THE NIGERIAN
The Nigerian
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 39 NO.141 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014 • N100.00 INSIGHT Pages 16 - 17 Media, the youth and democracy
The triple affair (1)
ART AND CULTURE Page 19
Celebration of head culture
EDOFEST begins tomorrow By ERANGA ISAAC
BENIN CITY - The Edo Festival of Arts, Culture and Tourism (EDOFEST) begins tomorrow Saturday 13th December, 2014 and ends, Saturday
20th December, 2014. Briefing newsmen in Benin City on preparation for the Festival, the Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Hon. (Mrs.) Anena
Jemitola said it will begin with a bonfire/ Variety night at the Oba Akenzua II Cultural Centre, she said the personality of the year will be revealed who will light the bonfire.
Sunday 14th December, 2014, there will be a Food Fair/Arts & Culture exhibition, including drama presentation and highlife musical night. Continues on page 2
the Publisher of L e a d e r s h i p newspapers, polled 10 votes. A total of valid 5992 votes were cast at the election while 16 votes were voided, bringing
the number of votes cast to 6,008. Reports say that 7,214 delegates from the 36 states of the federation and Abuja participated at the two-day convention, which began on
Buhari wins APC Presidential . Atiku concedes defeat ticket By RAHEEM IBRAHIM
LAGOS - A former Nigerian Head of State, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday defeated four other All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirants to pick the party’s ticket. Buhari secured the victory at the party’s national convention held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Buhari will slug it out with President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the February 14, 2015 presidential election. The Chief Returning Officer and Chairman of APC National Convention Committee, Dr Kayode Fayemi, declared Buhari
Wednesday. Born on December 17, 1942 in Daura, Kastina State, Buhari was Nigeria’s military ruler from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985.
the winner, while announcing the election result. He said that Buhari polled 3,430 votes to defeat former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar, who got 954 votes. Fayemi also announced that Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State got 974 votes while Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo got 624 and Mr Sam Nda-Isaiah,
Resources under the then Head of State, Gen.
Continues on page 2
2015
Jega raises concerns over security, inadequate funding
Oshiomhole congratulates Buhari, BENIN CITYGovernor Adams Eric hails Atiku, doubt others Aliyu Oshiomhole of Edo get a true and State has congratulated Maj.-Gen Muhammadu Buhari on his emergence as the Presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2015 General election. In a statement, Oshiomhole also gave kudos to the other Presidential aspirants of the party for a gallant fight and urged them to join hands with the party’s candidate to scale the next hurdle. According to him “first, let me congratulate the flag-bearer of our party, a highly disciplined,
tested and trusted leader, M a j . - G e n e r a l Muhammadu Buhari for emerging through this refined, transparent and credible process of delegate election. “Also, I wish to congratulate the delegates for their tolerance, patience, maturity and commitment towards ensuring a successful convention which has produced such a strong candidate for our party. “This goes to show that we all are committed to being agents of change in this democratic process. With the emergence of Buhari, Nigeria will no
TIT BIT
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” - Mahatma Gandhi
selfless leadership needed to drive the much-desired Change at the centre and the race to effect that real Change has just begun. A change that represents a new dawn in the democratic governance of our great country; a change that will restore hope to the downtrodden and forgotten masses of our great country and also place Nigeria in its rightful place in the comity of nations. “With the wide margin
He ran unsuccessfully for the office of the president of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections. Buhari, who joined the army in 1962, came to widespread public attention in 1976 when he became the Minister (or Federal Commissioner) for Petroleum and Natural
Continues on page 2
APC PRIMARIES: APC Presidential aspirant, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) casting his vote at the party’s Presidential primaries in Lagos yesterday.
ABUJA - President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday accepted his nomination as the PDP Presidential Candidate in the 2015 election with a pledge that he would not fail
Nigerians. The president also announced Vice President Namadi Sambo as his running mate again for the presidential election. Speaking after
PDP picks Jonathan delegates to the PDP National Convention had nominated him, the president promised to give his all to ensure that the living standard of Nigerians improved. Jonathan said that his
nomination as the PDP Presidential c a n d i d a t e exemplified the party’s determination to ensure that democracy in Nigeria Continues on page 2
IBADAN- Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has identified insecurity and inadequate funding as the challenges facing the conduct of 2015 General Elections in the country. Jega said this during a lecture delivered on his behalf by Alhaji Nasir Ayilara, Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, at NTA Ibadan, yesterday. “Three major challenges continue to face us as we approach 2015 and they are insecurity, funding, attitude of political class and inactive citizenry,” he said. Reports say that the lecture was organised by the National Forum Of Heads Federal Establishments (NAFOHEADS), Oyo State chapter. Jega said that one of the epithets of elections in Nigeria was that they were said to be akin to war. Continues on page 2
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EDOFEST begins tomorrow
Continued from page 1 Mrs. Anena Jemitola added that a number of companies have indicated their willingness to take part in the food festival. She also stressed that local government will also be showcasing their array of food in the course of the food
festival. According to the commissioner, there will be Heritage Street Parade which will take off from Oba Ovonramwen Square, Ring Road, Benin City on Friday 19th December. The Arts, Cultural and Tourism Commissioner said the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will also be showcasing their culture in the course of the festival, saying the carnival started with Trinidad
and Tobago 150 years ago. “They are partnering with Edo State,” she said. Speaking about the benefits of the festival, Amena
Buhari wins APC Presidential ticket Continued from page 1 Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then, Buhari served as a Governor of the then newly created North-Eastern State during the regime of the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed. He later became Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Buhari, who was Head of the Third Armored Division of Jos, became the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in 1983, following a military coup that overthrew the civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. The late Maj.-Gen. Tunde Idiagbon was the Chief of General Staff in the administration. Buhari initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as “War Against Indiscipline” (WAI) during his
regime. He served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the administration of the late Gen. Sani Abacha and funded from revenue generated from increase in petroleum products prices to pursue developmental projects. In 2003, Buhari contested the presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the PDP nominee, President Olusegun Obasanjo, by a margin of more than 11 million votes. On December 18, 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party. His main challenger in the April, 2007 presidential poll was the ruling PDP candidate, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, who hailed from his home state, Katsina. Yar’Adua eventually became
the President. In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party he helped to found. He had said that he supported foundation of the CPC “as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP”. Buhari was the CPC presidential candidate in the April 16, 2011 general elections, running against incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of PDP, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP. Buhari had 12,214,853 votes, coming second to Jonathan, who polled 22,495,187 votes and was declared the winner.
Jemitola reiterated that when the culture of a people is promoted, it will help in promoting tourism. “We are the biggest promoter of tourism which is the biggest earner for any country after oil. To do this, we must have a game plan, which is our ultimate plan,” she said. She added that promoting the culture of a people and celebrating it also means one don’t lose important aspect of it. “Our culture is being eroded these days by the importation of foreign culture. If we don’t put a stop to it now, the next generation will not speak our language, not dress in our costumes and will not know anything about our culture. It is our own way of keeping it alive. It is shame that we don’t have interest in our culture,” she stressed. The aims and objectives of EDOFEST include promoting the revival, resurgence, reinvigoration and propagation of Edo cultural relics and heritage; presenting Edo culture and heritage in its highest and widest conception and form; promoting Edo artistes, performers and writers and facilitate the widest acceptance and access to world arts facts; and providing a platform for periodic relics to roots.
Jega raises concerns over security, inadequate funding
Continued from page 1 “Indeed, the heat and passion associated with elections in Nigeria often make elections appear like war. “Pre-election violence has led to the death of many politicians, their supporters and innocent citizens,” he said. The INEC boss, who called on voters to be law abiding, said that widespread intimidation of voters persisted and organised thugs spread fear across communities ahead of elections. He said that several security threats now characterised the electoral process, including physical attacks on INEC staff and facilities, attacks on security personnel on election duty. “Also, there is misuse of security orderlies by politicians; attacks on political opponents; cyber-attacks targeting INEC databases, especially the register of voters,” he said. Jega, who said that the threats were now made worse
with insecurity in some parts of the country, expressed the hope that the development would be redressed to allow safe conduct of 2015 polls. On the attitude of political class, he said that the use of language was in many cases, indecorous, encouraging supporters to follow suit with more intemperate language and ultimately fueling violence. Worried about the spate of ex parte injunctions that were issued against the commission based on wrong selection procedures of candidates, Jega said that the need for even greater citizens participation could not be underestimated. He said that active participation of citizens ensured sustained engagement and participation in the political and electoral processes. Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, who was represented by one of his Special Advisers, Alhaji Olawale Akibu, said that the administration was expecting INEC to deliver a credible election come 2015. “Oyo State Government is expecting INEC to allow fairness and level playing
ground during the election,” he said. He, however, commended the federal civil servants in the state for their contributions towards the development of the social and economic potentials.
Ajimobi restated the state’s commitment to ensure peace and stability in Oyo State. Reports say that the event was attended by the representatives of Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs and other federal agencies.
Continued from page 1
was the cornerstone of his administration, adding that no Nigerian would be persecuted for holding a contrary view. He restated that Nigeria was undergoing some transformation being progressively enjoyed by the people. He enjoined the opposition to be honest in its campaigns and should be devoid of propaganda and half thruth. Jonathan had earlier captured 2,812 votes cast at the convention to emerge as the party’s candidate for the 2015 presidential election. The party had also amended its constitution to address the issue of tenure in the party’s administration.
PDP picks Jonathan
yielded the desired benefits to Nigerians. He urged political parties in the country to rise above all impediments to project the country to a higher level, assuring all PDP members that all complaints and grievances within the party would be amicably resolved. According to him, the country’s fight against corruption is on course and will be won. The president said the government would ensure that no child lacked basic needs and that no woman died from child birth. According to him, the observance of human rights
Oshiomhole congratulates Buhari, hails Atiku, others
Continued from page 1
of votes recorded by Buhari, it goes to show that he is widely accepted by majority of Nigerians across geo-political divides in the country. “By the APC Convention, we have shown and demonstrated to Nigerians that we can do things aright, provided we deploy courage, determination and commitment in doing it. “Our successful convention has further shown that Nigerians are now more inclined to the doctrine of “One man, One Vote” and we hope that the other party and
especially the electoral umpire, INEC, will borrow a leaf from us and let one man, one vote prevail in the 2015 general election. This is the irreducible minimum that is expected of INEC. “While I again congratulate our party for this great convention and its outcome, I want to commend the spirit of sportsmanship exhibited by the other Presidential aspirants of our party and implore them to join hands with our flag-bearer, to ensure the victory of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, at the polls in 2015. “While thanking the
organizers for the success of the Convention, I implore General Buhari to be a
father to all, including the other Presidential aspirants in the build-up to the General elections in 2015.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
IGP orders investigation into alleged torture of couple ABUJA - The InspectorGeneral of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba, has ordered a full scale investigation into a viral media story alleging Police incivility to a couple in Ikoyi, Lagos. In a statement released by the Force Public Relations Officer, the Ag. Cp, Emmanuel C. S. Ojukwu, the IGP said this is in line with his avowed commitment to protect and uphold the Human Rights of all Nigerians and residents therein. The statement further added that the Officer involved has been identified and is already undergoing administrative trial while all other officers whose conduct did not speak well on the incident are also being sanctioned, preparatory to further necessary action. The IGP further reiterated the determination of the Force to abide by the contents of the newly launched NPF Human Rights Practice Manual, stressing that no abuse of human rights will be tolerated in the Force. It will be recalled that a 29year-old photographer, Ejeh Smith, and his wife, Grace, 26, were tortured by a police officer, identified as Dada Ogunsanya, attached to the Ikoyi Police Division at the Lekki Roundabout on Wednesday, last week, while the couple was in a taxi en route to their home at Parkview Estate around 10pm. The police team was said to have stopped the taxi driver and demanded that he open his boot for a routine check. The taxi driver, Ndubuisi Iheaka, said that after he opened his boot which contained scaffolding belts, the policeman demanded to see his drivers’ licence. “I was about getting the drivers’ licence when he started flashing his torchlight on my passengers who were sitting at the back. “The wife told the officer not to flash the torch on them since the inner light of the vehicle was on. “Because of what she said, the policeman asked them to come down from the cab. This started an argument. The next thing I saw was that the policeman pulled my passenger (Ejeh) by his trousers, and his wife went to plead with him to stop. “But instead, he slapped her and punched her husband. He was wearing a ring which inflicted a deep cut on Ejeh’s face. After that
he used the butt of his gun to hit him on his eye and face. He also dragged his wife on the road.” Grace said the policeman, apart from slapping her, stepped on her tummy. “If I was pregnant that night, I would have lost my pregnancy. I was only trying to pet him to leave my husband since he did not have business with us. I told him to face the cab driver and leave us alone. “The other policemen were just looking at him while he dragged me on the ground. A man riding a tricycle at the time was the one who rescued me. He said the policemen must call their Divisional Police Officer or else he would not leave the scene,” she said. The Ikoyi DPO, Mrs. Aisha Haruna, was said to have arrived at the scene. Ejeh claimed he could barely see because blood was dripping from his eyes while his wife was vomiting blood. He added that the DPO ordered that they be taken to the station to make statements. “But we told her that we needed to first treat ourselves before we could make statements. That was when we were given forms and referred to the Falomo Police Hospital. We paid for the treatment and we also went to the eye clinic for treatment,” Ejeh said. His wife claimed that the DPO seized her phone and asked an inspector at the station to delete all the pictures and video recording she had of the incident. “Even my personal data were deleted. And, when I asked the DPO why she did that, she said we deserved the treatment we got. She said she would have locked us up in the cell if not for our injuries. She said we did not know how to talk,” she added. The family lawyer of the victims, Mr. Sunday Agbinya, said his office would write a petition to the Inspector General of Police to redress the wrong done to his clients. “This is a case of assault occasioning harm and we intend to challenge it. We will send a petition to the IG. We want the police to conduct a full investigation into this,” he said. The legal officer of a nongovernmental organisation, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Mr. Ben Odeh, said the police officer responsible for the act should be disciplined for torturing the couple.
Workshop examines strategies for peaceful 2015 elections By TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN ASABA – The strategies to achieve a peaceful, smooth and violence – free general elections in 2015 have been examined by participants at a one-day workshop organized by Direct Impact Consulting and sponsored by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Asaba, Delta State.
The workshop held on Tuesday at the Orchid Hotel Limited, DBS Road, GRA, Asaba, drew participants from the Media, Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s), Youth Groups, Women Groups, Political Parties, The Nigerian Police Force and Local Government Councils in Edo and Delta States. It critically reflected on the role of youths, women, Police and all other stakeholders and urged them
to cooperate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure peaceful and orderly election in 2015. The workshop with the theme: “Citizens Responsibility Towards A Peaceful 2015 General Elections” also discussed the various strategies for resolving conflicts arising from clash of electoral interests and the need to eschew violence. Unemployment issues were
also identified as a key factor that had given rise to youth restiveness and thuggery during elections, just as the need for the media, INEC and other stakeholders not to be partisan was stressed. Highpoint of the workshop was the group discussions which afforded participants the opportunity to ventilate their views on the need to curb violence in the next general elections in 2015.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Quarrelling Among Nigerians Boosts Terrorists’ Morale - Jonathan
ABUJA - President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reiterated his call on Nigerians to unite against insurgency, saying that bickering among selves only served as morale booster to terrorists/insurgents. Jonathan made the call while accepting his nomination as the PDP candidate for the presidential election in 2015 at the party’s National Convention in Abuja. He stressed that bickering among Nigerians sends a wrong signal to insurgents that the country was divided in the war against terror and could also demoralise the armed forces. “For this reason, we must remain united. I believe that together as a people and with God on our side, we can defeat terrorism and emerge even stronger and more united as a country. ‘Experience in many countries shows that there may be the tendency for the escalation of violence in an election year like this. “We must all be vigilant, every one of us. Only by a united action can we defeat terrorism and unnecessary violence”, he said. The President stated that the security of lives and property of Nigerians remained a priority of the Federal Government, assuring that election would
hold in all states of the federation. While saluting the armed forces and security services for their loyalty and commitment to the nation, Jonathan said he would continue to ensure they had the best in equipment and training. Jonathan reminded his fellow party members that the opposition would employ every means including intimidation and false accusation in their desperation for power. He urged them not to descend to that level but to remain focussed on the mission at hand to secure the country’s future. “Let me emphasise again that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian. “We must eschew violence even in the face of the most outrageous act of desperation. “We must make sure our supporters have their voters card or get them motivated and eager to make their mark for our children, for a stronger economy and for the security of the country’s future.” The President noted that in the course of the campaign ahead of the 2015 general elections, some office seekers would say it was time for change. “But while they are changing from one name to another and from one party to another, we have already brought change to
this country. “Has change not come to our railway system? Has change not come to our airports? Has change not come to our road networks? “Has change not come to our
agricultural sector? Has change not come to our electoral process? Has change not come to ‘almajiri’ education? “Is change not coming to the power sector? What we need today is to consolidate on our
gains in order to secure our future.” While acknowledging the economic challenges facing the country due to sliding oil prices, Jonathan reaffirmed the determination of his administration to address them. He said the country faced similar challenges back in 2008
Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) relief materials distributed to victims of insurgency in Yola and Maiduguri.
PFN Donates to Victims Of Insurgency MAIDUGURI Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has distributed relief materials worth over ten million naira to internally displaced persons in Yola and
The Enogie of Ukhiri, HRH (Barr) Godwin Osayande Aigbe (right) and Dr. Menoni IzeIyamu during the commissioning of Industrial Bore-hole donated by him to Ukhirir Community recently.
Maiduguri, Adamawa and Bornu States, respectively. Several thousands of internally displayed persons (IDPs), particularly the Boko Haram victims benefited from the PFN relief materials which were distributed between November 20 and November 21, 2014. The relief materials included mainly food items and clothing materials. The relief materials distribution teams were headed by prominent leaders of the PFN; Apostle Emmanuel Kure, Evangelist Matthew Owojaiye and Bishop Ransom Stephen, amongst others. Interestingly, the PFN Philanthropic gesture was enjoyed by displaced people irrespective of their religious affiliations. This was in accordance with the directive of the PFN national president,
Dr. Felix Omobude. A press statement endorsed by the media officer to the national president of PFN, Deacon Ralph Okhiria stated that the Permanent Secretary of NEMA, who is in charge of IDPs, witnessed the massive distribution of relief materials to the Boko Haram displaced persons. The NEMA Permanent Secretary, who lauded the fellowship for the kind gesture, appealed to wellmeaning individuals and organizations to emulate the example of the PFN by reaching out to the internally displaced persons with relief materials. Some beneficiaries of the PFN kind gesture described the massive relief materials distribution as ‘historic’, even as they commended the PFN members for showing them human kindness in their
desperate need of this important document for future pursuit. “I think it is the responsibility of every parent to obtain a valid birth registration certificate of their new born to assist government in having adequate and correct statistical data needed for planning,” Ajibade said. She described as unfashionable the act of going through the process of obtaining birth certificates
via the courts by way of getting age declarations. The NOA director urged health officials in clinics and maternities across the country to be alive to their responsibilities by ensuring adequate records of birth for every child delivered in their respective hospitals. Ajibade said some essential areas needing adequate birth records to include the academics, health, population and census, passport and visa processing.
NOA Counsels Parents On Birth Registration
OMU-ARAN (KWARA), The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has urged parents to attach more importance to obtaining proper birth registration of their wards to assist the nation in future development plans. The agency’s Director in Irepodun Local Government Area in Kwara state Mrs. Comfort Ajibade, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Omu-Aran on Thursday. Ajibade said that lack of
proper birth documentation could be a major stumbling block toward an effective implementation of governments’ future development plans, especially at the grassroots. She said that proper birth documentation and registration would also assist to save the country from age falsification by some people to gain undue advantage. The director accused some parents allowing the joy of having a new born to
and 2009 arising from unstable oil prices, but it confronted and overcame them. The President assured Nigerians that his administration had a capable economic team which had already mapped out strategies to manage the current oil price volatility and its threat to the nation. Jonathan, who highlighted his various economic policies and programmes and their benefits to Nigerians, said his administration was working to revitalise the insurance industry. According to him, the country’s insurance sector had not achieved its full potential when compared to other emerging economies. “Today, only three million of our citizens are insurance policy holders, and overall insurance penetration is less than 0.5 per cent of our GDP. “We want to transform this sector just as we have done for our banking sector and our pension system.
overshadow their civic responsibility of going through a proper birth documentation process to obtain a valid birth certificate. “Most parents are guilty of this offence, especially in remote towns and villages. The case is more compounded for those who patronise herbal delivery homes. “They (affected parents) only come to realise their mistakes when such children become grown up and in
moment of need. They however appealed to their benefactors not to let their Godly gesture be a once and for all affair. Meanwhile, the national president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr. Felix Omobude has thanked all those who have contributed and made donations to the PFN welfare purse and further called on all and sundry to always show kindness to the needy in the society. Dr. Omobude stated that the recent demonstration of love to the internally displaced people in Adamawa and Borno States was just the beginning of such Godly gesture, noting that efforts were being made to also send relief materials to the Boko Haram victims in Yobe. He disclosed that the PFN had earlier in the year sent a whopping seven million naira (cash) as aid to the Boko Haram victims in Adamawa, Bornu and Yobe States. He however called on wellmeaning individuals and organizations particularly the Christians to make financial contributions to the welfare purse of the PFN to enable the fellowship reach more needy in the society with relief materials. Such financial contribution should paid into: • Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, UBA Account No. 1000751213.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
News NOA Sensitizes On Security Consciousness
Ebola Outbreak Delayed Launch of GOtv in Delta - GM By BETTY IDIALU
WARRI - The outbreak of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD in July 2014 stalled the launch of GOtv in Delta State. This was disclosed yesterday by Mrs. Elizabeth Amkpa GOtv’s General Manager a at a press conference during the launch of GOtv in Effurun. According to Amkpa, it took the company this long to come to Warri because plans were already on top gear when the EVD broke out in Nigerian. GOtv’s general manager said: “GOtv was launched with the latest approved DVB-T2 decoders and in support of the digital migration; the price of GOtv decoders has been slashed to N2,900 in the GO Gaga festive offer.” By paying an additional two months subscription, she said new subscribers would be entered into the draw for the MultiChoice Super Cruise promo for a chance to win a Kia Rio car, among other prizes”, she added. GOtv is a new digital pay television offering on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform. It is managed by MultiChoice with a proud legacy of providing the best digital pay-TV in Nigeria for over 20 years. GOtv subscribers will not be affected by digital migration as GOtv is already digital compliant. GOtv subscribers are
encouraged to stay connected to www.gotvafrica.com or Facebook https:// www.facebook.com/GOtvNg for the latest news. Other top management staffs of the company, including Efe Obiomah were also present at the ceremony. Highpoint of the press conference was the presentation of free GOtv decoders/antennas to some journalists, including The NIGERIAN OBSERVER Correspondent who answered questions successfully during the interactive session.
WORKSHOP: Comrade Tunde Eigbiremolen, Assistant Editor, The Nigerian Observer (2nd left), Miss Ugochukwu of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Comrade Osawe Raymond, Editor-in-Chief, The NAVIGATOR and a representative of Ikpoba-Okha LGA of Edo State at the workshop on Peaceful 2015 General Elections sponsored by NDDC and organised by Direct Impact Consulting in Delta State.
