Nigerian observer 11 07 2014

The Nigerian

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 ART AND CULTURE Page 19 Propensity confession of women in marriage culture

REFLECTION Page 23

Africans cannot exist without their Religion

• Vol . 39 NO.032• FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014 • N 100.00

N49.8bn missing crude

Senate to fastrack PIB passage

By JOSES SEDE ABUJA - Senate of the Federal Republic yesterday, endorsed its Investigative Committee Report which dismissed

alleged non remittance of US$49.8 billion (N3.756 trillion) proceeds from sales of the country’s crude to the Federation Account.

The Senate, however rejected one of the 22-point recommendations, calling for “total”

discontinuation of fuel subsidy, after all stakeholders must have been “consulted and carried Continues on page 2

Contempt

Appeal Court blasts suspended Lawmakers

BENIN CITY- The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin city has dismissed in its entirety the application for stay of execution brought before it by four suspended lawmakers of the Edo State House of Assembly against the injunction issued by a Benin High Court. that a party who Hon Justice Morounkeji believes that an order Ogunwunmiju, who read against him was made the ruling on behalf of his without jurisdiction is still brother Justices ruled bound to obey same that “the said suspended until it is set aside. members could not seek The Court was of the any relief from the Court opinion that the of appeal while they were application for stay of in contempt or execution was disobedience of the premature as the four Order of the High Court.” suspended legislators Taking a swipe at the should have allowed the four lawmakers, Justice High Court to hear and Ogunwunmiju ruled that determine the Motion on a party who was in Notice, rather than contempt of a positive rushing to the Appeal order of Court cannot be Court. allowed to seek or obtain The lawmakers: Hon any relief from the Court Festus Ebea, Hon while the contempt Patrick Osayimwen, persists.

Hon Jude Ise-Idehen The Court further held and Hon Friday

Ogieriakhi had approached the Appeal Court to Vacate the Enrolment of Order of the Benin High Court.

It would be recalled that the four lawmakers had approached a Federal

High Court, sitting in Benin City, and obtained an interim order to restrain the Speaker of the Edo State House of

Assembly from declaring their seats vacant, in line with section 109 of the 1999

Constitution, as amended.

They also prayed that both the Speaker and the House should be restrained from suspending them, as members of the House, on disciplinary ground.

However, while the Continues on page 2

Edo disburses N200m loan to business operators BENIN CITY — Edo State Government has disbursed over N200 million to Small and Medium Scale business operators, under the State government and Bank of Industry Loan Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises since 2009: This was disclosed yesterday by the State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barr.

MacDonald Obasuke while issuing out cheques for over N45 million to beneficiaries of the Scheme in Benin

City.

The Commerce Commissioner explained that the loan scheme which was jointly financed by the State Government and the Bank of Industry was part of the efforts of the State Government to assist Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs in the State due to the high interest rates in commercial and other banks.

According to him, “the scheme is for responsible and serious minded business owners across

TIT BIT

“Evil gets sweeter when the doomsday is nearer”.

- Kinglsey Ogbeide-Ihama

the State, whether they are indigenes or not.

“We have over 200 people who have benefited and the good news is that, while few other States which operates the same scheme ask beneficiaries to pay Continues on page 2

RAMADAN FAST: Senate President, David Mark (right) speaking at the breaking of Ramadan fast by Senators at his residence in Abuja on Wednesday night. With him are Senator Ganiyu Solomon (left), and leader of Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.

Edo Assembly Crisis Oba Erediauwa calls for peace

By TUNDE EGBIREMOLEN/ RAYMOND OSOGBE BENIN CITY – As the Edo State Legislative impasse lingers the Benin Monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolor, Oba Erediauwa has again extended appeal to warring members of All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA) to

sheathe their swords for peace to reign in Edo State.

The Benin Monarch disclosed this yesterday in his palace, while playing

. Ogbemudia to intervene . Truce Panel underway

host to the Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Momoh Ikelebe III and

other prominent traditional rulers in

departments, agencies, including management of Commercial Banks operating in the state to complement the state government’s effort

towards enhancing tax administration in the state by ensuring that their customers tender Tax Identification

Benin City.

The Oba directed the Otaru, to as a matter of urgency and necessity, constitute a panel of Continues on page 2

Tax Administration: EIRS seeks MDAs, Commercial

By VICTOR Chief (Sir) Oseni Elamah has Banks’ support OMOALU appealed to Ministries, BENIN CITY – The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service,

Number (TIN)/Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) during business transactions.

Continues on page 2

News

Senate to fastrack PIB passage

Continued from page 1

along as much as possible”.

Also, the Senate approved the Committee’s recommendation for “expeditious passage of the long pending Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)”.

Although the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi led Senate panel, asserted that “there was never any un-remitted US$48.9 billion”, it recommended that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company

(NPDC) should be made to remit $ 9 2 7 , 8 8 7 , 2 3 8 . 3 2 (N148,461,958,131.20) to the Federation Accounts, being shortfalls in their crude oil transactions on behalf of Nigerian federation.

The Senate further resolved that President Goodluck Jonathan should submit to the National Assembly, a Supplementary Budget covering N90.693 billion (US$585 million) and N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation for 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Removed Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi.had spuriously claimed in a leaked letter to President Goodluck Jonathan that $49.8 billion in crude oil revenue was missing.

As a result, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi led Senate Committee on Finance was assigned to investigate the NNPC over the allegations.

The approved report indicted NNPC for w i t h h o l d i n g US$218,069,354.32

because a lot of businesses are cropping up each day in the State; the economy is growing; employments are being generated and that is the primary concern of this administration so that our people can be selfreliant because government is providing the enabling environment for businesses”.

He then use the occasion to appeal to the beneficiaries to ensure that they adhere strictly to the instructions by paying back the loans as at and when due so that more people could benefit from the scheme’

OBSERVER Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by the Editor, Barrister Solomon Imohiosen.

Dr. Ogbemudia who expressed worry and deep concern over the crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly asserted that, for him, there was no viable alternative than to reconcile the warring factions, adding that if they agree to allow him intervene, he would ensure that in no time, peace is restored to the troubled House.

“I intend to offer my services to reconcile the warring factions, if they so agree for me to intervene, so that we can talk it over a cup of tea. It’s a shame for the House of Assembly that is expected to give the needed leadership to be involved in such a crisis.

Assembly and involved in this crisis, have affected the masses negatively. If they have the masses at heart, they should come together.

“For impeachment, I don’t think anybody will succeed.

What are they going to impeach the governor for?

Tell him he has done so much work? Is it for doing more than what he could have done in 5 years? If that is the offence, then many people will be guilty of it”.

Speaking on the on-going National Conference, Dr. Ogbemudia remarked that Nigerians ought to commend President Jonathan and applaud his wisdom in putting the confab together to discuss the nation’s future, just as he once more canvassed a return to parliamentary system of government which he said is cost-effective.

“The cost of running presidential system is too high. A situation where 80% of the revenue is for administration does not augur well. My view is that we should return to parliamentary system. The confab has the power to decide on this and many of us will support it during a referendum”, he said.

Edo disburses N200m loan to business operators

Continued from page 1

varied interest, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has made the State’s portion of the scheme interest free”, he said.

The Commissioner further said, “We are already having the impact in Edo State

Oba Erediauwa calls for peace

Continued from page 1

traditional rulers across the state to find a lasting solution to the ongoing legislative crises in Edo State.

He frowned at the untold hardship being encountered by citizens as a result of the impasse.

It will be recalled that, the Benin Monarch at the beginning of the crisis intervened and cautioned both sides of the political divide to embrace and sustain peace by burying their anger.

Most respondents encountered by this Reporter admonished the legislators to seize the opportunity of the latest initiative of the revered monarch, to terminate the crisis, for peace to reign in Edo State.

Ogbemudia intervene

to

Also, Elder statesman and Two- time Governor of the defunct Midwest Region and Bendel State, Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia has expressed his readiness to offer his services in reconciling the warring factions in the Edo State House of Assembly in the interest of peace and development.

Dr. Ogbemudia gave this hint in his residence Monday in an exclusive chat with The NIGERIAN OBSERVER during a working visit of the

“I appeal to them through you, for them to shealth their swords to come to the table and negotiate and reconcile, it will help us better than the present situation right now”.

On the insinuations in some quarters that there were invisible hands fueling the crisis in House of Assembly with the ultimate aim of impeaching the Governor, the elderstatesman said, “ I do not agree that impeachment is the correct thing to do at this time, but unity of purpose; that the people should come together to reinforce development. The number of days they have been outside the

(N34,891,096,691.20) being Federation Account share from the “Third Party Financing” and US$262 million (N41,920 billion), being expenses it could not satisfactorily defend in respect of Holding Strategic Stock Reserve, Pipeline Maintenance and Management Cost, and Capital Expenditure.

Also, the NPDC is to remit to the Federation Account US$447,817,884 (N71,650,861,440) being balance of Royalty and Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), which they failed to remit.

The Senate also resolved that the NNPC should not pay their operational expenditures direct from the Federation fund without appropriation by NASS, and that it should not control the revenue account of NPDC in order not to undermine its separate legal status and make accountability more difficult.

Furthermore, the Senate is to take further legislative action on receipt of the forensic check/audit currently being undertaken at the NNPC by the Auditor-General for the Federation and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC).

To this end, the Senate mandated the Committee to follow up: to ensure that all sums for remittance to the Federation Account are remitted; and receive the forensic audit/checks reports from the Auditor-General of the Federation and PWC, study same and report back accordingly.

Other resolutions by the Senate included that: Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) should henceforth not certify payments/deductions when there is no appropriation for such.

At first hearing, embattled Sanusi had submitted to US$12 billion as monies to be reconciled, but adjusted his position to US$20 billion at subsequent hearing.

However, at the conclusion of his written submission, Sanusi posited that the missing sum could be US$20 billion, US$10.8 billion or anything in between.

The Sen. Makarfi Committee therefore submitted that “the committee could not see how the figure of $49.8billion was arrived at by the CBN Governor in the first instance”.

EIRS seeks MDAs, Commercial Banks’ support Continued from page 1 Chief Elamah made the appeal while presenting the communiqué of the 129th Joint Tax Board meeting held in Benin City recently. He urged them to ensure that their customers tender tax identification number (TIN)/ Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) business transaction.

The EIRS boss who stressed the need for customers opening accounts with the various banks to first present their TIN/TCC before such transaction could take place, appealed to the business institutions to cooperate with the EIRS with a view to realising its mandate for the people of Edo State.

He also enjoined applicants for the registration and renewal of vehicle particulars to cooperate with the policy.

He also pointed out that the personnel income tax applicants, who engage in business transaction under the personal income Tax Act 2011 are required to present their tax clearance certificates as a pre-requisite towards the commencement of the business/transaction.

Chief Elamah, however, highlighted some of the areas of business where TIN must be tendered to include: Government loan for business/industry, application for foreign exchange fire arms, certificate of occupancy, building plans, import license, pool license, registration of business

name or Limited Liability Company appointment/

election into public offices, amongst others.

By FAITH ISIKHUEMEN AND KELUBIA JENNIFER

challenges occasioned by the crisis in the State House of Assembly.

The NIGERIAN OBSERVER disclosed that commuters, motorists as well as businessmen and women lamented the untold hardship visited on them while the restriction order lasted.

It was observed yesterday that free flow of traffic as well as dropping of passengers and picking of passengers around the Assembly precincts have resumed.

Normalcy Returns To King-Square

BENIN CITY – Normalcy have returned to the Oba Ovoranmwen Square in Benin City after two days of restricted vehicular and pedestrian movement.

The normalcy was exemplified by the free flow of traffic around the square which houses the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA) as well as business activities which have bounced back.

It would be recalled that the restriction order was a security measure put in place to forestall any break down of law and order at the Assembly precincts due to security

It was also revealed that the Airport Road terminal of the Edo Intra-city bus popularly referred to as the Comrade bus was fully operational as soon as normalcy returned to the area.

House C’ttee on transport visits Edo Line

By LUCKY EFESE BENIN CITY – Edo State House of Assembly Committee on Transport Chaired by a legislator representing Uhunmwode Constituency, Hon. Elizabeth Ativie, Thursday, paid and inspection visit to the premises of the first Premier Transport Company in Nigeria, Edo Line.

They were received by the Sole Administrator of the Company, Chief Dr. John Osamede Adun JP, who led other management staff to welcome them to the premises.

Hon. Ativie pointed out that they were at Edo Line to inspect the facilities on ground and expressed satisfaction on the job well done by the sole Administrator, Chief Dr. John Osamede Adun JP, and assured him of the committee readiness to partner with the sole administrator with a view to bringing the transport company to the next level in the area of development and to especially influence the state government to pay attention to it being one of the revenue bases of the government.

In his remark, the Sole Administrator, Chief Adun, thanked the committee for deeming it necessary to visit the company at this challenging moment in the state.

He noted that the company was closed down in 2010 following workers protest against maladministration and misappropriation of the company’s fund by the past board, headed by one Chief Amos Osunbor.

He posited that he came to meet the complex bushy which culminated in the vandalisation of the well over sixty-five buses and items valued at over Ten Million Naira allegedly stolen by

the Acting General Manager, the Chief Security Officer and their cohorts, consequent upon which they were arrested by the Police and they will be charged to court very soon after investigation has been completed.

Chief Adun recounted how hoodlums took advantage of the bushy premises and said that he wrote to inform the governor that about Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira would be expected to put everything ranging from buying new 50 buses, payment of workers salaries and renovation work in the company so that it could return to its position as number one transport company in Nigeria prior to it closure.

Chief Adun assured the committee of his commitment to catapult the transport company to greater height just as he thanked the Executive Governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole for chosen him for the exalted position and promised not to breach the trust and confidence reposed in him by the governor and the general public.

The Ayobahan of Benin Kingdom described the committee’s visit as one of his happiest moment in life and said that the visit was a practical demonstration of the compassion the committee members have for the state owned Transport Company to be rejuvenated as pride of the Edo people.

He further described Hon. Elizabeth Ativie as an Amazon, who matches words with actions as a proactive leader in the state.

Appeal Court blasts suspended Lawmakers Continued from page 1 Federal High Court ordered that the Speaker, Hon Uyi Igbe should not declare their seats vacant pending the determination of the suit, the Court however refused the prayer for an injunction restraining the Applicants from being suspended from membership of the House as Justice A.M Liman ruled that: “The disciplinary power of the House is not subject to the judicial review of the Court; accordingly, the application to restrain the 2nd Respondent from suspending the applicants from the House is hereby refused”.

Subsequently, on Monday, June 9, 2014 the four lawmakers, Hon Festus Ebea, Hon Patrick Osayimwen, Hon Jude IseIdehen and Hon Friday Ogieriakhi were suspended from plenary by the Assembly for “gross misconduct”, in accordance with the Rules of the House.

Also, the Speaker, Hon Uyi Igbe and the House approached the State High Court to restrain the four suspended Honourable members from forcing themselves into the Chambers of the House pending the determination of the case the House instituted against them.

The State High Court subsequently, after hearing the arguments of both sides, granted an interim order restraining the four suspended honourable members from forcing themselves into the Hallowed Chambers.

The court gave an order of Interlocutory Injunction: “restraining the defendants by themselves or agents, assigns, privies, or other persons acting

for, through or by them from forcibly gaining entrance into the Premises and Legislative Quarters of the 3rd Claimant or howsoever interfering with the Sitting activities and other functions of the 3rd Claimant pending the determination of the suit.

“An Order directing the 1st and 2nd Defendants (Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin City, Edo State and Commissioner of Police, Edo State) to provide adequate security for all sitting of the 3rd Claimant and for all its property pending the determination of this suit.”

However, in flagrant disobedience of the Court Order, the four lawmakers have continued to sit in Chambers of the Assembly.

A court bailiff, Oarhe Sule, who was at the Edo State House of Assembly to serve contempt proceeding on the four suspended lawmakers got more than he bargained for as the impeached Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea, refused to accept the court proceedings.

He said: “You want to serve me papers here. You are mad. Leave my sight.

“This idiot said he wants to serve me papers. That is how you go about to procure cheap and fake papers.”

“Go to hell with it,” Ebea shouted.

Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN stood in for the four lawmakers (Appellants) while Mr Ken Mozia, SAN, represented the Speaker, Majority leader and Edo State House of Assembly (Respondents)

Across The Nation FG Committed To Ending Insurgency - Gov Aliyu MINNA -Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger has said that the Federal Government was committed to dealing headlong with insurgents in the country.

Aliyu made this known in Minna while playing host to a delegation of the National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC).

He said: “We have all resolved to fight the Boko Haram to a standstill.

“What the Boko Haram sect is doing is completely not Islamic.

“Anybody that slaughters human beings in the name of religion is a charlatan, and we have to put them where they belong.’’

Aliyu said that the state government would continue to support Christian pilgrimage.

Earlier, Mr John Opara, the Executive Secretary of the commission, said that 700 slots had been allocated to the

state.

“We are looking at the possibility of increasing it over time,” he said.

He called on wealthy Nigerians to sponsor pilgrimage of indigent ones.

“Pilgrimage is a spiritual journey and not a jamboree.

“The spiritually wealthy should be sponsored by the materially wealthy in order to pray for the nation and the people,” Opara said.

He said that the presidency had approved a nine per cent reduction of pilgrims’ fees through an exchange rate of a dollar for N150

FG Investigates Politicians Linked To Terrorism ABUJA -The Federal Government has said that some politicians found to have links with terrorist activities in Balmo forest, recently raided by the military, were being investigated.

The Coordinator, National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, said this while giving update on the current security situation in the North-East.

The military had said that the forest, which stretched from Bauchi through Jigawa and linking the fringes of Sambisa in Borno, was used by terrorists as bases and hideouts for launching attacks.

Omeri said the politicians were being investigated because of the recovery of some sensitive registration cards and materials of a prominent political party found in possession of some of the arrested suspects.

“Investigation is still ongoing to further unravel the identity of others that may have been involved,’’ he said.

The coordinator assured that as soon as the investigation was concluded, the names of the politicians and party would be made public.

“Accordingly, we wish to emphasise that the government, particularly the

security agencies, will not condone the involvement of politicians in security matters,’’ he warned.

Omeri also urged Nigerians to be wary of a recent online media publication targeted at fueling separatist agitations in certain part of the country “The publications, to say the least, can only succeed in sowing seeds of hatred, rancour and confusion among peace-loving Nigerians,’’ he said.

He enjoined citizens to ignore the material, describing those behind it as misguided elements who were bent on truncating the country’s democracy.

Omeri said the “unity of Nigeria is not negotiable’’.

BIRNIN KEBBI- The Deputy Governor of Kebbi, Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, lost a son, Muazu Ibrahim Aliyu, 22, in an auto accident which occurred on Birnin KebbiJega road.

Aliyu, who addressed newsmen at his official residence in Birnin Kebbi, described the deceased as “a

very religious and obedient boy who respected all.’’

He said the deceased was a 100 level Political Science undergraduate at the newly established Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, He added that “I will forever remember him as somebody

close to me.’’

The deputy governor said that his late son died along with his friend, Mubarak Bagudo, an undergraduate of Alhikmah University in Kwara State.

“Only one of them survived the accident and is

ENUGU (ENUGU STATE) The Police in Enugu State have urged the public to be security conscious and to partner with them and other security agencies in order to make the state safe.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Ebere Amaraizu in Enugu.

According to the statement, the

state command has advised members of the public to be security conscious, law abiding and also partner with the state police command.

The command gave out distress call lines to be used by the members of the public in case of any danger.

The numbers are 08032003702, 08075390882 and 08086671202.

The command also appealed for proper use of the numbers so as to serve them better.

The statement said there was need for members of the public to know their neighbours.

“Strive to know not only the person living in your house but in your neighbourhood, find out their means of livelihood as every strange face must be probed.

“Observe what your neighbour

normally brings home at night or what he normally moves away in the early morning hours.

“Landlords should conduct background checks on all their prospective tenants; they should equally create avenues for meeting with their tenants from time to time.’’

It said community leaders working in conjunction with the local police are encouraged to form neighbourhood associations and periodically meet to appraise security situation in their areas.

“Avoid keeping any object like ladder beside the wall that will aid criminals to have easy access to your premises.

“Owners of uncompleted buildings must clear them of undesirable persons or request the assistance of security agencies to do that where necessary.

“Park owners, operators of garage and shopping malls must ensure that they thoroughly scan, search and take stock of all vehicles parked within their premises.

“Hotels and hospitality industries should always screen their guests and lodgers properly and ensure that they obtain accurate details of all guests’’, it said.

It added that commercial and residential establishments,

L-R: Barr. Anslem Ojezua, Chairman, APC, Edo State, Rev. Peter Obadan, former Deputy Governor of Edo State and Mr. Humfrey Uwanzoje, APC Chieftain at a reception for Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, newly elected APC National Chairman. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

Kebbi Deputy Gov Loses Son In Autocrash

currently receiving medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi,” he said.

Meanwhile, top government officials and personalities had been trooping to the residence of the deputy governor to sympathise and condole with the family over the death.

Be Security Conscious, Police Urge Public

Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uyi Igbe with some of the House members trying to sort out issues at the House Hallowed Chamber recently. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

institutions, churches, mosques and individuals with valuable assets, including hotels and park owners are encouraged to install close circuit television in their premises.

“They are also advised to install other surveillance systems strategically on their premises to help in monitoring and capturing criminal activities.’’

It urged the public to always draw the attention of the police or other security agencies to vehicles parked or abandoned by unknown persons.

“Always check your surroundings for suspicious, unexplained and dangerous objects, and immediately inform the police where any such object is found.

“Never accept to take possession of or watch over any bag or object kept by unknown person(s).’’

It called for vigilance at public places as bombs can be kept by unscrupulous persons in unattended bags, packages, containers, cars among others.

The command further advised that members of the public should report suspicious persons or movements within their neighbourhood to the police or other security agencies.

News Infrastructure Devt Plan: NPC, Group Sign Agreement

ABUJA - The National Planning Commission and Africa Infrastructure Summit Group has signed partnership agreement to implement the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP).

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Mr Fidelis Ugbo, signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while Principal Consulting Partner, Mr Onuoha Nnachi, signed for the group. gbo recalled that over a year, the commission in collaboration with relevant stakeholders developed NIIMP document for Nigeria.

“Having developed the document, we need to make sure that the document is operational. We need to think about how we can effectively implement it.

“We need to bring the content of the document to those who are interested in investing in infrastructure in Nigeria.

“There is no way we can do

that without partnering with the private sector,’’ Ugbo said.

According to him, the signing of the agreement is very important because the private sector has a role to play in funding the nation’s infrastructure.

“There is no way we can get the private sector to get interested if we do not involve them at every stage of our operation.

“This partnership agreement will give us a better opportunity to sell the content

of NIIMP document and ensure that the private sector is at home with what we are doing.

“It will also give us opportunity to bring in the investors, who want to invest in infrastructure development

because they cannot put their money in the thing they are not properly informed about,’’ Ugbo said.

According to him, the partnership is expected to create opportunity for the private sector to begin to know the content of the document so that they can put in their money and expect a return.

Also speaking, Nnachi said the group signed the agreement to support the Federal Government in selling the content of the NIIMP document to investors

He said it would provide infrastructure data analysis to enable investors to get interested in infrastructure development in Nigeria.

According to him, the group will hold African Infrastructure Summit in September to educate investors on the need to invest on transportation infrastructure in Nigeria.

Reports state that NIIMP was developed to span 30 years.

It also aimed at focusing on energy, housing, agriculture, ICT, roads, and security.

NCC Declares NITEL, 13 Others Inactive

By RAHEEM IBRAHIM

Rev. David Ugolor, Executive Director ANEEJ (left), with Hon. Clem Agba, Edo State Commissioner for Environment during the launching of a book titled: “Natural Disaster Management Strategies in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria” which took place in Benin City on Wednesday. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

Man Jailed For Theft

ABUJA - An Abuja Upper Area Court in Karu has sentenced a 20-year-old man, Abdulaziz Musa, to one year in prison for theft and breaking out of a court cell.

