve them.

H.R.M Mburichen appealed to Delta state government to approve his monthly stipends

to enable fund for himself as he does not go to farm/business in the days.

He thanked the council chiefs in Idumuesah community, the Idumuesah clan union Lagos branch for meaningful support towards the development of Idumuesah community.

H.R.H Mburichen prayed Gods wisdom, strength and resources for them to assist him in piloting the affairs of Idumuesah community to a greater height.

Community Leader Advises Politicians To Be In Touch With The People A community leader in IdumuOdin (Igbanke) in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Pa Onyenkegwanokwu Okoh has praised Governor Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole in his distribution of the dividends of democracy every nook and cranny of the state, particularly in Igbanke Community.

In Idumu-ore quarters Idumu-Odin (Igbanke) said if the coming Governor follows the legacy of the Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole, in the distribution of the dividends of democracy across the state Igbanke community will become a small London in Nigeria.

Pa Onyenkegwa-okwu who

is one of the elders in council in Idumu-odion palace appealed to Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to remember his promise of 2.5km road construction in Igbanke community as his tenure is fastly approaching.

He further advised the political representatives to always remember to visit their wards, constituencies as

good representatives to assist the people in the area to solve the problems in their wards, constituencies.

He thanked retired Justice Olubor who influenced Edo State Government in bringing development to Igbanke Community.

Pa. Onyenkegwa –okwu also charged Igbanke indigence both those at home and in diaspora to follow retired Justice Olubors footsteps in bringing development to Igbanke community.

He thanked the youths in Igbanke Community for their peace keeping and tranquility in the community.

He thanked the Enigies (Highnesses) in the six clans that make up Igbanke Community for their good leadership in their various clans, appealed to them not to relent in bringing development to Igbanke Community.

He prayed God to assist them in bringing development to the area.

Osagie

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

“Many Nigerians have been sent to early

Weekend

graves for crime not committed or known.

The security situation in the country has grown beyond a child’s play.”

DISCOURSE Security Challenges: Way Out THE recent incessant killings of helpless and innocent Nigerians in the northern part of Nigeria called for overhauling of the security system across the country.

Many Nigerians have been sent to early graves for crime not committed or known. The security situation in the country has grown beyond a child’s play.

The callous killings of innocent people in Jos, Plateau State indicate that the country is heading towards extinction or

disintegration if the situation is not put under control now.

The northern elders and leaders seem not to be so bothered about the turn of events, rather they see it as President Goodluck Jonathan problem.

Given the dimension the terrorist attacks has taken, it could no longer be regarded as pure religious affairs, but pure terrorist attacks on vulnerable Nigerians with no just cause.

Property worth millions

Overhaul The System

By GODDAY ODIDI of naira have been destroyed by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, which scares foreign investors from investing in the northern part of Nigeria.

Currently, the economy is at a sorry state. No thanks to the reign of insecurity in

the land.

It is sad that the president is helpless and cannot stand firmly to protect Nigerians from these marauders. Even northerners are victims of these attacks in recent times.

The major problem of security failure is that the population of Nigeria has outgrown the members of security agencies across the country.

Although, some political observers assume that some powerful Nigerians are the sponsors of this terrorist group in order to

make the country ungovernable for the president.

Most Southerners daily fleeing of the northern part, portends danger for our country All the efforts of the government to tackle this monster have not produced the desired Continued on pgs 16

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D scourse

i

Corrupt

By AGHOGHO ETAKIBUEBU

WHEN I saw the Failed State Index done by the United States Think-Thank Fund for Peace and which ranked Nigeria as 14th under the alert section, I was overwhelmed with sadness as this shouldn’t be so for the giant of Africa. Under the surge of emotion I was prompted to write this little piece on what I feel should be the best way out of Nigeria’s challenges.

Prominent and most troubling of these challenges is the Boko Haram terrorism presently afflicting the nation.

The activities of this extremist Islamist sect have seriously undermined the peace and tranquillity of this great nation and it is my belief that if nothing is done urgently, we shall soon see the rise of more terrorist groups. Not only is terrorism threatening the continued existence of the nation, the rate of robbery and other violent crimes is on the increase. We can’t go

about our business without the fear of our lives.

It is obvious that we need good leaders who have a different set of values. We need leaders of impeccable

believe very strongly the mind-set of the y changed toward true to the nation and her p Nigeria would be out turmoil in no time.

This mind-set wi

• Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu

Security Challenges: Way Out Continued from pg. 15

result.

Even the recent appointment of a northerner as a Special Security Adviser to the president has not stopped the killings in the region, rather it has escalated the situation, which indicates that some powerful people do not want the present national leadership to exist.

I will not support the idea of government negotiating with the terrorists.

The government must check the influx of illegal immigrants who daily enter the country from our various porous borders.

The federal government needs to improve on information technology by installing CCTVs to monitor illegal movement of arms and ammunitions across the country. The Nigerian security agencies needed to be highly remunerated to avoid bribery and corruption.

Youth unemployment should be directly tackled by all levels of government now.

LOOKING at the security situation of the country, the country is facing a lot of challenges where killings and bombing of people and property in different sections of the country is not a big deal.

People at all levels of socio-economic status are not safe. Politicians, traditional title holders, businessmen at national and international levels, teachers, lecturers, students and pupils in different levels of institution in the country are not safe.

Bombings and destruction of places of worship, institution both formal and informal, business architectural settings, offices and media houses burnt. The civilians and the military as well as paramilitary offices are all at stake.

A lot of observations have been made on the issue by government and nongovernmental organization but no solution has been totally made. Some Nigerians

are of the view that, the level of insecurity in the country is linked with national and international terrorist group where financial and military support is given to the terrorists with a variety of weapons in various degrees.

Governmental, nong o v e r n m e n t a l organization, individuals and groups at national and international level should Endeavour to fetch out this country out of the menace of insecurity. In addition to that, bribery, corruption, favoritism, nepotism and sectionalism must be eradicated in the country to ensure free movement of people and achieve the goal of peace and prosperity in the country.

In the same vein, the federal government must ensure that this critical insecurity menace should be directly or indirectly stopped in order to restore absolute peace and bring about development to the country and the people of the country.

Government at all level

should endeavour to tackle the problems of selfishness among the government parastatals which usually and eventually yield to corruption and marginalization during performance of their official duties.

Moreover government should also strive to provide enough and sophisticated security personal in order to tackle others security challenges, such as robbery, extortion, rape, kidnapping and hijacking people properties and ways of putting peoples life into series of problematic situation.

Lastly, Nigerian also need to absolutely cultivate the habit of security consciousness and rapidly report any equivocal security situation to the appropriate authority immediately.

We must join our efforts, hands and every affordable things in our capacity together in order to bring back peace to Nigeria.

character and integrity.

Enough is enough of leaders using what belongs to the nation for their personal use.

One thing that is prominently lacking in Nigeria is integrity.

Our leaders have failed to show and exhibit this quality, so the citizens have no choice but to follow the examples of those leading them. That is the reason for the increase in fraud cases.

Everybody now wants to have a share of the “national cake” and this should not be so. We need leaders who will deliver their agenda for the nation and not just use it for campaign purposes only.

Until our leaders begin to live in transparency and integrity, true democracy can never be practised.

God said whoever desires to be great must first learn to serve. Greatness is not about how much wealth you can amass for yourself but in how much you can give out. That is another thing we are missing in this nation.

Everybody wants to amass wealth but very few people are willing to live for the betterment of others. I

reduce the stink of cor as public servants longer occupy offices their own benefit, but w every opportunit empower their follow every way. Let us not that Jesus washed the His disciples. We n learn that being the pr or governor doesn’t you the number one but the number one s Service is one o fundamental key greatness and a natio on service to its peo always prosper.

Also, I believe th issue of amnesty bein to terror groups shoul one up for debate. A giving will only lead t terror groups who hav that being a terrorist w lead to wealth with litt consequences.

I believe that the should carry ou responsibility proper secure its citizens a out those who responsible for the v within. I believe that th Haram violence influenced by the per reward accorded the

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D scourse

i

tion Is A Problem

y that if youth is service people, t of the ll help

rruption will no just for will use ty to wers in t forget e feet of eed to esident t make citizen servant. of the ys to on built ple will

hat the g given ldn’t be mnesty o more ve seen will only le or no

e state t her rly and nd fish are iolence he Boko was rceived militant

group MEND whose members went scot free after killing so many innocent citizens.

The best this nation can do for the innocent that have been lost is to let justice prevail by jailing every

identified and arrested member of the group. The security agencies should be empowered to carry out their job diligently and end this nightmare of terrorism in this nation.

Nigeria should never negotiate with terrorists as doing so can only but encourage more terror groups to spring up.

Lastly, we are all Nigerians and as such everyone should be charged with the responsibility of looking out for the other. If we do not create language barriers or geographical barriers, we would be on our way to becoming the giant of the world. Let us not dim the potential that we have in this nation with unnecessary ethnic and religious battles.

Every Nigerian should be viewed as a brother and in our entire endeavour let us work towards making Nigeria as a better place to live in. We should develop love toward one another, as love covers a multitude of sins. Just like our anthem says, “peace and unity” remain the basis for moving Nigeria forward. God bless Nigeria!!!

The Easier Way Out Of National Security The need of an efficient social security and reform of the Nigerian police force are some of the panacea recommended to the federal government to address the

recent surge in the nation’s security challenges as against suggested called for a break up.

This was the postulation of an emergency conference of ethnic groups within Nigeria.

The conference was organised by the Coalition of Ethnical Nationalities in Nigeria (CENN), last week in Lagos, to deliberate on the nation’s precarious internal security and it was attended by representatives of 16 ethnic groups, with each group airing its grievance in a no-holds-barred manner.

The high-point of the conference noted that the idea of secession, being mooted as the ‘only’ solution on the recent security imbroglio in the country will continue to prosper if the country does not find a way to give all of its ethnic groups a voice that count at a roundtable.

There were heated arguments as each group strived to make a resounding case for its people but the need for co-existence with other ethnic groups was a major feature of the

discussion. The prime resolve demonstrated by them all is that Nigeria can succeed as a nation as no group harbours a definite resolution for secession; although, deference was made to it at some point

during the meeting, but only as a second alternative.

“It is very obvious here that the ethnic groups themselves can cohabit and resolve their differences if allowed to do so and if represented by those who speak the mind of the people,” said CENN’s chairperson, Frederick Fasehun; the founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC). According to him, this has always been the trend each time there is an opportunity for ethnic groups to meet and discuss their coexistence.

Representing northern Nigeria at the conference, the president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Shetima Yerima raised the issue of marginalisation of all the ethnic groups as he cautiously noted that “no northerner wants to secede.”

“That is why we are supporting every initiative that will bring justice and fairness to Nigeria” he added.

Admitting that the northerners have ruled the country for the longest period in the country’s history, Mr. Yerima hinged his marginalisation on the

extreme poverty that ravages the north. “It is true we have been in power for many years but it is also true that we are the poorest. Each group has a story of marginalisation to tell, only on a different scale and timeline” he explained.

Cult of business people Though, the participants tried to avoid the issue of convening a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), as the conference preferred to proffer solutions to the national security problems in the present political context, the clamour for a political reform in the mould of a SNC as the only panacea to Nigeria’s problems kept roaring its head during the discussion.

The charge for the SNC was led by Asari Dokubo, founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, who claimed that “nobody will give us (Nigerians) a Sovereign National Conference, we have to demand it” he affirmed.

He also expressed his disappointment in the failure on Nigerians to make demands off the government.

The former militant leader noted that “kerosene is scarce for no explainable reason and we are not doing anything. We ought to be on the streets by now.” Mr. Dokubo further explained that Nigeria’s problem is not ethnicity, neither is it religion but leadership. “The problem is that the country is led by ‘a cult of business people,’ whose hegemony, until broken, will always hold down the country” he said.

Regional police force The coalition then proffered that, if Nigeria is to continue to operate its present political system, the ‘implantation of a functional budget’ and ‘urgent restructuring of the Nigerian Police’ is vital to bring peace and unity amongst other resolutions.

According to Mr. Dokubo, there is only one government in Nigeria and that is the Lagos State government. “All the 774 local governments, other 35 state governments, the FCT administration and the federal government are no government at all” he stated.

He argued that only in Lagos is budget prepared to meet the need of the people.

“What does Rivers State need a mono rail for?” he asked, citing an example.

“Governments in Nigeria implement project only to soothe political muscles and

• Ibrahim Lamorde, EFCC Chairman boost egos, not to meet the need of the people,” he said.

On restructuring the Nigeria police, all the discussants favoured the establishment of regional police alongside the Nigerian police. They condemned the deployment of commissioners of police to states they may have never visited before noting that “one can only fight crime in a terrain that one knows very well and among a people whose way of life you understand” “As a regional police officer, it is easy to gain the confidence of the people and therefore establish an intelligence base. You will also know the nooks and crannies of the place,” said Alex Sikaboro, a representative of Izon community.

Though the Nigerian police is largely seen as corrupt and inept by the public, the coalition said the government’s prevalent social structure made it so and therefore should be blamed.

“How does a policeman send his brilliant kid to Covenant University or does a policeman’s kid not deserve quality education?” asked Mr Fasehun, adding that Nigerians should learn to spare a thought for police officers as fellow humans.