Lagos PDP Governorship Candidate Dishonest He then followed that with. “If at all there was any By RAHEEM IBRAHIM “The claim by Agbaje that we agreement, it was an agreement Obanikiro were in agreement over the between Bode George and Jimi
LAGOS - Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has labeled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos state, Jimi Agbaje as dishonest for lying over the excess votes during the party’s governorship primary. It would be recalled that Obanikoro described the whole governorship primary electoral exercise a sham after the total number of votes cast, 863, was higher than the total number of accredited delegates, 806. Reacting to Agbaje’s bid to play down the ‘sham’ by their party, Obanikoro wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “Jimi Agbaje should not in desperation to defend Monday’s immoral and unethical show of shame, further tarnish his reputation.”
excess votes is dishonest and unbecoming of a man who wants to be Lagos governor.” “For the records, there was
his church members of N43, 000. The Prosecutor, Insp. Augustine Ozimini, told the court that the accused committed the offence in October at the Salvation
BENIN CITY – A new Odionwere is to be installed today for Aideyanba Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of
Edo State. He is Pa Erhiamiatoe Asaboh Alabi. Born in 1914, he served in various age grade before he became member of the elders council. A release by Mrs. Omoyemwen Omomo on behalf of the Erhiamatoe’s family indicated that the installation ceremony which beging at 8am will also feature fanfare, traditional wrestling and appeasement of the gods. The release enjoined all sons and daughters of the community as well as other stakeholders to attend without fail.
Pa Erhiamiatoe Alabi To Be Installed Odionwere Today
Pa Erhiamiatoe Asaboh Alabi
Agbaje to compromise the outcome of the primaries!”, he remarked.
Varsity Restates Commitment To Agric ground for youths in modern OMU-ARAN (Kwara) - The Revolution and commercial agriculture Landmark University in OmuAran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara, yesterday said it was committed to mechanised agriculture. Prof. Enoch Adeowoye, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) of the university, told newsmen in Omu-Aran that the revolution was necessary to attract youths back to the farm. He said that the institution was currently spearheading the training of youths in modern commercial agriculture
Man In Court For Alleged Fraud ABEOKUTA - A member of Salvation International Church in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Fatade Adeye, 30, has been arraigned in an Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defrauding two of
never any agreement between me or any aspirant or anyone whosoever to accommodate any excess votes,” he tweeted.
International Church, Asero, Abeokuta. Ozimini said Adeye defrauded one Amaka Nwaneri and Tolulope Akintola as well as other Church members under the pretence of helping them gain admission into the University of Ibadan. He said that the accused posed as a Ph.D holder and a lecturer at the University of Ibadan who was on sabbatical at the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB). The accused, who pleaded not guilty, is facing a threecount charge of fraud, impersonation and stealing. The prosecutor said that the accused collected the money, but did not process the admission nor refunded the money. “The offences contravenes Sections 108 (1), 419 and 390 (9) of the Criminal laws of Ogun, 2006,” Ozimini
techniques. According to him, this is pursuant to an agrarian revolution for the nation to be self-sufficient. The DVC also said that the university had embraced modern mechanised farming and realised the hard and boring nature of agriculture, which discourage the youths. “The focus is on youths and they are being trained to become professional farmers and businessmen and women. “The emphasis is on mechanised agriculture as a way of attracting the youths to become commercial farmers. “Modern methods of agricultural production such as the use of tractors, ploughs, harrows, ridges, boom sprayers, herbicides, insecticides, fertilisers and improved seedlings are employed. “We are developing our capacities very fast and we shall soon become a major training
practices,’’ he said. Adewoye disclosed to newsmen that the institution had cultivated 50 hectares of farmlands with maize, soya beans, sorghum and cassava.
Anthonia Weds Bright BENIN CITY – The solemnisation of Holy matrimony of Miss Anthonia Izevbuwa Age and Mr. Bright Osarobo Erumwenbibe takes place tomorrow, Saturday December 13, 2014 at the Holy Cross Catholic Cathedral, No. 53 Mission Road, Benin City beginning at 10am. Reception follows immediately at the Youth House, No. 120 Akpakpava Road, by Dawson Road junction, Benin City.
FUGAR – reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring lasting peace and security in all nook and crannies of the country, an enlarged sensitization programme has been convened by the National Orientation (NOA) Edo State Directorate. The one-day programme which held in Fugar the administrative headquarters of Etsako Central Local Government Area, is one of the numerous sensitization programme organize by NOA, to foster peace and re-awaken security consciousness among people in the rural communities. In her address the State Director of NOA, Mrs. Magdalene Umunnah thanked participants for their quest to embrace peace, while in the community which she noted is still the most interesting way of living. While emphasizing President Goodluck Jonathan’s resolve to bring lasting peace through the transformation Agenda, the NOA Boss harped on the need for continuous education and orientation of citizens in the wake of political violence and insurgency across the country. The Divisional Police Officer of the locality DSP Anapo James and his counterpart from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. Mr. Frederick Odior corroborated the NOA State Director’s call for peace and security in the area, urging the people not to shield suspected criminal. Participants were drawn from the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence, Corpse, and State Security. Service, Vigilante groups, traditional rulers, political parties and their candidates, market women, youths and the general public.
L-R: Osawe Raymond (The NAVIGATOR), representative of PDP, Delta State, Philip Imafidon (Egor LGA of Edo State); Comrade Tunde Eigbiremolen, Assistant Editor, The Nigerian Observer and representative of Ikpoba Okha LGA of Edo State at the workshop on Peaceful 2015 General Elections sponsored by NDDC and organised by Direct Impact Consulting in Delta State.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
News
Navy Redeploys Senior Officers
ABUJA - The Nigerian Navy has said that following the recent promotion in the service, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Usman Jubrin, had approved the redeployment of senior officers. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by Commodore Kabir Aliyu , Director of Naval Information. The statement said that the affected senior officers include: Rear Adm.l JA Akinwale, who was the Chief of Administration, Defence Headquarters, now moves to the Naval Headquarters as Chief of Policy and Plans. It said that Rear Adm. AOA Ikioda, who was the Chief of Policy and Plans at the Naval Headquarters, takes over as Chief of Administration at Defence Headquarters It said that Rear Adm. IE Ibas, formerly the Chief of Logistics Naval Headquarters, would now to move to Navy Holdings Ltd. As Group Managing Director, while and Rear Adm. IA Oyagha, formerly the Chief of Training and Operations, had been appointed Chief of Naval Standards and Safety. The release also said that Rear Adm. OE Ekwe, who was Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard Ltd., resumes as Chief of Naval Engineering. Ekwe would swap with Rear Adm. SU Chinweuba, who would take over as Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard Ltd. Also, Rear Adm. SH Usman, former Chief of Naval Standards and Safety, resumes at Defence Headquarters as Director of Training, while Rear Adm. PA Agba moves from Central Naval Command where he was Flag Officer Commanding, to Naval Headquarters as Chief of Logistics. Rear Adm. SI Alade, the former Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, resumes as Chief of Nigerian Navy Transformation Office, and Rear Adm. BA Egbedina moves to Naval Training Command as Flag Officer Commanding, while Rear Adm. OP Ozojiofor was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Logistics Command.
The statement said Rear Adm. GA Anyankpele, formerly the Flag Officer Commanding, Naval Training Command, was now to resume at the Naval Headquarters as Director of Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation. “Rear Adm. HH Babalola, the former Director of Nigerian Navy Transformation Office, is now the new Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command, while Rear Adm. SE Ogoigbe moves from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji to the Central Naval Command as Flag Officer Commanding. “Rear Adm.l OC Medani, former Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command, resumes as Chief of Training and Operations at the Naval Headquarters, and Rear Adm. JKZ Ango, formerly Admiral Superintendent Naval Ordinance Depot, is now the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command,” the statement said. It also said that Rear Adm. JO Okojie resumed as Admiral Superintendent Naval Ordinance Depot from the Eastern Naval Command where he was Chief Staff Officer. Other deployments according to the statement, include: Rear Adm. AA Osinowo, formerly the Chief Staff Officer, Naval Training Command, resumeed at Defence Headquarters as Director, Equipment Standardization and Harmonisation. It said Rear Adm. JO Oluwole had also resumed at Naval Headquarters as Director of Research and Development, while Rear Adm. FD Bobai moves from Defence Headquarters to Naval Headquarters as the Navy Secretary. According to the release, Rear Adm. SU Ahmadu moves from the Central Pay Office to the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) as Director of Finance and Accounts, while Surgeon Rear Adm. J Onubi has been reappointed as Commander/ Chief Consultant Chem Pathologist at the Naval Medical Centre Victoria Island, Lagos. It said that Surgeon Rear Adm. EE Enechukwu had
also been reappointed as Commander/Chief Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecologist Nigerian Navy Hospital, Warri and also Command Medical Officer Central Naval Command. Rear Adm. JA Ajani moves from DIA to Defence Headquarters as Director of Plans. It also stated that Rear Adm. KB Ati-John moves to Defence Headquarters as Director of Development from the Naval Headquarters where he was Director of Operations, and Rear Adm. AA Dacosta was reappointed Commander, Defence Headquarters Garrison. “Rear Adm. MM Salami had also been appointed Director of Plans, Naval Headquarters, while Rear Adm. JD Michika was also reappointed Chief Staff Officer at Central Naval Command. “Rear Adm. BA Oguntola resumes as Chief of Accounts and Budget Naval Headquarters, and Rear Adm. AA Abdulkadir has been appointed Chief Staff Officer, Eastern Naval Command. “Rear Admiral BEE IbeEnwo also resumes as Chief Staff Officer Western Naval Command and Rear Adm. SO Paul was appointed Chief Staff Officer, Logistics Command, while Rear Adm. UA Essien was appointed Director of Policy at the Naval Headquarters. The statement also said that Rear Adm. SAG Abbah resumes at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji as Deputy Commandant, while Rear Adm. VO Adedipe moves from Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji to Naval Headquarters as Director of Administration. Also, Rear Adm. BT Yusuf was reappointed Director of Naval Accounts, while Rear Adm.l T Dick is now Director of Training, Naval Headquarters, and Rear Admiral DO Ajatoye moves from the Central Naval Command to Naval Headquarters as Director of Weapon Electrical Engineering. The statement added that the senior officers were expected to resume in their new appointments in the third and fourth weeks of December 2014.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
News Entrepreneur Links Success In Business To Refresher Courses
L-R: Director of Special Duties, Ministry of Works, Alhaji Mohammed Musa; Representative of Director-General of ICPC, Mr. Shehu Yahaya and Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen at the 2014 International Anti-Corruption Day in Abuja recently.
LAGOS - An Entrepreneur, Mrs. Precious Aremu, yesterday urged business owners to regularly attend refresher courses, to enable them to break even. Aremu, Chief Executive Officer, Palinio Cookies, told newsmen in Lagos that regular courses by entrepreneurs were sacrosanct if a business must grow. According to her, most of the contemporary global trends in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) could only be taught in such courses. “Trends in the production of confectionery and appropriate packaging of FMCG are often learnt in a matter of weeks locally. Regular refresher courses can reduce the zeal for foreign biscuits which has a large
Customs Generates N7.9bn In November LAGOS - The Ports and Terminal Multi-services Ltd Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at TinCan Island, Lagos, said it generated a revenue of N7.9 billion in November. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Steve Okonmah, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, said the figure was an improvement over the N6.8 billion the command recorded in October. He said that the improvement in revenue was a result of the man-management style of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi. • Cue in audio “In October, we made N6,861,
931,669 and in November there was a remarkable improvement, we made N7, 994, 875,159. “The secret is just two things. One, officers worked relentlessly to make sure that we upped the antenna. “Like the comptroller-general too, he has a target and every officer, because of the way he has carried his officers with happiness, all the officers met and vowed with him as said that they must assist him to meet that target. “That was the first thing that accounted for the increase. “The second one, when the yuletide is coming like this, importation is always on the increase and that is the situation. There is an increase in importation and that accounted
Birniwa (Jigawa) - The Birniwa Local Government Council in Jigawa yesterday said it had expended N2 million on water projects to enhance access to safe drinking water in the area. Alhaji Shu’aibu Abdullahi, Director, Water and Sanitation of the council, told newsmen in Birniwa that the money was spent on the repair and maintenance of hand pumps in rural communities. bdullahi said part of the project was the construction of a bore hole at Birniwa Abattoir, to enhance sanitation and supply of healthy meat in the area. e said the council had engaged 104 ad hoc sanitation workers and placed each of them on a monthly allowance of N5, 000. The director said the sanitation workers were engaged to clear wastes and drains as well as clean offices and other public buildings. He said the council had in
addition, conducted a campaign to clear wastes and drains in Birniwa and other major towns to enhance sanitation and protect the environment. He urged the communities to cooperate with the sanitation workers in the efforts keep the environment clean.
for this too. “The role of Comptroller Folorunso Adegoke in this increase cannot be over looked because as the Area Controller, within this month alone, he held meeting with officers more than 10 times. “All in an effort to encourage them, to ginger them and possibly shake the ones that
feels there is need for him to shake for us to have ourselves focused.“ A breakdown showed that N5.6 billion was raked into the Federation Account, while N2.3 billion was collected into the Non-Federation Account. Import duty fetched N5.1 billion; Fees (N18.2 million) and Common External Tariffs
(N480.3 million), while 7 per cent surcharge was N359.3 million. It was also reports that the Value Added Tax (VAT) fetched N1.5 billion and the sum of N161.8 million was realised from 0.5 per cent ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).
LG Spends N2m On Water Projects
Bauchi State APC Governorship Aspirant, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar (left), with winner of APC Bauchi South Senatorial, Malam Ali Wakili, at the APC Senatorial Primaries in Bauchi recently.
NCC Clamps Down On Telecoms Firms
LAGOS- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has clamped down on four telecoms companies for engaging in illegal usage of spectrum frequency. The four operators are Steam Communications, Netcom Africa, SwiftTalk and Multidimension Technologies, all located in Lagos. Mr. Salisu Abdu, Head of Enforcement Unit of NCC, told newsmen during the enforcement that they were also on the trail of three more
operators who were violating regulations in the industry. Abdu said that the operators were operating on the 5.4 gigahertz frequency band, which was not licensed to them by the commission. He said the operation of the telecoms firms was an offence under Section 122 of the Nigerian Communication Act 2003, adding that it was a criminal act to operate without proper licensing by the NCC. According to him, ?in 2009,
NCC came up with a guideline on the deployment of service on the 5.4Ghz band that no operator should operate on it without obtaining necessary licences from NCC. ‘’In the course of the guideline, we have monitored compliance and we have discovered that we still have some operators operating illegally on the 5.4GHz till 2012. ‘’We have done a lot of clean-up and we thought the
frequency was free of interferences. ‘’So, after recent monitoring by the Spectrum Administration Department of NCC, about seven operators are now discovered to be operating on the 5.4Ghz band. ‘’On Tuesday, we visited Steam Communications Company and we found they were operating on the 5.4GHz ?band, we confiscated their radio equipment and they are currently under investigation,’’ he said.
demand in the domestic market. “So there is the need for entrepreneurs to empower themselves to remain in business,” she said. Aremu said that refresher courses broaden the entrepreneur’s awareness of the various laws and guidelines that regulate the production of certain consumable items. According to her, this can never be known outside attending a course. She stressed that training usually exposes the entrepreneur to the various processes of government requirements and what categories of machinery to start a small business, to reduce costs. Besides, Aremu said that the refresher course teaches the sort of skills an employer should search for from a potential employee in a business.
Emir Commends FG Over Power Project
MINNA - The Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umaru Bahago, yesterday commended the Federal Government for citing the 700 megawatts hydro power project in Zungeru area of Niger. Bahago made the commendation during a courtesy visit to his palace by Alhaji Isah Jibrin, the Chairman of the Community Relations Committee of the Zungeru Hydro-electric project. He pledged to ensure the smooth realisation of the project and appealed to the community to give the contractor maximum support. Earlier, the chairman of the committee said the visit was to brief the Emir on the progress of work as directed by the Federal Ministry of Power. Also speaking, Mr. Abiy Getahum, the Project Coordinator, said not much progress had been made in the execution of the project due to non payment of compensation to the people affected. Jibrin appealed to the Emir to intervene on the issue to enable work on the project move forward. The project coordinator said that 200 Chinese staff and 1, 200 local workers are currently on site. It could be recalled that the Zungeru power project, which was inaugurated on September. 27, 2013, is expected to be completed within five years.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Lagos Monalisa Unveils TV Talk Show LAGOS Sultry Nollywood diva, Monalisa Chinda, has decided to try her hands in other form of entertainment aside script interpretation and movie production. The pretty mother of one, unveiled her Television Talk Show tagged, “You and I with Monalisa” in Lagos. According to her, “You & I with Monalisa’’ is an unconventional weekly talk show that employs engaging interactive debates enmeshed with drama to address everyday social and trending issues. Chinda disclosed to newsmen that the programme would be telecast on DStv’s Africa Magic Channel. “Each episode will commence with beautifully acted out scripts followed by endearing discussions with distinguished guests. “As our society is constantly in flux, the show aims to record these unique changes and promote an on-going debate through the idea of open source interactions. “Our guests take on critical social issues with fresh perspectives and insights to highlight possible solutions to a particular dilemma,’’ she stated. She also said that the aim of the television show was to inspire, educate, empower and entertain its viewers,’’ she said. “We aim to give hope and encourage people who are disillusioned about the realities of life. “We will provide a medium to elevate its audience towards reaching their full potential and becoming the citizens they desire to be.’’ The ingenious talk show is set to inspire millions of viewers across TV, Electronic and Social Media platforms globally. It will be done in partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission.
Nigeria, Israel Battling Internationally Sponsored Terrorism -Envoy
A deserted area in Mararaba Mubi, where fierce fighting took place between the Military and Insurgents during the recapture of Mubi by the Army in Mubi recently.
LAGOS - The Ambassador of the State of Israel to Nigeria, Mr Uriel Palti, said terrorism in Nigeria and his country were being internationally sponsored. Palti said this at a public lecture organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos. The lecture was entitled: ‘ ‘The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Is Lasting Peace a Possibility?” “Just like in Israel, all of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria are all Al Qaeda sponsored.
APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu (middle), winner, Lagos West Senatorial District, Mr. Olamilekan Solomon (2nd right) and other APC leaders, during Solomon’s visit to Tinubu in Lagos recently.
“Both countries are battling with international terrorism that will need continuous negotiation to be resolved. “Israel strongly believes that for peace to come in the Middle-East is a possibility’’, he said. Palti said his government would continue to broker peace with Jordan and other Middle-East countries. He added that the Israeli Government would also continue to ensure that the only way to enhance development is not to resort to conflict or war.” The envoy expressed his government’s determination to strengthen relations with Nigeria in spite of challenges facing both countries. He said President Goodluck Jonathan recently visited Israel to establish further areas of cooperation between both countries. Prof. George Obiozor, Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Israel, said what Nigeria needed now was intelligence and courage to be able to overcome her present challenges. Obiozor said that Nigeria was being sabotaged from within as well as from outside her shores. He said international relations had become a game of politics, self-help and every man to himself.
Inadequate Facilities, Erratic Power Supply Challenges Facing Surgery
LAGOS - A Consultant Neurosurgeon, Dr Olufemi Idowu, has identified inadequate facilities, lack of maintenance and erratic power supply as some major challenges facing surgery in Nigeria. Idowu, a lecturer at the Lagos State University College of Medicine, Ikeja, said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos. “The major challenge is not the expertise, but the facilities, which are quite expensive and quite a number of these facilities are still alien to the country. “So, even if you bring the best neurosurgeon on the planet, he cannot function because the facilities for some of these surgeries are not available. “But, we should give it to the government; they (functionaries) have done some things, because they have been able to provide some of these facilities. “They will still need to provide more for us to be able
to function appropriately. “We must not also forget the maintenance of these facilities, because bringing them in is for the doctors to use. “But the biomedical engineers also have to do their own part, because if they do not, the equipment will be spoilt within a short while. “Essentially, all this no light also affects it, because you buy equipment worth millions and because of fluctuating electric current these are damaged. “So, we have lost quite a number of equipment like that in the time past and I know that until this power problem is solved, this kind of situation will still continue.’’ The consultant urged the Federal and State Governments to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to provide quality healthcare services to the populace. He said that given the enabling environment, the cost
- Expert
of treatment and surgeries would reduce for the benefit of the populace. “Private sector is still our major hope for adequate healthcare delivery. “What I think the government will need to do is to ensure an enabling environment for them to be able to function. “I will give you an example. “So, I am the government, someone needs land for a
hospital, we give him land free of charge. “Importation of some of these gadgets, you reduce the VAT or you make it to be free, tax free as you are importing it. “Now, the private sector is now mandated that the amount they will charge for these services must be quite low so that people can afford. “Now, if they do that, secondly, we can now tie it to the populace. We must be people-oriented. “So, the government is
encouraging the hospital to grow and also benefiting the populace. “It is the private sector that will make any meaningful development in any sector of the economy. “As far as I am concerned, l think it is focusing on the private sector and ensuring a working environment that will bring down the cost of treatment, cost of surgery. “And also encourage more of these private hospitals to spring up with appropriate facilities.“
LAGOS - A truck driver, Kehinde Orelope ,33, has appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos over alleged theft of NITEL cables worth four million naira. Orelope, who resides at No. 172 AIT Road, Alagbado, Lagos, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and unlawful damage. The prosecutor, Insp. Uwambo
Moses, told the court that the accused drove a truck into the premises of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Ebute Meta, Lagos, to steal the cables on August. 12, 2014. The prosecutor said that the accused damaged the cables while stealing them. He added that the accused committed the offences in conspiracy with others still at
large in contravention of provisions of Sections 409, 278 and 348 of the Criminal Code, Law of Lagos State, 2011. However, the accused pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate, Mr. T.O. Abolarinwa, granted him bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case till January. 15, 2015 for mention.
Man Docked Over Theft
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Across The Nation Botched Governorship Primary Has Reunited Us - Kwara PDP Scribe
ILORIN - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara yesterday declared that its botched December 5 governorship primary had reunited members of the party into a stronger family. Dr Rex Olawoye, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, said this in a statement issued at the end of the executive
members’ meeting in Ilorin. He said the meeting was called primarily to consider all factors that led to the failure of the exercise. The two-page statement was signed by Olawoye, copy of
which was made available to newsmen. “It is important to let the public, party members and supporters know that in spite of the rancour, there is no division in our party,” Olawoye said. He said that what happened
was expected of a party where people of intellect, weight and competence existed to compete for just one position. “Ours is not new as many states in the federation experienced similar situation,” Olawoye said.
Representative of the SecretaryGeneral, D8 Organisation for E c o n o m i c cooperation, Mr Hazi Hassan (left), with the DirectorGeneral, National Office for Te c h n o l o g y Acquisition and Promotion, Dr Umar Bindir, at the D8 Technology transfer and exchange network meeting in Abuja recently.
He said that where people of high caliber were competing for a post as it was with the PDP in Kwara, heat must surely be generated. Olawoye, however, cautioned the opposition not to start jubilating over the issue, expressing confidence that the party would come out of the crisis stronger and better.
Agric Show To Focus On Food Security
ILORIN - The Chairman Exhibition and Fairs Limited, Mr Bolaji Atunse, has said that the 6th Kwara National Agric. Show will focus on enhancing the nation’s food security through commercial agricultural production. Atunse made this known in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin yesterday. He said that the programme was designed to improve on the achievements of the previous agriculture shows in the state. According to him, over 500 companies and organisations from the public and private sectors are to exhibit and showcase their agricultural
Kano Explosion
Association Denies Market Closure KANO - Alhaji Liti Kulkul, Chairman of Kantin Kwari Market Traders Association, Kano, has denied rumours that the market had been closed following Wednesday’s explosions that killed six people and injured several others. Kulkul made the denial in an interview with newsmen in Kano yesterday. He said the speculations were totally untrue as the market opened yesterday for usual business activities. ‘’The market is not closed. Only the affected section of the market was closed by security agents to enable them carry out investigations. ‘’More so, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II and Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso are expected to visit the scene of the incident, that is why that area is closed,’’ he said. He urged customers visiting the market from within and outside the country to ignore the rumour as the market would continue to operate. The chairman also assured that the union and security agencies were collaborating to provide adequate security in the market. Two female suicide bombers had on Wednesday detonated explosives at Ibrahim Taiwo way near the market, killing themselves and four others.