The presiding Judge, Hassan Ishaq, sentenced Musa without an option of fine after he pleaded guilty to a three-count charge of theft, mischief and escape from lawful custody.

It will be recalled that the convict was first sentenced to six months in prison for house breaking and theft by a Karshi Grade 1 Area Court on May 20.

While the prosecutor, Cpl. Pascal Njoku, was making arrangements to transport the convict to prison, he escaped from a Karu Magistrates’ Court cell where he was being held.

At the sitting, Musa, of Angwan Sarki, Orozo, Abuja begged the court for leniency and blamed the devil for his action.

Justice Ishaq said: “In view of his admission and the evidence before me that the convict was sentenced months ago for theft by a sister court but escaped from police custody, I hereby try him summarily.

“The convict was not remorseful over the offence but rather blamed his actions on the devil; this is not a genuine excuse to commit a similar offence.

“You are hereby sentenced to 12 months in prison without an option of fine and are to pay the sum of N97,000 for the repairs of the court cell you damaged,’’ he ruled.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Pascal

ABUJA - An FCT High Court has remanded two armed robbery suspects at the Kuje Prisons for alleged conspiracy and armed robbery.

The Judge, Justice Abubakar Talba, ordered the remand because the accused persons were not represented by any counsel.

Talba directed the court registrar to write to the Legal Aid Council to provide legal representation for the accused at the next adjournment.

The police arraigned the accused, John Isinachi, 23, and Peter Tochukwu, 23, of Tunga-

Maje Village, FCT Abuja, on a two-court charge of conspiracy and armed robbery.

Prosecutor Patrick Ogele told the court that the accused on November 17, 2013 robbed Odewale Aderibigbe at Angada, Zuba expressway, FCT Abuja.

He said the accused persons, armed with dangerous weapons, robbed Aderibigbe of N2,500 cash, a Techno phone valued at N20, 000 and Asha phone, valued at N11, 000.

He said the charges contravened Sections 97(1) and 298 of the Penal Code.

Njoku, told the court that the convict, after breaking out of the court cell, escaped to neighbouring Nasarawa State.

There, he stole a Jincheng motorcycle valued at N64,000 on July 2.

Njoku named one Dauda Shekada as the owner of the motorcycle, which he said the convict sold for just N10,000 and thereafter squandered the money within 24 hours.

He further stated that the motorcycle was later recovered from the buyer through the

intervention of the Nasarawa Police Division and was returned to the owner.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravene sections 287, 327 and 172 of the Penal Code.

When asked by the judge why he escaped from lawful custody, the convict said that he had never been to prison and could not stand its hardship.

“I had no option than to break the burglary proof and escape through the cell ceiling to avoid being taken to prison,’’ he said.

LAGOS - The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has declared the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and 13 other telecoms companies in the country as “inactive operators”.

NCC’s declaration of NITEL and its mobile business unit, MTEL Limited, as inactive “further reflects the southward fortunes of the two publicowned telecoms, as they technically no longer contribute to the periodic subscriber information released by the telecoms regulator.”

Also declared inactive were other private telecoms, such as Disc Communications, Intercellular Nigeria Limited, and Reliance Telecoms (also known as Zoom). Starcomms, MTS 1st Communications, WITEL, O’net (Odua Telecom), Rainbownet Limited, Monarch

Communications, XS Broadband, Webcom and IPNX completed the list.

However, the “Big Four” – MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and Etisalat – account for 98.12 per cent of the market compared to 1.74 per cent by the CDMA operators and 0.14 per cent by the fixed lines sectors of the telecoms industry, contributing 126,958,904 of the total 129,391,392 active phone connections in the country.

NCC’s figures revealed that the CDMA mobile sector contributed 2,256,612, while fixed wireless operators added only 172,876 of the active lines recorded in April 2014.

A further breakdown of the figures shows MTN to have 58,355,855, Airtel 25,475,672, Globacom 24,015,713, and Etisalat 19,111,664 – representing 46 per cent, 20 per cent, 19 per cent and 15 per cent respectively of the market.

Court Remands Robbery Suspects

R-L: Comrade Efosa Kayode-Iyasere SSA to Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Civil Society Organisations, Rev. David Ugolor, Executive Director ANEEJ, Hon. Clem Agba, Edo State Commissioner for Environment and Lt.-Col. Rowland Iyekorogbe (rtd), Director General Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency at a two day Regional Workshop on Disaster Management organised by ANEEJ which took place in Benin City on Wednesday. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

South West Osun Guber: Abiola’s Son Endorses Aregbesola

LAGOS - Abul Abiola, one of the sons of Chief M.K.O and Kudirat Abiola has endorsed the second term bid of Governor. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun.

Aregbesola is seeking reelection in the upcoming Osun governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The election is billed for August 9.

Addressing political correspondents in Lagos, Abiola explained that the endorsement was beyond partisan politics.

“Aregbesola has done what is in line with my father’s vision for education in Nigeria which is very germane to the development of any country.

“His education policies are not only amazing but a feat that is transforming education in Osun State to enable its students be part of the global education/computer age.

“The introduction of the

free computer tablet which encompasses all the text books for all public secondary school students in Osun is highly commendable.”

According to him, for a state like Osun that is rated as 34th in education among

states in Nigeria to come up with such programme is a feat.

“I met with the governor on the “Well of Education” computer tablet distribution and I was amazed at how easy it had become for the students to not only read all their textbooks but to also have

IBADAN -Pensioners under the aegis of Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries from Oyo and Osun states have cried out over the non-payment of their pensions and other entitlements by the Federal Government.

The pensioners at a press briefing here condemned unnecessary delay and withholding of their

By ABIODUN AFOLABI

L-R: Lucky Wasa, Director, Publication and Documentation, Ministry of Information, Barr. Solomon Imohiosen, Editor, Nigerian Observer and some staff of Bendel Newspaper Company Limited at the social event of late Mrs. Ighomogiaro Airueghian, mother of Barr. Sunday Airueghian, Company Advert Manager, BNCL, in Benin City recently. Photo: PIUS EDE.

entitlements by Federal Government, a situation which according to them has been putting them in “abject penury and poverty contrary to section 173 (3) of the Nigeria constitution “ , caused them now to cry out for consideration.

In a nine-page protest statement jointly signed by their Chairman, Chief Theories Akinwusi and Secretary, Mr. Ona Ajar respectively, a retires called for immediate action for

LCDAs Creation

Aggrieved Communities Take Case To Assembly

ADO-EKITI Some aggrieved communities protesting over the recently created 18 new Local Council Development Areas(LCDAs) in Ekiti took their case to the state House of Assembly.

The reports state that two of the communities, ErinmopeEkiti and Ikun-Ekiti, in Moba Local Government Area, submitted their protest letters to the Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin.

The two communities protested the siting of the new Ero Local Council Development Area headquarters in Igogo-Ekiti.

The spokesman for IkunEkiti, Chief Olatunji Owoeye, claimed that his community originally demanded for Ero Local Government out of the present Moba.

He said that in spite of the low revenue accruing to the state, the governor had created a dream in education that must not be allowed to die.

Abiola urged the electorate in Osun to vote for their generation by ensuring that the incumbent governor was returned to complete his vision for the state.

“Do not sell your future for money. Aregbesola’s eightyear plan for Osun will yield

greater future for the people of Osun State.

“I urge you all to look outside your windows and judge. The significant change the governor has brought to Osun State within four years is worth giving him a second chance.”

Abiola, an accountant, described Aregbesola as a steadfast, humble and visionary leader, who should be emulated by others.

. . . As SDP Candidate Seeks Change

Entitlement: Pensioners

By ABIODUN AFOLABI

them free.

“I was also humbled by his ability to merge basic education in Osun State with computer education.

“Between now and 2018, Osun State will become an ICT hub in Nigeria which is the dream of the governor.”

He said the community submitted a memorandum to the Committee on Creation of Local Governments in Ekiti headed by retired Justice Akin Ajakaye.

He also claimed that IgogoEkiti agitated for the creation of Isokan Local Government Area, saying he was surprised that Igogo-Ekiti was made the headquarters of the proposed Ero Local Government.

The President of Erinmope Development Union, Alhaji Lasisi Salami, who led another protest group to the Assembly, said status of the traditional institution ought to be considered in determining council headquarters.

Salami said his community has a first class traditional ruler while Igogo-Ekiti has a third class monarch.

TAsk FG

the payment of their outstanding pensions.

They lamented that most of them who still have dependants are still finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations in their respective homes.

Claiming that they are living from hands to mouths, said that it was sad to note that some of their members including Princess Teams Alaska and Chief M.I. Okunola had died in the struggle .

They who vowed not to condone any form of corrupt practices, neglect and relegation in the system, suggested the turning over the responsibility for outstanding cases of other states pensioners with the federal share to the states pensioners offices without any further delay .

According to them , this will definitely reduce if not put an end to that embarrassing situation the Federal Government founds itself as state governments are closer to the officers concerned.

“In view of the new contributory pension policy, we suggest the Federal Government should turn over responsibility for outstanding cases of other state pensioners with the Federal share to the states pensioners offices which are closer to the officers concerned and who have better records on them”,they went further .

The retirees who are currently not happy , also opposed any further federal biometric

screening until their outstanding pensions are cleared.

In addition to their demands , the pensioners also requested for the immediate pursuit of action against criminals related cases by the police, state security service, anti-corruption agencies among others.

They appealed to members of the ongoing national conference in Abuja to make case for a true federalism where pensions administration will be decentralized for each of the three tiers of government to be responsible for payment of pensions of its retirees as at when due.

OSOGBO (OSUN) - The Gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Osun state, Mr. Olusegun Akinwusi has challenged the state indigents to rise up during the August 9 elections for a change of government in the state.

Speaking during the presentation of “My Pact with Osun people” to a group of students from across the state in Oslo, the state capital yesterday , Akinwusi said that the challenge of today was as a result of absence of sound policies, sensible plans and failed leadership.

“The ease with which we are distracted by petty and trivial decisions and slogans or our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems, has been largely instrumental to a near failed state we find ourselves”.

The former State Head of Service deposed that with the trend of events politically and socio-economically in the state , efforts should be made by the people of the state to correct the ills which are currently affecting them negatively.

His words : “As people looked away in disillusionments and frustration, we know how to fill the void created by these foreign locusts.

“This is because they think they own this government, but we are here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It is time to turn the page”, he said.

The former Head of Service (HOS) challenged the youths to stand up now to rescue the state, “Let us be the generation that will end poverty in Osun state.

Every single person willing to work should be able to get job, training that leads to a job and earn a living wage that can guarantee his or her livelihood”.

“Let us win this battle for justice and opportunity, let’s win the battle for better school, and better jobs and free health care. We are choosing hope over fear, we are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change has come to Osun state”.

Akinwusi expressed optimism that Osun state will change for better if SDP triumph in the forthcoming polls but called all and sundry to support his ambition.

Bendel Newspaper Company Limited, publishers of the Observer title, took the floor with Barr. Sunday Airueghian, the Company’s Advert Manager, during the social outing ceremony of his late mother, Mrs. Ighomjiaro Airueghian at the event. Arrowed is the Acting General Manager of the Company, Pastor Monday Aigbe. Photo: PIUS EDE.

News

CLO, Arewa Youths Mourn Aturu LAGOS - Human Rights Groups including the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) and the Omnira Yoruba Assembly (OYA) mourned the death of the late have Lawyer and Activist, Mr.

Human Rights Violation

Bamidele Aturu.

The reports state that Aturu reportedly died on Wednesday evenning at a Lagos hospital after a brief illness.

He was 49 years old.

In a swift reaction, the Lagos State Chairman of the CLO, Mr.

Ehi Omokhuale described the death a “rude shock”.

“Aturu’s death reminds me of the blow the human rights community was dealt when Chima Ubani and Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) died.

“We have lost one of the

voices of the people in Nigeria.

“His death is another wake up call for us to try and leave legacies at every point in our life because no one knows when death will come knocking” Omokhuale said.

Also speaking, the AYCF

NHRC Receives 82 Cases

UYO - The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it received 82 cases of human rights violation in Akwa Ibom between January and June this year.

The Coordinator of the commission in the state, Mr. Tony Iji, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Uyo. Iji said that out of cases, the commission treated 46 and obtained reliefs for the victims, adding that the remaining 36 cases were at various stages of investigation and mediation.

He said that the cases were handled at no cost to the victims of the rights violations and maintained that the commission was service-driven.

He said that human rights violation cases common in the state were unlawful arrest, deprivation of rights to property, unlawful termination of employment and unlawful widowhood practices.

Others, according to him, are child abandonment, denial of basic rights, infliction of injury on victims and communal conflicts.

“Through our intervention, a number of people wrongly detained have been released; fathers have been made to pay for upkeep of their children hitherto abandoned,” he said.

“We can compel appearance; our decision, once approved by the commission’s Governing Council and registered in the High Court, becomes a court decision,” he added.

Iji also disclosed that the commission was collaborating with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to organise a workshop on human rights issues for village heads in the state.

“As gatekeepers in the communities, if the village heads are trained on the basic rights of citizens as allowed by law, they will be fair in mediation and protection of the rights of their subjects.

“We are committed to raising the bar on human rights awareness in rural communities,” he said.

He said that the commission had begun the compilation of cases of human rights violation in the state for publication in the National Human Rights Report.

Iji observed that the Akwa Ibom Child Rights Law 2008 had not been strictly enforced, explaining that children of school age were often seen on the streets during school hours.

He said that the trend and other forms of child abuse prevalent in the state were against the provisions of the law.

President Alhaji Yerima Shetimma described the loss as a big blow to the nation.

“I am still in shock. It is so unfortunate but the lesson to all of us is try to always impact positively on other people’s lives.

“Aturu never knew he was going to die. His death has created a vacuum that may never be filled” yerima said.

In his reaction, the Director of Strategy OYA, Mr. Razaq Oladosu said the loss of Aturu was “devastating”.

“Aturu was a versatile comrade, the second convener of the United Action for Democracy (UAD).

“He was trustworthy, not given to vanity and a bridge builder. He will be greatly missed.’’

Cardiac, Renal Centre Will Stem Medical Tourism

L-R: Mr. Lucky Wasa, Director of Publication and Documentation, Ministry of Information, Comrade Ransley Abu Osgie, DGM, Current Affairs, Edo Broadcasting Service and Comrade Pius Ede, Assistant Editor, Nigerian Observer at the burial ceremony of late Mrs. Ighomogiaro Airueghian, mother of Barr. Sunday Airueghian, Assistant General Manager, Advert, BNCL, in Benin City recently. Photo: PIUS EDE.

LAGOS - The Lagos State Government has said that its first cardiac and renal centre would stem medical tourism and build local capacity.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, gave the assurance while inaugurating the centre in Gbagada.

Idris said that the government embarked on the project due to increasing number of patients presenting end-stage renal (kidney) failure in different hospitals in the state.

He said that cardiac and renalrelated diseases constituted “a growing health burden”

FG To Place More Emphasis On Education

UYO - President Goodluck Jonathan said Government would continue to place emphasis on training and educating children and youths in whose hands rests the management of the future affairs of the country.

Jonathan made the pledge while declaring open a threeday National Delegates Conference of Nigeria Union of

Teachers (NUT) in Uyo. The President, represented by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka

Mr. Sunday Airueghian, AGM Advert, BNCL carried shoulder high during the burial ceremony of late Mrs. Ighomogiaro Airueghian, his mother in Benin City recently. Photo: PIUS EDE.

Wogu, said no nation can manage its resources without well educated population.

“No meaningful development can take place in a country without the contributions of quality teachers.

“Education, as the bedrock of civilisations, forms part of the Transformation Agenda and other economic policies”, Jonathan said.

He added that it was in realisation of the importance of education that federal government introduced innovations with the objective of improving teacher’s skills and welfare.

The President commended NUT for striving to maintain industrial peace and making sacrifices to uplift the standard of education.

He said the theme: Changing Nigeria’s Fortune through Quality Teachers: Education Holds the Magic Wand for National Development and Advancement, was apt and in agreement with the aspirations of all Nigerians.

Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom urged teachers to regard their job as a sacred call for service to humanity.

“Your investments in the lives of our children today will determine what kind of fruits they will bear tomorrow”, Akpabio said.

The governor, represented by his deputy, Mrs Valerie Ebe, advised teachers to show love to the children they were teaching and to discipline them when necessary.

- Commissioner

globally, especially in Nigeria, noting that it required efforts of stakeholders in the health sector to address. ‘’We had double jeopardy, but now, it is triple jeopardy in the sense that we do not only have problems with communicable diseases. ‘’We are now having problems with noncommunicable diseases, and the third one has to do with mental health.

‘This project is trying to address the major aspect of the non-communicable disease burden,’’ he said.

Idris said that the facility would attract Nigerian medical professionals practising abroad.

According to him, it is a way of ‘brain gain’ to defeat the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon.

The commissioner noted that the project started in 2008 when it was awarded to Messr Deaux Project Ltd. He said that the centre, equipped by the company, would be managed privately for five years by a competent consortium of medical professionals. ‘’The need to get a consortium that has the needed requirements to run the facility prompted the state to opt for a public-private partnership. ‘’This partnership was facilitated through the office of Public-Private Partnership where Renescor Health Ltd. Liability Partnership was appointed to run and manage the facility, ‘’ he said.

Also, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, who is the Supervising Head of the Public-Private Partnership Office, said that the partnership was due to dearth of competent personnel.

Gbeleyi said that the private managers were expected to provide quality services in line with international best practices, promote medical tourism, provide training and empower local professionals.

In his remark, Dr Ladi Awosika, the Managing Director of Renescor Health Ltd. Liability Partnership, who signed the concession agreement, said that the centre was the first of its kind in SubSaharan Africa.

Across The Nation Defection: Adeseun Gone Back To His Vomit

IBADAN-The All Progressives Congress, (APC) Oyo State chapter, has likened the exit of the Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District, Senator Ayo Adeseun, from its fold as the return of a dog to its vomit.

The party, in a statement issued in Ibadan by its State Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, said it was not perturbed by the defection of Adeseun to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because, according to it, a dirty river would always find the gutters.

“Any discerning mind should congratulate the APC for managing Adeseun this far.

Here is a man who started his political career with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) before defecting to PDP under which he contested the House of Representatives elections in 2003.

“After spending two terms in

the lower legislative chamber, he again found an abode in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where he was given the opportunity of becoming a Senator. He is at it again, doing what he knows how to do best, that is, defection at the slightest opportunity.

“While we congratulate the Senator for defecting to PDP

- APC

which he vilified so much and took to the cleaners prior to his defection to ACN ahead of the 2011 general elections, we make bold to say that his decampment will further

Alternative Medication

Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia in a group photograph with staff of the NIGERIAN OBSERVER during a visit of members of NUJ OBSERVER Chapel to the elderstatesman recently. 3rd right is the Editor, Barr. Solomon Imohiosen, 1st left is Mr. Pius Ede, former Vice Chairman, South South Zone NUJ, 2nd right is Mr. Raymond Osogbe, Secretary, NUJ OBSERVER Chapel, 1st right Mr. Oboh Sylvester and extreme left is Prince Richard Eweka.

Photo: SOLOMON ENAIGBE

KADUNA - As the strike embarked upon by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) entered its ninth day, many patients in most hospitals in Kaduna State have resorted to seeking alternative medication.

A check at the hospitals by newsmen showed that many patients have been discharged except those with special or critical illnesses who could not go elsewhere.

The state hospital, which used to be very busy attending to patients from different parts of the state, had a chain of empty beds.

Meanwhile, only the nurses

were sighted attending to a handful of patients that remained in the hospital.

When contacted, the Medical Director, Yusuf Dantsoho Hospital, Dr Mohammed Armiyau, said the hospital had made arrangements with consultants to provide skeletal services to cushion the effect of the strike.

“Our accident and emergency unit is functional to take care of emergency cases and some consultants are also engaged in the provision of skeletal services to our patients to cushion the effect of this strike,” he said.

Reproductive Health

Expert Calls For Policies Implementation LAGOS- A reproductive health expert, Dr Temi Folaranmi, has called for the implementation of policies and programmes to address sexual and reproductive health needs of young people on HIV infection.

Folaranmi, who is a Programme Officer for Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV Prevention, United Nations Population Fund, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.

He said, “The key drivers for

HIV infection among young people include low personal risk perception, multiple concurrent sexual partnerships, ineffective and inefficient services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“Among others, cultural practices that encourage polygamy and child marriages increase the risk of young girls to HIV infections and low level of education and economic opportunities also perpetuate

this.

“Also, inadequate access to and poor quality of healthcare services imply that there is still a lot to be done in terms of policies and programming for young people.“ The doctor said that the focus on youth was imperative because they represented a significant proportion of the population.

Folaranmi said young people faced numerous challenges,

adding that if not tackled appropriately, they could make them burdens to the nation rather than economic assets for national growth and development.

“They are faced with numerous challenges including early sexual debut, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, early marriages, sexual exploitation, and sexually transmitted infection including HIV/AIDS.

Kwara To Complete Ongoing Projects

IIORIN- The Kwara State Government has said that it would complete all ongoing roads projects and culverts across the three senatorial districts of the state by December 2014.

The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Dr Abubukar Kannike, made this known when he inspected some ongoing roads projects in llorin.

Kannike, who described good road network as one of the indices that aid development, said the state government was making effort to ensure completion of all ongoing projects by December.

further testimony to the kind of person the Senator is. After all, a Yoruba adage says ‘birds of the same feather flock together’.

According to the party, it is only Adeseun and his cotravelers in the politics of deceit who have chosen to close their eyes to the unprecedented development that is taking place in Oyo State under the Ajimobi administration and how the governor had rescued the state from the rot which it had been for the eight-year rule of PDP.

Strike: Patients Seek

Quality Educ, Check To Herdsmen, Farmers Clashes - UBEC MINNA- The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Sulaiman Dikko, says providing herdsmen with quality education will help check clashes with farmers.

Dikko said this at the ongoing three-day workshop in Minna organised by National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) for nomadic teachers in the North Central Zone. “ Quality education for nomads will help in curbing the security problem we have in this country because it is a result of illiteracy and lack of exposure.

“So, if most of these people are reached with Western education and enlightenment, they will become better citizens of this country,’’ he said.

He said that nomads needed to be educated to boost their economic endeavours, especially cattle rearing.

Dikko said the commission was collaborating with NCNE to ensure development of nomadic education and promote peaceful co-existence between herdsmen and farmers.

strengthen our great party rather than affecting its fortune in the 2015 general elections. It will show Nigerians that some of these politicians see integrity as a none-issue,’’ the party said.

It described Adeseun as a politician who is only answerable to his personal interest, adding that his decision to close ranks with Adebayo Alao-Akala whose reign as a PDP governor between 2007 and 2011 brought serious retrogression to Oyo State is a

- Commissioner He urged the contractors to execute the projects on schedule and according to specifications, and warned that the government would not pay contractors who carry out shoddy jobs.

The Commissioner expressed satisfaction with the pace of work on some of the roads, and urged the contractors to sustain the tempo.

The commissioner appealed to residents living near road construction sites to exercise patience and cooperate with the contractors to ensure durability of the roads.

Comrade Pius Ede (right), addressing Dr. Sam Ogbemudia during the visit of NUJ Observer Chapel to the elderstatesman recently. Photo: SOLOMON ENAIGBE.

“To put an end to HIV/AIDS, we need comprehensive strategies focused on youth,“ he said.

According to him, young people are prone to high risk behaviour as a result of HIV perceived invincibility, and more likely to take on more risk and sexual experiment compared to adults.

