Nigerian observer 09 01 2014

The Nigerian

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol . 38 • NO.394 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 • N100. 0 0

OPINION Page 19 Conquering the habit of masturbation

COLBEN postpones resumption BENIN CITY – THE College of E d u c a t i o n ( C O L B E N ) , Ekiadolor, Benin has announced that resumption at the school has been

shifted to Monday, January 20, 2014.

A statement by the Registrar, Mrs. E.A. Fenemigho on behalf of the Provost explained that the earlier announced

date of Monday, January 13, 2014 from the Chrsitmas/ New Year break had to be rescheduled.

While regretting the inconveniences

the postponement may have caused, she said that students in Halls of Residence are to come in on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

Developmental Efforts

SOCIETY Page 22 Understanding Ovulation and conception

Residents hail Oshiomhole

By ADAMS OYIBOKE

BENIN CITY - Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has been hailed by traders in New Lagos road at New Benin market for his effort in transforming the State Capital and taking Edo to the next level.

The traders displayed from trading their wares the high level of support on walk-way urged the yesterday in Benin City traders to keep walk way when the Governor paid free of goods, ensure an unscheduled clean environment, clean inspection to the Lagos drains and to desist from Road axis of New Benin blocking the water ways market. with refuse.

Governor Oshiomhole He also called on the who went round on foot Chairman, War Against to ascertain the extent of Indiscipline [W.A.I], Mr. compliance with the David Olukoga to be stay-off order on traders alive to his duties and

... Thank God For Sparing his life

ensure discipline on the roads.

Speaking with The

N I G E R I A N OBSERVER, one of the traders, Mrs.

Osayuwamen Ahingbuda poured accolades on the Governor for his effort at

fast-tracking on-going work in the city centre.

Continues on page 2

Ex-AAU Registrar’s wife commits suicide

By OSE EHEBHA EKPOMA - Wife of the former registrar of the Ambrose Alli Unversity, Mrs. Kate Edokpayi has committed suicide in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

Her dangling body was discovered by her husband, Mr. Larry Edokpayi in one of the rooms of their Boy’s Quarters.

Before her death, she

was an Assistant Director with the Edo State Ministry of Education, overseeing the ministry’s office in Ekpoma.

Though she did not leave behind any suicide note, it is suspected she died out of frustration over her health challenges.

It was gathered that she had repeatedly expressed her frustration over her inability to get cure for her diabetes

TIT BIT “Failure can easily become the habit of the person, whose determination is deaf to the voice of reasoning”.

- Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama

disease.

The NIGERIAN OBSERVER gathered from a source which was privy to the incident, that the husband, Mr. Larry Edokpayi, who recently retired from the service of the Ambrose Alli University, had suspected kidnapping, Continues on page 2

INSPECTION: Madam Mary Igbinovia prays for Governor Adams Oshiomhole for a job well done during the Governor’s inspection of the Oba Market Road in Benin City, yesterday.Photo: CHARITY OZIBO-ESERE

2015: Ogbemudia urges youth to merge

By VICTOR OMOALU

BENIN CITY – Twotime governor of the Mid-West and Bendel states, Gen. (Dr.) Samuel Ogbemudia

(rtd) has again stressed the need for Nigerians, especially the youths to merge forces against any negative act that may lead to

forces

disintegration by 2015.

He stated this shortly

after being awarded with the certificate of investiture as the Grand Patron of the Edo Youths United for Democracy (EYFD) in his country

FG to reintroduce toll gates

ABUJA - As a way of maintaining roads in Nigeria, the Federal Government is set to reintroduce toll gates and weigh bridges to

roads, Works Minister Mike Onolememen said yesterday in Abuja.

O n o l e m e m e n disclosed this while fielding questions at a

newsmen Forum.

He said, however, that the toll would only be applied to roads constructed with private sector funds as the

federal government had taken cognisance of the need for private sector funding in road Continues on page 2

home in Benin City on Tuesday.

Dr. Ogbemudia noted that the Nigeria civil war was aimed at ensuring peace and unity in the land, and stressed for its sustenance.

“We have fought a war and the war was to bring peace and unity to our country, so let it be and there should not be another war again,” Dr. Continues on page 2

News

2015: Ogbemudia urges youth to merge forces

Continued from page 1

Ogbemudia stated.

He stated further, “for the few years I was in the corridors of power, I found out that it is possible for Nigeria to make progress if all hands are on deck.”

Expressing concern over the rate of social vices in the society, the former governor stressed the need for the youths to live up to their expectation if the issue of kidnapping and other crimes

must be stopped, just as he emphasized on the need for all to be committed and ready to make sacrifice for the interest of progress in the country.

Maintaining that his leadership style led to the establishment of the popular Edo House in Lagos, the

Pro-Chancellor/Chairman, Governing Council, University of Abuja, admonished the EYFD to imbibe the spirit of transparency and jettison any negative act that may jeopardize their code of conduct.

He thanked the

“We are here to undertake a survey on the cost implication of troops contributing countries in the UN and the issue is very important to the UN, so it is very important we have this discussion.

“This is why I am happy to have the military force and the police division, so we will be able to understand some of

the modus operandi and some of the issues that come up when countries contribute.

“We will be here for three days, and we will look at a questionnaire that has been provided to help us to clarify the information.’’

Davies said the team would be looking at five categories of cost; which include training, pre-deployment protocol,

said yesterday that no fewer than 262 road crashes occurred in the state in 2013, as against the 501 road crashes recorded in 2012.

The Edo Sector Commander, Mr. Luka Ikpi, disclosed this during an interview with newsmen in Benin City.

Ikpi said that the impressive reduction was achieved through their proactive public campaigns and the educative role played by the media.

“The management of the FRSC has said that by the year 2015, road crashes and

deaths will have reduced by 20 per cent, while fatality should be reduced by 30 per cent.

“We are putting all our machinery into action to see that we reduce road crashes and also collaborate with the media to ensure more advocacy visits to motor parks and fleet operators,” he said.

The Sector Commander attributed the major causes of accidents that occurred in 2013 to speed violation, dangerous driving and dangerous overtaking.

He said that 752 persons were injured and 230 others

Continued from page 1

The minister said that construction of weigh bridges on Nigerian roads would soon be completed as the ministry had begun the distribution of such bridges since 2012.

“The objective is to ensure that we control axle loading on our roads because one of the major effects of these vehicles is that it destroys our roads.

“Our roads are designed to take 40-ton-vehicles but today we have 80 tons, 60 tonnes, 70 tonnes plying our roads.

“Controlling axle loading on our roads was weakened since the dismantling of the toll plaza because the toll plazas on most of these dual carriage roads provided an opportunity to bring every vehicle to a stop.

“You could better administer the trucks because they had their lane and in the truck lane, we had embedded these weighing bridges on those lanes so there was no escaping route.

“In the whole of West Africa, the menace of axle loading is worse in Nigeria; so we are committed to tackling that,” he said.

He said that the ministry would be working closely with the Federal Road Safety Commission and security agencies in order to enforce compliance.

organization for the award, saying that the set objectives has brought to fore the democratic challenges ahead.

Earlier, the President of the Edo Youths United for Democracy (EYFD), Barr.

Adaze said the investiture award was in recognition of Dr. Ogbemudia’s character and outstanding achievements across human spheres.

CDS seeks UN Cooperation

Abuja - The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm. Ola Ibrahim, has called for the full support and cooperation of the UN in Nigeria’s effort to ensure peace around the world.

Ibrahim made the call yesterday in Abuja when the UN Survey Team, led by Ms Anna Davis, the Senior Programme Officer, State Budget and Finance Division in the Department of Peace Support, visited him in Abuja.

He said “we are proud of our contributions to the UN peacekeeping efforts, we are still at it. The last report I have here, we have close to 5,000 persons, and we are still hoping to do more.

“We are very delighted that Nigeria is on the list of countries that are benefiting from the survey.

“The good thing, apart from the survey, is that you are with us and this will make you understand us better.

“In due course, you will see us respond appropriately to this survey because it is a two-way thing and at the end of it, it is hoped that our relationship with the UN will be improved upon.’’

Earlier, Davis had told the CDS that the team was in the country as mandated in 2013 by the UN General Assembly that a survey be conducted to find out the cost involved in countries contributing to UN Peacekeeping.

She said the team was in Nigeria because the country was one of the 10 countries chosen for the survey.

Residents hail Oshiomhole

Continued from page 1 Mrs. Ahingbuda thanked God for sparing the life of Governor Oshiomhole in the accident that occurred at Ewu in Esan Central Local Government Area recently.

She however called on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to beam his searchlight on upper Ekehuan Road at Ugbihiokho quarters in order to ameliorate the suffering faced by the people living in that area.

It will be recalled that the State Governor, Comrade Oshiomhole in his first executive council meeting held on Monday urged council members to facilitate environmental cleanliness as the year progresses.

Those present during the inspection exercise included the Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Orobosa OMO-Ojo and other top Government functionaries.

medicals among others.

Reports say that the projects are targeted at enhancing the welfare of officers and men serving in the defence headquarters.

One of the projects inspected include the Mechatronic Technical School, Defence Identification Centre.

Road Crashes Reduce In in road crashes involving BENIN - The Federal Road Edo - FRSC died 483 vehicles in 2013, as Safety Corps (FRSC) in Edo against the 1, 397 persons injured and 242 deaths involving 949 vehicles in 2012.

“Accidents involving motorbikes dropped from 122 in 2012 to 34 in 2013, which could be attributed to the ban on motor bikes in some parts of the state at the middle of 2013.

“We want to go into the training of drivers so that fleet operators will be able to train their own drivers.

“We believe that if drivers are trained appropriately, there will be a high reduction in road accidents”, Ikpi added.

FG to reintroduce toll gates

development.

According to him, the ministry has adopted a new paradigm for funding road development in Nigeria.

This, he said, included offbudget sources such as funding from multilateral agencies through concessional loans, public private partnership scheme and raising road bonds through the debt management office for the development of economic roads.

“What that means is that if you are going to source private sector funds to apply in road development project, it is inevitable that you have to toll such projects in order for the investment to be recouped.

“That is the only way; it is the rule all over the world and it is not limited to Nigeria.

Onolememen recalled that the ministry had earlier organised a conference aimed at preparing the minds of Nigerians for toll and it was discovered that Nigerians were willing to pay for good services.

He said that the government had already shared the green paper on the new federal tolling policy to create awareness for road users.

He added that the ministry had gone ahead to engage the heavy users such as cement manufacturers, steel billet companies, and asphalt companies so that overloading could be tackled from the source.

On the Nigeria-Israel agreement on the road sector, the minister said that the agreement was merely a General Cooperation Agreement pointing out that it was now left for Nigeria to take it further.

Furthermore, he said that one of the Israeli companies in Nigeria constructed a toll road in Israel between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem which Nigeria hoped to replicate through such cooperation.

Ex-AAU Registrar’s wife commits suicide

Continued from page 1

after a long search, before he was advised to check the boy’s quarter.

On getting to the Boys Quarters, Mr. Edokpayi was said to have observed that the door was bolted from behind, and ordered it forced open.

He was reportedly devastated when he found the corpse of his wife dangling.

No apology for sack of 836 teachers - Gov

By ADAMS OYIBOKE BENIN CITY - Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday affirmed that his government has no apology for the sacking of 836 teachers in the state.

This is coming on the disclosure by the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers that the governor has promised to review the recent sack of the teachers with a view to recalling those who were improperly sacked.

Oshiomhole who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof.

Julius Ihonvbere said his administration was poised to sanitise and revitalise the education sector with a view to producing students who would pass the Senior School Certificates without recourse to miracle centres even as he noted the presence of some teachers that could not read, write or speak good English and this would not produce intelligent pupils.

He spoke at Auchi during the celebration of Allah at

the 17th edition of the Auchi Day celebration with the theme ‘The Holy Qu’ran: Guidance for Mankind’.

According to him, “Some people are bellyaching that we sacked teachers. We have no apology for that. Some persons ought to have retired 10 years ago but they reduced their age to remain in the system. They have passed the age of 60 and are still in the system.”

He added that many Nigeria leaders abandoned God and are pursuing wordly things adding that the country need leaders keen on moving it forward.

Otaru of Auchi, HRH Aliru Momoh, Ikelebe III warned that the struggle for power and influence only for perpetuating stealing and killings which made the country on the verge of collapse was caused by the inordinate proportion of the citizens.

The Otaru said a chatisement grievous would manifest in a corrupt nation that failed to seek God’s forgiveness.

Gov Oshiomhole to swear-in New Volunteer Teachers today

By VICTOR OMOALU

BENIN CITY – Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is expected to swear-in the new volunteer teachers today at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre, Airport Road, Benin City.

The Volunteer Teachers Scheme (VTS) was put in place by the Centre for Development and Cultural Interchange in collaboration with the Edo State government with the purpose of improving the

teaching services of public schools in the state.

According to a statement by the Executive Director, Mr. Emmanuel Sule, the scheme is aimed at complementing the effort of the state government towards advancing the education system in the state.

The statement added that the first batch of the twenty university graduates were recruited to teach English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

IG meets senior officers

Security:

ABUJA - The InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday in Abuja met with senior officers to review the current security and political situations across the country.

Abubakar told newsmen before the meeting went into closed door that the security and political situations in each of the 36 states would be reviewed.

This, he said, had become necessary to enable the force adopt strategies to tackle security challenges and check political crises.

“We are going to pay attention to political situation in Nigeria, and look at the zones and each state of the country.

“We will review the political situations in each state, adjudge and see what the Commissioner of Police has been able to do, and whether he has been able to take care of such situation.

“Where he has challenges, we will look at that challenges and find out the impediments that have stopped him from doing what he is supposed to do

to avoid political crisis,’’ he said.

The IG said there was a need for adequate preparation for the 2015 general elections.

“If elections will take place in 2015, whether we are on board or not, we have the responsibility as an agency of government to ensure that preparation for 2015 starts in 2014,” he said.

Abubakar said that the meeting would also review communal and religious crises in some states in the country to strategise on how to address them.

According to him, there are noticeable clashes in places like Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba and Plateau states.

He, however, commended officers and men of the force for their efforts, saying, “I acknowledge publicly that every one has contributed to making Nigeria safe.’’

The IG said that the police and other security agencies would work together to make the country safe and create environment conducive to eclost 10 operatives in the incident.

News Edo Govt Hands Over MDGs Water UGBOWO - Edo State Borehole To Egor LG Government has handed over

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa (middle), with members of the State Assembly during 2014 Budget presentation in Dutse recently.

the water borehole project constructed in Ugbowo Community under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the authorities of Egor Local Government Council.

Chairman of the council, Hon Victor Enobakhare who formally took over the project on behalf of the local government was represented by the Supervisory Councillor for Social, Information and Community Development, Hon. Emmanuel Aigbogun.

According to the council boss, the project which was constructed in 2011 and abandoned thereafter would be put to full use for the benefit of people in the locality.

Nigeria, Ethiopia Sign Agreement On LAGOS -The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development has signed an agreement to enhance exchange of research on Africa’s continental relations.

Signing the agreement in Lagos, NIIA’s DirectorGeneral, Prof.

Bola Akinterinwa, said it was imperative for the institutes to

Research Exchange come together and contribute to the continent’s development.

“We have realised that Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world has been vertical. We strongly believe that through our partnership, we can promote African renaissance and intra-African cooperation.

“And one way of doing this

is to bring together all Africa’s International Relations Institutes in solving the problems of Africa.

“We hope to foster a closer relationship between Nigeria and Ethiopia, using the institute’s research,” he said.

The director-general said that efforts were also being made by

country,” he said.

Arowolo also urged the government to honour agreements reached with various labour unions in the New Year.

“It should not be business as usual; things should be done differently in 2014.

“Our government should be committed to agreements; it should implement them and avoid incessant strikes in all sectors,” the unionist said.

Arowolo said the chapter

pulled out of the ongoing ASUP strike, due to some internal crisis in the institution, which had been addressed.

He said the chapter was ready to face the consequences of its action.

“ASUP is not on strike in LASPOTECH because we have resolved some of our internal problems.

“The national body will sanction us for not joining the strike at the forthcoming SouthWest Zonal meeting coming up in Ogun later in the month.

ASUP Tasks FG On Education Budget LAGOS – Mr. Olatunji Arowolo, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu chapter, has urged the Federal Government to increase the budgetary allocation of the education sector in 2014.

Arowolo told newsmen in Lagos that the budget should tally with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation of 28 percent.

He said that the current allocation to the sector in the country was grossly inadequate to address the decay at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.

According to him, the education sector needs urgent attention; it is in this sector that a state of emergency will be declared if the government fails to intervene quickly.

“There is need for government to focus more on improving the standard of education at all levels.

“The budgetary allocation for education should, therefore, be increased; provide funds for the training and re-training of teachers, and also recruit more personnel.

“Education is a social service and must be funded properly for it to address the needs of the

governments of the two countries to eliminate trade barriers between them.

He also said that there were positive manifestations in the countries’ present and future areas of cooperation.

“Nigeria and Ethiopia have also agreed to work within the framework of the African Union. The agreement we have signed today is by Africa and for Africa’s development,” he said.

Mr. Sebehat Negga, the Executive Director, Ethiopian International Institute, expressed satisfaction on the agreement, saying that it would strengthen the relations of the two countries.

Negga said the time had come when African countries should be prepared to shape their destinies and development.

“As Africans, we need to begin to independently develop ourselves. I think we have to start rethinking of building our continental relations and development,” he added.

L-R: Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi; Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC), Bash Ali Guiness World Book of Records title fight, Alhaji Bala Kaoje and the Boxer, Mr. Bashiru Ali at the inauguration of the LOC in Abuja recently.

While noting the relevance of the project to the people, he disclosed his administrations readiness to make life more meaningful for them.

Speaking before handing over the project to the local government, the project clerk, Mr. Osahon Ehiorobo said the handing over was followed with a request to that effect by the

local government authorities.

He thanked the council boss for the initiative, saying the project is a dividend of democracy.

Odionwere of the Ugbowo Communities, Chief Ugiagbe Ehigie appreciated the council boss for ensuring that the water borehole is put to use.

Nat’l Confab: Resist Imposition Of Delegates, Duke Advises Nigerians

By ROLAND OSAKUE

BENIN CITY – The Duke of Ukhiri in Benin Kingdom, His Royal Highness (Barr.)

Godwin Osayande Aigbe has called on Nigerians to resist any attempt by politicians to hijack the selection of their representatives for the Nation’s Constitutional Conference.

Aigbe who stated this in Benin City argued that the delegates to the confab must be the likely choice by constituency or community, who must have resided with the people for at least one year.

He noted that a country as Nigeria with multi-ethnicity people should be given the freedom to make their contributions that would allow for robust discourse.

The Duke however, described as bottleneck, the sections of the country’s constitution which made it compulsory for the National Assembly to ratify debate as that which is to emanate from the confab before it could

become working document.

While applauding the Federal Government for the bold initiative of the National confab, Duke Aigbe said it was one of the highest achievements of the President Janothan-led administration, saying that no government in the country since independence was bold enough to propose it.

He therefore called on Nigerians to embrace the initiative with clean heart, while underscoring the gimmicks of critics who are not better positioned to lead the country achieve desirable goals.

HRH (Barr.) Godwin O. Aigbe, Enogie of Ukhiri

Egor LG Suspends Revenue Collectors

USELU – Authorities of Egor Local Government Council has suspended all its revenue contractors.

Chairman of the council, Hon Victor Enobakhare disclosed this while addressing the council staff at the council’s secretariat in Uselu.

He cautioned that any person(s) or organisation caught colleting revenue in the name of the local government would be arrested and prosecuted in line with relevant laws.

According to the council boss, the suspension became necessary following the nonimprovement in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the local government for some months now.

The council boss disclosed

that the local government is committed to looking inwards to boost its revenue base so as to have enough resources to meet the development needs of people in the locality.

Noting that a meeting with all revenue contractors/agents would be conveyed with a view to reviewing their operations, Hon. Enobakhare appreciated staff of the council for their co-operation with his administration and therefore sued of its sustenance.

The member representing Egor constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Paul Ohonbamu in his remarks said he was impressed over the cordial relationship that exists among local government and its staff.

News 2014: Stakeholders Call For Stability In Education Sector LAGOS - A former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji, has called for the implementation of policies and programmes that would give the education sector a leap in 2014.

Obaji, who spoke to newsmen on telephone, said that such policies and programmes should not only be implemented, but should be sustained.

She said that Nigeria’s quest for advancement was dependent on the development of its education sector.

“Our education sector in 2013, especially in our universities, left a bitter experience in the minds of parents, children and other stakeholders.

“There is no way we, as a people, can advance and match other climes if we continue this way and therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that we do not repeat past mistakes.

“We must ensure that we do what we need to do individually and collectively to ensure that all the developmental policies and programmes put in place for

the sector are implemented to the letter and sustained,” Obaji said.

According to her, there is also the need for a stable academic calendar at the primary, secondary and the university levels.

She called for peaceful coexistence between lecturers and students and others.

“We must all learn to resolve our issues through dialogue in order to maintain a peaceful teaching and learning environment.

“Our children have been out of school for a long time and are expected to return to a peaceful environment and not a chaotic one.

“Now that government has agreed to inject the N200 billion into universities for the development of infrastructure and other needs, we should expect to see results in the next few months.

“We must be able to get proper accountability of the funds as stories will not be entertained,” she said.

Also, the National Publicity Secretary, National ParentTeacher Association of Nigeria, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, called for wisdom in the sharing of the fund.

Ogunbanjo also urged lecturers and the university administrators to be alive to their responsibilities in 2014.

According to him, lecturers must ensure that they are always at their duty posts in order to make up for the period lost to the protracted strike.

“Our lecturers must shun all unpatriotic acts and attitudes such as engaging in activities that are not part of their academic and allied duties.

AEPB Set To Redesign Manholes ABUJA - The management of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) said they have concluded plans to redesign manholes on some major roads and streets in the FCT, to forestall vandalism.

Mr. Samuel Musa, the board’s Media Liaison Officer, disclosed

Rape: Man Jailed 10yrs ABUJA - An FCT High Court has sentenced a selfacclaimed pastor, Micheal Dimowo, of Galadimawa village, Lugbe, Abuja, to 10 years in prison for raping a sixyear-old girl.

Dimowo, 24, was arraigned by the police on December 3, 2012 accused of rape, which contravenes the provisions of Section 283 of the Penal code.