Traffic Jam on Kubwa-Abuja expressway.
Court Discharges Chinese Over Forgery Of Rice Brand
LAGOS - Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out the charge of forgery of a rice brand brought against a Chinese, Hong Dong Shen. Yunusa, in his judgment, expressed dissatisfaction with the attitude of the prosecution, saying that the case had lingered for too long, without the prosecution calling witnesses to prove its case. The judge also said that the suit lacked diligent prosecution and therefore, discharged the accused. He said, “This case has dragged on for about 18 months and had been adjourned on more than nine different occasions.
“So far, the prosecution has been unable to produce any witness to testify in court, in spite of motions that have been served. “The case is hereby struck out for lack of diligent prosecution,” he said. Yunusa also ordered that the international passport of the freed Chinese should be returned to him by the court. The accused has been standing trial on a four-count charge of forgery, fraud, unlawful possession and stealing. He was arraigned on July 29, 2013 and pleaded not guilty to the charge, following which the judge granted him bail in the sum of N2 million, with two sureties in like sum.
The judge had also ordered the accused to deposit his travelling documents with the court’s registry. The suit had suffered a series of adjournments at the instance of the prosecution, who was unable to produce witnesses in court to testify against the accused. After the arraignment of the accused on July 29, 2013, the case was then fixed for the prosecution to open trial. The case was adjourned on a number of times to: September. 19, 2013; November 7, 2013; December 11, 2013; January 15, 2014; May 20, 2014; July 3, 2014; November 12, 2014, and December 10. 2014.
He said members of the state executive council of the party apologised to the party delegates, aspirants and its supporters for the inconvenience the aborted exercise had caused them. Olawoye said the rescheduled primary would be conducted in an atmosphere of peace and transparency that would be devoid of shady deals. The PDP spokesman said that the party executive would be fair to all aspirants and ensure free, fair and credible governorship pr
The Prosecutor, Mr Daniel Apochi, had on different adjourned dates, failed to produce his witnesses in court. Apochi informed the court that the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) and other witnesses were out of the jurisdiction of the court, and that he was unable to secure their attendance. He had told the court that the accused committed the offence between February 2011 and March 2013. The prosecutor said that the accused forged the trade mark of Ollam Nigeria Ltd, producers of Mama Gold Rice, and had fraudulently reproduced about 140 bags, for illegal sale to members of the public. According to the prosecutor, the trade mark is valued at N200 million.
products, chemicals and equipment to the populace. “The idea behind the 6th Kwara National Agric. Show 2014 is the desire to work in line within the Federal Government Agriculture Policies to boost food production and encourage farming in all states. “To create opportunities for small-scale agro-allied industries in our rural areas; to educate the farmers on how best they can add value to their farm produce for local and international market. “This Workshop /Seminar during the exhibition will throw more light to the farmers and participants on how best to be financially prudent and improve their farm produce,’’ he said. He said that the programme would showcase the latest and the most effective agricultural technology in vogue.
Imbibe Spirit Of Sportsmanship, Ohaneze Ndigbo Urges Politicians ONITSHA (ANAMBRA) Ohaneze Ndigbo, an apex Igbo socio-cultural group, yesterday urged politicians to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship while vying for elective positions. A chieftain of the group, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, made this disclosure to newsmen in an interview at Oba, near Onitsha in Anambra. “Our politicians should learn how to take the outcome of the various political elections, whether at party or national levels, in good faith,’’ he said. Ezeonwuka urged politicians to always learn from footballers who would not lose or win at all times. He also advised politicians not to use their selfish interests and disagreements within their parties to cause disaffection among the people. “Politicians should learn from footballers; what it takes to be a sportsman who knows that losing today does not mean he will not win another match tomorrow. “One person can only win a contest and every other person who did not win should hail the victor and work with him or her. “Losers should identify with the winner by sharing their ideals and vision with him or her for the greater benefit of the people and good governance,’’ he said.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Abuja NUC Vs Heritage Bank
PDP Convention
Delegates Return Mu‘azu As National Chairman ABUJA - Delegates from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention, has ratified Alhaji Adamu Mu‘azu, as the party‘s National Chairman. The delegates returned Mu‘azu through voting which eventually endorsed his appointment, following the resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the immediate past PDP National Chairman earlier in the year. Sen. Ken Nnamani, Chairman of the electoral panel, while announcing the result, said Mu‘azu scored above two-third majority of valid votes cast. Prof. Wale Oladipo, the PDP National Secretary and Mr. Wole Olayanju, the party’s National Auditor, were also returned by the delegates. Their election was followed by a motion moved by Governor. Gabriel Suswan of Benue state for the amendment of the PDP constitution to give room for fresh tenure for Mu‘azu. The motion was seconded by a PDP chieftain, Alhaji Mohammed Wakil . While delegates comported themselves in an orderly manner amidst songs of victory, ambulances were seen at strategic points of the convention venue to handle any eventuality. Security operatives were also on hand and ensured orderliness, to forestall any breach of peace. The 3,073 delegates are also expected to ratify by voting, the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the PDP sole presidential candidate for the 2015 presidential election. Mu‘azu, in his speech, thanked the delegates and assured that he would ensure PDP continued to grow from strength to strength. He said the convention was a true demonstration of the practice of democracy in the PDP, adding that members who were unfortunate at its just concluded primaries, should cooperate with others, to build the party. He further said that the PDP had remained standing from its inception while the opposition party had continued to evolve. “We had remained constant as the northern star with an encompassing membership and a true representation of the six geopolitical zones of the country,’’ he said. Mu‘azu stressed that the PDP had positively captured the minds of Nigerians following its development and achievement in all sectors of the country‘s economy.
Court Adjourns Till Jan 22
L-R: Representative of the Minister of Health, Dr. Taiwo Sheikh; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kaduna State, Dr. Paul Dogo and Chairman, Board of Management, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, at the 45th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria in Kaduna recently.
ABUJA - A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned till January 22, 2015 for hearing, pending applications on the suit brought against Heritage Banking Company Ltd by the National Universities Commission (NUC). NUC had in 2005 approached the court seeking an order to recover from the bank its principal deposit of N220 million with the accrued interests. Counsel to NUC, Mr. Taiwo Oladipo, had said that on February 2006, the Federal High Court gave judgment in favour of NUC for the recovery of the aforementioned debt. He said that Heritage Bank
Yuletide: Residents Look Forward ABUJA Some electricity consumers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called on the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to ensure stable power supply during the Christmas and New Year periods. The consumers told newsmen that every family deserved to celebrate the season with electricity supply as many people prefer to stay indoors during the period. A businessman, Mr. Kingsley Egwuonwu, a resident of Karmo, urged the AEDC to sustain the tempo in improved power supply over the period of Yuletide. “Prior to this period, power supply in Karmo has been very bad but since this December, we are enjoying constant power supply. I hope they will sustain it during the Christmas period,” he said. According to him, Christmas was a season when most Nigerians stay in their houses to celebrate with their families. “I am appealing to the Abuja
To Stable Power Supply
Electricity Distribution Company to make electricity available to those of us that will not travel so that we can enjoy the Christmas,” he said. He told newsmen that in 2013 most residents of Karmo spent the Christmas with epileptic power supply. Mr. Ugwu Ernest, a resident of Karu, an Abuja suburb said that he expected stable electricity supply to FCT during the Christmas period. He urged AEDC not to deviate from the tradition of ensuring stable power supply to the territory during Christmas. “Electricity supply has always been stable in the FCT during Christmas because so many people travel to their villages to celebrate the festival so that removes pressure on the power lines,” he said. He said that electricity supply in the territory had become so poor in spite of prompt payment
of electricity bills by subscribers. A Nyanya resident, Alhaji Adamu Tanko said that power crisis in the country “has become more of a spiritual than a technical problem.’’ “My brother, honestly, I always prefer to keep quiet about power supply in Nigeria because the more I talk about it the angrier I become,” he said. He wondered why the problem of power supply could not be solved once and for all in the country after much funds had been expended on the sector. Tanko said that though he is a
Muslim, the period is one that most Nigerians stayed at home and they would expect 24 hour electricity supply. He said that with the reduction in the population of the FCT residents during the season, he expected a stable power supply from AEDC. Mrs. Eugenia Moses, a resident of Mararaba on the outskirts of FCT said though she would travel for the Christmas, she expected a stable power supply for those who would not travel.
acquired the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria in which name the first judgment was obtained. Oladipo said Justice G.K. Oluto of the Federal High Court granted the application to adopt and adapt 2006 judgment on Heritage Banking Company Ltd on May, 2013. He said the Judgment facilitated the institution of “garnishee proceedings’” against the bank which was obtained on June, 2013. Garnishee proceedings is a legal procedure by which a creditor can collect what a debtor owes by reaching the debtor’s property when it is in the hands of a third party. According to Oladipo, while the garnishee order was on at the Federal High Court, Heritage Bank appealed the seven year old judgment which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. He said that Heritage Bank had never denied owing NUC but was insisting on waiver for all the interest that accrued on the principal sum of N220 million At a resumed hearing before Justice Evoh Chukwu, who the case was re-assigned to, Oladipo told the court that the defendant had an application for stay of proceedings. He said that he had filed a preliminary objection to the application of the defendant. The presiding judge adjourned the case to Jan. 22 to hear all pending applications.
Lugbe Has The Highest HIV Prevalence — NACA
ABUJA - Mrs Jummai Danuk, Capacity Development Officer for SURE-P, has said that Lugbe, a suburb of the FCT, has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Abuja. She made the disclosure in Abuja at a sensitisation on HIV testing and counseling held in
L-R: Chairman, PDP Kaduna State, Mr. Abubakar Haruna; Deputy Chairman, Mr. Isiyaka Aliyu and Vice Chairman, Zone One, Alhaji Abdu Likoro at a news conference in Kaduna recently.
Lugbe. The campaign was jointly organised by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). The campaign, aimed at encouraging the community on voluntary HIV/AIDS testing, witnessed a large turnout. Danuk, who represented Dr. Sebastian Wakdok, Project Director, NACA/SUPE-P HIV/ AIDS programme, said Lugbe was chosen for the campaign due to the Prevalence Surveillance Survey conducted in the area recently. She said: “We needed to take the treatment to the grassroots; Lugbe is the ideal place because it is along the expressway which makes it easy to access the satellite villages. “The Prevalence Surveillance Survey shows that Lugbe has the highest prevalence of HIV/ AIDS along the axis; this informed our choice of coming to Lugbe for the exercise. Danuk said due to stigma attached to the disease, Lugbe communities had not felt the
impact of what development partners were doing in area of access to services for treatment.. She said the FCT ranks number eight in states with the highest HIV prevalence in Nigeria and attributed the development to its cosmopolitan nature. “The influx of people from other states have adverse effects on HIV/AIDS prevalence in the FCT,’’ Danuk said. She said that prevention was important in the fight against HIV/ AIDS or any other disease, adding that it was necessary that an individual should know his status irrespective of age, sex and social status. Danuk expressed concern that foreign donors assisting Nigeria in the fight against the disease were leaving the country as they no long classify HIV as a serious issue. Speaking earlier Mr. Micah Jiba Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council represented by Mrs. Josephine Nneme Supervisory Councilor for Health commended NACA and SURE-P for considering Lugbe for the free medical outreach.
THE NIGERIAN
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Opinion
Pluralistic Relativism Of Criticisms
“CRITICISM is a disinterested endeavor to learn And propagate the best that is known and thought in the world”. Mathew Arnold (1822-1888) Essays in Criticism. Encapsulated in rhapsodic ebullience hallmarked by serendipity were Christopher Columbus on discovery of the Western Hemisphere, Luigi and Lucia Galvani on the theory of galvanism, Volta on the production of electric current by conduct of two dissimilar metalsand thus the invention of the battery, Faraday on Magnetism, Archimedes on his mathematical principles, Cyrus W. Field on his projection of the first Atlantic cable, William Penn the British Quaker who founded the colony of Pennsylvania, Leonardo da Vinci on Mona Lisa and others too numerous to mention. In his poem “The Volunteer Day”, C. Lewis took an emotional and retrospective glance at the travails, trauma and tribulations of the volunteers of war for ancient England, “It was not Fraud or Foolishness, glory, revenge or pay! We came because our eyes could see no other way. There was no other way to keep man’s flickering truth alight; these stars will witness that our course burned briefer, not less bright”. So also the altruistic zeitgeist of these inventors. They stood between Scylla and Charybdis, Critics and Kill – sports, but with dogged pertinacity, the punctiliousness of a Spaniard and Trojan perseverance they were able to move mankind forward, critics were their best friends and their worst enemies in the journey. Man is Hegelianly imperfect, perfection is nowhere within the purview of man –hence imperfection is a uniovular twin with man. Giving this state of imperfection –mistakes, defects, shortfalls, indispositions, and even death becomes a concomitant of man and his activities. Longfellow asserted that “No man is an Island unto himself”. In the light of this, social, political, cultural and educational engineering heightened a concatenation of events that gave rise to “The Society” and “The Social Contract.” In professions, men, women, students and critics contribute their quota towards ensuring a viable “social contract.” Ideally, the critic is the argo – eyed spectator who sees a better part of the game. He mirrors- in and mirrors-out activities through communication engineering, information technology and information management, seeing the world as a global village. A critic should have a profound and all- embracing understanding of his profession and goings-on in society and the world, to enable him form informed opinions and views. A critic, say in “Architecture” must have and know the nuts and bolts of the architectural profession, the basics of “Architectonics” – construction, designs, planning, framework, and style and History of designs. He should have hindsight, cognate experience, formal and informal training. He should be master of situations and not situations mastering him. Karl Popper a foremost authority on criticism asserts in
his book “ The Open Society and its’ Enemies”- chapters 22,23 and 24 and Conjectures and Refutations” chapter 10 [Rout ledge and Kegan Paul, 1963] that “the institutionalization of criticism is the basic precondition of improving social and political theories and society” Popper recognizes that politically, there are good and bad rulers and also good and bad critics, but that in any situation criticism must be institutionalized. Which good critic will want to work under a bad or dictatorial ruler and vice versa?. The courage or foolhardiness of the critic is brought to the fore here. A good critic must espouse the good course to enable society move forward. The Aristotelian concept of the pursuit of the greatest good for the largest number should be his diadem and garlands of honour with which he is festooned even unto death. Is there such a critic? “Few”. A critic is a human being and unless he is given the enabling environment he cannot appropriately deliver. Though many have climbed to the pinnacle of martyrdom in it and they changed the world for the better. No critic would have liked to work against Hitler during the slaughtering of the Jews, Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Stalin , Mobutu, Abacha and Tsars of Soviet Russia. ETC. Apart from dictatorship, another problem the critic faces is lack of tools to do his work and democracy. But he should not develop, in Marxian dialectics, “An inverted attitude to an inverted world.” The profession and every facet of life is literally closed because there is no mirroring-out. There is communication erebus as there is no way to get information except from government propaganda machinery and literary hirelings. Nobody knows what is going on except what they want you to know. Wherever information is hoodwinked, teleguided and unnecessarily classified, it precipitates information imperialism, news autocracy and the messiah complex. This first tool of a good critic, be it in philosophy, politics, Religion, Mathematics, the Arts and the sciences etc is the “fact” yes the raw facts, not deductive and speculative reasoning, researched and proven truth. This is the one basis and inobliterable plinth on which the “Art” of Criticism” rotates. A critic must be an effervescence of information and not exiguous of it. He should not hide under the “capacious umbrella” of generalization, social forces, livid analogy, kierkgard’s existentialist determinant, bias and subjectivity. If he appears as a newspaper columnist, commentator, an arbiter, wine connoisseur, book reviewer, arts pundit, an expositor in a colloquium, seminar and symposia, an evaluator, a judge of formal standard, professional analyst and an authority on the subject then he is a critic. But when a critic resorts to being a paid hack, pen-outrage, an animadversionist, bad press, brickbats, disparaging flak, querulous fault –finder, a detractor, momus and stricture-
By BOBSON GBINIGIE
possessed, then, there is paradigm shift and normative gap in the practice, he is a bad critic, but in a bad society he is a “Heroic Critic”-the plural impasse. The French philosopher Rene Descartes asked himself “what is that we know certainly? The answer is obvious. But he asked conclusively that he was certain
Parekh, lecturer Department of political studies, University of Hull for his taking Sociology of knowledge as his answer to ideology and criticism. He asserted”………….like moral ideals that cannot all be achieved these demands cannot all be met. In heightening up its concept or achieving comprehensiveness, a theory or criticism may lose in
he could think and from that he inferred his existence- cogito ergo sum [I think: therefore I exist]. So also do I wish to state with unmistakable exactitude that society has bad and good critics, but a pot-pouri of bad governments and the larger society made them what they are? Since perfection is outside the reach of man, what is the middle of the road approach and personality of the “Dynamic critic” of the modern era that will be able to move society forward. It is an unacceptable over simplification to assert that he is either good or bad. No, that betrays uncompromising intransigence. He should be neargood or near bad not perfectly bad or perfectly good. In his “Ideology and Utopia” Professor K. Mannheim was greatly rebuffed by Dr. Bhikhu
empirical richness. In trying to be “absolutely accurate” it might become as chaotic as the reality itself losing in coherence what it gains in suggestiveness. As no criticism possess all the qualities one ideally expects in it, beyond a certain point, the choice between them is a matter of individual discretion. Objectivity or partiality, therefore is not the only or even always the highest virtue in criticism. If a discipline is dominated by a single body of assumptions that its professionally socialized, practitioners unconsciously assume to be self-evidently true, there is much to be said for advancing or accepting an extreme criticism in order to stir them into critical self=reexamination and to encourage a radical reappraisal of concepting tools of the discipline
since objectivity and impartiality are achieved as a result of the clash of subjectivity and partiality , falsehood and extremism often make most worthwhile contributions to the discovery of “truth”. Dennis J.O . Haan in his treatise “HASTY CONCLUSIONS” said “ A Persian King wanted to teach his four sons never to make rash judgment. So he told the eldest to go in winter to see a mango tree, the next to go in spring, the
third in summer and the youngest in fall , after the last son had returned from his autumn visit, the king called them together to describe what they had observed. “It looks like a burnt old stump said the eldest”. No “said the second, “ it is lacy green”. The third described it as “beautiful as a rose., the youngest said, “No ,its fruit is like a pear”. Each is right, “said the king”, for each of you saw the tree in a different season “. This didactic jeremiad serves to caution the critic that given the multi-dimensionality of thought we can only see a portion of the truth at any point in time and hence can not be “completely Right. The “Dynamic critic” of the modern era should be able to develop a comprehensive basis of vision , a dynamic and synthetic
viewpoint that encompasses, explaining and integrates conflicting perspectives with truth and the love of society as the signet of his actions. Critics have always been buffeted by parochialism in government. Religion and philosophical cycles etc. Socratecs, Plato, Aristotle ,Isaac Newton, Gallileo,, Sigmund Freud, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Voltaire, Helvetius, Bentham and Adam smith were victims. Why do men criticize? There are two schools of thought in this regards. One says men generally do what they do because of selfish interest and the other says for the general good. In the psychological theory of human interest and action as initiated by Hobbes, refined by Locke , and perfected by the thinkers of the French Enlightenment, Man , it was argued, was essentially a practical being, to make the world a habitable place. Reason, it was argued further, was set in motion by Human desires; indeed, it was created by desires, so that the more a man desired the greater the stimulus he had to think and therefore the greater his reason .As Voltaire in his “Treatise of Metaphysics” remarked “the passions are the wheels which make all these machines go round”. Vauvenargues reflected the same attitude in his “Introduction to knowledge of Human mind”, when he concluded that the true Nature of man did not lie in reason but in passions. Helvetius observed in his “Treatise of man” that reason in itself was insert and was set in motion only by desire. Bentham argued, further, that of all Human passions the concern for personal interest was the most powerful, most important, most uniform, most lasting and most general. Adam Smith corroborates this view in his belief that it is natural for man to prefer himself to mankind; indeed, he argued that this desire comes with us from the womb and never leaves until we die. It is clear, that, man acts out of personal interest, but in some cases, man acts out of a genuine desire to improve- his kind and move the world forward. In all the critics endeavour let him allow conscience, nurtured by truth to be his guiding light. Shakespeare agrees thus “To thine ownself be true, and it must follow as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man”, for it is only this that can salvage the critic from the “plural impasse” and lay bare the pluralistic relativism of criticism and critics • CHIEF BOBSON GBINIJE MANDATE AGAINST POVERTY (MAP),WARRI: 08023250378.
“Apart from dictatorship, another problem the critic faces is lack of tools to do his work and democracy.”
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Discourse Issues IN 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) named Nigeria as one of the 38 countries that are set to meet the Millennium Development Goal 1 target of reducing hunger by half before the 2015 target date. The recognition earned Nigeria an award at the high-level FAO conference ceremony in Rome. The first goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — “Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty’’ — is targeted halving the proportion of the population who suffer from hunger and those whose income is less than 1dollar (about N162) a day. The other targets of the goal are to reduce the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five years and the proportion of the population whose food intake is below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption. The progress of Nigeria’s achievement was measured from 1990 to 1992 and 2010 to 2012, against benchmarks established by the international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000. FAO’s Director-General José da Silva commended Nigeria and the other 37 countries for “leading the way to a better future”. A report on the MDGs in Nigeria indicated that recent economic growth, particularly in agriculture, had markedly reduced the proportion of underweight children from 35.7 per cent in 1990 to 23.1 per cent in 2012. Dr Precious Gbeneol, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, said that Nigeria had been
able to attain the target of MDG 1 relating to hunger reduction. “We have been able to reduce hunger from the 1991 prevalence of 19.3 to 8.25, well ahead of the 9.6prevalence rate set-target for 2015,’’ she said. Gbeneol attributed the feat to pragmatic government initiatives which scaled up poverty eradication programmes and encouraged agricultural production via distribution of improved inputs to farmers. At the onset of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pledged that efforts would be made to add 20 million tonnes of food to the nation’s food stock by 2015. He said that additional 15 million tonnes of food were produced between 2011 and 2013, thereby reducing drastically the menace of hunger in the country. Moreover, the country’s research institutes, in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), have produced more nutritious food crops, thereby increasing the body mass of infants and adults, in line with target of MDG 1. Such crops include yellow-fleshed cassava and potato varieties which are rich in Vitamin A, maize hybrids that are resistant to metsulfuron methyl herbicide and the noxious parasitic weed striga hermonthica. Besides, improved rice varieties, fingerlings, livestock, poultry and feeds were distributed to farmers nationwide through the Growth Enhancement
Assessing Nigeria’s Strategies To Eradicate Hunger, Poverty
Support (GES) Scheme at subsidised rates. Value chains on staple and cash crops, which include rice, cassava, soyabean, sorgum, millet, cocoa, ginger and groundnut, among others, were introduced to encourage agri-businesses and stimulate increased food production. Nevertheless, there are mixed reactions to the feats recorded by Nigeria in efforts to attain MDG 1. While many farmers attest to the effectiveness of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), a crosssection of Nigerians insist that the effects of ATA on the society have been minimal and inconsequential.
