Nigerian observer 16 08 2014

THE WEEKEND

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Weekend

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

PUBLISHED SINCE OCTOBER 6, 1990 • Vol.XI NO.3,249• SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014 • N 100.00

Ebola Scare

Nigerians Shun Handshake

By OSAZUA IVBAZE

T

HE fear of the deadly contagious Ebola virus has extended its toll on christendom as Catholics are now compelled to break its age-long cherished tradition of “sign of peace” of handshake to nodding of Continues on pg.3. heads, waving or raising the thumbs in response to pleasantries.

• Pope Francis

S

OME pastors of the Pentecostal bent have encouraged their members not to be afraid, saying that “faith in the finished work of the Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ” gives them the assurance that they can step on snakes and scorpions, swallow poison and be faced with the deadliest epidemics, and still triumph in Christ.

• Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

Pg 2

NEWS

Pg. 2

Randy Pastor Storms Housewife’s Bedroom, Undresses For Action

Embrace Peace,

Obasogie Of Benin Urges Community Leaders Pg. 27

NEWS

Pg. 2

Man Caught Having Sex With Dog

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Ne ws

Randy Pastor Storms Housewife Bedroom

By BIJOR CELESTINA RESIDENTS of Omonomose Street and environs in Benin City were on Monday, August 11, 2014 jolted to their nerves when a randy pastor (names withheld) was allegedly caught inside the bedroom of a house wife, in a brazen attempt to have sexual intercourse with her.

The incident happened at Omonomose Street, Off Maria Goretti Road, Benin City at about 4:30 p.m.

According to eye witness, the randy pastor who presides over a Pentecostal church located opposite Welfare Road, Off Upper Sokponba Road, was allegedly caught with only his pants on after he had undressed to swing into action before the woman raised an alarm which attracted her husband and other youths in the area, to the scene.

The quick intervention of the police from Ugbekun Police Divisional station saved the randy pastor from been lynched.

The WEEKEND OBSERVER gathered that the woman had earlier gone to the church for deliverance, thereafter the pastor started making overtures to have sex with her.

The woman was said to have reported the matter to her husband, which promoted them to invite the pastor home. She told the pastor that her husband travelled and that she was alone in the house.

The pastor came to the woman’s residence and went straight into the bedroom and undressed. As a foreplay, the woman was said to have demanded for money before the action. quickly the randy pastor was said to have brought out money and gave the woman before she raised alarm which brought her husband in and the commotion which followed attracted other residents.

Investigation by the WEEKEND OBSERVER revealed that the randy

pastor has been in the act of luring married women to the church in the pretence of conducting deliverance.

Some persons living in the area where the church is located told our reporter that recently the pastor was caught red handed with his hand inside the private part of an insane woman brought to him for deliverance, and he was subsequently arrested and taken to the Ugbekun police station and the police asked him to pay for damages and in returned he paid N50, 000, naira to the

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart in Etsako Central Local government, Hon. Musa Ibrahim Jorget has described last Saturday’s Osun governorship election as a true reflection of the people’s wishes.

Hon. Musa who stated this in Fugar the administrative headquarters of the local government while reacting to the outcome of the election saying Osun people has really demonstrated the true meaning of democracy by voting the candidates of their choice despite the intimidations and harassment by the opposition parties.

The APC faithful who is also the vice chairman of the party in the local government also congratulated the national chairman of the party, Chief Odigie Oyegun for displayed leadership quality in ensuring that the party emerged

insane woman’s brother.

Some of the randy pastor members interviewed confirmed that the pastor is married to a beautiful wife who is a graduate, teaching in Saint Maria Goretti Grammar School. They also told WEEKEND OBSERVER reporter that the pastor had just finished praying and ministering to them at the church not long before the

ugly incident took place.

Our reporter also sighted a marriage ring on the pastor’s finger, while being tortured by the irate youths.

He was later taken away by the police. Meanwhile, the Pastor has denied the allegations saying they set me up, they set me up”.

Man Nabbed For Sleeping With Dog THE Edo State Police Command has arrested a 19yeard –old boy in Iguosa Community, Ovia North east Local Government Area, for allegedly having sex with a dog.

The young man, identified simply as Osagiator, was said to have taken the dog to an uncompleted building where he had sex with it.

It was learnt that earlier, the residents had gathered at the palace of the head of Iguosa community when the news of the incident spread within the length and breadth of the area.

A resident in the community, George Ogbonmwan, while narrating how the teenager was caught, said he had seen the suspect with the dog and had thought that he wanted to steal it.

He added that he decided to call the attention of the owner, Garuba Samari.

Ogbonmwan said when he

and the owner of the dog traced Osagiator to the uncompleted building; they were surprised to see the suspect having sexual intercourse with the dog.

“When I saw the way the young man carried the dog like a baby, I decided to tell the owner. We went to the uncompleted building and caught the boy sleeping with the dog”, he said.

However, the suspect, who claimed that he resided in Uselu in Benin, said he was a regular visitor to Iguosa community, where he sought menial jobs.

He explained that he did not know what came over him.

He claimed that the dog followed him as he walked along a street in the community. He added that he took the animal to the

Osun Polls Reflect Peoples’ Wish

By CASSIUS LAMAI

Undresses For Action

- Jorget

victorious at the election.

According to him, “this is the first major task since chief Oyegun became the national chairman of the party and he won the election for the party” that shows that he is a true leader to be followed and thanked those who joined in the campaign train to Osun state during the campaign.

He said the winning of Osun state is a clear indication that APC is a party to beat in 2015 elections and however appealed to the leadership of the party to always field a sellable, acceptable and grassroot candidates for any position so as to make their winning easy.

Hon. Musa while commending the INEC for conducting free and fair election in Osun state, thanked the security agents for providing adequate security for the harmless citizens who came out

enmass to exercise their franchise for the candidates of their choice which was reflected in the outcome of the election.

The vice chairman urged the electorates to be weary of those politicians who only remember the common man during electioneering period, “the era of bags of salt politics is over, we are in era of development as we have seen in the comrade governor administration.

• Hon. Musa Ibrahim Jorget

uncompleted building, but did not know what made him to have sexual intercourse with it.

He said, “I was walking along the street, I saw a dog following me and I carried it like a baby I just went into the uncompleted building where I did what I did to it. I don’t know what came over me”.

• The randy Pastor

NGO Charges Voters To Screen that, the Aspirants adding legislature should

By MARTIN ERHARUYI/ IKPONMWOBA OSAZEE JOEL

THE National Chairman of the Progressive Friends of Nigeria (PFON), Hon Ezimako .G. Osita, has admonished Nigerians to screen political aspirant before electing them into offices to ensure good governance.

Hon. Osita gave the admonition in Benin City during the official inauguration of executive members of the Edo State Chapter of the body.

According to him, the body is a non g o v e r n m e n t a l organisation (NGO) that is committed to good g o v e r n a n c e , sentitisation of the electorates to vote wisely for any trusted aspirant at all levels to ensure the sustenance of the Nigerian democracy as well as offer charitable support to the less priviledged in the society.

Hon. Osita stressed that Nigerians should imbibe the spirit instead of division saying there is no gain saying that it is uncivilized for Nigerians in this age of civilization to use good

conference as avenue to promote things that would divide the country in form of tribal inclinations.

He, however, urged Nigerians to avoid selling their rights to politicians who would not bring to their door step, the dividends of democracy while saying the youth should desist from any act of election malpractice as it portrays Nigeria nation as a primitive society before other right thinking Nations in the globe.

He pleaded with the governor, the Oba of Benin and the people of Edo State not to relent in their effort to maintain peace in the state

sheathe their swords for peace.

He said “I think there is need for us all to do things with moderation, opposition should rather positively serve as a mirror of the incumbent and not to fight.

The South –South Cordinator Dr. Victoria Effiong Eberefish said that PFON was established 2003 to promote good governance and forster peace and Unity amongst Nigerians while saying they would continue to support any trust election aspirants at all level of government.

The occasion features the inauguration of 25 Exco members to pilot the state body.

Oko Congratulates Agenmonmen THE Chairman of Freedom Group of companies, Deacon Vincent Agenmonmen has been congratulated on his conferment of honorary doctorate degree by Benson Idahosa University taking place today.

In a message, Mrs Angela Edwede Okok,

described the honour as well-deserved.

Mrs Okoh wished Deacon Agenmonmen good health and long life to enjoy the fruits of his handiwork and contributions to the development of humanity, especially in propagating the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Ebola Scare

Nigerians Shun Handshake

By RICHARD IMOAGENE/ GEDU LONGLIFE/OSAGIE GRACE UCHE OKONYE

THIS is sequel to the directive given by the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace, Anthony Cardinal Onaiyekan to Catholic to suspend the handshake sign as a precautionary measure to curtail the spread of Ebola virus.

However, some pastors of the Pentecostal bent have encouraged their members not to be afraid, saying that “faith in the finished work of the Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ “gives them the assurance that they can step on snakes and scorpions, swallow poison and be faced with the deadliest epidemics, and still triumph in Christ.

A visit to Heritage Assembly, a Pentecostal church along Evbuotubu quarters confirmed this claim. The preacher, Pastor Dave Tekafe encouraged his members to rely on Jesus. He read from Psalm 91 assuring them that “there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come near they dwelling”.

Speaking further, he charged his members to hold on to the assurance of the word of God, which says that “he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him will I trust. Surely, he shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”

Pastor Dave further encouraged believers to

• Pope Francis trust God’s word as the only weapon that can be used to overcome any circumstance in life. “The authority of the believers” which he said is that they have every authority to either accept or reject anything they like.

Members of the church did not show any sign of fear as they exchanged handshakes and hugs with celebrants who shared testimonies and offered thanksgiving for marriages, as well as child dedication in front of the auditorium.

The suspension of the “rites of peace” by John Cardinal Onaiyekan of the Abuja Archdiocese has quickly crept into parishes across Nigeria, including

Benin City. Investigations have revealed that over 90 percent of worshippers at St. Paul’s Catholic Church along Airport Road refused to exchange handshake after a Sunday mass in adherence to the directive.

Onaiyekan, in his statement, stated “we did not ban handshaking during mass, we are only discouraging it and it is going to be temporary until it is clear that Nigeria is no longer under Ebola threat. He said stating that the church is only taking necessary precautionary steps to avoid the spread of the disease.

In his reaction, Chris

Uche, a Catholic, said that religion and science do not go together because religion has to do with faith while science has to do with proof. He said that compromising the doctrine of the church as a precautionary measure merely suggests the submission of faith to science.

Meanwhile, Emeka Okotie, a schoolteacher said that the church is only trying to create awareness and does not intend to place a ban on handshake. He said it is only optional.

WEEKEND O B S E R V E R investigations revealed that many individuals now decline the offer of a

handshake by either putting their hands in their pockets or by an outright no. Consequently, the rate at which individuals shake hands has reduced drastically throughout the Benin metropolis as a result of the directive of the Catholic Archbishop.

The exchange of handshake has long been in existence as a medium of exchange of p l e a s a n t r i e s , compliments or a sign of consolidation of business agreements between two or more people”.

According to Sunday Ekerikevwe, a lecturer of the University of Benin, “Man by nature is home interactive.” That is, man is naturally interactive

because he is a social being. He cannot do without interacting with other human beings and this he does through conversations, playing together, making friends, of which handshaking plays a major role.

While Nigerians have embraced the advise of abstinence from handshake as according to them “prevention is better than cure” others say they have no reason to fear as “something must kill a man”.

Sunday Igbadumhe, a student is of the opinion that “the Catholic Father, Cardinal Onaiyekan gave the directive in good faith.

It is however important to tackle extreme situations with extreme measures, but it is also important to consider the social implications surrounding such measures. The death of the threshold practices that bind a nation can kill a people faster than the virus itself”.

The Ebola virus which has been described by many as the worst plague to have faced the human race in recent times, have claimed a little less than a thousand lives since its first discovery in 1976.

Named after the Ebola River in Zaire, presentday DR. Congo, the virus offer sick victim only about 10 percent chance of survival.

Since the first case of the virus in Nigeria on July 25, 2014, precautionary measures have continued to emerge. Less than a week after, Governor Fashola of Lagos State banned handshaking and hugging in the state. The Federal Government has also declared a national emergency against the virus. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Catholic Authority has issued its own precautionary directive to which many have complied.

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Determination

• Osatohanmwen Orobosa before the amputation

Yes, I Am Physically Challenged But I Will Never Be A BEGGAR - Orobosa T

By RICHARD IMOAGENE/ABAH OGBADA PIUS

HE journey of life is one that requires tenacity, resilience and unwavering determination. Life doesn’t give you bread, it gives you flour. Life doesn’t give you clothes, it gives you cotton. It doesn’t give you shoes, but gives you leather. But there are some individuals who life has given neither flour nor cotton, nor leather but have had to sow amid thorns, in order to survive in the most arduous circumstances.

• Osatohanmwen Orobosa

This is the case of Mr. Osatohamwen Orobosa; rejected by man, deprived by nature, and wangled by fate. Against all odds, this electrician has struggled through the years burdened by an amputated right leg and the reality of a heartless run-away mother.

Born in 1986 in Nasarawa State, Osatohamwen revealed that his ordeal started in 1998 when his mother abandoned them with their grandmother in the village and took off with a cattle trader in Borno State. After his primary education in the village, the father took them from the village to

live with him.

Undeterred by an absent mother, he indicated his interest in electrical works and soon learnt the skill over a period until 2008.

With gladness, after so many years of hardwork, he was called upon to begin work somewhere in GRA. His second day at Continues on pg. 5

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‘My mother abandoned us... ran away with an Hausa Ram seller to the North, since then, we have not seen her. I will forgive her if...’ work was when he encountered the foe which has now become a thorn in his flesh. He developed a swollen leg and life has never remained the same since then.

The diagnosis by a specialist hospital proven by an X-ray revealed that Osatohamwen had a swollen bone in his right leg which must be cut off if he wished to live. His desire to live and affect his society led him to the operation room where his leg was amputated.

All these years, he neither saw nor heard from his mother, a woman who supposedly conceived him, carried him for nine months, and went through excruciating

pains during labour to bring him to earth. He couldn’t understand it, but was determined all the same.

This physicallychallenged electrician has gone on to create a niche for himself. Supported by his father, he set up an electrical workshop and has trainees working under him. He recounts his experiences of how he manages to climb to the roof during his work but calls on his trainees when there is a need to go higher.

Osatohamwen was close to tears when he stated that one of his greatest desires is to see his mother again. He explained how his late

elder brother had hinted her last place of residence in Abuja, but his visit to the place was fruitless as his mother was nowhere to be found.

According to him, “we don’t know if our mother is still alive. Ever since she left us in 1998, we haven’t set our eyes on her”. He also stated that if his mother showed up he will forgive her because a mother remains a mother forever.’

This is a 28-year old young man bedeviled by an amputated leg, and grew up without a mother.

In a society where equality is only upheld in the battle of survival, where there is no preference for disability or physical challenge,

• The Hausa ram seller that ran away with Orobosa’s mother

Osatohamwen has raised his head high and has competed favourably with able-bodied men.

He, however, noted that his cruaches are not sufficient enough to help him move around, and has called on government at all

• Osatohanmwen Orobosa

levels to come to his aid.

He expressed his need for a wheel chair to help him move and work more effectively.