Delivering judgment, Justice Maudashiru Oniyangi refused to give the convict an option of fine.

“Based on the forgoing I find the accused guilty of the offence of rape which contravenes the provisions of

Section 283 of the Penal Code.

“The prosecution was consistent in its evidence through its witnesses. I hold that the prosecution has discharged the burden of proof pursuant to Section 135(1) of the Evidence Acts,” he said.

He held that the prosecutor has succeeded in proving all the ingredients of the offence against the accused beyond any reasonable doubts.

“In the convict’s testimony he said that he was a Pastor. I wonder what he will be preaching to his congregation if at all he is ordained. To me he is not a pastor.

“The convict should be ashamed of himself because as

Wife of Bauchi State Governor, Hajiya Mariya Yuguda (right), cutting a cloth at the start of six weeks intensive training on income generating activities for low income women in Bauchi, Azare and Misau Local Government Areas in Bauchi recently.

a pastor he defiled and committed rape on a six-yearold girl.

“You are the Judas Iscariot of faith. You have betrayed the trust of your congregation,” Oniyangi told the convict.

Oniyangi in his judgment said that the court still remained the last hope of the common man and the convict by his act did not deserve any mercy.

“Matthew 5:7 says Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. The convict deserves no mercy and I hereby sentence you to 10 years in prison with no option of fine,” he held.

Executive Chairman, Plateau Independent Electoral Commission, Mr. Peter Dalyop (5th left), screening candidates for Local Government Chairmen election in Jos recently.

this to newsmen in an interview in Abuja.

According to him, the move is to make the manholes less attractive to the vandals who usually remove their metal components for sale to the end users.

A manhole or maintenance hole is a tube which connects underground utilities to the surface and large enough to accommodate the body of a utility worker.

It is usually covered with a top that serves as flush to the ground called a manhole cover.

Manholes can be found connected to water and sewer systems, along with electrical and fibre optic cables among other uses.

Musa said: “We have decided to redesign the manholes to remove the metal component and make the wholly concrete to make it valueless to vandals.

“We observe that the part of it which they find useful is the metal component and we will exclude that from the new design.

He said that AEPB had been collaborating with some security agencies to arrest vandals, adding that some of had been been prosecuted.

“We got a lot of reports from different parts of the city, particularly, Utako, and we have apprehended a lot of these vandals.

“We observe that the crime is committed mostly by scavengers whose activities in the FCT are illegal because they have been banned.

He further told newsmen that a lot of the stolen manholes were recovered at Deidei market saying that some of the vandals were facing prosecution.

Reports say that several of the manholes which serve as network for movement of liquid waste from residences to the treatment plants had been vandalised.

Some residents of the city

complained that the openings left by the vandals had resulted in several accidents and many residents sustained injuries.

Mr Bashir Issa, a resident of Utako, called on the authorities of AEPB do more to prevent them from major and minor accidents.

“I was taking a walk with my friend last week when he suddenly fell into this little hole,

he was fortunate not to have sustained a major fracture,’’ he said.

Hajia Mariam Sanni, another resident of Utako, complained that such openings on roads could cause harm to unsuspecting road users.

She advised the authorities concerned to be more efficient in preventing further vandalism of the manholes.

Farmers Backs FG’s Reduction On Fish Import LAGOS - The Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) in Lagos expressed support for the Federal Government’s partial ban on fish importation, saying it was long overdue.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adewunmi Adesina, recently announced a 25 per cent reduction in the tonnage of fish imported into the country.

The association disclosed that local fish consumption was about 1.5million metric tons with an annual fish import figure of about 700,000 metric tons.

Mr. Rotimi Oloye, the National Secretary of CAFAN, told newsmen that fish farming was important in generating income to boost the nation’s economy.

“The country has been derailed by the Dutch Syndrome, which means a situation where one sector of the country’s economy is used to silence other sectors.

“Nigeria has used the oil sector to silence others, particularly the agriculture sector.

“The fish farmers alone generate a reasonable amount of naira to the nation’s revenue yearly which contributes to the overall economy, and also provides employment to the jobless,’’ Oloye said.

The secretary added that fish farming was undoubtedly one of the fastest growing agricultural enterprises in Nigeria.

“The contribution of fisheries

to the nation’s economy is very significant in terms of employment, income generation, poverty alleviation and provision of raw materials for the animal feed industry.

“Nigerians are high fish consumers with total current consumption figures of about 1.5 million metric tons with an annual fish import figure of about 700,000 metric tons.

“The country remains the highest importer of fish and fishery products in Africa,’’ Oloye said.

He said that domestic aquaculture had a high potential of 2.5 million metric tons per annum.

Oloye noted that aquaculture was doing less before the recent government intervention by supplying 4.2 million juveniles to farmers in 10 states.

He said the scheme was also supported with 42 metric tons of feed subsidies and N105 million.

“This has really contributed to the increase in fish production by farmers who benefited from the support scheme than the previous years.

“The local fish farmers will do better if given protection which the minister is trying to do by the gradual ban on fish imports,’’ Oloye said.

He pleaded with the government to place a 100 per cent ban on all imported fish products, adding that Nigerian fish farmers had the capacity to meet the domestic demand.

South South Centre Empowers 25 Female Auto-Mechanics In Edo

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State attends to plantain chips vendor during his inspection of New Benin Market yesterday.

BENIN CITY - The National Productivity Centre (NPC) on Tuesday said that 25 female auto mechanics in Benin City were empowered with various skills in 2013.

Mr. Clifford Alisigwe, Acting State Coordinator, NPC for Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states, announced this in an interview with newsmen in Benin.

Alisigwe said that the overall aim of the training was to increase the productivity skills of the mechanics so that they

would have a large customer base.

He said that the mechanics were taught financial management, effective communication skills, health and safety in the workshop.

Alisigwe said that the centre also carried out a productivity awareness campaign in two schools in the state.

“We educated secondary school students on the need to be productive and enterprising.

“We want to catch them

“We must do exactly what the early Americans did, we must sit down, all of us and talk, talk about how we will want to relate with each other, talk about what we really are. Today they are making superficial peace.

This group is fighting the other group; let us forget about what divides us, let us talk about what unites us, those are just platitudes”.

According to him, “God gave us everything more than he gave to others yet we can’t feed ourselves, so many things are wrong, they are wrong because the so called founding fathers were only independence seekers’.

The Enogie who is the younger brother to the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Oba

Erediauwa however, supported the National Confab where every ethnic nationality in this country would sit down to discuss their own affairs without any act of sentiment.

Centenary Celebration: Trad Ruler Faults FG

By ROLAND OSAKUE

BENIN CITY - The Enogie of Obazuwa in Benin Kingdom, His Royal Highness Edun Akenzua has faulted the Federal Government over the planned centenary celebration of the country, saying the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 was not a desire by the

people of the country.

Akenzua, who spoke with journalists yesterday in Benin City said the nation has no cause for the celebration of such event, as he stated that the British colonialists foisted the said amalgamation on the citizens of this country in order to loot the economic resources of Nigeria.

Uduaghan To Complete Ongoing Projects In 2014

WARRI (Delta) - Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta has reiterated his administration’s commitment to the speedy completion of ongoing projects and execution of new ones in the state.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Sunny Ogefere, in Warri, Delta.

Uduaghan gave the assurance when the Ovwor-Olomu Community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state visited the governor at his residence in Warri.

He said though the state government could not meet everybody’s expectations in terms of provision of infrastructure, “my administration will focus more on people-oriented projects this year’’. ‘ The governor said different projects were ongoing in the state, and noted that the situation had made it difficult for people to fully appreciate the effort of the government.

He thanked the community for appreciating his administration’s commitment to the wellbeing of the people.

“It is encouraging when people say thank you, this expression of gratitude will make Delta government to do more for your community,’’ he said.

In his remark, the PresidentGeneral the community, Chief

Amos Oyoroko, thanked the governor for tarring nine major streets in his domain.

Oyoroko also commended the governor for constructing an ultra-modern primary school in the community, among other projects.

He noted that the banishment of his great grandfather Oba Ovonramwen to Calabar by British colonialists and his eventual death that paved way for the amalgamation but lamented the amalgation was a “coerced” one.

“If anybody is to celebrate that, to my mind, I think it is Lord Lugard and his descendants who should be celebrating. It is like we want to be celebrating the Berlin Conference where Africa was partitioned among European countries” He said the proposed National Conference was needed but it should be done in such a way to ensure the people decide how the country should exist.

Lawmaker Spends N30m On Women, youths In Edo UCHi (Edo) - Rep. Abubakar Momoh (APC Edo), representing Etsako Federal Constituency, said he spent N30 million on the empowerment of women and youth in 2013.

Momoh said this during an inspection tour of the constituency projects in Auchi.

He said that the empowerment items such as grinding machine, motorcycles, vehicles, hairdryers and sewing machines were distributed to women and youths.

“In 2013 we spent N30 million to empower women and youths in my constituency through my poverty alleviation programme.

“And the beneficiaries are from the 32 wards that make up my constituency,’’ he said.

Momoh said that 32 block of

classrooms had been constructed in 10 communities as part of his constituency projects in order to improve the education standard in the area.

According to him, the classrooms with headmaster’s office, equipped with furniture will be inaugurated with other projects in February.

He added that out of the 44 projects, 39 have been fully completed.

“My desire is to effect changes in the lives of people in my constituency, that is the reason behind the projects,’’ he said.

The lawmaker said that the poverty alleviation programme had impacted positively on the economic empowerment of women and youth, promising to sustain the tempo in 2014.

“I would continue to initiate programmes that will help

reduce youth restiveness and poverty within my capacity,’’ he said.

young and help develop the right attitude towards their studies and productivity.

“At the end of the seminar, productivity clubs were formed in the two schools visited,” he said.

He said that the centre also organised a productivity and quality improvement programme for small and medium scale business men in Benin.

He said that most owners of small and medium scale businesses did not keep financial records, adding that it was a setback to the growth of businesses.

The acting state coordinator added that lack of finance was a major challenge confronting the organisation in the state as it could not extend its activities to other states.

Maritime Practitioners Lauds Sectors Achievement In 100Yrs PORT HARCOURT - A maritime expert, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, said the nation’s maritime sector recorded increased volume of cargoes and development in the past 100 years.

Elochukwu, former President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents from 2004 to 2008, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that more ports had been built in the country, compared to what it was in the past.

He said the ports had witnessed an increase in the volume of cargoes that passed through them.

“There have been improvements in the already existing ports as well as in terms

of the cargo handling and operational modus.

“For instance, the customs have gone from the manual to electronic system in cargo handling,’’ he said.

The maritime practitioner said the nation’s maritime sector still needed more improvements in spite of the successes recorded.

Elochukwu said that cargo handling efficiency at the ports were still poor.

He said it took between two and three weeks for cargoes to be cleared at the ports while with modern equipment, it required three days to be cleared.

“We have made some progress in the maritime sector, but the level of progress, considering where the world is going to and resources available to us, I think that we have not done exceptionally well,’’ he said.

Elochukwu called on the Federal Government to pay more attention to the maritime sector because of its potential as revenue source.

Former Director, Nigerian Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru (left), decorating Brig.-Gen. Olajide Laleye, with the badge of the Directorate during the hand over ceremony in Abuja recently.

South West Pensioners Want Gratuities Paid

LAGOS - The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) Lagos State chapter, has urged the Lagos State Government to address the problem of unpaid gratuities and allowances to its members.

The Chairman of the union, Mr Nojeemdeen Ibrahim, told newsmen in Lagos that “the issues should be given immediate attention.’’

“There are pensioners that retired since 2006 from the local government councils and primary schools, they have not been paid their gratuities or allowances,’’ he said.

Ibrahim called on the Lagos State government to effect various increments in pensions that had not been implemented by the government.

“There was an increase of 142 per cent by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 2000. The Lagos State Government refused to pay the money until the union went to court and won the case.

“The court ordered the

government to pay us the arrears which was then six years in arrears.

“We were then paid three years. We are still waiting for the outstanding of three years which, we pray will be paid very soon,’’ he said.

The chairman said that the administrations’ of Obasanjo and late Alhaji Musa Yar’ Adua also made increases of six per cent and 15 per cent, respectively on pension.

He told newsmen that these adjustments were yet to be implemented by the Lagos

Chairman, Lagos State Taskforce on Environment, ASP Bayo Sulaiman, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lalgos and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba during an inspection of Mosafejo Market in Lagos by Governor Fashola recently.

Review Constitution Of Maritime Org, Expert Counsels

LAGOS - A maritime consultant, Capt. Solomon Omoteso, has called for the review of constitutions of maritime organisations in West and Central Africa.

Omoteso told newsmen in Lagos that the aim was to elevate the standards of ports in

Man Docked For Impersonation, Fraud ADO-EKITI - A 33-yearold man, Micheal Olagoke, has appeared before an AdoEkiti Magistrates’ Court charged with impersonation and fraud.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Ebenezer Ewuola, told the court that the accused committed the offence in December at Oke-Igbara Street in Igbara-Odo, Ekiti.

He said that the accused presented himself as the police officer in charge of an auction being coordinated by the command.

He added that the accused fraudulently obtained N26,000 from one Deborah Akingbade and Bose Otitigbe under the pretext of purchasing auctioned motorcycles for them.

Ewuola said the offence contravened Section 419 of the Criminal Code, Cap 16, Laws of Ekiti State 2012.

The accused, who was not represented by any counsel, pleaded not guilty to the

State Government.

“Many of our pensioners are suffering. They are living below poverty level. Many of them are very sick and they don’t have money to go to hospital for treatment.

Many others have died. This is the problem we are facing in Lagos state. “ As the chairman, I know that many states in the SouthWest have implemented these increments. I wondered why our state should be any different.

“I know it is not a crime to have served our fatherland,’’ he said

charge.

The Magistrate, Doyin Akosile, granted him N100,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case to February 5 for further hearing.

the sub-regions.

He particularly called for the review of the constitutions of Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) and the Maritime Organisation for West and Central Africa (MOWCA).

The mariner said that the review would tremendously pave way for more efficiency at the ports.

PMAWCA was established in October 1972 under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Africa and covers activities of ports from Mauritania to Angola.

The association’s membership

has grown from just nine at inception to about 30 members in 2013 and its headquarters is in Lagos.

MOWCA was established in May 1975 as the Ministerial Conference of West and Central African States on Maritime Transport (MINCONMAR).

Its name was changed to MOWCA as part of reforms adopted by the General Assembly of Ministers of Transport at an extraordinary session of the organisation in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, in August 1999.

According to Omoteso, the

Osun Dep Gov Tasks Civil Servants L-R: Alao-Aka Bashorun’s daughter, Ms Ajibike Alao; Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Governor Fashola of Lagos and widow of Alao Aka Bashorun, Mrs. Kudirat at the dedication of Alao-Aka Bashorun memorial park in Lagos by Governor Fashola recently.

Clerics Urge Peaceful Co-existence

LAGOS - Catholic clerics have urged Nigerians to shun ethnic and religious intolerance to promote peace in 2014 The clerics told newsmen in separate interviews in Lagos that Nigeria needed peace and unity for facilitated development.

The immediate past Youth

constitutions of the regional maritime organisations have to be amended to meet the realities of the port industry and the requirements of maritime administration.

The mariner described the constitutions of both bodies as obsolete, adding that the legal documents should be reviewed to meet international requirements.

Omoteso said that the review should also be done to facilitate cooperation among the managements of ports in the sub-regions.

The consultant suggested that a committee should be inaugurated without delay by the maritime organisations to review the constitutions.

He described the privatisation of many ports in the sub-region as fine, but said that the next thing would be planning how the ports would perform efficiently to generate more funds.

Omoteso said that there was noticeable keen competition among ports in the sub-region on the attraction of more ships.

The mariner said that activities were low at the Warri and Calabar ports in Nigeria because cargoes had not been attracted to the ports.

He said the non-review of the constitutions had made it difficult for shipping companies to source for cargoes due to the abolition of the cargo sharing policy by Nigeria.

Omoteso said that it was not enough for MOWCA to attend the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) meetings without a seat at the IMO. “There are many things that countries are doing individually to sustain their maritime administration, but they must speak with one voice.

“By 2015, the IMO says no single hull tanker would be allowed anywhere.

“But most of the tankers plying the West and Central Africa sub-region are still single hull that cannot meet international requirements,’’ he told newsmen.

The mariner, however, said Nigerian ports were doing well.

According to Omoteso, every port has a room for expansion.

We might be okay now, what of the future generation?

Chaplain of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Rev. Fr. Andrew Ogidan, said that Nigerians should be determined to avoid violence that afflicted the country in 2013.

“Unity should be our focus in the New Year; crisis of 2013 can be overcome if we put aside religious and ethnic

differences,” he said.

A lecturer at the All Saints Major Seminary, Ekpoma, Rev. Fr. Tony Afariogun, said that the lessons of Christmas should be a guiding principle for the citizens.

“The manifestation of God at Christmas is the greatest expression of love and unity; He

came for the old and young, black and white, and not for a particular race or tribe,” he said.

Rev. Fr. Jude Abulu, the Parish Priest of Saints Timothy and Titus Catholic Church, Isheri Osun, Lagos, said “ God does not belong to a particular race or tribe.

OSOGBO - The Deputy Governor of Osun, Mrs Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, has in charged civil servants to make positive contribution to the development of the state.

Laoye-Tomori gave the charge during a prayer session she organised for political office holders and civil servants to herald the official activities of the New Year.

She expressed gratitude to God for divine mercies and protection of all categories of workers in the state.

The deputy governor, however, called on residents to embrace peace while loving

one another in order to move the state forward.

Laoye-Tomori also advised civil servants to depend only on God in all their undertakings, adding that they should be dutiful, dedicated and honest.

She further enjoined residents to pray for the success of Gov. Rauf Aregbesola’s administration in its bid to promote and enhance peace, progress and security of lives and property.

Present at the prayer session were top government functionaries in the office of the deputy governor as well as other civil servants.

Lagos Money Laundering: Trial Stalled

As Ikuforiji Gets New Counsel LAGOS - A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed March 17 for continuation of trial of Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, who were charged with money laundering.

Ikuforiji, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and Atoyebi are standing trial on an amended 54-count charge.

The trial could not continue on Tuesday as earlier scheduled due to appearance of new counsel for the accused.

When the case was mentioned, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), informed the court that he had taken over representation of the accused.

He said that he took over from Mr Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), and had yet to prepare for the trial.

Olanipekun prayed for more time to prepare.

“My lord, when a new counsel comes into a case, it

is natural for him to study the file and know the parties.

“Criminal trial is a serious business, and I must say that I am faced with a mountain of documents to peruse, some of which were just served on us yesterday.

“In the circumstance, I have no alternative but to seek an adjournment to enable me to study the files” he said.

The Prosecutor, Mr Godwin Obla (SAN), did not object to Olanipekun’s prayer.

Justice Ibrahim Buba consequently adjourned the case.

Reports State that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned the accused on June 24, 2013.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts, and were granted bail in the sum of N1 billion each.

The court ordered each of them to provide two sureties in the sum of N500 million.

On Nov. 21, 2013, the prosecution called its first witness, Mr Adebayo Adedeji,

an investigating police officer.

The EFCC had stated in the charge sheet that Ikuforiji and his aide conspired between April, 2010 and July, 2011 to illegally accept cash payments amounting to N273. 3 million from the assembly without going through a financial institution.

It added that Ikuforiji used his position to misappropriate about N500 million belonging to the House.

The commission said that the offences contravened Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.

L-R: Lagos Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope Adefuliri, Iyaloja-General of Lagos, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and Works Commissioner, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat at the inauguration of Oshodi Resettlement Market in Lagos recently.

Politician Calls For Strong Grass Roots

LAGOS - A politician, Mr Tony Prest, said in Lagos that strong grassroots followership was an antidote against rigging of elections.

Prest told newsmen in Lagos that what politicians needed most was to build confidence in the electorate,

who would protect their votes.

He said politicians, apart from making impact in the lives of their supporters, must always keep their electoral promises and shun corruption to build trust.

Prest noted that the country’s electoral process had been transformed with voters being empowered.

“So it has become very important to always win their confidence.’’

According to him, with the confidence of the electorate, the era of having godfathers to win elections will become a thing of the past.

“We can use our voter’s cards to decide how we want our future and the future of our families to be,’’ he said.

Prest, who said he had his eyes on the Delta Government House in 2015,

explained that the people would follow a leader who was accountable and could harness available resources to improve their lot.

He said that Delta had the potential to become the petro-chemical hub, not only in Nigeria, but ultimately in West Africa.

According to him, it also has the capacity to become the most Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabled state in Nigeria.

He said that the feat could be achieved by laying fibre optic cables across main cities in the state, which would automatically make calls through land lines cheap with attendant benefits on communication, trade and

commerce.

“My vision for Delta is for a secure environment where people and industry can develop and flourish like first world countries,” he said.

Prest, a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), noted that Delta had huge resources with which it could be transformed into a more prosperous state.

“We have seen this done in Singapore and Dubai and we can together do it here too,’’ he added.

According to Prest, the state has a lot of potential in agriculture among other areas, which can be harnessed to engender more economic development.

He noted that Nigeria had talents who could transform the country and develop its infrastructure to international standards.

Use ICT’s To Boost Tourism Oshodi Resettlement Market Lagos inaugurated by Gov. Fashola of Lagos recently.

Resumption: Private Schools In Lagos Comply With Govt Directive LAGOS - Most private primary and secondary schools in Lagos State are complying with the state government’s directive that public and private schools resume on January 13.

An investigation by newsmen revealed that most private schools did not resume on January 6 for the second term of the 2013/2014 academic session. They had proposed to re-open on January 6.

Many private schools in the state re-opened before public

schools last term.

Some schools that complied with the directive are: Christ Apostolic Church Nursery and Primary School, Mile 12; Maymaxwell Nursery School, Ago Palace Way; Dominican Group of Schools, Mafoluku, and Highlanders Open schools, Alagbado.

The others include: Holy Family Schools, Ijegun; Saints Saviours, Ikotun; Binta International School, Ejigbo; Gracefield International School, Surulere, and Prevailer

Schools, Ijegun.

According to the Proprietress, Highlanders Open Schools, Mrs Favour Olugola, it is better that private and public schools resume the same day.

The few private schools which resumed a week before January 13 include Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja and Chrisland International School, Ejigbo.