It was also suggested that communities should be allowed to operate its own private security under a regulated authority.

“I live in Ajegunle and I knew what the place was before OPC came and what it is now. The same thing can be said of Bakassi Boys in Anambra,” said Mr. Sikaboro.

According to him, even Nigerian governors now employ private security;

therefore, communities should be allowed to operate private security because “everyone in the community knows who is a criminal.”

Employment generation, at the heart of which lies power supply, was another resolution the group adopted.

“A hungry man will easily take up arms against his rich neighbours. He will query why they should eat three square meals, with leftovers when he has not eaten a single meal. Electricity affects every aspect of our national security,” Mr. Fasehun said, suggesting that “a heavy tax be imposed on importers of generators.”

Absence of social security The coalition blamed the rise of ethnic militia groups on the absence of social security, noting that each Nigerian youth wades through life practically without any aid from the government.

“We spoke to the government, they didn’t listen, then we gesticulated and they started listening,” said Mr. Fasehun, who advised the government from making it seem like it only understand the language of violence.

The coalition urged the Nigerian government to implement a nationwide social security system rather than wait until a region takes to arm.

They warned that if a region gets largesse from the government, as in the case of amnesty in the Niger Delta, then a clear message is being sent to other regions on how to get their own largesse also.

“Every Nigerian youth deserves social security. No Nigerian should be angry because he is hungry,” Mr. Fasehun warned.

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o

W rld Report

• Ban Ki moon, UN Secretary General

• King Muhammad of Morocco

Morocco And South South Unity THE reign of King Mohammed VI of Morocco is in the process of being framed by a number of progressive and productive pillars. Among these is one stand-out initiative focusing on building SouthSouth cooperation between Morocco and its neighbors within Africa.

Certainly, the SouthSouth movement has been gaining transformative momentum since the 1980s as developing nations began to respond to exploitative dependency relationships that had been forged previously with developed countries.

South-South regional blocs, well managed and for the benefit of the many, can enable the people of nations to have the benefit of open markets without the severe social dislocation that often results. With its increased market size, economies of scale develop which, with increased efficiency, result in a reduction in prices.

The new competition helps to break up monopolies, also putting downward pressure on prices.

Further, the experience of South-South blocs – including the catalyzing of domestic regulatory reforms and standards – may also be considered a transitional phase to global

competitiveness.

Global free traders who would see this form of regionalism both as diverting resources away from multilateralism and as protectionist, should know that in fact South-South unity manifests itself as outward-looking.

Regionalists are very often willing to eliminate trade barriers in a phased process that incorporates, for example, the lessons learned from the economic fallout in rural Mexico under NAFTA. Mexico’s harsh experience certainly informed Morocco’s 2004 free trade agreement with the United States. As a result, Morocco is opening up agricultural products in later stages in order to give more time to promote human development with farming families.

There is an unfortunate irony in that Morocco’s king, who is intellectually and emotionally a backer of regionalism – and specifically of the Maghreb Union of North African nations which is the subject of his 1993 doctoral thesis – should have this aspiration rendered unrealizable because of the four-decade-long conflict surrounding the Sahara, the region which to Morocco is as sacred as

By YOUSEF BEN MEIR

the very concept of sovereignty.

Meanwhile existential matters are left by the wayside. Shared regional challenges involving migration, the environment and security remain unresolved and opportunities for green

autonomous Sahara within Moroccan sovereignty, offers a highly flexible framework, one which it is barely conceivable that Morocco can surpass. The continuation of this conflict may be a classic example of the inability to separate positions from interests.

“There is an unfortunate irony in that Morocco’s king, who is intellectually and emotionally a backer of regionalism – and specifically of the Maghreb Union of North African nations which is the subject of his 1993 doctoral thesis – should have this aspiration rendered unrealizable because of the four-decadelong conflict surrounding the Sahara...” agricultural growth that could transform societies through reinvestment in communities and other major human development initiatives are not realized.

Morocco’s proposal to the United Nations Security Council for a resolution, involving an

As a result of the proposal from the Moroccan side, the onus is placed on the Polisario to describe how they envisage an organizational arrangement for governance that promotes the prosperity of the people and assess whether such

an arrangement could be accommodated by the ‘autonomy within sovereignty’ framework.

They may conclude, after thorough analysis, that Morocco’s proposal enables a governance system that could meet their and the people’s economic, political, cultural and environmental interests.

In any case, Morocco’s proposal for peace encapsulates three concepts, whose employment could help unify southern nations and enable them to realize their human needs.

Decentralization of decision-making and management from the central level to provincial, municipal and community levels is one of the most powerful forms of conflict resolution. For example, it is likely key to salvaging Iraq’s future as a nation state; historically, it was the linchpin enabling the founding of the United States. The Ukraine is banking its future governance system on decentralization and arguably its use is on the rise in all hemispheres.

National governance that supports local people’s decision-making on their development future plays a dual role as a preventative

measure of conflict.

Finally, promoting community empowerment is a national unifying force as people are encouraged to pursue and achieve their self-determined interests.

Morocco, like all nations, struggles with the implementation of its ideals. What the Kingdom undeniably has achieved is the consistent adoption of a stance that promotes sustainable development driven by the participatory democratic method, decentralization and SouthSouth partnerships (while embracing global relations).

The lesson gained from the Moroccan experience, then, is that enabling South-South unity requires three things: a head of state who is positively outspoken and action-oriented in this regard; the adoption of decentralization, both as an arrangement for conflict resolution and to promote development, and the ability of people to associate in freedom.

There are no further preconditions necessary to promote self-reliant regional blocs, nations and communities; with these in place, new, non-dependent relationships will be formed, the means of selfreliance helping to achieve its ends.

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C mment

Change Is No Age Barrier

THERE has been so much talk about General Muhammadu Buhari contesting at the age of 72. There has been so much talk especially from the opposition that he is too old but people who truly seek ‘change’ know

that age is intact an added advantage.

On Monday 22 December, Buhari got a big boost that he was on the right track when the people of Tunisia voted for 88-year old Beji Caid

By SEUN BISUGA

Essebsi. The veteran politician and a nononsense personality (just like Buhari) got the nod of the people

because they wanted change just the way we crave it in Nigeria.

With 55.68 per cent of the vote he coasted to

• Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)

victory. But what were the key things that worked in his favour?

First, Tunisia has since undergone a turbulent political transition phase, with Islamists and secularists clashing over the political direction that the largely secular Arab country would follow and to put an end to these clashes, they voted a man with experience and vision; man that will bring an end to the killing of innocent Tunisians.

Even though he served under the dictatorship of President Zine elAbedine Ben Ali, who was ousted in 2011 after the Arab Spring revolution they know that Essebsi has retraced his step and intends to write his name in gold.

Essebsi’s age had little to do with his victory. It was his firm promises which people knew he would deliver.

US President Barack Obama congratulated Essebsi and hailed the vote as “a vital step toward the completion of Tunisia’s momentous transition to democracy.”

Is Essebsi the only example across the world? In the United States, Ronald Reegan was voted as president at the age of 69, three years short of Buhari’s 72.

In 2008, John Mc Cain, the Republican presidential candidate was 72 when he contested against Obama.

And in 2016, Hillary Rodham-Clinton who has been described as favorite to succeed Obama will be 69 if she does enter the White House as president.

It is not about the age, it is about issues, policies and the change that the person will bring. Buhari is actually 16 years younger than Essebsi and I want to believe that the change Nigerians crave will drive them to vote Buhari in February 2015.

As Governor Babatunde Fashola said, “The real problem is not their age; it is the age of their ideas.” These words were said four years ago.

Never have they been truer than they are today.

Gumsuri Attack And Breakfast Between Mr President And Security Chiefs

By DR. JOHN EGBEAZIEN OSHODI

FOR at least four days the Nigerian people were not aware that a convoy of Boko Haram gunmen had stormed Gumsuri in Borno state on Sunday, at least four days before President Goodluck Jonathan’s Wednesday breakfast with security chiefs to obtain an update on the nation’s security.

Sadly, as the Chief of Defence Staff, Marshall Alex Badeh and other security chiefs, including the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, were being fed questions from State House correspondents after a breakfast meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, shamefully, none of them knew that many Gumsuri residents had been

kidnapped and killed.

The reason for all of them being in the dark was partly due to the fact that the telecommunication facilities in that area had long been destroyed in previous attacks.

The Boko Haram raid resulted in over 30 residents reportedly killed, and over 100 women, girls and boys kidnapped, loaded in pickup trucks and carried away.

Sadly, the insurgents now have a greater supply of children fighters who can be donned in suicide bomb attire for the purpose of doing more harm to even more people.

Ironically, on the same

day that we are finding out about this gross security negligence, we hear that an army court martial sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after they refused to deploy for an operation against Boko Haram. The reason for their refusal was because it is difficult to have a successful fight with problems like poor basic communication equipment and impassable roads on the battleground.

As we now know by his own admission, President Jonathan stated that he continues to receive contradictory advice and suggestions from his security chiefs and other administrators; therefore, how could the president, as the commander-inchief, let the sentenced

soldiers die?

One would think that given the report that the telecommunication towers in many of these regions had long been disabled in earlier Boko Haram attacks that the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers would have had sufficient time to repair these towers, thus saving many lines.

President Jonathan’s sad admission of receiving contradictory advice and suggestions from his security chiefs and other administrators was corroborated by Badeh, in the midst of other security chiefs, when he told the media, “We are certainly not losing it. We are winning the war. Don’t worry; Nigerians should have

faith in their military. The nation will win this war.”

He, Badeh, went on to say, “Normal life is back in Mubi. We are liberating more and more communities. People are moving in. Life is returning back to normal gradually.”

How is it possible to have faith in our military when time and time again we hear of collapsed and impassable roads, broken mobile phone networks and soldiers’ hunger complaints?

The well-armed Islamist rebels are known to come into these places on motorcycles and pickup trucks, so what is stopping the army engineers from creating or buying high performance motorcycles

and delivering them to the soldiers in the battle grounds?

Why does the military continue to leave the already overwhelmed local vigilantes in darkness with no working phones knowing that the militants, known for having heavy machine guns and plenty of canisters of gasoline, will keep terrorizing and killing them?

How long can we continue to leave Nigerian lives like those of the Gumsuri residents in the hands of hunters and vigilantes?

Nigeria, what is Badeh going to say now about the gathered women and children who were taken away in trucks after the rebels burnt most of the village with petrol bombs?

Let’s wait for his new justifications.

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C mment

Failure To Reduce Fuel Pump Price

By BRIMAH PELLEGRINI

• Deziani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum

gains for the people of Nigeria who would be getting the most out of their natural resources. For example, following government’s deregulation in the telecommunication, there has been a reduction in call tariffs. Similar successes have also been recorded in the banking sector with the emergence of stronger banks with unprecedented spread to several other African countries. These are classic examples of the kind of positive effects deregulation could have on the oil sector.” – Federal Ministry of Finance; FAQ on Deregulation of the Downsteam Petroleum Sector and Removal of Fuel Subsidy, < http:// www.fmf.gov.ng/ component/content/article/ 3-trendingnews/63faqfuelsubsidy.html> The principle and implication of the above quote from the Ministry of Finance website is clear— by deregulating the downstream oil sector, Nigerians are subjected to

the risks of higher global oil prices but at the same time meant to benefit from falls in oil prices and other possible pump price alleviations due to competitive market forces.

The world oil price has fallen to below $50/barrel.

This has translated into drops in pump fuel prices across the world; but in violation of the downstream deregulation policy, the Nigerian Minister of Finance has just submitted that the Government will not be reducing the pump price till… quoting the Minister of Economy and Finance on December 17, “Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said in Abuja that the decision to review fuel price either upwards or downwards would only be taken after the current crisis in global oil prices has been settled.” < http:// www.premiumtimesng.com/ business/173454-nigeriawill-not-reduce-fuel-pricetill-oil-crisis-financeminister.html> By deregulating this sector of the economy,

NNPC and a host of cabal private marketers are involved in the import, supply and sale of petroleum products. Oil prices have dropped by 50%; this means, the private Government coterie of oil importers who will likewise not be reducing the price the commodity is sold at the pump will again be amassing humongous profits off of the Nigerian masses.

The people recently held oil subsidy protests which became deadly, in 2012 to be precise due to the Government’s desire to completely remove fuel subsidies and thus increase pump prices to the max. Since then much of the subsidy had been removed and Nigerians have been paying N97 at the pump. For once should Nigerian not benefit the fortune of lower global prices of oil? Should the masses always suffer regardless of cost or competing market factors?

What is the meaning and explanation of Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s statement, that the price will not be adjusted till

“DEREGULATION of the downstream oil sector will improve the efficient use of scarce economic resources by subjecting decisions in the sector to the operations of the forces of demand and supply. This will attract new sellers,

buyers and investors into the market, thereby increasing competition, promoting overall higher productivity and, consequently, lowering prices over time. The ultimate effect of this chain of activities is increased

THE Barack Hussein Obama we elected in 2008/ 2009 is now the president of United States and the nation will be better for it. It took 6+ years to free him from the shackles that held him but it is worth the wait. To many people Obama was held hostage by the Republican Party (RP), but nothing is further from the truth. He was a captive of his own Democratic Party (DP); the so-called moderate Democrats (MD).

The DP was so afraid of losing these moderates that they tied Obama’s hands.