The physicallychallenged electrician also stated that he does not

want to beg because it is not honourable, and that is why he is working. He advised all those in similar situations to acquire skills so that they can be useful to themselves and the society at large.

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Traffic Congestion At Kingsquare - Cause, Remedies

ONE hallmark of the Oshiomhole-led administration is its commitment to environmental sanity, one that the Governor has pursued with relentless courage and dedication over the years. Since 2008, Governor Oshiomhole has dedicated his administration to redeeming the public image of the state caused by an 8-year period of wasted resources resulting to environmental and infrastructural degradation between 1999 and 2007.

This commitment has

By RICHARD IMHOAGENE/OSAGIE GRACE/ GEDU LONGLIFE/OKONYE UCHE

seen the government embarked on reformations in both the transport and environmental sectors of the state in recent years. However, it is important to note that these reformations cannot be achieved singularly by the Governor but requires a collective effort towards uplifting the face and image of Edo State. Hence the

empowerment of youth to take on this task through the establishment of War Against Indiscipline (WAI) EDSTMA to ensure free-flow of traffic on major roads within the state especially in the capital city of Benin.

Regrettably, those saddled with the responsibility of implementing this vision have not been able to

sustain the passion, tact and vigour with which they began. In fact, it is alleged that some of them have given themselves to corrupt practices. They have neglected their duties over time, allowing some elements to take advantage of the situation and perpetrate the highest form of indiscipline.

In recent times, it seems like the menace carried out by motorists,

public transport workers especially, has resurfaced with reinvigorated temerity.

Unchecked, these drivers cause disturbing and unbearable havoc on our roads, leading to traffic congestions and disrupting economic activities. When placed aside indiscriminate street trading, it portends serious consequences for other motorists.

A visit to Ring Road

by Oba Market reveals how comfortable Tuke Tuke drivers have become in parking indiscriminately on the road, seeking commuters to convey to different destinations.

The sensitivity of this road, especially the one leading towards Kings Square, is what calls for great concern. It is a hub of commercial activities and serves as a link to other important roads like Sapele, Airport, Akpakpava, Ekehuan, and Mission

Continued on page 7

“...while the presence of WAI and traffic officials is heavily felt along Kings Square and on the axis leading to Airport Road, they are barely stationed on the road by Oba market. The drivers who obviously have a free day as a result, scuffle in disarray for passengers even right in the middle of the road.�

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e Indiscriminate Parking At Kingsquare

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“While indiscipline and impatience may be the reasons for the menace, further investigations revealed that the desperation of drivers to make sufficient returns at the end of each day may also be responsible for the recklessness witnessed on the roads.”

Continued from page 6 Roads, to mention a few.

Investigations by W E E K E N D OBSERVER revealed that while the presence of WAI and traffic officials is heavily felt along Kings Square and on the axis leading to Airport Road, they are barely stationed on the road by Oba market. The drivers who obviously have a free day as a result, scuffle in disarray for passengers even right in the middle of the road.

Three long queues of buses stretching along the streets have ensured that no vehicles can pass through. These three queues are designated to convey commuters to Asoro-Ugbiokho, Ekehuan Barracks, and Ekehuan Park.

Besides, drivers who ply the routes still park on the major roads to lure and convey commuters.

They allege that these buses are owned by ‘Ogas’ popularly called

‘Agberos’ who, themselves, have become lords of the area.

While indiscipline and impatience may be the reasons for the menace, further investigations revealed that the desperation of drivers to make sufficient returns at the end of each day may also be responsible for the recklessness witnessed on the roads.

It was discovered that apart from legitimate taxes payable to government and its agencies drivers are heavily taxed by some illegitimate faceless individuals and bodies.

Some drivers who pleaded anonymity, revealed that, depending on routes plied, they pay unspecified sum of money to different faceless individuals on a daily basis. One driver stated, “there are Agberos everywhere, each working for a different chairman. If you refuse to pay, they’ll seize your key.

“When asked why they

cannot seek police intervention.

He alleged that” even the police are cooperating with the Agberos.” While they stated that they find nothing wrong with the legitimate taxes per bus paid to government and authorized agencies, they however expressed dissatisfaction at the high rate charged by certain faceless

individuals and groups.

One of such is the alleged “ticket money” which is N200 daily and another is the “chairman chop money” ranging from N300 and N1, 050 depending on the route and the type of bus. They claimed that government is not aware of the existence of this group and pleaded that WAI should investigate and bring the culprits to book.

Attempts made at getting the identity of such “park chairmen” proved abortive, as the bus drivers were not willing to disclose their names or locations for fear of vehicle

impoundment. The commercial drivers decried such indiscriminate extortion and identified it as the reason for disregard of traffic rules as each driver wants to get a good return after paying levies and contributions to unauthorised individuals and bodies.

These activities perpetrated by some bad eggs in the state and the disregard for traffic rules by commercial bus drivers have continually served as clogs in the efforts of the state government to sanitise Kings square. The pursuit of

environmental sanity and improved economic activities can only be achieved if these activities are checked properly.

Government should intervene, as it has always done in the past to ensure that its commitment and actions towards a greater Edo State is not impeded by the nefarious activities of certain elements in the state whose activities are bad advertisement for government.

There is need for Oredo Local Government to open up more parks so as to remove heavy traffic from Kings Square.

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REVEALED

How A Woman Almost Seduced Me - Adeboye

THE story of how a Lagos socialite tried to seduce him gives credence to the saying that the bigger the head the bigger the headache. This readily formed the nucleus of Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s sermon last week at the ongoing 62nd annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG. It was a deliverance service and almost one million people had converged at the auditorium of the Redemption Camp for the event and they were held spell bound when their revered General Overseer.

Pastor Adeboye started to narrate a ministry threatening experience he had to the consternation of the crowd.

Preaching a sermon titled;

‘The yoke-destroyer ’, the man of God enumerated three different kinds of yoke that truncate one s dream of rosy future to include physical yoke. maternal yoke and spiritual yoke explaining that the Holy Spirit is the only yoke destroyer who is able to destroy any form of yoke in any man’s life. He further challenged the congregation to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and be agents of God who will be breaking yokes, noting that there were certain forces or challenges of life that human beings cannot solve by their own efforts except through the help of the Holy Spirit Drawing inspirations from the Holy Bible where many persons were said to have undergone several life threatening challenges, he

narrated that a high profile woman who was an executive of the West African Examinations Council WAEC did everything to seduce him.

According to him, the woman came to him and announced to him that God had told her that he would be her husband and immediately he rebuked her, saying, “you know that I am happily married and have children. That didn’t deter the woman who continued to pester him, and even came to the camp to threaten him saying if you stand on my way to marrying this man I will kill you?

Continuing, Pastor Adeboye took the matter to then Inspector General of police who immediately

“...he narrated that a high profile woman who was an executive of the West African Examinations Council WAEC did everything to seduce him.

According to him, the woman came to him and announced to him that God had told her that he would be her husband and immediately he rebuked her, saying, “you know that I am happily married and have children.

• Pastor Enoch Adeboye invited the woman and her husband to his office and after a meeting banned the randy woman from entering the Redemption Camp or ever making passes at the man of God. But that measure didn’t stop her. I travelled to London without telling anybody, to work on the church’s devotional.

Open Heaven. As soon as I settled down in the room. the telephone rang and the voice at the other end said welcome to London. I am coming in, minutes the cleric continued wondering while his audience responded with a laughter. Continuing he said he told the voice you don’t know anything. You know that the police in London are very efficient and if you dare come here. I will call the police for you. There is a police station a few meters from where I am staying and she must have known that because she didn’t come but kept calling me.

I cried to God Who told me open quote. You know of the scripture that says whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven Believe me honestly unless God helps, there are things you cannot handle on your own’ he stated urging the large crowd to stand and pray with holy anger. Anyone hindering my progress, before this month is over, Holy Spirit send down Your fire to consume them. And spontaneously, the huge crowd of

worshippers responded with over 15 minutes of violent supplications to the Most High God. Background Of Pastor E. Aiwiri Adeboye THE life of Enoch Adejare Adeboye is a fulfillment of the scriptures in Zechariah 4:10 which declare, “despise not the days of small beginnings”.

Born in 1942 into a humble family in the village of Ifewara, Osun State located in the South-Western part of Nigeria.

Enoch Adeboye often humorously states that his family was so poor that even the poor people called them poor. As a matter of fact, he unashamedly tells his congregation that he never owned shoes until he was eighteen years of age. What he possessed though were physical intangibles such as focus, consistency, diligence, ambition, a brilliant mind and a determination to succeed in life.

In 1956, Enoch Adeboye was admitted into Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesha, Osun State, Western Nigeria and as a youth he discovered a passion for books, and an aptitude for science and in particular the field of mathematics.

This led to an academic journey in the field of mathematics against incredible odds including but not limited to finances. The Nigerian civil war and

academic politics. By the time he was done, Enoch Adeboye had obtained not only a Bachelors (BSC) degree in mathematics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria in 1967 but also a master (MSC) degree in hydrodynamics and a Doctorate Degree (Ph.D) in Applied mathematics, both from the University of Lagos.

In 1973 Enoch Adeboye received the Lord Jesus as his personal Lord and saviour, joined RCCG and became baptized by immersion in water.

Unknown to him though the lord had already informed the founder that “a man of books” (a highly educated man) would soon join RCCG and eventually take over the mantle of leadership from him the founder).

In 1977 when he was ordained a pastor in RCCG. Enoch Adeboye manifested and incredible passion for the work of the lord. Pioneering Bible study meetings, crusades, revivals, outreaches and the evangelistic programs known as the congress.

In 1981 Enoch Adeboye was ordained the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. With time Enoch Adeboye’s results could not be denied.

With a childlike faith in the efficacy and power in the world of God, his passion was to live a life of holiness and teach others to likewise live holy lives.

• Culled from Vanguard

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Ivbaze

Osazua

The

08143143897

Column

“The institution, under the efficient leadership of its provost, Prof. Amen Uhunmwangho has progressed in recent years recording landmark achievements in both infrustructural and manpower development. The college has embarked on such transformational projects, imbibing the trademark of state government in its strides to embrace and address the challenges of contemporary epoch.”

Upgrading COLBEN To University Of Education THE decision by Governor Adams Oshiomhole to upgrade the state’s College of Education, Ekiadolor to a University of Education has further reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving the education sector of the state. This came as a result of the need to improve the quality of teachers in schools spread across the state.

The fact that the College of Education serves as the breeding ground for would be teachers gives this decision further imputes. It is believed that for there to be meaningful development in any society, the people must be educated. They must acquire knowledge and necessary skills, and their minds must be transformed to better participate in the process of development.

Without sound education and the needed facilities for actualizing that goal the transformation process remains a mere fleeting illusion Undoubtedly, this is the best time for such a development. The institution, under the efficient leadership of its provost, Prof. Amen Uhunmwangho has progressed in recent years recording landmark achievements in both infrustructural and manpower development.

The college has embarked on such transformational projects, imbibing the trademark of state government in its strides to embrace and address the challenges of contemporary epoch.

Partnered by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the institution now boasts of lecture halls in all the schools. This has made it easier and convenient for lecturers and students alike to “teach and learn in the most conducive environment available for a public institution in this part of the world.

The attention given to the welfare of staff, especially

lecturers, is also worthy of note. The provision of lecturers accommodation by intervention funds from TETFUND is a step in the right direction. It has also accorded the institution the prestige required to compete favourably in the circle of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Other notable facilities in the institution by TETFUND include a fully-equipped elibrary to enable it remain relevant in this evolving world of digital technology, and a computer laboratory under construction to provide hands-on field practice for those in the field.

The Uhunmwagho-led administration has also embraced TETFUND’s offer of sponsorship to willing lecturers who wish to attain higher degrees through Masters and PhD programmes. This is in recognition of the importance of human capacity building and manpower development in any institution.

Serious-minded lecturers with penchant for knowledge and a desire for selfdevelopment are encouraged to take advantage of such sponsorship programmes and secure higher degrees from institutions in any part of the country. It is known that apart from publications in academic national and international journals, promotion also comes through improvement in academic qualifications. No amount of political patronage or ‘lobbying’ can take the place of scholarly research in intellectual development.

Backed by a progressive government and supported

by Tertiary Education trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof.

Amen Uhunmwangho has led the College of Education with meticulous resolve and keen resoluteness, attracting the attention of the Governor who has now decided to give it a befitting upgrade.

This step may prove to be the solution to the problem of

• Comrade Adams Oshiomhole

• Prof. Amen Uhumwangho

poor quality of teachers in the state, a problem revealed few months ago during the teachers verification exercise in the state.

Without any iota of doubt, upgrading the College of Education, Ekiadolor to a University of Education will come with the many improvements that accompany such an upgrade.

Governor Oshiomhole is a man who accompanies words with action. Certainly, all that is required to implement such a transformation must have been considered.

Edo children cannot continue to swallow the mediocrity of the half-baked teachers. As individuals that have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring the mental development of our children by providing formal education, it is only normal to expect that teachers themselves are developed mentally.

The Governor, himself made this clear during a

TETFUND led by its new boss, Prof. Suleiman Elias Bogoro also looks ready to follow the institution all the way. The Governor’s vision therefore holds a lot of promise for the state’s education.

When achieved, this action will not only attract more applicants to the institution, but will undoubtedly improve the status of the institution.

The impact it will have on the socio-political, economic and academic spheres of the state, and indeed Nigeria, is unimaginable. More so, it will be another plus for the state government.

Highly refreshing is the fact that, the provost of the college, Prof Amen Uhunmwagho has continued to articulate progressive ideas, bringing in fresh perspectives that harmonise with Oshiomhole’s perception of qualitative education.

Though funding and fiscal paucity are hurdles that need to be overcome, there is no doubt that the fulcrum of the

meeting with the Nigeria Union of teachers (NUT) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

He stated “On assumption of office, it was very clear to me and my colleagues that our future is defined by the level of investment in education and the quality of basic education we provide for our children and that is why we have devoted resources to the rebuilding of our primary schools. Junior and senior secondary schools”.’

“For me, it was clear coming from my own background. I had an obligation to restore dignity to the educational sector in the state. Basic education is like the foundation of a house. If the foundation is weak, the building will collapse”…

The College of Education seems ready for this transformation. It boasts of a strong manpower base led by a man with a vision. The revamped and refocused

new direction in the c o m p r e h e n s i v e transformation of the college and upgrading it with a view to making it responsive to the needs of the state in the education sector.

Of a truth, the college/ management led by Prof Uhunmwagho has demonstrated commendable wisdom, credibility and determination in project and programme initiation and execution. A great deal of transparency is said to have been exemplified in this direction. For the provost, he has actually lifted the bar of performance in this domain with integrity as his watchword, without which getting improved attention of TERTFUND would have been difficult.

As he continues to articulate new concepts that would enhance quality teaching and learning in the college, we hope the governor’s promise will soon crystallise in practical deed.

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N tion

NYSC In The North

Service To Fatherland Or Death Sentence WHEN the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme was established by decree No 24 of May 22, 1973, the primary objective was to promote strong ties and unity amongst youths in Nigeria, especially coming on the heels of the animosities created by the civil war. As a programme, it is a “service year” for graduates to be oriented in states far away from their states of origin, and made to serve their fatherland in such states.

Over the years, the programme proved worth while as it has not only fostered unity among Nigerians, but has also exposed these fresh graduates to opportunities outside their “comfort zone” by providing a template for corporate relationship through employment and service to fatherland. Jobs have been secured, relationships fostered, and the unity of Nigeria strengthened by this yearly pot-pourri of ethnic groups, religions, and languages.