The Lagos State Ministry of Education has vowed to penalise schools that flouted the directive.

LAGOS - The Dean, School of Communications, Lagos State University, Prof. Lai Oso, has urged authorities in the tourism industry to explore ICTs to boost the performance of the industry.

Oso said in an interview with newsmen in Lagos that Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) had a growing impact on tourism promotion, marketing and sales.

“With the advent of new forms of ICTs, a novel type of tourism, known as e-tourism, has emerged. It is radically transforming the international tourism industry, “More and more people now prefer to search for information on tourism destinations and offers on the Internet,” he said.

Oso said that “ in most cases it is not developing countries that benefit from new tourism

opportunities, which creates a leak of foreign exchange to developed countries.

“World tourism is mostly concentrated in a handful of rich countries that run the business and reap the benefits.

“Most information on tourism opportunities in developing countries is generated, updated and marketed online by major international service providers based in developed countries.

“With their obvious technological advantage, these providers carry out most of the ticket sales transactions and absorb a large share of the profits.”

Oso said in most developing countries, such as Nigeria, up to 85 per cent of total profits from the tourism industry was repatriated to developed countries.

-Don

“One solution is for the relevant authorities in African countries to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by ICT to brand and promote their own tourism industry.

“Unlimited and low cost access to world markets, information and trade networks is essential,” he said.

Oso said to achieve this would require wider involvement of local small and medium-size tourism enterprises in global ICT networks and developing innovative national ICT policies for the tourism sector.

“E-tourism can help Nigeria explore the untapped development opportunities that tourism offers. If set up efficiently ICT application can give us better control over our tourism industry,” he said.

Across The Nation 92 Ships To Arrive Lagos Port In Jan -NPA

Kafur Irrigation Farmers Call For Completion KAFUR (Katsina State) Irrigation farmers in Kafur Local Government of Katsina State have appealed to the Federal Governments to hasten the completion of Salma Dam project started four years ago.

The spokesman of the farmers, Malam Tijjani Maihula made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Kafur.

Maihula said that flow of water for irrigation had been hindred since work on the dam started in 2010.

He said the enthusiasm of the farmers on the potentials of the project had since waned, adding that the farmers were beginning to incur losses due to the delay.

He noted that the early completion of the project would boost food production, provide job opportunities and enhance other economic activities in the area.

When contacted, the state Chairman of Irrigation Farmers Association, Alhaji Salisu Lema-Jikamshi, said when completed, the dam would prevent youths in the area from migrating to urban centres in search of menial jobs.

He commended Gov. Ibrahim Shema for his support to farmers across the state and solicited his intervention to complete the project.

Lema-Jikamshi appealed to wealthy individuals and

companies to establish tomato and other foodstuffs processing factories to utilise the vast farm produce from the area.

In his comment, the Transition Council Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Nafi’u Kuringafa, also called for early completion of the project, saying, “it holds great importance to the socioeconomic development of the area”.

The chairman said he had conveyed the feelings of the farmers to the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Faskari in 2013, when he visited the area.

Return Of Mission Schools

Religious Leader Renews Call OMU-ARAN (Kwara) Rt. Rev. Samuel Abidoye, the Spiritual Father, Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide (CSMC), has renewed the call for the return of Christian mission schools to their owners.

He told newsmen on telephone that the return of mission schools to their owners would “save the schools from further deterioration”.

He said that a recent

NIPOST Cautions Courier LAGOS - The Nigerian Operators Postal Service Department (NIPOST) has warned courier operators in the country to desist from price under-cutting or have their licences suspended or withdrawn.

Dr Simon Emeje, Head, Courier Regulatory Department of NIPOST, told newsmen in Lagos that the sector was losing face due to such practices.

Emeje said that the sector had a minimum tariff, which all operators must operate within.

He said that the department had noticed that some courier operators carried out their services below the tariff.

According to him, “some operators carry an item of N5,000 for just N500.”

“The operators know that the N500 cannot do the job.

“Such courier operators risk having their licences suspended or withdrawn, if caught,” Emeje, a Senior Assistant Postmaster-General of NIPOST, said.

He added that any client that encouraged price under-cutting may be prosecuted.

Emeje said that charging

L-R: Commodore Muhammed Garba, Rear Adm. Sidi-Ali Usman and Commodor V. Okeke addressing news conference in Warri recently.

below the minimum tariff would make customers lose confidence in the operators’ services.

He added that some courier firms had gone underground because they could not deliver their consignments due to price under-cutting.

survey and assessment carried out by the church showed that most mission schools now under government supervision were in a deplorable state nationwide.

Abidoye said that public primary and secondary schools established by the church were the worst affected by the ugly development.

He said that leaders of the church could not fold their arms and watch these “educational legacies built through pains to rot away unchecked’’.

“In as much as we are committed to partnering with governments to ensure the desired development in the education sector, the present state of our schools remained a source of concern.

“A visit to most of these

schools across the states will reveal a sorry and poor condition they have become without proper and adequate supervision.

“It is on this basis that we are renewing our appeal to governments to either see to the proper renovation of these schools or return them to us,” the CSMC leader said.

Abidoye listed some of the challenges facing the schools as infrastructure decay, lack of teachers to teach core subjects as well as non functional laboratory and library.

He commended Prophetess Bosede Adimabau, the President, Women Wing, Christian Association of Nigeria (WOWICAN), Kwara chapter, for donating a N20 million hostel to Cherubim and Seraphim College,

Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Abraham Yiljap (left), with the General Manager Nigeria Standard Newspaper, Mr. Jonathan Ishaku, during the inspection of the Media House and the State Printing Press in Jos recently.

Ilorin.

Abidoye said the hostel, which was gutted by fire about 15 years ago, had remained an eye sore before the intervention by Adimabua.

He called on other philanthropists to emulate the gesture by contributing their quota to the development of education, especially in mission schools.

LAGOS - A total of 92 ships are expected to berth at the Lagos ports between January 6 and January 30.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) announced the ‘Shipping Position’ in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos.

According to the statement, 20 of the ships are loaded with used and new vehicles, while nine ships and 39 ships are laden with petroleum products and containers, respectively.

The NPA said that the other ships would sail in with general cargoes, bulk wheat, rice, bulk salt, bulk sugar, bulk rice, base oil, fresh fish, oil, steel products and boats.

Meanwhile, seven ships laden with petroleum products and one ship carrying containers of different goods are waiting to berth and discharge their goods.

According to the document, 16 ships are currently discharging containers, general cargo, bulk wheat, bulk fertilizer, bulk urea, bulk salt and petroleum products at the ports.

PPA Tasks Nigerians On Democracy ABUJA - The National Chairman of Progressive Peoples’ Alliance (PPA), Mr Peter Ameh has called Nigerians to participate actively in politics in order to boost the nation’s democracy.

Ameh made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

Ameh told newsmen that by being politically active the citizenry would keep politicians on their toes and make them to deliver on the dividends of democracy.

“We call on the citizens to lend their voice in the scheme of affairs in this country to make the polity better.

“Nigerians should be interested in how they are governed. We should stop celebrating corruption.

“Just as Nigerians cried out during fuel subsidy, they should also decry bad governance in all facets.

Government should be responsible to the people,” he said.

He equally urged the leadership of political parties to join forces in enlightening Nigerians that government is not for those in power alone but for the people.

Ameh also called on politicians to avoid “mud slinging and the politics of you eat, I eat. Nigeria is ours and we should all strive for the best for the country.

“We should work collectively towards an indivisible Nigeria,” he said.

On the party’s preparation for 2015 general elections, Ameh said the PPA was a party that should not be written off.

“We have repositioned ourselves to enable us work very hard. We are strategising to make sure that by 2015 we participate fully in the general elections.

Abuja Delta Govt Has Substantial Evidence Of Reduction In Oil Theft - Lawmaker

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa (left) presenting 2014 Budget to the Speaker, State House of Assembly, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu in Dutse recently.

ABUJA - The Delta government has substantial evidence to back its claim that there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the volume of crude oil stolen in the Niger Delta region.

Hon Martin Okonta, a member of the state house of assembly and former speaker, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

His remarks came on the heels of the recent pronouncement by Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan that the volume of stolen oil has decreased from 100,000 barrels to 40,000 barrels per day.

“The governor is an

Minister Urges NAN To Establish A Newspaper

ABUJA- The Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, has lauded the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) for its objectivity in reporting issues and event s in and around Nigeria.

Onolememen made the commendation during a courtesy visit to the Acting Managing Director of NAN, Chief Jide Adebayo in Abuja.

According to him, NAN is well positioned to promote national interest and patriotism by establishing a newspaper.

“With all this infrastructure at all your disposal, why have you not thought of floating a national newspaper for authentic news particularly in the face of this policalisation of information dissemination in Nigeria because there is a lot

of disinformation out there?

“With such an agency that has such a wide spread nationally and internationally, I think for reasons of patriotism and nationalism, it will not be a bad idea if your commercial arm can think of going into the print media business.

“Because for me, you will do a duty to your nation and through that commercial arm, you will be able to meet with your financial requirements.

“I think it is a challenge that your management should take a critical look at the ideas as long as the process is not hijacked particularly in the face of serious onslaught on the nation.’’

He condemned the distortion of news and reportage especially in the social media, saying that NAN can correct the anomaly with its widest reach.

He lauded NAN for justifying the reason for its establishment by the founding fathers.

The Acting Managing Director had solicited the minister’s support towards proper funding of the agency as NAN’s operations are hampered by inadequate fund.

Adebayo said that NAN had a wider coverage than other media outfits in the country as it had 22 district offices aside from the existing ones at all the

state capitals.

The managing director explained that the wide coverage in terms of operations enables the agency to report the grassroots effectively and make its subscribers have fresh and authentic news at all times.

“We have helped the newspapers and radio stations to reduce the cost of news hunting.’’

He said that the agency had five functional foreign offices while efforts are being made to re-open other foreign offices as well as open a new one in China.

Itsekiri man who is very familiar with the terrain.

“The issue of what the governor had said about oil theft is nothing, but it’s true because a lot of the infrastructure there was created by him.

“There is a lot of monitoring and intelligence reports to the state executive and security board and they have detailed analysis of what is happening,’’ Okonta said.

The lawmaker, who challenged the international community to assist Nigeria in the fight against oil theft, said that members of the community were part of those involved in the oil theft.

“They bring the infrastructure, the barge and equipment into our shores.

“We should be able to have information on who is in our territorial waters and I do not rule out the involvement of some government agencies in the greed to acquire wealth from stolen crude oil,’’ he said.

Okonto called on the Federal Government to “empower’’ the youth in the oil producing communities to enable them provide security agencies valid information to curb illegal oil bunkering.

He said that the Federal Government was not paying adequate attention to the development of the area that could engage the youth in productive activities, adding that the refinery in the area should be enhanced.

“The Federal Government should also have a surveillance aircraft that can monitor activities in the high sea because when it is dark nobody knows what is happening in the country’s territorial waters.

“So, we need a surveillance team that can monitor our waters properly because illegal oil bunkering is not for laymen; it is an activity with a level of sophistication,’’ he said.

Okonta expressed concern that the issue of the quantity of crude oil being exported had remained a major challenge to the country.

“What is the quantity of oil being taken away from this country,’’ he asked, adding: “if you ask the NNPC, CBN or any other person, there is divergent opinion because so many people or organisations are involved’’.

“The Inland Revenue is involved, there are other profit centres and because a lot of people are involved it is difficult to have adequate data.’’

Police Arraign Travel Agent For Criminal Breach Of Trust, Cheating ABUJA - The police has arraigned a 37-year-old travel agent, Akpoi Felix, in a Grade Two Area Court in Kado, charged with two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The prosecutor, Cpl Friday Idi, told the court that Mr Akoni Ibironke of No 7, Faramela Ajike Street, Anthony Village in Lagos, lodged a report against the accused at the Utako police station on Dec. 24.

Idi told the court that sometime last year, the accused of First Avenue, Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja, was entrusted with N1.136, 000, 000 to buy an airline ticket for the complainant.

He said that after collecting the money, the accused later gave the complainant the said airline ticket and absconded.

Idi said the complainant on

getting to the airport the ticket was confirmed to be fake.

This development, the prosecutor added, made the airline to deny Ibironke the opportunity to travel in addition to being almost arrested.

The prosecutor further told the court that after a month, the accused was apprehended by the police.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

According to the two sections, the accused is liable to a maximum of 10 years in prison with an option of fine or both if convicted.

The accused person, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding officer of the court, Mr Ahmed Ado, admitted him to bail in the sum of N500,

000 with two sureties.

He ordered that one of the sureties must own a landed property in Wuse 2 while the other surety must be above grade level 12.

Ado adjourned the case to March 12 for further hearing.

L-R: Former Assistant Secretary, PDP Kaduna State, Mr. Auta Magaji ....

CCB Prosecutes 371 Offenders In 3Yrs ABUJA - The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has said that 371 cases bordering on breach of code of conduct for public officers were prosecuted between 2011 and 2013.

The bureau disclosed this in a report made available to newsmen in Abuja.

It said that 10 convictions were secured while 293 of the cases were struck out.

The report said that 68 of cases were currently pending before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, while 278 petitions were received and considered within the period under review.

It said that investigations into 67 of the petitions were concluded while 30 petitions are currently under investigation.

The report said 867, 378

public officers were issued with assets declaration forms for completion, adding that 505,266 were duly completed and returned to the bureau.

It said that CCB in collaboration with some international development partners had developed an online assets declaration platform in line with the 21st century cutting edge

technology.

The report said that the platform was to enable public officers to complete their assets declaration form online from the comfort of their offices and homes.

It identified low response to assets declaration among public officers and inadequate funding as major challenges facing the bureau.

News LG Disburses N5.3m

Leader of Queen’s Baton relay team, Mr. Sharad Raq (left) and British Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, observnig the torch of the 20th Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014, before the Departure of the team from Abuja recently.

AUYO (JIGAWA) - The Auyo Local Government Council in Jigawa said it granted loans to the tune of N5.3 million to teachers and non-teaching staff of schools in 2013, to encourage productivity.

The Council’s Education Secretary, Malam Dayyabu Abubakar, told newsmen in Auyo that 20 teachers received car refurbishment loans while 88 others got money to purchase motorcycles and bicycles.

Abubakar said that the step was taken to mitigate the challenges of transportation faced by some of the teachers and to serve as incentive to boost their productivity.

He advised teachers in the area to imbibe good work ethics and avoid absenteeism.

The education secretary also commended the state government for its efforts to raise the standard of education in the state.

Meanwhile, the council has assisted in the transportation of some 600 boarding students to their various schools after the Christmas and New Year break.

Ahmadu Alhaji, Councillor, Education Services in the local government told newsmen that the gesture was to assist the students and encourage parents.

Stop Littering Of Sites, UNOP Official Tasks Tourists

A man defying warning against Indiscriminate dumping of refuse at the fence of Queen’s College at Onike, Sabo Area of Yaba in Lagos on Tuesday 7, 2014.

BADAGRY (LAGOS STATE) - A United Nation International Development Organisation (UNIDO) official, Mr Peter Mesewaku on Monday appealed to tourists to be environmental friendly.

Mesewaku made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Badagry, Lagos State.

He spoke to newsmen during the cleaning of the Gberufu Beach by UNIDO. He said that tourists should learn to respect the environment by not littering it.

“The reason why we are cleaning up the beach is to reduce the hazard of having

Insecticide Spraying Reduces Prevalence Of “We received letters of KANO - The Kano request from the eight local sanitation agency said its Malaria Sanitation Agency governments and the 88 outdoor residual spraying of insecticide across the municipal councils has reduced the prevalence of malaria.

Alhaji Abdullahi Bichi, the Managing Director of the state Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB), made this known on Monday in an interview with newsmen in Kano.

Bichi said that the prevalence reduction was

realised from the records of the state Hospital Management Board and residents.

“The Hospital Management Board, residents and associations across the eight local government areas under review have shown that there is significant decline in the cases of malaria in the state.

“At the Murtala Specialist Hospital alone, statistics shows that malaria cases in 2012 was around 13,500,

while by the end of 2013 we had only 1,600 cases,’’ he told NAN. Bichi added that the board had trained 130 spray staff

Abubakar said: “after listening to his plea for leniency; the court will not be fair if adequate punishment is not meted to Saleh to serve as deterrent to others.

She then sentenced Saleh to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.

Prosecutor Gunduma Ibrahim had told the court

that the father of the victim, a resident of Sarkin Pawa, reported the matter to the police in December 2013.

Ibrahim said the convict had carnal knowledge of the minor without her consent, and confessed committing the crime during investigation.

He said that the offence contravened Section 32 (2) of

and some personnel from the local councils on the spraying of mosquitoes, adding that insecticides were provided on a quarterly basis.

Robbert: Court Remands Man, 26, In Adebayo Lasisi, who gave “The accused and others, Prison who the order, said the accused were armed with

OSOGBO - An Osogbo Magistrates’ Court has remanded a 26-year-old man, OlajideYemi, in Ilesha Prisons in Osun over alleged armed robbery.

The Magistrate, Mr

should be kept behind bars because of the severity of the offence.

The accused, whose address is unknown, is being

Labourer, 25, Bags 7 Years Imprisonment For Raping Minor MINNA - A Minna Chief Magistrates’ Court sentenced a labourer, Suleiman Saleh, 25, to seven years imprisonment for defiling a six-year-old girl.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Maimuna Abubakar, sentenced the labourer after he pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with the minor.

political wards and we visit them and do the sprayings.

“We do this in market places, hospitals and schools,’’ he added.

a dirty environment when tourists come to visit.

“Directly and indirectly, we are responsible for the littering of the beach so we took it upon ourselves to make sure that we clean the beach.

“Also, tourists that come here to visit should try as much as possible not to litter the place with biscuit wraps, bottles, water sachets, amongst others.

“The tourists who visit should be more responsible and environmental friendly by not littering the environment because it isn’t hygienic,” he said.

Mesewaku, who is the Demo Coordinator of UNIDO, also urged the Badagry Local Government to provide waste bins at tourist sites.

“There are no waste bins in the beach. This is part of the things that contribute to the littering of the place,” he said.

UNIDO donated rakes, hoes, wheelbarrows and cutlasses to the villagers to assist them in cleaning their environment.

the Child Rights Law of Niger State When the charge was read to the convict, he pleaded guilty and begged for leniency.

The prosecutor, thereafter, applied that the convict be tried summarily in line with Section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

tried for armed robbery.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Sgt. Elisha Olusegun told the court that the accused committed the offence on December 11, 2013 at 8.30 p.m. at Oke Afo area of Osun capital.

According to him, the accused with others still at large robbed a woman, Ganiyat Akinniyi, of some items valued at N3, 800 at gunpoint.

“Yemi and others still at large had the information that the complainant was travelling with a large sum and decided to lay an ambush for her vehicle.

dangerous weapons such as axe, charms, took to their heels when they sighted a police patrol team.

“One of them was, however, caught by the police,’’ Olusegun said.

He noted that the offence contravened Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Osun, 2003 and Sections 1(2), (a) of the Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Laws of the Federation 2004.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Taiwo Adekunle, had urged the court to grant the accused bail.

The case was adjourned to February18.

Stocks Buying Shares: Importance Of The Prospectus

MANY prospective investors who are interested in buying shares from the new issues market are often confused about what to do. The questions often asked are:How do I decide on which shares to buy? Who should I consult? Where do I buy the shares from?

Investing in the capital market through buying shares could be one of the most lucrative investment outlets in the financial system. As is often said in stock market parlance, “an investor can make a fool of himself but not others to make a fool of him”. This simply means that investors in the capital market should blame themselves for unprofitable investments that do not yield the desired dividends. The full disclosure requirements put in place by the statutory regulatory body for the capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission, ensure that all information needed by investors to take rational investment decisions are published and made available.

The basic document that ensures this full disclosure on share issues in the Nigerian capital market is the prospectus.

The prospectus is a document describing a public security, the company issuing the security (shares in this case) its officers, and the source of funds to pay the obligations created by the security. In essence, the prospectus should give investors all the important information concerning the way the security is structured as well as any special risks that owning the security will bring. “Materiality” is often used to decide what information may be

omitted in a prospectus.

However, pricing assumptions, the financial condition of the Issuer (the company issuing the shares) and major law suits against the Issuer also constitute material information The contents of the prospectus issued in Nigeria usually also include the name and registration certificate

By SYLVESTER AKELE front cover of the prospectus and reads: “This prospectus and the securities which it offers have been approved and registered by the Securities ad Exchange Commission (SEC). It is civil and criminal offence under the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) and

parties from any liability arising under the Act for false or untrue statements contained in the prospectus”.

The obligations of all the parties to the prospectus, including the Issuer, Issuing House, Lawyers and Accountants are meant to protect

investment decision. It is either profitable or unprofitable. However, if the right professionals, the stockbrokers and Investment Advisers have been consulted (the SEC and Stock Exchange normally have the names and address of the registered professionals) in addition to a proper understanding of the prospectus for the issue, it is more likely that the

Last minute buying and selling for the yuleltide. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

number of the issuer, the name and registration certificate number of the issuing house (the Company, which is selling the shares on behalf of the issuer) and the type of offer e.g offer for subscription, offer for sale or rights issue. The quality and price of the security (share) being offered, the date of publication of the prospectus and the clearance and registration clause of the Securities and Exchange Commission are also salient features of the prospectus. The clause, which is usually printed in red at the bottom of the

the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to issue a prospectus which contains false or misleading information.

Approval and registration of this prospectus and the securities which it offers does not relieve the

investors from false and misleading information.

Having ensured that all information necessary for a rational investment decision has been made available to the investor, investment in shares is simply like any other

investor would take the best investment decision as to which company’s shares to invest in.

The most important things about investing in shares as far as the investor is concerned should be the possibilities

of getting dividends and capital appreciation.

These should never be compromised.

Sentimental attachments to shares of some companies, even though those companies are not doing well, as well as attachment to big and high-sounding company names often lead to unprofitable investments in shares. The investor would then have chosen to make a fool of himself, inspite of the avalanche of information and professionals available to help him.

It is important to remind potential investors in shares, however, that investing in shares is a business risk like any other, which may or may not yield dividends. It is therefore not justifiable for investors to always expect dividends or capital appreciation from their investments in shares. If the company is not making profit, it obviously will not be in a position to declare dividends. It may have operated under very difficult conditions and such constraints (which were not imposed by the company) prevented it from making profit. All share purchases should be done through registered Issuing houses and Stock Broking firms, otherwise the investor would be investing in a scam. *Mr. Akele, CEO Soakel Consulting Ltd.,Wrote from Abuja.