By MAUREEN OKON/ MAGDALENE UKUEDOJOR
Increasing food prices, unrest in some parts of the country, increased ruralurban migration due to factors such as hunger and unemployment are some of the factors plaguing the society, some observers say. Mr Segun Ade, a civil servant, said that a lot of Nigerians were still living in extreme hunger and poverty. “There is poverty in the land; we stay here in Abuja and give statistics but whether you like it or not, a lot of people are quite hungry; they cannot afford good meals. “Even many of the government workers find it
“The farmers have more crops to sell but how can they bring them out from their farms? They spend so much on transportation and there are no storage facilities around to preserve the produce.”
difficult to feed, not to talk of taking care of their families; we are merely striving to survive. “These officials should go to core villages and see the things happening there, they should even endeavour to visit the slums around here in Abuja,” he said. Similarly, Mr Efe Osagie, a mechanic, also rejected claims that hunger and poverty had reduced considerably in Nigeria. “The gap between the poor and rich keeps widening; people still live in abject poverty; so, why should we not strive to wipe out poverty completely? “We can do it because Nigeria is a very rich country, the problem is that a few citizens want to take over everything,” he said. Mrs Rita Onah, a trader at Garki Market in Abuja, said that food production in the country had increased considerably due to the feats recorded in the agricultural sector. She, however, noted that some factors such as
inadequate storage facilities, bad roads and high transport fares had lessened the impact of the achievements. “The farmers have more crops to sell but how can they bring them out from their farms? They spend so much on transportation and there are no storage facilities around to preserve the produce. “If the roads are good, food prices will definitely come down. We buy the food from farms and markets in interior places but due to our transportation problems and the number of days we spend on the road, food prices cannot come down,” she said. Experts, therefore, underscore the need for improved infrastructure, agricultural mechanisation, food preservation facilities and hitch-free government interventions in efforts aimed at improving the country’s food security. They also call for more concerted efforts in meeting the targets of all the MDGs, as they all aim at facilitating the country’s socio-economic development in a pragmatic way.
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THE need to conserve our forest through scientific research to improve the quality of forest trees in Nigeria becomes more important than ever. Forests area source of wealth and beauty which we should collectively conserve. FOR Instance, there Is the need for governments at all levels to encourage the planting of neem frees. The neem tree, particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria, is one of the most economic trees you can find anywhere. RESEARCH has revealed that apart from using It to reduce the effects of desertification, it has been discovered in the last ten years that there are so many things that can come out of the neem tree. FIRST, there is the neem oil. Sold all over the world and used by most cosmetic industries, the neem oil is a by product of the neem free. The neem seed when crushed, produces one of the best cosmetic oils anywhere in the world. THERE are also other byproducts which come out of making the oil and many of them are being used at the moment for making soap, detergents and paints, it has been discovered lately that a good part of local paints used all over the North for painting mud houses, are also byproducts of the neem tree. BASED on the above, deliberate efforts need to be made, more than ever before, to conserve our forests, for the economic, social and agricultural value. FORESTS are an important
THE NIGERIAN
Imperative Of Forest Conservation component of the national environment which play a significant role in water and soil conservation. The importance of forest lies In its ability to hold rain water, which is gradually released to the soil below and streams which flow through them. BESIDES, forests act as protective cover for the soil against the action of rain and wind. It also reduces the speed of wind and devastating effect of erosion. Forests any where in the world provide home for wild life. INDEED, forests, especially the luxuriant rain forest in Nigeria is being depleted at an alarming rate. Apart from serving as a source of timber, forests are daily destroyed for farming activities. Added to the above is the destruction of this natural environment for the sitting of industries, residential buildings and road construction. WHEN the forests are destroyed the soil is left bare and consequently exposed to erosion and in some cases, flooding. Therefore, many plant species are lost and the natural home of wild life destroyed. The above factors conspire to reduce the number of wild life available. THIS accounts for why some hitherto
thick forested regions of Nigeria are now left as a barren semi desert today. HOWEVER, there is the urgent need to strengthen the selective felling of frees WHAT we have seen over the years were mere rhetorics rather than pragmatic tree planting policies by government at all levels. T1 efforts towards forest conservation will be far from success unless the issue of bush burning is addressed. Bush burning has led to the destruction of forests, wild life and loss of soil fertility. Sometimes, this damage and soil degradation become irreversible. GOVERNMENT should therefore introduce protective legislative measures to prevent the incidence of bush burning. HOME to several plants and wild life, conserved forests will serve as tourist centres as it is obtainable in a country such as Kenya. TOURISM will help to diversity the economy of Nigeria, provide employment and provide huge revenue required for national - development FINALLY, the conservation of our forests should not be restricted to the confines of government alone. Traditional rulers, Non Governmental Organisations (N.G.Os), private firms and the public should adopt the culture of preserving the work and gift of nature bearing In mind that not every country of the world has this same blessing. Therefore the duty lies on all of us to protect and preserve our forests for future generations.
THE NIGERIAN
13 WHEN we are discussing about the concept of RACISM & ETHNOCENTRISM. We are referring to issues like Racial Discrimination, Tribalism, Bigotry, Segregation, Apartheid, Prejudice, Partiality, Intolerance, Bias, Unfairness and favoritism. Now, what does Almighty Allah and His Prophet says about this negative tendencies. The Prophet (saw) warned us about displaying attitudes of false pride based on race, colour, riches, family, and ancestral ties. He vehemently expressed his opposition towards such unbecoming boastful behaviour. And advised the believers to avoid such behaviour. Abu Hurayrah related that Allah’s Messenger said: Allah, Most High, has removed from you the pride of Jahiliyah (the age of spiritual darkness before Islam) and boasting of ancestors. One can either be a pious believer or a miserable sinner. You are the sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let people stop boasting about their ancestors, who are merely fuel in hell, or they will certainly be of lesser account with Allah than the beetle that rolls on the ground with its nose. One very common poisonous habit that is present across all ethnic groups and nations today is pride of ancestry or tribal affiliation. This makes some feel superior over others who are of a different tribe or clan. This evil superiority complex has been strongly condemned by the Prophet. In fact, Allah’s Messenger has warned that those who do not desist from boasting and being arrogant concerning their ancestry will be fuel for the hell fire, also, in the sight of Allah, they will be of lesser significance than a lowly, repulsive insect. Those who have adopted this habit of boasting about their tribe and clan should know that they are directly emulating Satan. He became proud when he was commanded by Allah to prostrate to Adam. He felt he was better than Adam because he had been created from smokeless fire, while Adam had been created from dust. Almighty Allah says: And We have certainly created you, (0 Humankind), and gave you human form. Then We said to the angels: Prostrate to Adam so they prostrate4 except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated. Allah said to Him: “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you? Satan said: I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay. Allah said: Descend from it (Paradise), for it is not for you to be arrogant therein. So get out; indeed, you are of the debased”. (7.11-13) It is a sheer ignorance to harbor a sense of pride and feel we are superior to people simply because we are from a different race, tribe, or community. In reality, we are not the ones who choose to be born into a specific tribe or race. It is Allah who decides into what nation we are born. It is part of His decree, and none of us has a say in the matter. Some people, however, still feel they are above others only because they are fair-skinned, African, Asian or Arab. Furthermore, Islam recognises that all human beings have descended from the same parents. As such, we are all equal in the sight of Allah, regardless of our skin colour, race, tribe, language, clan, sex or amount of wealth. In Islam, our different languages and colours are not reasons to boast, look down in contempt upon others, or despise one another. These different skin colours and languages, rather, are for us to identify each other and appreciate the powers of Allah in creating such diversity. By understanding this idea, we can cherish the miracles of Allah’s creation and thus fear Him and humble ourselves in our daily lives. Almighty Allah has said: “And of His signs are
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
“Those who have adopted this habit of boasting about their tribe and clan should know that they are directly emulating Satan. He became proud when he was commanded by Allah to prostrate to Adam. He felt he was better than Adam because he had been created from smokeless fire, while Adam had been created from dust”
Voice Of
Islam
Every Friday With Mallam Abdulfattah Enabulele Chief Imam of Benin
Racism And Ethnocentrism the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colours. Indeed in that are signs for those who has knowledge” 30:22 He further, in other verse in 49:13: “0 humankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despire each other. Verily, the most honourable amongst you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous. And Allah has full knowledge and is Well-Acquainted with all things”. The implications of the above verses are that anyone who boasts or adopts an air of pride and superiority because of his/her skin, colour, race or tribe and ridicules others is totally ignorant of Allah’s injunctions. There is no room for superiority or inferiority complexes in Islam. Allah and His Messenger never gave us that right, because these are evil and highly condemnable. They are the root causes of many divisions, injustice and troubles in our society. And Almighty Allah has said: Let not a people ridicule or scorn or belittle another people; perhaps they may be better than them. Nor let women ridicule other women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by offensive nicknames. Wretched is the name mention of disobedience after one’s faith. And whoever does not repent — then it is those who are the wrongdoers. 49:11 Regardless of the religion which they eventually adopt (Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, or Hinduism) everyone is born into a state of submission. Hence, no one can claim the ownership of Islam and feel superior merely by being born to Muslim parents. Similarly, one must not feel that she/he is above others only because she/he has studied Islam a great deal; one may have studied Islam extensively and yet may not implement or adhere to its teachings. Likewise, Muslims should not harbor any sense of inferiority because they have embraced Islam
from another religion; they should not feel ashamed and out of place. Indeed, it is often only a matter of time before a revert to Islam will be like the rest. We should also not feel below others because we are poor or from a low socio-economic class, because these are matters that can change quickly. THE HOLY PROPHET ADVICE The Prophet gave us clear guidance, both through his practical pattern of life and in his statements, on how to eradicate all forms of racism and tribalism; at the same time, he also gave us guidance on how to achieving unity and Islamic brotherhood based on true love. The Prophet said in his last sermon (according to his biographers): 0 people, verily your Lord and Sustainer is One, and your ancestor is one. All of you descend from Adam, and Adam was made of earth. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab or for a nonArab over an Arab; neither for a fair-skinned man over a dark-skinned man, nor for a dark-skinned man over a fair-skinned man, except the superiority gain through Taqwa. Indeed, the noblest among you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most deeply conscious of Allah When we look at the companions of Allah’s Messenger we find a mixture of colours and races together as one family. These included: -Bilal ibn Rabah - A black former slave from Africa. -Suhayb ar-Roomi - A European from Rome. -Salman al-Farisi - A Persian from Asia. -Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq - A pure Arab. From where, then, does the racism that we see in the Muslim community emanate? It stems from a lack of understanding of the true meaning of Islam and from our ignorant, corrupted cultures, Black African racism, White supremacy, Arab presumption, and Indian prejudices; all are condemned in Islam. Whoever perpetuates them endangers his/her religion. Examples of Racial Discrimination Several examples of the poisonous and destructive nature of tribalism and racism have been seen in recent times. -The regular killing of Blacks in America -Tribalist tendencies amongst Muslims. -Genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. -The turmoil in Somalia fuelled by pride and discrimination due to clannish superiority complexes. The result of these conflict was utterly devastation. By reflecting upon the consequences of these conflicts, we can indeed understand why the Prophet warned us so sternly against pride and scorning people. May Allah enable us to rise above such petty differences in terms of race, colour, caste, creed, socio-economic status, tribe and unite us as one Ummah. Ameen.
“It is a sheer ignorance to harbor a sense of pride and feel we are superior to people simply because we are from a different race, tribe, or community. In reality, we are not the ones who choose to be born into a specific tribe or race. It is Allah who decides into what nation we are born. It is part of His decree, and none of us has a say in the matter”
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Classified - Change of Name MODUNGWO- I, formerly called Miss Modungwo Doris Nneamaka now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akwuagwu Doris Nneamaka. All former documents remain valid. National Industrial Court, Benin Registry, Benin City and the general public should please take note. OYEKA –I formerly Miss Ginikanwa Oyeka, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Ginikanwa OsasuyiAgbontaen. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, Mainstreet Bank Limited and the general public should please take note. UGIEKHAI- I formerly Miss Gloria Oshioakpemhe Ugiekhai, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Gloria. M. Rotimi Lashe. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. IYAYI- I formerly called Miss Joan Uwa Iyayi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joan Uwa Benjamin – Ubaka. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. OSAWE- I formerly Miss Osawe Rita Osadebamwen, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Omorogbe Rita Osadebamwen. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and general public please take note. SAMUEL- I, Rebecca John Samuel wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person as Blessing Bello. Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Blessing Bello. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. OMIGIE – I formerly called Miss Edose Jane Omigie now wish to be called Mrs. Edose Jane Samuel. All former documents remain valid. The general public and Concerned authorities should please take note. ORUMWENSE – I formerly called Miss Orumwense Esosa Jennifer now wish to be called Mrs. Iduozee Esosa Jennifer. All former documents remain valid. United Bank for Africa Plc, other. Concerned authorities and the general public take note.
AIMINHIEFE- I formerly called Miss Aiminhiefe Ikenyeme Roselyn is now known and called Mrs. Eruaga Ikenyeme Roselyn. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
OKOLOGO – I formerly Miss Gladys Orobosa Okologo, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Gladys Orobosa Adoh. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
OSARENKHOE- I formerly called Mrs. Juliet Enoghayin Osarenkhoe now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Juliet Enoghayin Iyare. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
FELIX- IDAHOSA-I formerly Miss Rachel Felix –Idahosa, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Rachel Fok. All former documents remain valid. University of Benin and the general public should please take note.
OTOGHILE- I formerly called Miss Otoghile Ohien Elizabeth now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Aimuamwonsa Ohien Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. IROGHAMA- I formerly called Miss Iroghama Bridget now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Suleman Bridget. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. OVIASUYI –I formerly Miss Orobosa Oviasuyi, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Joy Orobosa Omorogbe. All former documents remain valid. Ministry of Works and the general public should please take note. EDOKPAYI- I formerly called Miss Priscilla Edokpayi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Priscilla Marcus-Edemeka. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. ASHAOLU – I formerly known as Miss Ashaolu Patience Atinuke now wish to be known as Mrs Oronsaye Patience Atinuke. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note. KALU- I formerly called Miss Isioma Alexandra Kalu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Isioma Alexandra Mayor Nwakwuribe. All former documents remain valid. WAEC, NECO, NOUN, ICAN and the general public should please take note.
OGBEMUDIA –I formerly called Miss Patience Owamagbe Ogbemudia now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Patience Owamagbe Omagbemi. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. AZAKA- I formerly known as Miss Ehiane Azaka now wish to be known as Mrs. Ehiane Otabor-Olubor. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and general public should please take note. UHUNMWANGHO –I formerly called Miss Esosa Lisa Uhunmwangho now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Esosa Lisa Izekor. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. OTOIDE – I formerly called Miss Otoide Eki Marita now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Evboifo Eki Marita. All former documents remain valid. National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the general public should please take note. ISONAH-I formerly called Miss Isonah Ikhialose Gloria now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayiko Ikhialose Gloria. All former documents remain valid. General Hospital, Sabongidda -Ora and the general public should please take note. ONOU-I formerly called Miss Onou Stella now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Imoniche Omogbai Stella. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
AZETA –I formerly Miss Itoya Azeta, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Itoya Igbenehi. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. NWAIDUMU, -I formerly Miss Florence Happiness Nwaidumu, now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Florence Happiness Oduola Abimbola. All former documents remain valid. Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the general public should please take note. ISAIAH- I formerly called Miss Isaiah Ewere Lilian Omoyemwen now wish to be known and addressed as Momoh Omoyemwen Lilian. All former documents remain valid. Edo State Ministry of Transport, Benin City and the general public should please take note. IDEMUDIA- I formerly called Miss Idemudia Grace Onaghama now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Izekor Grace Onaghama. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
ODIGIE- I formerly called Miss Edith Imazehiagan Odigie now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Edith John. All former documents remain valid. United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and the general public should please take note. ALOHAN –I formerly called Miss Rotimi Alohan now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rotimi Amenaghawon. All former documents remain valid. Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) and the general public should please take note. ANYIAM-I formerly called Miss Anyiam Jennifer Chinwe now wish to be called Mrs. Akhere Jennifer Chinwe. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public take note. ADEWALE-I formerly called Miss Adewale Adetutu Adejoke now wish to be called Mrs. Ododor Adetutu Adejoke. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public take note.
EDAFEADJEKE- I formerly called Miss Edafeadjeke Ejiro now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emmanuel Ejiro. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
EKUMATALOR- I formerly called Miss Rita Iguehi Ekumatalor now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rita Iguehi Obanor. All former documents remain valid. University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the general public should please take note.
EYUBE- I formerly called Miss Kesiena Roli Eyube now wish to be called Mrs. Kesiena Roli Usman. All former documents remain valid. Edo State Government, other Concerned authorities and the general public take note.
OKON-I formerly Mr. Etim Edet Okon now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Ezekiel Oronsaye. All former documents remain valid, Sterling Bank Plc, all concerned authorities and the general please take note.
ADVERTISE IN THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER OJEABULU – I formerly called Miss Ejobosemhen Ojeabulu now wish to be called Mrs Ejobosemhen Juliet OgheneovoSunday. All former documents remain valid. Concerned Authorities and the general public take note.
AGBOH-I formerly called Miss Imaria Agboh now wish to be called Mrs Imaria Fakinlede. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public take note. GALASI –I formerly called Miss Debbie Temieno Galasi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Debbie Eloghosa Ologbosere. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
RECONCILIATION OF NAME I, Idehen Queen is the same person as Queen O s a t o h a m w e n . Henceforth, I now wish to be properly known ands addressed as Idehen Queen. All former documents remain valid. Ovia North East Local Government Education Authority, Okada, SUBEB, Benin City and the general public take note. RECONCILIATION OF CHANGE OF NAME NAME I, Sunday Nkemchor Christian wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person as Nmorka Nkemchor Christian. Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Sunday Nkemchor Christian. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note. RECONCILIATION OF NAME I, Ayomanor Onogharefe Dennis is the same person as Uwejeya Onogharefe Dennis. Henceforth, I now wish to be properly known and addressed as Ayomanor Onogharefe Dennis. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public take note. RECONCILIATION OF NAME I, Esele Osamahiemen wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same as Esele Dorothy O s a m a y e m w e n . Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Esele Osamahiemen. All former documents remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FBN) and the general public should please take note. RECONCILIATION OF NAME I, Emeagi Grace Akuyoma (Mrs.) wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person as Emeagi Grace (Mrs). Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emeagi Grace Akuyoma. All former documents remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc, SUBEB, ICT and the general public should please take note. ADDITION OF NAME I formerly known as Ogbonmwan Patience now wish to be known as Ogbonmwan Idowu Patience. Former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and the general public please take note.
Continues on pg. 15
THE NIGERIAN
15
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014 With Eranga Isaac
Family
“There are three main things doctors look for when analyzing sperm: count, motility and malformations. If any one of those things is abnormal, male fertility is compromised.”
Family Planning Methods For Men
MEN may choose their own contraceptive method for a variety of reasons, but perhaps none more important than relieving themselves of the emotional and financial burden of unwanted pregnancies bring. Family planning methods for men either prevent sperm from leaving a man’s body, block it from entering a woman’s body, or render sperm immotile or
interfere with its ability to fertilize an egg. For many couples, contraception is largely the responsibility of the woman. Many of the most reliable forms of birth control are designed for women, although men can take an active role in preventing unplanned pregnancies. The most effective non-permanent form of birth control focuses on blocking sperm from fertilizing
eggs in the uterus. However, research continues on new methods of effective contraception designed for use by men. Withdrawal The technical name for withdrawal or “pulling out” during intercourse is “coitus interruptus,” which refers to the interruption of sex before the male ejaculates, Planned
RECONCILIATION OF NAME
RECONCILIATION OF NAME
CHANGE OF NAME
I, Mrs. Cecilia Omosi Ehondor wish to bring to the general public that I am the same person as Mrs. Abigail Omosi Ehondor. Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abigail Omosi Ehondor. All former documents remain valid. Spirit and Life Bible Church Worldwide, Godhead Prayer Ministry and all concerned authorities should please take note.
I Ogbeide Monday Uyi wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person called Ogbeide Monday as appeared in my National Identity Card No EDO 71030465. Henceforth, I am now properly known, called and addressed as Ogbeide Monday Uyi. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
CHIOBAH-I formerly known as Chiobah Victoria now wish to be known as Obah Victoria Chinyere. Former documents remain valid. United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.
RECONCILIATION OF NAME
RECONCILIATION OF NAME
RECONCILIATION OF NAME
I, Mrs. Odigie Grace is the same person as Mrs. Coker Amawu Grace. Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odigie Grace. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Nig Plc, other concerned authorities and the general public take note.
I, Onukwugha Chinwendu Naomi is the same person as Patricia Chinwendu Ikechukwu. Henceforth, I now wish to be properly known and addressed as Onukwugha Chinwendu Naomi. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public take note.
I, Mrs. Sunday Augustina wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person as Braimah Augustina. Henceforth, I am now properly called Braimah Augustina. All former documents remain valid. Eco Bank Plc. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.
Parenthood explains. Using the withdrawal method requires no prescription or equipment, but a man must be able to determine when he is close to climax, and possess the discipline to pull out beforehand. However, pregnancy can still occur even when withdrawal occurs in time, because pre-ejaculation fluid may still contain sperm, according to Dr. Roger Harms, writing for MayoClinic.com. The withdrawal method has a failure rate of 17 percent to 27 percent, according to MayoClinic.com. Condoms Condoms prevent pregnancy by forming a barrier between a man’s semen and a woman’s vagina and uterus, according to Healthline.com. The three types are latex, polyurethane and
animal skin. Latex condoms are the most common and least expensive, but also more likely to cause irritation due to latex allergies, according to Epigee. Latex and polyurethane condoms also offer protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms can break, which creates the risk of semen entering the uterus. Condoms have a failure rate of 1 in 50, according to MayoClinic.com. Vasectomy A vasectomy is an operation to cut the vas deferens, which carry sperm into the penis during sexual intercourse. After the operation, sperm count decreases gradually until the man is considered to be infertile. Vasectomy is considered to be a permanent form of birth control, although vasectomy reversals for men who later wish to father children are approximately 50 percent successful, according to MayoClinic.com. Vasectomy does not adversely affect a man’s sexual performance. Research has also determined that a vasectomy does not increase a man’s risk for prostate cancer, according to Dr.Todd B. Nippoldt, writing for MayoClinic.com. When performed correctly, the chance of a man impregnating a woman after a vasectomy is less than 0.1 percent, according to Epigee. “The Male Pill” And Male Hormone Injections As of August 2010, the male birth control pill shared a similar status with “female Viagra,”—more the subject of speculation and research than a viable product for the market, according to Netdoctor.co.uk. Women who participated in research conducted at Teeside
AUCTION SALES There will be a public auction sales of accidented, abandoned and unclaimed Vehicles, Motorcycles and household items at the following Police Divisions, Edo State Command Date of sales is three weeks from this publication. EGBA DIVISION: Honda Accord Reg No. BP 975 GWA, Nissan Vanette Bus Reg No. USL 301XA, Honda Car Reg No. LM114 EKY, Audi 80 Car Reg No BC 176USL ESAN WEST DIVISION- Toyota Previa Reg No. BE315 BDG, Several Motorcycles and household items. ABUDU DIVISION- Peugeot 505 Saloon Car Reg No. AH 208 BEN and Ten Motorcycles of various brands. SARS- Golf 3 Car, Suzuki Jeep, Toyota Camry Car, M/Benz C-Class, M/Benz 180 Car. Contact. ABU OSODIONAHON Police Auctioneer 08074007087, 08060382828
University in England, where trials for a male contraceptive pill began in 2010, expressed doubts that men would actually take a pill every day, according to Science Daily. Men do not get pregnant, and therefore lack the motivation women have to remember to take a pill daily, claims professor emeritus John Guillebaud of University College London, quoted by Netdoctor.co.uk. Guillebaud favors implants on a man’s upper arm, where women can readily check for their presence. A 2009 trial conducted by the University of Manchester tested injections of testosterone combined with a second hormone designed to suppress sperm production, Science Daily reported. Previous studies conducted in China showed that male hormonal injections had a similar rate of effectiveness as “the Pill” for women, according to Dr. Frederick Wu, lead researcher for the study. Sperm motility Sperm motility is simply the ability of sperm to propel themselves forward to reach the goal of fertilizing the egg. Immotile sperm are often the cause of infertility in couples. Significance There are three main things doctors look for when analyzing sperm: count, motility and malformations. If any one of those things is abnormal, male fertility is compromised. Types Sperm motility is monitored and given a score from A through D. A sperm move the quickest while D sperm don’t move at all, according to How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility, by Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani. Treatment Some men can correct their sperm’s lack of motility by taking L-carnitine and acetyl-Lcarnitine protein supplements, suggests Thelaboroflove.com. Alternative In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of fertility treatment used for those with sperm motility problems, according to an article by Dr. Jacob Rajfer, “Enhancement of Sperm Motility in Assisted Reproduction.” • Expert Insight Dr. Rajfer suggests it could be possible to “wake up” immotile sperm during IVF by using caffeine analogues.