He could not pursue immigration policies because these MD’s would face elections and might be defeated; he could not pursue full universal health care; again, because of these MD’s; ditto for foreign policy pursuits and gun control matters. In the end Mr. Obama became one of the “Democrats in name only” (DINO), as he carried out Republican agenda.

Then came the 2014 midterm elections and the Liberal Democrats (LD) stayed home throughout the election process. The MD’s ran as far away as they could from the DM agenda and from Obama and

Caged Obama is Free

By BENJAMIN OBIAJULU ADUBA

became for all practical purposes Republicans. The RP of course knew who was a lion and who was a lion in sheep’s clothing. They threw away the fake lions and took over the House, the Senate, and the State Mansions.

And in process freed Barack Hussein Obama.

The one we had elected and had re-elected.

The good news is that the old Obama’s MD problem is now Mr. Boehner’s and Mr. McConnell’s problem to be known as Moderate Republicans (MR’s). It is important to define what “moderate” means in American politics. There are clear distinctions between truly Red States and truly Blue States. But there are some states that are magenta (a combination of red and blue). These constituencies produce both MR’s and MD’s. Or as Igbo zoology would have it “usu a bughi anu elu; o bughi anu ala.” Loosely translated as a bat which is not a land based bird or an air based bird.

Republicans will now see what they can do with these bats.

What is a freed Barack Hussein Obama doing with his freedom?

He went after the immigration issue which has bordered him immensely and which the LD had wanted. He used his executive authority. The Republicans are seeking ways to change it but they will now have to contend with, you guessed it, MR’s.

He went after the nominations of long waiting judges and had the lame duck Senate bring them up for vote. The MD’s have failed to satisfy the hungry Republicans and assisted

by Mr. Know-it-all Cruz approved them all to the chagrin of the opposition He went after the 55 year old Cuban Missiles crises and removed some restrictions on trade and travels and moving to normalize relations. And even went on to speak with the “Satan.” Ted Cruz, Mark Rubio et al are up in arms.

They can only watch the show.

New Cuban immigrants and younger Cubans already on the ground in Florida are rejoicing as the powers of the old guard are being diluted. They will soon see a Cuban Ambassador in DC. He went after the invincible gun control lobby, the IRA, and delivered an upper cut punch as his Surgeon General nominee

• President Barack Obama

who had some beef with NRA assumes office.

He has his 12 months budget passed without much effort. Continuing Resolutions would not rear its ugly head till this time next year and by that time the Republicans would have seen what a free Obama looks like.

All these in a mere six weeks.

No, make it the first fifty

global prices “finally stabilize?” Is this not an open ended, “deregulated” statement? When will we know that the prices have finally settled? Will a trumpet be blown? If the promise of lowering prices over time as contained in the Ministry website statement does not occur when supply costs drop, then what other market factors can ever provide this benefit to the people of Nigeria as stated?—A change in government only? Why can Nigerians not begin to benefit the “increased gains” from the fall as they suffer from the higher cost of petroleum products as the deregulation of price controls promises?

How long will the Nigerian masses continue to suffer regardless of rebasing of the economy, high or low oil prices and all other economic indices? Will good and bad economic forces always result in hardship for the masses and more private jets for the cabal? If this violation is not oppression and robbery of the masses then what is it? days of the new Obama Administration. And wait for the first 100 days to come.

It is probably the time to revisit the old American saying: “be careful of what you ask because you might get it.” The RP wanted the control of both Houses now they have it. They wanted Obama and Dems out, now they have it. Opposing and governing are two different things. They must now work with Obama, not against Obama.

And this Obama is angry.

This Obama is free at last.

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o Gen Buhari Is Unstoppable Now P litics

WHAT happened in 1993 between Alhaji Bashir Tofa and the late Chief Moshood Abiola of the blessed memory is about repeating itself in Nigeria in Nigeria today. Before the June 12 1993 presidential elections, handlers of Alhaji Bashir Tofa knew that comparing Bashir Tofa and Chief Abiola is like Apples and Oranges comparison.

They knew that it is like comparing a giant with a dwarf. They knew that there is no basis for the comparison, and if it is a 100m dash Chief Abiola would have hit the tape while Tofa is at the starting point.

The handlers led by Dr Doyin Okupe initiated a strategy to hit Chief Abiola from all corners and try to panel beat him to Tofa’s level. They failed miserably and woefully too. In the process of doing that they helped in no uncertain terms to catapult Chief Abiola to an unprecedented height. The rest is now history.

In 2015, the reckless, useless and fraudulent historians and hack writers are at work again. This time it is a battle between President Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari has contested presidential elections in 2003, 2007, 2011

“Don’t gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold.” ? Bob Marley The die has been cast, the drums have been rolled out and the dancers have already taken the centre stage. It is a very rough road that leads to Armageddon and some may never even reach there. We have crossed this bridge before and it was not an easy way to Terabithia. General elections in Nigeria are a very serious business – too serious to be left in the hands of politicians alone. Since another general election is just around the corner, it is time for me to pen down my piece of peace (#PieceOfPeace).

In the past few weeks, political parties were preoccupied with party primaries across all level of governance. Party tickets have been won and lost. The winners are engulfed with joy and they are looking forward to form more alliances ahead of the February general elections, while some losers are still aggrieved, dissatisfied and angry. Some are even looking for ways to cause chaos during the elections. Only a few of them understood the real meaning

By JOE IGBOKWE

and even though he did not make it, he gave a good account of himself. Though he was cheated out, he got millions of votes. He remained consistent, committed and courageous even in the face of all the troubles he had to go through.

President Jonathan became a deputy Governor and through luck he became Governor, Vice president and now President and he would have ruled Nigeria for six years by next year.

In 2015, Nigerians will take stock. Nigerians are looking back, they are looking at the present and as well as the future. In the past sixteen a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Nigerians have seen a lot. Devastated, pillaged and gang raped in all fronts, Nigerians are now thinking seriously. Shall we continue with this mess? Do we have an alternative? Can we do things differently? Is Nigeria a basket case? Are we helpless and hopeless?

Are our destinies in our hands? Can we bring the change we all desire? Can we raise the bar of leadership in 2015? Can we recover our stolen country? Many hard questions demanding hard answers. After the 2011

elections, General Buhari said he may not seek the highest office again. But the crisis of leadership in our country has pushed him to throw his hat into the ring again. He has been compelled by the forces of history to step forward again and this time it is a different ball game. General Buhari of yesteryears is no longer the same Buhari of today. Things have changed. Time has changed. The calculations, equations and permutations have changed. Nigerians want Buhari to come clean up the Augean Stable PDP led federal government is leaving behind. GMB is coming to change the way we think and the way we work.

But the enemies are at the door again. The thieves are at the door once again. They are with guns, bombs, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (IBM), Rocket Launchers (RL), Warships, Jet fighters, Bows and Arrows, AK-47s, etc to shoot him down. They tell us he is a Religious Bigot, an Islamic fundamentalist, a semiilliterate person, too old and too weak to get things done.

They are still manufacturing every bad thing under the

sun and are heaping them at GMB’s doorsteps. They are desperate, vicious, hopeless, helpless and potentially dangerous. They are doing everything humanly possible to stop and if possible to kill General Buhari. This is the reason why l want maximum security for General Buhari now. These meretricious mediocrity can pull the house down to remain in power.

They are ready to slaughter thousands to remain. They are ready to continue to divide the country to remain in power.

The corrupt people and criminals in the land will do everything humanly possible to stop Buhari. We have seen them at work. They know the consequences of General Buhari’s presidency. They know that he is a no nonsense man. They know he will fight criminals head on. They know he is going to remove feeding bottles from their mouths. They know he will do things differently. They know his puritanical disposition and they know he will stop at nothing to stop the mess in the land. General Buhari may be a religious bigot, he may be a fundamentalist, he may be a dictator, he may be an old man and semi illiterate, he may be everything they claim

• Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); APC Presidential candidate

he is but these congenital liars from the pit of hell will kiss the dust. They will swallow their words when the chips are down. They will go down with their pathological lies when it dawns on them that no 21st century idiot will stop an idea whose time has come.

They can call General Buhari names, they can call him anything but it will amount to nothing. Those who claimed they are PHD holders have disappointed us. Those who claimed they are not dictators have bruised and oppressed us.

Those who claimed they are young brought shame and mediocrity to us. Leadership is not measured by height or

age. Mr Webster wrote Webster Dictionary at the age of 80. Buhari remains a candidate to beat in the 2015 presidential election and I pity these characters who will dare to stand on his way. I pity those who did not know when the train left the station.

I sympathize with those who did not know when to call a spade a spade. I fear for those who did not know that an idea whose time has come is here. I worry that history is leaving some people behind in Nigeria. I fear that some compound idiots who have ruined Nigeria for years are yet to come to terms with GMB’s towering personality. TIME WILL TELL.

Piece Of Peace: 2015 Polls

BY SHAFI’I HAMID

of sportsmanship in politics and that brings us to where we presently find ourselves.

Many politicians in Nigeria are very selfish and they are always ready at any given time to do whatever it takes to get elected. The life of the poor in our society and the peace of the nation mean nothing to them in as much as the elections did not go in their favour. The opposition will do everything within their arsenals to muscle their way into power, while the incumbents will also use all armaments to keep power. All the dirty tricks in the books will be deployed by all and at the end of the day they leave blood in the streets. Oh yes!

We have crossed this bridge before and it never leads to Terabithia.

The 2011 general elections was marred with wide spread post-election violence in some sections of the country.

The Federal Government constituted a twenty-two man committee headed by a Minna-based former Grand Khadi, Sheikh Ahmad Lemu.

Nobody was in any doubt

when the highly respected Sheikh presented a very meticulous report with insightful recommendations on how to forestall future occurrences. But very typical of this administration, the report, just like many other committee reports before it, was dumped in a shelf somewhere in a corner of Aso Rock villa. No surprise that nobody heard anything about the Lemu’s report or its recommendations that was submitted to the current president. Ironically, this and many other good intentioned works for promoting peace and religious understanding earn the Sheikh the 2014 King Faisal Prize at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Since then many things have change in this country.

The Fulani man carrying stick before is now carrying gun.

The repentant Niger Delta militants carrying guns before are now warship importers.

The Boko Harams carrying AK47 before are now controlling Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and the Ombatse militia of

Nasarawa state are now gun runners. Our territories have been annexed by religious extremists that claimed to be fighting for Islam. Weapons, weapons, everywhere, but not enough for the Army. Of great concern are the recent serial jailbreaks that took place at different locations in the country. The pattern of these prison breaks have political colouration written all over them. Everyday there is a terror story in Nigeria and no one is feeling secure.

Unfortunately, the government of the day has its priorities and providing security to the citizenry is not at the top of their scale of preference. Winning election and retaining their offices is all they have ear for. At the top of these all we are facing a general election in an uncertain, insecure, vulnerable and defenceless situation.

It is important to point out that no politician is worth dying for and no one deserve to die because of an election.

Rewind: actually, not even an ant deserves to die because of an election. I also believe that the security of lives and

properties of the citizenry is the responsibility of all, but the bulk lies on the table of the Commander-in-Chief and the Executive governors of the states. History shows that the utterances of some political gladiators during electioneering are clear pointers that motivate violent tendencies in the electorates.

Therefore, it is high time we start holding our leaders responsible for their unguided utterances in the run-up to elections. The way and manner some electorates easily become willing tools for political manipulations to cause violence during or after elections calls for a serious concern. It still beat my imaginations that in this year and age some people still participate in political thuggery without their political godfathers and their children leading the way in the streets. It is totally against the law of fairness for politicians to incite the masses to kill themselves on the streets during elections while their children are sent to the most expensive schools abroad studying.

Indeed, common sense is not

always common.

The politics of tribe, religion and region is a very sensitive thing to play with in Nigeria, but unfortunately that is what the politicians are using to divide us. The moment any of these is mention, we quickly loose our senses. We quickly take sides depending on which side of the argument we come from. The election is just around the corner, but no one is discussing issues yet. No one is discussing the peace and security of the electorates before, during and after the elections. As far as I am concern, the security of lives and properties of the citizenry is far more important than the value attached to winning elections. Without peace and security in the nation, there will be no country to rule.

Let us be our brother ’s keepers and let’s shun any act of violence that will jeopardize the peace and tranquillity of the nation. Vote wisely because your vote is your right. This is my #PieceOfPeace.

Complement of the season and God bless Nigeria.

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C unselling

With

Culture And Human Phenomena

CULTURE is a word for people’s way of life, meaning the way groups do things. Different groups of people may have different cultures. A cultures is passed on to the next generation by learning whereas, genetics are passed on by heredity. Culture is seen in people’s writing, religion, music, clothes, cooking and in what they do.

The word culture is most commonly used in three ways, vis: excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also, known as high culture. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavour, the attitudes, values, morals, goals and customs shared by a society.

Most broadly, culture includes all human phenomena which are not purely results of human genetics.

Cultures are what make countries unique. Each country has different cultural activities and cultural rituals. Culture therefore, is more than just material goods, that is, things the culture uses and produces.

Culture is also, the beliefs and values of the people in that country. culture also, includes the way people think about and understand the world and their own lives.

Different countries have different cultures. For example, some older Japanese people wear Kimonos arrange flowers in vases and have tea ceremonies.