“The basic document that ensures this full disclosure on share issues in the Nigerian capital market is the prospectus. The prospectus is a document describing a public security, the company issuing the security (shares in this case) its officers, and the source of funds to pay the obligations created by the security.”

IT presents a sad scenario that despite several policy initiatives the menace of poverty is a staggering reality and may have accounted for the loophole in myriad of social vices. Most notably are high incidences of armed robbery, kidnapping, corruption, advance fee fraud (419), prostitution Rings, human trafficking and “the likes perpetuated and perpetrated by the authors as the quickest route to scale the poverty barrier.”

THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 2000/2001 Human, development report on Nigeria, states that 70 per cent of Nigerians are in abject poverty while massive unemployment of people and the under utilization of resources are the order of the day. Since the report nothing about the poverty level has changed dramatically.

NO doubt, the crushing poverty level currently ravaging Nigeria has become so overwhelming that over 70 percent of Nigerians have unwittingly bowed to the pangs of biting hardship.

POVERTY is today a generic term and has been so since attempts at its classification by various study and academic groups with Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) ever more vehement and critical on the problems associated with large scale poverty and ways to improve the economic status of those classified in the group.

SOCIAL scientists in attempt at plausible stratification and definition of the term find it necessary to contrast poverty with such opposite terms as richness, wealth, comfort, affluence and the likes as the terms carry inherent semantic undertones that most times solicit sympathy, empathy and compassion from those afflicted with the plague which poverty has come to symbolise.

HOWEVER, by daily interactions within society and among communities and nations, it is clear that poverty has striking universal perception and similarities because of its cross- country feature

THE NIGERIAN

Need To Re-appraise Poverty Eradication Policies and characteristics. The basic feature being that people suffer hunger and deprivation with not enough to eat, lack shelter and clothing as well as basic necessities required for human existence.

FOR instance, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights aptly sums uppoverty as a “human condition characterised by the sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of all adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights”.

THERE is, as a result, conscious efforts by many organizations to mitigate the harsh effect of poverty which is more endemic in developing countries and many parts of Asia while in Nigeria, government’s effort at providing palliatives and putting in place workable measures from some of its economic policies that cause poverty shocks are yet to yield the desired impact.

IT is the concern for the world’s poor and to find solution to spreading poverty crisis that the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is celebrated worldwide in order to push people up the ladder of comfort where health care, food, shelter, clothing among others are assured the citizenry without experiencing the pain of deprivation.

IN Nigeria, however, government has put in place social programmes as National Poverty

Eradication Programme (NAPEP), National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS), the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to tackle problem of youth unemployment, a crucial poverty indicator among the socio cultural stratification.

IN assessing Nigeria’s poverty level, based on its oil wealth which it described as a mixed blessing, the report explained that it was not the oil resources that are the problem, but the management of those resources.

A general overview of Nigeria’s poverty crisis indicates therefore that there is a fundamental problem which the Federal Government needs to identify and tackle in order to address the continuing poverty level in Nigeria. The NIGERIAN OBSERVER urges the government to re-appraise some of its economic policies and those geared towards poverty eradication. Beside, it is remarkable that government insensitivity to suggestions put forward to it is increasing and is not being addressed as they should.

A holistic reappraisal is therefore inevitable in all sectors of the economy and mitigating measures put in place if government is to succeed in its poverty eradication drive.

IN the face of glaring discontent at the increasing poverty level, the World Bank proffered in its report. that “oil and natural gas will generate continuing wealth for many years on which Nigeria can build, if it manages this wealth well. If it channels more of this wealth to the development of its people and to the productive use of its land and other resources, then Nigeria has a promising Future”.

WE implore the Federal Government to continue to put policy measures in place to scale down poverty level. Corporate bodies and organisation can play a part by partnering with the various governments to alleviate poverty In the land.

Relationship A careful study of relationships today among growing adults shows that most of them are nothing to write home about. They rarely last long. The most responsible factor is that some basic culture, ethics of relationship are not followed.

A healthy relationship can be one of the best ingredient in life. Good relationship improve your life in all aspects, strengthenes your health your mind and interest in other as well. In the same vein it could be one of the greatest drains. If the relationship is not working. We need to see relationship as an ambition that must be achieved. The more we add to it. The stronger and productive it will be for us.

Love and relationship take work commitment and willingness. A change through life as a team. Every one’s relationship is unique and people come together for different reason. But there are some things that good relationship have in common knowing the basic principal of healthy relationship helps keep them meaningful, evicting and fulfilling in both happy times and sad times.

Some relationship get stuck in peaceful coexistence, but without truly relating to each other and working together while it may seem stable on the surface, lack of involvement and communication increases distance.

When you need to talk about something importane the connection and understanding may no longer be there.

Sometimes relationship can seem like a lot of work until you understand and realize just how much you’ve been given. A healthy relationship is absolutely within ones reach if you and your partner are willing to do a bit of work to accomplish an understanding relationship without involving a third party.

In healthy relationship, there is a foundation of respect between the partners. It shows up in every interaction and conversation is the other person’s very being – their inner qualities and rights as a human being respect reveals itself in the way we view their likes and dislikes.

Opinions, ideas and feelings, respect within a partnership starts with each person’s own self respect.

Make It Long Lasting!

By MICHELLE ILECHEI We cannot expect others if we can’t feel a hefty close of self respect. All things start from within and spread outward.

Successful long lasting relationship forestal an environment where respect is the norm. In healthy relationship both partners are committed speaking the

truth about their concern and issues in a safe and respectful manner. Despite their knees knock and the butter flies in their stomach, they work their way through fear to resolve conflicts.

Directly when the other person is strong enough to handle and work through difficult situation. Unfinish business is cleaned up so that their love can be renewed and flourish.

Emotions: Between Men And Women

IN terms of emotional life, women are on a permanent path-finding mission. Women do require proof. It is truth acknowledged that what a woman really wants in a man who talks about feelings is emotional attachment.

Women perceive men

as unfeeling and men perceive women as unstable.

Men’s emotional reticence transcends cultural and social farmers. A man going out with his jubilant fiancés, sporadically grunts as she talks excitedly about wedding plans.

By BEAUTY OBAMWONYI

Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy while men see and hear a language of status and independence. For the female gender, talk is the glue that holds the relationship together.

By understanding the different functions, talk has for men and woman, both sexes will have more realistic expectations. A woman can observe a man’s desire to read the newspapers without

“Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy while men see and hear a language of status and independence. For the female gender, talk is the glue that holds the relationship together.”

interpreting it as a rejection, or timely failure of the relationship, and a man can understand a woman’s desire to talk without interpreting it as an unreasonable demand or manipulative attempt to prevent him from doing what he wants to do.

Unfortunately for women, silence is not golden. It is the seedbed of paranoia giving birth to endless enquires, what are you thinking?

Do you love me?, what is the problem, women

want to get into a man’s psyche.

As we progress, we should rejoice in the differences between our sexes, and extend the crusade for equal opportunities to men and their emotion with generosity and tolerance. By being feminine, women are more likely to encourage men to risk expressing their vulnerability and become aware that it is not embarrassing to be a chivalrous man who has learnt how to be in touch with his feelings.

Ajuwaya Today

IT is obvious that we have spent up to five months since we were posted to various place of primary assignment to observe our one year mandatory service, but the question is, ‘how far’ and ‘how well’. We should not be ignorant of the life after National Youth Service.

Life after NYSC is an inevitable reality for those that have been mobilized for the scheme, something that you can not afford to escape; something you cannot do without; why is it then, that little or no time is spent to plan for it? why is it never considered by corps members as necessary?

Why is it that many corps members are always spending their life filtering and fluttering about? Why do they become complacent and slothful in due time?

Why do most youth of this age devote time to unprofitable ventures?

What’s the reason under heaven why most people like to do things at the eleventh hour when it is almost too late? Why do majority of corps members display nonchalant attitude towards issues of their life? Why! Many corps members get bored answering those questions over and over. Whether your plans are heading straight to the labour market or taking a year off after the National Youth Service, the choice is yours, but never fluff to answer the question ‘life after NYSC’.

Now, one will agree with me that life after NYSC is stepping into the labour market, taking this step does not really mean that

after the passing out you will automatically jump into the opportunities of life.

Efforts ought to be put in place before passing out.

Life after NYSC starts from the day you are given discharge certificate. This is a day of horror, a day you will come in touch with the reality of adulthood. This will be the day friends will turn foes; a day family members will see a monster in you and see a scaring lion in your house. A day that will end the federal allowance and payment from your place of primary assignment, above all, this will be the day you will take the greatest decision of your life, whether to continue with your God or the contrary.

Friends, I’m not here to put fear in you but rather open your mind to the truth about life after NYSC. Moreso, from the very moment your discharge certificate is given to you, you automatically add to the population of unemployed Nigerians and as well a man and woman of your own. Colleagues, I believe we are progressing, the life after NYSC is a period where you will look at your dad and cannot ask him any question; and at this point in time, much is required from you in your home,

Life After NYSC

By MBA PRISCILLIA NGOZI

heaven help you if you couldn’t save any money to survive after the service year. At this time you should be able to workout plans on how to get a better job and settle down with your own family.

Colleagues, let me make it very clear to you that some graduates do not earn as much as that N19,800 you get from federal government every month, yes, some graduates are even out of job, so they earn zero. Do not bother whining about

your allowance being too small or the little you get from your primary assignment (PPA) that does not mean the meager amount giving to corps members meet their needs considering the value of the economy always endeavour to save a little, because it will go a long way in achieving your aim.

The intent of this write up is that you would be able to maximize your service year, the N19,800 allowance and not be part of the sad statistics of unemployed youth in Nigeria.

As a corper, I have realized that the NYSC year is the best year to build the Curriculum Vitae (CV) of your dreams and jump-start your career, especially for those of you who did not make the best out of college years and therefore has a very watery clichéd CV. ‘how? You may ask? I do not mean giving you a detailed professional CV writers. I mean, you settling down to write out what exactly you want to achieve in life when NYSC year is up.

Furthermore, you can make a projection CV, like I call it, yes, sit down to write out what you wish to achieve in life by the end of one year. I have realized that most Nigerian youths are lazy (I am not sorry to say), corpers especially should have something better to do with their lives during this service year and make a judicious use of time that will be helpful to the company even at entry level.

Will you as an employer be quick to hire such person?

Imagine if in your CV, an employer can say that you made a judicious use of your time to achieve a significant career, acquired relevant skills during the service year and embarked on sensible community development projects?

Would employers not be happy to employ

“Life after NYSC starts from the day you are given discharge certificate. This is a day of horror, a day you will come in touch with the reality of adulthood. This will be the day friends will turn foes; a day family members will see a monster in you and see a scaring lion in your house.”

you? That tells employer that you are resourceful, diligent and very sensible unlike many youths moving around with watery CVs that even become useless after their NYSC year.

Moreso, let’s revert our steps and utilize this once in a life time opportunity very well, ignorant of the law is not an excuse, corps members should absorb more skills outside their PPA, a friend of mine once told me that he aspired to become an interior decorator but as God will have it, he has started the skill and he is doing perfectly well in it. so, my colleagues let’s not relent in whatever skill we have acquired because it will go a long way in transforming our future.

The scripture says, that to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; so, believe it or leave it, this is a time you crave to tell yourself the truth, plan your life the way it should be. There is an adage, which says that, as you lay your bed, so you lie on it, be wise and don’t fail to put God first in everything you do in life, alone you can do nothing but with God, all things are possible.

Conclusively, colleagues, my best counsel is that a wise son or daughter continue looking for a job even after getting a job, struggles continue as long as you live.

Decide today what percentage of your monthly allowance will be going to your saving account.

Child Health And You

An Invaluable Component Of Child Nutrition

Fish:

FISH particularly is essential to the general wellbeing of the human system most especially children. Fish in diet is needed to improve on the speed relation recalling of information stored in the brain as well as enhanced memory in children.

Young couples who will soon become parents should know the following useful information about the nutritional benefits of fish, most especially saltwater varieties. It’s now well understood and accepted by most doctors and clinicians that omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil are highly beneficial. We as humans need omega 3 or fish oil to grow, develop and function normally. This is due to the fact that a large part of the brain is made up of omega 3 fats, making them vital for healthy brain function. Omega 3 fats are essential for healthy brain development both in the womb and early childhood since about 75% of brain cells are in place before birth and 25% develop by age 1 year, thus making omega 3 fats an essential nutrient both for pregnant women and their young children.

The information is such that different scientific research work done has shown that children whose mothers took fish oil supplements during pregnancy have a higher intelligence and lower risk of mental illness or cognitive delay, and also differ in tranquility and social balance.

In a study done by the United States National institutes of Health in boys aged between 6 and 12 years old found to have omega 3 fats deficiency presented with hyperactivity, impulsivity, restlessness, tantrums, and sleep disturbances. Finally, research has found that many brainrelated conditions may be prevented or even treated by good intake of omega 3 fats and that the benefits of eating fish go beyond the early years.

The main value of omega 3 fats is that it provides a quick energy that helps the transmission of nerve impulses that carry signals from one brain cell to another.

This helps us think easier, store information in the memory and retrieve it easier.

Another benefit was demonstrated in a study done in Australia which showed that

fish oil or omega 3 fats regulates the concentration of serotonin, which is a chemical transmitter of brain cell impulses or signals between nerve cells, which affects the “good mood” or tranquility .

This effectively reduces low mood, depression, and personal crises. Thus the kids

The evidence across different studies showed that fish consumption lowers the risk of death from heart diseases by 36%. The benefit was related to the level of intake of omega -3 fatty acids and this benefits are greater for oily (e.g salmon, bluefish) which are higher in beneficial

Sweden found that people with the highest blood levels of the omega 3 fats had a 47% lower risk of developing dementia and a 39% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to people with the lowest of omega 3 fats. The study therefore suggested that eating fish 2-3 times a week may reduce the risk of developing these diseases.

Also fish intake reduces total mortality by 17% a

have a feeling of well-being.

Dyslexia affects an estimated 4-10% of children, causing learning difficulties that can last a lifetime. Research work into the causes of dyslexia and other brain conditions affecting children such as Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder (ADHD) and dyspraxia or disorder of quality of movement has shown that omega 3 fats may play a role in helping prevent or treat these conditions.

Children with low levels of omega 3 fats can have a decreased ability to focus attention and this can lead to problems in skilled movements, detecting facial and emotional expressions, sequencing letters and numbers. Finally others studies have shown that omega 3 fats may help improve the reading skills and attention span of children suffering from dyslexia, ADHD and dyspraxia and may also improve motor skills and general co-ordination.

omega-3 fatty acids than lean fish (haddock, cod) Fish oil omega-3 has a function similar to the main chemical drug prescribed for cardiovascular system diseases. However, unlike drugs, the fish oil has no side effects, thus making it safer and non-toxic. Study done on Eskimos showed that they had the lowest incidence of cardiovascular diseases, due to the fact that their diet is very rich in omega 3 fats contained in large amounts of fish, whale meat and fat of seals consumed. Researchers in

remarkable reduction considering that this is the benefit for deaths from all causes. Many children do not really like fish which is a great source of brain food. At a time when the brain is developing, fish is an important part of a diet. Omega -3 fatty oils have multiple nutritional benefits and are essential for a balanced diet.

The benefit of fish oil lies in the properties of omega-3, one of whose important functions include tonic, antioxidant, corrective, and immunity actions. It helps to normalize

By ROSEMARY NKEMDILIM OKONKWO

blood lipid levels, have a positive effective on the brain cells, decrease of cardiovascular disorders.

The daily taking of fish and it supplements has exploded in recent years mostly in younger ones become the extreme health benefit in children.

It is now a well-studied, scientifically researched and medically proven in diets that fish oil is commonly used and recommended by doctors and medical practitioners all

around the world to help treat and prevent a wide range of medical conditions. The reason is that fish contains a high proportion of “Omega 3 fatty acids” most importantly needed for growth and development.

CONCLUSION Fish oil or omega 3 is in a class of its own. It should be noted that fish oil or omega 3 is not synthesized by the human body, and therefore has to be provided in the dietary intake. It may be taken as a food supplement. Research work done looking

specifically at the benefits of eating fish, rather than just intake of supplements of omega 3 fats found that those who ate fish regularly, at least once a week, showed a slower decline in the mental function as they grew older, compared to people who rarely or never ate fish. They found that those who regularly ate fish had memory and brain function that was at least 4 years younger than their counterparts who never ate fish. A Scottish study done looking at fish and brain function also found that people who ate oil-rich fish like salmon, trout, mackerel and herring had an intelligence quotient (IQ) level that was 13% higher than people who never ate fish. The study also found that people who never fish were less likely to show early signs of Alzheimer’s disease. The interesting aspect of the study and other related studies cited above is that the benefits didn’t just come from the omega 3 fats alone but from the entire package of nutrients found in fish, suggesting that simply taking omega 3 fats supplements wouldn’t be enough to get the full benefit. While more research is needed in into the role of fish and omega 3 fats brain development and disorders, it is clear that there are many benefits of eating this ‘brain food’ from early brain development in the womb to keeping it up and running into old age.

R O S E M A R Y NKEMDILIM OKONKWO Institute of Child Health University of Benin, Benin City.

CH1LD HEALTH AND YOU’, a Weekly Thursday Feature, is a collaborative initiative between the Institute of Child Health, University of Benin, and the Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), Benin City.

Comments on this page should be forwarded to The Editor, Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, Benin City or Director, Institute of Child Health, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State.

“It is now a well-studied, scientifically researched and medically proven in diets that fish oil is commonly used and recommended by doctors and medical practitioners all around the world to help treat and prevent a wide range of medical conditions. The reason is that fish contains a high proportion of “Omega 3 fatty acids” most importantly needed for growth and development.”

Spotlight

National Conference: Natio

WITHOUT being told, at least to anybody who feels concerned about going on in the country before, during and post-independence that there is urgent need for Nigerian’s to come together arid discuss matters of mutual interest most especially as it affects them.

The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern bless this country despite sins/iniquities protectorates 1914, in the which the British committed by us either Colonialists brought individually, as a collection together people of different of individuals or as a background, tribes and country Nigeria as a tongues, ethnicity, culture Western African country is and traditions, bless with a great land mass nationalities. Up till the for farming and occupation time Nigeria gained by human beings, the independence through the geographical location, concerted efforts of our favourable climate and past heroes and leaders like weather, human capital Chief Anthony Enahoro, base or resources, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, mineral resources. Hence, Chief Dennis Osadebay, we always refer to her as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Giant of Africa. Despite all Alhaji Tafawa Balewa and these attributes, qualities Ahmadu Bello to mention and factors, the country’s a few, The project called development and growth is Nigeria derived from Niger very disappointing. We can River especially the buttress this fact by country has been drifting comparing other countries up and down and down and who are regarded as up. There had even been developing like ours and historical moments in the developed countries in which the country as the sense that what we have described by some people they don’t have it at all. Yet, from some quarters as a we are not up to their level.

Considering the political, mere geographical social, economic e.t.c expression judging from factors and sum up the exasperation and lost of hope what would become everything that every sector of such a country Nigeria of our life as I have had it not been that God mentioned above we are had been with us and still yet to get to the dream land.

What has led to this, one with To some extent it is as may ask because 53 years if God is a Nigerian! is because, if you look in the life of a nation is an very well, go North, South, adult age arid all East and West you will be infirmities, missteps and convinced beyond calculations like a Crech or technical and reasonable toddler who is planning to doubts that God really in walk after crawling or His benevolent and mercies mustering efforts to speak

By ABAYOMI SHOYOMBO

should have normalized and perfected; I mean mistakes addressed and corrected made permanently. The banes of the Nigerian society as a polity or entity have been corruption, insecurity, intransigence, tribalism, nepotism, favouritism, extolling the virtues of laziness up and above merit, armed robbery, assassinations, kidnapping, intertribal wars, ethnic boundary disputes e.t.c.

Successive governments have been coming and going with their programmes all to no avail!

We tend to pretend as if all is well especially when we are at the receiving end or we are opportuned to be in a position to use to our advantage.

In such situation, we are more patriotic than the “Oyinbo” who coined the English word “patriotism” to the, extent that we see other contrary but constructive criticisms or opposing ideas that are supposed to be useful to us as derogatory. It is a case of winner takes all.

The problems confronting us have prevailed and penetrated intensely into the fabric of our society but all aspects of our human endeavours.

Though the political wars, killing orgies amongst politicians in the 60’s (6466) especially in Yoruba land that made Late Tafawa Balewa to call the West

“wild, wild, west”. Events in chronological order right from 1966 when about five majors of the Nigerian army led by Major Kaduna Chukwuemeka Nzeogwu, a native of Okpanaim, just a few kilometers to Asaba metropolis, and capital of present Delta State led some other junior officers and struck killing other senior officers other than the ones that come from their ethnic base due to some of the officers folly, wrong or weak conviction that those killed were surreptitiously suspected to be the hindrances who were to be wiped out for them to have their way since others could be co-opted and arranged to listen to their voices without much ado!

That was the beginning of the first catastrophe that befell the nation.

In a swift reaction to that, some senior officers especially from the Northern region having been spoken to wake up from their slumber and go back fully to give a reprisal attack hit back and hit badly killing the then Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi with the then Western Region Governor in person of Late Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuvi, the latter being the sacrificial lamb used to atone the sins of the Yorubas especially and other regioners generally.

The attendant consequences was also the attack and killing of the

The problems confronting us have prevailed and penetrated intensely into the fabric of our society but all aspects of our human endeavours. Though the political wars, killing orgies amongst politicians in the 60’s (64- 66) especially in Yoruba land that made Late Tafawa Balewa to call the West “wild, wild, west”. Events in chronological order right from 1966 when about five majors of the Nigerian army led by Major Kaduna Chukwuemeka Nzeogwu, a native of Okpanaim, just a few kilometers to Asaba metropolis, and capital of present Delta State led some other junior officers and struck killing other senior officers other than the ones that come from their ethnic base due to some of the officers folly, wrong or weak conviction that those killed were surreptitiously suspected to be the hindrances who were to be wiped out for them to have their way since others could be co-opted and arranged to listen to their voices without much ado! That was the beginning of the first catastrophe that befell the nation.