THE NIGERIAN
16
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Insight IT would suffice here to state that democracy remains the best system of government open to the people because under it, power belongs to the people. Anchored on three arms — the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary with the press acting as the watchdog, the 4th Estate of the realm, democracy has more popularity than any other form of government. The three arms, or four (including the press) operate independent of each other, to serve for the welfare of the common man. THREE MAJOR IDEAS EMBODIED IN THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY 1. That it should guarantee freedom of choice and equal opportunity for all. 2. That it sprang up to check the iniquities, excesses and extravagance of oligarchy which made wealth the end of everything else, and 3. That it curbs the prodigal desire of the democratic man for the ephemeral pleasures of the moment. G E N E R A L CONSENSUS There is a general agreement world-wide that democracy should guarantee freedom from poverty, want, ignorance and squalor. It must also create the necessary condition for rapid growth in virtually all aspects of human endeavour. That these desires are ideal assumptions in a democratic setting, and working assiduously for the realization of people’s lofty ideals should as a matter of fact, form the essence of democratic practices. In his book, Democracy in Crisis, Chief Nosakhare Isekhure, the Isekhure of Benin Kingdom, pointed that “The crisis of democracy is a function of
its political rebellious status against oligarchy, which is, government of the rich by the rich, and therefore, cannot support leadership of assumption of political power of executive nature, through any means of imposition which through any means of imposition which deprive the electorate of any input”. D E M O C R A C Y VERSUS GOOD GOVERNANCE One of the fundamental purposes of the 1979 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is ‘the promotion of good governance and the welfare of all Nigerians’. However, according to Dr. W. Alade Fawole, an International Relations don at the Obafemi Awolowo University, there are three popular but profoundly misleading notions concerning the concept of good governance as understood and often expressed by many Nigerians. 1. Equating civilian rule with democracy, and thus that once such a ‘democratic’ rule is in place, then it must automatically exhibit good governance. The reality is that there can be no democracy without civilian governance, but not all% civilian governments are democratic. There are autocratic, tyrannical and oppressive civilian governments that hold the people in bondage and servitude. It must however be emphasized that one indispensable element of a true democracy is good governance, and that without democracy there can be no good governance. According to Prof Claude Ake even though democracy may not necessarily solve all our problems, none of o& problems can be solved without democracy The reality therefore is that democratic rule becomes the
Media, The Youth And Democra By IJEOMA UMEH
irreducible minimum condition for good governance to thrive. The poser now is whether or not the system of government that we operate at the moment is a democracy. 2. Equating good governmental performance with good governance. That once a government is adjudged by the people to be performing effectively, then it automatically means good governance. Good governance is a concept with a much deeper meaning, and good performance alone can not be the sole criterion for judging governance. Even bad governments can perform well in certain areas. Infact, lawless and authoritarian governments sometimes perform more than even democratic ones, and examples are not hard to find. In the case of Nigeria, records show that past military regimes recorded some impressive performances that are still visible for all to see in all areas of national life. These acts nonetheless do no qualify them to be called good governments. 3. That good governance could be brought about by fiat or by mere wishful thinking: Even when Nigerians have buckled under the burden of the ills of successive leaderships, even when our lamentations reach the high heavens, without understanding the phenomenon of good governance and its full ramifications getting on the road, and reaching the goal of ensuring good governance in Nigeria may well be a Herculean task. NIGERIA: BRIEF
H I S T O R I C A L ANTECEDENTS What we know and call the Nigerian State today was created by British Colonial force. Prior to colonial times, the constituent elements, or peoples of today’s Nigeria
existed as separate and distinct empires, kingdoms principal and other types of social formations, brought together, unified, but not united by the instrumentality of superior armed force. The colonial enterprise that resulted in the creation of Nigeria had the plundering of resources as its principal motive in order to loot and plunder the rich resources of the new colony for the
“The word ‘Media’ is a compound and an allembracing phenomenon. It bears on its shoulders the entire assemblage of what makes a nation tick, in essence, the pulse of a people. The mass media is a broad-spectrum connotation of mass-communication, which includes television, radio and the press.”
benefit of the metropolitan power. Great Britain, the colonialists, had to establish a form of government and administration, which were patently anti-people. The government was one of colonialists, by colonialists and for the benefit of the colonial country and its people. The colonial
circulation. This government, as we know, was not for the people and therefore did not govern according to their wishes and desires. It was a government that was unaccountable, and because perdition was its sole purpose, it was patently incapable of instituting
government, not established for the benefit of the people of the colony, did not reckon with them, their sentiments, wishes, aspirations and desires. It operated simply as an alien rule that was instituted to rob the people of their sovereignty and the right to their resources. Atop that government sat the colonial governor who was, in every sense a virtual tin god. Other arms of that government included a colonial legislature that made and imposed alien laws on the people, a bureaucracy that was insensitive and authoritarian, a judiciary that interpreted and applied alien laws and a security apparatus (army and police forces) that was antipeople, and complete with a prison system that put ‘enemies’ of the colonial government out of
good governance. This lawless, thieving and unaccountable state formation was what was eventually bequeathed to Nigerians at Independence in 1960, complete with its legislature, bureaucracy, judiciary and the security services, with the latter remaining as anti-people today as when they were first established under colonial rule. Before they finally retreated to the barracks in May 1999, they configured a civilian government for us and handed down a constitution to the bargain, and yet we are still searching endlessly for true democracy. THE MEDIA The word ‘Media’ is a compound and an allembracing phenomenon. It bears on its shoulders the
THE NIGERIAN
17
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Insight
acy:
The Triple Affair (1)
entire assemblage of what makes a nation tick, in essence, the pulse of a people. The mass media is a broad-spectrum connotation of mass-communication, which includes television, radio and the press. The Press involves printed periodicals, the newspapers generally, then journalists.
no more than work within that system. And we all know that the press, or members of the Fourth Estate, regale and exhale, and are at their peak, in a democratic system. Furthermore, if, for example, a society is content to live under a state of
The Press has got a natural affiliation of being the Fourth Estate after the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary which means the Press comes forth in the hierarchy of administrations. For this reason therefore the press lies, though strategically, like the uneasy head that wears the crown. Here, we will be using The Press and The Media interchangeably. THE ROLE OF THE PRESS What should be the role of the press under a democratic dispensation? It is often forgotten, particularly by critics of the press, that the press is part and parcel of the society or community it serves. It is the minor of that society. If therefore, the society consents to a particular system of government, the press can do
emergency for a period of eight years and accepts the necessity for so doing, the media can only try to do its best in the circumstances. Again, if a society’s moral standards are such as to place premium on all forms of corruption, the extent to which the media can fight against this evil, is, for that reason, limited. All too often, the media is blamed for almost anything that goes wrong in the state, and eloquent speeches are made on what the press should have done. In 1974, for instance, a distinguished Nigerian suggested that the press should blacklist all corrupt persons and refuse to give them publicity. However, this is a mistaken notion of the function of the press. The press is anything but an arm of the police force and it is in any case
against journalistic ethics to suppress news of public interest, whoever may be involved. It is for the law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute corrupt persons, it is for the society at large to disapprove of them rather than share in their ill-gotten gains. It is for the media to report what they do or say. All governments whether civil or military, royal or republican, autocratic or democratic prefer being praised to being censured. They like to read in the newspapers and hear on the radio and see on the television sets reports that everything is going on well under their administration. It is a natural human desire. But it is well known that it is only in Utopia that such a perfect order exists. In our own practical world, things always go wrong, regrettably, and it is the duty of the press, whoever may be its proprietor, to report and comment upon both the good and the bad. It is not the function of the press to suppress the bad and thus create the false impression that everything is good in the polity. To do so is to endanger its own credibility and to lose public confidence. However, be it noted that the failure of the press to report unpalatable events will not automatically obliterate their existence. They will remain there, to the knowledge of at least a section of the community and perhaps get worse until they assume catastrophic proportions. Better, therefore, that those facts should be exposed and dealt with than they should be allowed to fester like a bad and untreated sore. LIBERTY/FREEDOM OF THE PRESS In any case, the journalist,
in his role as a historian, has no choice but to report the truth. For as the immortals of the profession have said, facts are sacred, comments free. The right of newspapers to report events, express opinions is supposed to be a fundamental right, but in our democracy it is only a right imbued by circumstances, for instance, when no one is looking. If the present day reporter wants to write a soury article on the government of the day, he would wait for the executive officers to be away on personal or state matters, hoping that the press secretary would forget by the time the big man returns. That hardly makes sense in our nascent democracy. The vital importance of the freedom of the press to the citizen is not often fully appreciated. Many educated persons assume that the freedom of the press is the business of editors and publishers. Truth however is, the freedom of the press is not the private property of journalists and proprietors. It is no more and no less than the liberty of the citizen to be informed. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, A CONSTITUTIONAL PREROGATIVE On December 14, 1946. The General Assembly of the United Nations declared that freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and is the touchstone of all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. In 1965, a sub-committee headed by Lord Shawcross was appointed by the Common Wealth Press Union to define the freedom of the press. At its Quinquennial Conference held in that year, the union adopted the following definition: “The freedom of the press is not a special privilege of
newspapers, but derives from the fundamental right of every person to have full and free access to the facts in all matters that directly or indirectly concern him, and from his equal right to express and publish his opinion thereon; and to hear and read opinions of others. In protection of those fundamental human rights, it is essential that the press should be free to gather news without obstruction, to publish the news and to comment thereon “. The press is supposed to act freely in its capacity as a watch dog for the society but miscreants in our society have reduced it as a ‘lap dog’ which no longer watches the society but sits patiently waiting for the crumbs which fall off people’s tables of conceit. Any restriction on press freedom is not merely an attack on the press, it is a direct encroachment on the fundamental right of the citizen to have knowledge and information. We all know that whenever there is to be a coup de’tat one of the first targets is the national radio, the objective being to control the medium through 3 which information is imparted to the public. That precisely is what happens whenever the freedom of the press is subjected to attack in any shape or form. It is the press, which fills the gap between the government and the governed. It is a communication link between people and their government and it enables the governed to know what their governments are doing and the latter to have the feedback from the former. This matter of feedback is rather crucial. However well intentioned a regime may be, it cannot take for granted the acceptability of its proposals or actions to the people it governs. It must constantly
seek to know their reactions. One may say that a democratic government could make do with parliamentary debates, discussions at political party meetings, ministerial visits to constituencies or consultations with elected local government functionaries, but each of the aforementioned heads and sub-heads cannot do without an ultimate and accepted means of dissemination of information — the mass media. CONFRONTATIONS There were, inevitably several confrontations between the press and the government, but which would not all be mentioned here for the need of time. It was quite intense in the military era, but in our nascent democracy it rumbles silently like a volcano waiting to erupt. The angst of the government towards the press is a silent, unspoken one. In the heat of a press campaign against corruption in high places in 1974, one business man, Godwin Daboh swore an affidavit on 19th July 1974, alleging several acts of corruption against a federal commission headed by Mr. Joseph Tarka. The press reported the allegations and in a concerted crusade for public morality succeeded in forcing the head of state to call for Tarka’s resignation. Following this brilliant performance, another Nigerian businessman, Mr. Aper Aku, swore an affidavit making several allegations of improprieties and abuse of office against the military governor of Benue-Plateau State, police commissioner Joseph Deshi Gomwalk. This time, Gowon summarily acquitted the governor of the charges against him, and for good measure, accused the press of gunning for the head of state himself. Subsequently the Nigerian Police Force issued stern warnings to the Nigeria Press.
“There were, inevitably several confrontations between the press and the government, but which would not all be mentioned here for the need of time. It was quite intense in the military era, but in our nascent democracy it rumbles silently like a volcano waiting to erupt.”
THE NIGERIAN
18
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Art Alive
With Francis U. Odupute
Bardi Holds Solo With “Trames
A SOLO Art exhibition entitled “TRAMES in letters and forms 1” was held on the 29th of November 2014, at the Edo Broadcasting Service, in Benin City, by Mr. Augustine Adimabua Okolo Bardi, a Graphic Design Lecturer in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Benin. The exhibition started with the arrival of Prof O.A. Ofuani, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, who was the chairman of the occasion, Ademola Willams, (Dr. Mrs.) Palmer, Mr. Joseph Ikeneri, Mr. Luwi Martini, Mrs. Rosemary Bardi, (the exhibitor’s younger sister), Mrs. Bardi (his wife), Prof Ononeme, Dr. Mrs. Osaigbovo and students from the department of Fine and Applied Arts. With the opening prayer led by Dr. Mrs. Palmer, the exhibition was formerly opened by the Dean of Faculty of Art Prof. O.A Ofuani, who made a brief statement about exhibition; he said “Exhibitions cost money, we have millions of Naira waiting to be accessed and each exhibition costs a lot, not to talk of the works that can be sold from conducting an exhibition, so we should always apply either ceramist, painting, sculpture etc, for an artist to properly recognised, he should always conduct exhibitions so that he will be known to the general public”. The solo art exhibitor, Mr. Augustine Bardi explained his works to the audience there were different works displayed and some of which
were names like “ H O P E F U L LY ” , M E L O D I O U S , P E R F E C T I O N , MEDITATION, JUST LIKE Y E S T E R D A Y , SHATTERED DREAMS, THE UNSOLVED PUZZLE, DEVOTION, PEACE OF MIND, IMAGINATION, TRANQUILITY, etc. Mr. Bardi did some brief explanation on all the displayed works, some of
In Letters And Forms” By ONYEME JUDITH CHIOMA/ OJEKHEBHOLO BLESSING OSE
titled “DOUBTFUL”, he said because the colours were not really certain like that of “PEACE OF MIND”, and so it is very DOUBTFUL. After the explanations, Mr. Augustine Bardi further said
assumed any shape until at the end of the job because the moment he starts a job that concerns TRAMES IN LETTERS AND FORMS 1”, he had to first construct the job and after the construction
geometrical forms but now he makes use of letters because of his advance age and as a Graphic artist, letters are very important, if one doesn’t make use of letters as a graphic artist, then he is not a real graphic artist, because being a graphic artist, the first thing that comes ‘into your
to enable them showcase their works to the general public. Bardi’s Artist statement: “Diversification in techniques and styles brings about pleasure and excitement in art creativity. As an artist, practicing art over some decades, now the
of the Job that is when the title comes out. So in other words, titles are not given at the beginning of a job but at the end and sometimes the state of minds of the artist determines the title he chooses to give a particular work. Being an artist, whatever he present always sends a message to the society it tries to solve some problems and at the same time it tries to calm the nerves. Sometimes relaxed mind and comfort ability, just like one of the titles reflects on the artist, that was the reflection he had when he was producing his works. The appearance of Mr. Augustine Bardi’s works were striking because the colours were attractive, even if the titles were meaningless, the works will be interesting because of the combination of colours. The idea of “Trames” came to him when he was schooling in Paris, because he was taught up to the stage where he uses the
mind is “LETTERS”, then to “ADVERT”, then to “GRAPHICS” and that is how he used those letters to create the designs, he uses Trames to compliment his designs. In Nigeria, most people do not appreciate art works, but they are some people who are not artist but are crazy about art works, most people feel art works are not needed, this is so because, the right person has not come through the right road. Some people do appreciate art but they are pre-occupied with basic needs affecting the country like water, electricity etc, the moment these needs start disappearing, the focus on art works will be improved and also appreciation for them. He gave a closing speech and advice to both artist and those up-coming. He said, whatever gives you Joy and makes you happy, do it well and make the best out of it and they should also take time and partake in exhibitions to enable them conduct their own exhibition
fundamental of art which touches on the basics of art in letters and forms, remains a factor that influence my creative imagination. “These letters and forms are so structured that putting them together brings about aesthetic values that are very relevant in our time. These structures are used sometimes as body tattoos, which is my source of inspiration and most exciting they can note and carry deep traditional meanings as imaginative meanings. Though they are imaginative they are also symbolic and tagged with meaningful titles”. Augustine Bardi attended the university of Paris, St Denis where he obtained a Diploma in 1982 (Art plastique) and a B.A in 1984 and then M.A in Art History. In 1987, he also added another M.A in Art History from the University of Nigeria (NSUKKA) and on a PHD programme at the same university.
Some of the artworks exhibited by the artist.
which was “PEACE OF MIND”; he explained that merely looking at the colours, the way they are being positioned and even the forms and the letters that are present, it gives you real “PEACE OF MIND” that is why he titled it “PEACE OF MIND”. Another work was
The solo exhibitor, Augustine Bardi.
since Trames has to do with geometrical shapes, why not use letters and different forms of shapes in combination to make a beautiful or meaningful illustrations? He said he tried to put them in colour, very good colours because in any art piece, be it painting, or graphics, colours are very vital and very important; he also said in producing the works, he had some major obstacles like a conducive space, tables and chairs for painting, he had to improvise using that same table for painting that is, the same table used for cutting and everything. But leaving in this part of the country, Nigeria, these challenges will definitely occur and there are always ways to contain them. He said the job of an artist is to create, known as creativity, he has to think the artist creates awareness, they try to direct people, because it’s only the author of any design that can really explain what is contained in the design. He said when he was designing those works, he never
THE NIGERIAN
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Art And Culture
CELEBRATION of head culture could be traceable to the era before Christianity, when it was decreed that every household must choose either a lamb or a young goat for his household, Exodus 12, and the people are to take some of the blood and put it on the door posts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten, while in the wilderness, the blood was put on the forehead. The head has special reference to the kingship and to family headship. The king head is of profound headship for the whole people, the clergy, the priests, and the chiefs through whom he rules. The head of a family adores his head, not merely for himself but for all his dependants’ heads for their relationship is one of mutual interdependence. The real significance of the Head is regarded as the controller of all consciousness in all individual behaviour, because the head represents the purposive, sentient aspect of the human personality. When a person blesses the head other parts of the body are blessed as notion that the head subsumes all purposive human behaviour.
Celebration Of Head Culture ordination of these faculties that individual fortunes depend. The Head is of special significance in relation to human beings status within domestic or political group, as the hand symbolizes vigour and enterprise in the community. Differences in status, rank, wealth, health, fertility and achievement are not entirely explicable in terms of human endeavour. Some people are obviously born to be rich, some are obviously born to be poor, some have uncountable progeny, yet some are childless, hence the notion of pre-destiny is symbolically expressed in beliefs and
Oba Palace The head is identified with personal fortune, according to whether the person is successful or unsuccessful in Life. Fortuity plays little parts in Edo view of human fortunes, because almost every happening, good or bad, lie ultimately the actions of human beings, though the immediate cause may be attribute of supernatural agency. The Edo people anoint their heads, pray annually and contingently to thank the Head for survival, wellbeings and successful achievements, to continue its favours. The people regarded the Head as the temple of human spirit, like the mind, the soul controls the human person, the Head directs its destiny. Head is the upper most and foremost part of a human being. The Head is the covenance of Life, the behaviour and the capacity to organize in such a way as to survive and prosper in this world. It is the Head that leads a person through life. It is the seat of all censes, thinking, judgment, will or character, of hearing, seeing, speaking and on the successful, co-
With AMBROSE EKHOSUEHI
practices. TheHead admits greater degree of responsibility and the characteristic rites is that of anointing and blessing the Head. First thanking the Head for survival and prosperity, then asking the Head for further favours. On man’s head depends his well-being and that of his Families. This dependence is reciprocal. He anoints and blesses their Heads at the same times as his own, thus, the Head has particular association with family Headship.
The annual celebration of anointing and blessing of the Head - IGUE, the performers, heads of families, and co-participants are mainly his wives and children, flanked on both sides. Suitable items, animals, fish, fowl, Kolanut, Sliced coconut, drinks and other materials are provided for the ceremony. Sometimes wealthy people provided cows, horses, (Esin) or bush cow (Ede) for celebration depending on progeny. Inlaws, friends and relatives reciprocate in mutual relationship. The Igue festival, is a solid platform on which to rebuild the family and to enhance it, spiritually. The Igue ceremony is the paramount of many festivals. According to Benin records, it is the time to celebrate prosperity. Two paramount chiefs did this by sacrificing the highest graded animal, the elephant alive to appreciate blessings and favours. They were Ezomon Ogun for his good luck in the seventeenth century and Tyase Ohenmwen in the nineteenth century. Oba Akenzua II also sacrificed an elephant alive on February 1936. Igue has been celebrated among Edo groups which have had strong cultural relationship with Benin Kingdom and those neighbouring peoples that have been influenced by Benin culture. The signification is an Agape of rejoicing - “Igue Oyenmwen”. All persons have the right to participate in the celebration, both in the sharing of the sumptuous meals and the distribution of the Ewere lily, the Ivy. Children and youths after the night vigil cast away demons - (Ubi) and all evil spirits at dawn then collect the Ewere lily of good fortunes and good luck, to usher in blessings, as they distribute and share to every home, person on the street, highways and wishing them prosperous New year, good luck and blessings in all aspects of human endeavours; asking every one to open the door for prosperity (Oyoyo) and longevity. In every home, street, quarters, household, children, wives take part in the jubilation, singing and dancing. Children and youths using the Ewere lily stalk as chappers. They present the leaves to their parents and other people as billet for the New Year. Paramount chiefs present bouquets of the lily to the Benin Monarch in decent, colourful and beautiful manner. Isele Ogbe. Ogbe a vbe dia ru. Oba ghato Okpee, Isee!
“The Igue ceremony is the paramount of many festivals. According to Benin records, it is the time to celebrate prosperity. Two paramount chiefs did this by sacrificing the highest graded animal, the elephant alive to appreciate blessings and favours.”
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Maternal, Newborn And Child Health
Engaging Women In Advocacy
THE role of women in Maternal Newborn and Child Health Advocacy and Services cannot be overemphasized. Below are six steps suggested by Alice Welbourn, Founding Director of Salamander Trust. The first suggested step is that we keep things simple. We all have really complex lives and simplicity is always
language wherever possible, so as not to make people feel alienated. Next, I suggest that we offer dual protection (for example, protection against unplanned pregnancies and
welcome! Here are some examples of how to keep things simple. Firstly, language. As I have explained elsewhere, we know now from recent scientific research that use of actually makes us feel good because of increased oxytocin and serotonin levels in our bodies. It also enables us to use our right brains more. Left brains are great for doing things to do with engineering or medicine. But when it comes to the socio-political dimensions of health, which as Kate Gilmore just explained is what we are talking about here, it is really useful for us to enlist the support of our right brains, where creative thinking and the development of ‘out of the box” positive future possibilities resides. It’s also a good idea, wherever possible, to use clear language. one medical doctor I know asked me. What “MNCH” is-and if these letters were even a problem for her, then it goes to show how much we need to think about use of everyday
against sexually transmitted infection (transmission) to all women and children, irrespective of their HIV status. I suggest this especially because we have heard from colleagues in this region, for instance, that women with HIV are only offered condoms at health centers and no other contraceptive, on the basis that they shouldn’t be having sex anyway, let alone daring to think of having children. Yet as we all know, it is now possible for women with HIV to have 99 percent HIV-free babies through normal vaginal delivery, so this practice is unjust and unscientific. We all know how much health workers are held in esteem in their communities. So just imagine if all health staff treated all women and girls equally, regardless of our status. That would send out such a powerful message to the communities where they work. My third suggestion is that we make all services available, affordable, acceptable, and accessible to
By ERANGA ISAAC
women and girls. Let’s make services fit for people instead of going on expecting people to fit into services. Like Cinderella and the glass slipper, we all need to think
about putting our feet in the shoes, or the sandals or even the bare footprints of women and girls whom we anyone wanting to support women and girls needs to ensure that
to see it being successful. My fourth suggestion for keeping things simple is for us to talk about “women” and “girls” instead of “ and “mothers.” why is it that we keep defining our gender with labels that associate us wit other people or contexts? As appendages to other priorities? Let’s just stick to women and girls whenever
we can, so we are defined in our own rights rather than in relation to others. The second suggested step is about safety.