Culture can also, vary within a region, society or subgroup. A work place may have a specific culture that sets it apart from similar work places.

A region of a country may have a different culture than the rest of t he country. for example, Atlantic Canada has a different culture than the rest of Canada which is expressed by different ways of talking, different types of music and different types of dances.

A group who acts or speaks differently may be said to be or have a subculture. Companies or other organisations

(groups of people) can have a separate culture.

Japanese manufacturing companies often have a different culture to western companies, the workday starts with exercise and the workers are very loyal to the company.

The meaning of culture is similar to the meaning of custom. A custom is more about practices, while culture is about ideas or a group of customs. A custom overall is just similar to culture and culture means the way of life of a people.

In some countries, it is polite, respectful to bow to older people. In some countries, you take your shoes off before entering the house. In some places, they sit on the floor and eat.

Folklore- it is the body of expressive culture including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs and more within a particular people.

This also, includes the oral traditions of that culture, subculture or group.

In Nigeria – more than 250 ethnic tribes call present day Nigeria home.

The largest and most dominant ethnic groups are ht Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Other smaller groups include the Fulani, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv and Edo. These ethnic groups had separate and independent histories. Their grouping together into a single entity known as Nigeria, was a construct of their British colonizers.

The Niger and Benue Rivers come together in the centre of the country, creating a “Y” that splits Nigeria into three separate sections. In general, this “Y” marks the boundaries of the three major ethnic groups, with the Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and the igbo in the southeast.

Politically, Nigeria is divided into thirty-six states. The nation’s capital was moved from Lagos,

O.C. Madu

the country’s largest city to Abuja on 12 December, 1991. Abuja is in a federal territory that is not part of any state. Lagos remains the financial, commercial and diplomatic centre of the country.

In the advancement of culture alone lies true progress for each of the people. There must naturally be ascent in everything and no standstill. But this upward

reflection. Nor is that which is borrowed or taken over really one’s property, even if one wishes to make it so, it is not something personally achieve, not a result of the people’s own spirit of which alone it could and must be proud.

A great task rests therein for everyone overseas. To let each people there become great within itself, entirely out of itself, through its own abilities, which vary so greatly among the many peoples of this earth. All must come

death, because, the refreshing influence of the complementary would be missing.

Man cannot strive against those things to which he like every other creature is subject, in as much as he will never achieve anything unless he takes into account the living laws which are woven into this creation.

Whenever he acts against and disregards them he is

progress must always take place upon and out of its own soil, not through adopting, foreign things, otherwise, it is never progress. The word itself in its true sense rejects any imitation.

People can only progress through the upward development of what it already possess and not by the adoption of something it has borrowed.

Taking something over is not progress, for progress shows itself in the improvement of what already exits. This alone should cause some

to full blossom according to the nature of the soil upon which they have developed. They must remain adapted to the soil in order to unfold that beauty which swings harmoniously upon earth with the others.

It is just through the difference in kind that right harmony comes into existence and not through uniformity among all the peoples. If this had been willed then there would have been only one country and one people.

This however, would soon bring about a stand still and ultimately decay and

bound to suffer shipwreck sooner or later.

True progress for each people lies solely in the development of its own culture adopted to the soil, the climate and the race, man must become indigenous in the purest sense, if he wishes to develop and expect help from the light. He should be ware of adopting the habits, and customs of people alien to his nature, not to mention foreign opinions. To be rooted in once native soil is a basic condition and alone guarantees health, strength and maturity.

GSM: 08056379608

“People can only progress through the upward development of what it already possess and not by the adoption of something it has borrowed.”

Where there is no harmony, there is no beauty. Look at a chinaman, when he wears a top-hat or Japanese or Turk for that matter.

Caricatures of European culture. Look at the Japanese woman who nowadays dresses herself in European clothes and then see her when she wears the costume of her own country. What a difference. How much she loves when wearing clothes alien to her country. it is indeed a great loss for her.

It is not arbitrary or accidental that earthmen are of different form and colour. The primordial laws of creation place them in the exact region which alone serves for their maturing on earth and also, equip them accordingly.

The animistic fashions your earthly bodies and at the sametime the nourishment for heir maintenance. But the effects are only uniform in a particular zone in a particular part of the earth.

Human beings fruit of creation, nothing but creatures who are and remain closely connected with the zone and the radiations of that part of the earth where you came into being.

Just observe this. On this earth, the earthly body is closely connected with the zone in which the place of birth is located. If it in also to remain healthy in a foreign zone, if it is to retain its full vigour for its activity on earth, then it is necessary that the basis for the feeding of the body must be that provided by the zone where it was born. With care he will then able to create a bridge which for a time makes it possible to unfold his full powers, but never permanently. Now and then he must return in order to obtain new vitality.

But in spite of everything he will also, shorten his life on earth.

Peace and joy!

THE WEEKEND

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Nigerian People Are The Problem

By JOHN EGBEAZIEN OSHODIN NIGERIANS apparently are the source of their massive problems, as a result of what could be called Nigeriantitis or Nigeriantiatis, a deepseated societal syndrome.

Nigeriantitis is viewed as a characteristic combination of a variety of familial, geographical, cultural, religious, social, economic, political, interpersonal and psycho-africalytic symptoms.

The concept of Nigeriantitis, an all-out homegrown sickness, can be traced to the historical worry of Obafemi Awolowo upon the attainment of Nigerian independence in the 20th century. In his capacity as a nationalist, Chief Awolowo saw early on the signs of pathologies in value and ethics of the newlyformed independent nation, and these ills have now grown into a collection of ailing morals, integrities, consciences, beliefs and actions.

As a social or cultural syndrome, Nigeriantitis has deeply disfigured Nigerians’ way of life and swelled in

massive proportions to form entrenched pattern of behaviors. This syndrome exhibits visible signs of infection as it crosses through the various social, educational, economic, political, industrial, and governmental aspects of society. Carried by one Nigerian after another, this systemic infection, in all of its forms, is kept in a constantly active state.

As Nigerians who have all been affected with this sickness, we continue to “infect” each other as we mingle at home, at school, on highways, in vehicles, workplaces, hospitals, churches, religious settings, and all other places where we meet.

Under this influence and under our breath, we enter the labor sector, the public and private work settings, and as well as from the lowest to highest levels of political, economic, religious, educational leadership, continuously infecting and

acting out these symptoms against each other.

As such, the national community remains chronically ill with problems like incompetency, despondency, dishonesty, viciousness, unsteadiness, and unmaintainable infrastructure.

This disease has choked all of us to the extent that it has formed a chain around everyone’s neck. Our children watch as we carry this disease around with us, and in the process, they too become predisposed to this disease, keeping it growing and spreading, on and on without end.

With our rising population, this syndrome has become a chronic pressure on our polity and governance structure.

What do we do to flush it out of our bodies, and to eradicate its devastating effects on our minds?

Since this is a national disease, we have to take a societal approach to deal with this monstrous disease. As a socially and culturally-based contiguous and entrenched illness, fighting this epidemic,

that has spread much like the pattern of an infectious diseases and has now become unbearable for the nation, will require the collective determination and

our society. While there is no immediate cure for Nigeriantitis, it is treatable by creating changes in one’s own spiritual, physical, psychological, social, and

your own observations and feelings, you have rejected this illness from your spirit, mind and body.

With a new mind set, the

shared efforts on the part of all of us.

The people have the internal resources to deal with Nigeriantitis in its epidemic form, so as to put an end to its devastation on the psyche of our people and

economic character and functioning. Once the changes are made on an individual level, the “treatment” is continued by each one telling someone else, especially someone close to you, that through

further cultivation, exposure and spreading of Nigeriantitis can be permanently halted, and with healing in many, if not all, from this condition, as we work together towards a healthier society for the betterment of the next generation.

Celebrating US-Cuba ‘New Start’ “IT’S a courageous and historically necessary step.

It’s possibly the most important step of his [Obama] presidency.”

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro Not many people saw it coming yet it did. In fact, not many would think this day will ever come in the history of US-Cuba relations but it did and that in itself is a sign that nations in conflict could resolve issues through internal mechanisms and diplomatic tact. The last one to two days has witnessed a global reaction, albeit positive, to a long standing diplomatic and political impasse that seemed almost unending — US-Cuba relations. It is one issue that appeared as though was going to last forever, as both nations remained adamant and unwilling to kick-start a new process that would end its over 50 years of unbridled diplomatic stand-off.

How did we get to this point? It would be recalled that Cuba’s alliance with the Soviet Union saw it enmeshed in the Cold War geopolitical struggle between the US and Soviet Union. The consequence of

this alliance led President Dwight Eisenhower to impose the very first trade embargo on Cuba in 1960 with diplomatic ties severed the following year. It would not be long before the botched 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis sparked a long run of broken relations between the two countries.

It was however thought that with the fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War, relations would be normalised as was done with Communist states like China and Vietnam but Cuba alongside Iran and North-Korea remained at the periphery of Washington’s foreign relations.

Not even the 1996 HelmsBurton law passed in 1996 to strengthen the existing trade embargo on Cuba and pressure the Castro government on regime change could help salvage an already worsening economic situation in Cuba.

Rapprochements with Venezuela under Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro provided Cuba with a lifeline but this, according to analysts, is recently

By RAHEEM OLUWAFUNMINIYI

threatened by Venezuela’s dwindling economy and fear that the country’s socialist experiment may not last.

The Gordian knot was however untied when President Obama, after months of furtive negotiations with the Cuban government, announced on days back a number of sweeping changes that would kickstart economic, political and diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The announcement formed part of Obama’s post-2008 election policy shifts where a “new start” in relations was promised between the two countries. Interestingly, to begin the implementation on the Cuban policy shift, Obama in 2011 relaxed some travel restrictions but the implementation remained stalled so long Alan P. Gross, a US government contractor arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison was still held.

After Obama’s re-election, Cuba became a priority with negotiations led by Benjamin J. Rhodes and

Ricardo Zúñiga saw nine meetings held with Cuba beginning in June 2013.

The role played by both the Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis in the negotiations remains highly remarkable.

In fact, while the former was said to have provided the ground where most of the meetings were held, the latter helped to encourage the talks through written letters to both country’s president and even hosted a meeting at the Vatican in October to finalise the deal.

Both presidents even went as far as talking for the first time in over 50 years on the phone for more than 45 minutes to formally seal the deal.

To appreciate the USCuba “new start”, Cuba released Mr. Gross (released separately on humanitarian grounds because he was, according to officials, not technically part of the release deal) and the US in return freed three imprisoned Cuban spies caught in 1998. They were swapped for Rolando Sarraf Trujillo, a Cuban imprisoned in Cuba for nearly 20 years.

Aside this, part of the deal

will see the US easing restrictions on remittances, travel and banking. Cuba will follow up by allowing more internet access and releasing 53 Cubans identified as political prisoners by the US. Also, Cuba will be removed from the US terrorist list which will pave the way for a much deeper bilateral cooperation in the area of counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism among other related security issues. The most important highlight of this new policy is the idea to resume diplomatic relations and open embassies in Havana and Washington respectively.

The new US-Cuba relations is one of the remarkable foreign policy transformations taking place in this era. This is because millions of Cubans who have had to face humiliating sufferings for over 50 years between two hostile nations would finally have reprieve. For the fact Obama had observed that “These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked” is an indication that “It’s time for a new approach.” Also, the fact

that this is happening at a time previous US presidents looked the other way is a proof that US foreign policy is nonbelligerent and hegemonic.

The “new start” in USCuba relations is a right step in the right direction.

Now is the time to kick-start a viable process that will end a 54 year political debacle that has divided families and wounded lives.

This is not only victory for Latin America but also Cuba and the US altogether. This is victory for American foreign policy and international peace.

Despite growing dissatisfaction with this policy shift among the Republican dominated Congress and a number of Latin American states, it is hoped common sense will prevail in handling this issue.

All the same, this new start is a win-win situation for both countries, it’s a laudable initiative and a very important opportunity for the US to change the world’s perception about its foreign policy decisions.

The cold war has ended and so should the sanctions and embargo on Cuba.

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s

I sues “Fellow Nigerians, let us take our destiny in our hands and demand loud and clear transparency and accountability making use of every tool legally available to us as citizens otherwise we are doomed.”

You Be Thief: I No Be Thief

By EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO

NIGERIA is indeed an exciting country to live in particularly because of the diverse shades of characters that populates the top echelon of governments not just in the current dispensation but even in almost all previous administrations. Ordinarily, Nigeria ought not to be a neighbour of poverty but due to crass indiscipline and unprecedented but unpardonable crime of official graft and bribery made worse by greed and avarice on the part of the ruling political elites and their acolytes in the socalled private sector the nation’s enormous financial resources have all but disappeared into private offshore accounts of these thieving elites. The nation’s foreign reserves are been depleted with a speed of lightening even with the presence of the so-called ivy league economic managers.

Governance at the state level has become anything but good even as nepotism has been elevated to an official modus operandi. In Plateau state the octogenarian governor has just appointed his son as a commissioner of an influential ministry and in Abia both the governor and his son gave themselves the party tickets to both the national and state assemblies in the next dispensation and in most other states the outgoing governors who have served out their tenures which distributed massive penury to the citizenry have hand picked their successors and the national electoral panel [INEC] is in a such a messy state that it can not guarantee free and fair election come February 14th 2015. INEC has failed in the most basic assignment of registering qualified Nigerian voters.