Regrettably, the once peaceful and productive scheme has been dealt a huge blow. In recent times, especially since the advent

of insurgency in the north, graduates posted to the north, especially the heated north-east states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, have been faced with violent attacks leading to lifethreatening injuries and even death. The Boko Haram sect, driven by the belief that “western education is a sin” has taken it upon themselves to decisively target corps members serving in the north.

As a result, a journey towards self actualisation and passion for service to fatherland is often made a suicide mission.

Countless youths have lost their lives to the irrational brutality and gruesome acts of violence carried out by the bloodthirsty sect, in the form of bomb blasts and gun attacks. Thus, a once beaming future is short lived by the barbaric act of terrorism perpetrated by a disoriented religious, and, more recently, political sect.

In 2011, a dastardly bomb attack claimed 50 lives in Bauchi State. The official report put the number of corp members killed at nine, even though many alleged

By RICHARD IMHOAGENE

that more than twice that number lost their lives.

President Jonathan and some groups including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) paid compensations to the families, gestures not good enough to make up for the irreplaceable losses they suffered. Not much has been said or done since then; no flag was lowered for those brave citizens who laid their lives in service to their country.

Surprisingly, our graduates are continually sent annually to the north (an area considered the most dangerous in the world according to the United States Military) for their service year. Some may argue that not all parts of the North are affected and that people still live there regardless of the violence.

However, none can confidently guarantee one’s safety in any part of the north. Even Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, has been frequently hit in

recent times. Why then should the government, through the NYSC programme, send its own people to a death zone without guarantee of security of life and property?

Days ago, thousands of our youths were once again posted to the North for their service year in the face of a heightened terrorist activity in the region. A former head of the United State counter Terrorism Unit, Bernard Kouchner has said that the Boko Haram sect now ranks as the deadliest terrorist group in the world, surpassing Al Shebab and the Talibans.

A number of bodies including the Ijaw Youth Council, the Lagos State Assembly and parent groups in Bayelsa and the SouthEast have protested the posting of their youth to the north for the Batch B National Youth service programme of the year. In a swift reaction, the DirectorGeneral of the National Youth Service Corps

(NYSC), Brigadier General Johnson Olawuyi who claimed that the corps had suspended posting graduates to the north-east states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno due to the insecurity in the region, said that Corp members posted to some parts of the north are being processed for redeployment.

The continuous posting of Nigerian graduates to the violence – prone northern Nigeria is unreasonable and baseless. It can qualify as the highest form of carelessness and disregard for human life. No one can truly pinpoint any part of the north that is truly safe. It seems like the terrorist group is spreading faster and growing deadlier by the day, leaving our security forces clueless.

If northern governors cannot be committed to the safety of life and property, and sincere enough to expose those perpetrating this evil act, then perhaps they do not deserve the services of the finest brains Nigeria offers. Besides, it will be heart-wrenching to witness yet again the gruesome murder of a corp member by Boko Haram or

any other group for that matter. It is unfair for an individual to have spent between 16 and 18 years getting an education from primary to tertiary level only to be issued a “death sentence” after graduation.

There have also been reports of molestation of female corp members over the years – an act which has dehumanizing effects on the victim.

We are yet to recover from the emotional trauma that comes from the thought of having over 200 teenage girls in the custody of Boko Haram for about four months now. No concrete success has been recorded in the rescue operation. At a time when the sect has evolved into planting female suicide bombers, we fear for our female corp members.

Nigeria may not be able to bear such cataclysmic event if ever it occurs.

Several groups, and invariably, the public have called on the government to, as a matter or urgency, suspend the posting of youth corp members to the north until the insecurity that has threatened the livelihood of northerners, and by extension, the entire Nigeria, is effectively dealt with.

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God Would Always Manifest His Glory

GOD remains unique in all things and situations of life that we cannot fully comprehend and predict Him. Nonetheless, He proves to us that He could do what He wants to do at His own time that will showcase His glory.

He reminds us that He could kill and make alive, I Samuel 2:6. And, when He does carry out this acts, He manifests His glory in all these situations.

In 2 Samuel 6:6-7, “Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah and God smote him for his error, and he died by the ark of God.”

God, who knows the thoughts and motive behind any action could act at anytime to enforce His instructions. Uzzah had wanted to help the ark from falling off but God saw it as an act in deviance of His laid-down instructions.

Only ordained Priests could touch it.

Also, in 2 Samuel 6:23 Michal, the daughter of Saul was struck with barrenness that she died without a child for dishonouring God. It is the desire of God in accordance to His will to be glorified at all times He is called upon in one’s moment of needs. John 14:14 states “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

God cannot be swindled, neither can He be bribed to overlook any act of deceit or disobedience. Whatever He does never contradicts His known and laid down instructions.

The blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:43-45 had been in the state of blindness for a considerable long time that every passer by identified him by his predicament. But, a time appointed to get his freedom came and he cried out “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” It is recorded that many heard him and he was told to hold his peace (keep quiet). He did not heed to them, because he had his target - Jesus, who later directed that he

should be called in response to his request of mercy.

Also, was a man born blind that was healed miraculously. He suffered not because of his sins, nor the sins of his parents, but for the glory of God to manifest. John 9:3.

Jesus Christ came to his rescue at the time that the man would appreciate the power in the LORD JESUS. Though some people did try to discredit the power of Jesus Christ but they were unable to steal the day because the evidence of the healing was made manifest to all.

Beloved, whatever your case of affliction may be, Jesus Christ is ready to put your situation to rest

RUMINATION With

Ernest Ikhureigbe so as to give glory unto Him. The absence of Joy in one’s life is the bedrock of sorrow and grief. No one likes to swim in the sea of sorrow but, some people, consciously or subconsciously find themselves in this melancholic state as a result of their actions: 2 Kings 5:27 Daniel 4:3032; I Chro 4:9-10.

Beloved, whatever position we find ourselves, it behooves on us to glorify God as He is capable of turning the table around. Psalm 30:5.

It is pertinent at this nick of time to worship God in all aspects of our lives if we want Him to manifest

His glory in our lives.

It is, therefore, impossible to enjoy the attendant Joy of His glory when one is a deviant and unrepentantly wicked.

Prov. 16:19, Ps 1:4-5.

I am yet to see anyone who did hearken to the voice of the LORD without the attendant blessings. It is, therefore, very necessary and even more convenient to obey God rather than incur His wrath. He wants to showcase His glory in your life. All you need to do is to seek Him and He would give you a sense of direction that will evidence His presence in your life.

Remain blessed!

Jonathan And Chibok Community Money Palava

IT appears whatever President Goodluck Jonathan does or does not do in relation to the Boko Haram kidnap of many school girls from Chibok in Borno State is bound to elicit palaver from certain quarters.

The most recent reason for all the loud, confused and mostly hypocritical talk on the Chibok girls issue stems from a visit to the President by the parents of the kidnapped girls. Also on the entourage that honoured the President’s invitation and visited the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja were some of the young ladies who had earlier escaped from Boko Haram’s captivity.

After the visit, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook buzzed with reports of a N100 million-largesse supposedly doled out by the President to the visitors from Chibok.

Soon enough, the print media picked up the matter and went to town with it. Not even the

denials by Doyin Okupe, Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, and the Kibaku Area Development Association (Chibok community) that Jonathan did not give out any N100 million stopped the noise over the matter.

Perhaps, this may be because the Chibok community leaders issued a statement in which they explained that the Presidency gave the parents and escaped kidnapped girls a total sum of N22.4m. And since the Presidency has not denied giving out the N22.4m, it is not inconceivable that such a sum may, indeed, have been given out.

The question which then follows is: what is all the noise about? If the President invited parents and escaped kidnapped girls all the way from Chibok to Abuja, was he wrong in footing their travel and accommodation bills and perhaps offering a little stipend for the

By ABBA ADAKOLE

inconvenience of them leaving their homes to journey to Abuja? Is it now a strange thing in Nigeria for a host to cater to the welfare of his guests?

It is amusing that many of those who have tried to twist the matter and make it into an unsavoury tale of bribery are so-called activists affiliated with one nong o v e r n m e n t a l organisation (NGO) or the other. As all discerning Nigerians now know, these NGO activists do little except receive funds from foreign donor agencies and thereafter dance to whatever tune their foreign paymasters are playing by turning in copious reports that are in essence a form of intelligence-gathering for foreigners. Indeed, many NGO activists are spies in all but the name.

Even a cursory look at the activities of these NGO activists will reveal that they never attend a seminar or workshop where they are not guaranteed large sums of money under the guise of transport/ airfare, accommodation, per diems and honoraria. It is therefore the height of hypocrisy for these same people to turn around and criticise the Presidency for basically being concerned about the welfare of citizens who were specially invited to pay the President a visit.

Moreover, the insinuation that the money given to the Chibok parents and returnee girls is meant to silence them over the fate of the remaining kidnapped girls is uncharitable. President Jonathan is a parent and would certainly never

wish for any daughter of his to be abducted by a sect like Boko Haram. As such, it is impossible for him to offer money to parents of the kidnapped girls in order for them to forget about their missing daughters. He has given clear assurances that the government is doing everything it can to ensure the safe return of the Chibok girls.

What has come to the fore in recent times is that some of those using the Chibok girls issue to raise their political profiles are being funded by some opposition politicians who are keen to stir up sentiments against the Jonathan Presidency.

It is unfortunate that despite the calls by several patriots like Senate President David Mark and Chief (Dr) Tony Anenih, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees (BoT) on Nigerians to unite against Boko Haram, some politicians are still keen on

politicking with the challenges thrown up by the group.

Such an approach to the Chibok girls issue is deplorable as is the attempt to present what was essentially a wellintentioned deed by the Presidency in bad light.

Whatever money may or may not have been given to the Chibok parents and the returnee girls, no one expects them to forget about the Chibok girls who are still missing since the entire country continues to pray and hope for the safe return of the girls.

The nefarious Boko Haram group, who kidnapped the Chibok girls in the first place, are the enemy that all Nigerians must unite to fight. Jonathan and the security agencies are doing the best they can to bring the girls home safely. The very least all Nigerians can do is support the President and the security agencies in this endeavour.

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F shion Police

Between Madness And Fashion

By OSAGIE GRACE

THE level of indecent dressing exhibited by ladies in the society is becoming alarming and disheartening to the heart of those who witnessed and appreciated modest and well dressed women in the society, before the fashion madness struck this 21st century.

It is sad enough that African’s adopted some western cultures from its colonial masters, due to the long period of colonialism. But that does not mean a complete embrace that will cause an effect on losing our cultural values.

This is strongly coming to play and our cultural values are gradually derailing from what it used to be.

The media is not helping in curbing this menace as they equally contribute to the increasing rate of indecent dressing amongst ladies in the society.

It is very acceptable for ladies in Western countries to dress indecently revealing sensitive parts of their bodies and not get a frown as that is their culture and way of dressing. The reverse is the case in our society as indecent dressing is seen as a big blow on our cultural values.

A good percentage of

Nigerian ladies feel that exposing sensitive parts of their bodies is what makes them fashionable and attractive in the eyes of the opposite sex. Unknown to them that men, I mean real men do not go for what the whole world has seen, but that which is well covered and preserved with dignity.

The madness of going with the trend and wearing that which is in vogue has made ladies see no wrong in dressing indecently.

Ladies now dress in clothes that reveal their cleavage, very visible parts of their breasts, thighs, belly and back.

Some wear dresses that are transparent and make every part of their bodies visible to the eyes of the public, leaving nothing to be imagined.

Prior to now, it was ladies who were into prostitution as a means of survival that dressed in exposing manner ’s at night to attract male customer who are willing to pay for their services.

The hand has turned as it is now difficult to decipher who a commercial sex worker is, as a good number of ladies now dressed so badly and can hardly be differentiated.

From a known commercial sex worker.

Ladies from the age bracket of 16-26 years who are in higher

institutions where there are no laid down rules to govern the dress code of students, are free to dress the way they please.

Campus girls as they are popularly called are free to dress the way they please to lectures and other campus events as the case may be, having freedom from parental control on how to dress.

Some of them dress indecently for the period of time they are in school during school sessions, and they pretend when they are at home.

Some parents do not frown at the ungodly way their daughters dress as they are guilty of purchasing these revealing clothes for their children. If a mother encourages her daughter to dress indecently, the child sees no wrong in whatever she wears.

Some married women are also involved and guilty of this offence as they wear clothes that reveal their body all in the name of trying to feel young and vibrant again.

They forget that the duty of cautioning their daughters and being role models for young girls who look up to them is greatly on their shoulders.

Charity they say begins at home. When a young girl is not taught by her mother at home who is her first teacher, on how to dress and the essence of

dressing properly, she will never see any wrong in imitating what she sees as the trend in the society.

The implication of indecent dressing are enormous, leading to rape, lack of respect from the opposite sex, giving a lady bad image in the eyes of the public etc.

When a lady dresses and exposes sensitive parts of her body, she directly or indirectly waves a flag to whoremongers that she is available and willing to be used sexually.

Men do not respect a woman that exposes sensitive parts of her body for the general eyes of the public, as she is being regarded as a woman with no dignity, self worth and lacks pride on who she is.

Men are moved by what they see and are more concerned with the satisfaction they get most especially when it comes cheap. They give more respect to a lady that dresses properly and decently at all times.

A lady that dresses indecently gives herself bad image in the eyes of people in the society.

People refer to her with names that are degrading and she is not accorded respect. Both young and old addresses her with little or no regard.

With the outrageous level of indecent dressing in the society, some people are of the opinion that there should be a law that prohibits indecent dressing in the country. A law that

makes indecent dressing punishable under the law.

Organizations, companies and firms should not be the only place where laid down dress codes govern dressing behaviour of ladies working under them.

Dressing indecently does not make a lady more attractive, beautiful or better appreciated. The idea or mentality that revealing sensitive parts of a woman’s body makes her fashionable is nonsense.

As a woman of virtue, modesty and simplicity should be your fashion statement anytime you are dressed.

There is a saying that says “dress the way you seek to be addressed”.

“The madness of going with the trend and wearing that which is in vogue has made ladies see no wrong in dressing indecently. Ladies now dress in clothes that reveal their cleavage, very visible parts of their breasts, thighs, belly and back.”

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DELTA WATCH With JOEL CHUKUAGBOMIN

Delta NUJ Screens Members

THE Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ika Chapel of Delta State recently held its screening exercise in its bid to rid the profession of infiltrators and their misconduct.

Chairman of the Chapel, Comrade Joe Oseze Onyibe, in a statement, revealed that the screening exercise became necessary to curb the embarrassing misconducts by infiltrators in the state which has led to a decline in respectability and trust accorded the press.

He further advised all practicing journalists in Ika chapel to embrace the union and avoid embarrassment, saying that the screening exercise has been completed and meetings have been scheduled to hold fortnightly.

Comrade Onyibe also

expressed his desire to correct the lie perpetrated by some journalists that the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has closed the Ika/ Isoko chapel of the union. He stated that the governor only wishes to screen and flush out quacks in the profession.

The chairman appealed to all practicing journalists in Ika chapel to register as members in order to avoid embarrassment, even as he further emphasized the governor’s worry over the ugly rate of infiltrators in the NUJ, and the need to uphold the quality and professionalism of such a body.