Igbos in the Northern region in an operation called “OPERATION DAMISA”.

These and other led to the

establishment of the NYSC in 1973 as a follow up to reunite and give every Nigerian a sense of belonging. Government

• President Goodluck Jonathan

break out of the Nigeria civil war from 1967 to 1971 in which so many people died. Immediately after this, the Head of State as of then was General Yakubu Gowon who knew that without taking a concrete step to atone “olive oil” to the bruises and injuries sustained by a particular sector of the Nigeria society especially the offshoots of the Biafrans mostly South Easterners in a well orchestrated and well packaged programme tagged “NO VICTOR, NO VA N G U I S H E D ” befuddled with the need to go a little further by RECONSTRUCTING, REHABILITATING AND REJUVINATING dead structures and infrastructures, bringing hope to the hopeless and revamping the bastarclised vegetation, farms, oil wells e.t.c. these programmes and others like the

came after government just as General Gowon was ousted from government in a coup planned and executed by Late General Murtala Muhammed. Right from that time, there has been coup de’ tats government changing hands of batons. This does not and has not in any way gone clown well with Nigerians since they asked that the military government is an aberration and has no business in government.

They are trained to kill and fight against any encroachment of Nigeria’s territorial land and water masses. During this period also, Nigerians had bitter experiences unparallel in political history of any nation in the world. Nigeria under the military regime was considered a pariah state right from the time of what the writer can call to be “new generation” senior

Spotlight

nal Confab Or Sovereign? military officers as leaders of the nation especially during the larger than life administration of General Ibrahim Badamosi

incidentally is a kit and kin of the acclaimed winner of 1993 general election. Late Chief M.K.O Abiola who died mysteriously after

Babangida and Late Sani Abacha who institutionalized corruption and extra judicial killings pissed of Nigerians. This is instinctive to the stepping aside of Babangida for an Interim National Government (INS) led by Chief Ernest Shonekan.

Abacha took over government via palace coup. He himself died mysteriously in circumstances that were beyond the wild imagination of Nigerians!

As if that was not enough, in a camaraderie soldier/army arrangement, a former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo was released from prison; he was put by his junior Late General Sani Abacha for having hands in a purported coup that he was alleged to have engineered with other officers, even as the real and right person who

taking a cup of tea in detention in the full glare of some senior officers and stakeholders and even foreigners’ observers and interventionists who came to find a lasting solution to the political impasse that Nigeria was going through that time. The rest is now history.

This and other events in the calendar years of the country coupled with other happening, in other areas of the country like the killing of Ogoni leader, Late Ken Saro Wiwa, the arrest and detention of his friend and second in command Mr. Ledum Mittee, clamping down on physical and imaginary enemies especially journalists, politicians, activists who were either killed out rightly or sentenced to various jail terms.

Examples are Late Dele Giwa of the National

Concord, later, N e w s w a t c h Communication Organization, the arrest of Late Gani Fawehinmi and his consequent prosecution to serve various jail terms in various prisons across the country, the killing of Chief Alfred Rewane, leader of AC party, Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

All these and others happened under the nose of military leaders notably from a particular region of the country call Nigeria who have little or no patience for constructive criticisms. Under the civilian regime, nothing has practically changed so much. Most of the things that were condemnable under the administration of the military regime like corruption, insecurity, ethnic/boundary wars, armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination in a larger proportion. We could hold brief for the military since they were not trained as seasoned administrators but handling of arms and ammunitions to prosecute, execute wars against external and internal attacks thereby protecting our territorial integrity. It is on this note it has become imperative and highly necessary for Nigerians from different political, social, economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds to come together to let out their grievances and petitions, reach conclusive rapport

and understanding for the common peaceful coexistence people bound together to one destiny; hence the National Confab meeting or do you say Sovereign National Conference?

There have been many hues and cries and agitations here and there seeking for such “meeting” devoid of interference doctored memorandum and hidden agendas, calculated attempts to impose favourable candidates or favourites considered to be “patriots” and the rest considered to be “pariahs”.

In which at the end of the objective would be derailed and unachievable.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had just newly constituted committee of National Confab Chair manned by Chief Femi Okuroumu.

The yardstick used in appointing members were made public as the government fears “hard knocks” in form criticism from critics who they fear is anti-the transformation agenda of the present government. One of those recalculated candidates in person of Elder and Chief Ben Nwabueze opted out an ordinary or floor member of the supposedly National Confab Committee.

Nobody is in doubt of the caliber qualification of those members as expected they have not been having it easy in all the states they have so far gone to. A case study was the embarrassing experience that the Governor of Edo State had from one of the members,

Tony Nyiani who happened to be a member.

A school of thought believes and rightly too that it was just an ordinary meeting of like- minds favourably to and by the President Goodluck Ebelle Jonathan. The leftist considered to be controversial and poles away from the rightist and conservatives continued their argument unabated that nothing comes out good or better from this jamboree in comparison with the other types of some sorts that have been organized or put in place by previous governments. To make matters worse and as if the National Confab is another meeting of representatives of people from all multi-ethnic nations of the country selected as if they are to constitute the constituent assembly either to draft a new constitution or moderate on the existing sections of our constitutional laws. You will recall that the former and three time president of Nigeria (though once a military head of state) Chief Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo made an attempt too by organizing such a confab though without any positive result. The thing is said to have hit the rock.

For the benefit of our readers, National Confab or Sovereign National Conference is supposed to be a general thing, widely accepted by all representatives, known and unknown with an acceptable guideline,

procedure of its nature, scope and within an operational framework devoid of any governmental, political or and unidentified, invincible hands or interference that would eventually make all the efforts made to become naught. That is the point.

Federal government usually makes a constant and consistent mistake by trying to avoid people that are critical of same government when it comes to finding a lasting solution to a problem at hand e.g (the continued prolonging of the ASUU strike is a good example). Instead of the government to establish a committee of true, patriotic Nigerians even if they have been harsh critics of government and its policies, it either overlooks this and appoints those people who are their praise singers. They have forgotten that those ones would only and always tell them what they want to hear. Unlike the previous confabs, Tribunal committee established without practically working on the white paper issued after the sitting of the confab here lies the problem. Does president Jonathan has the political will to see to the end of issues bothering on the entity and the continued existence of the polity without anybody, anywhere even within and outside the country thinking of its dismemberment or disintegration? Only time will tell.

“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had just newly constituted committee of National Confab Chair manned by Chief Femi Okuroumu.

The yardstick used in appointing members were made public as the government fears “hard knocks” in form criticism from critics who they fear is anti-the transformation agenda of the present government.

One of those recalculated candidates in person of Elder and Chief Ben Nwabueze opted out an ordinary or floor member of the supposedly National Confab Committee.”

Security Issues

Instigationism And Conflict Enterpreneurship

EVERY violent conflict has its beneficiaries. These beneficiaries are the people who hide behind iron masks to stoke the fire of violence; the secret players behind the scene; the evil hands hidden in velvet gloves waiting to pounce on any opportunity presented by war to make profit; the neutral shadow parties whose selfish interests must be satiated irrespective of whose ox is gored; unscrupulous politicians and businessmen whose unbridled quest for power and profit supersedes all other rational considerations. I am talking about the war profiteers and instigators. This two sets of warmongers play mutually complementary roles in times of war; roles which ultimately defines and determines the dynamics and direction of most violent conflicts at both their latent and manifest stages. So who are conflict entrepreneurs and instigators?

A Conflict entrepreneur is any individual, group or organization that profits from violent conflicts through the sale of weapons, goods and services to both parties at war, and to civilian noncombatants.

I am talking about the businessman profiteer who leverages on the opportunities created by violent conflicts to enrich himself.

A conflict entrepreneur evokes two stereotypes in popular culture: First, you have the image of the rich businessman selling military hardware to warring parties, secondly, the guise-criminal black marketer, selling commodities to common folk. The image of the conflict entrepreneur carries the implication of massive influence and power used to actively cause wars for personal gain, rather than merely passively profiting from them.

An instigator within the context of this discourse connotes an individual or group who stirs up violent conflicts to gain political, business and other private concessions. By stoking the fires of dissent. Instigators seek to disrupt the peaceful

relations among nations to feed their selfish desires.

Labeled “Chicken-Hawks”

by American commentators, these individuals provoke wars through their propagandistic, manipulative, conniving behaviour. Instigationists

and entrepreneurs, as earlier noted, play complementary roles in causing and determining the dynamics and outcomes of wars.

Instigators seek both power and profit, while entrepreneurs have their eyes only on the money.

Conflict entrepreneurs range from; Arms dealers, Commodity Dealers, Military Contractors, etc.

Arms dealers make their profits by marketing their wares to parties at war.

While some arms dealers operate independently, some others profit by cooperating with the authorities. For instance, during the Chaco War, Base Zaharoff ’s Vickers Company sold weapons to all the parties, while companies like Opel and IBM cooperated with the Third Reich during World War II. International arms dealers could either be well structured

By JUDE OBUSEH

organizations or unstructured black market operators.

Commodity dealers also benefit or profit from violent conflicts. Wars usually lead

to a shortage of essential commodities. This scarcity results in higher prices and equally higher revenues for the suppliers of goods and services. Apart from profits made by the regular commodity brokers, the role of black marketers is quite instructive here, for we must endeavour to make distinction between war profiteers who gain by sapping military strength

and those who gain by contributing to the war.

During WW II, stupendous profits were made by individuals selling ration goods, such as cigarettes,

butter, coffee and chocolate on the black market. In the US, dishonest military personnel give oversight over valuable property.

Sometimes diverted rationed goods to the black market to make untaxed profits. Case of individuals benefiting from wars also played out in Nigeria during the Civil War, the defunct Niger Delta Crisis, and the several foreign peace

keeping missions (ECOMOG et a) the country have been involved in, where some Nigerian (civilian and military businessmen made enormous profits from the supply of essential war time materials.

Military contractors constitute another group of war profiteers. Big war players like Northrop, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed, Nour USA Ltd, Custer Battle Aegis Defense Services, Bechtel, CACI and Titan, to name but few, have the potentials of profiting from actual wars, or the threat of wars. Old military materials

has to be discarded due to age, or is lost due to fighting, and new and different military material needed by the military to maintain strategic advantage over the military technologies of foreign nations which are hostile or may come hostile.

Military contractors have very strong lobbies in the parliaments of countries with bellicose dispositions.

The US is a classic case in pointing of countries where defense contractors influence war policies.

Defense contractors are always happy whenever war rears its ugly head anywhere in the world. Defense contractor, Brent R Wilkes was reported to have been ecstatic when hearing that the US had declared war on Iraq because of the moneymaking opportunities the conflict provided for his company. He and some of his top executive where said to be really gung-ho about the war.

The political class also profit form violent conflict through the roles some of them play in times of conflicts. From supporting pro-war lobbies, to taking bribes and favours from corporations involved with the production of war equipment, politicians constitute some of the major beneficiaries form conflict situations. They occupy very significant positions in the war establishment. US Senator, Dianne Feinstein and her Husband, Richard Blum, made millions of dollars from Iraq and Afghanistan contracts through his company, Perini.

Feinstein voted for the resolution giving President George Bush the authority to invade Iraq.

“Conflict entrepreneurs range from; Arms dealers, Commodity Dealers, Military Contractors, etc. Arms dealers make their profits by marketing their wares to parties at war. While some arms dealers operate independently, some others profit by cooperating with the authorities.

For instance, during the Chaco War, Base Zaharoff’s Vickers Company sold weapons to all the parties, while companies like Opel and IBM cooperated with the Third Reich during World War II. International arms dealers could either be well structured organizations or unstructured black market operators.”

Opinion Conquering The Habit Of Masturbation

By BIJOR CELESTINA OMOJEVWE

PUBERTY is a period when sexual desires become particularly strong. As a result, you might fall into the habit of masturbation. Many will say that it’s not a big deal “No one gets hurt”, It eases one without getting help from the other person: “masturbation helps one to release easily, and relief you from tension to have sex”, said INIOVOSA ESE. Another respondent said “masturbation is a devilish act, it instills attitudes that are totally self-centered, and masturbation causes one to view those of the opposite sex as mere objects, or tools for self gratification”.

In otherwords, by masturbating, the selfish thinking that is instilled through the practice of masturbation can make satisfying sexual relations in marriage difficult to achieve.

Rather than to resort to masturbation to relieve, pent-up sexual urges, strive to cultivate self control. And avoid circumstances that might arouse your sexual desires in the first place. What about if you have become enslaved to the habit of masturbation? Perhaps you have tried to stop but without success. It would be easy to conclude that you are a lost cause, that you are in capable of living up to God’s standards. That is how a boy named Pedro viewed himself, “when I relapsed, I felt terrible”, he says, “I thought that I could never atone for what I had done. I found it hard to pay”. If that is how you feel, take courage. Your case is not hopeless. Many young people and adults have overcome the habit of masturbation. You too are not an exceptional.

Dealing with guilt, for example, as already seen from above, those who have fallen into the habit of masturbation are often plagued with guilt.

Saddening your heart in a godly way can give you the incentive to overcome the habit.

Excessive guilt can be counterproductive. It can make you feel so discouraged, that you just want to give up the fight.

So strive to put the matter in perspective.

Masturbation is a form of uncleanness. It can make you a slave to various desires and pleasure, and it fostens unhealthy attitudes. At the same time, masturbation is not a form of gross sexual immorality, such as fornication. If you have problem with masturbation, you need not conclude that you have committed the unforgivable sin. The key is to resist the urge and never to give up your fight.

It is easy to become downhearted after a relapse. When that occur, take to heart the words found in proverbs 24:16. “The righteous one may fall even seven times, and he will certainly get up but the wicked one will be made to stumble by calamity”. A temporary setback does not make you a wicked person. So do not give-up instead, analyze what led to the relapse, and try to avoid repeating the same pattern.

Also, take time to meditate on God’s love and mercy, as a father show mercy to his sons, God

almighty will also show mercy to you.

For himself do remembering that we are dust.

So there are practical steps that help us to conquer the habit of masturbation.

Analyze your entertainment Do you watch movie or Tv programms or visit websites that are sexually stimulating? You should make your eyes pass on from seeing what is worthless. And be selective on the kind and type of entertainment you watch.

up the matter to a confidant. Yet, doing so can help you to overcome the habit. That is what David said, “I talked privately with my father,” he says. “I will never forget what he said. With a reassuring smile on his face, he said, you make me so proud of you”. He knew what I had to go through to get to that point. No words could have lifted my spirits and determination more.

Moreso, understanding the seriousness of your wrong course can help you to attain to accept the needed solution and act on it. if relapsed, do

Force your mind to focus on other matters.

A Christian named William, advises: “Before going to bed, read something related to spiritual things. It is very important that the last thought of the day be a spiritual one”. this can help you to focus not on worthless things such as engaging in masturbation and other practices, but on important thing that will build us spiritually and physically.

Talk to someone about the problem.

Shame might make it difficult for you to bring

not let it crush you: according to David, he say, “Having someone else aware of my problem and helping me was the greatest benefit”.

So, many today would like to imitate David, because, a problem shared, is a problem half solved. Having your problem with those who can be of help to you can help you overcome any habit you found yourself.

Additionally, masturbation is wrong and knowing God’s view of the matter will help us conquer it, because he loves us.

“It would be easy to conclude that you are a lost cause, that you are in capable of living up to God’s standards. That is how a boy named Pedro viewed himself, “when I relapsed, I felt terrible”, he says, “I thought that I could never atone for what I had done. I found it hard to pay”. If that is how you feel, take courage. Your case is not hopeless. Many young people and adults have overcome the habit of masturbation. You too are not an exceptional.”

Motoring

With OSAGIE AIFUWA 08023412452

I. In the same vain 100 AMPs for one hour or 10 Amps for 10 hours.

So much about the make up of automobile batteries and its ratings, lets now deal with its maintenance aspects.

Some batteries have transparent easily with markings for electrolyte minimum and maximum level in the

Understanding Your Car Bittery

AUTO car battery is generally of the lead acid type: though at different time’s attempts were made to introduce alkaline batteries.

The plates are made primarily of lead mesh frame work with lead paste filling the gaps in the mesh.

Prior to fitment, the plate are recharged and formed into positive sets and negative sets. The positive plates set surface become covered with lead peroxide: that is, it is covered with brownish like paste called lead peroxide and the negative plates surface are purified and become pure lead or what is referred to as spongy lead.

Voltage rating (i.e 6V and 12 volts) — to form a battery. The battery cells are - filled with dilute sulphuric acid which acts as the chemical link between the plates in each cell. In the process of charging and discharging, the electrolyte or the dilute sulphuric acid: which acts as the vehicle for carrying the electrical charges between the plates in the’ cell, experience chemical transformation of either losing its water portion in its composition during charging process in form of emission of hydrogen and oxygen gases or during discharging the plates in the cells are pasted with soleplate group loosely, initially, and maybe hardened on the plate surface for too long. If this happens, it will be difficult to restore the battery to its original state by charging with the alternator in the car.

As it is sulphated it may require a long charging at a slightly higher voltage than the alternator is designed to produce under normal working condition. In this sulphated condition, the electrolyte will be composed of only the water element, hence the drop in its specific gravity. This is the reason why the state of charge of a battery can easily he verified by using and hydrometer to check the electrolyte’s specific gravity. Normal value is 1.250 and when it drops to 1.18-15 the battery is discharged and needs external long hours of recharging to bring

it back to its charged state. Like reserve overhead Water tank that it represents in the Automobile electrical system, the duration of supply of electricity to any electrical unit in the car depends on its designed capacity. Therefore, if you form the habits of installing extra electrical gadget in your car, you may inadvertently be loading it beyond its capacity and putting extra load on the Alternator in the car, For example if you are having a 55Ah battery in your car which is not fitted with an A/C and you install an A/C unit, radio, fog lamps security system, extra brake lamps without replacing the battery to say a 75A11 battery to take care of the extra load, and you do not operate the car on long distance journeys daily to provide ample time of the Alternator to supplement the battery supply of electricity to these gadgets and charge the battery adequately each day, the battery will run down constantly and may not last long. Please note that

the average service life of an automobile battery is between 1.5 years and 2.5.

Incidentally, the capacity of an automobile battery is determined and rated in terms of the time it could supply a specified amount of current before it becomes discharged.

For example a 40 AM battery could supply 40 Amps of electric current for one hour or 4 AMPS much more conveniently for 10 hours it is rated 40 Al-

THE correct plug for the car should be used so as to ensure the correct threading. The tip of the plug should lie flush with the wall of the combustion chamber. Where it protrudes or fails to chamber opening, serious problems could result.

Different plugs have different heat range. Which refers to optimum operating temperature? To take care of this. Use the plugs recommended by the vehicle manufacture Often, plugs get thrown away when they are still good. The car’s electrical system might be the real culprit when idling is sluggish or power output falls drastically. Take a close look at the alternator and the condenser. Especially alternator.

Were it works well; plugs should spark properly

for at least 10,000 kilometers. Whenever the plug ends get fouled by oil, suspect worn piston rings or worn cylinder wall. If the fouling is bad enough, the electrode will be damaged irretrievably. The only real solution is to install new piston rings. An elementary precaution, however, is not to pour too much oil into the sump, the dipstick should be inspected daily for oil level in the sump.

Occasionally, the distributor leads don’t carry electrical current effectively, and I’ve seen where all the leads of a car were condemned outright.

In the past, a plug spanner was part of the tool kit of any serious motorist. It is good idea to buy one.

But keep it properly or mechanics would make away with it.

battery casing, such that at a glance one can see clearly the level of the electrolyte in the battery. Some will require the unscrewing, of the filler plugs on each cell and peeping into it to find out the actual level of electrolyte.

Whatever the provision for checking the level, it must be emphasized that the electrolyte level must be maintained at aboutl3mm of ‘/2 inch above the plate in each cell.

Good And Bad Plugs

View Point Drinking And Driving: The Bitter Truth

FOR some of us who see nothing absolutely wrong in taking just a sip of alcohol, or who spread the message that getting high on them means being the real man or the woman, be careful or you could just land in some regrettable pit. Of course, the Yuletide season and the

this story not too long ago of where a particular state governor in the SouthEastern part of the country together with the Chairman of one of the Local Government in the State threw a party in a village that lasted for two to three days.

My thinking was a party

associated festivities provided sufficient reasons for most people to leave no bottle un-emptied. A party here and another there could be very inviting, and presents opportunities for people to eat sumptuously and drink to stupor which most of the time is for free.

Some few days to Christmas, I was retiring to my apartment from almost a week-long church programme. On my way home that day, I saw at two strategic points in town a very big banner of a particular well-known Lodge inviting people for Xmas party on a weekend free of charge. The organizer of such is usually seen as a “cheerful giver”. We all know that occasions of this nature provides people the chance to drink to their satisfaction as if they’ll never see drink again in all of their lives.

The morning bags of our society are known to champion this. There was

strictly by invitation, where guest would come, after which they eat and drink with the entire courtesy one would have expected and they would all call it a day.

But no I was wrong.

Certainly one wouldn’t expect a governor and his entourage to stay all the day in such places. According to my source, as soon as, permit me to use, the creams left the scene, adults whom I referred to as able-bodied youths particularly young folks came from far and near just to have their bellies filled with foods and drink, which I likened to dogs ready to go wild. I became very interested when I heard the part of the story where guys traveled several kilometers just to catch their fun over again the following day. Would this be called fun? I wondered It will surprise you to know the length people could go in other to get bottled. Lord have mercy. The story was even more interesting

By EMMANUEL IRIOWEN

because it was concluded by the guys still having their hang over from the previous day. The politicians who loot public treasury engage in wild occasions of this nature and we call them cheerful givers. What an irony?

person in his or her right frame of mind to know too well to drive with care. I remember vividly that Fridays through Sundays were days when we corps members become emergency rescue team

Up to half a decade now, when I was about the compulsory NYSC scheme in one of the states in SouthWest Nigeria, the weekends were usually the worst hit in road accident incidence. It was a border town leading to another State and my place of primary assignment was at a Government Technical College situated along a stretchy hilly sharp corner express-road which divided the school compound into two. There is this adage by my people that when dirt is too much in a soup, even the blind man would notice. The nature of the road was dangerous enough for any

since staff of the school go on weekends probably to reunite with their families, we rendered help to accident victims, caused by the ones who drove most of the time.