“They engage in sexual networking and other unsafe practices that increased their risk of HIV infection.

“Young women in particular, have an increased risk of HIV infection because they have earlier sexual debut than boys of the same age.

“Also, they are not likely to negotiate sex at this early stage because they are likely to have sex with older men who are more experienced.

“The culture of silence about sexual issues in most societies also perpetuates this vulnerability,“ he said.

Folaranmi said that young people needed to be empowered with the right sexual health information to be protected from the scourge of HIV and STIs. He said that there was need to provide them with enabling environment in order to access youth friendly sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention services.

Abuja Centre Trains Young Ladies On Vocational Skills ABUJA - The National Centre for Women Development said that 600 young ladies had undergone training in its skills acquisition programme.

The Director-General, Ms Onyeka Onwenu, stated this in Abuja while briefing newsmen on activities of the centre and the upcoming “graduation‘’ of the trainees.

The director-general said the women were trained for three months in hospitality and tourism, fashion design and garment making, cosmetology and beauty therapy, as well as interior and outdoor decoration.

She said the training also included bead and jewellery

making, cake baking, decoration and sugar craft, bread making and pastries, soap making and household hygiene products.

“These young people have been with us for a while, and we provided them with the skills that they need to set up businesses and survive,’’ she said.

“There are also other areas that we should be paying attention to - civic topics and awareness of what is going on around them.

“They need to be interested in politics, for example; not necessary taking part in but knowing politically what is going on in the country where they live.’’

ABUJA - The National Population Commission (NPC) in collaboration with other stakeholders have sensitised young people on population and development issues.

The Chairman of the commission, Eze Duruiheoma, said this during the World Population Day’s activities for young people in Abuja.

Reports state that Duruiheoma was represented by Mr Saidu Usman of the Population Coordination and Management Unit.

Duruiheoma said that population became an issue in 1994 in Cairo where the UN

stressed the need for the world to shift its focus and attention on population.

He recalled that UN had stated, “that whatever you see is linked to population, agriculture, food security, environment, health, education, all these and the social factors are linked to population.

“These are things that affect the population because of these linkages they said let us have a global theme on population and so they started International Conference on population.’’

Defamation Of Character

Court Awards N40,000 Against Defendant

Executive Chairman, Edo State Neighbourhood Watch, Maj.-Gen. Charles Osa Omoregie rtd (left), receiving the Imperial Peace Ambassador Leadership Award from Comrade Ahmed Cuhbally of Rwanda, the Vice President Commonwealth Students/Youths Federation for Peace in Government House, Benin City recently .

Population: Commission, Stakeholders

Sensitise Nigerians

He said that the need to invest in the young people had enjoyed considerable concern at the international level.

The chairman, however, stressed the need to remove all hindrances in planning for the wellbeing of the population, especially the young people.

Mr Dashe Dasogod, Programme Analyst Data for Development, United Nation Population (UNFPA), said that

the agency was a global agency with mandate to support youth development.

“We support all government agencies to strengthen their capacity in order to provide appropriate programmes for young people of age 10 to 24.

“This is our event, the World Population day is a global event that is incepted by the UN agencies in 1987, but UNFPA took over in 1989 specifically because it is dealing with

Man, 27, Jailed For Stealing

ABUJAMagistrate Zubairu Mohammed of Life Camp Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 27-year-old car wash attendant, Samuel Emmanuel to six months imprisonment for stealing an i-Pad. The court, however, gave the convict an option of N10, 000 as fine.

“I hope that this will serve as a deterrent to young men who are always tempted to take property that do not belong to them,’’ Mohammed said.

The second accused in the suit, 27 year old Hussein John, was discharged for want of diligent prosecution.

Both men, who are residents of Daki Biyu village, Abuja, had been arraigned in the court on a two count charge of joint act and theft.

The Police Prosecutor, Insp.

Bitrus Audu, had told the court that the case was reported at the Life-Camp Police Station by one Sylvester Emmanuel on July 2.

population issues.

“Globally it is UNFPA that has the mandate on population issues among all the UN agencies,’’ Dasogod said.

He said the agency want all people, including the media, to invest in young people for prosperity of nations.

“Young people are the feature of any country all over the world if you neglect young people; you are likely going to be pulled back in terms of development process.

“We have seen examples from countries that have invested in young people and they have moved forward.

ABUJA- An FCT High Court has awarded N40, 000 cost against a defendant counsel in the ongoing suit of defamation between INEC Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega and Don Communications Ltd. INEC chairman had in April dragged Don Communication Ltd., the publisher of Pilot Newspaper to court for false publication against him sometimes in August 2013.

Justice Valentine Ashi gave the cost after listening to the prayers of the plaintiff counsel, Abubakar Mamud (SAN).

Mamud had told the court that the defendant just served him on July 4 his intention to defend the matter.

He told the court that the plaintiff had in April 23 served the defendant summons to prosecute the matter, which they did not respond to until July 4.

Mamud also told the court that the time was too short for him to reply.

He said that the time did not allow him to respond to the court in relation to document forwarded to him by the defence counsel.

Doctors Vote Against MoU, Continues Strike

L-R: General Manager, Community Social Development Projects (CSDP), Abubakar Mohammed, Principal Private Press Secretary to Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Adamu Alkali; Bauchi State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Salihu Barau and Bauchi State Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ishola Michael, at a news conference on Project Implementation in Bauchi recently.

ABUJA After an Emergency Delegates Meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), it voted for the continuation of the nationwide strike by doctors.

Dr Titus Ibekwe, the VicePresident of NMA confirmed the decision to the newsmen in Abuja saying the doctors rejected the agreement with the government.

The doctors embarked on an indefinite strike on Tuesday, July 1.

Ibekwe said that a Memorandum of

Electoral Amendment Bill Passes Second Reading

ABUJA- A Bill seeking to further amend the Electoral Act No. 6 of 2010 passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill seeks to ensure a level playing ground for all participants in the electoral process.

It also seeks to ensure a more transparent process of conducting elections in Nigeria.

Leading debate on the general principles of the bill, Rep. Leo

Ogor (PDP-Delta) who moved for its consideration, said if passed, would further strengthen the electoral Act. “It will address some of the challenges in our electoral processes if passed’’, he said.

The Deputy Leader said that the use of armed forces during election was the prerogative of the President.

Rep. Albert Sam-Tsokwa

(Taraba-PDP) also supported Ogor’s views that the powers of the President to deploy troops had the backing of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

According to him, the Armed Forces Act particularly gave the President and a proxy, powers to deploy troops for operational use.

The House Minority Leader,

Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos- APC) acknowledged that the constitution allows the President to deploy the military.

Gbajabiamila, however, said that the powers were not absolute.

Rep.Samson Osagie (EdoAPC), who supported the bill, urged the House to address abuses in the issue of substitution of candidates after primary election or in the event of death or withdrawal of a candidate.

Understanding(MoU) was signed between the government and NMA on Thursday, July 3 but delegates at the meeting rejected it.

“At the end of our emergency delegates meeting which ended at around 4.30a.m. today, the MoU was unanimously voted against by all the delegates from all the states in the federation.

“We, at the executive level, have to carry out this decision; so, the strike continues, ‘’ Ibekwe said.

Dr Jibril Abdullahi, National President, Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), a body under the NMA, told newsmen that the association also had an emergency National Executive Council Meeting (NEC).

Abdullahi confirmed that at the emergency NEC and delegates meeting of NARD and NMA, members were not satisfied with the MoU. “An MoU was signed with the government with a proviso that it will be presented to the National Executive Council members and delegates at both NARD and NMA meetings for their consideration.

Business + Economy Microfinance Banks Seek Inclusion Into Banker’s Committee Meeting

Foundation Tasks FG On Youth Empowerment

According to the statement, the president-elect, Mr Valentine Whensu, during the Federal Executive Council meeting pledged commitment of the officials to the progress of NAMB. “In articulating a vision for NAMB as a whole, I will focus on four areas using the four pillars of advocacy, capacity building, networking and selfregulation upon which NAMB has a strong base to build.

“The NAMB must strive to be a family that achieves leadership in opportunity, impact, responsibility and vitality.

‘Our members should feel surrounded by leaders and colleagues who are committed, enthusiastic and among the best in their respective role.

“I enjoin my colleagues to work as a team in order to take the association into the brighter future where members will have value.’’

Also, Mr Olufemi Fabanwo, CBN Director, called on the newly elected officers of the association to create the needed awareness for the smooth operations of MFBs

ABUJA - The Progressive Friends Foundation (PFF), an NGO, has appealed to the Federal Government to intensify efforts toward empowering youths across the country.

Mr Pat Oramah, the National Coordinator of the FCT chapter of the organisation, made the appeal during the inauguration of its executives in Abuja.

He said “we believe that if youths were empowered, they would be useful to the nation and engage themselves positively in the development and progress of the country.

“Our organisation aligns itself with President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda on youth empowerment through our PFF Youth Empowerment Scheme known as PFF-YES.’’ Oramah said the aim of the “YES’’ programme was to imbibe good morals in youths which would enable them to discover their potential.

The coordinator reiterated the foundation’s determination to “build bridges of friendship across the country.

“We believe friendship brings peace; peace leads to good governance and with good governance, our country will be great.’’

On the security challenges facing the country, Oramah said “Nigeria is a friendly nation and we believe that with the support of the citizenry, we shall overcome.’’

Earlier, the National Chairman of the Foundation, Mr Nyengere Faka, had urged the executives to be diligent in their duties.

The new executive includes Mrs Atim Ekpo (Secretary) and Treasurer, Kate George.

ABUJA - The National Association of Micro Finance Banks (NAMB) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to include members of the association in the Bankers Committee Meeting.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the association, Mr Mohmed Abdulrahman, in Abuja.

The statement stated that the immediate past president of the association, Mr Jethro Akun, made the appeal during the association’s fourth Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

It quoted Akun as saying, “the inclusion of the association as a member of the bankers committee will provide synergy and bring understanding between Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and their correspondence banks.

“CBN should also continue subsidising the Microfinance Certification Programme (MCP) for the next two years.

“MFBs should also be allowed to purchase treasury bills directly from the CBN to help them function better,” he said.

Workers of Edo State House of Assembly shut out of the Assembly Complex recently. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.

Trade: NSE Records

13.71 Percent Increase LAGOS- Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has staked N5.13 billion on 523.328 million shares in 5,363 deals.

The volume of transactions represented 13.71 per cent increase over the 460.229 million shares worth N4.51 billion traded in 5,215 deals on Monday.

Wapic Insurance emerged the most traded equity, accounting for 101.23 million shares valued at N85.21 million.

Sky Bank came second on the activity with 62.49 million shares worth N200.07 million, while FBN Holdings accounted for 61.36 million shares valued N981.75 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 56.52 million shares worth N113.05 million, while Transcorp exchanged a total of 51.08 million shares valued at N281.59 million.

The NSE All-Share Index improved by 103.76 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 42,861.78 as against the 42,758.02 achieved on Monday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N34 billion or 0.24 per cent to close at N14.152 trillion from the N14.118 trillion posted on Monday.

Nestle recorded the highest price gain of N11.20 to close at N1,111.20 per share.

It was followed by Dangote Cement, which gained N2.02 to close at N247.02, while Glaxosmith appreciated by N2 to close at N70 per share.

Presco chalked up N1.10 to close at N38, while Stanbic IBTC rose by 27k to close at N27 per share.

Conversely, Mobil led the

losers’ chart by N2.04 to close at N133.02 per share.

Nigerian Breweries trailed with a loss of N1 to close at N173, while Julius Berger dropped 95k to close at N68.05 per share.

Lafarge Wapco depreciated by 81k to close at N110.19 while PZ Cussons dipped by 75k to close at N35.80 per share.

Security officials led by Edo State Commissioner of Police, Folunso Adebanjo (arrowed), mounting a blocade to the entrance of Edo State House of Assembly.

Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Bill Prohibiting Smuggling Of Migrants Passes Second Reading

ABUJA - The Senate passed for second reading a bill for an Act to repeal the Immigration Act of 1963 and the Immigration Act 2014.

The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP-Cross River), who led the debate on the bill, said it was a House of Representatives’ bill, which came to the Senate for concurrence.

Ndoma-Egba said the bill sought to regulate immigration, passport, visas, resident and work permits as well as prohibit smuggling of migrants into Nigeria.

“It also seeks to give effect in the country to the provisions of the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Conventions against Transnational Organised Crime.’’

He said migration was a trans-national phenomenon that presented security, policy and management challenges as well as opportunities for

governments and stakeholders’ world over.

“In most developed countries, migration is usually mainstreamed into national plans and policies as it plays fundamental role in economic growth, labour administration, elections and general perception on matters of national security,’’ he said.

The senate leader further noted that the matter of migration was a socioeconomic, political and security issue that deserved adequate attention.

He maintained that the bill was necessary because at the moment, migration in the country was regulated by the Immigration Act of 1963 which was obsolete.

Ndoma-Egba stressed the need for the re-enactment of the Act to make it relevant to the current realities on ground.

According to him, under the old Act, the highest

penalty prescribed is a N200 fine or six months imprisonment, but the new bill will introduce stiffer penalties.

“This is particularly important as most migration offences actually endanger a nation’s security, requiring deterrent measures, effective border management, internal

Insecurity:

monitoring and control by the Immigration Service.”

In his contribution, Sen. Smart Adeyemi (PDP-Kogi), noted the bill when passed would ensure the protection and wellbeing of citizens.

Adeyemi said that the bill would enhance the socioeconomic activities as well as

the survival of Nigerians.

According to him, we are still facing several challenges and the bill will go a long way to help government address these challenges.

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, read the bill a second time and referred it to the Committee on Interior for further legislative work.

Police Advise Youths To Embrace Agriculture

OWERRI - The Police Public Relations Officer in Imo Command, Mr Andrew Enwerem, has urged youths to embrace agriculture rather than crime.

Enwerem, who spoke on the spate of criminality and antisocial activities in the society, gave the suggestion in an interview with newsmen in Owerri.

He said rather than engage in criminal activities, youths could make a living through agriculture and investment in Small and Medium Enterprises

(SMEs).

“In Germany and Italy, most youths engage in agriculture and SMEs rather than waiting endlessly for employment offers.

“Youths should start-up small livestock farming like poultry, fishery or snail farming with about N50, 000 and advance in the business,’’ he said.

Enwerem, a former participant at the UN Mission in Kosovo, said “during my visit to Germany and Italy I discovered that some Nigerian youths residing in those

countries worked as farmers and labourers’’.

“With Nigeria’s large population, arable land and good vegetation, any person who engages in agriculture has a ready market,’’ he said.

The spokesman expressed concern that Nigerians still imported fish and meat regardless of the obvious advantages the country had to boost agriculture.

“No society thrives under crime and it is very painful that

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY (10/07/2014) Stocks

Open

Close

Change

Deals

Units

Value

NCR

15.2

15.2

0

0

15,870

241,224.00

7UP

102.53

102.53

0

0

181,829

18,855,416.92

NEIMETH

1.21

1.22

0.01

0

179,487

220,844.04

ABBEYBDS

1.3

1.3

0

0

1,000

1,360.00

NEM

0.8

0.8

0

0

2,478,923

2,015,649.29

ABCTRANS

0.88

0.9

0.02

0

3,174,281

2,849,210.90

NESTLE

1111.2

1111.2

0

0

43,021

48,092,081.53

ACADEMY

1.71

1.71

0

0

1,000

1,710.00

NEWGOLD

2085

2086

1

0

821

1,712,606.00 5,809,855.00

ACCESS

9.81

9.8

-0.01

0

24,061,326

235,680,492.80

NIGERINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

11,616,350

AFRIPRUD

3.3

3.37

0.07

0

1,076,505

3,576,138.06

NNFM

19.75

19.75

0

0

249

4,905.30

0.92

0.96

0.04

0

598,112

573,253.40

1952.24

1951.09

-1.15

0

167,326,280

2109.25

2108.19

-1.06

0

268,014,520

43039.45

43004.41

-35.04

0

310,014,925

AFROMEDIA

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,000

500

NPFMCRFBK

AGLEVENT

1.31

1.33

0.02

0

188,874

244,692.50

NSE30

AIICO

0.8

0.8

0

0

1,575,491

1,262,210.82

3,372,614,189.00

AIRSERVICE

2.34

2.34

0

0

4,340

9,678.20

NSE50

ALEX

10.5

10.5

0

0

300

2,994.00

3,543,855,624.00

ARBICO

5.3

5.3

0

0

375

2,085.00

NSEASI

ASHAKACEM

29.6

31

1.4

0

1,640,541

50,472,422.18

3,614,064,974.00

AVONCROWN

1.69

1.69

0

0

7,671

12,963.99

NSEBNK

439.12

439.5

0.38

0

78,858,257

BERGER

9

9

0

0

30,885

265,514.53

NSECNSMRGDS

1053.82

1051.82

-2

0

9,061,191

822,666,664.00

BETAGLAS

16.3

16.3

0

0

16,360

274,324.30

1,015,434,608.00

BOCGAS

5.76

5.76

0

0

11,810

64,732.80

NSEINDUSTR

2721.26

2709.75

-11.51

0

4,102,626

255,549,225.30

CADBURY

74.25

74.25

0

0

102,402

7,449,324.87

NSEINS

149.68

148.8

-0.88

0

34,394,530

29,220,530.70

CAP

39

39

0

0

91,578

3,580,214.68

NSELOTUSISLM

2857.94

2847.93

-10.01

0

5,877,109

397,027,007.40

1,983,403.68

NSEOILGAS

458.59

466.69

8.1

0

18,827,883

572,018,514.10 485,997,725.00

CAVERTON

6.89

6.8

-0.09

0

296,266

CCNN

11.47

11.5

0.03

0

555,131

6,373,559.75

OANDO

28

28

0

0

17,343,817

CHELLARAM

3.95

3.95

0

0

9,872

37,308.72

OKOMUOIL

33

33

0

0

327,800

10,816,116.00

CILEASING

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,427,552

713,866.00

PAINTCOM

1.4

1.4

0

0

9,000

12,690.00

CONOIL

62.13

65.23

3.1

0

337,054

21,838,432.66

PHARMDEKO

1.5

1.5

0

0

2,890

4,440.00

CONTINSURE

1.18

1.18

0

0

846,436

981,993.98

PORTPAINT

5.4

5.4

0

0

239,900

1,290,460.00

COSTAIN

1.35

1.37

0.02

0

565,444

741,662.88

PREMBREW

0.77

0.77

0

0

52,000

41,600.00

38

38.06

0.06

0

210,534

8,001,372.84 13,028.97

COURTVILLE

0.58

0.58

0

0

75,000

42,800.00

PRESCO

CUSTODYINS

3.9

3.86

-0.04

0

404,750

1,563,495.78

PRESTIGE

0.53

0.53

0

0

25,547

CUTIX

1.9

1.82

-0.08

0

102,868

188,339.76

PZ

36.75

36.75

0

0

303,714

10,818,517.19

DANGCEM

247

245

-2

0

270,862

65,377,765.62

REDSTAREX

4.85

4.7

-0.15

0

225,730

1,062,667.00

DANGFLOUR

8.19

8.19

0

0

183,460

1,494,238.91

RESORTSAL

0.5

0.5

0

0

110

55

DANGSUGAR

9.11

9.11

0

0

431,970

3,944,720.15

ROADS

8.46

8.46

0

0

100

851

DEAPCAP

0.91

0.91

0

0

260

226.2

ROYALEX

0.54

0.54

0

0

53,472

27,805.44

DIAMONDBNK

6.35

6.25

-0.1

0

1,369,657

8,566,781.87

RTBRISCOE

1.11

1.16

0.05

0

255,044

293,903.51

DNMEYER

1.2

1.26

0.06

0

418,639

509,173.19

SCOA

4.91

4.91

0

0

136

635.12

DUNLOP

0.5

0.5

0

0

2,505

1,252.50

SEPLAT

702

702

0

0

23,900

16,352,433.28

ETERNA

4.53

4.5

-0.03

0

842,306

3,773,690.62

SKYEBANK

3.23

3.27

0.04

0

4,720,511

15,455,117.50

ETI

17.24

17.22

-0.02

0

902,198

15,714,463.96

STACO

0.5

0.5

0

0

3,000

1,500.00

EVANSMED

2.43

2.43

0

0

171,327

395,765.37

STANBIC

27.03

27.05

0.02

0

3,036,241

82,131,953.80

0.5

0.5

0

0

7,000

3,500.00 10,748,846.47

FBNH

16.01

16.14

0.13

0

29,146,709

468,197,238.40

STDINSURE

FCMB

4.15

4.15

0

0

5,764,974

23,929,061.67

STERLNBANK

2.29

2.3

0.01

0

4,677,162

FIDELITYBK

2.03

1.99

-0.04

0

17,710,303

35,482,744.06

STUDPRESS

2.4

2.4

0

0

1,500

3,420.00

FIDSON

3

3

0

0

198,149

594,582.00

THOMASWY

0.79

0.79

0

0

557

423.32

FIRSTALUM

0.5

0.5

0

0

3,000

1,500.00

TOTAL

171.05

171.05

0

0

19,864

3,416,420.93

FLOURMILL

78

78

0

0

112,766

8,656,569.51

TRANSCORP

5.75

5.95

0.2

0

31,915,172

187,236,216.30

FO

210

220.5

10.5

0

244,660

53,268,533.12

TRANSEXPR

1.97

1.97

0

0

193,933

382,019.66

3,421.26

UAC-PROP

17.5

17.4

-0.1

0

269,930

4,684,243.95

GCAPPA

14.46

14.46

0

0

249

GLAXOSMITH

69.99

69.99

0

0

51,645

3,438,929.70

UACN

61.99

62.4

0.41

0

582,863

36,324,768.88

GNI

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,000

500

UBA

7.81

7.81

0

0

9,184,859

71,890,109.43

GOLDBREW

0.71

0.71

0

0

87

64.38

UBCAP

2.25

2.27

0.02

0

1,834,237

4,195,955.73

GUARANTY

30

30

0

0

6,372,135

191,023,097.20

UBN

9.96

9.7

-0.26

0

725,390

7,035,137.08

GUINNESS

197.53

200

2.47

0

338,806

67,474,142.85

UNHOMES

0.5

0.5

0

0

17,800

8,900.00

0.5

0.5

0

0

46

23

HMARKINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,000

500

UNIC

HONYFLOUR

4.05

4.12

0.07

0

1,497,363

6,179,753.98

UNILEVER

53.01

51.5

-1.51

0

220,010

11,398,938.13

IKEJAHOTEL

0.77

0.8

0.03

0

89,000

71,200.00

UNITYBNK

0.5

0.5

0

0

67,107,801

33,553,900.50

INTBREW

29.5

29.5

0

0

422,680

12,417,979.30

UNITYKAP

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,000

500

INTENEGINS

0.51

0.5

-0.01

0

857,612

429,206.00

UPL

4.35

4.45

0.1

0

1,165,152

4,962,757.01

INTERLINK

4.9

4.9

0

0

600

2,796.00

UTC

0.5

0.5

0

0

846

423

IPWA

0.5

0.5

0

0

117

58.5

VETGRIF30

19.56

19.53

-0.03

0

1,000

19,530.00

4.25

4.38

0.13

0

284,199

1,240,824.62

JAPAULOIL

0.57

0.55

-0.02

0

9,003,809

5,102,794.85

VITAFOAM

JBERGER

68.05

68.05

0

0

60,007

4,075,603.53

WAPCO

112.07

111.01

-1.06

0

1,145,501

127,713,934.40

JOHNHOLT

1.15

1.15

0

0

242

266.2

WAPIC

0.88

0.85

-0.03

0

15,265,367

13,041,300.82

LAWUNION

0.5

0.5

0

0

250

125

WEMABANK

0.97

0.96

-0.01

0

1,331,338

1,277,562.28

LEARNAFRCA

1.74

1.74

0

0

89,500

154,755.00

ZENITHBANK

25.2

25.3

0.1

0

9,134,716

231,069,873.60

LIVESTOCK

3.06

3.05

-0.01

0

1,101,710

3,364,245.40

MANSARD

2.64

2.59

-0.05

0

2,368,514

5,978,698.33

MAYBAKER

1.76

1.77

0.01

0

303,863

530,815.87

MBENEFIT

0.54

0.54

0

0

232,449

125,322.46

MOBIL

133.02

133.02

0

0

18,495

2,468,705.32

MORISON

1.91

1.91

0

0

2,012

3,661.84

NAHCO

4.99

4.9

-0.09

0

827,735

4,101,384.67

NASCON

11.5

11.5

0

0

271,500

3,093,458.05

NB

175.22

174.5

-0.72

0

4,667,471

814,318,641.60

TOP 10 GAINERS Stock FO NSEOILGAS CONOIL GUINNESS ASHAKACEM NEWGOLD UACN NSEBNK TRANSCORP FBNH

Close 220.5 466.69 65.23 200 31 2086 62.4 439.5 5.95 16.14

TOP TOP 10 10 LOSERS GAINERS Gain

Stock

Close

Loss

10.5 8.1 3.1 2.47 1.4 1 0.41 0.38 0.2 0.13

NSEASI 35.04 NSEINDUSTR 11.51 NSELOTUSISLM 10.01 DANGCEM NSECNSMRGDS UNILEVER NSE30 NSE50 WAPCO NSEINS

43004.41

-

2709.75

-

2847.93

-

245 1051.82 51.5 1951.09 2108.19 111.01 148.8

-2 -2 -1.51 -1.15 -1.06 -1.06 -0.88

FOR about four weeks now, the Edo Sate House of Assembly has been embroiled in crisis which has attracted the concern of citizens within and outside the state. Before the crisis, Edo State House of Assembly was one of the most peaceful state Houses of Assembly in the country.