FEMINIQUE With Ijeoma Umeh have experienced GBV that fear of violence is as big as actual violence-and the emotional and psychological effects of violence or fear of violence can last years after actual physical signs may have faded away. This is being borne out ‘in recent research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. There is a wonderful website and book called “Why Love Matters by Sue Gerhardt”, who explains very compassionately how critically important it is to a baby’s well-being that she or his mother is psychologically and emotionally healthy, while the child is in the womb and in the first hours, days, and weeks of the child’s birth. I use the term ‘mother” here advisedly, in the context of this strong mother/child dyad and in recognizing the critical importance of this primal bond between a woman and her baby in these early stages of the child’s life. If this bond is damaged in anyway, it can have far-reaching effects on the child’s development, which can carry on into adulthood. so even if anyone felt that they had no interest in a woman’s health in her own right, surely they ought to be concerned, for the baby’s health, to ensure that we all support the development of that bond as best we can. so it is clear, surely, that a healthy baby needs a healthy mother. so let’s make sure that we make this happen. We need to ensure
with safety and-heaven forbid, with pleasure-is way how with whom we have sex with safety and-heaven of the reach of so many women and girls around the world. This must change. of course all of us women and girls need information, education, skills, and consent. And surely we all need to have our rights to bodily autonomy upheld, as Kate Gilmore was explaining. What I find quite strange about this women deliver conference is that in all the sessions I have gone to, I have heard very little mention Millennium Development Goal 3. Yet surely MDG 3 is critical to achieving all the MDGs? Why is MDG 3 missing from the debate? I am not aware that we have achieved it. I really believe that we all need to be ensuring that we include MUG 3 in all our debates both now and beyond 2015. And my last point in relation to sex is that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women and girls, in all our diversities, and the MNCH agenda are inseparable. Indeed I would say that the MNCH agenda is a sub-set of the SRHR agenda. We can only achieve effective and successful MNCH if we set it within the. wider enabling environment of comprehensive SRHR for us all. 4 - Fourth step is about support. Women “do” peer support really well. i was talking to a senior
“The first suggested step is that we keep things simple. We all have really complex lives and simplicity is always welcome! Here are some examples of how to keep things simple.” they entirely understand things from their perspective if they hope to have any success. of course the best way to do this is to involve women and girls in the design, planning, implementation are wanting to use the services, and monitoring and evaluation of services and related advocacy work. Everyone who is really involved in something wants
The world Health Organization (WHO) tells us pregnancy alone can lead to gender-based violence (GBV) for some, especially if the pregnancy is unplanned. we also know very clearly now that GBV can increase women’s vulnerability to HIV and that-conversely-an HIV diagnosis can provoke or exacerbate GBV. It is also clear to any who
psychological, physical, and sexual safety for all women and girls at all times. And we need institutional care and safety for all women at all times. We need to ensure that every woman knows that whenever she goes near a health center she will be guaranteed confidentiality, support, dignity, and respect. Negotiating when, where, how, with whom we have sex,
bank executive a few years ago and he said that if you tell a man something he tells no one and keeps it to himself. whereas if you tell a woman something and she thinks it’s a good idea, she shares it with an average of seven girlfriends. You may all laugh-but the advertising world knows this all too well and they target their advertising accordingly.
THE NIGERIAN
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UNIVERSITY OF BENIN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA
PRESS RELEASE 2014/2015 CLEARANCE EXERCISE FOR PART-TIME, SANDWICH/ DIPLOMA CANDIDATES This is to inform Prospective Part-time/ Sandwich/Diploma Candidates admitted into the University of Benin for the 2014/2015 academic session that they are required to login at http://www.uniben.edu click Waeup Portal with the Part-time/ Sandwich/Diploma username and password used for their application and result checking. Payment of acceptance fee commences Monday, 15th December, 2014. Only candidates with the right passport size (1 inch X 1-inch) photograph used for the Parttime/Sandwich/Diploma already embedded in their documents & with requisite results should proceed to pay the total amount of Non-refundable Acceptance Fee. Physical clearance commences Monday, 5th January to Friday 13th February, 2015 at the University Auditorium Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00p.m each day. Only candidate scheduled for clearance per day will be attended to check your clearance date in your online profile and print out your invitation letter. Signed: G. O. OGBOGHODO (MRS.) Registrar
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA
PRESS RELEASE 2014/2015 CLEARANCE EXERCISE FOR UTME AND DIRECT ENTRY CANDIDATES
This is to inform Prospective UMTE and Direct Entry candidates admitted into the University of Benin for the 2014/2015 academic session that they are required to login at http:// www.uniben.edu click Waeup Portal with the PUTME/PUDE username and password used for their application and result checking. Payment of acceptance fee commences Monday, 15th December, 2014. Only candidates with the right passport size (1-inch X 1-inch) photograph used for the PUTME/PUDE already embedded in their documents & with requisite results should proceed to pay the total amount of Non-refundable Acceptance Fee. Signed: G. O. OGBOGHODO (MRS.) Registrar
THE NIGERIAN
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
Religion WHAT you are about to read in this article is inspired by the Spirit of Truth. It is to correct all the wrong idolatrous celebrations prevalent in some churches and amongst some Christians, it is to reprove the church of wrong doctrines, wherever they exist, it is to instruct Churches to do the right thing, so that the Church can be made ready for the rapture. Some of these erroneous and idolatrous celebrations include amongst others, the observance of days, months, times and years, which Apostle Paul referred to as the weak and beggarly elements, which have put most Christians and most churches into bondage. In Galatians.4:910, Paul lamented, “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. YE OBSERVE DAYS AND MONTHS, AND TIMES, AND YEARS.” These aforementioned seasons of the year, are often accompanied by worldly celebrations, revellings, b a n q u e t t i n g s , drunkenness, and all sorts of immoral practices. Christmas celebrations, Easter celebrations, New Year celebrations, Jubilee celebration, Yearly (Annual) thanksgiving celebrations, birth-day celebrations, Valentine day celebrations, are some of these beggarly elements. These days, months, times, and years, are not to be observed by heavenbound Christians. Jesus Christ never in His life time never made known the day of His birth, talkless of celebrating it: neither did any of His
followers, disciples or apostles observe the day or month, or year of their birth. God, in His wisdom kept the exact day of the birth of Jesus, from mankind, because God knew the hearts of all men that men would idolize that day. Even as at that, the devil, that deceiveth the
in Psalm.51:5, “BEHOLD I WAS SHAPEN IN INIQUITY, AND IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME.” This explains why Job and prophet Jeremiah regretted the day of their birth, and even cursed it – “CURSED BE THE DAY wherein I WAS BORN: LET NOT
YOU FREE – JOHN.8:32. Another variation of idolatrous celebrations amongst Christians, is observing the day, known as Valentine’s Day. This is one of the pagan holidays that have their origin from Ancient Babylon. The Queen of Heaven (the Moon-goddess of sexual
With REV. OLU GEORGE Servant of the Most High God Heaven, the moongoddess, worshipped in Ancient Babylon. It has nothing to do with Christianity. Easter, Christmas, Lady day, Lent, and other
that they may provoke me to anger.” In Acts.12:1 – 25, where the word Easter (Ishtar ) featured, it was not the early Church, that was observing this day. The
Idolatrous Celebrations In Christianity whole world, yet, set aside a fictitious date that has no biblical proof, under the guise of “Christmas”, which is widely celebrated to-day. Christmas celebration is the worship of the devil himself. “Christmas” has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. This phenomenon is what Apostle Paul, referred to as another Jesus, another spirit that is the spirit of Christmas season, as written in 2 Corinthians.11:3-4. The devil that deceives the whole world has deceived and corrupted the minds of Christians, all over the world to believe in the ‘Jesus’ of “Christmas” celebration. There is nowhere in the bible where Jesus Christ commanded Christians to remember Him, by observing the “date” of His birth, which of course is unknown. The only thing Jesus commanded all Christians to do in remembrance of Him is the Institution of the LORD’S SUPPER, in 1 Corinthians.11:24-26. This also applies to individual birth-day celebrations commonly observed by Christians. It is not a “Day” to be remembered and observed by Christians who have known the Truth and are heaven-conscious. It is the day we were conceived in sin in our mothers’ wombs which can be found written
THE DAY WHEREIN MY MOTHER BARE ME BE BLESSED” – Jeremiah.20:14. In Ecclesiastes.7:1, the Preacher, summarized it all by saying, “A good name is better than precious ointment; and THE DAY OF DEATH THAN THE DAY OF ONE’S BIRTH. It is not a day to be remembered, or to be observed by Christians. If any day is to be remembered at all, it is the day we were born again; even then it should not be with feasting. The two Kings in the bible, who observed the days of their birth, were pagan kings and the devil used them to commit murder. These two pagan kings, king Pharaoh of Egypt, who killed his chief baker, by hanging, and king Herod, who ordered the killing of John the Baptist, during these “birth-day” celebrations. The devil, who is a murderer, was the master of ceremonies in these two birth-day celebrations, and he will always be the master of ceremonies in any birth-day celebration, to kill the souls of careless Christians, who observe and celebrate the days of their birth. You can read the stories of these pagan kings in Genesis.40:20-22, and Mark.6:21-28. YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE
passion) is the brain behind this celebration. The devil, through the Queen of heaven, plays on man’s basic desire to be loved, to lure man into this bondage. Those who are in search of erotic love, and affection become “victims” of this Queen of heaven during this celebration which has nothing to do with Christianity at all. It is a “pagan” holiday and celebration, bedeviled with all sorts of sinful sexual lusts and sexual perversions especially amongst youths. And so, ministers of God or churches, or Christians, who partake in the celebration of this day, are under God’s wrath. They are in bondage to satan, through this idolatrous festive season. They are possessed of another spirit – the spirit of the ‘Queen of Heaven’, and of Cupid (Nimrod), the spirit of lustful desire. Easter season is another “beggarly” element to which Christians all over the world, have been deceived by satan into believing that it is the celebration of the day of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is an erroneous belief and a doctrine of the devil. First and foremost, the word ‘Easter’ is a pagan name of Chaldean origin. It is usually pronounced “Astarte or Ishtar”. It is one of the titles of the Queen of
“The devil, who is a murderer, was the master of ceremonies in these two birth-day celebrations, and he will always be the master of ceremonies in any birth-day celebration, to kill the souls of careless Christians, who observe and celebrate the days of their birth. You can read the stories of these pagan kings in Genesis.40:2022, and Mark.6:21-28.”
Babylonian festivals were all borrowed from the Mystery Babylon, a religious system, established by satan, himself. And they were all observed in Ancient Babylon, centuries before Christ. None of them has anything to do with Christ, or Christianity. Astarte, or Ishtar is also called Ashtoreth in the Old Testament. The worship of this woman, this idol goddess, by Israel, incurred the wrath of God, as can be found in Judges.2:13-14, “And they forsook the Lord and served BAAL AND ASHTAROTH. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.” The characteristic feature of this pagan celebration, in Ancient Babylon was the pouring out of libations and the making of “CAKES”, to Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven. These ‘cakes’ were small, round engraved with the sign of the cross which indicated the sign of life, according to Ancient Babylonian mysteries. Contrary to the pagan Babylonian teaching, this practice, invites the anger of God as we find in Jeremiah.7:18, which reads “The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire and the women knead their dough, to make CAKES to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other ‘gods’,
Christians were being persecuted by the pagan king Herod, who had already killed James, but detained Peter in the prison intending to kill him, after he, (king Herod) and all the pagans in his domain, had finished their “Ishtar” celebration. The disciples were scattered, while others were gathered praying in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. This persecution of Christians, happened in the days of unleavened bread, observed amongst the Jews, some of whom were even pleased that the Christians in the early church, were being persecuted, and killed by Herod. EASTER (ISHTAR) celebration which is of Ancient pagan Babylon now inherited by Modern Babylon has nothing to do with the death and the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The voice of Jesus is the voice of the Holy Spirit otherwise known as the Spirit of Truth, who inspired the whole of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. In 2 Timothy.3:16, it is written “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “EVERY ONE THAT is of THE TRUTH HEARETH MY VOICE.” As spoken by Jesus Christ in John 18:37. COURTESY: SERVANT OF THE MOST HIGH GOD, OLU GEORGE, CHRISTIAN GOSPEL CHURCH (The Truth Centre).
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Reflection
Influence Of Capitalism On Nigerian Religion AFRICANS, according to Professor John Mbiti, “are notoriously religious, and each people has its own religious system with a set of beliefs and practices.” Mbiti’s observation may not be far from reality. Here in Nigeria almost everything we do or say are directly or indirectly influenced by our religious beliefs and background. Most of the official gatherings in Nigeria begin with opening prayer. Even when the politicians meet for official purpose, a Muslim and a Christian are usually appointed to lead the group in an opening prayer. Moreover, the numbers of religious denominations in the Nigeria are uncountable. People are beginning to build mosques, even in none Islamic areas. Some of our Muslim brethren are even engaging in all night vigils and crusades. Churches and Mosque are the most available and most accessible structures in most streets in Nigeria. But does this really mean that Nigerians are religious as Mbiti observed? By the way, what does it take to be a true religious? What type of religion are we even practicing in modern Africa society? Pope John Paul II of the Blessed memory wrote in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, that “Africans have a profound religious sense, a sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the creator and of a spiritual world” This, to some extent, affirms the claim of Mbiti that Africans are notoriously religious. But if I may add, that was then! A critical look of how the Africans are practicing their so-called religion would force one to ask if Africans are actually religious as they claim to be? A Pastor once complained that most of the people he prayed for are not showing appreciation. He cited an example of one of the politician he prayed for during the last election. He went as far as prophesying to him that he will surely win the election. The politician then promised to purchase a landed property worth of twenty-five million naira for his ministry if he wins. Luckily for him the politician
actually won the election. The pastor complained that up till then the politician has not redeemed his pledge. It took me time to convince the pastor that it was not him but God who gives victory and moreover, the bible clearly stated, freely you receive freely you should give (Matthew 10:8). A capitalist religion does not believe in this principle. Men of God are beginning to charge money in order to conduct an ordinary family liberation. A family that is struggling financially is expected to borrow or even take a loan before they could be liberated from their bondage. Even sacramentals such as anointing oil, holy water are sold at a very high cost. Imagine an ordinary bottle of holy water is sold at five Thousand Naira. That five Thousand Naira happens to be what some casual workers are receiving in a month. It is an indirect way of saying that the Holy Water and anointing oil are only meant for the rich. Missionary schools seem to be the most expensive schools in Nigeria. Churches are no longer rated based on the number of converts or the spirituality of the faithful but on the returns they make. If you are a priest or a pastor and you want to be recognize as a hardworking man of God then you must visit your bishop of general oversea often with a smiling envelops. Failure to do so can easily lead to your transfer to remote areas. Even if one is calling down fire like Elijah of old, that does not matter; what the Church leaders want to know is how much money you are able to make. They are not even interesting in the welfare of the people. We have forgotten that Jesus fed thousands of people during his own public ministry. And he told Peter, he head of the apostles, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). One of the pastors once cited an example with himself how God can transform people’s life over night just because of seed sowing. He told his audience that one day God told him to give out his only car; which he did in obedience. After that sacrifice God blessed him
with six jeeps. This is another way of trying to force God into our capitalist mentality. The God I know is not an insurance company. He is not a businessman. He is rather a generous God who even “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
burials because of money but when a poor man dies they will simply send an ordinary catechist to bury him. This is not Christianity – it is pure capitalism! Thank God, Nigerians are advocating for local government autonomy; this autonomy should also be extended to local stations in
One does not need to bribe God before receiving blessings from God. Our God is not a capitalist, who exchanges favour with money. He does not even need our money. He cannot be bribed like most religious leaders of our time. The modern religion has been adulterated with the influence of capitalism. You can even call it a Capitalist religion. In a capitalist religion money is the ultimate value. Money speaks louder than faith. In a capitalist religion the richer you become the more religious you are thought of. People no longer run after men of God for blessings rather men of God are running after rich men, especially politicians. When a rich man dies, no matter how sinful or corrupt he may be, most men of God would prefer to attend their
the Church. The local stations usually contribute money to develop the main parishes and dioceses but there is no system in place where the local stations receive fund from above to develop their poor stations. That is why the local stations are getting poorer while the main parishes are getting richer. Unfortunately, most of the rich men in the cities would prefer to make their donations in big parishes where people could easily notice them. This is not Christianity but capitalism! The Church in the northern part of Nigeria is facing all kinds of hardship due to the Boko Harram insurgencies. There are some parishes in the Northern parts of Nigeria where the Priests could not even afford their daily bread from the Sunday mass offerings. One of the Bishops
With REV. FR. JOHN DAMIAN ADIZIE PHONE: 08076635886
in the North, His Lordship Most Rev. James Daman once told me that they are even the ones feeding some of the refugees in their state. If we are not practicing a capitalist religion in Nigeria by now the Church in the Southern part of Nigeria would have started sending some relief materials to the Church in the North. When the Church in Judea experienced famine, the disciples sent relief to the brethren who lived in Judea” (Acts 11:29). St. Paul narrated how Macedonia
According to him, “The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” Our people are no longer worshipping God but money, the root of evil.
made some contributions for the poor saints at Jerusalem (Romans 15:26-27). Most of the churches and schools in Nigeria were built by the early missionaries with foreign donations. They were able to do this because they were not influenced by capitalism. In communal system of religion, which the early disciples practiced, “all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44). As a result, “There was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34-35). This can never take place in a capitalist religion. The Holy Father, Pope Francis’ laments the negative influence of money in our world today; and how money has negatively affected evangelization. He went as far as describing money as a modern form of idolatry.
Pope St. John Paul II observed, during the African synod, that “The primary and most fundamental fact noted by the synod Fathers is the thirst for God felt by the people of Africa. In order not to disappoint this expectation, the members of the Church must first of all deepen their faith. The Church must begin by being evangelized herself” (Ecclesia in Africa, no 47). Charity begins at home. The Church cannot evangelize others without being evangelized. The best way the Church can effectively bring transformation to our modern world is by practicing the principles of transformation as stated in the gospel of Christ. Action speaks louder than words!
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International British And Irish Leaders To Break Deadlock In Belfast LONDON - The British and Irish prime ministers travel to Belfast yesterday in a bid to break political deadlock between parties in Northern Ireland’s fragile unity government. British leader David Cameron and his Irish counterpart Enda Kenny are to hold talks amid increasing concern over whether the joint administration of unionists and nationalists is at risk of collapse. The Democratic Unionist Party and Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party are deadlocked over welfare reform, as well as issues such as flags and parades that remain deeply divisive 16 years since a landmark peace deal. In a statement, Kenny’s office said that the meetings represent “an intensification of the efforts to reach agreement”, and said the prime minister was cautiously optimistic. “While recognising the complex and difficult issues to be addressed, the parties have engaged constructively,” Kenny said in a statement. “With a renewed effort, an agreement could be reached which would offer a brighter future for the people of Northern Ireland.” Both Sinn Fein and the DUP have warned that a deal must be reached before Christmas, or it will be postponed until after the British general election in
May 2015. Similar talks lead by US diplomat Richard Haass collapsed in December of last year without agreement. “These talks have reached a crucial phase,” British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday. “The UK Government, along with our very close colleagues in the Irish Government, will be pushing hard to bring these discussions to a successful conclusion this week.”
Afghan Bomber Targets Military Bus, Kills 6 Soldiers
A group of protesters create a “die in” at the Westfield shopping mall in West London recently in support of protests in the US over the killings of black suspects by White police officers.
Murder Of Myanmar Nationals
Malaysia Arrests 20
GEORGE TOWN, Malaysia - Police in Malaysia have arrested 20 people in a widening investigation into the murder of at least 18 Myanmar nationals in the state of Penang since January. Twelve Myanmar migrants have confessed to their role in nine of the murders, which have seen bodies dumped - many with their throats slashed across the state, Penang police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi told reporters yesterday. Police believe two unrelated groups are behind the murders, Abdul Rahim said. All of those
arrested are from one group. The widening net follows the discovery of a “slaughterhouse” last week, where police say at least two victims were believed to have been killed and dismembered. Media and community groups have speculated that the murders have been perpetrated by Muslims from Myanmar, likely including stateless Rohingya, as payback for religious violence in Myanmar since 2012. Myanmar community organizations have told Reuters the majority of the victims were Buddhists. Police have not revealed
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny arrives at EU headquarters in Brussels
the ethnicity of the victims and have denied any ethnic or religious conflict. “This is a feud between Myanmar people. It is not a religious conflict. These are only vengeful murders that were brought over here from Myanmar,” Abdul Rahim said, without elaborating. Police have found an additional 10 unidentified bodies of people who appear to have been killed in a similar manner, he said. Police released the pictures of two men from Myanmar, identified as Mohammad Yahyar Khan and Lokman, who are wanted for questioning. Buddhist community leaders have accused the police of being slow to act and refusing to acknowledge a religious or ethnic motive. “It’s just talk when the police say ‘no Rohingya are involved’,” Aye Tun Maung, a leader of Buddhist community group the Arakan Refugee Relief Committee, told Reuters. “It’s Rohingya killing the Rakhine. Some of the dead are also Bamar and Shan,” he said, referring to other ethnic groups of Myanmar’s majority Buddhist population. Outside the house where
some of the murders allegedly took place, neighbors described the two suspects arrested there, both men, as observant Muslims who appeared to be South Asian. “They’re Muslims. Sometimes I would give them a ride when I went to the mosque,” said Fizal Abdullah, 40. More than 60,000 migrants from Myanmar live in Penang, many of them asylum seekers and refugees employed in factories and on construction sites. Penang is also a destination for stateless Rohingya, more than 100,000 of whom have fled Myanmar since religious violence in 2012.
KABUL - A suicide bomber killed six Afghan soldiers in an attack on a military minibus yesterday, officials said, in the first attack in the capital Kabul for more than a week. Another 10 people were wounded, said Farid Afzali, the chief of criminal investigation for Kabul police. He said the wounded included civilians but could give no further details. The attack happened on a busy road in the east of the city during the morning rush hour. “The suicide bomber was on foot,” said Hashmat Stanikzai, spokesman for the Kabul provincial police chief. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The attack marks the resumption of an intensified antigovernment campaign by the insurgents after a lull in attacks on targets in the city. In recent weeks, the insurgents have targeted military, diplomatic and foreign installations in and around Kabul, in what appears to be a change in tactics to gain maximum publicity.
Explosion Rocks USYemeni Military Base SANAA - An al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen says it targeted a U.S.-Yemeni air base with rockets in retaliation for a U.S. raid on the group’s hideout to free an American hostage. Witnesses say a powerful explosion rocked the AlAnnad base early yesterday in the southern province of Lahj. Ambulance rushed to the site and witnesses say they saw bodies taken to nearby hospital. The al-Qaida affiliate claimed on its official Twitter
account that its militants fired six grad missiles at the base. In a brief statement, the group says it hit the “American section” of the base. It was not immediately clear whether any American facility inside the base was hit and no official confirmation was available. The al-Annad base is where American and European military advisers help Yemen battle the country’s local alQaida branch through drone strikes and logistical support.