Comrade Onyibe charged all practitioners to be good ambassadors of the practice both in the state and Nigeria in general.

Saint Lucy Education Centre, Ekuku Agbor, the cultural dancers

Indiscriminate School Proprietor Stresses Importance Parking Of Heavy Of Culture Duty Vehicles I N D I S C R I M I N AT E parking of heavy duty trucks/ trailers at both sides of the roads especially dual carriage ways is a source of worry to many Nigerians.

This does not only contribute to most road accidents but is an offence under the traffic law.

Our correspondent in Delta State took a look at the indiscriminate parking of heavy duty vehicles along Agbor-Uromi-Abuja dual carriage way especially at Agbor Uromi junctions.

It has been a regular phenomenon along the nations highways for heavy duty vehicles to cluster at some points. For instance, there are two of such points along the Agbor-UromiAbuja road and the areas the heavy duty vehicles are parked are deplorable, particularly the Dangote heavy duty vehicles. The points are located at the Agbor Uromi junction and

by Ekpon Police Station where the produce men are also located, that is between Wire-Ake (Igbanke) and Ekpon Communities boundary.

One significant thing in all these places is that the heavy duty vehicles drivers normally park their vehicles at both sides of the road, thereby obstructing easy flow of traffic. Drivers not only eat and rest, but the sick ones among them get medical attention through the use of local herbs there said Mallam Usman Idris.

No doubt, indiscriminate parking of vehicles

especially heavy duty trucks (Dangote) along AgborUromi junction Abuja road and other major highways expose the lives of road users to danger.

Indeed there is the need to stop these heavy duty truck drivers from parking along the major highways especially at Uromi junction axis for it will help in creating a safer environment for motorists that play the Agbor, Uromi, Abuja highway.

Parks can be developed for them off the highways by the government through public private partnership from which revenue could be generated.

SAINT Lucy Education Centre Ekuku, Agbor Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State has recently celebrated it’s Ika Cultural day.

Chief Philip Chuks Aniemeka the Director of the School while told newsmen that the aims and objectives of the Ika Cultural arts is to promote Ika culture among the school an the world in general.

He stated this at the end of 2014 academic year of St Lucy Education Centre Ekuku. The Chairman Chief Mordi Uche of Egbudu – Akal Kingdom in Aniocha South Local

Government Area of Delta State, advised the students to be conscious of their studies, as education is the bedrock of every human and culture in order to project their future career, saying culture is the life wire of a people identity.

Dignitaries at the occasion include Chairman Chief Mordi Uche, Elder Kabadi Jeremiah Nwachukwu the Chairman of the School

Avoid Quackry, Trad Medical Practitioners Medicine Practitioners Advised (NANTMP) Delta State

AN Agbor based traditional medicine practitioner Ika South

Plan Before Marriage, Youths Urge A 92 years old man Pa Prince Gabriel Osagie Usaurlele of Akumazi Kingdom, Ika North – East Local Government Area of Delta State, has advised the youths to have good plans for their future before going into marriage.

He said “A man is the architect of his fortune you must plan and channel on what you will become in your future life”.

Prince Osagie who made this statement in a chat with newsmen in

his country home Akumazi, said because the youths do not have good plans for their future lives, it has contributed to so many broken homes in their generation.

“If you want to become a successful man in life, you must have plans from the beginning” he said.

Prince Osagie who has been married for the past 70 years, said a man must be able to stand firm before thinking of

P.T.A. Deacon Peter Okonta, Chief M.S.C. Efam the Uwamuezefe of Agbor Kingdom amongst others.

In another development, the Director of the School Chief Anuemeka advised the parents of the students to always allow the students time to study after school, discourage them from watching home video movies and always provide

them with educational materials.

The Director thanked the proprietor of the school Mrs. Lucy N. Jonah for establishing the school in the area and all management staff of the school.

He also extended his thanks to the Commissioner for Education for approving the school and appealed to him to allow the school build up it’s permanent site.

marriage because the wife and children’s problems are going to be upon him as the house holder.

In addition, he said putting God at the fore front of the family will also make the marriage grow to a greater level.

He appealed to the three levels of the government to create job opportunities for the feeming youths who are roaming about the streets with their certificates as to reduce youths restiveness and crime wave.

Local Government Area in Delta State, Dr. Nmosi Michael, has advised his colleagues to always ensure that they discharge their professional duties. With zeal and honesty to avoid being ridiculed as quacks.

Dr. Nmosi made the statement in a chat with the Weekend OBSERVER in his country home recently (Alidinma) in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.

He advised them to pass their knowledge and wealth of trade medicine health care, delivery system to their children and friends so that their legacies will not die after they have passed away.

Dr. Nmosi who is a distinguished member of National Association of Nigerian Traditional

Chapter, specializes in the cure of poisons of any kind barreness, weak erection, gonorrhea etc.

He said he was receiving the medicines through dreams.

Dr. Nmosi who is the managing director, Nmosi trado-medical centre (Alidinma) claimed that herbalists in Nigeria could do better than their counterparts in the western world and that their research has also made breakthrough in the recovery of herbs for total cure of H.I.V. He however appealed to the three tiers of the government to build tradomedical centres in local government area of the state to enable easy delivery of medical services to the people.

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A tivism

EZEKWESILI The Wrong Enemy

APRIL 15, 300 school girls were abducted in Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram faction of the Islamic terrorists. The abduction of the girls touched a nerve in our communities and around the world.

The abduction exposed a deeply polarized nation and the wide chasm that separates the government and the governed. The issue ripped the scab off the ugly boil of lack of security and safety in the country. It ignited a ferocious national debate on the paralysis of the Jonathan administration in fighting Boko Haram.

Then came the meltdown, the tantrums, the screams – they are just part of the scene though far remote from Chibok. Never underestimate the power of propagandists.

From President Jonathan to his service chiefs and his image buffers, they provided arguments and contradictions why the girls have not been rescued.

The duo interpreters of maladies – Reuben Abati and his cousin Doyin Okupe – see themselves, alternately, as lifesaving buffers for Mr. Jonathan or double-sided punching bags for critics.

Their new tactics is distraction. Instead of trying to reason or rationalize with the victims and their families, the president and his administration decide to push their lies on the rest of us.

Accusations and counter accusations, fabrications, innuendoes, and other noisy and silly interpretations of their failure to bring the girls home remain solid standbys as well.

While the Jonathan administration and the Nigerian media have literally gone asleep on the Chibok girls, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and her #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) Abuja Family keep 24/7 vigil to stay the course and keep the issue on the front burner. They made me swell with pride.

Given the evident hypocrisy of Mr. Jonathan in securing the release of the girls, it is time for him to quit posturing and act. His rhetoric doesn’t match the reality. Forgive me if I see his promises and assurances that he’ll be bring the girls home soon as a nicely presented abdication of his responsibility.

Few Nigerians have spoken with more passion and eloquent conviction than Ezekwesili about the plight of the abducted Chibok girls.

Despite the soaring rhetoric of critics, she would not

By BAYO OLUWASANMI

succumb to the dyspeptic Jonathan administration.

We should learn to respect one another ’s view. We should learn to view our differences of opinion as healthy and civilized tonic for the health of our flagging democracy. We should learn to risk more and speak more truth on our national problems and tragedies. We should learn that “my way doesn’t have to be the only way.” And we should cease and desist from “my way or the highway.”

The Catholic Bishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan said it better: “The issue of the politicisation is very serious and dangerous, where the party in government sees anybody who doesn’t agree with them as the Boko Haramist that are out to destroy the nation.”

“What this means is that, if you do not agree with me, or if you are not in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), you don’t love Nigeria…” says Bishop Onaiyekan. “That we disagree in politics doesn’t mean we don’t love our nation. And until we get that out of our heads, not much will move forward.”

We’re witnessing a more chaotic and more divided Nigeria. Daily events support this view. Thumb back through the insults and lies hurled at Dr. Ezekwesili as the leader of sit-out protest of BBOG, it reflects the hollowness of our democracy.

The internal strife caused by critics and paid government liars fighting Ezekwesili and BBOG group is as much terrorism as the havoc done by the Haramists. If the abduction of the girls failed to inflame our collective rage and unite us with a common cause, nothing else will.

Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs is leading the war against Ezekwesili and her BBOG group. Okupe a renowned and respected seller of delicacies of lies and wrongs, in a series of tweets and comments branded Ezekwesili as a profiteer of national calamity.

“Oby stop cheap shots. U ought to hv risen above pettiness & profiting frm a

national calamity. U dn’t love d girls more dan w all do,” screams Okupe. “it’s a shame that as member of d elite class u deliberately scheme 2 exploit innocent nigerians for personal aggrandisement.

Shame,” tweeted Okupe.

Calling Ezekwesili “an over celebrated creation of the past administration,” Okupe blamed her for the parent’s refusal to meet with Mr. Jonathan: “But unfortunately, the BringBackOurGirls leadership prevailed on the parents of the girls, stopped them from coming.”

“Unfortunately, political forces within the Nigerian chapter of BringBackOurGirls have decided to take this opportunity to play politics with the situation and the grief of the parents and the girls. They should be ashamed of their actions.”

Marilyn Ogar, spokesperson for State Security Service (SSS) accused BBOG group of running a bank account. She said it was a known fact the group solicited funds from individuals. She described the group as a franchise out to smear the efforts of security agencies in Sambisa forest where the girls were believed to be held.

False charges and a sizeable bribe secure the government’s propaganda Facebook lynch mob against Ezekwesili: Kelechi Ekezie: “I doubt it if Oby and her flock really want to see the end of this Chibok stuff as it provides them a consistent vent to attack and insult the FG…” Obilo Anthony: “jobless idiot.” Mike Dumebi Oliti: “Baboons on the run way to chibok. Who will cage this woman from this dance of death?” Nonso Odimegwu Ndibe: Ezekwesili is fast losing her credibility over his.

She should retrace her steps.

Harris Eluwah: We no mind you at all, when you tire you will go home. Nigeria don pass this level.”

Is anything legally and morally wrong with Ezekwesili’s actions? Why is Ezekwesili so vilified and lampooned? Why is the government and its agents so restless, so angry, so fearful, and so obsessed about Ezekwesili? What are they

• Oby Ezekwesili afraid of? Why are they afraid of a woman who leads a protest group without the ancient world’s equivalent of a shot being fired?

Why are they all out to lynch her with first class tirades? Ezekwesili only saw a need and a void to be filled and she stepped in. Instead of agonizing she organized mothers to pressure the government into action. Did she commit any political heresy in doing so?

The answers are not farfetched. The more corrupted our leadership, the more confronting uncorrupted individuals like Ezekwesili are and the more they are denied honor or recognition.

Alienation is separating itself from the truth. In a country devoid of honest and truthful people, Ezekwesili is actively denied and is made an outcast.

The goal of Jonathan administration and resigned Nigerians is not to honor the truth that Ezekwesili and her ilke represent. Being over corrupted, they denied and repressed the truth, over time they will need to find their way back to some truth in order to repair and heal our overly corrupted nation.

It is difficult for resigned, egocentric critics and persecutors of Ezekwesili to acknowledge her gifts and talents. Her detractors feel by acknowledging Ezekwesili’s gift and dedication to BBOG group would make them inferior or worthless in comparison. This is typical of insecurity in humans under the duress of human condition.

The uncompromising truthfulness of Ezekwesili is both utterly confronting and

utterly ego-deflating. Which is why the government and its evangelists of falsehood find it difficult to agree with her or acknowledge her essential difference.

In a country where the leaders are unable to think truthfully, where the citizens are consumed by terrible darkness and suffering, people like Ezekwesili must not cave in to coercion to abandon their cause.

Ezekwesili’s action practically demonstrates that one person with courage is a majority. Courage gives her the power to let go of the familiar. The test of courage comes when we’re in the minority. Her convictions help her to stand alone.

It’s not surprising therefore that whatever she does, some people will think she’s wrong. She expects trouble, so she projects courage.

Leadership is the expression of courage that compels others to do the right thing.

History has shown that when a nation tries to ignore and even destroy its truth seekers and champions for justice, in the long run; it will need and appreciate and even to the point of revering them.

The sit-out protest led by Ezekwesili is one of the civilized ways to confront the political disorder of the Nigerian political system. If the Jonathan administration and other shameless critics are prepared to consider and accept reasoned argument, there should be no conflict and division over the rescue of the girls. The message Ezekwesili is trying to send to the government is to make a midcourse corrections or better healthy accountability.

And most importantly, she wants the government to define and identify reality.

So far, we have examined the various claims by the government as to what is being done to bring the girls home, and we find such claims to be untrue.

Nigerians have discovered that the government and its agents are liars.

Great Nigerians like Tai Solarin, Ayodele Awojobi, Gani Fawehinmi, Bala Usman, Bola Ige, Bamidele Aturu, and others only received due credit for their achievements after they died.

Also, many gifted Nigerians died in extreme poverty and anonymity only to be resurrected and glorified by subsequent generations. All talented and gifted people encounter this problem.

Ezekwesili as unresigned fighter for justice must endure persecution to revealing the truth and the inevitable estrangement from her fellow citizens. Not surprisingly, the divisiveness of her mission greatly impacted upon her personal life. Her mission leads her away from the government and fellow Nigerians and even put her at variance with Nigerians.

The problem for Ezekwesili is hopelessly trying to have her adversaries appreciate her work, and this has a dangerous capacity to exhaust her. To stand against a government of denial is an extremely lonely occupation and it leaves Ezekwesili isolated from society and without honor in her own country. After all, no prophet is accepted in his or her home town.

Ezekwesili is the wrong enemy.

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Weekend

“To summarize, the Liberal economic framework rest on the presumption that capitalism tends to stability, and the task of policy is to correct its inefficiencies and excesses. In contrast, the economies of social democracy derives from an assessment that capitalism is inherently unstable and competition the basic cause of that instability.”

DISCOURSE

• Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan

• US President Barack Obama

The Economics Of Social Democracy

THE economies of Liberalism at its core assesses capitalism as suffering from imperfections and distortions. But an essentially stable, effective and even efficient organizer of production and distribution. A society’s economic framework involves designing and implementing policies to correct or eliminate the imperfections and distortions At the macroeconomic level policy seeks to correct the tendency for capitalist economies to operate at less than full employment. A clear example of this policy is the LIS Full Employment Act of 1946 which mandated Congress to “promote

maximum employment”, as well as creating the presidential Council of Economic Advisors.

Complementary to fostering employment in the Liberal framework is the use of the tax structure to prevent extreme differences across the income distribution.

At the sectoral level the Liberal economic policy seeks to enforce or establish market competition. This policy derives from an analysis that views competition as an effective regulator of business behavior. Its antithesis, monopoly (or more generally monopolistic competition). Results in misallocation of resources and abuses derivative from

By JOHN WEEKS

market power. U particular importance is close regulation of the financial sector, which characterized both the United States and Western European countries during the thirty years following World War II would argue that the enthusiasm for financial deregulation beginning in the 1970s disqualifies as Liberal all US presidents as well as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the United Kingdom.

To summarize, the Liberal economic framework rest on the presumption that capitalism tends to stability, and the task of policy is to correct its inefficiencies and excesses. In contrast. The economies of social democracy derives from an assessment that capitalism is inherently unstable and competition the basic cause of that instability. Writing in the foremost economic publication of the time. The Economic Journal in 1946

the British economist K W Rothschild summarize the social democratic view of competition succinctly.