WHILST many observers and commentators believe the crisis was an internal affair of the twenty-four elected members of the House, which has also informed their commentaries, what appears incontrovertible as at the moment is that external forces, acting behind the scene are responsible for the impasse. Regrettably, ordinary citizens of Edo State whom the House was established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make laws for and oversight the activities of the Executive arm of government are the ones bearing the pains occasioned by the crisis.

WE condemn all those who are responsible for fueling the crisis behind the scene and urge them to desist forthwith because posterity will not forgive them if the crisis degenerates beyond what Edo people have witnessed.

THERE are allegations of some of the external forces setting aside slush fund of between N50million-N70million to sway Assembly members from one political party to the other so as to swell their numbers to wreak further havoc on the state. This is condemnable and we urge all those who have made this allegation to document them properly and press court charges against all those involved in this criminality without any further delay.

ALSO, all those who submit themselves to be used to destabilise the House should know that they have a date with history as their roles today would be recalled in no distant future. Such members of the House must remember that they are carrying the mandate of every citizen of their constituency irrespective of their political affiliation. Those involved should equally know that they have families and offsprings who they equally represent and that

THE NIGERIAN

Need For Peace In Edo Assembly in fullness of time, someone, somewhere someday will remind them of their roles.

BEYOND the agent provocateurs, we believe that the Edo State House of Assembly is an independent arm of government which is guided by its own rules and the laws of the land.

Principal Officers of the House were selected from among themselves using the instruments of the House. We expect that as Hounourable members, they should all submit themselves to the rules of the House and their oath of office.

WE believe absolutely in the rule of law and we are aware that some court judgments have been given in respect of the feud and we are astonished and alarmed that some supposedly Honourable members flagrantly disobeyed court orders. This in our view does not only constitute a threat to democracy but one capable of instigating anarchy in the land.

DEMOCRACY flourshes on the rule of law and no nation has ever attained democratic greatness without an efficient and effective justice system which allows for the thriving of the rule of law. We therefore wish to call on all the members of the Edo State House of Assembly who have been duly served court notices or judgments to obey such judgments without any further delay.

WHILE we appreciate the role of the Edo State Police Command and other security agencies for

maintaining peace and preventing the conflict from degenerating into blood bath, we wish to call on the Nigeria Police Force, as the lead enforcer of court pronouncements to ensure that all court judgments given in respect to the Edo House of Assembly members are fully complied with. It is the constitutional responsibility of the police to ensure that this happens, and they owe Edo people the duty of enforcing the court judgments, no matter their numbers and those involved.

ABOVE all, the neutrality of the police is an imperative. The Nigeria police is not only expected to be neutral in the impasse, they have to be seen by all to enforce law and order. By the enabling Police Act, partisanship of any sort is forbidden and the police must ensure complete neutrality in this matter.

IN situations like this, the role of eminent citizens such as traditional rulers is very important in cautioning their subjects to maintain peace. It is against this backdrop that we appreciate the fatherly disposition of the Benin Monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa for hosting the feuding lawmakers to a peace talk in his palace. We recall that the Oba pointedly told the lawmakers that he does not want crisis in the state and urged the parties to resolve the matter amongst themselves.

THE intervention of the Oba must not go unheeded. The Oba of Benin represents the father of all Edo people both at home and in Diaspora. We wish to call on the lawmakers to hearken to the kind advice of our revered monarch and bring an end to the dispute without any further delay.

WE also urge other well meaning Edo sons and daughters to wade into the matter and call all external forces to the dispute to order in the overall interest of Edo State. It is our firm conviction that we have what it takes to bring normalcy to the House once and for all, so that in the end, there would be no victor, no vanquished.

International Features

Nuclear Talks: IRAN’S supreme leader revealed Tuesday his country’s demands for a massive long-term increase in its nuclear enrichment capability, laying bare huge gaps between Tehran and world powers negotiating a deal.

Related Stories Iran’s Supreme Leader calls for more enrichment capacity Reuters Final push in ‘historic’ Iran nuclear talks AFP Exclusive: Iran eases demands in Vienna nuclear talks - Western diplomats Reuters World powers determined to reach Iran nuclear deal AFP France says Russia, other powers have differences over Iran talks Reuters The comments, published on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website, represent a dramatic intervention in the talks currently taking place in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, for a nuclear accord.

His remarks relate to the enrichment process of producing fuel from centrifuges for nuclear power stations, which the West and Israel says, in highly extended form, could be used to develop an atomic bomb.

Iran currently has about 19,000 centrifuges — of which only 10,000 are working — but says more powerful machines will be needed to develop enough nuclear energy in the future.

Khamenei said the required enrichment capability would be 19 times higher than the West currently wants to allow under a comprehensive agreement.

Uranium enrichment and centrifuge numbers are the most sensitive topic in the negotiations, which aim to conclude a deal by July 20.

View gallery An unidentified IAEA inspector disconnects the twin … An unidentified IAEA inspector disconnects the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium production at th …

But with less than two weeks until that deadline, the supreme leader’s

remarks exposed a gulf that still exists between Iran and the leading nations, who are seeking to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.

Referring to the machine used in uranium enrichment, Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters of state, said: “Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units, which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have.

“Our officials say we need 190,000 (SWU).

Perhaps not today, but in two to five years that is the country’s absolute need.”

- Differences with Russia - An Iranian diplomat, quoted anonymously by the official IRNA news agency, said foreign ministers from the P5+1 countries would travel to Vienna this week, probably on Friday, to help clinch an accord.

View gallery A picture taken on October 26, 2010 shows the reactor … A picture taken on October 26, 2010 shows the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear …

But France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, on Tuesday indicated divergences have emerged between Russia and the Western powers involved in the negotiations to secure an agreement, without specifying what they were.

“Whereas until now the P5+1 had a very homogeneous attitude, in the past days representatives in the negotiations have put forward a certain number of different approaches between part of the 5+1 and our Russian partners,” he said.

Fabius said that, while negotiations on the accord had begun, “none of the main issues” have so far been resolved.

Any nuclear deal would involve a framework and years of monitoring, but Khamenei’s open declarations throw into doubt the room for compromise.

According to American media reports, the United States may accept Iran having 2,000-4,000 low-

Iran’s Supreme Leader Reveals Demands

welcomed the supreme leader’s comments and tweeted that he and his colleagues “would not give up any of our nuclear rights.”

With Sunni Arab insurgents overrunning large parts of Iraq, and Syria in chaos from civil war, a nuclear deal could help Tehran and the West normalise ties at a particularly explosive time.

- ‘Unique opportunity’ -

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described the talks as a “unique opportunity to make history”, saying success would allow both sides to address “common challenges” like Iraq.

The talks have been aiming to secure an agreement by July 20, when an interim deal struck in November expires.

The six powers want Iran to drastically reduce its nuclear activities to render any drive for a weapons capability all but impossible.

The deadline could potentially be extended by up to six months, and many analysts believe this is already being negotiated.

But US President Barack Obama, facing midterm elections in November, is wary of doing anything that could be construed by his Republican opponents as giving Iran more time to get closer to having the bomb.

This is the longstanding accusation of Israel, the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state.

Courtesy: AP

Israel then launched a crackdown on the group’s members in the West Bank and arrested hundreds of people.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, responded by stepping up rocket fire.

The situation deteriorated last week after the bodies of the three were found, followed a day later by the abduction of Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem — who was later found burned to death in what Palestinians believe was a revenge attack. Six Jewish Israelis were arrested in the killing.

It was a sharp contrast to the large number that hit Israeli cities the night before, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other areas of the country.

In amateur video obtained by The Associated Press, guests at an outdoor wedding in the city of Holon, near Tel Aviv, ran screaming for cover as a rocket was intercepted in the sky, blowing up. The bride and groom rushed down the aisle as a second rocket whizzed above.

By early yesterday, air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Israel’s south, and the army said two rockets were apparently intercepted above the central Israeli city by an anti-missile battery. In total, at least seven rockets were fired toward Israel yesterday, and the “Iron Dome”

anti-missile system intercepted about half of them mid-air, the army said. There were no reported injuries.

Lerner, the army spokesman, told reporters that the military’s aim was to take a “substantial toll” on Hamas and to deplete its rocket capabilities. He said the army would gradually ramp up its strikes on Gaza.

“The organization is going to pay for its aggression. It is literally holding us hostage with its rockets,” Lerner said. “The country is not willing for this situation to continue.”

About 2,000 people attended a funeral for eight Palestinians, including at least one militant, four adults and two children, who were killed on Tuesday.

In the attack, an airstrike flattened the home of a Hamas militant in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Israel’s military said it had called the home shortly before the airstrike to warn civilians to leave.

A security official said the army has been telephoning homes, or firing small projectiles dubbed “knock on the roof,” to warn civilians to leave buildings before demolishing homes. The official said the army also warns militants about such attacks if civilians are with them.

Hamas is far weaker than the last round of fighting with Israel in 2012.

Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waving after delivering a speech in Tehran.

powered, first generation centrifuges.

View gallery EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton holds talks … EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton holds talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Mohammad Za …

France’s Fabius said last month Iran could retain “several hundred centrifuges” but he disclosed that the Iranians

were asking for “hundreds of thousands”.

The accord being sought by the P5+1 aims to finally end talk of possible US or Israeli military action against Iran. The Islamic republic has always denied seeking an atomic bomb.

In exchange for an agreement, Iran wants punishing Western sanctions to be lifted.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a leader of Iran’s negotiating team,

Isreal Hits Key Hamas Targets In Gaza Offensive

THE Israeli army yesterday intensified its offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, striking Hamas sites and killing at least 14 people on the second day of a military operation it says is aimed at quelling rocket fire against Israel.

The offensive has set off the heaviest fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas since an eight-day battle in November 2012. Militants have unleashed rocket salvos deeper into Israeli territory than before, and Israel mobilized thousands of forces along the Gaza border for a possible ground invasion into the Palestinian territory.

Israel’s defense minister warned the offensive would be long-term.

“The operation against Hamas will expand in the coming days, and the price the organization will pay will be very high,” Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said.

Since the offensive began Tuesday, Israel has attacked more than 400 sites in Gaza, killing at least 41 people. The strikes came after militants fired more than 160 rockets at Israel, including one that reached the northern Israeli city of Hadera for the first time. The city is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Gaza.

The army said it attacked more than 160 sites in Gaza early yesterday, including 118 concealed rockets launching

sites, six Hamas compounds — including naval police and national security compounds — 10 militant command centers, weapons storage facilities and 10 tunnels used for militant activity and to ferry supplies in from Egypt. The border between Gaza and Egypt has effectively been closed for months.

Gaza health official Ashraf AlKedra said yesterday airstrikes killed one militant in south Gaza, an 80-year-old woman, the son, wife and neighbor of a Hamas militant, and three others whose affiliation was not immediately known.

Israel’s army said it targeted a militant with the Islamic Jihad militant group who had launched rockets toward Israel. Separately, Islamic Jihad claimed that one of its militants was killed with his mother and four siblings, but AlKedra said they were all civilians.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought numerous times over the years.

But until recently they had been observing a truce that ended the previous hostilities in 2012.

Tensions have been rising since the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank on June 12. Israel accused Hamas of being behind the abductions, although it provided no proof.

Insight

“EDUCATION is the bed rock of any nation as it plays a vital role in the development of not only the nation but also the citizens of such nation.”

“It has been the major ingredients that separate a developed and undeveloped nation. It is the gate way to success and the indomitable soul of the society that passes from one generation to another. Whichever divide you belong to, education is one basic need for the existence of man, for the world has continued to advance on a daily basis based on the level of research and development championed by education.”

These are some of the comments by a two time military Administration of Oyo and Taraba States Prince Edore Oyakhire who recently x-rayed the importance of education in human capacity development as well as in the development and growth of any nation, Prince Oyakhire also said education is life but over the years has been poorly perennially funded for a long time in Nigeria and that its quality has seriously declined. He also spoke on the major problem (s) of Nigerian and how the Country can move forward. time for effectiveness and Excerpts: efficiency. The provision of How would you assess our Book and other teaching educational system of today materials is grossly and what are your inadequate despite the steady suggestions if any? increase in school population.

Education is life. We need an The disposition of a l l - r o u n d - q u a l i t a t i v e Government toward education. It is a fundamental Education generally is catalyst that produces unimpressive.

United knowledge and skills for Nations had repeated directed public good. It is a great that Governments in Africa resource. It enlarges the heart. should reflect not less than The knowledge and skill twenty- six percent (26%) on required for effective Education annually in their performance are acquired budgets. Sadly, most African through formal and informal Countries observe this Education over a period of directive in the breach. It time. It is desirable for people clearly show that there is no to learn from one another in serious concern and the same way iron sharpens inspiration for Education. iron. It will assist us to Indeed many current produce good doctors, graduates are only merely lawyers, engineers and other certificated. They lack the professional who will ensure power of expression, that Government provides intellectually weak and good health services, clean generally not serious with water, infrastructure, power academics. In the past, (electricity), security, Schools were well equipped, agriculture and clean teachers were more environment. These are the disciplined, motivated, basic things a good diligent and committed.

Government in charge of the When we went to School, people’s huge resources must Universities were few but provide. Any Government Nigerians were more literate. that is unable to provide these Students were properly basic necessities should be groomed and taught facts, changed or replace no matter history and figures of the past who heads it (the leadership). and were fully prepared, Education, has been poorly armed with knowledge and perennially funded for a long zeal to work for society. time that its quality has In recent years, Education seriously declined. Teachers, in Nigeria has remained in tutors and lectures lack limbo. At all levels, quality teaching and are Education is inadequately poorly motivated in terms of funded even though it is an remuneration and teaching indispensable tool for human facilities. They themselves survival and sustainable need to be properly trained development.

Our and retrained from time to

Education, A Funda Knowledge An

development as a Country cannot be faster than our progress in Education.

Factually, the surest foundations for the prosperity of a Country are laid in Education which by implication is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind through ages.

Education is an inalienable right and an inseparable companion no crime can destroy, no misfortune can suppress and no despotism can ever enslave. Education is a societal ornament, an instrument of empowerment and the greatest investment in mankind. It makes people easy to lead but difficult to drive and easy to govern but impossible to enslave.

Education in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels is bedevilled by a combination of variable factors. Factors which have continued to consistently militate against our educational development include brain drain, indiscipline, incompetence, poor funding, structural negligence, systemic inadequacies, institutional incapacity and societal decay. Schools are rapidly deteriorating in academic substance, quality and physical structures because of weak financial support from Government. The greatest charity that can be done for mankind is to enlighten people who are ignorant. Education is the indomitable soul of society that passes from one generation to another.

Developed Countries are strongly superior to others because of their advancement in Education.

Education is indisputably a cardinal key for National development.

Education in Western language leaves the level of illiteracy in Nigeria in absurdity. Many are not empowered because they are either unlettered, unskilled or near illiterate in calibre.

Education is poorly funded

but it is a fundamental responsibility of Government to set standards, quality and control in the Sector. It has been invaded and commercialised by businessmen, contractors and merchants. Government has legal and moral rights to enforce standing policies and control mechanisms.

Development is anchored

University degree in the past attested to brilliant learning and good character. Cultism is a very serious crime. It has penetrated many Tertiary Institutions. Identified cultists must be arrested, tried and jailed. Prescribed dress code must be enforced in Universities in order to reduce or remove acts of indecent dressing, near

mainly on the level of Education in a Country and of its citizens. Education is a costly commodity. The roots are bitter but the fruits are sweet. It is a strong instrument of empowerment.

Besides, it is the greatest investment in mankind.

Poverty reduction is a major key to development which Education facilitates.

nudity and what may appear to be gross misrepresentation of freedom by students in campuses. Current dressing trend negates good character, decency and morality.

What in your opinion, would you consider the major problem(s) of the country and how can they be addressed?

Many problems currently bedevil Nigeria. Prominent among them are issues of corruption, insecurity, unemployment, indiscipline, weak economy and lack of patriotism among others.

Many of our political leaders behave as if corruption is an alternative name for Nigeria.

Corruption is on a fiery

“Education in Western language leaves the level of illiteracy in Nigeria in absurdity. Many are not empowered because they are either unlettered, unskilled or near illiterate in calibre.”

rampage and holds Niger hostage. Many Nigerians a comfortable with bribe and corruption. Indee corruption has be identified as a single fact that easily unites unpatrio Nigerians. A sum of $30 (US dollars) is known have been lost to corrupti in Nigeria within the la thirty years. Apart fro

corruption, the worship material things and powe the monster of increasin poverty in the midst abundance captures th dilemma of contempora societies. It results in unfa and inefficient provision services. It destroys soci economic life of a Countr subverts formal proces causes major failures development, mak economic planning difficu and stifles th implementation infrastructural project Multiple cases of corruptio galore in Nigeria in the Civ Service, Academia, Clerg Political Class, Busine Class (Contractors) and

Insight

amental Catalyst For nd Skills - Oyakhire

ria are ery ed, en tor otic 0b to ion ast om

of er, ng of he ary air of iory, ss, in es ult he of ts. on vil gy, ess in

other sectors. Corruption is evil. Truly, the best part of Nigeria’s prosperity has been lost to corruption.

Corruption harms society, weakens democracy, impedes developmental growth, ruins a Country, reduces accountability and seriously undermines the rule of law.

Nigeria will quickly

develop when the issues of small and medium scale enterprises are attended to seriously. Nigeria has vast arable uncultivated lands suitable for mechanised farming. A Country enjoys higher standards of living if its workforce can produce large quantity of goods and services for local and international consumption. A healthy workforce will promote increased productivity. Indeed, a strong, efficient and productive Agricultural sector would provide food enormously for a Country to feed her growing population (food security), create employment, earn foreign exchange and provide raw

materials for Industries. The bottom-line of troubles may arise from food insecurity in the neglect of agriculture in favour of crude oil exploration in the Country.

Agricultural sector is the engine of growth in virtually all developed economies as it engenders a significant level of poverty reduction and has a multiplier effect on a

Country’s socio-economic and industrial fabric because of the multifunctional nature of Agriculture. Nigeria needs to urgently develop her monumental agricultural potentials. Our farmers seriously and urgently need tractors, fertilisers, seedlings, agricultural inputs, access roads, storage facilities, enhancement of socioeconomic profile, agrarian knowledge (technology) by Agric-extension officials and mechanised System of farming. The priority of our farmers is not telephone or lack of communications.

Nigerian farmers are disconnected from Government policies.

Agriculture is not bankable.

How far have our Agricultural Banks been relevant?

It is sad that Nigeria cannot provide electricity for basic needs. Adequate provision of power (energy) will lead to industrialisation, empowerment and poverty reduction. With the arguable exception of South Africa, (built by the British), there is no genuinely technologically industrialised Country in Africa. Africa’s contribution to the World’s economy is below ten percent. The reasons for poor development in African Continent are many.

Creative, missionary and visionary leadership is lacking because most African leaders lack self control, discipline and foresight. Indeed, the quality of political leadership in most of Africa’s fifty four Countries is not exactly high.

Many politicians in top positions did not grow through the normal ladder of Senior Management experience in well administered Establishments before they started handling high level Management positions in Government.

Their activities and performance levels could not be otherwise considering their poor financial, weak managerial and unimpressive professional pedigree.

Criminal accusations bordering on impropriety and extremely serious allegations of corruption, cupidity and sycophancy regularly made against high Government officials have the capacity to diminish the moral credibility of an Administration. The apathy of a citizen is a Democracy in more dangerous to public welfare than the tyranny of a Prince in an Oligarchy (Government of a few

powerful people).

What would you suggest to move the Country forward?

The good news is that democracy is dynamic, allows free participation, advocates freedom of choice and the right to seek power by all qualified people. The general development of Nigeria and the real progress of Nigerians will be achieved from the well-being of Nigerian people as a result of serious poverty reduction, improved levels of health, opportunities for employment by earning a fair reward for labour, access to qualitative education and adequate security for lives and property. Political stability, proactive tendency, populist oriented policies, flexibility in dynamism and urgent response to reasonable demands are desirable for peace, growth and sustainable development.

Security Agencies must be adequately founded, trained, equipped and reasonably remunerated because Security is fundamentally relevant to the prosperity of a Country.

Nigeria must quickly and imperatively develop all issues relevant to small and medium scale enterprises.

Jobs must be quickly created through populist oriented policies.

Subsidised agriculture would result in poverty reduction. It has multiplier effects on socioeconomic and industrial fabric because of the multifunctional nature of Agriculture. A hungry populace cannot build a prosperous Country.

Government must show sincerity of purpose and demonstrate strong political will in dealing with ethical issues including corruption, indiscipline, indolence, cupidity, ineptitude, incompetence, mediocrity and sycophancy decisively.

Indeed, by judicious, prudent and rational management of resources from the continuously perennial sale of crude oil, we will equitably meet over seventy percent (70%) of the needs of our

“ It is sad that Nigeria cannot provide electricity for basic needs. Adequate provision of power (energy) will lead to industrialisation, empowerment and poverty reduction. With the arguable exception of South Africa, (built by the British), there is no genuinely technologically industrialised Country in Africa.” growing population of over one hundred and sixty million people. Government by policies must continuously create jobs being an employer and custodian of people’s security. Government must also provide the enabling environment for the private sector investors to operate in terms of job creation, employment, and poverty reduction. Government must establish Social Welfare System (Scheme) to stabilise society and retain the patriotism of citizens because it takes possession of all resources on behalf of the people.

Nigeria’s success in Democracy will depend largely on effective performance, commitment, integrity and patriotism.

Currently, Nigeria’s Democracy is troubled by many factors and is seriously on trial. When variables like primitive accumulations, corruption and looting of treasuries are added to the equation of Africa’s underdevelopment, it is not surprising that poverty has increased, inequality has widened and most if not all the Countries thus remain underdeveloped. Corruption must be drastically reduced so that it will cease to impede development by creating institutions, traditions and laws which will make it extremely difficult for people in public positions to corruptly acquire, steal or peculate public funds.