I won’t forget one Sunday afternoon when, like they show in those foreign films, a man on top speed outran the road and headed for the compound only to be stopped by a tree which he hit. Though no one was hurt, severe damage was done to the car but it wasn’t too long for us to perceive that he was heavily drunk. So we decided not to pay attention to all the gibberish he was saying afterwards all in the

bid to defend himself.

Statistics has shown that road accidents occur more at the festive season of the year, the …ember months. Over speeding, drinking and driving, phoning while driving, disregard for simple road signs or traffic rules, etc are invitations to what I call senseless death on our roads.

It is so sad that when Nigerians are on wheels they tend to take laws into their hands. There are some smaller African countries where certain behaviors are not treated with levity. I heard of a certain West African country that locks up any driver caught in reckless driving and he or she undergoes series of psychiatric tests to check whether his brain is functioning properly. Some Nigerians who’d been to some of these countries had come to the conclusion that we live in a country without laws. Total disregard for road signs tells of a society’s low level of civility. The law is in favor of the rich and famous and most people had come to the conclusion that they will engage themselves in whatever they please to get rich (the get-rich-quicksyndrome) in order to command respect from a society that cherishes wealth more than anything. A rich man or a politician that ought to have known better drives recklessly and he gets away with it because the law is in his favour There was this one that the driver preached a message to the passengers in a journey that lasted two hours on a busy highway. I am not against preaching the gospel in this kind of scenario.

Don’t get me wrong. The Holy Book says “Wisdom is profitable to direct”. God gave us brain so we could give Him rest. What stops the same driver from asking

any of the passengers to do justice to that? Beside these are some of the things that heighten religious tensions especially from a nonChristians concerned about his safety. I honestly opine that people involved in such are accidents just waiting to happen. The most annoying of which is those who drink and drive. For heaven’s sake why put lives in jeopardy because of the mistake of a naughty individual. My earlier example of the place I did my NYSC were always traced to people who drink and hit the road afterwards.

There was this story of three guys that met their death as their motorcycle accident ran into a trailerload of petrol some few minutes into the New Year because they were drunk.

They thought they were having their fun as it was just New Year and shouts of ‘Happy New Year’ heard everywhere. What an unfortunate way to enter the New Year for their family and friends? There is this story too of five women who had an accident when on their return from a party. As God would have it they were quickly rushed to the hospital. The doctors tried all they could to no avail because it was discovered that they were all heavily drunk. They were so drunk that administering treatment was going to be injurious. All they did afterwards was to wait as they were left with no other option. That was how they died one after the other.

Who so says getting drunk or high makes you the real man most especially when it puts your own life and that of others at risk? Let’s stop those lies and learn to take caution this New Year.

Seasons come and seasons go but our lives should be more important. A word is enough for the wise. Happy New Year!!!

“Statistics has shown that road accidents occur more at the festive season of the year, the …ember months. Over speeding, drinking and driving, phoning while driving, disregard for simple road signs or traffic rules, etc are invitations to what I call senseless death on our roads.”

Society Understanding Ovulation And Conception

OFTEN times, many women ask when are the best

By HAUWA ISMAILA time for conception? And what does Ovulation have symptoms. to do with it?

When your menstrual cycle begins, your estrogen What is Ovulation: This is when a mature egg is levels are low. Your hypothalamus (which is in released from the ovary, moves down the fallopian charge of maintaining you hormone levels) sends tube, and is available in the fallopian tube to be out a message to your pituitary gland which then fertilized. sends out the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).

Ovulation occurs when a mature egg is released This FSH trigger a few of your follicles to develop from the ovary pushed down the fallopian tube, and into mature eggs. One of these will develop into the is available to be fertilized. The lining of the uterus dominate follicle, which will release a mature egg has thickened to prepare for a fertilizing egg. If no and the others will disintegrate. As the follicles conception occur, the uterine ling as well as blood mature they send out another hormone estrogen. The will be shed. The shedding of an unfertilized egg high levels of estrogen will tell the hypothalamus and the uterine wall is the time of menstruation key and fustery gland that there is a mature egg. facts of ovulation: A Luteinizing Hormone (LH) is the release referred • An egg live 12-24 hours after leaving the ovary to as your IH surge the IH surge causes the egg to • Normally only one egg is released each time of burst through the ovary wall within 24-36 hours and ovulation begin its journey down the fallopian tube for • Ovulation can be affected by stress, illness or fertilization. The follicle from which the egg was disruption of normal routines. released is called the corpus thicken and prepare the • Some women may experience some light blood uterine lining for implantation. The corpus luteum spotting during ovulation. will produce progesterone for about 12-16 days (the • Implantation of a fertilized egg normally takes luteal phase of your cycle) if an egg is fertilized, the place 6 – 12 days after ovulation. corpus luteum will continue to produce progesterone • A menstrual period can occur even if ovulation for a developing pregnancy until the placenta take has not occurred. over. You can begin looking for pregnancy symptoms • Ovulation can occur even if a menstrual period Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister as early as a wake after fertilization. If fertilization has not occurred.

• Some women can feel a bit of pain or aching old thought that stass can affect your ovulation does not occur the egg dissolves after 24 hours.

At this time your hormone levels will decrease and never the ovaries during ovulation called which ultimately determine when your period will mittelschmer 2, which means “middle pain” in come, but stress ground he time of an expected your uterine lining will begin to shed about 12-16 German period will not mark it late - it was already day from ovulation. This is menstruation (menstrual • If an egg is not fertilized, it disintegrates and is determined when it would come 12 – 16 days period) and brings us back to day 1 of your cycle.

The journey then begins all over again. The time of absorbed into the uterine lining,. earlier!

A woman’s monthly cycle is measured from the Fertility Awareness is one day to track when ovulation is one of the most important things a first day of her menstrual period until the first day ovulation occurs, and it includes studing the woman should understand about her body since it is of her next period. On average, a woman cycle changes in cervical fluid will change to a wet, what determines pregnancy. The process can be normally is between 28-32 days, but some woman slippery substance that resembles “egg whites” just confusing and somewhat overwhelming when trying may have much shorter cycles or much longer ones. before ovulation occurs and until ovulation is over. to understand. The Association recommends using Ovulation can be calculated by starting with the day A basil thermometer helps track a body an ovulation kit or fertility monitor to maximize your the last menstrual period (LMP) starts or by temperature rise, which signals that ovulation has chances and to confirm when your ovulation is calculating 12 – 16 of their cycle counting from the just occurred. Another way to track ovulation is occurring. There are many frequently asked first day of the LMP. This is what many refer to as through ovulation kits and fertility monitors. These questions about the ovulation process and the the “fertile time” of a woman cycle, because sexual can be purchased online. Tracking ovulation can association has attempted to address those for you. intercourse drying this time increase the chance of help a woman get a better idea of when pregnancy If you still have further question regarding ovulation pregnancy. Ovulation can occur at different day can and cannot occur during her monthly cycle. we encourage you to either talk with your health care each month. It is important to track your cycle, Once ovulation has occurred, there is nothing you provider or contact the American pregnancy there are tools online to help you do this: order can do to increase your chances of pregnancy your association for more information. Being informed Fertility Tracking. next step is to begin watching for early pregnancy on what your body does can help you feel more in change of your health.

The Ovulation Cycle Divided Into Two Parts The first of the ovulation cycle is called the “:You can begin looking for pregnancy symptoms as early as a follicular phase. This phase starts the last menstrual period (LMP) and continues until ovulation. This wake after fertilization. If fertilization does not occur the egg first half of the cycle can differ greatly for each dissolves after 24 hours. At this time your hormone levels will woman lasting any where from 7 days until the next period begins. The steal phase has a more precise decrease and your uterine lining will begin to shed about 12time line and usually is only 12 to 16 days from the day of Ovulation will determine how long your 16 day from ovulation. This is menstruation (menstrual period) cycle is. This also means that outside factors like and brings us back to day 1 of your cycle. The journey then stress, illness, and disruption of normal routine can throw off your ovulation which then results in begins all over again.” changing the time your period will come. So the

Religion

THROUGH God’s imparted wisdom I have understanding of the concept of divine destiny.

Divine destiny simple means Gods plan for that individual. Every person created of God has a divine plan. God is not planless and since he created human beings he did not do so planlessly God is a God of order. For Jeremiah, he destined him to be a preacher and a prophet (Jeh 1:5) He told Jeremiah, that before he was born he knew him, and he had destined him to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah’s case is not in isolation but applies to every being created of God. Jesus said when we pray, we pray in this manner: thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Lk 11:2). What does that convey to you? - Divine plan. The Bible says “Be not foolish but understand the will of God” (Eph 5:17).

What does that convey to your mind? - Divine plan.

For twenty years Rebecca, Isaac’s wife was barren without a child. But when Isaac entreated the lord, the lord opened her womb and she conceived (Gen 25:202), 2(i). But while Rebecca was pregnant, the children struggled together within her in the womb — “And she went to enquire of the lord; and the lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and two marine of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” Gen 25 :22-23.

What does this also suggest to you? Divine destiny. So from thy mothers womb in creation the lord has a destiny for you but many have lost the plan of God for their lives either because they have chosen not to serve God, or if they serve God they have chosen not to wait upon him for a revelation about the plan he has for them. Can a sensible father begin to procreate children without planning for the children. Let alone God. Will God begin to create children in to the world without a plan for each of them; our divine destiny differs as our faces and thumbprints. Seek

With REV. DR. A. A. OPARA

Divine Destiny

Gods plan for your life and walk in the plan you shall surely prosper.

Now when you discover your divine destiny; you prayerfully walk with God” meaning let God be your guide. He will lead you to prosperity ultimately - “for the lord is my Shepard I shall not want” Ps23: 1.

greatness or achieve success in your endeavor work in the plan of God for your life. Now what Abraham’s experience tells us is that it is never too late to discover your divine destiny as long as you are still alive. Now, I am saying this categorically, that the purpose of every creation of

Gods plan for that person.

You may be called to be a preacher, or a businessman or a politician or into a specific profession as medicine, law, nursing etc, if you follow Gods plan for your life you will surely excel - but how many people care to ask God what ever he has

your desire may not be Gods plan for your life.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the lord” Isa 55:8. He goes further to explain his ways.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your

Abraham discovered God’s plan for him at old age. He was seventy-five years when he began to walk in the plan of God. It was at that age that God called Abraham and revealed to him his divine destiny and Abraham walked with God and he was greatly blessed (Gen 12:1-3). So, perhaps before Abraham began to walk in Gods plan for his life he was a nobody working in his own ideas not the plan of God, and living amongst his own people. Nothing great came out of that experience. But as soon as he began to walk in the destiny of God for his life he began to achieve greatness. So to achieve

God is to worship the mid and to be obedient to him as our divine father (Ecc 12:13). Yet for each person created by God he has a divine plan which can be discovered as soon as such a person worships the lord, and seeks the will of God of his life. But if such a person refuses to serve the lord how can he get the opportunity of the revelation of his life, this is why many have missed the mark. While the whole purpose of creation is to worship the lord because at death we shall also return to him the creator (Ecc 5:15), each person is called into different spheres of human endeavour according to

for them in his divine plan before they jump into it?

Many persons do personal choices not seeking the plan of God. One of the greatest preachers of our time Oral Roberts in his book: “ still doing the impossible” explained that at a time in his life he was interested in politics; “it soon became evident to some of the individuals running for public office - that I had a natural bent toward politics” says Oral Roberts.

But thank God he did not yield to personal choice but Gods plan for him to be a preacher, and he is today on of the worlds most successful preachers. Don’t follow your desire because

ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” Isa 55:9. that higher way and higher thought of God is your divine destiny - you must seek it and know it and once you discover it, stay on it no matter the circumstances for here lies your greatness and manifold blessings and riches in Christ, Amen.

“I am called a preacher that is Gods plan for my life.

It is my major focus n life anything else is simply ancillary. As a preacher here lies my destiny and prosperity” - says the preacher. So, if you are in Gods plan or divine destiny, you must be a success because God has destined his children to be successful

in life. He is no God that enjoys the failure of his children - this will not magnify his name (Ps 35:27). Now while you stay on the plan of God - divine destiny, you must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to guide you to open doors aid new opportunities. It is important that if you want to prosper while you stay on the destined plan of God, you must be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit to guide you to success.

Some people are within the plan of God; but they get stagnated because they are not sensitive to the Holy Spirit to know what to do at a particular time within the mind set of God. Take for example, a man called to preach and he answers the call, yes he has taken the first step towards his divine destiny. Then as a preacher he should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to lead him to greater heights in his calling.

“FOR PROMOTION COMETH NEITHER FROM THE EAST NOR FROM THE WEST’ NOR FROM THE SOUTH; BUT GOD IS THE JUDGE (Ps75:6).

So with God’s destined plan for you there is promotion. Promotion makes the difference even when you are in the destined plan of God. He will promote you not stagnate you if you listen to the Holy Spirit. He will guide you to higher grounds this is prosperity; it is promotion. “The lord shall increase you more and more’’ Ps 115:14. If you be sensitive to the Holy Spirit then the lord will guide on with his counsel (Ps 72:24).

“So with God’s destined plan for you there is promotion. Promotion makes the difference even when you are in the destined plan of God. He will promote you not stagnate you if you listen to the Holy Spirit. He will guide you to higher grounds this is prosperity; it is promotion. “The lord shall increase you more and more’’ Ps 115:14. If you be sensitive to the Holy Spirit then the lord will guide on with his counsel (Ps 72:24).”

International Features

Syria Ships Out First Batch Of Chemical Weapons Material

BEIRUT - Syria has started moving chemical weapons materials out of the country in a crucial phase of an internationally backed disarmament program that has been delayed by war and technical problems.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said on Tuesday that “priority chemical materials” were transported to the port of Latakia and onto a Danish vessel which was now sailing towards international waters.

Syria agreed to abandon its chemical weapons by June under a deal proposed by Russia and agreed with the United States after an August 21 sarin gas attack that Western nations blamed on President Bashar alAssad’s forces.

Damascus blames rebels for the attack.

War, bad weather, bureaucracy and technical issues meant a December 31 deadline for the removal of the most deadly toxins from Syria was missed.

The OPCW did not disclose what percentage of Syria’s toxic arsenal — which totals 1,300 tons in all — had been removed but said nine containers of the most dangerous chemical materials were on the Danish cargo vessel.

“The vessel has been accompanied by naval escorts provided by Denmark and Norway, as well as the Syrian Arab Republic,” a statement said. “It will remain at sea awaiting the arrival of additional priority chemical materials at the port.”

Maritime security was being provided by Chinese, Danish, Norwegian and Russian ships.

Government forces have taken back control of the highway linking Damascus to the coast which is needed to transport the toxins.

Rebel were ousted from three towns along the road but activists say convoys moving along it will remain vulnerable to rebel ambushes.

Washington welcomed the removal of chemical materials and said Assad’s government appeared to be sticking to the deal.

“Much more needs to be done,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing, adding: “We have no reason to believe that the regime has gone back on any aspect of their promise.”

REBEL INFIGHTING On the battlefield, Syria’s bloodiest bout of rebel infighting since the war started nearly three years ago prompted the head of an al Qaeda-linked rebel group to called for a ceasefire between opposition factions.

An audio recording from the leader of the powerful Nusra Front, known as Abu Mohammed alGolani, laid much of the blame for the fighting on an al Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

While both groups have roots in the global Islamist network and welcome foreign militants, the Nusra Front has cooperated more with other rebel groups and has largely avoided the power struggles that ISIL has faced since wresting control of many opposition-held areas from other groups.

“Many rebel units have committed transgressions, just as the mistaken policies followed by played a prominent role in fuelling the conflict,” Golani said.

ISIL has also been fighting in Iraq, where it faces an onslaught by army tanks and artillery around the city of Falluja, whose local leaders have urged the Qaeda-linked militants to leave before being attacked.

ISIL gunmen want to reconquer Iraq’s Anbar province in pursuit of their goal of creating a radical Islamic state out of the chaos of neighboring Syria’s civil war.

More than 274 people have been killed in the rebel-on-rebel clashes in Syria since they began on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group.

LEGAL COUNCIL

legal council by all the (rebel) factions in addition to a ceasefire,” Golani said.

Rebel groups, many of them also hardline Islamists, last week launched what appeared to be a series of coordinated strikes against ISIL in northern and eastern Syria after months of increasing tensions with the group, which has alienated many Syrians in rebel-held regions.

In one northwestern

rebels took control of a police station where about 100 ISIL fighters had been based. The ISIL fighters surrendered themselves and their weapons to the Nusra Front, it said.

Golani urged rebels not to become divided between foreign and local fighters, arguing that all were needed to launch jihad, or holy war, in the country.

The campaign to topple Assad has degenerated into a civil war with several sectarian and

a decision on whether to attend talks with Assad’s government aimed at ending the conflict, opposition members said on Tuesday.

The National Coalition is facing heavy pressure from Western powers to attend the January 22 talks in Switzerland, seen as the most serious effort yet to find a political solution to the civil war.

It has said it is ready to attend the talks in principle, but says they must lead to Assad’s departure - a demand which Damascus has flatly

Man carry the body of a man who was shot by what activists said a shiper loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the besieged area of Boms.

Golani proposed forming an Islamic legal council to resolve feuds among the rebels and called for the militants to return to their shared goal of fighting Assad’s forces, as the campaign to oust the Syrian leader nears the end of its third year.

It was not possible to verify the audio statement, but it was posted on a Twitter account used by the Nusra Front.

“This unfortunate situation has pushed us to launch an initiative to save the battlefields from being lost. This will be done by forming an independent

region of Syria alone, other rebel groups appear to have killed 34 foreign fighters from ISIL, the Observatory said.

Fighting reignited between ISIL and other groups on Tuesday, the Observatory said. Fifteen died in the town of Rastan, north of the central city of Homs, and in Aleppo

ethnic struggles emerging, as well as the internecine fighting now plaguing the rebels.

Golani urged rebels to exchange prisoners and open roads to all opposition units.

TALKS DECISION DELAYED Syria’s Western-backed opposition in exile postponed until next week

rejected - and has repeatedly stalled on its final decision.

The latest delay came after at least a quarter of the coalition called for its newly re-elected president Ahmad al-Jarba to stand down at a meeting in Turkey and threatened to resign if their demand was not met, sources at the meeting said.

“Many rebel units have committed transgressions, just as the mistaken policies followed by played a prominent role in fuelling the conflict,”

International Morsi Trial Delayed To February 1 After Court Absence CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Wednesday adjourned the murder trial of deposed president Mohamed Morsi to February 1, citing “weather conditions” that prevented the Islamist’s transport to court from his prison.

It had been scheduled as the second hearing in Morsi’s trial, after an initial court appearance in November in which he denounced the tribunal and insisted he was still the country’s president.

Morsi, who was toppled by the military in July, is accused of inciting the killings of opposition protesters in December 2012 outside the presidential palace.

“Because of the weather conditions, Mohamed Morsi could not be brought, so the trial will be adjourned to February 1,” said presiding judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef.

Morsi is detained in prison some 60 kilometres from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

He is on trial with 14 codefendants, but only several were brought Wednesday to the makeshift court house in a police academy on Cairo’s outskirts.

Elsewhere, police fired tear gas at Morsi’s supporters who had rallied in protest at the trial.

In Cairo’s Nasr City neighbourhood, tyres were burnt and some car windows were smashed during brief clashes. Police said they had made 14 arrests.

In the police academy, defendants were held in a room adjacent to the court room as they waited for the hearing to start.

“This is a political trial,” yelled Essam al-Erian, one of the defendants and a senior member of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.

His lawyer Bahaa el-Din Abdel Rahman told AFP his client and other defendants had embarked on a hunger strike.

“All the accused who are present today are on hunger

strike and reaffirm that they reject this trial,” he said.

Morsi’s trial is seen as a test for Egypt’s new authorities, who have come under fire for heavyhandedness.

With more than 1,000 people killed since Morsi’s overthrow and thousands of Islamists arrested, the chances of political reconciliation in the Arab world’s most populous nation are ever more remote.

Morsi will also face separate trials on charges of espionage and colluding with militants to carry out attacks in Egypt.

He was catapulted from the underground offices of the longbanned Muslim Brotherhood to CHANGE OF NAME

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become Egypt’s first freely elected president in June 2012 following Mubarak’s overthrow in an early 2011 uprising.

But his single year in power was marred by political turmoil, deadly clashes and a crippling economic crisis.

In December 2012, members

of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked opposition protesters camped outside the presidential palace in protest at a decree by Morsi to grant himself extrajudiciary powers.

At least seven people were killed in the clashes, and dozens of opposition protesters were detained and beaten by Morsi’s supporters.

Iran Nuclear Talks To Resume announced the meeting earlier Thursday In Geneva Tuesday, with Tehran’s foreign

GENEVA - Iran and world powers will meet in Geneva from Thursday to iron out remaining obstacles in implementing a historic nuclear deal struck in November, Iranian and EU officials said.

The two-day meeting will bring together deputy negotiators from Iran and the so-

called P5+1 group of world powers, European Union foreign policy spokesman Michael Mann told AFP. It was still not clear when the two sides’ chief negotiators could meet, he added.

Iranian officials had also

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FRANK CYRIL The solemnization of marriage between former Miss Osasogie Jennifer Odeh and Mr. Cyril Edobor Abulu took place on Wednesday 8th January, 2014 at the Oredo Local Government Council Marriage Registry in Benin City. Amongst those present were Mrs. Florence Omoruyi, Miss Stella Abulu, Mr. Francis A. Abulu, Mrs. Bose Ojo, family members, relations, friends and well wishers. Picture shows the couple at the Registry. Congratulations. Photo: SONNIE. E.

The incident was a turning point in Morsi’s presidency, galvanising a disparate opposition that eventually organised mass protests in June 2012 that prompted the military to oust and detain the Islamist.

Morsi’s defence says there is no proof he had incited the clashes, and that most of those killed in the violence were Brotherhood members.

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ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham telling reporters that the talks would focus on “one or two remaining issues pending a political decision” before the deal can be implemented.

Technical experts from Iran and the EU-chaired P5+1 — comprising the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — held two sessions in Geneva in mid and late December as they seek to fine-tune a deal reached on November 24 after their foreign ministers rushed to the Swiss city for marathon talks.