When enter the field of rivalry between giants, the traditional separation of the political from the economic can no longer be maintained. Once we have recognised that the desire for a strong position ranks equally with the desire for immediate maximum profits we must follow this new dual approach to its logical end.

Fascism... has been largely brought into power by this very struggle in an attempt of the most powerful oligopolists to strengthen, through political action, their position in the labour market and vis-à-vis their smaller competitors, and finally to strike out in order to change the world market situation in their favour.

How is the Economics of Social Democracy different?

To state the social democratic argument simply, competition among great corporations generates the instability and anti-social tendencies in capitalist society, leading Continued from page 16

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D scourse

...The Economics O

• David Cameron, British PM

to dictatorship not freedom.

If competition is the essential flaw in capitalist economies rather than its stabilizing force, this implies a fundamentally different approach to regulation. To use the dichotomy made popular by the Occupy Movement, the malign effects on competition imply that in markets the 99% confront the overwhelming power of the 1%. To use more traditional language in markets capital is strong and labor is weak.

The overwhelming strength of capital in

markets sets the social democratic agenda for the economy - restrict the role of markets in society. This has taken two forms: 1) replacing private enterprise with public sector institutions, and 2) ending the commodity status of labor and also of important elements of basic human needs.

With regard to the first, the vast majority counters the combined strength of capital by collective action implemented through public sector institutions.

Controlling the power of capital has two parts.

Collective action by the majority restrains the power of capital by severely restricting the role of wealth in the political process, including regulation and/or public ownership of the media (e.g., public sector radio, television and in the current era the internet).

These restrictions can take the form of strict regulation of private enterprise, direct public ownership, or converting private profitmaking enterprise into nonprofit institutions (such as the British Broadcasting Corporation) Following the

deregulation of banking in the United States and Europe. Economic activity has increasingly come under the control of finance capital essential to the social democratic project will be to neutralize the power of finance. As for the media, collective action can achieve this neutralization through direct public ownership or converting financial institutions into non-profit enterprises.

Introducing a guaranteed minimum income for all citizens would severely limit the commodity status of labor. This would in effect

“Social democracy asserts that the only acceptable constitutional form of government is representative democracy under the rule of law. It promotes extending democratic decision-making beyond political democracy to include economic democracy to guarantee employees and other economic stakeholders sufficient rights of co-determination..”

eliminate unemployment as a method of disciplining labor. Working people would have a real choice among employers and types of work, rather than forced to take whatever might be offered. Health care, education and basic transport are not items of consumption. Rather, they are activities to maintain the productivity of the labor force and facilitate a decent life lived with dignity. A social democratic society ensures universal provision of these without regard to ability to pay.

This core agenda, replacing destabilizing private sector enterprise with public institutions and insolating labor from the misery of unemployment, is consistent with an economy in which production is overwhelmingly in the hands of capital. However, the power of capital to dominate markets and the political process would end.

To summarize in a sentence, Liberalism seeks to tame capitalism, while social democracy aims to restrict capitalism. While some policies apply to both, such as counter cyclical fiscal a monetary policy the economic frameworks of Liberalism and social democracy are quite different. Forty years ago the economics of social democracy to varying degrees characterized countries in Europe most obviously the Nordic states, West Germany and the United Kingdom. The defeat of social democracy required the dismantling of the regulations that constrained the power of capital.

From the point of view of the vast majority, the countries of Europe and much of the rest of the world have gone down a cul de sac of deregulation and liberation of capital. We shall escape this c tie sac of dominance by financial capital by turning around and going back the way he came in. We shall achieve a more permanent exit with a social democratic economic agenda rather than Liberal re-regulation.

Social democracy is a political ideology that officially has as its goal the establishment of democratic socialism through reformist methods.

Alternatively, so democracy is defined a policy regime involvin universal welfare state collective barging schem within the framework o capitalist economy. I often used in this manne refer to the social mod and economic polic prominent in Western Northern Europe during later half of the 20th cen Following the s between reformists revolutionary socialists second International So democrats have advoca for a peaceful evolutionary transition the economy to socia through progressive so reform of capitalism So democracy asserts that only accepta constitutional form government representative democr under the rule of law promotes extend democratic decisi making beyond polit democracy to incl economic democracy guarantee employees other econo stakeholders suffic rights of co-determinatio mixed economy t opposes the excesse capitalism such inequality. Poverty, oppression of vari groups, while rejecting b a totally free market o fully planned econo social democratic poli including advocacy universal social rights attain universally access public services such education, health ca workers compensation, other services, child c and care for the elde Social democracy connected with the tr union labour movement supports collec bargaining rights for wor Most social democr parties are affiliated with Socialist International Social democr originated in 19th-cen Germany from the influe of both the internatio revolutionary socialism doctrine of commun advanced by Marx Fredrich Engels; and reformist socialism Ferdinand Lassalle.

Marxists and Lassalli were in rivalry over poli influence in the movem until 1868—1869 w Marxism became the off

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D scourse

Of Social Democracy

cial as a ng a and mes of a It is er to dels cies and g the tury. split and , the ocial ated and n of lism ocial ocial t the able of is racy w. It ding iontical ude y to and mic ient on a that s of as and ous both or a omy cies of s to sible h as are, and care erly. is rade and tive rker. atic h the

racy ntury ence onal and ism and the of The ians tical ment hen ficial

basis of Social Democratic Workers Party of Germany W In the Hague Congress of 1872. Marx modified his stance on revolution by declaring that there were countries with democratic institutions where reformist measures could he advanced, saying that “workers may achieve their aims by peaceful means.

But this is not true of all countries. Marx stressed his support for the Paris Commune due to its representative democracy based on universal suffrage.

A major non-Marxian influence on social democracy came from the Fabian Society founded in 1884 by Frank Podmore that emphasized the need for a gradualist evolutionary and reformist approach to the achievement of socialism. Fabianisni is believed to have strongly influenced revisionist Marxist Eduard_Bernstein ho adopted its evolutionary socialism.

Bernstein rejected many major tenets promoted by Marx and Engels that he Jewel as inaccurate or ‘ lie opposed classical and orthodox Marxisms assumption of the necessity of socialist revolution and class conflict claiming that socialism could be achieved through evolutionary means via representative democracy and cooperation between people regardless of class.

He claimed that a mixed economy of public, cooperative and private enterprise would be necessary for a long period of time before private enterprises would evolve of their own accord into cooperative enterprise.

Social democracy in the 1930s began to transition away from association with Marxism towards liberal socialism particularly through the influence of figures like Carlo Rosselli who sought to disassociate socialism from the legacy of Marxism. This also was the result of the alliance of liberal and social democratic movements in popular front movements in the 1930s that opposed fascism. Such views were inspired by Bernstein’s description of socialism as being an “organised liberalism”, that completely rejected Marx’s hostility to

liberalism. By the post World War II period, most social democrats in Europe had abandoned their ideological connection to Marxism and shifted their emphasis toward social policy reform in place of transition from capitalism to socialism Third Way is a controversial major faction in social democratic parties that developed in the 1990s. That has claimed to he social democratic though others have identified it as being effectively a neoliberal movement and not social democratic.

Another substantial contemporary faction in the social democratic movement are proponents of market socialism.

Market Economy A market economy is an economy in which decisions regarding investment, production and distribution are based on supply and demand and prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system The major defining characteristic of a market economy is that decisions on investment and the allocation of producer goods are mainly made through markets. This is contrasted with a planned economy where investment and production decisions are embodied in a plan of production.

Market economies can range from hypothetical laissez- and free market variants to regulated markets and interventionist variants. In reality market economies do not exist in pure form, since societies and governments regulate them to varying degrees.

Most existing market economies include a degree of economic planning or state-directed activity, and are thus classified as mixed economics. The term economy is sometimes used synonymously with market economy but it may also refer to laissez-faire or Free-market anarchism.

Market economies do not logically presuppose the existence of private property in the means of production a market economy can consist of various types of cooperatives, collectives or autonomous state agencies that acquire and exchange

• Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister

capital goods with each other in a free price system.

There are many variations of market socialism, some of which involve employeeenterprises based on selfmanagement: as well as models that involve public ownership of the means of production where capital goods are allocated through markets.

The term market economy used by itself can be somewhat misleading.

For example, the United States constitutes a mixed economy (substantial market regulation, agricultural subsidies extensive governmentfunded research and development Medicare/ Medicaid), yet at the same time it is rooted in a market economy.

Different perspectives exist as to how strong a role the

government should have in both guiding the market economy and addressing the inequalities the market produces.

Capitalism generally refers to economic system where the aim of’ production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for a profit, structured on the process of capital accumulation. In general, investments, distribution, income, and prices are determined by markets.

There are different variations of capitalism with different relationships to markets. In Laissez- faire and free market variations of capitalism, markets are utilized most extensively with minimal or no stale intervention and regulation over prices and the supply of goods and services. In

interventionist. Welfare capitalism and mixed economies, markets continue to play a dominant role but are regulated to some extent by government in order to correct market failures or to promote social welfare. In the capitalist systems, markets are relied upon the least, with the state relying heavily on either indirect economy and/or state-owned to accumulate capital.

Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of feudalism, but most people feel that the term mixed economies’ more precisely describes most contemporary economies, due to their containing both private-owned and stateowned enterprises. In capitalism, prices determine

the demand-supply scale For example. Higher demand for certain goods and services lead to higher prices and lower demand for certain goods lead to lower prices.

Anglo-Saxon capitalism refers to the form of capitalism predominant in Anglophone countries and typified by the economy of the United States It is contrasted with European models of capitalism such as the continental Social in a model and the A model Anglo capitalism refers to a macroeconomic policy regime and capital market structure common to the Anglophone economies. Among these characteristics are low rates of taxation. More open financial markets. Lower labor market protections and a less generous welfare state eschewing.

“In reality market economies do not exist in pure form, since societies and governments regulate them to varying degrees. Most existing market economies include a degree of economic planning or statedirected activity, and are thus classified as mixed economics.”

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o Food Crisis In Cameroun W rld News

WITH rising food prices and so many mouths to feed, Cameroon is grappling with a serious crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that prices of main food items have skyrocketed this year, some by up to 20% from last year’s prices. The price of sorghum, for example, rose by 4%, maize by 5% and rice by a whopping 22%, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

For Cameroonians, the recent spike has come as a surprise because prices were relatively stable last year.

Economists blame inflationary trends that began in 2007. Since then, the country’s rate of inflation has fluctuated between 1% and 5%. Though not alarming, fluctuations in inflation over the years appear to be having a cumulative impact on food prices this time.

Out of Cameroon’s 21

By PAVITHRA RAO

million people, eight million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Food Programme. The country ranks 150 out of 186 countries on the 2013 UNDP’s Human Development Index, which measures countries based on income, life expectancy and education. There are fears that the sharp increase in food prices will worsen Cameroon’s poverty situation.

“Soaring food prices have negative short-run effects on developing countries that depend on imports for their food security and where the vast majority of households, including in rural areas, are net food buyers,” says the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Cameroon’s food imports, notes the World Bank,

comprise about 25% of total imports.

Some Cameroonians are venting their anger through street riots and there are fears these may fuel political instability.

Increasing refugee population may also be exacerbating food prices, many believe. Waves of refugees from the politicallyturbulent countries of Chad, the Central Africa Republic and Nigeria are seeking asylum in the more politically stable Cameroon. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 100,000 refugees have crossed over to Cameroon as of 2013.

In addition, water shortages continue to affect food production. According to the World Health Organization, rainfall lately has been low

and irregular, affecting crop yields. In 2012, for example, severe drought followed by flooding throughout the Sahel region worsened Cameroon’s water problem.

The country learned some useful lessons from past food crises. In 2008, rising food and fuel prices sparked riots and looting in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital city and Douala, its major seaport city.

The government responded by creating an organization to regulate basic food supplies.

The agency has had limited success as food prices continue to soar. Government is also providing subsidies for school and work programmes, to alleviate sufferings.

The Cameroon’s Consumer Association believes that subsidies have been timely.

How far these will go to lower food prices and assuage anger remains to be seen.

• President Paul Biya

Rural Areas To Have Better Telecom Services In Tanzania FOR some 300,000 people leaving in 202 villages in Tanzania, change is coming.

The leading fixed network operator in the country, the T a n z a n i a Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Company (TTCL), has recently announced that it will invest over $6 million to upgrade telecom equipment in those villages.

“Our aim is to make sure that every constituency and village that was lacking telecommunication for a long time, to have that access,” Mr. Kamugisha Kazaura, the chief executive officer of TTCL told reporters recently

• President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania

By ANDRE MICHEL ESSOUNGOU in Dar es Salam, as he announced the ambitious plan. He added that, “most of the areas where the project is expected to be carried out are underdeveloped,” noting that this was mainly due to the lack of telecommunication links.

According to Mr. Kazaura, the project is expected to commence as soon as possible and it will cover 16 regions in Tanzania, including Arusha, Tabora, Iringa, Kagera, Manyara, Dodoma, Lindi, Mbeya, Morogoro and Mtwara. Other

regions that have been earmarked for future development include Mwanza, Pwani, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida and Tanga.

The project follows an agreement signed between TTCL and Universal Communication Services Access Fund (UCSAF), an institution created in 2006 by the government of Tanzania to, among other objectives, ensure the availability of communication services in rural and urban underserved areas.

It also comes on the heels of a number of initiatives aimed at improving access to telecommunications service in Tanzania. In recent years, the country’s authorities have launched a series of initiatives designed to increase access and the use of information and c o m m u n i c a t i o n s technologies in schools, in research institutions and in various sectors such as healthcare. This latest initiative targeting rural areas is also in line with a government commitment to ensure that the entire country is wired.

Shortage Of Teachers In South Sahara Africa SUB-Saharan Africa is about to face a major shortage of teachers, says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural O r g a n i s a t i o n (UNESCO). Its newly released data show that about one third of the countries in the region will face pressure in the coming years to hire more teachers due to a rising demand for education from an increasing school-age population. As a result, the region will need about 2.1 million new

By TSIGUE SHIFERAW teaching posts while filling another 2.6 million vacant positions as many will leave the profession due to attrition from retirement or sickness.

Some countries are already making efforts to prevent such an outcome. Ethiopia, for instance, has been expanding its teachers’ workforce by an average of 11% per annum since 1999. Analysts believe this rate could enable the country to meet the

challenges of a future shortage. Cameroon, Namibia and Lesotho have also taken steps to increase the number of teachers, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2013 study, “Projecting Global Teacher Needs from 2015 to 2030”. As a result, these countries should be able to attain the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education.

Before the recent

political unrest, the situation in Central African Republic was slightly different as the country was recruiting teachers at a rate of 10% per annum. There are now fears that the ongoing fighting, if not stopped, could affect recruitment efforts.

But the trend is worsening in other countries. More children in Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Malawi and Nigeria will need extra primary school teachers by 2030 than they currently do. In Eritrea, for example, out of every seven teachers

recruited, 10 are expected to leave, notes the UNESCO study. On the other hand, Mauritania is catching up and may close the gap by 2015 while Djibouti faces one of the biggest challenges as only 54% of primary school-age children are enrolled.

To attain the goal of universal primary education, Djibouti will need to recruit about 17% more teachers each year between now and 2030. Many believe this is unlikely to happen because the country

doesn’t have the resources to hugely expand its workforce, which means it will inevitably face an acute teacher shortage by then.

While sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 46% of the global shortage of lower secondary school teachers, the data also show that governments that have started to make serious efforts to confront the problem will be in a better position to assure quality and universal education by 2030.

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S curity Issues IF there is one item among office holders in Nigeria that is so cheap to come by, it is smooth talk. Few months back when Nigerian President blessed the country with a new defence chief the Adamawa state born military General Alex Badeh made a sensational statement to the effect that the notorious armed Islamic insurgents would be defeated in two months from the date of his swearing in.

Few weeks after the full implication of that statement dawned on him following the intensity of the ferocious terrorism and violent attacks mounted by the insurgents the defence chief made a dramatic 360 degree turn around and denied ever given a time line for the eventual defeat of the terrorists.

Trust public office holders in Nigeria not to learn from the mistakes of the past. The newly appointed acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba who formally assumed duties recently has followed the familiar pattern of freely dishing out cheap talks on what he would do within his tenure as the nation’s police chief. These public office holders do this often and get away without achieving these goals and Nigerian public do not ever ask the necessary question to pin these public office holders down to their sacred pledges.

Knowing the gullible nature of most Nigerian public, the new police head has started with a pledge to protect the weak and the vulnerable in the society. If others would not task him to keep to his words I will hereby do just that and remind him that there are still some vigilant Nigerians who will observe him to ensure that he does what he said he will do.

Abba from North West Nigeria who reportedly spoke exclusively to a national daily on telephone promised to invigorate the war against criminals across the country. He also acknowledged that the current policing institution is ridden with operational rots and therefore would require surgical overhaul but my worry is that he may not necessarily have the political will to effect the necessary revolutionary change since he is a beneficiary of the near comatose system.

Someone asked me what I think he stands to benefit by changing the status quo which threw him up in the first instance.

But he defended himself against the charge of lacking the capacity to see through

the actualization of the necessary changes in the near decadent Nigeria Police Force and stated that: “our major concern is to protect and assist the weak ones.

And as you know, the criminals like to exploit the weak. That’s why the police symbol is the elephant; the elephant is a strong animal and the police are stronger than criminals.”

But this gentleman did not respond to the querry why this so-called elephant [NPF] simply collapses or melts away in the face of the emerging threats against Nigerians by way of armed insurgency in the North East.

The Nigerian police force is an elephant with the legs of clay no doubt.

Not discouraged by what is generally considered a groundswell of cynicism among most Nigerian observers the police chief in what is considered his

Sulaiman Abba, IG-P

Police Chief Should Walk The Talk message to criminals stated thus; “we will continue to consider criminals as threats; we will go after them. We will not relent. We are going to take charge and we would really take charge in the fight against crimes.

We will not allow any crime to go unpunished. You know I am a field man, so we will not relent”.

“Certainly, our focus would be on violent criminals and these include violence against the weak and the vulnerable. Violent crimes like armed robbery, like kidnapping and terrorism will be tackled with renewed vigor.”

Recognizing attitudinal poverty among the members of the Nigerian police as the fundamental problem he stated that: “Like I told you, I believe that whatever you do to a man to change him, so long as you allow him to maintain the same bad character, you will not see the change in him”.

“So, what we want to do is that we want every police officer to know the values in policing and then work in conformity with the provisions of the Code of Ethics”.

The new man in the hot seat of the Nigerian Police must also work on rebuilding the confidence of the public on the integrity of the force because it is almost

By EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO impossible to fight crime by a police institution whose members are not trusted by the members of the public.

Most people laugh at any mention of the once popular slogan that the Nigerian police is your friend because of the bad encounter they have had with men and officers of the Nigerian Police force which is filled up with many rotten eggs. The police hierarchy must dismantle the clique that protects erring members of the policing institution because it is impossible to win public confidence and trust when the same institution is ever so willing to protect their own who violate the laws of the land which they were set up to enforce.

The new police boss said his team would also ensure that “policing becomes truly intelligence-led while enforcement and crime prevention initiatives are integrated and supportive of each other.”

Now that we have heard from the horse’s mouth regarding how he intends to pilot the nation’s policing institution let us challenge him to immediately walk the talk as Nigerians are already used to these sweet talks from all angles which end up

unrealistic on the long run.

From the politicians, Nigerians have come to realize that they need not invest their aspirations and hopes on what the political public office holders say but to fervently pray that their actions would speak louder than their words.

The new acting Inspector General of police is said to be a man of letters because from his academic profile we learnt that he is both a lawyer and a historian placing him in a good position to comprehend and apprehend the fundamental ills of the nation’s collapsed policing institution.

From his background as a lawyer he must be aware that the current global trend is for the establishment of a vibrant community, local and state policing institutions to compliment the supervisory role of the national or federal policing force. It is expected that unlike his immediate predecessor who appeared to have opposed the best global policing practices, he would not be against the national clamor for the establishment of state police that would be made up of persons from the respective areas so that crime fighting would be thoroughly

intelligence driven and knowledge based because you can not give what you do not have and in the same vein no police operative can operate competently in an area that he is a stranger.

Secondly, from his background as a historian he must be aware that of all the modern policing institutions globally, the Nigerian Police Force is about the only one that has come under considerable focus as one of the worst human rights violator by way of the large scale extra judicial killings that take place among the rank and file. It is satisfying that he has promised to bring about attitudinal change among the members of the Nigerian Police but again the first step is to build up the complete biometric records of all the serving police operatives to build a national data bank to determine the criminal records of all the serving police operatives going by the fact that over the years the recruitment process/mechanism has been anything but transparent and accountable. Erstwhile President Obasanjo had stated that armed robbers and prostitutes have found their ways into the present Nigerian Police Force and so the first task for this historian/ lawyer police boss is to fish out these rotten eggs so they

stop contaminating the few good ones.

For as long as Nigeria maintains the status quo regarding the structure of the policing institution we may never get it well. My take is that we need to quickly establish the framework for the setting up of state police so the federal policing structure will only exists in supervisory capacity and to take charge of federal crime investigations or crimes that have significant national impact as is done in places like the United States of America. Currently, most communities in the rural Nigeria are not policed whatsoever meaning that they are left at the mercy of criminals. This is the reason why most border communities have come under increasing attacks by insurgents and there is no armed security operatives to save them from these violent attacks. We need to have state police in place so every communities all across Nigeria are adequately protected by armed policing operatives from those communities and the federal police can only be called up to assist if the crime or the nature of attacks surpasses what the local or state policing institution can handle. The Federal Policing force must have all the modern sophisticated weapons and facilities such as serviceable aircrafts to be able to be deployed within record time as soon as their services are required outside of the federal capital territory.

Administratively, the new police chief needs to dismantle the long existing cliques that spring up the moment a new officer is named the head of the nation’s police boss and recognize every officer as first and foremost as a Nigerian and must accord equal respect to all irrespective of their religious or ethnic orientations. The immediate past Inspector General of police was accused severally of working against a section of the country by recommending for retirement officers from that particular zone making it impossible for that zone to produce any head of the Nigerian police in a long time.

Specifically since I believe in full disclosure I will state here that it is the South East zone that the last boss of the police was accused of undermining.

The Police service Commission must ensure that these claims of discriminatory practices are investigated to foster a sense of oneness among all and sundry in the Nigerian police family.

THE WEEKEND

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

H alth Issues

WHAT is the connection between foul corps of looters, Ebola and Boko Haram?

Chasing calamity we could have prevented.

We always have heated discussions about how our African professors training medical students have failed us since our medical schools rated below world standard.

We glorify international hospitals that rejected rich and famous corpses aggrandized back home, to vilify standard that could have prevented Ebola or anticipated Boko Haram daily dead bodies.

United States have imported Ebola virus afflicting their own citizens to save only two valued lives. Africans

as AIDS, infectious only through bodily fluid and bodies must be abandoned on the streets: call local councils. Opportunist, preachers, or witch doctors commercializing it, must be warned that aberration will be severely dealt with.

Since 1976, Ebola was noted or discovered in East Africa. As soon as world organizations came and helped us contain it, African politicians went to sleep and continued wasting our resources on prestigious projects and wars that have no meaning to the increasing poor. Instead, created a fertile ground for recruitment by militias like Boko Haram,

Too Late To Bar Ebola Bodies

cannot expect U.S to fly them in too. We do not have to be a Tola of all trade and master of nothing. We have diseases in our environment we failed to specialize or train for ages.

It is better to explore what we already have and might have worked for a few than to sit on our hands waiting for miracle from heavens or western countries. The concept is a step in the right direction. U.S. Center for Disease control is working on vaccine. A serum that is now cloned for treatment is based on some plants, probably from Africa. Of course we’ll see false starts. Efforts on Ebola cure by Pro. Maurice Iwu, an ethnopharmacologist with bitter cola-nuts, was a sham.

Each of the African countries is now barring one another from crossing through porous borders into territories as if border cousins care.

Mobilize public health information by health aides and educated traditional workers; integrate it with diseases

sometimes called the brother of al Qaeda, resulting in preventable deaths, wounded and broken hearts. If it is not Boko Haram, it is Ebola.

Before we condemn everyone, we must give due respect to African medical pioneers that killed small pox, saw Ebola, Cholera, Onchocerciasis, other viruses, bacteria and parasitic diseases.

Instead of arguing about world and international standards, Africans like Adeniyi Jones, Olikoye Kuti and Adeoye Lambo, others too many to mention argued for standard that could have made us experts at least in our endemic area.

They did not call it local standard but it was obvious.

Our problem is not banning dead bodies of Ebola we know, but hug with open arms or kiss dead bodies of plunderers we know little about since we are more interested in aggrandizement even in death and replication of standards that are unsustainable.

No matter the cost, when we acquire prestigious

By FAROUK MARTINS ARESA device, we buy and discard, never use and maintain. Such culture of neglect cannot support international standard we yearn so much. Even little Cuba trains good doctors.

Our medical students and graduates cannot compete with international medical students that are trained for their local diseases.

Today acupuncture is internationally accepted and Chinese medical professors are invited worldwide to train European and American medical students.

Indeed, it would be strange to graduate from Chinese Medical schools without acupuncture. But it is acceptable for our students to graduate without any training in traditional medicine.

Oh, they always pay lip service to inclusion of traditional medicine in the curriculum of schools but the conservative British trained physicians and teachers would not let it stand. At the same time, some of them are children of Babalawo that

personalize their knowledge, sell the father’s combination of herbs to their patients selfishly without publishing them in medical journals for others to learn and repeat in separate laboratories.

There are some academic looters looking for grants. Prof. Isaiah Ibeh, Dean of Basic Medical Sciences University of Benin, also claimed to have found AIDS cure until he was denounced by his colleagues. Gen. Malu even vouched for Doctor Abalaka’s treatment of soldiers. So was Kofi Kankam, Sefwi-Boako Herbalist, in Western Ghana. All claims for AIDS cure so far are elusive.

There are so many traditional remedies that the schools of pharmacies should have studied for their efficacy and regulated by dosage while eliminating impurities in their laboratories. There is nothing about Bunsen burner or Petri dish that

cannot be locally replicated or even improved on. Take dialysis machine for example, it has changed so much over the years that if you trained ten years ago, one would have to go back to school again. It’s enough time for local replication.

If Africans cannot boast of international standard, we can be known as world experts in tropical diseases. So many African students trained in Europe and American universities are specialists in their fields.

Most of the old universities teaching hospitals in Nigeria have first class and fully equipped specialist wards at the top of their hospitals that many of the looter’s corps sent back home, refused to patronize. That is after spending so much on equipment and specialists.

Africans always complain about the lack of equipment and international standard laboratories in our schools. As long as we want their standard, we will never be well equipped. Africa has the

biggest laboratory in the world for field study in infectious diseases. This is an advantage we refuse to take into account, but widely used by world scientists during their summer vacations to update and learn more about infectious diseases.

Ours learn standard to abscond ab road.

We can seek cooperation from outside just as outsiders can seek our cooperation in solving endemic problem, but relying on outsiders to develop cure for our tropical diseases that we are more familiar with, is no different from children begging others for food on European and American television.

After these years, Nigeria should be able to demonstrate some discoveries.

This is not the time for Africans to start feeling sorry for themselves waiting for help. They must push politicians into action for this outbreak and future ones, so that they do not react after the fact. They must be proactive and willing to show diligence.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

s

I sues

EBOLA! -Fall Of Africa?

By ADEKOYA BOLADALE

TODAY I write in fear, like every other residents of the only black continent in the world. Our world is ravaged by a dreadful holocaust and our existence under extreme threat. Africa, as the world knows it may soon become a park of flirt and death. The over one billion men and women, boys and girls, young and old may soon become extinct.

Ebola, the now most dreadful disease in the world has found succor within our realm and with the growing concern around the world and Africa being fingered as the breathing nest for this virus, it is only a matter of time before we become a threat to world peace which may force the Super Powers into taking decisive action against the continent.

Around the world already there have been growing demands to alienate countries with outbreak of Ebola. Borders are being closed, Airport under immense scrutiny, Visa application procedures under review and in some cases (see ‘South Korea denies 3 Nigerian students visit’) outright rejection.

While the sole responsibility of every government is to protect the lives and

properties of its citizens, it goes without saying that such decisions must be tempered with caution. In the process of keeping our countries safe we are gradually heading towards prejudicism.

The successful outbreak and spread of Ebola today is a result of the nonchalant, selfish and aloof behavior of African countries to one another. Late last year when reports of the disease became lethal and life threatening in Guinea and Sierra Leone, what measure(s) or step(s) did fellow African countries like Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Mali, Cote d’ivoire, Cameroon take to assist these countries? As usual, we didn’t give a damn; our brothers and sisters may as well suffer and die but once we are unhurt is less our business!

Lets believe we decided to ‘mind our business’; it would have made more sense if we had engaged on massive civil education on the disease and create contingent plans into truly safeguarding our territories. But as African as we are, we went to bed with noise of our neigbours house on fire hoping on divine that the wind of inferno doesn’t

locate ours. The case of the outbreak in Nigeria is more pathetic than unfortunate.

First, a man with nearly fourteen days active symptoms from an Ebola prone country successfully boarded a flight en route Lagos, Nigeria unchecked.

The airport staff and medical team relatively uninformed and perpetually unaware of the symptoms of the virus rushed unprotected to give a helping hand to the victim when he collapsed at the airport.

The receiving hospital and doctor with little knowledge about the disease ‘nakedly’ attended to the victim and the rest is history.

Africa has come a long way.

Amidst the thorns of scramble and partition, slavery, neocolonialism and apartheid we rose to a continent of choice.

Our continent now has a place in the UN Security Council; Nigeria the presumed capital of the continent made the MINT classification and South Africa a member of the G20 group. But beyond the tales of success our continent continues to wallow in extreme poverty and dearth orchestrated by corrupt public office holders who would rather take possession of the latest Private Jet than invest in the health sector, leaders with short or no foresight!

Leaders who do not see the need for Africa to grow in research and technology believing that the dependence on foreign countries and their conditional aids is enough.

Alas, Ebola is an African disease which means foreign countries may not be so moved into urgently producing cure and vaccine.

Africa must realize we are alone in this war against Ebola. Our greedy leaders must come to terms that their lives are also under threat.

There is nothing so delicious in bats and monkeys if not for poverty! The governments must immediately create a welfare package to feed the

nation, especially people in the rural areas. Massive education and enlightenment program should be embarked upon with jingles on radio and television. Rural communities, most of whom are oblivious to the disease must be reached out to.