I said Nigeria ought not to have anything to do talk less cohabit with poverty on

a very massive and suffocating scale because of the huge natural resources by way of solid and liquid mineral resources that God has bestowed on us but for the primitive acquisitiveness and the evil ghost of corruption that have afflicted the nation courtesy of the largely morally depraved political and economic elites, most homes are unable to feed their members three square meals per day. Terrorists have severely threatened the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the armed forces have fought for three years but still hasn’t thrashed a largely rag tag bunch of armed Islamists.

But today due to the shaky nature of the global asking price of crude oil the country is now gripped with anxiety, hysteria and national paralysis.

There is a general climate of fear amongst the hugely deprived and impoverished majority of the citizenry because of the devaluation of the national currency visà-vis the international currencies of USD and the British Pounds. The devaluation of the national currency means that inflation would rise and the cost of living will become or indeed has assumed a disturbing dimension.

There is a general atmosphere of cash crunch coupled with the fact that workers that constitute a tiny minority in the midst of massive unemployment haven’t received their wages in over three months and in Abia State there is even a report that workers haven’t been paid a dime since the beginning of this year but yet the state governors are spending foreign currencies as if these would go out of circulation.

Well these ugly scenarios are not the main reason for this piece but rather the hot verbal exchanges between

the former Agriculture and rural development minister under the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime Alhaji Adamu Bello and his successor Dr Adesina Akinwunmi over who is lying about corruption in the agricultural sector and this unhealthy debate has rattled quiet a lot of feathers in the corridors of power especially coming at a tensed election period when the current administraton has massively advertised lots of revolutionary claims of wiping off corruption in the distribution of fertilizers to farmers among other landmark achievements in the agricultural ministry.

The shameless dance of the naked masquerades between these two officials has revealed only but one thing I have always suspected that all the noise generated by the current minister of agriculture which have won him many alleged phoney awards from some foreign quarters in the recent times may as well be seen from the realm of the saying that the more you hear the less you understand. Some of us have been hoodwinked into believing some of those ‘media generated’ accomplishments in the agriculture ministry under the current dispensation to such an extent that I have personally penned several articles to appraise them. I must state immediately that I have always expressed my doubts because as someone whose Mother is a rural farmer with a large expanse of landed assets in Imo state I know too well that I haven’t come across any farmer small or big in my side of Imo state that has benefitted from all the advertised credit facilities made in the many claims by the agriculture ministry officials.

The former agriculture minister who unarguably is the longest served minister

Battle Cry In Agric

• Dr. Adesina; Minister of Agriculture in that capacity in Nigeria’s recent history alleged that the current minister has been clever by half in the way and manner that he has made many claims one of which is that his administration of the agriculture ministry brought to an end the long lasting regime of corruption in the distribution of fertilizers and its subsidy to farmers. He also denied that the current administration has saved the nation nearly N80 Billion from these corruption schemes that have gone on since that ancient ministry was created. The former minister said from 1999 to 2007, total subsidy for fertilizers stood at less than N25 Billion. He dismissed the claim that N26 Billion was stolen yearly from fertilizer subsidy annually for forty years. sincerely the former agriculture minister achieved nothing that I can remember even as a journalist who covered that ministry when he held sway for many years.

This fight of former and current agric ministers reminds me of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti who during his illustrious career as a

musician before his glorious transition to the great World beyond released an iconic stanza which goes thus; “You be thief, I no be thief, you be Robber I no be robber, argument plus argument are arguing”….

If Nigeria is a civilised democracy what should be happening now is that the independent and incorruptible parliament and the organized civil society would have begun independent probe of the claims to verify who is lying and who is telling the truth since the two ministers seem to be dishing out substantial statistics to back up their bitterly divisive claims. But in Nigeria most corruption allegations are swept conveniently under the filthy carpets even as the two anti graft commissions are busy chasing after petty pick pockets whilst the big fishes stealing Nigeria blind are roaming the corridors of power at every level. So tell me how we can come out of this vicious circle of high inflation and regime of suffocating mass poverty when those who should provide good governance and those who should

provide checks and balances in the parliament are busy sharing the national cake and the court of law has been completely compromised to such an extent that it can dish out frivolous injunctions to even stop any move to probe in the national parliament any allegations of official corruption.

Fellow Nigerians, let us take our destiny in our hands and demand loud and clear transparency and accountability making use of every tool legally available to us as citizens otherwise we are doomed.

We can no longer afford to be complacent and behave like mere passive participants or ordinary passengers and let politicians and their corrupt tendencies to ruin us completely. We must refuse to accept the assessment in some circles that Nigerians are so resilient negatively that even when they are pushed to the wall they would dig holes in those walls and run away but we must take it upon us to ensure that there is accountability by all elected and appointed public office holders of all levels.

THE WEEKEND

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e

D velopment

NEEDED: Agricultural Revolution

UNDER optimal conditions, agricultural development has proven to be an effective engine not only to power a developing nation’s economy but also to sustain its prosperity. Growth in the sector has a multiplier effect in emerging markets, sparking growth in nonagriculture sectors as well. In the book The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa, development expert Calestous Juma writes, “Prioritizing agricultural development could yield significant, interconnected benefits, particularly in achieving food security and reducing hunger; increasing incomes and reducing poverty; advancing the human development agenda in health and education; and reversing environmental damage.”

Recognizing this fact, and in light of the ongoing volatility of oil prices, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is recommitting itself to agricultural development.

Since the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria has relied on oil revenue as the basis of its economy, with declining public funds allocated to agriculture that have given rise to higher annual food import bills. As a result of this dependency, when oil prices fluctuate, so does the nation’s GDP. To remedy this effect, the FGN attempted to begin implementing marketoriented reforms designed to diversify economic growth in 2008, with an emphasis on developing public-private partnerships (PPPs).

However, this move toward privatization was slow and lacked the commitment and strategy to effect such a dramatic change. But, as it has been widely reported in recent months, the nation is

now undergoing massive restructuring and transformation – led by a new ministerial administration – moving from subsistence farming to business-oriented agriculture designed to once again become a substantial portion of the nation’s GDP. IFDC redemption clerks prepare vouchers for farmers in Taraba State during the 2012 Fertilizer Voucher Program. Nearly 40,000 farmers in Taraba were able to access discounted fertilizer from the private sector through the program.

“We are driving a public sector-enabled and private sector-led agricultural transformation,” said Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, in an address to the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “We must free ourselves from dependency on crude oil. Agriculture is the sector where we have the greatest potential to achieve this – and now is the time.”

This commitment was reiterated during the 19th Nigerian Economic Summit, held in September, which focused on the theme “Growing Agriculture as a Business to Diversify Nigeria’s Economy.” With intensified market development plans, the expansion of Notore – the only urea plant in SubSaharan Africa – and six new fertilizer plants expected to be operational by 2017, the goal of the FGN is to turn Nigeria into “a global agricultural powerhouse.”

But a nation’s sheer will to make such a change is insufficient in and of itself; development resources are critical. This is the primary reason that the FGN has enlisted IFDC to expand its efforts to build sustainable

In Nigeria

agro-input supply networks in the nation. In the past decade, IFDC has led more than a dozen Nigeria-based projects – seeding commercial input markets in the country, building the capacity of agro-dealers and working with private companies and farmers to create more functional value chains. Farmers are almost continuously trained in new technologies and methods, such as FDP and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM).

However, these agricultural development activities will achieve maximum impact only when a proper enabling environment is created in combination with the appropriate tools needed to employ yield-boosting practices. Thus, in Nigeria, the lack of timely access to affordable, high-quality inputs remains the smallholder farmer’s greatest limiting factor.

Targeted Support: the Impetus to Market Development Targeted subsidies – if properly implemented – can serve as an effective way to get inputs (fertilizer and seed) into the hands of farmers.

Input vouchers (both paper and electronic) are a popular form of targeted subsidies that act as discount coupons designed to transfer the purchasing power to targeted smallholder farmers.

Successful voucher programs include heavy private sector participation and are customized to a country’s particular circumstances. IFDC first introduced vouchers in Afghanistan in 2002 to

provide post-conflict emergency assistance. Since then, millions of farmers in countries across Africa and Eurasia have benefited from these programs. When implemented effectively, subsidy programs go far beyond merely distributing vouchers to farmers. The heart of a true “smart subsidy” initiative is the effective inclusion of the private sector at every possible level of the agricultural supply chain.

These efforts build the foundation for sustainable, vibrant input market systems by empowering private sector companies to deliver inputs directly to farmers, with only participatory oversight from a given national government.

Conversely, heavy government subsidization almost always undermines the commercial agriculture sector and usually results in some levels of corruption and fraud. And with often-poor estimations in required fertilizer quantities and delays associated with poor infrastructure, little fertilizer actually reaches the farmers most in need. This was the reality for 40 years in Nigeria.

The government subsidized fertilizer to such a degree that it, in essence, competed with the private sector rather than partnering to build a more effective input distribution system. “Under the past fertilizer subsidy interventions, the private sector was not able to do what it does best: provide products at an affordable price in a competitive market,” says Scott Wallace, IFDC country representative in Nigeria. “Middlemen

received government contracts to deliver products to government warehouses, creating a situation in which the farmer was no longer part of the equation. Thus, fertilizer products of questionable quality were often delivered and redistributed through political connections before finding their way into the marketplace.”

Nevertheless, to address the immediate need to assist targeted farmers and the long-term need to strengthen the private sector, IFDC has led subsidy programs in select Nigerian states each year since 2008. Through these state-level programs, fertilizer reached a total of more than 300,000 farmers, most of whom had never before received subsidized fertilizer. Sustainable and direct linkages were created, from suppliers to distributors and from distributors to local agro-dealers.

Charting a New Development Course With the 2010 appointment of Dr. Adesina as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the FGN announced that it would be exiting the business of fertilizer distribution. “Within the first 90 days of this administration, we ended the 40-year-old fertilizer sector [issues],” said Adesina in an October Leadership article.

“The old system of government buying and selling fertilizers was scrapped, and all fertilizer companies were required to sell directly to farmers, not to government warehouses.”

The FGN’s new Growth Enhancement Support (GES) program is one of the government’s first steps in balancing its focus between the oil and agriculture sectors. To reach farmers directly, the 2013 GES

program utilized electronic vouchers that were received by farmers through mobile phones (also known as an “ewallet” system). The system allowed registered farmers to receive text messages alerting them that they could pick up their input package at a local redemption center.

IFDC provided technical expertise in the design and implementation of the program and coordinated supply-side activities in 15 states. This included coordination with input suppliers and government officials to ensure that an adequate stock of fertilizers was available throughout the program. Covering the entire nation, the program linked more than 4.5 million farmers to subsidized fertilizer; IFDC directly helped 2.4 million farmers to access the critical input within the 15 states coordinated by the Center.

“It is nothing short of amazing that the GES has already reached such an enormous scale in just its second year of operation, especially considering the decades-old precedent of government procurement, which crowded out the private sector instead of fostering it,” said Luke McCarthy, IFDC input voucher specialist.

So, one might say that the FGN not only has the sheer will to transform the sector, it also has a plan. The GES program and other marketled efforts are putting Nigeria on track for substantial agricultural transformation.

“We ended the approach of treating agriculture as a development program,” said Adesina during the 36th Session of the IFAD Governing Council. “We now treat agriculture as a business to generate wealth for millions of our people.”

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

P rspective

NIGERIA

The Stockholm SYNDROME

By JOE ONWUKEME.

STOCKHOLM Syndrome: “is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with their captors”.

These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kin.

This is the syndrome we are synonymous with here in Nigeria, the only difference is that hostage taking are not perpetrated by captors but by our leaders in comparison to the former. I can’t really say exactly when we got embroiled in this Stockholm syndrome and many other psychological disorders, from my little research, I have come to realize that the nature of our colonial history and series of military interferences in our government contributed a whole lot to many of these ignorant and psychological disorders.

The transition from military rule to democratic government in 1999 didn’t change our mentality, the series of human rights violations perpetrated by past military administrators had psychologically altered our mindset.

It wasn’t long before we realized in terms of governance, there is no much difference between military rule and democratic government, the issue of poverty, economic decline, lack of basic and social amenities, unemployment, insecurity, corruption etc that characterised the military administration have also not been addressed by both past and present democratic governments. Our political class have continued to wallow in their chutzpah in monumental corruption and have failed totally in the fight against corruption, with little and infinitesimal performance to show for our near 16 years of democratic rule.

The decay and rot in our democracy so far, and from the posturing of our leaders towards governance, it won’t be wrong to say most of our leaders are suffering from a psychological disorder known as Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD).

It is characterised by a long standing pattern of attention seeking behaviour and extreme emotionality.

Someone with Histrionic personality disorder wants to be the centre of attention in any group of people and feel uncomfortable when they are not, while often lively, interesting and sometimes dramatic, they have difficulty when people aren’t focused exclusively on them.

(Source: psychcentral.com/ disorders) HPD is a microcosm of what is wrong with majority of our politicians, they are always longing for appreciation, to achieve that, they engage in persistent manipulative behaviours.