Under the deal, Iran is to curb parts of its nuclear drive for six months in exchange for modest relief from international sanctions and a promise by Western powers not to impose new measures against the Iranian economy, which has been battered by the embargo.

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International Former Miss Venezuela And BritishBorn Partner Killed In Robbery CARACAS - Gunmen killed a former Miss Venezuela and her Britishborn partner in front of their young daughter in an attack that shocked the crimeplagued nation, authorities said.

Monica Spear, a 29-yearold soap opera star, and Thomas Henry Berry, 39, were killed in what appears to have been a botched robbery after their car broke down on a highway in northwestern Venezuela late Monday, police and prosecutors said.

Their daughter, five-yearold Maya Berry Spear, was wounded in the right leg but was stable after receiving medical treatment after a crime that put a harsh spotlight on Venezuela’s soaring homicide rate.

Five people have been detained and were interrogated in connection with the killings, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said after a televised meeting with President Nicolas Maduro, who vowed to use

an “iron hand” to crack down on crime.

The family was driving on a highway when their car hit a blunt object that had been placed on the road, forcing them to pull over, said forensic police director Jose Gregorio Sierralta. There are suggestions that the object was deliberately placed there as part of a planned armed robbery.

Spear waved down a tow truck, which stopped to help on the road between Puerto Cabello and Valencia in the state of Carabobo, Sierralta said.

But as the two truck workers operated the crane, five armed men emerged on the road.

The truck’s operators fled to a police station about 1.5 kilometers (one mile) away while the mother, father and child locked themselves in their car in a desperate attempt to shield themselves from the killers.

But “the criminals fired multiple shots at the vehicle” before fleeing without

stealing anything, Sierralta said.

Spear, who was a quarterfinalist in the 2005 Miss Universe contest, appeared in the Miami-based Telemundo series “Pasion Prohibida” (“Forbidden Passion”) and “Flor Salvaje” (“Savage Flower”).

The dark-haired actress, who lived in Miami, was on holiday in her native Venezuela. She had posted videos of the countryside and herself horse riding on Instagram in the last couple of days.

Her husband was born in Britain but has Venezuelan citizenship.

Pressure Mounts On Bangladesh PM DHAKA - Bangladesh’s the will of the Bangladeshi After Walkover Re-Election opposition leader Khaleda Zia people,” said State Department accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of “murdering democracy” as her arch rival faced growing calls Tuesday to hold fresh polls after a walkover election.

The United States led international pressure for a swift re-run that would include all the

Bangladeshi police detain a suspect folllowing an attack on a polling station in the Northern town of Bogra recently.

African Asylum Seekers TEL AVIV - Thousands of immigrants, saying they pose a Israel African asylum seekers threat to the state’s Jewish demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for a third straight day of protests against Israel’s immigration policies.

Migrants, most of them from Eritrea and Sudan, held banners reading “We are refugees” and “No more prison” as they marched on Western embassies and the offices of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Israel’s commercial capital was the scene of race riots in 2012, and the rightwing government has vowed to step up repatriating illegal

character.

Leaders of the migrants said at a rally in southern Tel Aviv they would continue protesting until Israel cancelled legislation enabling long-term detentions, and reviewed their requests for refugee status, the Jerusalem Post reported.

A police spokesman told AFP the Africans were coordinating with police on their plan to stage more protests on Wednesday, this time in Jerusalem.

Some 52,000 were currently in Israel, after managing to slip

Monica Spear poses after beingt elected Miss Venezuala in Caracas

major parties, brushing aside Hasina’s insistence that a boycott by Zia’s opposition did not undermine her legitimacy.

Zia, who has been confined to her home for about two weeks, reiterated her calls for Hasina to stand aside and let a neutral caretaker government organise the new election.

“I’m calling on the government to cancel the farcical polls, step down and reach an understanding (with the opposition) to organise a free, fair and neutral election under a non-party government,” she said in a statement released overnight Monday.

“The scandalous election on January 5 not only demonstrated the people’s lack of confidence in the government but also proved that free, fair, credible, peaceful and participatory elections cannot be held without a non-party neutral government and credible election commission.”

The opposition has enforced a 48-hour general strike since

In Third Day Of month, authorities can detain Protests illegal immigrants entering

across the desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a high-tech barrier last year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the protests will make no difference to his government’s tough stand on asylum seekers.

“Just as we’ve succeeded in blocking off illegal infiltrations thanks to the security fence, we’re determined to send back those who made it in before the border was closed,” he told members of his rightwing Likud party on Monday.

Under legislation passed last

Israel for up to a year without trial.

The government has opened a sprawling detention facility in the Negev desert to house both new entrants and immigrants already in the country deemed to have disturbed public order.

The UNHCR has condemned Israel for ignoring the reasons asylum seekers have fled their countries of origin and for failing to provide “those with protection needs” with “access to refugee status determination”.

Monday to force Hasina to cancel the polls.

At least 26 people were killed during the election, the bloodiest vote in Bangladesh’s history, while hundreds of opposition supporters torched or trashed polling stations.

The result was never in doubt, with Hasina’s Awami League and a handful of allies winning all the seats being contested.

The vote’s credibility had been undermined even before polling day as 153 Awami League members or allies were declared elected unopposed to the 300-seat parliament.

Police arrest senior opposition officials In a defiant appearance before the press on Monday, Hasina rejected any idea that the election’s legitimacy had been compromised by the absence of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 20 other opposition parties.

Police on Tuesday responded swiftly to Hasina’s order to “eliminate militancy and combat violence” by arresting three senior BNP officials, including a close Zia aide, an officer told AFP. Zia, in her first comments since the election, called the low voter turnout a “silent revolution” against Hasina, while the Awami League had no “moral or constitutional grounds” to hold on to power.

“The people did not participate in the murder of democracy,” she said.

The US also called for a new vote that would “credibly express the will” of the people.

“With more than half of the seats uncontested and most of the remainder offering only token opposition, the results of the just-concluded elections do not appear to credibly express

deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf.

“While it remains to be seen what form the new government will take... we encourage the government of Bangladesh and opposition parties to engage in immediate dialogue to find a way to hold as soon as possible elections that are free, fair, peaceful, and credible.”

UN leader Ban Ki-moon called for the two parties “to resume meaningful dialogue” urgently “for an inclusive political process”.

There was also criticism from former colonial power Britain, with junior foreign minister Sayeeda Warsi saying “the true mark of a mature, functioning democracy is peaceful, credible elections that express the genuine will of the voters”.

In a defiant press conference on Monday, Hasina said the opposition election boycott should “not mean there will be a question of legitimacy”.

“People participated in the poll and other parties participated,” she added in reference to a handful of allies who did stand.

Asked about the prospect of sanctions on her government, Hasina was dismissive, saying: “What crimes did we commit that they would impose sanction on us?”

The Prime Minister made clear she was in no mood to extend any olive branches to Zia, her bitter rival for the last two decades, accusing the twotime former premier of stoking the violence.

“If they come forward to discuss with us, they have to leave all these terrorist activities behind because what they are doing is absolutely killing people, killing police, killing innocent people.”

Man & Nature

With O.C Madu

Come Down From The Cross “IF thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross and save thyself and us”.

These were the Scornful words addressed to the Son of God as He hung in agony on the cross in the burning rays of the sun.

Those who shouted this, considered themselves specially clever. They scoffed, they triumphed and they laughed hatefully without any real cause, for surely Christ’s sufferings were no reason for mockery and ridicule, much less for laughter. If but for one moment, they could have “seen” the simultaneous happenings in the ethereal and spiritual realms, where their souls were being firmly bound for thousand of years, their laughter would have ceased.

Even though, their punishment could not become immediately visible in the material world, it did come in all the subsequent earth lives which these wicked souls were forced to live on account of it Abd-rushin the author of grail message asserted the words.

According to Abd-ru-shin, the scoffers of that time thought themselves clever, but they could have given no better proof of their limitation than these words, for they reveal the must childish view one can think of. Those who speak thus, are far from understanding creation and the will of God operating therein. How depressing and sad it is therefore, is to know that even today a great number of those who still believe in God and in the mission of his son at that time are quite convinced that Jesus of Nazareth could have come down from the cross if He had only so willed.

To expect this shows both poverty of intellect and inertia in thinking. Through becoming flesh, the son of God was also, ‘placed under the law”, that is, he subjected himself to the laws of creation, the unalterable will of God in creation. There could be no change in connection with the physical and earth bound body. In obedience to the will of God, Christ voluntarily submitted to this law. He did not come

to over throw it but to fulfill it through becoming flesh on this earth.

Abd-ru-shin says he was therefore, bound to everything in the same way as man on earth is bound. Even as the Son of God, with all His Divine might and power. He could not come down from the cross as long as He was in a physical body of flesh and blood. That would have been equivalent to upsetting the Divine will in creation.

This Divine will, however, has been perfect from the very beginning everywhere, not only in the world of cross matter here on earth, but also, in the ethereal world and in the worlds of animistic and spiritual substantiality, with all their subdivisions and transitional stages. Just the same as in the Divine sphere and also in God Himself.

Abd-ru-shin says that Divine Activity, Divine power and might, never unduly obtrude themselves. The Divine only lives in the strict fulfillment of the Divine will and never wishes to do anything else. The same hold true for the human being who is highly developed spiritually, the more highly matured he is the more strictly will he submit to the Divine laws in creation, voluntarily and joyfully.

But he will never expect arbitrary acts which live outside the valid laws of creation, because, he believes in the perfection of the Divine will. If a physical body is firmly nailed to the cross, it cannot free itself without extraneous physical help. That is, the law according to the Divine will in creation, which permits of no exceptions. He who thinks differently and expects something else does not believe in the perfection of God and in the immutability of his will.

If in becoming man the Son of God had to submit to the will of God in creation, it is evident that the Son of man also, cannot stand above these laws. Indeed, it is utterly impossible to stand above these laws in creation. He who enteres creation thereby, also becomes subject to the law of Divine will, which never changes. Thus also, the Son of God and the Son of man.

When Christ performed miracles that are quite beyond man’s ability this does not justify the thought that he did not need to observe the laws of the Divine will resting in creation, that he reached out beyond them, that is impossible. Even with miracle. He acted in complete accordance with the laws of God and not arbitrary.

He only proved thereby that he worked in Divine power, not in spiritual power and naturally, the effects also, far surpassed what is possible to men. Nevertheless, these miracles were not performed independent of the laws in creation, but were completely in accordance with them.

The raising of the dead through Divine power is not beyond Divine laws as long as it happens within a certain time after death, the length of which differs for each human being. The more spiritually mature the soul is when revering itself from the physical body the quicker it will be released and the shorter will be the time during which the lawful opportunity exists to recall it because, this can only happen while the soul is still connected with the body.

Abd-ru-shin says that the soul, which is animated by spirit, must obey the Divine will, that is, the Divine power and must upon its call return along the ethered bridge, as long as this bridge has not been pulled down and re-enter the already

“Abd-ru-shin says that Divine Activity, Divine power and might, never unduly obtrude themselves. The Divine only lives in the strict fulfillment of the Divine will and never wishes to do anything else.

The same hold true for the human being who is highly developed spiritually, the more highly matured he is the more strictly will he submit to the Divine laws in creation, voluntarily and joyfully.”

forsaken physical body.

When we speak of divine power and spiritual power, this does not refute the fact that in reality there is but one power which has issued from God and which permeates all creation. Yet, there is a difference between Divine power and spiritual power.

The spiritual power is dominated by the Divine power from which it has issued. It is not really a weekened Divine power but rather a transformed power which, through its transformation, has taken on a different nature and the effectiveness of which has thereby, been somewhat limited. Thus, there are two species working differently yet in reality only one power.

In addition to these, we have animistic power.

Hence, there are three basic powers, of which the spiritual and the animistic powers are nourished and governed by the Divine Power. All three may be called one. There are no other power only many subspecies which have arisen through the basic spiritual and basic animistic species and each of which is also, different in its effect.

Each species in its own way again produces correspondingly changed laws which, however, are always a logical consequence of the fundamental species, although, due to the change of power that has taken place, they may appear somewhat different outwardly. All the species however, including the fundamental species Abd-rushin says are bound to the highest Divine law of power and within their own changed laws can only be different in their outward forms.

They appear different because, with the exception of the Divine will itself every species and every subspecies form only part – species, thus, piecework, which can naturally also, only have part laws. These strive to unite with the perfect whole, the pure Divine Power from which they are derived and which is identical with Divine and becomes manifest as immutable adamantine laws.

Moyes Criticises MANCHESTER United Referee manager David Moyes

New Aluko Deal Bolsters Bruce NIGERIA striker Sone Aluko’s decision to extend his contract at Hull has been welcomed by manager Steve Bruce as potentially the Premier club’s most important deal during the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old’s current deal was due to expire at the end of this season but he has now set to stay with the Tigers for at least another two-and-a-half years.

Aluko is currently sidelined with an Achilles injury but Bruce is in no doubt of his importance to a Hull side who are presently an impressive 10th in the Premier League following their promotion to the top flight last season.

“It could be the most important piece of business we do this month,” Bruce told the Hull Daily Mail.

“If Sone gets fit over the next couple of weeks, he’s a top player as we’ve seen time and again.

“He’s a special player for us, I’ve said that all along, so let’s hope we see him doing what he does best in the next month or so.”

Aluko, out of action since midOctober, added: “I need to focus on getting back playing and getting back playing well.

“The manager and the owners have shown a level of faith in me and I have to repay that by playing well on the pitch. That has always been my priority.

“I’m trying not to set any deadlines and I’m just taking it day by day but so far it’s gone according to plan and I think I’m maybe even ahead of schedule so hopefully I’ll be back playing soon.”

Chelsea Confirm Omeruo Loan To ’Boro

CHELSEA have confirmed they have loaned out Nigeria defender Kenneth Omeruo to Middlesbrough till season’s end.

Omeruo’s adviser, Conleth Chika Akujobi, told MTNFootball.com that the loan move was finalised on Monday evening at the Riverside.

Middlesbrough first tried to get him in the summer.

The 20-year-old Omeruo has been training with the Chelsea main squad since last year after he spent a season and a half at Dutch club ADO Den Haag, also on loan from Chelsea.

The Nigeria star has a contract with Chelsea till June 2015 and wants to have some playing time under his belt so as to make the Super Eagles squad to the World Cup in Brazil in June.

‘Boro manager Aitor Karanka, who was an assistant to Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, said they expect Omeruo to shore up their defence after he was personally recommended to him by Mourinho.

Middlesbrough are 15th on the 24-team English Championship.

Sunderland’s Philip Bardsley takes a tumble with Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj at the Stadium of Lights in Sunderland, in Northeast England on January 7, 2014.

criticised referee Andre Marriner after the 2-1 loss to Sunderland on Tuesday evening in the first leg semifinal of the Capital One Cup. Moyes was infuriated by the decision to award Sunderland a penalty after Tom Cleverley’s clumsy tackle on Adam Johnson, with Fabio Borini firing home the resulting spot-kick in the 64th minute of Tuesday night’s contest at the Stadium of Light.

And the under-pressure Red Devils boss was equally unimpressed by the free-kick which was given to the home side for Jonny Evans’ clumsy aerial clash with Steven Fletcher, with Ryan Giggs eventually putting through his own net after Wes Brown met Seb Larsson’s ball into the box.

Moyes, who has overseen United’s worst run of form since May 2001 as they

Sunderland Add To United Pain In League Cup MANCHESTER United crashed to a third consecutive loss for the first time since 2001 after losing 2-1 at Sunderland in their League Cup semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.

United were looking to bounce purposeful running of Adnan back from successive home Januzaj, United began to assert defeats by Tottenham Hotspur, in control of the game. the league, and Swansea City, in Giggs sent a deflected 25-yard the FA Cup, but instead they lost shot against the crossbar, while again, and to the Premier Januzaj had a goal ruled out for League’s bottom side. offside and Vidic planted a header Ryan Giggs, who had earlier wide from a corner shortly before hit the crossbar, gifted half-time.

Sunderland the lead with an own Sunderland emerged goal and despite Nemanja Vidic unscathed, though, and in firstequalising early in the second half stoppage time they exploited half, Fabio Borini’s 65th-minute defensive inattention from United penalty gave the hosts victory. to go ahead.

Having eliminated Chelsea in From Sebastian Larsson’s deep the previous round, Sunderland free-kick, Wes Brown stole in remain on course to reach a first behind Michael Carrick to volley domestic cup final since 1992, the ball back across goal, and in when they lost to Liverpool in attempting to prevent Phil the FA Cup final.

Bardsley from prodding home, For United manager David Giggs succeeded only in scoring Moyes, however, the gloom himself. grows ever darker, with his The timing of the goal felt like hopes of claiming a piece of a sucker-punch, but United major domestic silverware in his regrouped at the interval and maiden season severely equalised within seven minutes compromised ahead of the of kick-off in the second period. second leg on January 22.

Tom Cleverley curled a leftThe importance of the fixture wing corner to the back post and was evident in the fact that both Vidic outjumped former teammanagers made seven changes to mates Brown and John O’Shea to the sides they fielded in the FA power a header past Vito Cup at the weekend, although Mannone.

United were once again without For the umpteenth time this the injured Wayne Rooney. season, however, United’s Eager to exploit any momentum was to desert them. uncertainty in the visiting ranks, Jonny Evans had to hobble off Sunderland looked to get balls with an injury, and after Borini into the box at the earliest had sliced wide and Larsson had opportunity and saw Borini drag drawn a sharp save from visiting an early shot wide from just goalkeeper David de Gea, outside the area.

Sunderland restored their lead.

However, emboldened by the Cleverley was adjudged to

have impeded Adam Johnson as he tore into the penalty area and after referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot, Borini calmly lifted the ball past De

Gea from 12 yards.

Scorer of a brace on his previous visit to the Stadium of Light, Januzaj carried the fight to Sunderland again, shooting narrowly off target on three occasions, but even their new boy wonder could not rescue United.

David Moyes

suffered a third successive defeat, suggested that decisions from the officials have cost his side dearly.

He told Sky Sports when asked about the penalty: “We had a player booked for the same challenge the other day, for doing the same thing. It’s up to the referees, they’re making their minds up.

“It looks as if we’re having to play them as well as the opposition at the moment.

“It’s really terrible, it really is, we’re actually beginning to laugh at them.

“We just need to keep going, we didn’t do an awful lot wrong. We conceded a terrible first goal from the free-kick, but it was never a free-kick, it was our freekick.

“I thought the referee was going to blow in our direction. I couldn’t believe he gave a free-kick for that Jonny Evans challenge on Fletcher in the air, it was just a terrible decision.

“We’ve got an opposition to play and sometimes we’ve got other people to play at the moment.”

When asked if he felt under any pressure given United’s current woes - they are currently stand 11 points off the pace in the Premier League and are out of the FA Cup - Moyes responded: “None whatsoever.”

And Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor insists that he is relishing the opportunity to secure a trip to Wembley when the second leg takes place at Old Trafford on January 22.

He added: “This is a twolegged game, and I’m really looking forward to the second leg now.

“Our crowd were unbelievable tonight, the support they gave the team and me was terrific. The players deserved it because they did well enough to get a result.

“We’ll do everything that we can to try and get it right.

The players put in a strong performance tonight, it just didn’t quite come off. It’s not far away and it’s coming, I can sense it.”

Aldridge Slams ‘Disinterested’ confidence or maybe he’s just LIVERPOOL legend John Moses unhappy because he’s played so Aldridge has criticised Victor Moses for his performance during Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Oldham Athletic.

The 23-year-old, who is currently on loan from Chelsea, was included in the starting lineup but made way for Philippe Coutinho at half time and Aldridge believes he needs to pull up his socks.

“Victor Moses was handed a big opportunity when Brendan Rodgers brought him to Liverpool from Chelsea last summer,” Aldridge told the

Liverpool Echo.

“Not many players get the chance to go out on loan to a bigger club but I don’t think he realises how lucky he is.

“The Nigeria international could have no complaints about being hauled off at half-time of Sunday’s 2-0 win over Oldham.

“He looked completely disinterested in that opening 45 minutes and gave the manager little option.

“There was no desire, no spirit.

Maybe he’s lacking a bit of

little recently.

“He has let himself down at Liverpool.”

Keshi says Moses can do more Aldridge believes Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi, who is currently on loan at Stoke City, has shown more hunger during the first half of the season.

“Hindsight is a great thing but we would have been better off keeping Oussama Assaidi and not signing Moses,” he added.

“Assaidi has contributed a lot more for Stoke during his loan spell than Moses has for us.

Balotelli Staying At Milan MARIO Balotelli has cleared the air over his speculative future by declaring he will remain at Milan for the rest of the season.

Reports over the Christmas break suggested that the club and the striker were destined to part ways after the 23-year-old had

fallen out with management.

However, the former Inter striker says he will not be making a move away from the San Siro during the winter break.

“I am staying at Milan,” he told Chi. “I have to get ready for the World Cup and stay calm.”

Balotelli only made the switch to the Red and Black half of Milan back in January 2013 from Manchester City.

Di Maria Apologizes For ‘Rude Gesture’

REAL Madrid winger Angel Di Maria has apologized to the club and the fans following a gesture he made on the field on Monday.

The Argentine was romped to a 3-0 win over booed by the fans and Celta Vigo. made the controversial “It was not aimed at the gesture when he was fans or the coach,” Di substituted before Madrid

We Have To Keep Going SEVILLA defender - Fazio

Federico Fazio says his side have to maintain their good run in La Liga to make up for their poor start to the season.

Unai Emery’s side are unbeaten in their last six league matches, winning five, and are currently placed seventh on the table with 29 points.

“Only a few months ago we were last and now we’re doing very well, but we have to keep this going, game by game,” said Fazio.

“Now we have to make the most of the month of January and with a game every seven days, we need to have a good month to be up there in La Liga.

“That’s where we’ll always look to be and we’re thinking positively.

“We’re in good form, on a good run and we must maintain that, getting points in threes, match by match, one step at a time.”

The Argentine believes that improving the way they defend as a team was key in helping them turn the corner.

“I got back into the team when we started winning

and I believe that the team became stronger in defence, which is what we needed a little,” he added.

“We changed our style of play and that brought us the results we were looking for.

“It all about the balance between defence and attack; it’s all well and good scoring four goals, but it’s worthless if you concede five.

“So you have to look for a balance, but not just in defence or in attack, but as a team.”