Nigeria will be good when governed by leaders who are truly, freely, fairly, peacefully and transparently elected.

Such leaders shall be selfless and committed to the Service of the people and shall be willing to sacrifice self interests for the common

good of it Nigerians. They will open their ears, eyes and hearts innocuously to the needs of people. They will be strong, compassionate, courageous, competent, knowledgeable, merciful, pragmatic and God fearing.

Resources earned from oil in hundreds of billions of dollars must be aggressively used to provide power (electricity), develop infrastructure, reinforce agriculture and resuscitate many industries currently moribund. This will inevitably provide jobs and raw materials for the sustenance of Agro-allied Industries. The involvement in governance of talented, tested, resourceful, clearthinking-headed and creative individuals with track records of attestable patriotic Service is desirable for sustainable development.

Besides, Nigeria will actually perform better in her body polity by the deliberate involvement of tried, tested and trusted persons with patriotic antecedents. The Executive, Legislature and Judiciary must truly be independent and strong in the execution of their duties.

They shall be supported by a free and responsible Press and an enlightened citizenry.

Indeed, a Country with formidable independent Judiciary grows and prospers. A good political arrangement in Nigeria will fundamentally ensure that there is cohesion, peace and stability that will enhance development and growth. It should be such that accommodates plurality of views, opinions, ideas, interests and choices.

Basically, it should be rooted in compromise, freedom, persuasion and tolerance.

“ Nigeria’s success in Democracy will depend largely on effective performance, commitment, integrity and patriotism. Currently, Nigeria’s Democracy is troubled by many factors and is seriously on trial.”

Art Alive Walker And The Restitution Of Two Benin Bronzes With Francis Odupute

Continued from last week

I have quoted Walker in extenso to understand and appreciate the commitment Walker has to correct the ills of the past. Paraphrasing would lose the strength of his conviction. It becomes obvious that his urge to make peace overrode his desire to keep the Benin objects for their artistry and links to his family ties.

Furthermore, Mark is convinced that neither his children nor he himself would be adversely judged by posterity since he had done the right thing by coming to Benin to return works that were stolen one hundred and seventeen years ago. He remarked ‘I will not be condemned as the grandson of a racist’. He went an extra mile to prove this by extracting excerpts from his grandfather’s diary. Walker remarked that his grandfather was far ahead of his time in the civil manner he referred to Benin natives.

Although accounts by ‘white men’ at that time used derogatory words in describing the natives, he on the contrary, had described them as gentlemen as much as his own countrymen and women and showed them milk of human kindness particularly natives at his mercy. In welcoming Mark Walker to Benin, the Iyase of Benin, Chief Sam Igbe, remarked that by this kind gesture, he has become a friend of the city and would be welcome anytime. More importantly, he added that he was free of age-long curses the Edo people had placed on the looters. The Oba remarked: ‘Walker would now have peace having done what is expected of him’.

The unending debates over Benin looted treasures have thrown up obnoxious theories emanating from the west.

Kwame Opoku, a lawyer, known as one of the most vocal advocates for the return of stolen objects to countries of origin, has consistently responded to some of these theories. The proponents of a shared and universal heritage acquiesce to the keeping of illegally acquired works in foreign so-called ‘encyclopedic’ or ‘universal’ museums. Their claim is to keep the art of the world in

trust for mankind- a view popular amongst directors and curators of these universal museums. It is important to note that these ‘universal’ museums are all located in the Western world. Benson Osadolor, a History lecturer at the University of Benin describes them as the ‘Museums of Loot’ following the ‘Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums’ signed in 2002.

This concept has become very popular amongst curators of western museums and helps propagate and legitimize the continued keeping of looted works. To better appreciate the brazenness of this argument, it is important to quote excerpts from the declaration.

‘Whether (acquired) by purchase, gift or partage- (the artifacts) have become part of the museums that have cared for them, and by extension part of the heritage of the nations which house them’.

In other words, since the Benin objects were first looted and then sold to collectors, the buyers of these looted objects now have the right to own them because they have so ‘graciously’ cared for them.

Being able to pay for them gives a buyer of stolen objects the right to own them.

Additionally, the nations who have acquired these objects or house buyers or museums with illegally acquired objects are now by this declaration free to assimilate the objects as part of their national heritage. It has been noted that almost all the signatory museums to this preposterous declaration belong to the nation states that signed the final document of the 1884/1885 Berlin Africa Conference. On the other hand, there are those who argue for works to be retained within their national jurisdictions.

They are often referred to as nationalist retentionists. The British government has been constantly reminded of its need to return looted objects.

Nigeria and Greece have been consistently demanding for the return of their objects housed in the British Museum. The Greek’s demand for the Elgin marbles has gone on for a long time, the same way the Benin monarchy have been on the

“While descendants of Sir Henry Gallwey have resorted to making money from the loot of their grandfather, Adrian Mark Walker has decided to return to the original owners what his grandfather himself described as ‘loot’ in at least three entries in his diary.”

By PEJU LAYIWOLA

case for the return of their heirloom.

In support of the nationalist retentionist’s position, Walker clearly states ‘I believe the international community is guilty of double standards with regards to such artefacts. When for example at the end of Second World War came, looted works of art were discovered in Nazi home, we went through a great deal of trouble to return them to the

London, the Admiralty auctioned them. Later in 1897, the British Museum exhibited well over three hundred bronze plaques loaned from the Foreign Office. Charles Read, the curator of the British Museum at the time, facilitated the auction of the pieces which got into several British and other foreign private and public collections. Today, a large number of looted Benin works can be seen in the galleries of the British Museum as well as

fresh request to the British Museum for the mask. The Director of the British Museum, Neil Mcgregor, glossed over his request replying that the British Museum had been invited by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to offer assistance and advice on the development of the Lagos Museum. In the 1950s the British Museum sold a number of Benin art objects to Nigeria. These were purchased to beef up the collection in the newly founded museums.

Several attempts at retrieving Nigeria’s stolen art objects

Mark Walker (on suit) presents the bronze works to Oba Erediauwa. Photo: PEJU LAYIWOLA.

families from which they had come. I cannot understand what the difference is between Nazi and looted objects of Benin… If you ask the British Museum they would say ‘well, they are only custodians’. If you ask (British) politicians they say ‘it is the business of the British Museum’. So, we go round in a circle. We need to persuade not just the British public, but the international community that it is unethical and immoral to be holding on to items which were not legally acquired. To this end I think, this event is important particularly if it achieves publicity not just here but also in Britain. I am confident that within another generation we should see a lot more of these objects returned to Benin.’

While this return has come out of a private collection in the UK, it is pertinent to add that several thousands of looted Benin works still remain in public museums in the UK, Germany and the US. Soon after the invasion of Benin, the works were first collected in the courtyard of the king from where they were later shipped to Britain. On arrival in

many other museums across Europe and America. Ever since, there has been no return made to Nigeria from the British Museum despite several requests from Nigeria for the objects in their kitty. In 1977, the British government turned down the request made by the Nigerian Government to loan the popular Queen Idia mask stolen from the bedchamber of the king which later became the symbol of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77) in Lagos. This mask along with four other similar pectoral masks can be found in the Linden Museum, Stuttgart, The Metropolitan and Seattle Museums in the US and the most popular one at the British Museum. The fifth mask in a private collection surfaced at the Sotheby auction in 2010.

After the 1977 request came another, this time on the occasion of the 30th anniversary commemoration of FESTAC. In February, 2007 Professor Tunde Babawale, Director of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) made a

have been carried out over the years. Bernie Grant an MP in the British House of Commons made a request to the Director of the Art Gallery and Museums in Glasgow in 1997.

As a follow up to this letter, Emmaneul Arinze, Chairman, West African Museums also wrote letters of request for Benin objects. By 2000, Prince Edun Akenzua, the Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa and brother of the Oba (king) of Benin gave testimony before the British House of Commons. In 2008, I handdelivered a request letter from Prince Edun Akenzua to the Art Institute of Chicago. In all of these cases, there has been no response to mails. The lack of response has however not dissuaded people from reacting to this historical injustice.

Fresh requests and responses occur as often as the issues of the looted artifacts resurface.

One of such was the sale of Benin artifacts by Sotheby in 2001. A 16th century Benin ‘Oba’ mask was to be auctioned for about 4.5million pounds sterling. The consignee was a descendant of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Gallwey,

Deputy Commissioner and Vice Consul in the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1891 who took part in the infamous British Expedition. Protests organized by civil society groups and Nigerian intellectuals against this sale spread from the streets of London to social network sites. The consignee was forced to pull down the work from the auction. It is no longer business as usual to profiteer from the loot – a loot which was forcibly removed during a very bloody contest between British soldiers and Benin defenders. At another occasion, Nigerians living in Chicago protested in 2007 when news came that the Art Institute was selected as a venue of the travelling exhibition of Benin art titled Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Art from Nigeria.

In 2013, the controversial donation of 32 Benin objects by the Lehman Brothers to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, USA and the Museum’s search for legitimacy from the Benin Royal family caused another stir.

It is important to mention here that the British expeditionary soldiers had a field day picking some of these Benin objects as mementoes for themselves. Captain Egerton took for himself about half a dozen objects. Admiral Harry Rawson, the commander of the expedition and Sir Ralph Moor, the Consul General of the Niger Coast protectorate, sent to Queen Victoria a pair of exquisitely carved leopards as well as two carved ivory tusks as gifts from the troupe.

It was in this context that Captain Walker acquired his own pieces. While descendants of Sir Henry Gallwey have resorted to making money from the loot of their grandfather, Adrian Mark Walker has decided to return to the original owners what his grandfather himself described as ‘loot’ in at least three entries in his diary. This act of honour is the reason Edo people came out in large numbers to show immense gratitude to a man who has followed the path of nobility and conscience. He has resisted the temptation of profiteering from works that were taken forcibly from a people who defended their kingdom with their lives. One can only hope that other individuals and descendants of British soldiers and particularly, foreign museums and institutions keeping Benin works would return them and in good time too.

Peju Layiwola is Associate Professor of Art History and currently Head of Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Lagos State. Web a d d r e s s e s : w w w. p e j u l a y i w o l a . c o m ; www.wyart-foundation.org

Art And Culture Propensity Confession Of Women In Marriage Culture PROPENSITY confession is an inclination of mind in favourable direction that is a taboo to the marriage culture of the place.

In Benin, the ancient and olden days marriage is contracted as a union of a man married to a women to the exclusion of all others; therefore any other interference by touching, spoken words or conjugation, must be confessed by the woman to her husband or elderly of the husband’s family, else any food cooked by the woman or inter-course is a taboo, that may cause illness, calamity, even death.

A married woman is forbidden to embrace, romance, sit face to face, besides or have a hand shake with a man who is not the husband sibling or blood relationship but nowadays on mutual love or necessity.

A married woman is forbidden to hear ill word, ill talk, sarcasm, tempting discussions, at such the woman is obliged to split saliva out of her mouth.

Marriage is not a mere contract. It creates status through the contract; the spouses belong to a special class whose rights and obligations are prescribed by the marriage Law of the culture.

Such rights and obligations are unique, attach only to persons who have acquire that marital status.

A wife may in certain circumstances pledge her

husband’s credit for necessaries to maintain herself and her children. A husband has a right of action against any person who commits a tort against his wife, thereby depriving him of her consortium. A husband has a right of action for damages against any man who commits adultery with his wife.

The contract between a husband and a wife relates in essence to the two living as husband and wife in accordance with matrimonial rights and obligations.

It is a union to create status and the contract is fulfilled when the parties acquire, and live fully in realization of that status.

(Odo r’uyi, okhuo r’uyi).

Marriage does not take place until the two have attained the age of puberty but child betrothal may take place.

Generally, the consent of the parties is an important element in the celebration of marriage. When ever the parties are capable of expressing their consent to the marriage, such consent is expressly demanded and obtained before the marriage.

Parental consent is necessary. It is mandatory for the celebration of valid customary marriage.

Support is giving to this principle by the fact that customary marriage is a transaction between two families. The requisite consent is that of the father, mother or guardian to the prospective spouse.

Consent is mandatory

under the customary rule, even when the girl has reached age of maturity.

The reasons are, without the consent of her father or Guardian, the bride price cannot be properly paid; moreso the formal giving away of the Bride may not take place. On the other hand, an adult male

spouses or within certain kindred.

Sometimes, where the blood relationship is quite distinct and not directly traceable, intermarriage may be allowed after the performance of expiation sacrifices; such sacrifices are regarded as severing the relationship, thus

may contract marriage without the consent of his parents.

Marriage is forbidden between persons who are related by blood; no matter how remote the relationship is. Customary Law prohibits their marriage, once blood relationship is traced between the parties —

leaving the parties free to intermarry.

It may constitute an abomination for a man to marry his wife’s mother, wife son daughter; but it is sometimes practiced for a man to Marry his wife’s sister, either as a second wife or after the demise of his first wife.

On the death of a

“Generally, the consent of the parties is an important element in the celebration of marriage. When ever the parties are capable of expressing their consent to the marriage, such consent is expressly demanded and obtained before the marriage.”

With AMBROSE EKHOSUEHI

married man, his Adult sons may inherit his wife, or wives but not of course their own mother.

The Bride price must be paid in respect of the marriage of a woman but not necessarily that the Bride price must be paid completely before marriage is concluded.

On the death of a man; his widow may become a wife to a member of his family and by act of inheritance, the widow

giving water or food to her husband because it is a taboo for a married woman to meet another man on the absence of her husband.

In the marriage culture, girls are educated to be always faithful to their husbands in marriage and if there is any cause of propensity, the husband or any of the siblings must be alerted for necessary appease.

There are also family

becomes the wife of the ne w suitor with no addition to the original bride price.

Usually, the widow elects whether or not to remarry within her late husband’s family and chooses the member of that family she prefers to marry, some communities allow sons to inherit their father’s wives other than their own mother, others admit brothers and others relatives only; but in Christianity widows are to be supported and care for instead.

Married woman accused of fornication or adultery if she did that, must confess before

taboos (awua) relating to food, drink, environment or not yielding to her husband at the appropriate time that emanates into offence or quarreling.

Sexual activity is surrounded with many taboos, putting one leg in marriage and the other leg outside to prostitute (fi owe y’ oha, o ghee) constitutes a taboo, hence a woman is subjected to interrogations at the demise of her husband to free herself from all concupiscence (orukuru) and iniquities as a decent woman in the propensity confessions of women in marriage culture.

IssuesFeatures International US, China Vow To Improve Cooperation THE United States and China vowed yesterday to improve their economic and security cooperation, saying they wouldn’t let persistent differences over maritime claims, cyberhacking and currency hamper a relationship critical to global peace and prosperity.

US-China strategic talks get test this week Associated Press US prods China on exchange rate at annual talks Associated Press China, US vow to end old rivalries China, U.S. say they committed to managing differences.

Opening this year’s “Strategic and Economic Dialogue,” Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to avoid confrontation between nations accounting for a quarter of the world’s people and a third of the global economy.

His theme was largely echoed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, leaders of an American delegation that also included Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and three other Obama administration Cabinet members.

Nevertheless, the next two days are a test of whether the annual high-level talks can produce tough compromises or just serve as a venue to talk about greater cooperation.

Washington hopes to secure closer coordination with China against climate change, an end to Chinese industrial cyberespionage against American companies and stricter rules governing territorial claims in Asia’s contested, resource-rich seas.

Xi made clear China wouldn’t be pushed around.

View gallery U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, center, get certificates …

“The vast Pacific Ocean has ample space to accommodate our two great nations,” he said through an interpreter.

Differences between the U.S. and China, he said, were “natural.” Yet he said the only path forward was respect for each other’s sovereignty and to “refrain from imposing your will or model on other side.” And in a reference to China’s territorial disputes with its neighbors, he said the U.S. must respect Chinese

Kerry, center, U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus, left, and Treasury …

In Beijing, in the Diaoyutai guest house where former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s secret talks in the 1970s laid the groundwork for today’s relationship, Kerry emphasized “a new model is not defined in

industrial boilers.

View gallery U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks past a Chinese flag as Kerry tours the Badaling section of.

U.S. and Chinese officials repeatedly declared friction in their relationship unavoidable. The U.S. has

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third right, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, second right, and U.S. Amabassador to China Max Baucus, second left, tour the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China with Chen Fei, left, deputy director of the Badaling section of the Great Wall Special District, and Guo Jiaqiang, right, deputy director of the Badaling Foreign Affairs Office, in Beijing recently.

“territorial integrity.”

American allies Japan and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have become increasingly worried by Chinese efforts to drill for oil or assert authority in waters they consider their own.

China also has tried to enforce control over contested airspace.

For its part, the U.S. says it takes no sides on whose claims are valid. But its effort to establish rules for settling the disputes has gained no ground with Beijing.

From Washington, President Barack Obama released a statement hailing the 35th anniversary of U.S.Chinese diplomatic relations and referenced a pledge he made with Xi at a summit last year in California to establish a “new model” of superpower cooperation.

View gallery U.S. Secretary of State John

words.”

“It is defined in actions,” Kerry said. “The new model will be defined by the choices we can make together.”

All told, U.S. and Chinese officials will canvass 60 topics through today.

Economic friction centers on the valuation of China’s currency and claims by American companies of unfair market restrictions in China — issues raised by Lew in his opening remarks.

Strategic discussions include the threat posed by nucleararmed North Korea.

On climate change, the world’s two biggest carbon emitters announced eight new projects aimed at capturing and storing carbon, and setting up more efficient energy grids.

They also agreed to stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and to study gas use in

“In a snub to Washington, a well-known Tibetan writer and recipient of a State Department award for courage, Tsering Woeser, was placed under house arrest along with her husband late Tuesday.”

the world’s biggest economy and strongest military, but China’s economy is set to surpass the U.S. in the coming decades and its armed forces are rapidly gaining strength.

It’s a recipe, Xi and Kerry both acknowledged, that has consistently led to conflict in the past. Both said careful management of their differences could avert a similar fate.

Human rights didn’t appear to be a focus of the first day’s talks.

In a snub to Washington, a well-known Tibetan writer and recipient of a State Department award for courage, Tsering Woeser, was placed under house arrest along with her husband late Tuesday. Tsering Woeser said she was invited to a U.S. Embassy dinner Wednesday, but now couldn’t attend.

No U.S. official yesterday explicitly mentioned the cyberhacking dispute between Washington and Beijing that has simmered since the U.S. indicted five Chinese military officers on charges of stealing trade secrets from American companies’ computers.

China demands the charges be withdrawn; it has no plans

to extradite the men. And it has refused to allow a U.S.Chinese working group on cybersecurity to hold any further meetings until the issue is resolved.

“We both depend on an open global trading system in

which workers and companies can compete on a level playing field,” Lew said. He stressed the need to protect intellectual property and see China move toward a market exchange rate for its currency.

Courtesy: AP

Attacks Hit Tanzania And Kenya Tourist Sites

TANZANIA and Kenya were targeted in separate attacks in key tourist sites in the east African nations, police said Tuesday, the latest in a series of bombings and gun battles scaring off foreign visitors.

Related Stories 18 killed in attacks in Kenyan coastal region AFP Kenya arrests governor after coastal attacks AFP Shooting reported in violence-hit Kenyan coastal region AFP Foreign tourist shot, wounded in Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa AFP Twenty-Two Dead in Attacks by Militants on Kenyan Coast The Wall Street Journal.

While the attacks - including a restaurant bomb blast that wounded eight in Tanzania and a gun battle at a wildlife conservation centre in Kenya are not reported to be connected, they threaten to badly dent the countries’ crucial tourism industry.

Eight people were wounded late Monday when unknown attackers hurled a bomb through the window of a restaurant popular with foreigners and wealthy locals in the north Tanzanian town of Arusha.

“It was an improvised explosive device thrown through a window,” top Tanzanian police officer Issaya Mngulu told AFP. The floor of the upmarket Indian restaurant in the centre of Arusha was covered in blood, with overturned chairs amid broken glass, an AFP reporter said.

Visitors come to Arusha before travelling on to the snowcapped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, as well as to the Serengeti national park, famed for its spectacular great migration of wildebeest.

View gallery Map locating Arusha in northern Tanzania, which was targeted in a bomb attack (AFP Photo/) In Kenya, gunmen stormed conservation offices on the coast near the tourist island of Lamu, battling with police before setting fire to buildings and vehicles and escaping, following a series of massacres in nearby settlements, government officials said.

“They set ablaze the camp and also several vehicles, then there was also shooting between the attackers and police at the base,” said government official Shahasi Abdalla, the local area chief, adding that there were no casualties.

The ranch hosts offices of the Lamu Conservation Trust, which works to support local peoples and traditional ways of life, and protect some 63,000 acres (25,000 hectares) of coastal forest inhabited by elephants and buffalo.

Lamu island has in the past hosted wealthy visitors including celebrities. In January, American actress Kristin Davis visited the

site where the attack took place, as part of her work supporting elephant conservation efforts.

View gallery A victim of a bomb attack lies injured on July 8, 2014 … A victim of a bomb attack lies injured on July 8, 2014 in Arusha, nothern Tanzania There was no claim of responsibility for that attack, but it follows several killings in the area which claimed at least 87 lives, according to the Red Cross.

Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab have claimed responsibility for previous attacks in the Lamu area, saying they were in retaliation for Kenya’s military presence in Somalia as part of the African Union force supporting the country’s fragile and internationally-backed government.

However, police have blamed the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a group that campaigns for independence of the coastal region, while Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta accused “local political networks” and criminal gangs.

Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo said Tuesday 45 people had been arrested along the coast in connection to the spate of recent violence.

However, the unrest has already provoked scores of cancellations for the tourist industry - a key foreign currency earner and massive employer for the country — at one of its traditionally busiest times of the year.

View gallery A photo taken on July 8, 2014 shows one of the torched offices of the Lamu Conservation Trust, west.

In a further blow to the sector, a Russian tourist was murdered on Saturday in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa while touring Fort Jesus — a 16th century Portuguese-built fort and a UNESCO World Heritage Site — in what police said was “normal thuggery”.

Tanzanian police said they had arrested two Tanzanian nationals were arrested following the attack in Arusha, but said they did not believe Shebab extremists were to blame.

“We do not know who the attackers are, but we do not suspect any involvement with Al-Shebab,” Mngulu said.

On July 3, two people were wounded when an improvised bomb was hurled into the home of leading Muslim cleric in Arusha, Mngulu said.

In a separate attack in Kenya’s restive northeastern Wajir region also late Monday, some 450 kilometres (240 miles) north of Lamu, gunmen hurled a grenade into a restaurant before spraying diners with bullets, killing one and wounding several others.

Courtesy: AFP

Democracy Citizens-Legislators Engagement

Where Is Nigeria?

THE active participation of the citizenry in the act of governance is most defining and very essential for the survival, entrenchment and growth of democracy. A government without the active involvement of the citizenry cannot be said to be democratic. A look at the definition of democracy as the government of the people by the people and for the people shows that the people are the body and soul of any democratic government. It therefore follows that any government that operates essentially to the exclusion of the people can be anything but a democratic government.

Since the advent of quasi-civilian rule in Nigeria in May 1999, there has been an evolution of a political system that has been aptly described by one catholic priest as “government of the people by the parties for the politicians.” One cannot agree more with this clergy man. His assertion is in consonance with the ongoing exclusion of the people from governance and decision making processes at all levels of government in Nigeria. All decisions are made by a few individuals who claim to be representing the people and their interest, without the courtesy of any form of consultation with the people they claim to represent. This near total exclusion of the people in decision making, including the election of their political leaders and representatives, has remained the greatest impediment to the democratization of Nigeria since 1999.