Anybody that sees himself in position of authority and don’t take advantage of such to enrich his or herself is assumed to be a fool, anybody that don’t attach titles or recognises those in authority present at an event no matter how insignificant they are is assumed to be rude. We have been manipulated to think about our politicians from an ignorant mindset and prism, we have been so used to their jaded style of leadership and their infinitesimal performance that any stroke of effort above average in terms of performance is glorified and

blown out of proportion.

We find it difficult to distinguish between what is real and unreal. Not distinguishing what’s real and unreal is also a psychological disorder known as Schizophrenia: Often a significant loss of contact with reality, Nigerian citizens have not only lost touch with reality, we have an altered perception of reality. When you lost touch with reality, Schizophrenia sets in, when Schizophrenia sets in it could lead to another psychological disorder known as Self Defeating Personality Disorder: a pervasive pattern of self defeating behaviour, the person will not like to be associated with anybody or group of persons that may want to bring a change, they rather identify with people or situations that will bring dissapointments, failures or mistreatment even when better options are clearly available. This disorder exactly describes Nigerias situation especially in politics. Nigeria is in dare need of a change of government, yet many are still comfortable with the below average performance we are getting presently and can do the unimaginable to make sure this abysmal failure continues.

Celebration of mediocrity hold sway in our society because we have been so immuned to Stockholm syndrome and other psychological disorders.

That explains why we celebrate our government whenever they perform their civic rights like, paying their workers their salaries at the end of every month, construction of new roads or

renovation of air ports, or privatisation of our moribund power sector.

We celebrate under performers and compare their insignificant achievements to that of world’s heroes like Martin Luther King, Lee kuan yew and Nelson Mandela etc.

We stoically accept, obey and defend every idea or instructions given to us by those in authority no matter how clueless such instructions are: Our lecturers will publicly announce in class, “if you don’t buy my text book, you won’t pass my course”, we become more interested in buying and passing the course to reading and knowing the content of the book- Stockholm syndrome.

When we go to synagogue for miracles and out of the pastor ’s greed and negligence church building collapses on us, we attribute it to the will of GodStockholm syndrome.

When our politicians manipulate their ways to power and tell us, “it is the will of God, God puts his people on the throne” and we believe them- Stockholm syndrome.

When our president confidently tells us there is a great difference between stealing and corruption and we believe him- Stockholm syndrome.

When our security institutions take up arms against the citizens in favour of government’s selfish interest and we see nothing wrong in their barbaric actionsStockholm syndrome.

When a group or government institutions go on strike or protest over unfulfilled promises of the government and we condemn them for demanding for their rightsStockholm syndrome.

When some rag tag boys lay siege in North Eastern parts of our country, terrorising, raping, kidnapping and killing people with impunity and we justify their actions because we think they are fighting a just course- Stockholm

• President Goodluck Jonathan syndrome.

The list is endless, you can help me write down your own experiences of stockholm syndrome.

We have accepted in good fate that corruption is part of dividends of our democracy.

What we argue and compare in every government is who has appropriated more state funds for personal enrichment than the other, whose government is more corrupt than the other. In fact, the debate going on now is that in government, stealing is quite different from corruption.

Government’s insensitivity towards the affairs of our nation over the years contributed immensly to these psychological disorders mentioned above.

The disorders, knowingly and unknowingly have really affected our sense of reasoning, behaviour and emotional expressions towards our leaders, we are quick to forget their nonchalant attitude towards

“Government’s insensitivity towards the affairs of our nation over the years contributed immensly to these psychological disorders mentioned above.”

our plight and are ever ready to vote and defend their incompetence over and over again, that is, we have developed feelings of appreciation for their perceived benevolence even where it doesn’t exist.

How do we get out of this unmitigated failures?

Coming out to vote for our preferred candidates during elections is not enough, if it is about going to the polls, why have we not gotten the preferred candidates since 1999? Why do we keep electing politicians that can’t add value to our predicaments? We should start looking beyond elections.

We all need to admit we have a problem and start changing our perception towards our leaders, we should learn to accept leaders with great visions for our nation, transitional leaders that can transform our nation, leaders that will initiate policies his/her successors can key into regardless of party, ethnic or religious affiliations.

As the 2015 general elections draw near, I see two kinds of political actors in Nigeria: The focused driven politicians in accord with the tenets of democracy and the politicians that are coming to consolidate their hold on the territory with mere sophistry and propaganda projects.

Its left to us all to choose from any of the political actors, am proud to be identified with the former.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Today’s Diet With Pastor E.A. Adeboye

The Fullness Of Time

Memorise: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1 from the creation story Read where in six days, God Acts 2:1-4 Bible in one year: accomplished the Acts 4-5; creation of the entire Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

WHEN the day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus Christ. This event makes it clear that our God is a God of times and seasons (Daniel 2:20-21). If you look at the life of Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, you may be wondering: Why the delay of the fruit of the womb in the life of such a devoted daughter of Zion? The answer is found in the later event of the birth of John the Baptist, who Jesus Christ acknowledged as the greatest of all the prophets (Matthew 11:11). He was born by the same woman that was considered barren for many decades.

When the fullness of time came, Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to the forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1:11-1 6). The Almighty God moves very fast whenever He wants to do something. When it seems God is slow in taking action, you can be sure that it is because His time has not fully come. God is not a slow worker at all.

This is established

universe (Genesis 1).

There is a time in a man’s life when delay is not a good option. In 1 Samuel 17:51, we read of the fast move of God in David’s life.

It would have been another story if David had delayed in separating the head of Goliath from his body after the stone from his sling had dazed Goliath to the ground.

The Bible says: “Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.”

One characteristic of the fullness of God’s time is its sudden arrival. The Bible says: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sifting.”

Acts 2:1-2 It took God just one day to kick away famine from Samaria according to 2 Kings 7:1-18. Suddenly, food became surplus in the land after God moved into the situation of a people who had started killing their children for food. For someone using this devotional, you will receive sudden breakthroughs this season in Jesus’ Name. Your day of celebration shall fully come this season in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer Point: Father, please let my miracle come suddenly in a way that the enemy will not be able to do anything about it.

“The Almighty God moves very fast whenever He wants to do something.

When it seems God is slow in taking action, you can be sure that it is because His time has not fully come.”

News

Edo North Senatorial Candidate Urges Muslims To Pray For Nigeria

By UFUOMA AGGERREY

MAJOR Barr. Francis Alimikhena (rtd) has urged Muslims in the country to use the Eid-el-Maulud period to pray for peace and security in Nigeria.

He made the call on Friday in his hometown Egiode in Etsako East local government area while exchanging views with journalists Major Alimikhena (rtd) who is the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate for Edo north senatorial district in the 2015 elections had earlier made a similar appeal to all Christians last week during the Christmas celebration said Nigeria had never faced serious security and

economic challenges that needed urgent prayers than now.

The APC senatorial hopeful said “this is the time Muslims remember the birth of Prophet Muhammad through act of worship, acts of kindness and goodness to children, the poor and the aged.

“If both Muslims and Christians embark on prayers during our time of worship, I am sure God will intervene and solve these problems.’’

Major Alimikhena (rtd) commended the state government comrade Adams Oshiomhole for the developmental strides being witnessed in the past 6 years in the state.

He said the

development has improved socioeconomic activities in the state, noting that APC has come to stay. Urging the party supporters in the state to remain united and ensure they are not deceived by those sugar coated politicians and asked them to keep their voter cards so they could exercise their civic responsibility in the forthcoming elections.

The retired army officer said the state never had a governor who wanted the development of the state like the present administration.

He then urged the people to vote for APC candidates in all the elections as the party make promise to better the lives of the citizenry.

FRSC Commander Urges Road Users To Obey Traffic Rules, Regulations MR. Samuel Obayemi, the Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Enugu Zone, has urged road users to always obey traffic rules and regulations while driving to avoid crashes.

Obayemi gave the advice during an aerial surveillance on road network on Friday in Enugu.

The heavy traffic situation along ninth mile road on Dec. 30 gave rise to the surveillance exercise.

He said “we could have avoided the heavy traffic jam experienced along ninth mile on Dec. 30 if people had just obeyed traffic rules and regulations and are patient.

“We discovered that the traffic jam occurred because a lot of people just refused to comply with the traffic regulations.’’

The commander said the aerial surveillance carried out enabled the corps to develop a more efficient strategy to ensure free flow of traffic during the New Year holiday.

According to him, the surveillance covered Enugu to ninth mile and Awka to the bridge head in Onitsha, Anambra State.

“Apart from what we do on ground, we have taken a step further from the sky; this has helped us to identify where we have gaps in the course of controlling traffic on the roads.

“We are now better equipped to instruct our men on ground for better organised traffic flow,’’ he

said.

Obayemi commended the Nigeria Air Force for releasing its helicopter to FRSC for the purpose of the surveillance.

He said “there has been increased synergy between FRSC and the Air Force; in fact, the helicopter used for this exercise was released to us by the Nigerian Air Force.’’

In his remarks, Air Commander Paul

Dimfwina, said it was the responsibility of the Nigerian Air Force to aid any government organisation toward carrying out its functions.

“It is our responsibility to assist any government agency whenever they require our help to actualise their mandate.

“Our contribution to the FRSC is to make sure that the roads are safe and traffic flows freely,’’ Dimfwina said.

Emir Urges Politicians To Promote Tolerance, Pray By The Rules THE Emir of Hadejia in Jigawa, Alhaji Adamu Adubakar, has tasked politicians to promote political tolerance and play according to the rules to ensure peaceful elections.

Abubakar made the call when Gov. Sule Lamido and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Malam Aminu Ibrahim, paid him a courtesy visit in Hadejia.

The emir also urged youths to shun thuggery and eschew violence in the forthcoming general elections.

He said it was imperative for political parties and their candidates to play politics without bitterness and eschew acts capable of plunging the country into chaos.

The emir advised the electorate to make positive

contributions toward building transparent democracy by electing credible candidates into elective positions.

“You must be productive members of the society and eschew acts capable of breaching the peace during elections and everyone should pray for peaceful conduct of the elections,” he stressed.

The emir then lauded Lamido’s administration for executing “viable’’ projects, adding that the governor had set the pace for sustainable development in Jigawa.

Gov. Lamido said he was in the area to drum up support for the party’s candidates in the forthcoming general elections.

The governor also lauded the traditional institution for supporting government’s policies and programmes, as well as promoting peace and harmony in the society.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

e Fulfilling P rspective

The National Pledge

By GEDU LONGLIFE

I pledge to Nigeria my country To be faithful, loyal and honest To serve Nigeria with all my strength To defend her unity And uphold our honour and glory So help me God! IN my previous write up, I discussed the importance and the application of the National Anthem as the bedrock of our nation’s development in our day today activities.

It is crucial to know that singing the National Anthem as a chorus is not good enough but understanding the words that make up the anthem is what will bring about development.

Each of the words embedded in the national anthem if strictly adhered to has a very good way of boosting the development we crave for in our dear nation Furthermore, I have come to realize that the national pledge carries much better message just like the National Anthem when looked critically.

The first phrase or statement there says “I pledge to Nigeria my country”.

The word “pledge” means, a solemn promise, a valuable item given as a guarantee that a debt will be paid or a token of love or loyalty.

Therefore, when we say, we pledge to Nigeria our country, we are both making or we have both made a “solemn promise to the nation to do something for the advancement or growth of the nation.

It also shows, that a valuable item such as office or position has been given as a guarantee inform of a debt and that, such debt will be paid. Friends, the truth is a debt is a debt and if not paid, the fellow can never be free from such name until the debt in question is paid to the rightful owner which in this context refers to our dear nation Nigeria.

Another aspect of it says “a token of love or loyalty”.

And when two persons are in love, they don’t engage in illicit activities that will

endanger the lives of any of the parties so as not to offend each other.

Loyalty here signifies being firm and constant in one’s support.

Loyalty attracts obedience to the simple codes and conducts that guides our day-to-day activities within and around the country and even outside the country.

But today, it is very obvious that even everyone has become the abuser of the law including the law enforcement agencies.

I Pledge to Nigeria my country.

The statement here is a personal one. It is a promise made to one’s own country not any other country of the world. So everyone is owing this country a debt of commitment, loyalty and faithfulness that must be paid now or later.

The second phrase/ statement as you might call it says.

“To be faithful, loyal and honest. Three key words were identified in this statement which are: faithful, loyal and honest.

Faithful means loyal, true to the facts or original. Don’t fabricate things, leave and place things the way they are, not turning black to white or calling blue red, faithfulness has to do with truth, sincerity both in word, in deed and in action, not deviating from the original as the case may be in all circumstances because everything counts before God. Loyalty has been explained earlier as being submissive, respectful and humble to authorities as well as the rules that governs an organisation.

Honesty also deals with truthfulness, and sincerity which is fairly earned.

It is however very glaring that the three words highlighted are interwoven

together, as both convey truth, sincerity which has their root installed in integrity that enhances development in a society and in a nation at large.

“To serve Nigeria with All my strength”, this is the third statement of the national pledge. The commitment and service here refers to a total one which encompasses “All” and when something has to do with “ALL”, it is nothing but ALL. Everyone is still guilty of this promise of total commitment and service to the nation. We all make this promise in our schools, in our offices, organisations

“Let us all adhere to these promises that we have made to this country, let us not forget, that it is an oath that binds us together as a country which needs to be taken into serious consideration.” etc. but are defaulters because no one is putting his/her utmost best in his/ her services to the nation.