Primary and Secondary schools should also be visited and informed with a strategy that will create minimal panic and discrimination. Outright closure of borders and airspace against fellow African countries as Ghana did should not be an option, what we should focus on is screening individuals willing to travel to and fro.

We (all African countries either affected or not) must unite to fight this plague. It is high time Africa solved its own problem. Only Africa can solve African problems. It goes beyond setting up committee of friends and associate to further siphon public funds. African countries must declare an immediate emergency in the research sector. Brothers and Sisters far away in Europe, America, Asia and Middle East with vast experience in medical and scientific research must come home. The humble abode of the black race is under attack and together we must stand and fight.

THE WEEKEND

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o Disguising Envy And What To Do

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

C unselling

POLITICAL power of any kind creates envy and one of the best ways to deflect it before it takes root is to seem unambitious.

Research shows that when Ivan the Terrible died, Boris Godunov knew he was the only one on the scene who could lead Russia. But if he sought the position eagerly, he would stir up envy and suspicion among the boyars, so, he refused the crown, not once but several times. He made people insist that he takes the throne.

George Washington used the strategy to great effect, first in refusing to keep the position of commander in chief of the American army, second, in resisting the presidency. In both cases, he made himself more popular than ever.

People cannot envy that which they themselves have given a person who does not seem to desire it.

According to the Elizabethan states man and writer Sir Francis Bacon, the wisest policy of the powerful is to create a kind of pity for themselves, as if their responsibilities were a burden and a sacrifice. How can one envy a man who has taken on a heavy load for the public interest?

Therefore, disguise your power, as a kind of selfsacrifice rather than, a source of happiness and you make it seem less enviable. Emphasize your troubles and you turn a potential danger (envy) into a source of moral support (pity). A similar polg is to hint that your good fortune will benefit those around you.

To do this, you may need to open your purse strings, like Kimono a wealthy General in ancient Athens who gave lavishly in all kinds of ways to prevent people from resenting the influence he had bought in Athenian politics. He paid a high price to deflect their envy, but in the end, it saved him from ostracism and banishment from the city.

Research also shows that human animal has a hard time dealing with feelings of inferiority. In the face of superior skill, talent or power, people are often

more important sins. In some countries, a man, will avoid grousing envy by doing as Cosimo de Medici did by showing his wealth

opportunity to make the enviosquirm. Your good fortune and power become their living hell. If you attain a position of unimpeachable power, their envy will have no effect on you and you will

only on the inside of his house. Apply this wisdom to your own character.

Beware of some of envy’s disguise. Excessive praise is an almost sure sign that the person praising you envies you, they are either setting you up for a fall. It will be impossible for you to live up to their praise or they are sharpening their blades behind you back. At the same time, those who are hypercritical of you r who slander you publicly, probably envy you as well.

Recognize their behaviour as disguised envy and you keep out of the trap of mutual mudslinging or taking their criticisms to heart. Win your revenge by ignoring their measly presence.

Once envy is there, however, whether through you fault or not, it is sometimes best to affect the opposite approach, the utmost disdain for those who envy you. Instead of hiding your perfection, make it obvious. Make every new triumph an

have the best revenge of all.

They are trapped in envy while you are free in your power.

There are several strategies for dealing with the insidious, destructive emotion of envy. First, accept the fact that, there will be people who will surpass you in some way and also, the fact that you may envy them. But make that feeling a way of pushing yourself to equal or surpass them someday. Let envy turn inward and it poisons the soul, expel it outward and can move you to greater heights.

Second, understand that as you gain power, those below you will feel envious of you. They may not show it but, it is inevitable. Do not naively accept the façade they sow you, read between the lines of their criticisms, their little sarcastic remarks, the sign of backstabbing, the excessive praise that is preparing you for a fall, the resentful look in the eye. Half the problem with envy comes when we do not

By O.C. MADU

disturbed and ill at ease, this is because, most of them have an inflated sense of themselves and then they meet people who surpass them, they make it clear to them, that they are in fact, mediocre or at least, not as brilliant as they had thought.

This disturbance in people – image cannot last long without stirring up ugly emotions.

At first, they feel envy. If only we had the quality or skill of the superior person, we would be happy. But envy brings them neither comfort nor any closer to equality. To show envy, is to admit to feeling inferior. To close friends, they may confess their secret unrealized desires but they will never confess to feeling envy. So, it goes underground. They disguise it in many ways like finding ground to criticize the person who make them feel it. It they do not slander him perhaps, they praise him excessively – another of envy’s disguise.

Kierkegaard believed that there are two types of people who create envy and are as guilt when it arises as those who feel it. The most obvious type we all know: the moment something good happens to them, whether by luck or design, they crow about it. In fact, they get pleasure out of making people feel inferior. This type is obvious and beyond hope.

There are others, however, who stir up envy, in more subtle and unconscious ways and are partly to blame for their troubles.

Envy is often a problem for example, for people with great natural talent. Do not try to help or do favour for those who envy you, they will think you are condescending to them. Once envy reveals itself for what it is, the only solution is often to flee the presence of the enviers, leaving them to slew in a hell of their own creation.

To deflect envy, Gracian recommends that, the powerful display a weakness, a minor social indiscretion, a harmless vice give those who envy you something to feel on, distracting them from your

With

O.C. Madu GSM: 08056379608 recognize it until it is too late.

One of Cosimo’s favorite expressions was; “Envy is a weed that should not be watered”. Understanding

envy, which will gram away at them until they undermine you in ways you cannot foresee. The foot dares the gods of envy by flaunting his victories. The

the power envy has in a democratic environment, Cosimo avoided the appearance of greatness.

This does not mean that greatness should be suffocated or that only the mediocre should survive, only that a game of appearances must be played.

The insidious envy of the masses can actually be deflected quite easily.

Appear as one of them in style and values. Make alliances with those below you and elevate them to positions of power to secure their support in times of need. Never flaunt your wealth and carefully conceal the degree to which it has brought influence. Make a displace of deferring to others, as if they were more powerful than you.

Never be so foolish as to believe that you are stirring up admiration by flaunting the qualities that raise you above others. By making others aware to their inferior position, you are only stirring up “unhappy admiration” or

master of powers understands that the appearance of superiority over others is inconsequential next to the reality of it.

Finally, expect that when people envy you they will work against you insidiously.

They will put obstacle in your path that you will not foresee or that you cannot trace tot heir source. It is hard to defend yourself against this kind of attack. And by the time your realize that envy is at the root of person’s feelings about you, it is often too ate your excuses, your false humility, your defensive actions only exacerbate the problem.

Since it is far easier to avoid creating envy in the place than to get rid of it once it is there, you should strategize o forestall it before it grows it is often your own actions that stir up envy, your own unawareness. By becoming conscious of those actions and qualities that create envy, you can take the teeth out of it before it nibbles you to death.

Thanks for reading.

THE WEEKEND

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WOMEN are said to be precious gift from God and are by far the deeper and more powerful of the two sexes. No matter how strong a man thinks he is, he is like butter in the hands of a woman that he loves. Women are more discerning than men, more calculating, more thoughtful, more spiritual, more loyal, and more disciplined and they can handle emotional pain and psychological torture far better than men. A woman can suffer trauma, deprivation, shame, sheer cruelty and beatings from a man and still stay with him simply for the sake of the children. A woman can do anything and take anything for, or from, a man that she truly loves.

A woman can be the most dangerous of all God’s creatures when she is hurt. A woman in a position of power can be a dangerous thing because more often than not she is motivated by emotion and not reason. If wars were to be fought by women they would have never end.

Those beautiful yet evil women whose mission in life is to destroy men that are called to greatness by God by way of seduction. those beautiful, wise, prayerful, discerning, prudent, patient, kind, loyal women who are faithful unto death and who are the enforcers and guardians of God’s purpose in the lives

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

The Power Of A Woman

of men.

A woman can kill a man that she has lived with all her life, simply because he never returned her love and a woman can kill for or die for a man who loves her and stand by her through thick and thin, if you are rich, pretend that you are poor to a woman and you will know her true nature. If you are poor, pretend that you are rich to a woman and you will know what she is really after. It is only a woman that can carry a child for nine months and raise that child to adulthood and yet until the day that that woman dies only she will know the real father of that child.

A woman that abandons a man when he is going through difficulties is not worth taking back when those challenges have been overcome. Beware of a woman’s love, for at the slightest hurt, it can turn to hate. Women gossip and talk, yet a woman keeps deeper secrets than any man.

When a woman says “no” she actually means ‘maybe” and when she says “maybe” she actually means “yes”. A woman that betrays or seeks to destroy, ridicule or shame her husband or lover destroys and diminishes

By CASSIUS LAMAI

her own spirit and wounds her own soul not only is she not worthy of being loved by any, but she is not the material for a man of destiny, she is not of the stuff that true women are made.

A great king with a great army can overrun nations and yet can be mastered and overwhelmed by the mere touch and whisperings of a loving woman and the love of any woman can also cause a man to slaughter.

Women are a gift from God to men, but like all gifts they must be pampered, loved and given all the attention otherwise they begin to look elsewhere for such nourishment and care. Out of every specie of animal ever created by God, it is always the female gender of that animal that is the most vicious and dangerous and yet it is also the female of that specie that protects and raises the offspring in loving care.

You cannot police a woman or really know her movements for she can be the greatest deceiver: if she really wants to play, she will go ahead and play and no matter the efforts that her man makes, it is only by divine intervention that he will ever know. A

woman is moved by touch while a man is moved by sight.

A woman will die for her children and guard her home with all she has. A woman craves for security and commitment above all else and without these two she cannot truly be happy.

A woman gives, a woman takes, a woman laughs, a woman cries, yet through all this only she alone knows what is really in her heart.

A woman can heave and moan in the throes of orgasmic passion, yet deep down she feels nothing at all but pity and contempt for the lover that she is deceiving. A woman can lie still and say she feels nothing yet her heart trembles and races and her senses come alive and quiver deeply just at the sound and by the touch of the man that she truly desires.

A woman can bed a man for many years of her life and when she is confronted with the facts can say she never met him before her life time. A woman can love a man throughout her life without having ever spoken to him before.

We have seen where woman is being worshipped by the

wealthiest of princes yet secretly her heart belongs to the poorest pauper in town. Lady Daina was married to a number one family in the world yet her heart was with another man. A woman may feign respect and love for her closest friend yet secretly she craves for and seeks to bed that her best friend’s husband.

A woman can possess the wisdom and foresight of an Abigail yet she can also have the cunning and guile of a Dalilah who deceived Samson. A woman can bear the cruelty and wickedness of a Jezebel yet she can also have the courage and selflessness of an Esther.

A woman who is rejected is the most dangerous creature on God’s green earth and if a woman is loved, cherished and pampered is the greatest gift that the heavens can offer.

That is a woman for you: they can be a snare or a blessing. They can bring joy or pain. They can wound or they can heal.

They are a beautiful contradiction of love and hate and we men simply cannot live without them.

A woman can only appreciate a man in all ways after she has been with another man. A woman

will make you feel that you are in charge yet with sweet words and with guile and cunning mind she silently controls everything and everyone around you.

Women are the shield, the defender and the foundation of the home.

Even as the man is the head, the woman is the neck in which without the neck it would fall. The greatest mistake that any man/could ever make is to underestimate or treat with levity the power of a woman. / For it is only a fool that could honestly believe that he can confine a woman to having babies and to simply cooking in the kitchen. A woman is irrepressible, unbeatable, unfathomable, irresistible and unknowable and my advice to every man is to cherish her, to love her and to grant her, her hearts deepest desires if the man wishes to live longer in the hands of a woman.

That is the secret to a woman’s heart and what more is there to say, other than for us to admit that the woman is the true hero of man’s lives and to simply agree that we must appease and worship them and do all we can to keep those pretty smiles on their beautiful yet dangerous faces.

THE WEEKEND

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

e

D mocracy Enugu Dep Governor

Politics Of Impeachment

By INIBEBE EFFIONG THE ongoing impeachment proceedings against the deputy governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, by the State House of Assembly, ostensibly on the orders of the governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, is yet another evidence of the madness embedded in our political milieu. It shows that our States Houses of Assembly are under subjugation. It has also exposed the nauseating dirtiness, crass moral destitution, unpardonable senselessness and disgusting slavishness of the members of the Enugu State House of Assembly.

Despite growing public outrage against the satanic and immoral move, the House on Thursday, 31 July, 2014 went ahead to direct the State Chief Judge, Justice Innocent Umezurike, to constitute a panel to investigate the baseless allegations they levelled against the deputy governor.

The twin allegations against the deputy governor are not just provocatively trivial but utterly frivolous.

Firstly, he is accused of maintaining a poultry farm in his official residence contrary to a resolution of the House prohibiting the maintenance of and operation of commercial livestock and poultry farms within residential neighborhoods in Enugu Metropolis . Secondly, he is accused of defying the governor ’s directive to represent him at occasions which they claim violates Section 193 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

On the first charge, the deputy governor has replied that he came and met an area in his official residence designated as ‘Agricultural Unit’, which includes a poultry farm, and whose facilities were installed by the first premier of Eastern Nigeria and that all his predecessors used it and maintained the poultry farm. Interestingly, he alleged that the governor equally operates a much bigger poultry farm within his official residence.

On the second charge, Mr Onyebuchi in his reply to the notice of impeachment had this to say inter alia:

“Let me start by saying that on June 9, 2014, the Governor commenced his 2014 annual vacation. This was made public through various news media. He did not tell me to take any action on his behalf pending his return, and I am not aware that he sent a formal letter to the Enugu State House of Assembly informing the assembly that he was proceeding on vacation. The governor did not tell me to take any action on his behalf pending his return, neither did he tell me that he would pass instructions to me through a third party. I did not receive instructions from him personally, by phone or in writing asking me to represent him at the meeting of the South East Governors Forum that took place in Enugu on July 6, 2014.

“I did not have any reason not to represent him if he had so instructed me to do so. I do not think it is appropriate for a deputy governor to act in the absence of the governor deriving authority from a subordinate or based on press release to the effect that the governor handed over to his deputy.

“When the governor resumed duty after his vacation, I represented him at various occasions even after he had asked me to resign. On Friday July 18, I represented the governor at the inauguration of the Power Training Institute at Oji River with the. Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu. On Monday, July, 21 while my impeachment notice was being signed by the members of the state House of Assembly at Government House Enugu, I was at Udi representing the governor at the inauguration of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Academy at Udi with the then Corp Marshall, Osita Chidoka…”

Now the pertinent question is; has Mr Onyebuchi committed any gross misconduct within the meaning and contemplation of Section 188 (2) & (11) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

(as amended) to warrant his removal by the State House of Assembly? The answer is obviously in the negative.

On the first charge, the House of Assembly is arrogating to itself powers it does not have by seeking to punish the deputy governor for purportedly violating her resolution. Under the present constitutional regime as enshrined in Sections 58 (1) & 100 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) , the legislative powers of both the National and States Assemblies are only exercisable by Acts and Laws passed by the National and States Assemblies respectively.

Putting it differently, it is trite law that except by legislation, neither the National nor a State Assembly can compel or restrain the performance of an action. Resolutions passed by the legislature in Nigeria have only persuasive effects and disobedience of same cannot give rise to legal sanctions.