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International Lawmakers Want China Envoy Summoned Over Hong Kong Ban LONDON - A group of senior British lawmakers said on Wednesday that China’s refusal to allow them to visit Hong Kong was an insult and called on the government to formally summon China’s ambassador over the issue. Last month, China said members of parliament’s foreign affairs committee would
not be allowed to enter Hong Kong as part of their inquiry into Britain’s relations with its former colony amid two months of pro-democracy street protests. In an escalating row in the following days, Prime Minister David Cameron said the decision was mistaken, prompting China to accuse
Britain of interfering in its internal affairs. Britain says it has raised the problem with China through several channels. But the foreign affairs committee said it thought London’s response had not gone far enough. “The Chinese government’s decision to prevent the foreign affairs committee entering Hong
Kong is an insult to the House of Commons and the UK as a whole,” Richard Ottaway, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement. “The British government should react more strongly to this unprecedented and overtly confrontational act, including by summoning the Chinese Ambassador to the FCO (Foreign Office).” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that no foreign government or individual had the right to get involved in Hong Kong’s internal affairs. “Certain British members of
parliament should stop their meaningless hype,” he told reporters in Beijing. In a report published on Wednesday, the committee also called on the government to raise the issue with its European Union partners and to make formal written protests to government officials in Beijing and Hong Kong. The British parliament held a three-hour emergency debate over the ban last week, with members warning it would damage relations between London and Beijing at a time when economic and trade ties
RAMALLAH, West Bank Israeli and Palestinian officials issued conflicting accounts yesterday over the results of an autopsy on a Palestinian minister who died after being shoved and grabbed by the neck by an Israeli policeman at a West Bank protest on Wednesday. The incident comes at a time of heightened tension between
Israel and the Palestinians, following months of violent unrest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A top Palestinian official, Hussein al-Sheikh, told Reuters that Jordanian and Palestinian doctors involved in the late night examination of the body said Ziad Abu Ein, 55, had died from “being struck, inhaling tear gas and a delay in providing medical attention.” But an Israeli medical source familiar with the autopsy results told Reuters the minister died from a heart attack and had a pre-existing heart condition. “His death was caused by a coronary occlusion, brought on by stress. The stress may have been brought on by him being grabbed by the neck,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was
between the two are becoming closer. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a deal which allowed it to keep its wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy. But recent moves by Beijing to control nominations for a 2017 vote for Hong Kong’s leader prompted two-and-a-half months of protests in the city, including road blockades and sporadic violent scuffles. Hong Kong authorities were clearing the main prodemocracy protest site near the heart of the financial center yesterday.
Palestinian, Israeli Officials Dispute Autopsy On Dead Palestinian Minister
• Pro-democracy supporter sleeps at a blocked area outside the governmental headquarters building at the financial Central district in Hong Kong yesterday.
Putin Turns To India With Energy, Defense Offers NEW DELHI - Russian President Vladimir Putin was holding talks with Indian leaders yesterday to strengthen trade and energy cooperation with Asia’s third-largest economy as Western sanctions threaten to push his country’s economy to the brink of a recession. Putin’s discussions with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to focus us on deepening ties at a time when New Delhi is perceived to be drawing closer to the United States, especially in areas such as defense and investment. Indian officials said nearly two dozen agreements on space, defense cooperation and energy were likely to be signed. “Looking forward to a
productive visit that will take India-Russia ties to newer heights,” Modi tweeted. Putin’s visit comes as Russia is faced with plunging global oil prices and a depreciating rouble that has battered its economy. Russia’s relations with the Western nations have plummeted since it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March. The United States and Europe have imposed sanctions for what it says is Moscow’s role in providing Ukrainian militants with personnel and arms, something Moscow denies. The annual summit meeting would provide an opportunity for the two nations to take stock of the “special and strategic
Philippine Congressman Wounded, 3 Killed In Attack
MANILA - Police say a congressman from the southern Philippines has been wounded in an attack by gunmen that left at least two of his aides and a police officer dead. Police chief Brian Inojaldo said five other bodyguards and aides of Rep. Vicente Belmonte were wounded in the ambush yesterday in Misamis Oriental province’s Laguindingan township. Inojaldo said Belmonte’s group had just left Laguindingan’s airport when gunmen in a van blocked
their path and started shooting. Belmonte told ANC television he believes the attack was “politically motivated” but did not identify any suspects. Political rivalries in the Philippines sometimes erupt into violence. In the worst political violence in the country, 58 people, including 32 journalists, were killed allegedly on orders of a political clan in a southern province in 2009.
partnership” that the two countries enjoy, said Ajay Bisaria, the top official in India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “This is a very significant visit,” said Bisaria. “Russia is a long-standing and a steadfast partner for India.” During the Cold War decades, India and the Soviet Union shared a close relationship, while the United States tilted toward India’s neighbor and rival, Pakistan, especially in the dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. India bought billions of dollars with of military hardware from Moscow during the Soviet era. In recent years, India has become the world’s biggest arms importer, with an economic boom enabling it to modernize its military. New Delhi’s has a huge shopping list including fighter aircraft, tanks, submarines and other defense equipment that Moscow hopes
to sell. Over the past decade, India has tried to diversify its defense purchases, buying military hardware from the United States, Israel and France. Last week India said it was very close to clinching a $15 billion deal with France for 126 fighter aircraft. Despite its attempts at
India: Russia To Construct 12 Nuclear Reactors
• Pro-Russian Head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov speaks during a news conference in Moscow.
Yemen’s Al-Qaida Blames Obama SANAA - A top al-Qaida leader in Yemen blamed U.S. For Killing Hostages President Barack Obama for the recent deaths of American and South African hostages in a failed rescue operation. Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi’s video message, obtained by Site Intelligence yesterday, is the first comment by the
not authorized to speak to the media. About 30 Israeli soldiers and border policemen fired tear gas and sound grenades at about 100 people protesting against a Jewish settlement by planting olive trees in the village of Turmusiya north of Ramallah on Wednesday. A scuffle ensued in which a border policeman pushed Abu Ein and grabbed his neck firmly with one hand. Footage of the incident and pictures taken by Reuters do not show Abu Ein responding with any violence. Minutes later the minister began to look faint and fell to the ground, clasping his chest. He died on his way to hospital. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called the incident “barbaric” and said he and other top leaders would consider a response after a funeral for Abu Ein with full military honors at midday yesterday.
group after the deaths of Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie when U.S. special forces attacked an al-Qaida safe house attempting to rescue the pair. Al-Ansi said he warned the U.S. against such attempts after a first rescue operation in
November failed. He accused Obama of showing carelessness for the life of an American citizen. He added that the raid to try rescue the 33-year-old American journalist Somers, “caused things to go in a completely different way than we wanted.”
NEW DELHI - Russia’s state-owned Rosatom said it would supply 12 nuclear energy reactors for India over 20 years, under an agreement aimed at boosting nuclear energy cooperation signed by the two countries during a summit in New Delhi yesterday. A 1,000-megawatt reactor is operating at the Russian-built Kudankulam power station in India’s Tamil Nadu province, with a second due to come onstream in 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin had been pushing for Rosatom to increase the number of reactors it could supply to as many as 25. Indian officials say that a total of six reactors will be built at Kudankulam, with a further six to follow at a site that has not yet been determined.
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International Hong Kong Dismantles Pro-Democracy Protest Camp
HONG KONG - Hong Kong workers cleared large parts of the main pro-democracy protest site near the heart of the financial center yesterday, marking an end to more than two months of street demonstrations that have choked parts of the Chinesecontrolled city. The mainly peaceful protests to demand free elections have represented one of the most serious challenges to China’s authority since the 1989 prodemocracy demonstrations and bloody crackdown in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of police stood by in the Admiralty district next to government buildings and the Central business area as workers in construction hats used wire cutters to remove barricades. Police were seen hauling away two protesters as the workers slowly dismantled bamboo scaffolding, watched by large crowds of onlookers and media. Hundreds of police swept through other parts of Admiralty, checking tents before dragging them away along with metal barriers, plastic sheets and umbrellas, which activists had used during clashes to guard against pepper spray and baton blows. A decapitated cardboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping stood in front of a police line. “The movement has been surreal. No one knew it could last more than two months ... in a place where time and money are most important,” said protester Javis Luk, 27. There was little resistance as protesters packed up pillows, blankets and other belongings from inside their tents in some
of the world’s most expensive real estate and prepared to leave. Some protesters mocked police warnings, shouting their own aimed at Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Leung Chunying. “This is the last warning for CY Leung! Show your face, CY Leung,” they shouted. Key opposition prodemocracy lawmakers and Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, sat near the People’s Liberation Army base and adopted the three-finger salute used in the film “Hunger Games” against totalitarian rule. Despite the clearance, the occupy movement has been a social watershed on the fringes of greater China, with people pushing back against increasing control and standing up to Beijing to preserve democracy and freedoms largely denied on the mainland. For many, it was a tearful farewell to the site where thousands had gathered in recent weeks and many have called home since late September. Some said the protests had injected life into the former
British colony’s democracy movement. “The movement has been an awakening process for Hong Kong. People who weren’t interested in politics before are now and aren’t afraid to get arrested, especially the young people,” said Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan. The clearance at Admiralty comes more than two weeks after authorities removed barricades from a protest site in the workingclass district of Mong Kok, sparking several nights of running battles between demonstrators and police. A handful of protesters remain in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay. The protests drew well over 100,000 at their peak as students vented their anger at Beijing’s refusal to budge on electoral reforms and grant greater democracy to the Asian financial center. While many democracy activists chose to depart peacefully, the overall mood was one of defiance. A large yellow banner bearing an umbrella and the words “We’ll be back” was draped in the center
TURMUSIYA, West Bank A Palestinian minister died on Wednesday shortly after an Israeli border policeman shoved and grabbed him by the throat during a protest in the West Bank, an incident Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas described as barbaric. Ziad Abu Ein, 55, a minister without portfolio, was among scores of Palestinian and foreign activists who were confronted at an Israeli checkpoint while heading to a demonstration against
of the highway where protesters had camped out, with similar messages scrawled on roads and posted on tents. Protesters also tossed yellow confetti strips with the words “We’ll be back” from a vehicular ramp as workers
said: “You might have the clearance today but people will come back on to the streets another day.” Volunteers and protesters scrambled to preserve “Umbrella Movement” artwork, including tens of thousands of messages of support posted on a wall in the area.
Mauritius’ Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam addresses the 68th United Unions General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.
Palestinian Minister Dies After Confrontation With Israel Police Jewish settlements in the occupied territory. Around 30 Israeli soldiers and border policemen fired tear gas and sound grenades at the group and a scuffle ensued in which a border policeman pushed Abu Ein and
No Clear Leader Yet In Mauritius Election Count
PORT LOUIS - A clear leader has yet to emerge from a parliamentary election in Mauritius as ballots were being counted yesterday, election officials said. Results of the race, which could lead to more powers being granted to the president if a coalition led by the ruling Labour Party wins, are expected later yesterday. But not enough votes had been counted so far following Wednesday’s election to indicate if either of the two main coalitions had a lead. A total of 726 candidates competed for 62 seats in the Indian Ocean island’s National Assembly. Eight more seats will be allocated by the electoral commission to ensure adequate representation. The commission said 74 percent of the 936,975 registered voters took part in the election. The Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, and its ally the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) want power divided between the president, who now has a largely ceremonial role, and the premier, whose rule now holds sway. They say the change, requiring a three-quarters majority in parliament, will make the nation of 1.3 million people more democratic because power will not be concentrated in one person.
cleared barricades. Next to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army base in the heart of the city, a huge orange banner erected across barricades read: “It’s just the beginning.” Hong Kong Federation of Students leader Alex Chow
Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein (left) scuffles with an Israeli border policeman near the West Bank City of Ramallah on Wednesday. Abu Ein died shortly after being hit by Israeli soldiers during a protest on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank.
grabbed his neck firmly with one hand. Footage of the incident and pictures taken by Reuters do not show Abu Ein responding with any violence. Minutes later the minister began to look faint and fell to the ground clasping his chest. He died on his way to hospital. It was not clear what caused his death. An autopsy is being carried out with Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian pathologists present, with the results expected later on Wednesday. The incident comes at a time of heightened tension between Israel and the Palestinians, following months of violent unrest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hoping to head off any escalation as well as a possible erosion of security cooperation with Abbas’s forces, Israel reinforced troops in the West Bank. It also issued an apology. “We are sorry about his (Abu Ein’s) death,” Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. He said Israel was investigating the incident as well as taking part in the autopsy. “Security stability is important for both sides and we will continue coordinating with the
Ukraine President Urges Russia To Withdraw Troops CABBERRA - Australia pledged its support for Ukraine during a visit by the nation’s president yesterday, with Australia’s prime minister calling for an end to the bloody conflict in Eastern Europe and Ukraine’s leader urging Russia to withdraw. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a sharp critic of Russia since Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in July over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, said Russia must honor a little-respected cease-fire agreement signed in September. Asked by a journalist if Australia was taking sides in
a European war, Abbott replied: “The side we take is the side of freedom, democracy and selfdetermination.... And plainly, freedom, democracy and selfdetermination are currently at risk in parts of Eastern Europe.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in Australia for a three-day visit, urged Russia to withdraw from the region, where both sides have been engaged in a one-day truce that Poroshenko proposed in a bid to revive the September ceasefire deal. “Please stop the fire. Please release the hostages. Please withdraw your troops from my territory. Please close the
border,” Poroshenko said during a press conference in Melbourne. “And I promise if you close the border, within one, two, three weeks, we have peace and stability in Ukraine. Very simple.” Australia and Ukraine have formed close ties over the Flight 17 disaster, which killed everyone on board, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. Abbott and other Western leaders have accused Russia of providing military support for those who shot down the plane. Russian staterun TV has blamed Ukraine’s air force. “If it turns out that people
under Russian authority had a hand in this, we absolutely expect them to be surrendered to investigators and to prosecutors because this is an atrocity,” Abbott said. “It was mass murder on a vast scale.”The two also discussed a potential energy export deal, with the Ukrainian president saying his country may buy Australian uranium for its nuclear power stations, along with coal. “Australia is an energy superpower and energy security is very important to Ukraine, particularly given its current vulnerability to supply shocks,” Abbott said.
Palestinian Authority.” Clashes broke out in a refugee camp near Ramallah and an Israeli soldier shot and critically wounded a Palestinian youth, Palestinian medics said. Ramallah shops were shuttered for the day in protest at the minister’s death. Israel’s army spokesman said the march toward the settlement involved “approximately 200 rioters” and was stopped by its forces using “riot dispersal means.” Footage shows the marchers moving peacefully toward the demonstration, although at one point an Arab man struck an Israeli soldier with a flag. Abbas described the incident as “a barbaric act which we cannot be silent about or accept”. He announced three days of national mourning and said “necessary steps” would be taken after an investigation, but did not elaborate on whether security ties with the Jewish state would be affected. Abu Ein, who was convicted of killing two young Israelis in a bomb attack in 1979 and released as part of a prisoner swap in 1985, was a vocal opponent of Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank, which Palestinians want as part of an independent state together with Gaza and East Jerusalem. A leader of Palestinian civil society groups for decades, Abu Ein was a regular attendee of nonviolent protests and was appointed this year to head a governmentbacked protest group, the Committee to Resist Settlements and the Wall. Shortly before his death, Abu Ein spoke to television reporters, sounding hoarse and short of breath. “This is the terrorism of the occupation, this is a terrorist army, practicing its terrorism on the Palestinian people,” he told the official Palestine TV. “We came to plant trees on Palestinian land, and they launch into an attack on us from the first moment. Nobody threw a single stone.” Ten Israelis and a foreign visitor have been killed by Palestinian assailants over the past three months, while more than a dozen Palestinians have also been killed, including most of those who carried out the attacks.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
EVERY FRIDAY WEEK 22, 2014 LAST SEASON RESULT Anderson Richwell 1.2. X. Forecast
WEEK 22, 2013 NO. OF DRAWS 18
26,14,20, 9
By SAM EHEBHA GSM: 08056626091
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9 15 B SEAMAN NAP 26 9 9 15 C 26 41 19 15 35 Pair FACE TO FACE U.K EDITION
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WEEK 22 DRAWS LIKELY AT
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9
42
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014
‘NIS Director Implores Coaches To Uphold Professional Ethics SUNNY Ikhioya, the Director of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), on Wednesday urged the institution’s newly-graduated coaches to uphold good morals and professional ethics for the development of sports. “The coaching profession is very significant, and I urge you to uphold good morals and professional ethics for the development of sports,’’ Ikhioya said at the closing ceremony of the Basic Intensive Coaching Course at the institute’s Abuja campus. He said this was important because of the vital role the coaches play, and because the entire sports family relies on them to perform the noble role of sports development. “You, as coaches, should also guide the players and shun every form of indiscipline because they (players) are watching you. “So, you should display good morals, professional and ethical standards,’’ Ikhioya said. The NIS director also said the institute intended to organise courses in different parts of the country. “This is the first time we are organising a course outside our usual venue of Lagos. “We hope to reach out and hold future courses in states within the six geopolitical zones,’’ he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 67 students participated in the first edition of the three-month coaching course held in Abuja. The testimonial-awarding course featured five sports, namely athletics, basketball, boxing, football and volleyball.(NAN)
Nigeria’s Issa Shoots Auckland To Last Eight Of Club World Cup
NEWLY acquired Nigerian striker Sani Issa scored the winning penalty to take Auckland City to the quarterfinal of the Club World Cup ahead of Morocco’s Moghreb Tétouan. The match in Rabat ended in a 4-3 penalty shootout win for Auckland City of New Zealand after the game was goalless even after extra time. Auckland will now face African champions Entente Setif of Algeria in the quarterfinal on Saturday. Issa who was thrown into the fray in the 107th minute of the game to replace Tavano stepped up to scored his side’s last penalty that gave his team victory after as the game par at 3-3. European champions Real Madrid and South American champions San Lorenzo from Argentina will enter the fray at the semi-final stage.
Relegation Of Gombe United Worst Experience - Chairman
GOMBE (GOMBE STATE), The Chairman Gombe State Sports Commission , Malam Faruk Yerma , has described the recent relegation of Gombe Utd FC as the worst thing that has ever happened to the club. Yerma told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Thursday that the
club had never been relegated since it joined the Premier League in 1990, “This is something that will forever remain in the hearts of our supporters for a very long time “But our supporters should know that it is not our making, we have did our best to see the team
remained in the premiership”, he said. He assured supporters that the management of the club will go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments. “I am optimistic that the team will be back in the league within one premier season”, he said. The c hairman said that
relegation was not a new thing as it had happened to many clubs. “Our fans should please understand and reason with us.
President’s Cup Qualifiers
AMAC Humiliate Kwali 6-1, Qualify For Zonal Elimination ABUJA Municipal Area Council (AMAC) on Wednesday in Abuja thrashed Kwali Area Council 6-1 to qualify for the zonal elimination competition of the maiden President’s Cup Football Tournament. In the match played at the Area 3 pitch, Kwali took the lead as early as the third minute through Ishaku Abdulrahman. But they could not hold on to the lead for too long, with Francis Nwankwo drawing AMAC level in the 27th minute. However, Musa Omoye gave AMAC the lead in the 35th minute, with Ofoze Chidiebere making it 3-1 for AMAC seven minutes into the second half. Nwankwo got his second goal of the day in the 54th minute, while Stanley Ojobo made it 5-1 in the 79th minute before Chidiebere sealed victory for AMAC in the 88th minute. Coach of Kwali, George Gabriel, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after the
Mikel Obi Nets First Champions League Goal
John Mikel Obi
THE Nigerian capped a beautiful display to score his first Uefa Champions League goal in his side’s win against Sporting Lisbon on WednesdaySuper Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel scored his first Uefa Champions League goal in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat of Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday at the Stamford Bridge.
Fabregas swung in a free kick from the left hand side that was flicked towards goal by Cahill. Mikel and Matic were fighting for the ball at the back post but it was the Nigerian who got the final touch to increase the lead for the Blues. Cesc Fabregas had opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Filipe Luis was brought down by Ricardo Esgaio inside the first ten minutes. Andre Schurrle added a second shortly after, with a fierce shot from the edge of the box following good work by Nemanja Matic. Sporting clawed a goal back in the second half
Things will improve in the nearest future,” he said. Gombe Utd FC was relegated in the just concluded 2013/2014 premier league.
through Jonathan Silva, but John Obi Mikel restored the home side’s advantage and secured all three points, while Schalke’s victory over
Maribor meant the Lisbon side did not qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
“Massively underrated in my opinion amongst Nigerians, there’s a reason
he’s been at Chelsea for so long! It’s not easy. He sabi!,” Aluko tweeted.
match that his team lost to a better side. He however said most of his players sustained injuries before the match. “We played against a very good side. But, beside that, majority of my players sustained injuries and they could not play today (Wednesday), and we just have to play the match like that. “However, I was not expecting much from the players, and I am not really disappointed,’’ Gabriel said. On his part, the AMAC coach, Gambo Danlami, said his team won the match by reading and understanding their opponents’ tactics in previous matches. “I watched most of our opponents’ very recent matches and I read the matches to understand their style of play. “After watching those matches, I went back to teach my players the technicalities of what I saw, in terms of attacking and defending. “That is what gave us the advantage today (Wednesday),’’ Danlami said. He said his team would start work in earnest ahead of the zonal qualifiers, so as to proceed to the next stage. “We will start to work hard from now, to ensure that we progress from the zonal elimination. We promise to make FCT proud,’’ Danlami said. NAN reports that the zonal elimination competition of the President’s Cup Football Tournament for all the six geopolitical zones will hold from Jan. 9 to Jan. 13, 2015. The North-Central zonal elimination competition will hold in Lokoja, Kogi.
Sone Aluko Hails Obi On Champions League Goal
NIGERIA striker Sone Aluko has thumbed up his Super Eagles teammate, John Obi Mikel following his first Champions League strike in Chelsea’s 3-1 win against Sporting at the Stamford Bridge. The Blues’ midfielder who came under heavy barrage of criticism following his side’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United over the weekend capped an impressive display with a solo effort – his first in the history of the competition. Fabregas swung in a free kick from the left hand side that was flicked towards goal by Cahill. Mikel and Matic were fighting for the ball at the back post but it was the Nigerian who got the final touch to increase the lead for the Blues. According to Aluko, Obi’s quality is a testimony why he remains a key figure in the west London side’s set up for over a decade.
Sone Aluko
The goal was Mikel’s first of the season and fifth in his career with the Stamford Bridge giants.
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Brown Ideye Near West Brom Return
Buoyant Hart Says Manchester City Never Stopped Believing MANCHESTER City goalkeeper Joe Hart says that his side never stopped believing that they could qualify for the Champions League knockout stages after sealing safe passage with a win over Roma. Defeats by CKSA Moscow and Bayern Munich and a home draw with the Giallorossi saw the Premier League champions begin the group stage slowly. However, a 3-2 win over Bayern last time out coupled with Wednesday’s 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico saw City finish as group runnersup, to Hart’s delight. “It’s amazing [to qualify]. It was a great effort from the fans, I thought they were fantastic,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s a difficult place to come. It’s a long way to come on a Wednesday night and Samir [Nasri]’s made their night with an unbelievable goal. “Never from us [did City think they were out of contention]. We’re a strong unit. We believe in what we do. We had a slow start but you don’t win the Premier League easily and we’ve done it twice in three years.