The legislature is the arm of government at the federal, state and local levels that has power to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the nation. Section 4; sub-section 1 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states “The legislative power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.” Section 4; sub-section 6 states “The legislative powers of a State of the Federation shall be vested in the House of Assembly of the State.”

More than 11 years after the return of Nigeria to this civilian arrangement, there is still a predominant opinion across the nation that most of the legislative houses at the various tiers of government are yet to come to terms with the demands of their arm of government and the expectations of the populace.

Experiences from around the world shows that peace, order and good governance cannot be attained in any society where the citizens are not deeply involved in the process of making and enforcing the laws and regulations that directly or remotely affect them.

The situation in Nigeria presently is that there is little or no participation of the citizenry in the activities of the legislature. It is therefore not surprising that after these 11 years of further experimentation with civil rule, our people’s standard of living is now worse than it was before May 29th 1999. We have performed badly and/or below expectation on all indices of human development. It is most shameful that this woeful performance is our lot despite the enormous income that accrued to the nation’s treasury from the sales of crude oil in the period under review.

This is a typical manifestation of the phenomenon of Resource Curse. This period can at best be described as a dark period of missed opportunities in our effort to develop as a nation.

It is to be noted with regret that this period of missed opportunities is the remote cause of the various crises and threats of crises in present day Nigeria. The Houses of Assembly in the states of the federation were mostly inefficient and ineffective in the performance of their legislative function of making laws for the peace, order and good governance of the States. Taking the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria as a case in point, one notes that the abysmally low standard of living of those of us in the South East and the near absence of social and economic infrastructure in the zone, despite the sustained jumbo allocation of funds from the federation account to the 5 states in the past 11 years clearly demonstrate this. The legislators representing the people of the South East at the National Assembly also have little or nothing to show for their period in the National Assembly as is evidenced in the aforementioned low indices of development. This sorry state of affairs is essentially the result of the lack of connection between the citizens and the legislators who claim to be representing them.

It is therefore imperative that a regime of healthy and effective citizens-legislators engagement must be facilitated and encouraged by all stakeholders in the South East to prevent the missing of

By JUDE OHANELE

more opportunities and to kick-start the redevelopment of the zone.

For optimum and maximum impact, the relationship between a legislator and her/his constituents should commence before elections. All aspirants vying for legislative positions should help to facilitate and attend town hall meetings and other consultative gatherings where the aspirants and the people will be able to

hearing sessions in the legislative house for their maximum participation. It is also essential that the legislator should establish a functional Constituency Office in the constituency to facilitate on-going communication and consultation between the legislator and constituents within the interval between the meetings. The legislator should encourage free flow of information in both direction between her/him and the constituents. In practical terms,

exchange ideas on issues as prioritized by the people. This will give the aspirants the opportunity to intimate the people on the methods and ways they intend to address the issues, if and when they are elected into the legislative positions.

Upon election and assumption of the legislative position, the legislator should approach all legislative functions and duties in full consultation and collaboration with the people for efficient and effective representation. There must be periodic and regular constituency meetings at which the legislator will brief the constituents on the activities and programmes of the legislative house, her/his activities in the house and request for the involvement of the constituents as the case may be. At these meetings the constituents will have the opportunity to ask questions and make contributions on the issues as it affect them, all in a bid to engender proper representation.

This should be a very serious and strategic meeting and not an occasion for dancing, sharing and eating of rice, as part of our emerging culture of celebration of failure or at best nothing, as is the case at the moment with the effort of a few legislators to organize a caricature of a constituency meeting in different parts of the zone. In addition to the regular meetings, emergency meetings should be called when the need arises to make sure that the people are not left behind even when emergency decisions are to be taken in the legislative house. The legislator should inform her/his constituents of dates, time, venue and themes of public

the functional phone number(s) and email address of the legislator should be in the public domain.

It is interesting to note this; it was reported that on the average, American Senators spend 80 days each year in their home states, while Congressmen spend 120 days in their home districts. They interact and attend to the need of those they represent. President Barack Obama of the United States of America was until his election as president, an American Senator. While x-raying his political profile prior to his election as president, Eli Saslow, Washington Post staff writer, stated that Obama “traveled to Illinois 39 times in the first nine months of his term to host town hall meetings with constituents …..” That comes to an average of four meetings every month.

It seems to me that this appears to be a clear demonstration of a deep commitment to the people he was representing then. One hopes we can appreciate and learn the lessons inherent in this.

This pro-people, citizens-legislators engagement is a core prerequisite for the passage of good bills and motions in the various legislative houses and their effective subsequent enforcement and implementation when signed into laws or adopted respectively.

The people would have bought into the laws and motions and see them as their laws and motions, and hence contribute to the desired ease of enforcement and implementation respectively. We must all realize that the core essence of legislation is to improve the standard of living of the citizenry. God help Nigeria.

“It is to be noted with regret that this period of missed opportunities is the remote cause of the various crises and threats of crises in present day Nigeria. The Houses of Assembly in the states of the federation were mostly inefficient and ineffective in the performance of their legislative function of making laws for the peace, order and good governance of the States.”

Religion Christians And Party/ Partisan Politics – The Mind Of God (1) THE disciples of Jesus Christ in the book of Acts 11:26 were called Christians for the first time in the city of Antioch, when the people of Antioch saw that the disciples assembled themselves in the church throughout a whole year teaching the people. The disciples of Jesus in Antioch were seen to be Christ-like as they preoccupied themselves with their sole assignment, the great commission which was handed down to them

by Jesus Christ, before His ascension into heaven. And that great commission, as written in Matthew 28:20 was that, the disciples and indeed all genuine followers of Christ should go and teach all nations, making them to observe all things whatsoever Jesus has commanded them with the promise that He will be with them always as long as they remain in their divine calling. From thence the disciples were not in any way distracted from their heavenly assignment as we can observe in Mark 16:19-20 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”

Jesus Christ says in John 17:18 that as His Father hath sent Him into the world (to preach good tidings unto the meek, and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty

to the captives etc.) even so has He also sent His disciples into the world.

Jesus further stated in verse 16, that His disciples were not of the world even as He was not of this world. If therefore the disciples of Jesus Christ and indeed all genuine Christians are not of this world, it means they are not to love the world, neither the things that are

principalities and powers, with spiritual wickedness in high places, with the rulers of the darkness of the world. All these make up the army of satan. Christian soldiers, especially the Ministers of God are the major targets of these principalities and powers who muster their unseen arrays waiting for their unguarded hour. And so

world and its vain glory belong to satan, the prince of this world. Satan tempted Jesus Christ with the kingdoms of the world and their vain glories. That would have meant bowing down to satan, if he had allowed Himself to be enticed by the glory of this world.

Even when Jesus perceived the intention of

With

REV. OLU GEORGE their enemies or their opponents. John 18:36 In Isaiah 42:2, Prophet Isaiah, prophesied of Jesus Christ who is the perfect example for all Christians, who are conscious of heaven. And what was that prophecy? “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” The meaning of this prophecy is this: Jesus would not contend with

“Even when Jesus perceived the intention of some men to forcibly make Him a king, because they saw all the miracles that He did, Jesus avoided this earthly honour, by departing from them to hide Himself.” in the world. Otherwise, if they do, it means the love of God is not in them as it is written in I John 2:15.

And one of the three abominable things that are in this world is pride of life which is not of the Father but of the world.

It is important to recognize the fact that genuine Christians, that is, the saints of God, who are born of the Spirit of truth are always at war with

they cannot afford to be at ease in Zion and entangle themselves with the affairs of this life. They live their lives in accordance to the scripture in II Timothy 2:4, which reads “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” True Christians must recognize the fact that the whole world lieth in wickedness because the

some men to forcibly make Him a king, because they saw all the miracles that He did, Jesus avoided this earthly honour, by departing from them to hide Himself. John 6:15 He declined the earthly honour because He knew that His kingdom was not of this world, where people who desperately aspire for a political ambition make use of their “loyalists” to defend themselves against

“It is important to recognize the fact that genuine Christians, that is, the saints of God, who are born of the Spirit of truth are always at war with principalities and powers, with spiritual wickedness in high places, with the rulers of the darkness of the world. All these make up the army of satan.”

opponents neither would He raise His voice in the street to cause a mob “spirit” that would incite the people to fight for Him against His opponents.

Therefore, the kingdom of the world as spoken by Jesus is not for heavenbound Christians. They have a kingdom that is yet to come, in which they shall be made kings and priests, to reign with Christ on earth here. Revelations 5:10. Christians who love the appearing of Jesus Christ in the rapture are therefore commanded to keep themselves unspotted from the world and its system. For this is the only pure and true religion for Christians. James 1:27c Genuine Christians who want to enter heaven are warned by the Spirit of truth not to be unequally yoked together with

unbelievers but to come out from amongst them and not to touch the unclean thing so that they can be the true sons and the true daughters of God the Father as written in II Corinthians 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord A l m i g h t y . ” POLITICKING IS AN UNCLEAN THING FOR THE SAINTS OF GOD, WHO HAVE THE VISION OF HEAVEN. From all that has been said so far, we have come to know and understand what Christianity is all about, and who is a Christian.

We can now proceed further to define what politics is all about and who is a politician. By dictionary definition, politics means the act or science of government or the management of a political party, political affairs or opinions. It means MANEUVERING AND INTRIGUING. A politician, by dictionary definition, means an INTRIGUER OR A MANEUVRERER or one who is interested in party/ partisan politics or one engaged in political life/ affairs, one who makes a profession or a game of politics.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Reflection

With REV. FR. JOHN DAMIAN ADIZIE PHONE: 08076635886

Africans Cannot Exist Without Their Religion One of the controversial issues that came up at the ongoing National Conference is the issue of religion. Members of the Confab defined Nigeria as a secular nation that has little or nothing to do with religion.

With this, they came up with the following proposals: that the government will no longer sponsor pilgrimage with public funds and that religious institution should start paying tax to the government. This decision came up when a delegate representing civil organisations, Mallam Naseer Kura, during his contribution on the report of the Committee on Religion, said that religious leaders were making much money and should be taxed. It was as though religion was part of the problems facing Nigeria which members of the Confab were summoned to address.

One of the arguments that support this payment of tax by religious bodies is the fact that religious elites are abusing the poor in the society, according to them, “some people buy private jets when people in their churches are suffering and living in abject poverty.” This is another way of saying, religious leaders are free to exploit the masses and even acquire as many jets as possible, so long as they pay tax to the government. Can two wrongs ever make a right?

There is nothing wrong with the payment of taxes. After all, taxes are needed to bring about the required development.

Moreover, the observation that some religious elites are making a lot of money and some are even abusing the poor is a true observation but two wrongs cannot make a right. When two elephant fight it is always the grass that suffers. If the government decides to tax the Churches and Mosques where will they get the money to pay the tax? Certainly from the poor masses! The so called religious elites will now have a legal backing to impose more levies on the members of the Church and Mosque so as to pay tax to the government. By then Religion will no longer be a spiritual entity but a businesscapitalist empire.

The issue at stake is not all about religious taxation; it is rather the passionate hatred people are developing against religion. The discussion of the confab on religion was as though religion is the major problem of Nigeria. But is

religion really the cause of the problems in Nigeria? Is religion the cause of unemployment, insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria? What has religion to do with bomb blast, kidnappings and even the current Boko Harram attacks?

Is religion the institution that vowed to make the current regime ungovernable if…?

Was religion the major reason for summoning the Confab?

The war against religion did not actually start today. The war against religion is as old as religion itself. Incidentally, most of those who fought against religion have died and rotten in their graves yet religion is still striving. One of the hard-hitting attacks against religion was launched by Karl Marx, a German economist, who defined religion as the opium of the people: “Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”. For him, religion can only offer illusory happiness. It is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.

These were some of the theories that brought the Western religion to an end, thereby turning the Western world into a secular society, a society where religion has little or nothing to offer to the society, a society where religion is seen as a threat to human freedom and emancipation. Considering the direct opposition against religion, Friedrich Nietzsche declared openly that “God is dead.” Nietzche narrated the parable of a madman who came out with a lantern during the day searching for God. He approached some atheist and asked them, “Where has God gone?” One of them replied, “I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers.” For Nietzche, the search for God in the Western world is a fruitless search since God is dead in the minds of the people.

Nietzsche’s death of God and religion depicts the cultural shift away from faith towards rationalism and science.

Nietzsche’s theory suggests the ending of long-established standards of morality and of purpose. Now you can see the reason why the western world frowns at anything that has to do with religious values and standard? Schools are not even

allowed to teach moral instructions or anything that has to do with religion. They see religious values as indoctrination or if you like, a

secularism The reverse is the case in most African societies. Africans, as Professor John Mbiti rightly describes, are notoriously religious. “A person cannot detach himself from the religion of his group, for to do so is to be severed from his roots, his

Africans are deeply religious beings. This claim was made because “Africans have a profound religious sense, a sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the Creator and of a spiritual world. The reality of sin in its individual and social forms is very much

rich irreligious man dies so many men of God will attend his funeral but when a poor religious man dies they will send an ordinary Catechist to perform the burial service.

What we have in Nigeria is a capitalist religion and not a spiritual religion.

form of brainwashing.

Most of the problem facing the Western world today is rooted in secularism. The more the society becomes antireligious the more secular it becomes. The more secular the society becomes the more immoral and inhuman it becomes.

The level of immorality in the world today is as a result of secularism. Pope Francis lamented that secularism has not just destroyed religious values it has also launched a direct attack against procreation: according to him, “secularism is now dominant in the West, which ends the values-based reason to have children… And more and more secular individuals find that their desire to nurture is fulfilled by loving cats and dogs.” The legalization of immoral and inhuman practices such as abortion, gay marriages, artificial family planning, are all rooted in the principle of

foundation, his context of security, his kinships and the entire group of those who make him aware of his own existence.

To be without one of these corporate elements of life is to be out of the whole picture.

Therefore, to be without religion amounts to a selfexcommunication from the entire life of society and African peoples do not know how to exist without religion” (John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, p. 2). Africans are by nature religious beings. You cannot separate an African from his religion. Religion is not a personal practice as members of the Nigerian Confab alleged. In fact, almost all the members of the Confab belong to one religion or another, Majority of them either belongs to Christianity, Islamic religion or African traditional religions.

Even the Late Pope John Paul II, in his Ecclesia in Africa, acknowledged the fact that the

present in the consciousness of these peoples, as is also the need for rites of purification and expiation” (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 42). These were some of the inherent values that set Africa aside as a religious society and not a secular society like those in the west.

Religion and the Nigerian society have co-existed since the foundation of Nigeria.

Before now, Boko Harram and other forms of terrorism were never issues in Nigeria. 2015 is at the corner. Tension is mounting high. Usually during and after the election the religious bodies are the ones that calm the tension in the society by preaching peace, reconciliation, love and forgiveness. Yet, religious leaders are not paid for this noble task; instead, they rely on the generosity of few rich politicians. As a result most religious leaders are promoting the interest of the rich. When a

If the government wants the religious bodies to pay tax, well and good but they should start paying salaries to qualified religious leaders. From their salaries they will be able to support their families, pay taxes and then stop depending on rich politicians. With this, the government will then find an objective way to regulate the high charges by religious bodies. Religious institutions will no longer be relegated to the rich who could afford their high charges.

In a nutshell, as long as Nigeria remains an African nation it remains a religious nation. Any attempt to reduce Nigeria to a mere secular society is an attempt to raid the Nigeria of it natural identity.

Nigerians should not be carried away by western influence. Not all that glitters is gold.

Moreover, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. The fear of the Lord remains the beginning of wisdom.

“In a nutshell, as long as Nigeria remains an African nation it remains a religious nation. Any attempt to reduce Nigeria to a mere secular society is an attempt to raid the Nigeria of it natural identity. Nigerians should not be carried away by western influence. Not all that glitters is gold.”

International

Iraq: Terrorists’ Seize Chemical Weapons Site

BAGHDAD - Iraq said the Islamic State extremist group has taken control of a vast former chemical weapons facility northwest of Baghdad, where 2,500 chemical rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent sarin or their remnants

were stored along with other chemical warfare agents.

Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in a letter to U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon in a letter circulated Tuesday that “armed terrorist groups”

SANTA ANA, (USA) Marisol Hernandez recently gave her daughter a new iPhone 5S on condition she get good grades during her sophomore year of high school. Rubi Rubio already had broken two phones, so Hernandez told her daughter if she broke this one it would be her last.

One week after receiving the gift, the 15-year-old paid for the cellphone with her life after a man stole it and she died trying to get it back.

“For kids today their phone is everything to them,” Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Rubio, an animal lover who dreamed of being a veterinarian, was walking her 7-year-old sister home from school last Thursday when her phone was stolen just blocks away from their Santa Ana apartment.

A man stopped and asked Rubio for the time and when she checked her phone he grabbed it and jumped into a light gray or silver Pontiac, Bertagna said.

Rubio gave chase, jumping onto the car ’s trunk and clinging to it as the driver swerved until she fell off, Bertagna said. She struck her head on the street and died of head trauma three days later, he said.

Rubio’s mother and other relatives were grieving together at their apartment Wednesday and declined to comment.

A day earlier, Hernandez, 44, said at a news conference that her daughter seemed aware of what was going on around her in the hospital and that she thought the teenager would make it.

“She opened her eyes, looked at me for like five seconds and said, ‘Mom,” Hernandez said through tears.

“That was the last word I heard from her,” she said, according to the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/ 1n6eW7A).

The iPhone was recovered by neighbors near the scene of the accident and is now being treated as evidence in a homicide investigation, Bertagna said.

The suspect was last seen wearing a black baseball hat, white tank top and light-colored jeans and is described as a Latino in his later 20s or early 30s, said Bertagna.

Anyone with information was asked to call Santa Ana detectives.

Teen Dies Trying To Get Back Stolen Iphone

entered the Muthanna site on June 11, detained officers and soldiers from the protection force guarding the facilities and seized their weapons. The following morning the project manager spotted the looting of some equipment through the camera surveillance system before the “terrorists” disabled it, he said.

The Islamic State group, which controls parts of Syria, sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq last month and quickly captured a vast

Syrian refugee women attend a hair dressing class where they obtain crucial training to find jobs in community centre in Halba, North Lebanon.

experts left in March 2003. It states that Bunker 13 contained 2,500 sarin-filled 122-mm chemical rockets produced and fillc±‹before 1991, and about 180 tons of sodium cyanide, “a very toxic chemical and a precursor for the warfare agent tabun.”

The U.N. said the bunker was bombed during the first Gulf War in February 1991, which routed Iraq from Kuwait, and the rockets were “partially destroyed or damaged.”

It said the sarin munitions were “of poor quality” and “would largely be degraded after years of storage under the conditions existing there.” It said the tabun-filled containers were all treated with decontamination solution and likely no longer contain any agent, but “the residue of this decontamination would contain cyanides, which would still be a hazard.”

According to the report, Bunker 41 contained 2,000 empty 155-mm artillery shells contaminated with the chemical warfare agent mustard, 605 one-ton mustard containers with residues, and heavily contaminated construction material. It said the shells could contain mustard residues which can’t be used for chemical warfare but “remain highly toxic.”

Calm Returns To Former Pro-Russian Rebels Stronghold SLAVYANSK (Ukraine) The people of Slavyansk would dearly love to believe Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who promised “everything is going to be fixed up” during a lightning visit to the former bastion of pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday.

All but one street of this city of 100,000 people is without electricity and residents still

have to draw water from municipal fountains. Hundreds spent the day milling around the central square waiting for humanitarian aid. The shops are open but there are not many customers since so few people have been paid. Even if they had been, the cash machines don’t work.

Tankers distribute drinking water and two taxi vans laden

Thailand: Police Exposes Human Trafficking BANGKOK — A raid at a “We are looking for other Ring palm plantation in southern suspects, including Thais, who Thailand exposed a ring that trafficked Myanmar’s ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims into the country, police said Wednesday.

The raid on Saturday came two weeks after Thailand was demoted to the lowest level in the annual U.S. rankings of governments’ anti-trafficking efforts, principally over abusive practices in the seafood industry.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a house on a palm plantation and arrested two Myanmar men who allegedly had detained 13 Rohingya for extortion for over a month in Thailand’s Chumphon province, said police Maj. Gen. Warawuth Thaweechaikarn.

stretch of territory straddling the border between the two countries. Last week, its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the land the extremists control.

Alhakim said as a result of the takeover of Muthanna, Iraq is unable “to fulfil its obligations to destroy chemical weapons” because of the

deteriorating security situation.

He said it would resume its obligations “as soon as the security situation has improved and control of the facility has been regained.”

Alhakim singled out the capture of bunkers 13 and 41 in the sprawling complex 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad in the notorious “Sunni Triangle.”

The last major report by U.N. inspectors on the status of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program was released about a year after the

Chumphon is about 380 kilometers (240 miles) south of Bangkok.

The 10 men and three women were part of a bigger group of about 140 refugees traveling out of Myanmar’s Rakhine state by boats since May 11, but the rest were sent to different destinations after landing on the Thai shore, Warawuth said, adding that the asylum seekers were attempting to travel to China and Malaysia.

Their relatives were asked to send 50,000 baht ($1,500) to the traffickers to bring the refugees over the border to Malaysia, he said, adding that they lived in poor conditions at the plantation and that some were physically assaulted.

have been involved in the human trafficking network. I believe there will be more arrests to come,” said Col. Tikamporn Srisang of the Chumphon immigration police.

Rohingya face discrimination in Myanmar, where sectarian violence for nearly two years has left hundreds dead and more than 140,000 displaced from their homes. Many sought asylum and work in other countries, especially Malaysia, which has a Muslim majority.

Since 2013, more than 1,700 Rohingya have been arrested in Thailand after seeing their boats run aground in the country’s south.

with provisions donated by people from the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy dole out tomatoes, preserves and bacon.

The road between the city and Kramatorsk, another former pro-Russian stronghold was reopened on Wednesday, but very few vehicles have dared to make the trip until it is completely cleared of mines.

The end to the fighting after

separatist militia fled the city on Saturday in the face of a Ukrainian army advance has, however, given people hope.

And their morale was lifted further by Poroshenko’s visit on Tuesday.

“Yesterday the president came here, today it’s (Interior Minister) Arsen Avakov. They say they are going to create jobs,” said Alexander, a 42-year-

old businessman, who was afraid to give his surname.

“Those bandits (the proRussian separatists) stole $30,000 (22,000 euros) worth of my merchandise. Lots of my friends were locked up in basements by them just because they criticised them.

“Look,” he said, referring to Ukrainian troops, “there are still armed men here, but no one is afraid of them.”

Syrian national opposition coalition’s newly elected President Nadi el-Bahra speaks during press conference in Istanbul recently.

Int’l Features Female Syrian Refugees Face Harassment, Poverty

BEFORE she began working as a hairdresser, poverty forced Syrian Umm Mahmoud to seek donations for food and rent money to survive as a refugee in Lebanon.

Often men suggested she have sex with them to show her gratitude, the 32-year-old said.

Her experiences echo among Syrian refugee women. Across the region, they lead about a quarter of all Syrian refugee families, which number some 145,000, the United Nations estimated in a report issued Tuesday.

“If you want to eat in Lebanon, you must eat your dignity,” said Umm Mahmoud. Her husband was disabled in fighting in Syria, leaving her to care for their five children alone. “To stay honorable, it means to go hungry sometimes. She who doesn’t have a husband or protector — they are always the most vulnerable,” she

said.

Syrians made refugees by the war in their country, now in its fourth year, number nearly three million across neighboring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. Most live in poverty as they hustle for food, jobs, accommodation and health care.

Women-headed households face additional burdens: they are often poorer, and many must push their children to work instead of attending school. Their husbands were either killed, captured, badly wounded or divorced.

The U.N. says they struggle particularly to pay rent and keep food on the table.