Lyon Reject Napoli Bid For Gonalons

Angel Di Maria

Seedorf In Contention To Replace AC Milan general However, in an interview Allegri manager Adriano Galliani on Mediaset television, has confirmed that Clarence Seedorf is one of the candidates to replace

Federico Fazio

Massimiliano Allegri as coach at the end of the season.

The former Milan midfielder, who is still contracted to Botafogo until the summer, is widely expected to end his playing days and become coach of the Serie A side in July, when Allegri has already confirmed he will be leaving.

When asked if Seedorf was in pole position to take over, Galliani said with a smile: “Let’s just say he’s in position.”

Mandzukic To Compete With BAYERN Munich sporting director Matthias Lewandowski Sammer has told Mario Mandzukic he must accept the competition brought about by the signing of Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarians announced the signing of the Poland international on a five-year-deal upon the expiration of his contract at the end of this season.

Many have claimed that the Bavarians do not need the striker as they already have plenty of high-profile options in attack, yet Sammer has stressed that it’s vital for Bayern to always prepare for the future.

“Mario remains a key player for us. However, he has to accept - like the rest of the squad - that there will always be stiff competition for places,” Sammer was quoted as saying by Bild.

“Bayern cannot afford to get complacent and sit back, relax and be satisfied with our current squad.

“We cannot just wait until things eventually fall apart and then be forced to panic-buy.

“Our transfer policy is stable and sustainable.

Why would it be a bad

Maria told the Real Madrid TV. “It was a natural movement that every man makes, especially after he has been running.

“But if people were offended by it, then I apologize. It was a natural movement; it wasn’t directed at anyone in particular.

“On television you can see that I just did it for a millisecond, it wasn’t as if I was doing it for a while.

“But to anyone who was offended by what I did, I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t mean anything by it.”

The 25-year-old also thanked the club for allowing him to explain himself on an official

platform after he had spoken to an Argentine radio station.

“I think it’s right that the club have given me the chance to explain the situation, like I have done already in Argentina,” he added.

“I am very thankful for this chance.

“I’m glad I’ve been able to speak directly with the club to explain what happened.

“I’m going to forget this incident. I’m fine, I’m happy. I’m still working as hard as ever, the coach still believes in me and I have to keep working so I am in the right condition by the end of the season and can help the team win the trophies we want to win.”

thing if we sign players from other Bundesliga clubs? People could also show us some respect and acknowledge that we are doing our job.”

Mario Mandzukic

Galliani played down the significance of his meeting with the Dutchman in Brazil over the Christmas period.

“I saw Seedorf in Brazil just like I see him every year,” he said. “We’re friends and we go to the same places. Let’s just get to the end of the current season, and then we’ll see who will be in charge of Milan next year.”

Allegri last week confirmed he will be leaving Milan regardless of how the second half of the season unfolds.

“We have had four fantastic years together, but it was something we had agreed, so we already knew [he will be leaving],” Galliani said.

Seedorf could face competition for the Milan hotseat from former Udinese and Roma coach Luciano Spalletti. On a visit to Florence on Tuesday, the current Zenit St. Petersburg coach said: “I’ve not had any call from Milan, but from a coach’s perspective, you’ve got to say that now would be a positive time to join Milan.

“You could start a new cycle and everybody knows there are lots of things to change. I had Milan down as rivals to Juventus, but I was wrong because they need some more big signings.”

LYON president JeanMichel Aulas on Tuesday said that he had rejected a bigmoney offer from Serie A club Napoli for captain Maxime Gonalons.

Aulas told French radio station RMC that Napoli had offered 17 million euros ($23.1m) for the midfielder but stated that Gonalons would not be allowed to leave in the January transfer window.

“Regarding his departure, my response is no. I have just spoken with the president of Napoli to warn him. Max will stay at Lyon,” Aulas said.

“The decision was taken on Monday evening after I met him. The offer (from Napoli) went up to 17 million euros on Monday evening but we

Maxime Gonalons

convinced Max that his future was with Lyon at least until the end of the season.”

The 24-year-old Gonalons, who has won six caps for France, hinted at the weekend that he was interested in the idea of a move to Naples.

“When big European clubs show an interest in you, you have to ask questions,” he said after OL beat amateur side La Suze in the French Cup. Gonalons stands an outside chance of making Didier Deschamps’s national squad for the World Cup in Brazil, although he hasn’t represented his country since November 2012.

Neuer Named World’s Best Keeper

Cissokho Still Targeting World Cup Spot LIVERPOOL defender Aly Cissokho has told RMC he still hopes to force his way into the France squad for next summer ’s World Cup. Cissokho, 26, won his sole international cap to date in a friendly against Norway in August 2010 while he was at Lyon.

The full-back has since moved to Valencia and then on to Anfield on loan from the Spanish club last summer without catching the eye of Didier Deschamps.

However, the former Porto man, who has played seven Premier League games this season, remains optimistic he can sneak in ahead of Manchester City’s Gael Clichy as back-up to first-choice

Bresciano Cleared To Play At World Cup

AUSTRALIAN midfielder Mark Bresciano has been cleared to play at this year’s World Cup after receiving a reprieve in his four-month ban for an alleged transfer breach.

The 33-year-old was handed the FIFA ban and a $1.9 million fine last November after his move from Al Nasr to Al Gharafa was deemed illegal by the world’s governing body.

However, Bresciano fought the case and ultimately won a reprieve through the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning that despite the ban remaining in place, the former Parma player was granted permission to play in Brazil.

“Mark is free to play for Australia at the World Cup if selected,’’ FIFPro vicepresident Brendan Schwab is quoted as saying by the Herald Sun. “The CAS has given careful regard to Mark’s interests and in part his desire to play at the World Cup. “It’s decided that his interests are better protected by the stay not being granted and him serving his suspension, as if he were to lose the final decision in March or April then he would be suspended for the World Cup. “In deciding to appeal, Mark had to take into account the interests of the club and the Socceroos as well as his own.

And I expect that the club and Mark will continue the appeal as a matter of principle.

“Having decided that Mark won’t suffer irreparable harm by not being granted the stay, the CAS did not consider the question of whether Mark is likely to succeed with his appeal at the final hearing, so this decision is not an indicator of the final outcome.’’

left-back Patrice Evra when Deschamps selects his squad for Brazil.

“The World Cup is something special. You have to give yourself every chance with your club to try and go there. Evra is a step ahead, but a second will be needed to replace him,” Cissokho said.

“Gael has often been called up. But you never know. By staying focused in matches and in training, by taking care not to get injured, I can show to the coach that I could have a place. I believe I can do it, of course.”

Juan Martin Del Potro

Del Potro Stands Firm As Seeds Tumble In Sydney

WORLD number five Juan Martin del Potro began his 2014 season with a win, albeit a scrappy one over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to advance to the quarter-finals of the Sydney International on Wednesday.

The Sydney warmup to the seed Julien Benneteau of Australian Open has proved France dumped in straight a graveyard for the seeds this sets by Ukraine’s Sergiy week but the 25-year-old Stakhovsky.

The invitational Kooyong former U.S. Open champion avoided an early flight to Classic kicked off in Melbourne by coming back Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs on Wednesday, with to win 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Rated a dark horse to win a smattering of men’s top 10 the title at Melbourne Park players warming up at the and add to his sole grand slam eight-man exhibition, which triumph at Flushing offers the same surface used Meadows in 2009, the top at Melbourne Park.

World number seven Tomas seeded Argentine will next take on Czech veteran Radek Berdych roared back from a Stepanek for a place in the 5-2 deficit in the first set to overhaul Spaniard Fernando last four.

Other seeds struggled, with Verdasco 7-5 6-2 in his first third seeded Italian Andreas hit-out of 2014 in brilliant Seppi bundled out by sunshine.

Japanese number one Kei Australia’s Marinko Matesovic 6-3 6-4 and sixth Nishikori also enjoyed an

opening win over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7-5) 64.

World number nine Richard Gasquet of France nearly suffered an embarrassing defeat to plucky teenager Jordan Thompson, and had to save two match points before fending off the 321st-ranked Australian 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-4).

Thompson, who won a wildcard play-off for the Australian Open, was a late replacement for defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, who pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue.

Sam Stosur’s stuttering revival after a dismal Hopman Cup continued with a second straight win at the Hobart International in front of home fans.

The former U.S. Open

Police Investigate Racist Tweets POLICE have launched an investigation into alleged anti-Semitic messages appearing on social media following the FA Cup clash between Arsenal and Tottenham.

Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners to advance to the fourth round but the match was overshadowed by supporters throwing

Sepp Blatter, FIFA President

missiles at Gunners’ winger Theo Walcott and St John Ambulance workers.

Earlier, Walcott had gestured the scoreline to the Spurs fans as he was being stretchered off after picking up an injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Following the match, police assessed the Twitter messages, which referred to the Holocaust, an inquiry had been launched as part of Operation Arrowtip, which deals with football-related crime.

“Following the Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur match on Saturday January 4 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) became aware of antiSemitic messages posted on Twitter,” a police spokesman

said.

“Having assessed messages published on Twitter, officers from Operation Arrowtip are now investigating.”

Police will also investigate the incidents of missiles being thrown with the help of both clubs.

“The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is aware of incidents during the Arsenal Vs Tottenham Hotspur match on Saturday, January 4 where a number of objects were thrown from both home and away sections of the crowd.,” the police force said.

“The MPS takes all such incidents very seriously.

Officers from Operation Arrowtip are investigating and are liaising with both clubs and the Football Association (FA) over these incidents.”

champion had to save two match points against 54thranked Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic as she laboured through a 6-4 2-6 76 (9-7) match blighted by an astonishing 22 double-faults from both players.

World number three David Ferrer, bidding for his fourth straight Auckland Open crown, kicked off his 10th appearance in the tournament with a 6-7 (7-5) 6-3 6-1 win over American Donald Young.

MANUEL Neuer has been named as the World’s Best Goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

The 27-year-old shotstopper, who won five trophies with Bayern Munich in 2013, while at the same time helping Germany qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, was the clear victor of the vote, which brings together editors and experts from 70 countries.

Neuer finished with 211 points, a staggering 133 clear of his closes rival, Italy and Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon, who has four previous triumphs to his name. Chelsea’s Petr Cech finished third, just ahead of the Blues’ Thibaut Courtois, who is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid.

Victor Valdes, who is to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, came home fifth, with Real Madrid’s out-of-favour goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had won the award for the past five years, claiming sixth place.

Ayew Confident Of Quick Return

GHANA midfielder Andre Ayew is very positive of making a quick return from injury in earnest for first team football.

The Olympique Marseille ace has been out of action since picking up a knee injury during Ghana’s final 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Egypt in November of last year.

Ayew, who is back home in Accra has been receiving treatment and has been boosted by the rate of his

Andre Ayew

recovery.

On Tuesday, he visited the Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi to wish him a Happy New Year.

“I am not too far away from full recovery,” Andre Ayew told www.ghanafa.org told as he briefed Kwesi Nyantakyi about his injury situation.

“The physiotherapy sessions are going well and my condition is far better than what was anticipated, so I am delighted by that.”

But despite positive news regarding his recovery, Andre Ayew is not bringing forward his expected date of return.

“Though I am happy with the progress, I am following a strict plan aimed at getting me fully healed and ready for the game. It’s been positive so far and I pray it continues that way.

“I am very grateful to the doctors, physiotherapists, my family, colleagues and all the fans who continue to wish me well.

“I hope the New Year bring us all greater success especially at the World Cup,” the Marseille player said.

FCT Win NFA U-13 Football Championship THE FCT team on Tuesday in Abuja whipped favourites Lagos State 5-1 to win the 2013 NFA U-13 Football Championship and retain their title.

In the match played at the National Stadium’s FIFA Goal Project astro-turf pitch, two early goals and a total four in the first half set the tone of the game.

The tournament’s defending champions went on the right path after Ebuka Okeke got a brace in the eighth and ninth minutes.

Abdulsalam Mohammed added a third in the 15th minute with a powerful header to a corner-kick.

Thaddeus Terwas and Abdulsalam Adeleke scored the fourth and fifth in the 26th and 50th minutes respectively to take the match beyond the Lagos side which had beaten them 3-2 earlier.

Team Lagos however got a consolatory goal through Hadi Haruna in the 57th minute to make it 5-1 at the end of a one-sided encounter.

Speaking later, FCT’s coach Usman Ilerika told newsmen his team were fully prepared and determined to beat Lagos in the final match.

“Team Lagos is a highly technical team and we respect them, but we could not afford to lose to them again.

“We lost the first game because my boys threw away a lot of scoring opportunities because they were jittery and not composed.

“But we went back to the drawing board and worked on our players’ pysche and made

them understand their roles and what was at stake,’’ he said.

The coach said he was very happy to have won the trophy for the second time in a row, pointing out that no team had been able to achieve that feat.

On his part, the Lagos state team’s head coach, Shakito Giwa, said he was still proud of his team’s achievements in the championship, in spite of the match’s result.

“This is our first time of participating in this tournament, and we have been able to finish second. I am indeed very happy with the performance of the boys.

“Even though our target was to take the trophy to Lagos, we are just happy to have showcased here the development programme we have in Lagos state,” the coach said.

Meanwhile, the head of the competition’s Disciplinary Committee, Ganiyu Majekodunmi, said that Team Niger had been adjudged winners of the third-place match.

“This was after Katsina State was disqualified from further participating in the championship over acts of gross indiscipline exhibited by their players during their semi-final game against Lagos state,’’ he said.

Musa Ali of Team Lagos won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award.

Sunday Odey of Team FCT also won the Golden Gloves award as the best goalkeeper of the competition.

Sharks Set Cup Target For Ogunbote

SHARKS have said they expect coach Gbenga Ogunbote to at least win the Federation Cup to qualify the club for international football.

The Port Harcourt club’s only major piece of silverware since they were founded in 1972 was the 2010 WAFU Cup. They have thrice been beaten finalists in the Nigeria FA Cup, now known as the

Gbenga Ogunbote

federation Cup. Sharks general manager Okey Kpaluku said Ogunbote’s contract has been renewed after his initial season with the side and he has been given mandate to win the league or at least secure a continental ticket.

“We have renewed his contract and we have set a target for him. We’ve told him this time around we must win the league, get a continental ticket or get the FA Cup. Anything short of that means we have failed our fans,” Kpaluku said.

Last season, Ogunbote took over Sharks when they were stuck at the bottom of the table following the sensational departure of Austin Eguavoen, but the former Sunshine Stars handler and was able to guide them to finish eighth by the end of the campaign.

Nasarawa FC Boss Flays Call For Players’ Salary Review

THE Chairman of Nasarawa United Football Club, Isaac Danladi, on Tuesday flayed the call for the upward review of salaries of players in the Glo Premier League (GPL).

Danladi told newsmen in Lagos that clubs should be allowed to handle the issue inhouse.

“I also read it on the pages of the newspapers, and that was a

laughable report.

“I believe that for anybody to write a report it must be an indepth investigation and analysis of the situation.

“First and foremost, it is not

compulsory for clubs to pay sign-on fees, but clubs decide on their own to pay sign-on fees and pay salary.

“While some clubs decide to pay what they call enhanced salary, I read on the pages of the

Aminu Maigari, NFA Chairman

papers that Sunshine was paying up to N650,000 per month.

“Lobi was paying a little more than N150,000 per month, Nasarawa was paying N50,000 per month.

“But they have forgotten that Nasarawa equally pays sign-on fees and we have paid 50 per cent of the sign-on fee against last season.

“And whatever we agreed with the players we have paid them and no player is complaining.

“Assuming a player collects N3 million per season as signon fee and collects N50,000 to N60,000 as salary and you spread it and divide it by 12 months what you get is above the N100,000 minimum wage they are talking about.’’

An inquest into salaries of players last season resulted in a discovery that many clubs flouted Article 2.4 (1) of the League Rules under Scheduled C. Article 2.4 (1) of the rules states: “the monthly salary of the Premier League is negotiable, but shall not be less than N100,000.’’

Last season, 48 per cent of the clubs complied with the provision.

It was because of this that the League Management Company made the minimum wage of N100,000 a major requirement for registration of clubs in the 2013/2014 season

World Boxing Title Fight

Bash Ali’s Struggle Becoming A Reality CRUISERWEIGHT boxer Bash Ali on Tuesday in Abuja said his seven years of struggle to enter his name in the Guinness Book of World Records was almost becoming a reality.

The boxer expressed Minister of Sports,

this excitement after the

Bash Ali

Bolaji

Abdullahi,

inaugurated the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Bash Ali Guinness Book of World Records Title Fight Project.

It will be recalled that Ali had since 2006 been appealing to the Federal Government to stage the fight.

He had said the fight would take him and his country Nigeria into the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest boxer to feature in a world title fight.

“I feel great. My struggle for seven years has come to reality.

“Sometimes, a disappointment can be a blessing in disguise.

Because, if I had fought seven years ago, it is possible that somebody by now may have broken the record.

“So, I will be fighting

at the age of 58, which means in this century or in the next, whoever that will have to break the record must be at least 60 years.

“But, I am not happy about the delay,’’ Ali said.

He also assured that he would defeat his opponent, adding that his opponent was no match.

“I am reassuring Nigerians that on the day of the fight, Bash Ali will shock the boxing world.

“I will beat my opponent like a bad child, because I am old enough to be his father,’’ the boxer said.

Bash Ali will take on Rick Camlin, a 32-yearold International Boxing Union (IBU) champion.

CMYK

Policy Somersault, Inconsistencies

WHAT is happening?

At the end of last year, President Goodluck Jonathan finally robbed himself of the immense benefits of appearing before the National Assembly to present his Appropriation Bill, thus further whittling down the glamour of his exalted office. This is quite a negative development. By the time the leadership of the National Assembly has enough time to think it over, we shall not be surprised if they one day decide to delegate the chairman of an obscure subcommittee to receive the Bill from the Finance Minister. Or, better still, it could just be submitted to the Sergeant-At-Arms.

Before now, the moment a Nigerian President was sworn in, he looked forward, with enthusiasm, to the opportunity to appear before the National Assembly, in just the same way as an American President looks forward to the opportunity to appear before Congress to deliver his State of the Union Address. Even in times of ill-health, we have never heard of the Queen of England delegating the delivery of the Message from the Throne to anyone.

We had reckoned that this is one year that President Jonathan must reinvent a zerotolerance to policy somersaults and inconsistencies. He must be steadfast and refuse to be pushed around by self-serving aides. Right now, the echoes coming from around him are not encouraging. Two of his aides are dancing naked in the market place over the issue of whether to sell the refineries or not.

Listen to the Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Deziani Alison, in an interview with

Bloomberg TV Africa, London: “The refineries would be sold. We would like to see major infrastructure, such as refineries, moving out of government’s hands into the private sector.

Government does not want to be in the business of running major entities and we haven’t done a very good job at it over the years.”

Mr. Reuben Abati has since over-ruled her: “Government is not going to sell any refineries. There is no such plan, and there is no presidential approval for such. Nobody, not even the Minister of Petroleum, has powers to sell government’s property.”

This rumble in the jungle is certainly a bad way to begin a new year, for a good administration, that is.

Apparently, that important policy had not been duly considered and properly consummated by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, before Madam rushed it to the world market. To that extent, it lacked due process and, therefore, voidable.

Reuben Abati is doing well but it also depends on what is doing. He is doing well in the business of exposing the porous nature of the Jonathan administration. True, he wants to avert a strike. But that is hardly a good reason to be crying more than the bereaved. No matter how good his intentions are, he is still a personal staff to the President. By whatever designation he now parades himself, he is still the Public Relations Officer, PRO, to the President. We know of no better definition of a PRO than that offered by late Emmanuel Obahiagbon, years ago, when Abati was perhaps yet pinning his ABC together that, the PRO is a glorified messenger.

It is only in an administration like Jonathan’s that a personal

staff of the President can over-rule a Senior Cabinet Minister in her area of administrative coverage.

There are clear limits to the audacity of power. In the policy domain, the official spokesman of government is the Minister of Information.

U n d e r s ta n d a b l y, NUPENG insists it must proceed on the planned

Incidentally, the President on whose table the buck stops and who should whip his appointees on line is busy swimming in his own pool of confusion. For a very long time, the administration’s stand on the prohibition and gradual phase-out of imported used vehicles into the country had become a settled issue.

doom. But not under Jonathan, where anything that would not translate to votes in 2015 must be destroyed and thrown into the lake of fire.

• President Goodluck Jonathan

strike, except it hears from the real person, the Petroleum Minister who kicked the first ball.

It is easy to accept that Abati was merely echoing the master’s voice. That aggravates the situation as it immediately promotes the public disagreement to one between Jonathan and his Minister.

This also presupposes that a full cost-benefit analysis had been done before the issue was brought to the public domain. And the implementation of the new policy was billed to start this March. Elsewhere, the President would hold tenaciously to such policy and be prepared to defend it even at the edge of

He is beginning to double-talk on the issue of the importation of used vehicles.Listen to his speech to members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, this last Friday: “I will abort the new policy on Tokunbo vehicles if it inflicts pains on Nigerians.

If that comes up, I will abort

it even midway because we cannot come up with a policy that will make Nigerians suffer or pay higher prices for vehicles…

Attempting to be your enemy is suicidal because you can prevent people from voting.” This is looking increasingly like one administration at war with itself!

Policy somersault is one thing that this administration has lived with all along.Examples are legion but we will take just one.We wonder how many people have forgotten the imbroglio between the Executive and the Legislature on the question of the ill-fated N5,000 notes.

While the Information Minister, LabaranMaku, was busy announcing that there was no going back on the proposal, the President was busy announcing its suspension. A good administrator would have announced two suspensions – the Minister and the proposal!

This macabre dance is becominguninteresting.

Just imagine how three successive administrations of the same party have dubiously vacillated on a single issue: The Obasanjo administration sold the refineries; The Yar’ Adua administration revoked the sale; and now, President Jonathan is playing hide and seek, wanting to sell!

What greater disincentive do investors need than this bundle of inconsistencies?

“Policy somersault is one thing that this administration has lived with all along.Examples are legion but we will take just one.We wonder how many people have forgotten the imbroglio between the Executive and the Legislature on the question of the ill-fated N5,000 notes. While the Information Minister, LabaranMaku, was busy announcing that there was no going back on the proposal, the President was busy announcing its suspension. A good administrator would have announced two suspensions – the Minister and the proposal!”

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