Nasri Writes His Name Into Manchester City Folklore
THE Frenchman smashed an unstoppable shot from 25 yards beyond Morgan De Sanctis before setting up Pablo Zabaleta to seal a famous win for Manuel Pellegrini’s men As Manchester City took to the Stadio Olympico pitch for their date with destiny, Manuel Pellegrini knew he would need a new hero. Only twice since Sergio Aguero’s arrival from Atletico Madrid in July 2011 had City started a football match without any of Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva or their Argentine superstar. On both occasions – at the Etihad against West Brom in the Premier League in May last year and Blackburn in the FA Cup in January – they had won, but Rudi Garcia’s Roma on home turf were always going to present a starkly different challenge.
Nasiri
NIGERIA international, Brown Ideye is likely to stage a return to West Bromwich Albion’s first eleven when they welcome Aston Villa to the Hawthorns in Saturday’s English Premiership showdown. Ideye who is club’s record signing is yet to make any laudable impact since his move from Ukrainian outfit, Dynamo Kiev playing just 17 minutes in his last two appearances as a substitute with no goal to show for it. According to manager Alan Irvine, the Nigerian has been impressive in training and could be handed reconsidered for a place in the Baggies lineup. “He’s actually trained the best he has trained in the last couple of weeks,” Irvine told Birmingham Mail. “That’s not in terms of his application, which has always been good, but in terms of his
Ikechukuwu Uche
Ikechukwu Uche, The Best African In La Liga IKECHUKWU Tongololiki Mawakavamba Jawarapawara Uche is a name unlikely to fit on the back of a shirt. Fortunately, however, the Nigerian striker is better known simply as Uche or Ike to his team-mates - and he is now the finest African footballer in La Liga. The 30-year-old forward has spent his entire playing career in Spain, having moved at the age of 14 and worked his way up from regional football to the Primera Division with Villarreal via Racing Ferrol, Recreativo Huelva, Getafe, Zaragoza and a loan spell at Granada. Brother of former Almeria and Espanyol striker Kalu Uche, the Nigerian first came to prominence in the Primera
Division due to his knack of scoring against Real Madrid. The striker netted the third goal in Recreativo’s famous 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2006; he bagged the winner for Getafe at the same stadium as half of Madrid’s side celebrated a disallowed goal in the corner and play was allowed to continue; he added another as the Azulones beat Los Blancos 3-1 later that year.
At Zaragoza he was less fortunate, spending a total of nine months on the sidelines after suffering two serious knee injuries. Then transferred to Villarreal in 2011, he was immediately loaned to Granada and scored the goal which gave the Andalusian side their first Primera Division win for 35 years. That came, ironically, against Villarreal and by the time the striker returned to El Madrigal at the end of the 2011-12 season, his parent club had been relegated to Spain’s second tier. But Uche hit 14 goals in the Segunda Division as Villarreal
Stationary Stores FC Will Be Fearless Against Barcelona Beach Soccer LAGOS Stationary Stores FC of Lagos said its players would be fearless when they face the Barcelona Beach Soccer team in the opening match of the COPA Lagos Beach Soccer International Tournament. Its Chairman, Tilewa
Team - Chairman
Adebajo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that expectations were high in the team’s camp ahead of the 4th edition of the tournament, which began in 2011. “As you know Barcelona is a top global team and Stationary Stores FC is a top Nigerian club; so it’s a historic match for us in the sense that it’s the first time we will be playing a big international team. “And we want to make the best of it; so expectations are very high; we want to give a good account of ourselves, we’ve been very strong in our friendly matches. “And I think in terms of our beach soccer venture this match we are going to play will let us know where we are, how far we’ve come and what we need to do because you need to test yourself
against the very best in the world. “We are really excited about it and looking forward to it.“ NAN reports that the tournament is expected to hold from Dec 12 to Dec 14 at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island.
Luiz Enrique
bounced back immediately, and added a further 14 to finish as top African scorer in La Liga last season. The Nigerian has contribued a further four for the Yellow Submarine this term and is now considered a key player for Marcelino Garcia Toral’s team, currently lying sixth in the top flight. Villarreal have opened talks with the player about signing a new contract and team-mate Gerard Moreno believes the club should keep the striker, who recently lost out to Granada’s Yacine Brahimi (now at Porto) for the award handed to the best African player in La Liga. “If the club want to extend his contract then that’s good news,” Moreno said. “It’s really important that Uche stays with us. Not just because of his goals, but for all the hard work he brings to the team.” Still a long way from the 232 games played by Samuel Eto’o (as well as his 135 goals) in La Liga and unlikely to catch Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni (239 games and counting), Uche is nevertheless writing his own story in Spain and can now be considered the finest African footballer in the Primera Division.
effectiveness. “So he’s certainly looking more like what we would hope he would look. He has scored goals in training. “There was a time when he was struggling to do that. And I think he is feeling a lot better about himself.” Ideye got a brace in his side’s 5-2 win over Northampton in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday. West Brom are currently placed 16th on the EPL log with 14 points from fifteen games.
Luiz
Messi Is The Best Player Ever DAVID Luiz labelled Lionel Messi “the best player ever” after the Barcelona star derailed Paris Saint-Germain’s bid to finish top of Champions League Group F on Wednesday night. The French titleholders knew a point at Camp Nou would be enough for them to pip Luis Enrique’s men to first place and it seemed that is the least they would get when former Barca striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic put them in front after 15 minutes. However, Messi equalised four minutes later before a Neymar rocket edged the hosts in front just before half-time. The third member of Barca’s formidable strike force, Luis Suarez, completed the scoring with 13 minutes to go. “It’s the efficiency that made the difference,” Brazil international Luiz told Canal+. “They were better than us; they have three huge forwards. Messi is fantastic, the best player ever. “Barca also have a smart head coach and other great players.” The defeat means PSG will now face one of the group winners in the last 16. Luiz said: “We will now think about the next step. The next game will be difficult. We’ll have to beat everybody to go all the way. In February we could play anyone.” Luiz’s Brazil team-mate Lucas Moura, who volleyed wide with the goal at his mercy with the scores tied at one goal apiece, added: “It was a difficult game, it’s hard to play here. We missed a lot of chances but that’s football.”
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Real Madrid Don’t Frighten PSG - David Luiz DAVID Luiz has insisted that Paris Saint-Germain are not afraid of Real Madrid or anyone else who they might be drawn against in the last 16 of the Champions League. A 3-1 defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday ensured that Laurent Blanc’s men finished second in Group F, meaning they are not seeded for the next stage of the competition. As a result, their potential opponents in the last 16 are holders Real Madrid, last season’s runnersup Atletico Madrid, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Premier League table-toppers Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Porto. David Luiz does not fear being drawn against one of the European heavyweights and insists that PSG must be prepared to go toe-to-toe with the best if they want to win their firstever Champions League title in 201415. “We could play against Real Madrid or we could play against another team - either way, all that qualified are great teams with great squads of players and we are prepared to face them all,” the centre-back, 27, told Goal after the clash at Camp Nou. “We don’t think about avoiding the best, but to be prepared to do our job against anyone if we want to be champions of Europe. “Paris Saint-Germain are candidates to win the Champions League. We just have to think like always: that we are a great club and to have the philosophy of win every game and prepare properly.” PSG were outmatched on Wednesday by Barca’s unorthodox 32-3-2 formation but David Luiz denies the Ligue 1 champions were caught off guard, claiming instead that the quality of Lionel Messi and his attacking team-mates was always going to be key. “We were not taken by surprise,” the Brazilian defender added. “Barca are known for their philosophy of always playing with a focus on ball possession. However, they did put a man more in midfield for their passing game.
2014 FCT Football League
Medical Strikers FC, Alpha FC Advance To Final Match ABUJA Medical Strikers Football Club on Wednesday defeated Optimum Football Club 3-0 in the semi-finals of the 2014 FCT Football League. In the match played at the Area 3 Sports Complex, James Oise put the Medical Strikers in the driving seat with a brace early in the second half. He scored in the 56th and 61st minutes of the game, while Habib Ojolurin scored to seal victory for his club. Coach of the Medical Strikers, Ibrahim Bako, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) he was happy to see his team reach this stage of the league. “I feel great to reach this stage in the FCT League and I want to appreciate the organisers of the competition for taking our boys off the street and for giving them hope. “Our management is really supporting the team. So, we hope to win the competition and by God’s grace, we will take the title home. “A lot of people are saying that good things don’t come from the village, and we want to prove them wrong. The villagers will take the title because I am sure of my boys,’’ he said.
Luis Enrique Buoyed By Bold Barcelona’s Comeback Win Over PSG
THE Blaugrana employed an adventurous 3-2-3-2 formation, as the hosts responded to an early Zlatan Ibrahimovic effort with goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez Luis Enrique was a happy man after his bold tactics reaped dividends against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, with Barcelona
triumphing 3-1 at Camp Nou to progress to the knockout stage of the Champions League as winners of Group F. The Catalans had gone into the game a point behind their French opponents in the standings, meaning that nothing less than victory would suffice if they were to realise their goal of being seeded for Monday’s last-16
draw. Barca fell behind to an early goal from former player Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Lionel Messi promptly levelled matters before subsequent strikes from Neymar and Luis Suarez earned the hosts an important win.
Luis Enrique thus felt vindicated for not only starting all three of his superstar forwards, but also selecting Pedro in midfield as part of an adventurous 3-2-3-2 formation designed to make up for the absence of regular right-back Dani Alves through suspension. “Our objective was to win the group, and I think we played a great match,” he said. “We were at a good level and we achieved our objective. “Given the players we’ve got we always look to play a formation that will do harm to the opponents, and today we had to play to win,
looking for space for Messi and Neymar. “The first half was back to basics and, thanks to our goals, we got in front and were able to go into the rest of the game more relaxed. “This is a sport that is dictated by results. Today [Wednesday] we missed an important player in Dani Alves but we got on with things and we were able to turn around a difficult game.” Barcelona now return to Liga action, with the Blaugrana set for a trip to Getafe on Saturday
Ibrahimovic: PSG Failed To Punish Barcelona ZLATAN Ibrahimovic regrets Paris Saint-Germain’s failure to punish Barcelona as they were knocked off the Group F top spot in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat. The Swede scored the opener against his old club but subsequent goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez allowed Luis Enrique’s men to leapfrog the visitors in their Champions League table. Defeat for Laurent Blanc’s
Mohammed Baba Ganaru
side ensures that they will not be top seeds in the last 16 of the tournament, meaning they could be drawn against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund or Porto. Ibrahimovic was frustrated with PSG’s profligacy after his side managed to create a number of chances despite Barca’s territorial dominance. “If you look at the result, you will see the difference,” the Swedish striker said to reporters. “They scored three goals and we scored one. “When you play at Camp Nou, you have to be happy when you have so many opportunities. When that happens, Barca must must be punished, the visitors must score goals. “But we did not do that today. The game ended 3-1 and we lost.” PSG will be aiming to return to winning ways when they visit
Baba Ganaru Asks LMC For Warm Up Games For Clubs With Continental Challenge THE head coach of Nasarawa United, Mohammed Baba Ganaru has counselled the League Management Company (LMC) to organize pre-season competitions for the four clubs that will represent the country in Caf Interclub competitions next year to avert unimpressive outings. All the nation’s that the LMC should flagbearers in Africa strive to see that the crashed out before the league season starts on group stages this year time, but that in the with Kano Pillars who eventuality the season emerged as the league doesn’t resume until champions the first to be after the 2015 general thrown out in the elections, the league preliminary round of the organizers should put in pre-season Caf Champions League place after a shock loss to AS tournaments to keep the Vita Club of teams in shape. He said it won’t Democratic Republic of portray the country well Congo before Enyimba as one of the continent’s exited the competition best if no club in the next round to AS progresses to the group Real Bamako of Mali. of either The representatives in stages the Caf Confederation competitions stressing only good Cup didn’t fare better that and either as both Warri preparations adequate planning Wolves and Bayelsa United were beaten in would make that the second round and possible. Baba Ganaru said to play-off round by CR Bizertin of Tunisia and Goal: “It won’t give us Sewe Sports of Cote d’ good impression in Africa if our teams Ivoire respectively. To ensure that the failed to progress to the nation doesn’t suffer group stage of the Caf such fate next year, Club Competitions. The Baba Ganaru advised clubs that crashed out in
the early round of the competitions are not to blame for this because they did not set out to crash out. The failure to start the league on time affected their preparations and they were match rusty by the time the competitions started.” He went ahead: “We should work towards ensuring that same situation doesn’t arise again this term ahead of the clubs’ participation in Africa. The LMC has a major role to play to keep the clubs active and competitive till the start of the competitions. If the league can start before the commencement of the Caf games, it would go a long way to help the clubs on the continent but if that is not possible, properly co-ordinated pre-season tournaments will go a long way to help these teams.” The Nasarawa United helmsman also rued his team’s inability to pick a continental ticket after they were so close to getting one before they
lost it to Warri Wolves who held them to a 2-2 draw in Lafia in a game in which victory would have landed them a ticket. He, however, told Goal that he would work on the deficiencies noticed in the next league season to ensure that the Soild Miners secure a place in Africa in 2016.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Bring On Barcelona SCHALKE striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is hoping to meet Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16, after his side beat Maribor 1-0 to book their ticket for the knockout stages. “Our next opponent? It Max Meyer found the net would be nice to play after 62 minutes of play to against Barcelona. At least help the Bundesliga side to a it’s warmer there than in decisive win which, coupled Slovenia...,” the Dutchman with Sporting Lisbon’s loss at told Sky. Chelsea, enabled Roberto Di “We did not attack with Matteo’s men reach the next a lot of players, but we did round. well tactically. That was Schalke will find out who the key to our success. We their opponents are in the defended very well.” round of 16 during Monday’s Meanwhile, defender draw in Nyon and Huntelaar Benedikt Howedes was is ready to take on Europe’s pleased with Schalke’s big guns. performance against
-Huntelaar Maribor and hailed their defensive strength. “We played as a team and we really wanted to win this match,” the Germany international said. “We had a clear plan and didn’t allow them any chances. “We defended well and we were always dangerous in front of the opponent’s goal. I think we deserved a goal well before Max scored.” Schalke resume Bundesliga action at home against Koln on Saturday.
Rudi Garcia
Fortune Decided City Tie
RUDI Garcia bemoaned Roma’s lack of fortune as their Champions League adventure was ruthlessly ended by Manchester City on Wednesday night. A win at the Stadio Olimpico would have seen the Giallorosi through to the last 16 – a goalless draw would, in the end, have also sufficed - but, despite a promising start, qualification never looked likely.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
I’m Trying To Convince Odegaard To Join Celtic -Johansen
CELTIC midfielder Stefan Johansen has tried to persuade his teenage countryman, Martin Odegaard, to join him in Scotland next season. Stromsgodset starlet Odegaard, who is already a full Norway international at just 15 years old, is one of the most sought-after players in Europe with Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool among the clubs thought to be vying for his signature. Odegaard trained with his “dream club”, Liverpool, earlier in December but has also been linked with the Scottish champions and Johansen has urged him to resist the temptation of Europe’s elite to join Ronny Deila’s men. “I’ve talked a lot with Martin,” Johansen told reporters. “We keep in touch
and speak on the phone. “I have told him that Celtic can be a good choice for him. The way we play would suit him. We have the ball a lot and that’s what Martin likes. He wants to be on the ball and creating chances. “Martin is an amazing talent and I hope he comes to Celtic. The gaffer has shown in Norway that he is very good with young players and he gives them a chance when they deserve it. Martin knows him and myself. “But it is up to Martin. His father is a good guy who helps him a lot and he’s also very mature in the way he thinks. I’m sure he’ll make the right decision for his career.” Johansen added: “To say
that you are going to go and play at Real Madrid and compete against [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Bale and those guys ... for a 15-year-old that’s going to be difficult.
“He would be unlikely to play right away at a Real Madrid or Barcelona. Of course it would be difficult but, as I said, he needs to choose for himself.”
City weathered an early Roma storm before going in front on the hour mark thanks to a wonderful Samir Nasri drive. City right-back Pablo Zabaleta made sure of City’s progression from Group E along with Bayern Munich by netting the visitors’ second goal late on. Garcia said: “I have no regrets from this match. It was a final and that was the problem. It was a match in which both teams did good things and only fortune decided the result. “City are a more experienced team and we have to improve on some things. We have to have even more good players if we want to be at the same level as these big teams. “I feel sorry for my
-Garcia
players, we had the chance to qualify but we didn’t.” The Frenchman was quick to turn his attention to the race for the Italian title, with second-placed Roma visiting Genoa on Sunday hoping to close the three-point gap to leaders Juventus. He added: “Now we must think about Serie A and I want my players to play a great match on Sunday. “[The players] have to get through this disappointment. We are in the Europa League but Serie A is a more important competition now.”
Flawless Neuer Is Entitled To Ballon THE Germany shot-stopper is one of three players up for the Fifa award, along with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, with the winner to be announced on January 12. Whereas La Liga’s star attackers have won the award multiple times before, Neuer has never even made the final trio until his performances for Bayern this year and during Germany’s World Cup triumph earned him suitable recognition.
d’Or - Sammer
“Of course, it is widely discussed whether a goalkeeper can be the Ballon d’Or winner,” Sammer mused to Sky Sport News. “Manuel Neuer is the complete package - the most flawless there’s ever been. “He has no weaknesses, he plays the classic sweeper goalkeeper role. He is almost a work of art. Neuer joins a rich tradition of talented Bavarians.
“Messi was a runner up at the World Cup, Ronaldo was a Champions League winner, but becoming a world champion... Neuer is entitled to win the Ballon d’Or.” Sammer also lauded Bayern’s currently-injured left-back David Alaba - a player he insists is not for sale “at any price” as he looks to establish himself as a leader at the club. “It is undisputed that Alaba
is a fantastic lad,” the club chief added. “He is a little introverted, yes, but I myself am very curious to see if he can take on the leadership role that Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Neuer currently inhabit. “I trust in him. He is a role model - his work rate is very good and he promotes the identity of Austrian football. “Financially, we won’t be talking with anyone about him. He’s not for sale at any price.”
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Tackling Human Rights Violations In Nigeria
By all standards, human rights violations are considered to be a crime against humanity. Human rights activists maintain that “a right is a freedom of some kind; it is something, to which you are entitled by virtue of being human. “Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. The fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity.’’ Human rights advocates, however, lament that 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the preservation of human rights, all over the world, still appears to be more of an illusion than a reality. “This is because violations still exist in every part of the world, even as Amnesty International’s 2009 World Report shows that individuals are tortured or abused in at least 81 countries. “Individuals also face unfair trials in at least 54 countries and are restricted in their freedom of expression in at least 77 countries,” they add. Human rights activists say that the types of human rights violation include child trafficking, violence against women, sexual harassment, early marriage, child labour, rape, war crimes and insurgence, among others. For instance, Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2014 said that human rights abuses by insurgents in Northern Nigeria dominated Nigeria’s human rights landscape in 2013. “In 2013, more than 400 people died from violent inter-communal conflicts in Nigeria’s Middle-Belt states, and scores were rendered homeless from the clashes,” the report added. To part of efforts to draw global attention to such human rights violations, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated Dec. 10 as the Human Rights Day. “The Day is set aside to bring to the attention of the peoples of the world the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the
common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations,’’ the UN says. The theme for this year’s celebration, Human Rights 365, encapsulates the notion that every day of the year is Human Rights Day. “It celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights. “It also reminds us that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values,’’ the UN says. The UN SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki-moon, therefore, calls on states to honour their obligations to protect human rights every day of the year. “I call on people to hold their governments to account and I call for special protections for the human rights defenders who courageously serve our collective cause,’’ Ban says. “Let us respond to the cries of the exploited, and uphold the right to human dignity for all,’’ he adds. Going from the general to the specifics, observers say that human rights violations still exist in all countries of the world, including Nigeria. For instance, Mr Sule Tajudeen, an Abuja-based civil servant, insists that security personnel often infringe on the people’s rights. “On many occasions, the police have harassed me when I never committed any crime,’’ he says, calling for the reorientation of country’s security personnel, as part of efforts to protect the citizens’ rights. Speaking on the forms of human rights violation, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), says that rights violation includes the abuse of a person’s right to life. “In Nigeria, the most disturbing human rights violation is the abuse of the right to life and the activities of terrorists, who wantonly waste the lives of innocent and law-abiding Nigerians,’’ he says.
Onwubiko also considers the high rate of extra-judicial killing of suspects in police custody as a serious breach of the people’s fundamental human rights. “Besides, the total lack of welfare packages for the poor in Nigeria can be described as human rights abuses, on the part of government at all levels,” he adds. Onwubiko claims that
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) must be up and doing in efforts to protect and promote the human rights of Nigerians. “The Freedom of Information Act and the amendments of the enabling Act setting up the NHRC should be used as tools in efforts to facilitate a holistic change in the human rights profile of Nigeria, which is currently
MATTERS IN FOCUS By NAOMI SHARANG
The NHRC official says that in instances of human rights abuse, the commission often intervenes by seeking redress. She says that the redress could be in the form of compensation or by way of
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General HURIWA was set up basically to enlighten Nigerians on their fundamental human rights. “We organise lectures annually and carry out vigorous advocacy campaigns to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to cases of human rights abuse across the country,’’ he says. He also says that his association partners with relevant organisations in its crusade to sensitise Nigerians to their rights, privileges and duties as citizens. The national coordinator, however, calls on all human rights groups to redouble their efforts in the fight against “gruesome human rights violations such as sexual violations and molestation of young girls’’. Nevertheless, Onwubiko underscores the need to retrain and reform the police, while equipping them with the wherewithal to establish functional antirape squads in all police formations and divisions across the country. “Above all, the Nigerian
low,” he said. Sharing similar sentiments, Mrs Aver Gavar, Deputy Director (Legal) and Head of Focal Areas Unit, NHRC, says the UN initiated the Human Rights Day, as part of the campaign to ensure the protection of the people’s rights. “The Day is about knowing and living your rights every single day,” she adds. Gavar stresses that human rights violations include extra-judicial killings, displacement of people from their communities and places of abode, and loss of people’s right to education, shelter and health. “As a commission, we have observed the huge burden of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have complained of being despondent. “This situation could be viewed as a gap in governance, even as Nigeria is a party to the Kampala Convention, which places the primary responsibility of the care of IDPs on the government,’’ she says.
restitution. She expatiates that the restitution ensures the reinstatement of the original status quo of people whose rights have been violated or trampled upon. Gavar, however, notes that the amendment of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission Act in 2012 has increased the citizens’ confidence in the commission’s ability to handle complaints about human rights abuses. “The number of complaints brought before the commission, particularly from 2012 to date, has doubled. “We count this as an indicator of increased public confidence in the commision,” she says. Gavar says that the commission regularly receives complaints on public rights issues such as forced evictions and other matters of public interest. She says that while some of the complaints are dealt with internally — in the Protection and Investigation Department of NHRC — others that are more
sensitive in nature (matters of public interest) are handled by the commission’s tribunal. “Decisions of the commission’s tribunal have a status that is akin to that of high court decisions. Appeals against the tribunal’s decisions can also be brought before the Court of Appeal,’’ she says. Gavar says that NHRC is collaborating with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), adding that a lot of the commission’s success can be attributed to such collaborative efforts. “We have met with certain NGOs to set up an agenda for the new Inspector General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba,’’ she adds. The deputy director reiterates that the main mandate of NHRC is to create an enabling environment for the preservation of the citizens’ human rights. “We are proactive, and not just reactive, in our approach to human rights issues. “We create public awareness of human rights and we also embark on advocacy visits to decisionmakers who are the people in government. “Such visits are made on the implementation of some of the laws as well as the international and regional instruments which Nigeria has ratified,’’ she adds. Gava believes that sustained efforts should be made to encourage the government to protect the citizens’ human rights, as part of the strategies put in place to promote a better society. All the same, human rights activists underscore the need for all countries of the world to initiate pragmatic measures to promote the fundamental rights of their citizens and guard against human rights violations (NANFeatures) • If used, please credit the writer as well as News agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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