No one is willing to do that which will ring about growth and development to the organisation he/she finds his/her self except for our selfish interest.

Let us all adhere to these promises that we have made to this country, let us not forget, that it is an oath that binds us together as a country which needs to be taken into serious consideration.

It is an oath we all have taken and we need to abide by its operatives by doing that which is entrenched in the law.

Therefore, it is expected of us all to put our collective strength together in order to achieve the desirable goal in this country and fight the evil that is parading itself as Boko Haram and corruption in general. …”To defend our Unity”.

Defending our unity denotes saving the image of our dear nation by representing her well in all facets of life both within and outside the territorial jurisdiction of the country’s boundary.

Because united we stand, divided we fall, so there is an urgent call to raise our banner high all for the good of everyone. …”And uphold our honour and glory” is another phrase that need to be understood because Nigeria has a glory, a country that was once identified as the Giant of Africa, is however far from that name rather it’s appears like the “ant of Africa due to the porous nature of government system practiced in the country that is filled with corruption and greed.

The glory of a nation is in its resources and Nigeria as a nation is endowed with so much natural resources that are poorly utilized by both the followers and the leaders. And if only these resources are well utilized, believe me, Nigeria will not just carry the image of the Giant of Africa but one of the strongest nations in the whole world competing with Russia, USA, China and other top nations of the world.

To uphold affirms confirming and supporting one another irrespective of religion, tribe and what have you but making or

supporting people placed ahead of us in order to have a productive atmosphere for conducive living.

“So help me God” is the final of the whole matter.

God is the author and finisher of everything, the beginning and also the end of life.

God will never help someone who is not willing to surrender. Because according to his words in Isaiah 1:19. He said “If you are willing and obedient, “you will eat the good of the land”. So there is a place for willingness and obedience, because it is one thing to be willing and it is another thing to be obedient.

Therefore, if everyone in this nation is ready to allow God to venture into their own affair of politics by allowing him teach them on how a nation can be governed, then our heavenly father will be fully involved in the affairs of this nation by fighting on its behalf, but no one is willing to allow Him have His way.

Because humans believe that anything that has to do with God involves spiritual, which they feel belongs to spiritual people and that politics belongs to people of

the world, not godly people, not even God himself that created everything.

“So help me God can only come to pass if only the fellow seeking for help is ready to be helped. That individual needs to submit to his authority and government in order for him/her to get help from him.

God is our ever present help in time of need and in time of trouble because He made his benevolence known also in Matt 11:28 saying “Come unto me all ye that have laboured and are heavy laden for I will give you rest. He will make my burden light, lean of me for I am meek and lowly and you will find rest for your soul but unfortunately those who are seeking for help are asking the wrong people for help neglecting the helper himself who is ever ready to help.

Friends, a word they say is enough for the wise.

There are a lot of things I could have said but you and I know what is good from what is bad. Let us learn to do our own part of the promises we make each day to this country in our schools, colleges, universities, offices, and everywhere we are been found to do one thing or the other towards promoting, helping one another and the advancement of the image of our county and the Host of Heaven governed by the Almighty God will be our guardian and our guide in bringing to pass our dreams for this Nation.

Arise Nigeria.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Real Sociedad Vs Barcelona: Bravo Faces Former Club THE Chile shotstopper signed a fouryear deal with Barca in June last year, making a +12million move after eight seasons with Sociedad.

Bravo captained Sociedad and he has

impressed in his start to life at Camp Nou – conceding just seven goals in 16 La Liga matches.

Luis Enrique’s men are second to rivals Real Madrid, who are a point clear and have a

game in hand.

Barca were dealt a blow in the lead up to their first league clash since the break, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport upholding their 2015 transfer ban.

It will mean a quiet

january for Luis Enrique, who will need to make do with the players already at his disposal.

In good news for the coach, only defender Thomas Vermaelen is sidelined due to injury.

Barca’s star-studded attack will be expected to continue impressing, with Lionel Messi (15 league goals) and Neymar (11) leading the way with goals.

Former Liverpool star Luis Suarez has netted only one league goal

and he will be hoping for more in 2015.

David Moyes’ Real Sociedad have enjoyed a good record against Barca, particularly at home.

The hosts beat the Catalan giants 3-1 in February last year, with Barcelona’s last victory at the Anoeta coming in May 2007.

In his first job since being sacked by Manchester United, Moyes was appointed by Sociedad in November last year.

Under Moyes, Sociedad have been beaten just once in seven matches in all competitions – but they have won only two of those encounters.

Moyes’ men are two points clear of the relegation zone ahead of hosting Barcelona.

Carlos Vela has scored six of Sociedad’s 17 league goals this season, and the Mexican will be heavily relied upon.

Vela missed his team’s last two games of 2014 due to injury.

Bundesliga: Dante Out To

Tie Down Bayern Place

THE Brazil international has featured regularly during the first half of Bayern’s Bundesliga campaign but has started just two of six UEFA Champions League outings this term.

Claudio Bravo

Neymar, Suarez, Messi Are Beasts - Xavi

XAVI has praised Barcelona’s attacking trident of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi labelling them as “three beasts”.

Only Real Madrid have scored more goals in La Liga than the Blaugrana this season and the 34year-old feels that the number of options the Catalans have in attack means they are a threat in every game.

Asked in an interview with Sport whether he

felt Barca currently possessed the best attack in their history with Neymar, Suarez and Messi, Xavi replied: “It’s not just the trident because now Pedro is also scoring goals, or Munir also Sandro. The top three are three beasts.”

“The attack has potential for very good games. Neymar is performing brutally, you

will see Luis Suarez increasingly improve and Messi has returned to give his best.

Xavi also offered his thoughts on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to uphold a transfer ban handed down by Fifa that will render the Blaugrana unable to make any signings in 2015.

“We have all been screwed by the CAS

Italian Forward Alessio Cereci THE Atletico Madrid striker is set to move to San Siro on loan as part of the arrangement that will take Fernando Torres in the opposite direction.

Cerci has struggled to break into Diego Simeone’s plans this term - having arrived from Torino in the closeseason - starting just once in all competitions.

However, the Italy

international hopes more regular football back in Serie A will keep him in the thoughts of national coach Antonio Conte ahead of a number of European qualifiers in 2015.

“I’m just waiting for my medicals and the signing of the contract, but I’m very happy,” Cerci told reporters at Linate Airport in Milan.

“It was important for

decision. I expected them to be more lenient,” he said.

“As a ‘cule’ I find it a huge injustice because no club in the world takes better care of their young players. This will make us even stronger.”

The Barca captain reflected that 2014 had been a difficult year for both him personally and his club, but was adamant that the club cannot go without a trophy again in 2015.

me to come back to Italy.

I took a long route, but it’s what I wanted in the summer.

“I’m happy with the way things turned out, with a view to the national team too.

“I’ve landed here and I must prove I’m an excellent player. My first feelings are positive, returning to Italy in the Milan colours is exactly what I wanted.”

Dante

Mehdi Benatia and Jerome Boateng have often been preferred for European clashes, while the likes of injured pair Holger Badstuber and Javi Martinez are set to increase competition in Guardiola’s defence.

With Bayern well on their way to completing their Bundesliga defence, Dante acknowledged his desire to play a key role at the Allianz Arena this year.

“Every time I’m on the pitch, I try to show that I’m here to help our team,” he told Kicker.

“But if I do not play a few games, I’m not so happy.

“No matter what the coach decides, it is important that we win everything at the end.”

Bayern enjoy an 11-point lead in the top flight ahead

of their return to domestic action against secondplace Wolfsburg on January 30.

With a 25th German title seemingly on the way, Guardiola’s side will be keen to split their attentions between the Bundesliga, the DFBPokal and the Champions League knockout stages.

Bayern face Shakhtar in the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition, but Dante has warned against taking their league form for granted.

“We are very pleased about the big lead we have so far, we have done great, but we must win the big games,” he added.

“Bundesliga games are always important but if we continue to stay focused, we can maintain this advantage.”

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

The Villains Of World Football In 2014

By NICHOLAS EBOIGBE

THE conclusion of the 2014 World Cup naturally draws attentions to the next, in 2018. It is scheduled to be held in Russia, and after that, the 2022 showpiece will grace the Asian continent in the form of oil-rich Qatar.

However, all is not well within FIFA, or indeed with these bids. There have long been allegations of human rights abuses in the preparations for 2022, and now the Michael Garcia report (FIFA investigates itself; no way that could possibly be biased!) which may contain some evidence of impropriety in the bidding and voting processes for both tournaments is being suppressed.

This is of course according to Garcia himself, who resigned from the FIFA Ethics Committee in protest.

There is a lot that goes on within FIFA that we are not privy to, but corruption, human rights violations and the like can hardly be for the good of the game.

The Brazil XI that contested the World Cup semi-final Rarely have I sat through a half of football as stunning as the first 45 of Brazil vs.

Germany in the World Cup semi-final.

While a considerable number of pundits were anticipating a defeat for the hosts—particularly with star player Neymar absent through injury—the majority of predictions forecast a tight contest and a close battle for progression to the final.

It was anything but.

To ship seven goals in any contest is almost unthinkable.

To do it in the semi-final of the World Cup is unprecedented.

For Brazil, it is hard to comprehend.

For it to happen in front of their own fans represents a national disaster.

Germany romped to victory and took a 5-0 lead within the first half an hour.

It took the South American giants decades to get over their heartbreaking loss on home soil to Uruguay in 1930.

It remains to be seen how the Selecao will rediscover their lustre after this chastening defeat.

Luis Suarez When you watch movies, vampire movies, you’d expect that at some point there’d be a scene where the vampire sinks his or her extended teeth into their victim, drawing blood.

That’s normal.

What is not normal, however, is the sight of Uruguay’s No. 9 Luis Suarez performing a similar act on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.

The Barcelona man unconventionally steadied himself behind Chiellini’s shoulders, as a vampire would his victim, and sunk his teeth into the Italian.

The savagery incident in itself was a gory one, which would freak anyone out, but Suarez’s explanation afterwards could make for a good comic line.

“After the impact,” he began, in his narration to a panel via The Guardian, “I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent.”

He wasn’t saying that when he tore into Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic during his

Liverpool days, which earned him a lengthy suspension.

Miroslav Klose The German international made history in 2014, setting a record for goals scored in World Cups with 16.

There has been no more prolific scorer for the Maanschaft than Miroslav Klose, remarkable considering he was a late bloomer. His first full season in the German top-flight came in 2001/2002, aged 23.

He went on to top-score for

from a corner, pulled Germany level against Ghana; the other his positioning and calmness in the 7-1 drubbing of Brazil.

He was not the most gifted, but his goals on the grandest stage of all elevated him to the pantheon of football greats.

Di Stefano, Eusebio and Coluna In 2014, football lost three of the greatest players of all time.

Eusebio died on January 5 from heart failure, his teammate Mario Coluna

players. This will make us even stronger.”

However, the midfielder believes the team still have more than enough talent to be a threat in every game, labelling Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi as ‘beasts’.

“It’s not just the trident because now Pedro is also scoring goals, or Munir also Sandro. The top three are three beasts,” Xavi said.

“The attack has potential for very good games.

Neymar is performing brutally, you will see Luis Suarez increasingly improve and Messi has returned to give his best.

The Barca captain reflected that 2014 had

Lorenzo of Argentina on Saturday to win the Club World Cup. The Champions League, Copa del Rey and European Super Cup titles were the other trophies Carlo Ancelotti’s men had already swept into the trophy room earlier this year.

And they will also end the year on top of La Liga.

Coach Ancelotti has perhaps done more than enough to etch his name into the club’s history books as one of the greatest managers to manage Los Blancos. The Club World Cup final win was their 22nd consecutive win in all competitions, which dwarfs the?1960-61 record of 15 straight wins.

And now, they chase the 26 straight-win mark set by Johan Cruyff’s Ajax side in 1971-72. It won’t be wise to bet against them achieving that feat as they look almost unstoppable at the moment.

Juventus Are Beatable

Sepp Blatter Germany in two World Cups, and a further six in 2010 and 2014 took him above the likes of Ronaldo, Gerd Muller and Just Fontaine, legends of the game.

His two goals in Brazil displayed what made him such a great striker: one, a quick reaction after a header

departed a month later, while Alfredo Di Stefano passed away on July 7.

In the aftermath of these three losses, the football world united in both mourning their passes and celebrating their glories.

And what glories.

Few (if any) players have

Barca Have Been Screwed By CAS Decision - Xavi

XAVI has blasted the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to refuse Barcelona’s appeal against a Fifa transfer ban placed upon the club.

The Blaugrana were initially handed the ban as a result of signing underage players from outside of Spain and appealed to CAS, but had their argument rejected.

The decision renders the Blaugrana unable to make any signings in 2015, and the club captain feels it is an unfair punishment as all players are treated well..

“We have all been screwed by the CAS decision. I expected them to be more lenient,” Xavi told Sport.

“As a ‘cule’ I find it a huge injustice because no club in the world takes better care of their young

enjoyed club careers as glorious as that of Di Stefano.

He won the first five European Cup finals with Real Madrid (scoring in each one) and was an influential figure in establishing that side’s global reputation.

Eusebio swapped shirts with Di Stefano at the end of the 1962 European Cup final, it was seem as a passing of the torch. The Mozambiqueborn hitman scored 638 goals in 614 games for Benfica and twice won Europe’s top title.