Women also say they are sexually harassed by landlords, employers and local charity workers. In the region’s conservative societies, they say, women who don’t have a male protector are viewed as easy prey and sexually promiscuous.

“The women who are widowed, or whose husbands are missing, or disabled, they face (sexual) extortion and pressure,” said Saadia Ghneim, the head of a community center in the northern Lebanese town of Halba. The center offers courses like hairdressing, sewing, computer and language training, helping Syrian and Lebanese women in an impoverished district find jobs.

Umm Mahmoud’s life turned around after a hairdressing course that allowed her work in a salon.

She stopped asking local charities and Muslim sheiks for help, and only receives food aid from the U.N. Umm Mahmoud, from the Syrian city of Homs, said that before she found work, she survived by pretending not to hear the offers of sex suggested to her as she knocked at the doors of charities.

“They would ask, why are

refused to acknowledge each other, brokered by a neighboring Islamist government — would have been unthinkable before the Arab Spring reshaped the region less than two years ago, toppling autocrats who had long held political Islam at bay and strengthening the hand of once-isolated groups such as Hamas.

Morsi had played a different game than his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. While Egypt had negotiated peace treaties before, critics of the Egyptian autocrat had long argued that he had bowed to Israeli and U.S. pressure to isolate the Gaza Strip and Hamas. Morsi, of course, was part of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that eventually gave birth to Hamas. Soon after entering office, he eased travel for Palestinians across the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, a small but clearly noteworthy change of course.

As negotiations began in November 2012, no one was surprised that Morsi came down on the side of the Palestinians. What was surprising, however, was that he seemed to be able to do so without alienating the Israelis.

The Egyptian president pledged to adhere to the 1979

Israel-Egypt peace treaty, for example, and kept lines of communication to Israel and the United States open as tensions grew.

The communication and good faith proved fruitful: Just minutes before the brokered truce went into effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly said that he wanted to express his “appreciation for the efforts of Egypt to obtain a cease-fire.”

Times have changed, and Morsi isn’t around to help mediate today’s IsraeliPalestinian crisis. Egypt’s first democratically elected leader was forced out of office a year ago; he is facing a number of criminal charges related to his time in office. Morsi was eventually replaced by Egyptian military leader Abdel Fatah al-Sissi in an election this year that left many international observers underwhelmed.

Exactly what Sissi makes of the Palestinian situation is unclear. On the one hand, since his election, he has significantly tightened the borders with the Gaza Strip.

However, before he was elected, he said he would not receive an Israeli prime minister without concessions to Palestinians. Egypt’s ambassador to the Palestinian

you coming in the day? Why not come at night?”

For women who lived in poverty in Syria, becoming refugees has worsened their situation. Such is the lot of Yasmine Shreiteh, 27, who shelters with her father and four sisters in a garage they rent for $100 a month.

Her father fell from a balcony in Syria, breaking his back. One of her sisters was born disabled, and their mother abandoned them, she said.

“I am learning how to sew so I can support my family,” said Shreiteh, as she stitched a pair of trousers in the sewing course at the community center in Halba.

“And also to support myself for the future and to have a profession, so I won’t need to rely on anybody later,” she said.

In other women-led

households, children are pushed into work.

Zeinab Abu Salah, 16, came from an education-focused family. But her father was wounded in the war, and the family fled to Lebanon. The teenager said she watched her mother struggle as a hairdresser, trying to feed and educate her and her four brothers.

“One person can’t take care of everything,” said Abu Salah. “When I saw she needed help, I had to help.”

The teen said she was in eighth grade, having lost years of school to war. She was also taking a hairdressing course and working alongside her mother, helping pay for her siblings’ educations.

The U.N. has repeatedly pleaded for more money to help Syrian refugees, having only funded one-third of their budget for the task. They also ask governments to help protect Syrian women, and

call on wealthier countries to resettle women-led households as a priority.

“Syrian refugee women are the glue holding together a broken society. Their strength is extraordinary, but they are struggling alone,” said Angelina Jolie, the U.N’s refugee agency special envoy, in a statement following the report.

For Umm Mahmoud, a conservative Muslim, she said her experiences of being vulnerable made her realize how far Syria’s communal fabric had unraveled. One experience, meeting a Syrian widow with children who worked as a prostitute in northern Lebanon, changed her.

“I used to see these women and fault them. Now I think of (the widow’s) children and the situation in Syria, and how nobody cares about her, and I can’t blame her anymore. I see now that God’s forgiveness is mighty.”

• Courtesy AP

Morsi, Man Israeli-Palestinian Crisis Needs Most MOHAMED Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was ousted last year.

Less than two years ago, the situation between Israel and the Palestinian territories seemed to be on the brink of disaster. In November 2012, Israeli airstikes pummeled the Gaza Strip while militants fired rockets back at Israeli towns. As scores of Palestinians died and Israeli families cowered, the international community seemed split and unsure about how to deal with it.

Experienced international mediators looked impotent.

In fact, the one man who seemed able to step in had been a world leader only for a few months. And, unfortunately, he would be a world leader only for a few months longer.

At the time, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s role in the Israeli-Palestinian talks was something of a revelation.

After the conclusion of the talks, all sides seemed to agree that Egypt had played the key role in solving the crisis. Here’s how The Post’s Michael Birnbaum put it in 2012: The end result — an agreement between Israel and Hamas, which have long

Israeli soldiers drive a tank to a position near Israel Gaza border yeterday.

territories, Wael Nasr El-Din, attended the funeral of the Palestinian teenager allegedly killed by Israeli extremists this weekend and there is talk of some kind of Egyptbrokered deal happening.

Hamas is certainly not a natural ally for Egypt’s new government, but, as Palestinian political scientist Ali Jarbawi noted in an op-ed for the New York Times, Sissi

does appear to be trying to move his foreign policy away from U.S. interests into a more independent direction.

More support for Palestinian causes may be a way for him to show Egypt’s geopolitical clout in the face of other regional giants such as Turkey and Iran.

Would Morsi have been able to defuse the current tensions between the Israelis and the

Palestinians? Perhaps not – this situation is different from the one in 2012 and arguably far more complicated. But it’s hard to deny that with the military coup that ousted Morsi, one of the glimmers of hope in Middle East diplomacy appears to have been extinguished just before we needed it most. And we’re still not entirely sure what has replaced it.

• Courtesy AP

International Palestinian Death Toll Rises To 74 As Israel Hits Gaza Over Rocket Fire

GAZA/JERUSALEM - At least 74 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, Palestinian officials said yesterday, and militants kept up rocket attacks on Tel Aviv and other cities in warfare showing no signs of ending soon.

Eight Palestinian family members, including five children, were killed in an early morning air strike that destroyed at least two homes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Palestinian Health ministry said.

Israel’s military made no comment on what would be the deadliest strike since the offensive began on Tuesday.

“We have long days of fighting ahead of us,” Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said yesterday on Twitter of the offensive which began after a build-up of violence following the killing of three Jewish students last month and the murder of a Palestinian teen in a suspected revenge attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will brief the Security Council on the crisis later yesterday, condemned the rocket attacks and urged Israel to show restraint. “Gaza is on a knife edge,” he told reporters.

Medical officials in Hamasdominated Gaza said at least 60 civilians, including a fouryear-old girl and boy, aged 5 who were killed yesterday, were among the 74 Palestinians who have died in Israeli attacks since Tuesday.

Israel says it has struck more than 750 targets in an offensive intended to halt persistent rocket fire at its own civilian population, which escalated after Israeli forces arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank following the abduction of the Jewish teenagers.

It accuses Hamas Islamists of deliberately putting innocent Palestinians in harm’s way by placing weaponry and gunmen in residential areas.

Across the Gaza Strip, plumes of smoke and rubble marked the aftermath of Israeli attacks in the most serious outbreak of hostilities between Palestinian militants and Israel’s powerful armed forces in two years.

“The Jews say they are fighting Hamas and fighting gunmen while all the bodies we have seen on television are those of women and children,” said Khaled Ali, 45, a Gaza taxi driver.

Rocket barrages on Israel the military said there have

been 365 since Tuesday - have caused no fatalities or serious injuries, due in part to interceptions by Israel’s partly U.S.-funded Iron Dome aerial defence system.

But the wailing of air raid sirens has paralysed business in southern communities and sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for shelter

in Tel Aviv, the commercial capital where two rockets were shot down yesterday, but offices and shops remain open and roads are clogged with traffic.

Cities close to the northern Haifa port and the holy city of Jerusalem have also been

targeted.

Israel’s targets in the Gaza Strip have included militant commanders’ homes, which it described as command and control centres. Palestinian officials put the number of dwellings either destroyed or

Afghan Army and Police search through a police station after the Taliban staged a multipronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan, yesterday.

damaged at more than 120.

Local residents said some of the houses did not belong to fighters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement on Wednesday, said Hamas was committing “a double war crime”.

“It targets Israeli civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians,” he said.

Owners of some of the targeted homes received telephoned warnings from Israel to get out, or so-called “knock-on-the-door” missiles, which do not carry explosive warheads, were first fired as a signal to evacuate.

Scenes of families fleeing their homes have been playing out daily.

Israeli leaders, who have popular support for the Gaza offensive, have also warned the air offensive could be expanded into a ground invasion of one of the world’s most densely populated territories.

Some 20,000 reservists have been mobilised, the military says.

Palestinian militants intensified their cross-border rocket fire toward Israel in mid-June, after Israeli forces

had arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the West Bank in tandem with a search for the three missing high school students.

The violence spiralled as Israel mounted air strikes and militants shot more rockets across the border.

Egypt brokered a truce in the 2012 war but such a role could prove difficult now.

Accusing Hamas of aiding militants in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula - an allegation it denies- the military-backed government in Cairo has destroyed smuggling tunnels through which cash, weaponry and consumer goods flowed to Gaza, which has been under tight Israeli and Egyptian border restrictions.

While backing Israel’s right to self-defence, Washington on Wednesday called on both sides to de-escalate.

U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank, has denounced the offensive.

“This war is not against Hamas or any faction but is against the Palestinian people,” Abbas, who entered a power-sharing deal with Hamas in April after years of feuding, said on Wednesday.

militants involved in firing rockets. The militant group confirmed that its men were killed in the strike. Hamas officials said that the Palestinian side of its border crossing with Israel had also been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes.

The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported 81 deaths thus far, saying about half were women and children though the exact breakdown remains unclear.

Israel accuses militants of deliberately endangering civilians by using homes and other civilian buildings for cover. The military has also directly targeted the offices and homes of known militants that it says are used as command centers. The military typically contacts the families first to ask civilians to evacuate before striking its targets.

Israel Escalates Aerial Offensive On Gaza JERUSALEM — Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza yesterday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported 16 people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel’s missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country’s heartland.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Israel struck more than 320 Hamas targets overnight, focusing on underground tunnel networks and rocket launching sites. That brought the total number of targets hit to 750 in three days of the massive offensive that has killed at least 80 Palestinians.

Lerner said Israel has already mobilized 20,000 reservists for a possible ground operation into Gaza, but for the time being Israel remained focused on maximizing its air campaign. A ground invasion could lead to heavy civilian casualties on the Palestinian side while putting Israeli ground forces in danger.

Neither side is showing any sign of halting their heaviest fighting since an eight-day battle in late 2012. Israel says that Hamas must cease rocket fire from Gaza for Israel to consider a truce. Militants have fired hundreds of rockets, striking across the length of

Israel and disrupting life across the country. No one has been seriously harmed as the “Iron Dome” defense system has intercepted at least 70 of the projectiles destined for major population centers.

“The ground option needs to be the last option and only if it is absolutely necessary. It is a carefully designed plan of action,” Lerner said.

The Israeli security Cabinet was meeting to discuss its next moves.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the operation was going according to plan, with Israel targeting various Hamas interests.

“The military’s successes so far have been very significant,” he said. “We will continue until they understand that this escalation is not beneficial to them and that we will not tolerate rocket fire toward our towns and citizens.”

Palestinian medical officials said a strike early yesterday struck a home in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing eight members of the Al Haj family. Tractors cleared away large piles of debris from the demolished building as one man laid atop a mattress and blankets that remained.

Earlier, at least eight others were killed when a strike hit a Gaza beach cafe where they

were watching a World Cup semifinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands, said Mahmoud Sawali, who said he lost at least two of his brothers in the attack.

“We only ask of help from God. Here I have two brothers who are martyrs, and I’m looking for the third,” he said.

The Israeli military said it was investigating both incidents. It also said it struck a car in Gaza carrying three Islamic Jihad

Israeli soldiers sit atop a tank outside the central Gaza strip recently.

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Argentine Journalist Dies In Brazil Car Crash

Argentina’s Goalkeeper Sergio Romero saves shot from Ron Vlaar of the Netherlands during a penalty shootout

Germany Told Not To ‘Ridicule’ Brazil

GERMANY have revealed that their players were told not to embarrass Brazil by coasting through the second half of Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal.

With Joachim Low’s side having gone 5-0 in front before half an hour had been played on an astonishing night in Belo Horizonte, the players were told not to “ridicule” the shattered hosts after the break.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff said he had urged them to continue to “play seriously,” and two more goals were added as Germany won 7-1.

Bierhoff told German TV network ARD: “It was, at least in parts, a humiliation. At half-time, we told the players to be respectful with the result and not ridicule Brazil.

At the final whistle, Germany players comforted their distressed opponents, and Bierhoff said: “They did that by intuition. Some of them know each other from their clubs, are teammates, and we’ve also gone through the pressure of being hosts in 2006.

You could see that pressure with the Brazilians.”

Germany’s win was the biggest ever in a World Cup semifinal, and could have been worse when Mesut Ozil missed a late chance to make it 8-0 shortly before Oscar ’s consolation goal.

Centre-back Mats Hummels, substituted with a knee

our respect, because we could also go to the dogs like that.”

Bierhoff also calmed fears that Hummels could miss the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday, saying his substitution had been “a precautionary measure” and adding: “I’d like to think that it will not be a problem.”

home to Brazil’s busiest airport.

Argentina’s national team, which plays the Netherlands in the city later on Wednesday in the World Cup semi-final, lamented the loss of Jorge ‘Topo’ Lopez via its official Twitter account, expressing their condolences to his wife, children and co-workers at Radio La Red and newspaper Ole Sports.

Argentine reporter Maria Soledad Fernandez was killed in a car crash on July 2 while travelling to Belo Horizonte from Sao Paulo.

responsibility in front of a 70,000-strong crowd and a TV audience of tens of millions.

In fact, when you think of that audience and that pressure, perhaps it would be harsh to blame them too much – although it is unlikely Van Gaal will see it that way.

Until that point, it seemed Van Gaal may have conjured up yet another way to win.

Acknowledging the threat Messi posed he rushed De Jong back just nine days after his tournament was declared over due to a groin problem.

He was rewarded with the kind of bustling, dogmatic, destructive performance he would have craved from the AC Milan midfielder. De Jong followed Messi everywhere, and barely allowed him a touch.

That Messi’s only shot came from a free-kick – i.e. the one time De Jong wasn’t allowed near him – was instructive.

When Argentina came forward they were faced with a line of six to beat as Van Gaal’s back three was augmented by wing-backs Dirk Kuyt and Daley Blind, as well as De Jong.

With Arjen Robben, Georginio Wijnaldum and Welsey Sneijder also tucking in, Holland were solid and compact, offering precious little encouragement to their South American opponents.

But the knock-on effect was that Van Persie was completely isolated up front, and that neither Robben nor Sneijder could get the ball in areas where they could cause any real damage.

That Robben touched the ball only six times in the first-half was both instructive and a little depressing.

Van Gaal Bows Out With His Reputation Enhanced

YOU suspect Louis Van Gaal hates the notion that penalties are a lottery.

To Van Gaal, everything is it was one that had worked controllable. Risks can always be perfectly. The little maestro was minimised. The possibility of anonymous, marked out of the game first by Nigel De Jong and defeat can always be lessened.

He, you could say, had played his then Jordy Clasie, a triumph for part. He had said he had a plan for Van Gaal and his meticulous Lionel Messi and Argentina, and plans.

The problem was that Holland were unable to offer anything going forward, scarcely a threat in a game that - Arjen Robben presenting descended swiftly into after a tense semifinal. Their stalemate.

Yet Van Gaal’s tactics reward? A third World Cup final guaranteed a penalty shoot-out with Germany.

Reflecting on the spot-kick loss for his side, one which he would to Argentina after 120 minutes of have been hugely confident of attritional football had ended winning after his team’s heroics against Costa Rica in the last goalless, he said: “Penalties are eight. not only a game of pure chance But there were three problems — we’ve shown that against Costa that even Van Gaal couldn’t Rica. We did a very good job overcome. there, and were really successful.

The first was that he couldn’t “It didn’t work out today during switch goalkeepers and bring on the penalties. We also had some Tim Krul for Jasper Cillessen as bad luck but, sadly, that’s part of he did in the quarter-final. football.”

Cillessen had never saved a But despite the disappointment, penalty before in his entire Robben looked back on what he career. He still hasn’t.

The second was that two of his felt was a successful tournament for the Dutch, saying: “I am guaranteed penalty takers, De incredibly proud of what we have Jong and Robin Van Persie, had achieved. We presented ourselves both already been substituted due to fatigue. really well.”

Germany Will Win Final NETHERLANDS winger Arjen Robben has said Germany will win the World Cup after his side were knocked out in the semifinals on penalties by Argentina.

Louis van Gaal’s Dutch team will now meet Brazil in the thirdplace playoff on Saturday, having been unable to repeat their shootout win over Costa Rica in the quarterfinals.

Robben, one of the stars of the World Cup, was unequivocal when asked who he thought would triumph at the Maracana in Sunday’s final.

“Germany’s going to win the World Cup. No doubt about that.

The Argentines will not stand a chance,” kicker quoted him as saying.

Argentina outlasted the Dutch

problem, said in quotes reported

by Focus: “I didn’t pity them, but I did empathise. You don’t wish a game like that on any team.

“That’s why we wanted to continue playing seriously and not mock them. By no means did we want to ridicule them with any tricks. We wanted to show

ARGENTINE sports journalist Jorge Lopez was killed early on Wednesday after his taxi was hit by a stolen car fleeing police, making him the second reporter from his country to die in a wreck in Brazil during the World Cup. Lopez died at the scene of the accident in downtown Guarulhos and the taxi driver was injured, a police spokeswoman said. Police later detained three people who were in the stolen black Nissan in the city, which is 12 miles (20 km) from Sao Paulo and is

And the third, the one that will really stick in the craw, is that two players refused to take the opening kick. It was telling that Van Gaal called them out afterwards, acknowledging his side had ceded all momentum once Sergio Romero had saved Ron Vlaar’s opening penalty.

“I asked two players to take the first ball before ending up with Vlaar,” said Van Gaal. “I thought he was the best player on the pitch so should have confidence.”

When it came down to it, two players simply didn’t believe in themselves enough to take on the

Louis Van Gaal

Louis Van Gaal Defends Sub Decisions

Argentina celebrate

Mascherano’s Never-Say-Die Spirit Could Yet Prove Decisive

AS the Argentina squad joyously ran towards Sergio Romero, and Leo Messi emotionally let it all out, there was one player conspicuously left at the centre circle following the squad’s penalty shoot-out victory.

Javier Mascherano had sunk to his knees, as if overcome by the moment rather than energised by that mood, but even people like it. It was the only time that could Romero perpetuate it. have been said on the night, in You only have to look his what was a masterclass by the recent career in the context of defensive midfielder against the the night and the rest of the Netherlands. squad.

It was also quite an image, but The goalkeeper has just not the only one like it. Alejandro endured a dreadful season on Sabella described Mascherano loan at Monaco, where he has himself as “a symbol, an barely played, and there was emblem”. significant doubt before the He certainly symbolises what World Cup over whether he this team has become. If Messi would make Alejandro remains Argentina’s best player, Sabella’s line-up.

Mascherano best reflects their He did more than that. He laid resilience, their doggedness. It the path to the final with those could be the difference on Sunday. remarkable saves.

It certainly was in Sao Paulo.

That is itself further reflective You only have to consider his of the side’s resilience. In a key contributions on the night, and team of so many stars, it is what they meant. someone who has struggled in Most crucially, there was the their club career who stood up. last-minute last-ditch challenge on Similarly, on another night Arjen Robben, just as the Dutch when that fearsome forward forward seemed set to finish line failed to fire, the back-up Argentina’s World Cup for good. cast showed the necessary Most evocatively, after the spark. game itself had finished 0-0, there There’s been a phrase around was the moment just before the the Argentinian camp that sums penalty shoot-out. With the it up. The “fantastic four” majority of the Argentina squad Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo walking around anxiously, Higuain and Angel Di Maria Mascherano displayed no such have become “11 warriors”. hesitation and wanted to ensure Romero summed it up. his goalkeeper didn’t either.

“We’ve grown a lot,” the The midfielder grabbed goalkeeper said afterwards, Romero, went in close, and clutching the match ball that declared: “Tonight, you make had been given to him as a gift. yourself a hero.”

From the first game [of this Romero duly did so. The World Cup], there’s been penalties of Ron Vlaar and Wesley criticism and the team has Sneijder were kept out, Argentina changed. The team puts their went through. lives onto that pitch, they kill That it came down to the for each other. goalkeeper and a shoot-out is “That’s important. We’re a arguably something of an group. You can see it on the indictment for Argentina, pitch. Everyone runs for especially after Germany had everyone on the pitch.” been so sensationally brilliant in That is difficult to dispute, embarrassing Brazil 7-1. but it should only add to the It also, however, displays one of debate ahead of the final. their more intangible qualities.

While Germany are probably This team have an extraordinary the better team, there isn’t the capacity to dig in, to abrasively same sense as against Brazil and aggressively refuse to be that, if Jogi Loew’s team play beaten. to their level, they will win.

Mascherano is key to setting

It isn’t that simple.

Argentina’s abrasive aggression is well capable of complicating things, regardless of how the Germans perform.

Sabella’s side have an extraordinary durability, as displayed by the manner in which they’ve made it to the Maracana.

Argentina have now endured a penalty shoot-out and five separate one-goal wins. In those

victories, two of the goals came in the final moments, with one in stoppage time and another three minutes from the end of extra-time.

Those strike may not have seen Argentina to kick on in the manner they might have, but did give them to belief to dig their heels in, no matter what is happening in a match.

Mascherano proves that more than anyone. He also ensures so many others follow.

AFTER being knocked out of the World Cup on penalties, Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal defended his substitutions and shooting order that proved to be the Oranje’s undoing in Wednesday’s semifinal against Argentina.

Argentina outlasted the Dutch after a tense semifinal.

Their reward? A third World Cup final with Germany.

In the quarterfinals, Van Gaal’s decision to replace starting goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul paid off as the second-choice man guessed the right direction on every penalty and lifted the Dutch past Costa Rica.

But in this game, Van Gaal used all three of his substitutes before the 120 minutes were up, and Cillessen failed to save any of Argentina’s four penalties.

“If I had the opportunity to

Mascherano been attended to by the team doctor

Argentina Wanted Penalties - Sneijder WESLEY Sneijder is convinced Argentina were content to play for penalties after Netherlands were knocked out of the World Cup semi-finals 4-2 on spotkicks.

Neither side could break the deadlock over 120 minutes of action, with Arjen Robben denied by a lastditch tackle from Javier Mascherano, before Rodrigo Palacio and Maxi Rodriguez went close for the Albiceleste.

That mean the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, where Sergio Romero saved from

Sneijder and defender Ron Vlaar for Argentina to clinch a place in the World Cup final, much to the dismay of the Galatasaray midfielder.

“We deserved more,” the 30-year-old insisted.

“Argentina gambled on deciding the game on penalties, while we always tried to win. I missed my penalty, I am sorry, but we could also have scored one of our opportunities in the 120 minutes.”