He also won the Golden Boot at the 1966 World Cup. One suspects that Eusebio’s career wouldn’t have been so celebrated had it not been for Coluna, Benfica and Portugal’s great captain and playmaker. He too was a son of Africa, having been born in Maputo.

Real Madrid Spanish giants Real Madrid claimed their fourth title in 2014 with a 2-0 win over San

been a difficult year for both him personally and his club, but was adamant that the club cannot go without a trophy again in 2015.

“It has not been an easy year. It was very difficult, both personally and in sport. The only good decision was to stay here one more year,” Xavi added.

“We cannot afford another year without a trophy. It is our main goal.

The season has started well, we are working flat out.

“I feel that [we are on the right path]. There is enough room to recover the points that have been lost so far. Also, do not forget that Real Madrid has

to come to Camp Nou. There are good vibes in the changing room, we are united.”

HERNANES says Juventus are “beatable” and is confident Inter can begin 2015 by shocking the Serie A champions on Tuesday.

The Bianconeri are top of Italian top flight, but were stunned by Napoli in the Italian Super Cup as they lost 6-5 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 in their final match before the winter break.

Inter are well off the pace in 11th spot in Serie A but Hernanes, who recently returned from an injury lay-off, is confident of starting the New Year with a victory over Massimiliano Allegri’s men.

“We must start well, then we’ll see what happens. I do not do predictions, but I feel it will go well for us,” Hernanes said to La Gazzetta.

“We will have to be

- Hernanes aggressive, but also ordered and polished. Inter are close to a turning point.

“You can talk about different statistics of the latest games, including possession, but we have to be more consistent in a single match - often carelessness costs us dearly.

“Yes [Juve are beatable], it showed against Genoa.

But it remains very tough as they have since found additional confidence and security by reaching the next round of the Champions League.

“When I was at Sao Paulo we closed a gap of 11 points in the second round of fixtures and won the title. We must always believe. If we correct the details on which we are working, we will arrive at the top.”

Barcalona’s players in a happy mood after scoring a goal in a match.

THE WEEKEND

31

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Chelsea As Good As Real Madrid - Pochettino

Podolski May Move To Inter Milan ARSENE Wenger has indicated that Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski could now be set for a move to Inter Milan despite having previously described the Italian club’s interest as a “joke.”

Podolski recently said he was set to seek talks with Arsenal over his future after growing frustrated with his lack of playing time, and Inter boss Roberto Mancini confirmed he was eager to sign the player.

Wenger then said Inter’s interest was “not serious,” but he confirmed after his team’s 2-0 defeat to Southampton that the Nerazzurri are now ready to offer more realistic terms for the Germany international.

“The first proposal was farcical,” Wenger said.

“After, they came back a bit more serious. ‘Inevitable’ in

Fans Hail Wanyama’s Arsenal Demolition KENYAN midfielder Victor Wanyama was the star of the show as Southampton beat Arsenal to end 2014 in the top four of the English Premier League.

Ronald Koeman’s team have consistently been in and around the top four of the league in what has been a tremendous team display this season.

Another African in Senegal’s Sadio Mane scored a brilliant opening goal before Dusan Tadic got the second following poor defending by Arsenal on both occasions.

The Southampton supporters have hailed the performance of their powerful Kenyan international and will hope that he does not leave their team. Wanyama, 23, has recently been linked with a move to Arsenal, and showed the Gunners what he can do.

After the result, the Southampton fans were understandably full of praise for his performance.

a transfer is very difficult to say, but we’ll see what happens.”

The Daily Telegraph reports that Inter are now offering to take the striker on loan with an option to complete a permanent deal for five million pounds at the end of the season.

The newspaper suggests the deal is imminent.

A report in the Daily Mirror had earlier claimed Podolski had stormed out of training on Wednesday as he was frustrated that Arsenal were blocking his move to Inter, but the 29year-old used his Twitter account to deny that was the case.

Steven Gerrard

Liverpool Confirms Gerrard Exit Plans

STEVEN Gerrard has confirmed that he will leave Liverpool when his contract expires in June.

The Reds captain, who old, captaining the club to made his debut in 1997, has Champions League glory in been heavily linked with a 2005, and he has also won move to the American MLS, two FA Cups, two League specifically LA Galaxy.

Cups, one UEFA Cup and two Gerrard was offered a new UEFA Super Cups. The one contract to stay at Anfield in prize that has eluded him December, with Brendan remains the Premier League.

Rodgers expressing his hope that the 34-year-old would EDEN Hazard could commit his future to the club, but he will instead look to leave English football finish his career away from unless referees clamp the Premier League. down on the physical “This is an era where treatment he receives ‘legend’ is vastly overused, from opposing players, but in his case it actually according to Jose doesn’t do him justice,” Mourinho.

Rodgers said in a statement Hazard shone even as following Gerrard’s Chelsea ended up on the announcement. receiving end of a shock “As a leader and as a man, 5-3 defeat to Tottenham at he is probably incomparable White Hart Lane on to anyone I have ever worked Thursday, scoring a wellwith.” taken goal in the second The star has become a half.

Liverpool legend since making his bow as a 20-year-

But, despite his bulging trophy cabinet, Gerrard has had to cope with a withdrawn role this season, with Rodgers often opting to bench the veteran in favour of rotating

his options. One such occasion came in the Champions League clash with Real Madrid, leading to reports that Gerrard was considering his future.

In total, he has made 26 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring seven goals.

Hazard Could Be Kicked Out Of English Football, Warns Mourinho “The way, match after But Mourinho was unhappy at some of the challenges endured by his Belgian winger - who is reportedly attracting interest from Real Madrid - and believes officials must do more to protect one of the Premier League’s brightest talents.

“People [are] in love with football in this country; people must be in love with Eden Hazard,” the coach told reporters.

match, he’s being punished by opponents and he’s not being protected by referees, maybe one day we won’t have Eden Hazard.

“It’s one, two, three, four, five, 10 aggressive fouls against him. They kick and kick and kick, and the kid resists.

“He’s a very honest guy in the way he plays, but that’s another problem.”

... Sturridge Hails Gerrard STURRIDGE hails “leader” Gerrard Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool team-mates paid tribute to their captain after he announced he is to leave the club at the end of the season.

Gerrard will depart Anfield after 17 years’ service in the

summer when his contract expires.

Daniel Sturridge was among 23 current Reds players to pay tribute to the 34-year-old on the club’s website on Friday morning.

The striker said: “Stevie will

always be a legend - not just for Liverpool but to England as well.

“He will go down in history as one of the best midfielders in the game. He’s just unbelievable every day, a great leader and the perfect example for every young player around the country.”

Van Gaal Fears Ashley Young Absence

ASHLEY Young could be set to spend several weeks on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Stoke.

However, he added: “I’m not a doctor so we have to wait for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

Van Gaal also repeated his

belief that United’s poor away form means they will struggle to challenge for the title.

“When you want to win the league you have to win away from home,” he said.

“At the minute we aren’t doing that.”

Van Gaal, who said “neither team deserved more” than a point from the match, told Sky Sports his side “had difficulties defending long balls” in an awkward swirling wind.

Jonny Evans was particularly grateful after

seeing former teammate Mame Biram Diouf miss a clear chance after the Northern Ireland international misjudged a long ball.

Evans said: “It was scrappy, hard to judge the ball with the wind, but that’s the challenge for us. (Diouf) made a bit of a mess of it and I’m thankful for that.”

Ashley Young

TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino hailed his side’s victory over Chelsea as he believes they are among the best teams in the world - as good as European and world champions Real Madrid.

Harry Kane and Nacer Chadli starred as the White Hart Lane outfit ran out 5-3 winners to inflict the second league defeat of the season on Jose Mourinho’s side.

And though Pochettino believes the Blues are on the same level as Champions League holders Madrid - who are currently in the midst of a 22-game win streak in competitive games - he is not getting carried away with the victory.

“The most important thing today is to congratulate my players for a great effort and our supporters too. We deserved the victory,” he told reporters.

“We were better than Chelsea and that’s the most important thing for me. For me it’s only three points. It’s a good victory against one of the best teams in the world.

“We are in a process and we need to believe. Victories like today, you can improve more quickly. Situations always change very quickly in football but we have improved a lot in the last few months and I think we are stronger now.

“It’s difficult to find a weakness in the Chelsea team. They are one of the best in the world, at Real Madrid’s level. They have a lot of international players.”

Kane scored twice as well as claiming an assist and winning a penalty, with the 21-year-old surpassing 20 goals in all competitions this season in the process.

And Pochettino believes his forward is doing enough to earn an international call-up, though he warned against rushing him into England action.

“I think he put in a great performance but not only him.

THE WEEKEND

CMYK

32

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Regular Game ’ll Boost Athletes Points - Gbayi

SEGUN Gbayi, the athletes representative of Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), on Thursday, said he would ensure that the body gave adequate consideration to athletes’ participation in competitions.

He said in Lagos that it was through such means that athletes would acquire reasonable points that would boost their participation at major international games such as African championships at various levels.

F/Eagles Must Work Hard To Win AYC - Alampasu

NIGERIA’S U-20 goalkeeper Dele Alampasu has tipped his side to emerge victorious at the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal if they

imbibe the spirit of hard work.

The competition billed for the francophone west African nation will be used to select Africa’s four

representatives to the 2015 Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

In a chat with Goal,

the former Golden Eaglets star expressed his delight getting an invite to play for the Flying

AFCON:

Senegal Sweating On Mane Fitness THE Senegal international opened the scoring in the Premier League clash with a superbly executed lob over Wojciech Szczesny from a tight angle.

However, he appeared to pick up an injury soon after and was substituted by Ronald Koeman in the 42nd minute.

The Dutch head coach says the 22-year-old now faces a wait to see whether he will be fit for this weekend’s FA Cup tie with Ipswich Town, and then international duty.

“He [Mane] was injured, I am not sure when, he continued the game but he had too much pain,” said Koeman.

“We don’t know about his injury now, we have to until tomorrow to see if he is available for Sunday, and for the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.”

Senegal begin their AFCON campaign against Ghana on January 19.

with his arrival in camp Thursday morning.

Eduok has been negotiating a transfer to top Tunisian club

Esperance.

Though, he missed the morning training session on Thursday, he was ready for the evening session at

NIGERIA’S Shola Ameobi has called it quit with seconddivision Turkish club G a z i a n t e p B u y u k s e h i r Belediyespor.

The 32-year-old player signed a oneyear contract with team following his departure from Newcastle where he

played for 14 years.

G a z i a n t e p confirmed on Wednesday that Ameobi, who had played 11 times and scored four times for the Turkish side, had asked to have his one-year contract dissolved so that he could return to the

North East for family reasons.

Ameobi’s move to Turkey came despite interest from England, America and Australia but it has not worked out, with the striker not selected for the Nigeria side since the World Cup in Brazil.

Emem Uduok celebrating a goal during a match.

Eagles while insisting that other players in camp are eager to make the country proud.

“Being a part of the Flying Eagles squad is a big motivation for me and we are already looking forward to a successful outing at the 2015 African Y o u t h Championship,” Alampasu told Goal.

“The relationship is very cordial in camp and we are like one family. Infact, you can’t differentiate between the players drafted from the Golden Eaglets squad and the new faces on ground.

Everything is fine.”

Garba Manu’s lads will face hosts Senegal, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire in Group A and the goalkeeper feels that

Int’l Friendlies

Eagles Receive Uduok Boost

DOLPHINS striker Emem Eduok has boosted the camp of the Super Eagles

the Abuja National Stadium under the watchful eyes of assistant coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi.

The former powerplaying Everton of England forward

Shola Ameobi Quits Gaziantep BB

Shola Ameobi

said with the arrival of Eduok, the team is not expecting any other player as Godwin Igudia earlier invited has sent a message that he is nursing an injury.

He reiterated that only 19 players will be taken to Abu Dhabi from the 24 players currently sweating it out for shirts.

Eduok, himself said his trip to Tunisia was a huge success but he will still needs proper clearance from Dolphins after the two friendly games against Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan.

“The trip was okay, I have done my medicals and concluded terms with my new club but Dolphins will still have to clear me after our friendly games,” he said.

with better preparation and hard work, no team will splinter Nigeria’s dream to emerge as winners.

“We leave the competition in the hands of God, but most importantly we must work very hard towards achieving our goal.

“No teams scare us.

It is going to be a battle between two teams of eleven players each. All we need to do is to work very hard, intensify our preparations and we will come out tops,” he concluded.

The opening game of the 19th edition of the biennial championship will see hosts Senegal squaring Nigeria at the Leopold Senghor Stadium in Dakar on 8 March 2015.

Grassroots Development

Squash Players Calls For More Programmes SODIQ Taiwo, the nation’s number one ranked male Squash player has called on the Nigeria Squash Federation (NSF) to make grassroots development its top most priority in 2015.

Taiwo made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday.

He said “it is so unfortunate that squash is neglected, this is sad because youngsters need the exposure.

“I think at this juncture we need to organise our grassroots sports; I mean we need a viable grassroots programme to keep young talents actively engaged.

“The NSF has a lot to do, I am sure that the Federation is aware of the task ahead so that the rejected stone will be a cornerstone.

“I strongly believe that the fortune of squash will change if our leaders do things as they should,’’ Taiwo said.

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