Dirk Kuyt was in similarly despondent mood after the game and in no mood to congratulate Argentina on their victory, claiming he was

not impressed with Alejandro Sabella’s side.

“Argentina have not impressed, despite having players the calibre of [Lionel] Messi,” he added.

“We have expressed a great defensive game, but we did struggle to find [Arjen] Robben and [Robin] Van Persie.

“I’m disappointed, we came so close to reaching a second successive final.”

Netherlands face Brazil in the third place play-off on Saturday as they bid to round off the competition on a high note.

substitute Jasper, I would’ve done it, but I had already used three substitutes, so I couldn’t do that,” Van Gaal said after the match.

Right back Daryl Janmaat replaced Bruno Martins at halftime, Jordy Clasie entered for the ineffective Nigel de Jong, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar took over for Robin van Persie in extra time. The manager said he had little choice but to make all three subs, none of which were for purely tactical reasons.

“I substituted Janmaat for Indi because Martins Indi already had a yellow card,” Van Gaal said. “I didn’t want to take a risk with De Jong because he would be injured.

I substituted Van Persie because he was exhausted.”

Van Gaal was also questioned about choosing centre-back Ron Vlaar to take the Dutch’s first penalty, which Sergio Romero saved with little trouble.

When Robin van Persie, above, came off for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Netherlands were unable to change goalkeepers for the penalty shootout.

“I felt Vlaar was the best player on the pitch and he has a great deal of confidence,” Van Gaal said “It just goes to show that when push comes to shove, it’s not easy to score a goal in penalties.”

Ironically, Van Gaal was Romero’s first manager in Europe when the goalkeeper joined Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in 2009.

“I didn’t teach Romero to stop penalties,” Van Gaal said. “We were the club that brought him to Europe because he was a big talent.

He is the one who has the merits for that. ... Alkmaar was his first [European] club and I was the manager there.”

Romero gave credit to his former manager after the match.

“I went to the dressing room to congratulate him,” the goalkeeper said of Van Gaal.

“He helped me a lot when I arrived in Holland in a completely different country.

He spoke Spanish and helped me a lot. So just as I’m grateful to Alejandro, I’m also grateful to Van Gaal and everything he did for me.

PSG, Monaco Show Petr Cech Interest

PETR Cech’s agent has said Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco have both enquired about the goalkeeper’s availability, but insisted his client has no reason to believe his future does not lie with Chelsea.

Cech, 32, could lose his place in Jose Mourinho’s team to Thibaut Courtois who is expected to return from a three-year loan spell with Atletico Madrid this summer.

Courtois impressed during his time in Spain, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Europa League as well as helping Atletico reach the Champions League final.

However, as it stands, Mourinho has not given Cech any reason to doubt his place at Chelsea is under threat.

Petr Cech

Barcelona ‘Make £70m Bid For Suarez

BARCELONA have made an opening offer of around £70 million in cash for Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, according to reports.

The Guardian says Barcelona Rakitic. have made the eye-watering offer “Our representatives are after a club source revealed constantly travelling to other “productive talks” have been held countries because of potential between the two clubs. signings.

A Liverpool source told the Guardian: “The talks were productive. There were sensible expectations on both sides and there will be further discussions to take place. But nothing is finalised as of now.”

Furthermore, according to Catalan radio station RAC1, talks for the Uruguay striker have reached a “crucial stage”, with the Spanish club sending their chief transfer negotiator Raul Sanllehi for discussions with the Liverpool hierarchy on Wednesday.

However, in Spain the value of the bid has been put nearer £56 million.

The Daily Mail is even reporting that the fee offered by Barcelona could be as high as £72m.

Despite talk of Alexis Sanchez being included as part of the deal, RAC1 claim it will be a cash only offer, with the Chile forward reportedly not keen on being part of the transfer.

The fee is short of the £80m Liverpool were apparently set to Luis Suarez demand, but it would still be a club record, eclipsing the £50m they received for Fernando Torres.

Suarez will of course be banned A Russian politician has from the initial stages of the coming called on Fabio Capello to season after the four-month ban handed down by FIFA after the resign following the Uruguayan bit Italian defender national team’s early exit at Giorgio Chiellini in their group the 2014 World Cup, game at the World Cup. branding the former With Sanchez apparently out of England manager “greedy” the picture, it seems unlikely that and a “thief.”

Liverpool would accept a lower Russia failed to qualify cash figure than they were looking for, so although negotiations are clearly underway, this saga could have some time to run yet.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu refused to confirm the club were in talks with Liverpool, but did praise Suarez over his apology for the Chiellini incident.

“I announced months ago that the team would undergo a deep renovation but we cannot reveal details because we don’t want to give clues away to any of our rivals,” Bartomeu said on Wednesday, as they confirmed the signing of Sevilla midfielder Ivan Luis Suarez

Euro Papers: Barca ‘about to sign more than just Suarez’ Luis Suarez to Barcelona discussions begin today, sez everyone! However, another world-class player also looks Camp Nou-bound soon.

“Suarez is a Liverpool player

so I can’t talk about him, he belongs to another team, a rival team. But we are all football men, and saying sorry is honourable, it helps the competition.

“He did something that wasn’t right, so it’s the responsibility of everyone in football, be it Liverpool or anywhere else, to remember that he has said sorry.

Admitting you have done something wrong is very important.

“Luis has apologised and that is honourable, he’s taken a step towards rehabilitating, the football world should support him and help him,” added Bartomeu. “As a football fan I hope he can turn a corner.”

It’s an open secret that the two clubs have held a meeting over what could well be the blockbuster deal of the summer, but whether these latest reports are absolutely accurate remains to be seen. The Spanish media and English for that matter - can be prone to misinformation but it would make sense for Barca to test the water and the fact that stories are emerging from both countries suggests they could be true. Barcelona might have to up their offer somewhat, though.

“Nothing changes. He has two years left on his Chelsea contract and has an interest to continue there. Mourinho did not tell him that he would not count on him anymore,” Viktor Kolar told Aktualne.

“We have not been given any signals that Petr would be made available [for transfer].

If that was the case, though, you have to realise that Petr is one of the world’s top goalkeepers and has a certain salary. There are not many clubs who could afford to sign him.

“If he were to leave, we’re discussing two or three clubs in the world. The situation has developed in a way, of course, but for now he is staying at Chelsea.”

Petr Cech has won three Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League with Chelsea.

Should Cech move on he would have no shortage of options across Europe’s elite clubs, according to Kolar, who has talked up interest from France, Spain and Germany.

He said: “Paris SaintGermain have shown interest and we have also communicated with Monaco.

Juventus Sign PSG’s Kingsley Coman

JUVENTUS have signed of PSG youngster Kingsley Coman and have registered his contract with the Lega Serie A in a move similar to the signing of Paul Pogba from Manchester United.

Coman, 18, arrives on a free transfer from Paris SaintGermain after his contract in the French capital expired in the summer. However, the Serie A champions will have to pay their Ligue 1 counterparts compensation for the years he spent in their youth development scheme.

Should the two clubs fail to

Fabio Capello Branded A ‘Greedy from Group H, drawing two and losing one of their Thief’ games as Belgium and Algeria progressed into the round of 16.

Former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Juventus boss Capello is the highest-paid manager in international football and, with Russia set to host the 2018 World Cup, he is under increasing scrutiny.

“We need to look into his work and ask him to resign,” Vladimir Zhirinovsky was reported as saying by the Russian media. “But he’s greedy, so of course he won’t. It’s pretty good to get [millions] for doing nothing. The team lost and it doesn’t affect his pay in any way. Thief!”

Zhirinovsky, Russia’s most controversial politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic party, also called for Capello to be summoned to face the Duma’s sports committee and criticised the Italian’s appearance.

“Even the way he looks makes it hard to like him,” he added. “He looks like a schoolteacher.”

Fabio Capello is the highest earning manager in international football.

Another Russian MP, Oleg Pakholkov, claimed Capello only took the job as manager of Russia because of the handsome salary.

He said: “I think Capello knew very well he would

“I would get in touch with [Andoni] Zubizarreta [at Barcelona] and people at Real Madrid. These are clubs we would consider if Chelsea wanted to get rid of Petr. We would also consider Bayern but they have [Manuel] Neuer there.

“Then there are leagues Petr would not go to, for instance, Serie A, because clubs in that league have problems.”

Despite the uncertainty Cech hopes to remain at Chelsea with plans for him to stay at the club after his retirement as a player already being discussed.

“Petr isn’t 20 [years old] any more. His family are satisfied living in London,” Kolar said. “Petr is satisfied at Chelsea and there is interest in his services even after his active football career, so that they would want him to continue in some position at the club.

“Petr is successfully continuing his recovery from his [shoulder] injury and everything is going according to the plan. He will be ready for the start of the pre-season preparation.”

achieve nothing with our team, but he simply decided it was a good way to make money. He wanted to Hoover up bundles of cash for his retirement.”

The size of the players Capello selected for the World Cup was another factor in Pakholkov’s criticism of him.

He said: “Look at the size of the Koreans — even they are bigger than us. I’m not talking about Germans or Brazilians, who are obviously giants. Our guys are twice as small as them.

I’m not against small players, but Capello’s team can’t even run fast. What are they doing in the team?”

The head of the Duma’s sports committee, Igor Ananskikh, confirmed he would call on Capello to explain Russia’s disappointing showing in Brazil.

reach an agreement, FIFA may intervene to stipulate a suitable fee.

Although those talks are continuing, Coman is free to begin training with the Turin club and is expected to link up with his new teammates on July 14.

The attacking midfielder has represented his country at all youth levels from under16 through to under-19, and also appeared for PSG in the inaugural UEFA Youth League last season.

The Bianconeri were ordered to pay United 800,000 pounds when they signed the then 19-year-old Pogba in 2012.

Pogba had spent three years in the Old Trafford youth academy, featuring three times in the Premier League, while Coman has been on PSG’s books for nine years and made his Ligue 1 debut last season.

Kingsley Coman

FG Probing Non-payment Of Eagles’ Entitlements -Danagogo THE Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo, on Wednesday said the Federal Government was probing the non-payment of the entitlements of the Super Eagles which led to the players’ protest in Brazil.

He said the Super Eagles Danagogo told State House goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, correspondents at the and other young players who Presidential Villa in Abuja that were considering retiring from the development, which occurred the team were doing so “out of at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, was embarrassing and unfortunate.

He said it was mind-boggling that in spite of President Goodluck Jonathan’s approval of funds for the payment of all the players’ match bonuses and allowances, they were still not paid.

“We know that President Jonathan approved every kobo that we needed at the World Cup and it was promptly released. So, we didn’t need to have that problem.

“Even FIFA gives money for the same thing, and the players should get their money.

“So, there is no reason on this earth why the players should not get what they should get, because government has done everything Taming Danagogo and FIFA is saying it has done everything necessary,’’ the minister said.

He said he was unaware of the development until he met the THE Minister of Sports, players in Brazil before their 0-2 Tammy Danagogo, on loss to France in the Round of 16 Wednesday in Abuja said at the World Cup competition. government did not unduly “The grumbling did not start at interfere in the affairs of the this World Cup. In fact, these Nigeria Football Association boys have been bitter that right (NFA) as being claimed by from the 2013 African Nations FIFA. Cup in South Africa and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, they Speaking with State House have entitlements that are not correspondents at the paid.

Presidential Villa, Danagogo “I wasn’t in the know of all said Nigeria was not at risk these until I got to Brazil, and we with the world football body (the National Sports over the crisis in the NFA. Commission) did our best that The minister’s assurance was possible to intervene. however came shortly before “The President of the Senate FIFA announced the country’s did everything possible to ban over Saturday’s resolve the situation, and even dissolution of the Aminu President Jonathan came in and Maigari-led NFA board. handled it as a father,’’ Danagogo He said Maigari was ousted added. by a legitimate congress of the The Sports Minister insisted NFA, following allegations that mismanagement of funds that Maigari was trying to was partly responsible for the manipulate the forthcoming crisis in the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

frustration over unpaid entitlements and other welfare issues’’.

Danagogo, however, assured Nigerians that government had put measures in place to ensure the welfare of players was taken care of.

He said government, in this regard, was footing the medical

bills of the three players who were injured at the ongoing World Cup in hospitals of their choice around the world On the Super Eagles’ performance at the World Cup, he said while it was not a disgraceful performance, it was also below what Nigerians expected.

“Nigeria is a country that has a pool of talents. We have such talents that can take us to the very highest level in football.

“But, unfortunately, we were unable to break the jinx of not going beyond the Round of 16.

But we made it to the Round of 16, and that was not a disgraceful performance “We expected that we should go further than that. But I think we have learnt our lessons from this outing, and we are beginning to look inwards.

“We are going back to the drawing board, and I can assure Nigerians that we will come out better and stronger in our next outings,’’ the Sports Minister said.

FORMER Fifa Advisor and member Fifa Study Group, Festus Adegboye Onigbinde has called the bluff of the football governing body for suspending Nigeria for government interference in football matters.

Fifa’s suspension came as it found the Nigerian government culpable in the appointment of an interim regime, after a court order evicted the previous board, that conveyed a congress “in violation of the NFF statutes”.

Onigbinde, however, disclosed that it was high time Nigeria made important decisions on the running of football.

“You don’t expect a government to invest huge sums of money in the running of football in Nigeria and still be handicapped in making some contributions to football in the country,” Onigbinde said.

“If Fifa doesn’t consider Nigerian government sponsorship of football and the huge sums of money in day to day running of the game, as well as sponsorship of national teams in world tournaments as government interference, but intervening as a result of court order to ensure peace and order as interference, then my advice is that the government of

... Says Govt Didn’t Unduly Interfere In NFA NFA board elections to secure re-election.

“Nigeria is safe, I can tell you that. What FIFA wants is for the right things to be done and there should be a high level of independence in what is happening.

“So far, from what has happened, I think government has been very fair.

Government has done everything possible not to unduly interfere.

“As a government, we have a constitutional duty to maintain law and order. When factions in the football family begin to dispute, we have a duty to see that we don’t allow them to kill one another.

“We won’t allow them to

destroy the buildings where they are operating. Beyond that, we have not done anything. What we have done is to see that law and order is maintained.’’

The minister said the Maigari-led NFA had informed him, through a letter on July 3, of a court order which said it was not having a legitimate board.

“And, of course, the group of state Football Association chairmen and other stakeholders, who also didn’t want the Maigari-led NFA government to continue called their congress and the congress passed a vote of no confidence on his executive.

“Now, FIFA at the beginning

Nigeria’s Delegation In Brazil To Meet With FIFA Officials NFA Board Dissolution:

AMOS Adamu, a former FIFA Executive Committee member on Wednesday led a delegation to Brazil for a meeting with the world football governing body over current development in Nigerian football. five-man team departed Abuja for Brazil in the early hours of Wednesday and was expected to arrive there later Wednesday.

The delegation also has Mike Umeh, Shehu Adamu and Effiong Johnson, all members of the Maigari-led board, and Obinna Ogba, a former NFA board member.

The delegation’s departure

was some hours before a FIFA Media Office statement which announced Nigeria’s suspension from all football activities by the body.

FIFA’s Emergency Committee, which announced the suspension, said the suspension was on account of government interference.

Adamu will be representing Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo at the meeting with FIFA, which is likely to hold yesterday or today following the delegation’s arrival in Brazil late on Wednesday.

The meeting is aimed at convincing it to endorse the dissolution of the Aminu

Maigari-led board of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

“The delegation should be able to convince FIFA, because the NFA congress has the right to dissolve the association’s board.

“It has done the needful, so I don’t think anybody can dispute it. This is a similar process which removed erstwhile NFA chairman Sani Lulu from office and somebody requested for that congress to meet,’’ a source told NAN. NAN recalls that an ExtraOrdinary Congress of the NFA had on July 5 in Abuja dissolved the Maigari-led-

board for abuse of the football statutes.

This had been in the wake of a Jos High Court order on July 2 which restrained Maigari, his board and the NFA Congress from running Nigerian football.

It had said the situation should remain so until the determination of a suit brought before it by the proprietor of Nembe City FC of Yenagoa.

The court also asked the Sports Minister to appoint the most senior civil servant in the NFA to take charge of affairs, leading to Lawrence Katken’s appointment on July 3

thought that maybe it was a government action or a court action. But we have gone far beyond that.

“We are talking about a legitimate congress of NFA, of the football family in the whole country meeting and passing a vote of no confidence. That is not government action.

“It is strictly a decision of a majority of the stakeholders of football in the country.

“Ordinarily, the tenure of the Maigari-led executive has almost come to an end, and that is on Aug. 26.

“And it is a routine, even in our national politics, that once we get to an election year, there is always disputation between parties who are interested,’’ he said.

Onigbinde

FIFA Can’t Intimidate Nigeria -Onigbinde

Nigeria should hands off entirely the finance and sponsorship of the game in the country.

“Let the administrators removed by the NFF Congress be reinstated and start sponsoring football all alone without the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria and see how effective and efficient it would be.

“If Fifa says we should bring them back, let’s bring them back and let them go and look for the money to run their affairs because giving them money will also amount to interference.

“What the Nation should do now is to sit down and restructure our football physically and technically.

What I expect the Nigerian government to tell Fifa is that they have let go and have left them to run the game without expecting their money. They should also tell the state governments who have been spending so much on football to hands off, same to the local governments to hands off.

“Government should not be offended by the stance of Fifa, they should take it to be that Fifa have taken away a load from them. And if tomorrow, we decide to bring ourselves together to call ourselves the Nigeria Soccer Association, at least that one is not under Fifa and if we decide to play among ourselves Fifa will not say we cannot play our football, they only said we cannot play among the Fifa member nations. And maybe for the next three years we can decide to be playing among ourselves, at least Fifa cannot arrest us for playing locally.

“And, while we are on break, we should be restructuring. For now the government should listen to Fifa and reinstate them for them to run their own football. They should not intimidate us by this suspension.

“If I were the minister I won’t be budged because football is dead both administratively and technically in the country and we need time to re-organize our football. If this suspension would help us to achieve this then let it be,” Onigbinde said.

Love Without Feelings:

FEED Why Did She Do It? BACK

She never knew she was just five phone calls away from her death. It was no longer a matter of love or marriage without feelings.

She saw her life being shattered, and felt death was the only relief she needed, when by the fifth call there was no response from her husband.

Emma, a young man from Esan land in Edo State was seeking a better life when he came to Lagos. Every perception about Lagos being the place where young men were momentarily becoming rich, no longer proved to be a common situation when Emma believing he was skillful enough to survive all odds, could not even raise enough money to acquire an accommodation. So, life stood still on no sure roof over his head, and no guaranteed meal anywhere in his imagination.

However, his daily presence at the wharf and a few friends who were fortunate to catch a ëmuguí ñ one of the ignoramuses in the process of clearing their imported goods at Apapa seaports, made either drinks or food sometimes extended to Emma.

Also, there is no denying that a precarious existence as these menís could heighten the temptation towards criminality. In a way, Emma knew that getting involved in criminality in a no-manís ñland, such as Lagos, would mean his chosen path to eternal damnation. And without the hope of a concerned family member to the rescue, therefore he managed to avoid criminality.

If he was reasonable and decent enough to stay away from criminality, he could not be decent to steer clear of the nominal welfare which his criminally minded friends were offering. When as much as he tried not, he found himself guilty by association, and for over two months he was clamped down in one of the police cells, forgot-

ten by the friends who have since bought their ways out of police custody, and the entire effect of justice: Emma was left alone to typify one of numerous cases of a country that has abandoned itself.

Mary hails from Ugo, a village in Edo State.

Against an earlier promise that she would be sent to school by the people who had taken her to Lagos,

the foster parents for what they termed ëgetting bigheadedí though her seeming resistance encouraged by her refusal to continue being used as a secret sex object. And so, things turned around when she later owned a shop, where she sold goods ranging from foodstuffs to house wares.

Whether it was the good

Emma and Mary together may be coincidental. But the perfect pair they became could only be explained as divine. Mary had gone to the police station to see the police officer who was investigating the matter of a property agent, who duped her, went the IPO casually mentioned the case of a young man, Emma, who was languishing in their cell for the crime

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she was left to languish in the always mounting daily chores which her masterís wife insist must be finished before her regular bedtime of 1 a.m.

And when she became ripe in the masterís eyes; a man who Mary perceived as a father and soberly called ìDaddyî since seven years, she was converted into his sex object, and by every Sunday, the entire household would go to church to make all petitions acceptable in the sight of God. Life for Mary may not have been an easy one.

But she started realizing that God was not solely against her, when after eighteen years of being driven out of the house by

customer relations, reasonable pricing, or the early hard training that promoted her business as the most preferred shop in the neighbourhood, but Emma, her husband was dutifully by her side rendering all manners of assistance.

The event that brought

committed by his friends who have since been freed; for doing the proper thing to have their investigations ëwell concludedí.

It was learnt that Emma was only remaining in their custody because he lacks the financial means for the police to assist him in carrying out a ëwell concluded

By KINGSLEY OGBEIDE-IHAMA investigationí. And in any case, Mary became aware that Emma was from the same Edo State as she.

Mary had compassion, paid up the ransom, and Emma was set free. With no home to go and perceptively a bleak future still gazing at Emma, Mary only had to further her act of benevolence, and thereby won herself a husband; a good looking young man, who as early as the first month of their romantic escapade, recorded conception to good account of a longing Mary for a child.

After three children, still brimming with a drive to expand their economic fortunes, Mary and Emma settled for an idea to have Emma do a sojourning abroad. The plan was successful, and in a short time of three years, Emma started bringing ëgoodsí into Nigeria in large quantity.

Emma involved his old time friend, Odion from Benin to assist his wife at the wharf. But Mary ensured that all Odionís antics at secretly conniving with the clearing and forwarding agents to nip inappropriate funds away from them, was perfectly blocked, while she sustained her appreciation of Odionís assistance.

Expectedly, Mary had all their wealth under her control, and Emmaís family members received financial assistance through her

ñ never turning down any of their requests which Emma kept presenting.

As time progressed Emma improved on his immigration status in Germany, and was given the legal right to extend such privileges to only his three children, as he was still legally married to his German wife. It was in the process of achieving a German immigration status for the children that the DNA screening revealed the first daughter as not biologically his.

Odion, who has secretly loathed Mary for blocking most of his underhand dealings, practically brought Emmaís family from the village to torment Mary in Lagos. But Emma stood by his wife, knowing she was still in an affair with a married man when their relationship started, and therefore appreciated that the mix up would have come thereof. So Emma was much willing to adopt the child as his.

While these contemplations were on, Emma mysteriously became sick and was in coma for two weeks.

Mary unknowingly kept calling without getting Emmaís response. After the fifth day of the second week, and the fifth call on that day without response, she concluded that it was time to do it - in order to cure her sickness of love without feelings. And so she committed suicide.

“As time progressed Emma improved on his immigration status in Germany, and was given the legal right to extend such privileges to only his three children, as he was still legally married to his German wife. It was in the process of achieving a German immigration status for the children that the DNA screening revealed the first daughter as not biologically his.”

Printed and published by Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, 24, Airport Road, P.M.B. 1334 Benin City. Telephone; Lagos: 01 4930929, Benin: 052 257492, 257531 Editor. BARR. SOLOMON IMOHIOSEN (KSJI) - (07030699646), Deputy General Manager (Marketing) (08023457566), Assistant General Manager(Advertisement) (08023808856) Lagos Office: 25A Alli Street, Off Tinubu Square, Lagos Island, Lagos. Abuja Office: Floor 1, Edo House, 75 Ralph Shodeinde Street, Central Business District, Abuja. Tel/Fax: 09-5237631. All correspondence to: 24 Airport Road, Benin City. E-mail: nigerianobserver@yahoo.com (ISSN 0331-2674)