Therefore, supposing without conceding, that the maintenance of the poultry farm by the deputy governor is wrong, it would not amount to gross misconduct because the resolution of the House is neither binding nor legally enforceable. As such, the House cannot impute or manufacture gross misconduct from such noncompliance with her resolutions.

If indeed the governor is equally maintaining a poultry farm at his official residence as alleged, how come that no impeachment proceedings has been commenced against him? The deputy governor ought in my opinion to be commended for his interest in agriculture. This is rare in a country where politicians are corrupted by crude oil money. Notably, the Code of Conduct for public officers under our Constitution prohibits a public officer from engaging in profit making ventures, except agriculture. So what is the cacophony about?

On the second allegation, the Section 193 (1) of the Constitution which the House claimed Mr. Onyebuchi violated merely enables a governor to delegate

• Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi responsibility to his deputy and commissioners. It states thus: “The Governor may in his discretion, assign to the Deputy Governor or any Commissioner of the Government of the State responsibility for any business of the Government of that State, including the administration of any department of Government” Again, supposing without conceding that the deputy governor had defied the directive of the governor to represent him at occasion(s), that will not amount to an impeachable offence. The reason is simple, under the Constitution ( See. Section 188 (2) (b) a governor or deputy governor can ONLY be removed from office for gross misconduct. On the meaning of gross misconduct, Section 188 (11) of the same Constitution provides as follows: “a GRAVE violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such a nature as amounts in the opinion of the House of Assembly to gross misconduct” (emphasis mine).

It is humbly submitted that the mere refusal or inability of a deputy governor to perform the responsibility of representing the governor at one or few functions CANNOT amount to a grave violation of the Constitution within the meaning and contemplation of Section 188 (11) of the Constitution. Such refusal must be wilful and persistent.

If actually governor Sullivan

Chime did not officially and personally assign his deputy the responsibility of representing him before he proceeded on vacation on June 9, 2014 as stated by Mr. Onyebuchi, then the whole talk about him not representing the governor during that period of vacation is senselessly indefensible.

Are there no protocols in government anymore? If someone has to be in the dock over this, it is Chime himself for treating his deputy with disdain.

It has been reported in the media that the governor is rooting for the impeachment of his deputy so that he can replace him with his Chief Of Staff, Ifeoma Nwobodo, and to pave way for the latter’s election to the Senate in 2015. Whatever the motive may be, it is insatiable and condemnable.

It is indeed very shameful that the wife-beater and vacation prone governor of Enugu State who was away from the state for months last year without transmitting a letter to the House of Assembly to enable his deputy assume office as Acting Governor, pending his return, as provided for in the Constitution will now have the effrontery to instigate the removal of the same deputy who despite being undermined, remained loyal and stood-in for him.

Of course, what should we expect from a man who unlawfully imprisoned his wife and turned her into a slavegirl. This is a man that God has been very benevolent to; health wise. A man whose

political career has been largely assisted and enhanced by the goodwill of men. What ingratitude, what a disdain for humanity and even God. It is indeed a very historic but appalling appetite for political witch-hunting that non of the two imbecilic allegations against Mr. Onyebuchi bordered on corruption or financial misconduct. If eventually the deputy governor is impeached, he (Mr. Onyebuchi) should console himself and take it with equanimity because in the final analysis, the God of the just; the God of vengeance will fight for him as no evil ever done by man goes unpunished. Posterity will surely vindicate him.

The continuous and unabated rape of our democracy by an arrogant clique of renegades must be resisted by all. Our political actors should be mindful that if Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi is impeached because of those ungodly and unsubstantiated charges, a dangerous and disastrous precedent would have been set for our nascent democracy.

The battle for a sane society where might is not right is collective. As such, the current apocalyptic proclivities of the Enugu State governor and the rubber-stamped House of Assembly must be resisted by all democratic forces. We must excoriate the prevailing reign of executive rascality and legislative exuberance in Enugu State. Enough is Enough.

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o

P litics

Polling Agents And Polling Units

By BISOLA BAKARE AT the stakeholders forum on the 6th day of August, 2014, at the Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo, the Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, originally stated that no polling Agent would be allowed within 300 metres from the polling booth before later recapitulating.

It is important to note to that the Chairman did not only goof but

45(3) also provides that where an act or thing is required to be done by or in the presence of a polling agent, the non-attendance of the polling agent at the time and place appointed for the act or thing or refusal by the agent to do the act or thing shall not, if the act or thing is otherwise done properly, invalidate the act or thing.

Thus, a candidate is at

• Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman

demonstrated high level of ignorance of the Electoral Act, 2010 that regulates electoral activities in Nigeria.

By Section 45 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) [hereinafter referred to as “the Act”] the mode of appointment of polling agents by political parties at the various polling units and collation centres was regulated.

Also by section 45(2) of the Act, a candidate shall not be precluded from doing any act or thing which he has appointed a polling agent to do on his behalf under the Act. Section

liberty to be his own agent or appoint any other person to so act for him.

Since it is however impracticable for the candidate to be at all the polling units simultaneously, it is inevitable that he must appoint agents. There are so many rights a candidate or his agent possesses at the polling booth and for which it is imperative that the agent or the candidate must be present within the polling booth.

To this end, the very first pertinent provision on the importance of the presence of the polling

agent at the polling unit is contained in section 50 of the Act. The section provides that: “A candidate or a polling agent may challenge the right of a person to receive a ballot paper on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are provided for in this Act.” Based on the above provision, it is clear that it is only when the polling agent or the candidate is at the polling unit that he may make such challenge on the issuance of the ballot paper to any person since he cannot be a magician that could imagine or discover same without sighting or supervising the process. A supervisor cannot be separated from the scene or event to be supervised hence, the order to distance a polling agent by 300 metres cannot be in any way sound or consistent with the rules of free and fair election.

Furthermore, by section 59 of the Act, a polling agent has the power to inform the presiding officer that he has reasonable cause to believe that the person is under the age of 18 years or that the person has committed an offence of impersonation where such a person is still within the polling unit. Based on information provided by the polling agent, the Presiding Officer has the right to order a police officer to arrest that person which shall be sufficient authority for the police officer to so act. To perform this task, It is mandatory that the polling agent has to be within the polling booth in order to identify “a person under the age 18 of years or an impersonator”. If he is metres away from the polling unit, how can he inform the presiding officer?

By section 61(1) of the Act, the Presiding Officer

shall regulate the admission of voters to the polling units and shall exclude all persons other than the candidates, polling agents, poll clerks and persons lawfully entitled to be admitted including accredited observers. It must be noted that the Presiding Officer is a staff of the INEC and must cohabit with the persons exempted. By implication, therefore, INEC cannot exclude the polling agent.

The Presiding Officer is also required to keep order and comply with the requirements of this act at the polling unit. It is, therefore, submitted that the presiding officer cannot exclude the polling agent from the polling unit. If this is the case, then a polling agent cannot be 300 metres away from the Polling Unit and still carry on his duties under the Electoral Act. This is tantamount to excluding polling agents from the election. With all the above duties of polling agents, one cannot but agree that polling agents are not only required to be in the polling units but must be in close contact or communication with the Presiding Officers.

Without mincing words, the Act requires the presence of the polling agent at the polling unit. Therefore, any attempt to exclude them is not only unlawful but preparatory to the much anticipated rigging by INEC in favour of the PDP. In addition, by section 63 of the Act, polling agents

are required to take part in counting of votes and shall after the Presiding Officer signs the result or Form, counter-sign the said result or Form. Where the agent is not satisfied with the counting of votes, polling agents are empowered to demand for a recount. By the combination of sections 54(1) and 67(1) of the Act, where a voter makes any writing or mark on a ballot paper by which he may be identified such paper shall be rejected and the Presiding Officer shall endorse the word “rejected” on the ballot paper, but if an objection to the decision of the Presiding Officer to reject a ballot paper is raised by a candidate or a polling agent, the Presiding Officer shall add to the word “rejected”, the phrase “but objected to” and the Presiding Officer shall prepare a statement on the rejected ballot papers stating the number rejected, the reason for rejection and their serial number and shall on request, allow a candidate or polling agent to copy the statement so made.

Again, by sections 67(2) and (3) of the Act, a polling agent shut out of the polling unit and kept at 300 metres (or any other distance) away from the polling unit cannot perform any of these statutory functions. Where any person purports to use the instrument of the law to so shut out the polling agents, such person is

engaging in unadulterated illegality and criminality..

Another pertinent point raised at the forum is that relating to the decision of a voter to photographically capture his ballot paper.

Going by the provisions of the Act, a voter has the right to take a picture of his or her ballot paper where the voter so decided provided the voter does not make any writing or mark on the ballot paper by which he may be identified.

The summation of all the foregoing is that the INEC need to categorically come out again to clarify these position if it must not be taken to be a conspirator in the rigging plan by the PDP. The relevant provisions of Section 125(1) and (2) which regulate the need for a polling agent, Presiding Officer or any other person to maintain secrecy of voting process has to do with a restraint on disclosing information by a third party on whether a voter actually voted for one party or another. The provisions in issue have nothing to do with a voter who decides to preserve to himself a photographic record of his voting.

We hereby consider it pertinent to notify the whole world of these unpopular decisions of INEC by which it has decided to tilt the scale of voting in favour of PDP. All lovers of democracy must object to this shenanigan as same enjoys no recognition under the Electoral Act, 2010.

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Po litics

Osun Verdict Predictions That Came To Pass

I write this piece on the gubernatorial elections holding in Osun state. Its objective is basically to remind my friends and fellow compatriots in the southwest geopolitical zone of our country of what is at stake in tomorrow’s polls; the huge price they will have to pay if by dint of what is now called ‘stomach infrastructure’ or sheer complacency they allow an irredentist, warped and corrupt central authorities to usurp their autonomy.

Western Nigerian matters for a number of reasons.

One, its people have an inherent quest for freedom to express itself, a streak that runs through its history and the consequent civil wars in the pre-colonial era and the resistance of the immediate post-colonial years. Two, in postindependent Nigeria, largely dominated by the HausaFulani oligarchy, the peoples of the south-west and their cousins/neigbours in the Midwest have ensured that the federal essentiality of the Nigerian state remains on the front burner of national discourse and its most abiding philosophical guide are contained in the deep philosophical writings of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, such as Thoughts on the HISTORY has shown that we forget things easily in Nigeria. We do not remember things easily, we do not look at past events, and we move on as if yesterday never existed.

Nigeria has gone through a chequered history, seen many wars, seen many tragedies and recorded sordid and awkward events.

Yet, whenever we scale through these calamities our bags and luggage are dusted up and businesses go on as usual. Questions are not raised, answers are not expected, no solution proffered and the rot continues unabated.

But the events of December 23, 2001 will not be forgotten in a hurry. On that day Chief Bola Ige, the Attorney General of Federation was murdered in Ibadan at peace time in Nigeria. Before the tragedy of December 23, 2001 something unusual in Yorubaland took place in the Palace of Ooni of Ife where Chief Bola Ige was physically

Nigerian Constitution (1966). Chief Obafemi Awolowo, an accomplished thinker, argued that peoples with different culture attributes such as language and religion are best organised under a federal system. In his words, “In this connexion we should be reminded that of all the cultural equipments of a people, language is the most formidable, the most irrepressible, and the most resistant to diffusion, not to talk of fusion. It lies at the base of human divisions and divergences. And historical evidences of an irrefutable nature have shown firstly, that you can unite but can never succeed in unifying peoples whom language has set distinctly apart from one another; and secondly, that the more educated a linguistic group becomes, the stronger it waxes in its bid for political selfdetermination and autonomy, unless it happens to be the dominant group (emphasis in original).”

Western Nigeria has made the quest for education a categorical imperative from which the people elicit their abiding strength for freedom. With education comes what Paulo Freire has called ‘transitive consciousness’ out of ‘semi-

By DR. AKHAINE

transitive consciousness’ underlined by a limited sphere of perception, resistance to challenges outside the sphere of biological vitals into the former, a world typified by “in-depth interpretation of problems”, acceptance of responsibility, rejection of passivity, and embrace of rationality. This is why the dominant paradigm less explored by scholars and which I have explored in “My Politics in Western Nigeria” (forthcoming) is the development paradigm. It is the defining element of Yoruba politics; when it detracts from it, it has suffered consequences because those who often deviate from the course of freedom and development are usually lackeys of the irredentist centre aforementioned and they are often imposed by undemocratic means and they are not short in supply these days of politics being the only business in town.

Politics in western Nigeria much earlier in the 1950s demonstrated that politics was for philosopher-kings; to be in politics is to serve and to seek wealth in monetary terms is to be in business, a fact that is now

stood on its head by irredentists and bashers of the Nigerian estate.

The challenge of development in the country today often draws its strength from what the state actors in this geopolitical zone have always done in the abiding faith and with Platonic conviction that justice inheres in the pursuit of the common good. As I have said elsewhere, western Nigeria is news, an event in the social order called Nigeria, always pointing up hitherto unimagined possibilities. It established the first television station in Africa, pursued a rigorous free education policy and sundry other innovations which feudal and conservatives forces elsewhere in the country would struggle to imitate. It was the Yorubas who introduced that competitive spirit into our development and governance universe. It is a fact that our country have always struggled on the edge of tyrannical order; the counteractive force against all dictatorial tendencies, arguably, has always come from the western Nigeria.

There is a general perception today among

Nigerians that any Nigerian from any part of this country can now govern this country with the mandate of the people. This was not the assumption some years ago. When the June12 1993 election was annulled, the logic was that the Lugardian architecture, which meant that power must always reside in the north, should never be altered. Chief M.K. O. Abiola paid the supreme price and many of us managed to be alive in that titanic struggle. The resistance altered the power succession process in the country. This has come to stay and any attempt to revert to status quo would result in consequences of unimaginable proportion.

The transient nature of power is a value that we must all cultivate.

What is the plot of the irredentist centre under the watch of President Jonathan? The plot is to subvert the above values by huge monetary inducement, all foul stratagems and in particular the use of force, especially the military whose esprit de corps has been destroyed by past military regimes and are now be subjected to a re-enactment of the ‘Glover syndrome’ in which the citizens are perceived as the enemy

Land Of Bola Ige

assaulted and his cap removed by thugs put together by Iyiola Omisore.

After that ugly incident, Mr Iyiola Omisore granted an interview to the defunct TempoMagazine where he almost ate Chief Bola Ige alive. In that interview Omisore prepared and wetted the ground for Chief Bola Ige’s death. Chief Bola Ige was murdered on December 23, 2001. The rest is now history.

Iyiola Omisore and his gang were arrested and put in prison custody. From prison, Omisore was rewarded by PDP with a very questionable mandate to go to the Senate, a great chamber meant for decent men and women. He went to the Senate. Meanwhile, the shoddy way the federal government handled the so called trial of Omisore and those accused with him for

By JOE IGBOKWE

murdering Bola Ige was enough to churn the stomach. It was so bad that on the very day those that confessed of killing Bola Ige were acquitted through a sham trial, the wife of Bola Ige, Justice Atinuke Ige, a judge of the Court of Appeal died of heart attack. It is now 13 years after the tragic event and no one has been prosecuted for killing Chief Bola Ige, a sitting Minister of the Federal Republic and the nation’s number one law officer. The only offence Chief Bola Ige committed then is that he gave the PDP controlled Federation government he was serving as a Minister of Justice the information that he was leaving to work for his party, Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the coming elections. He

never lived to fulfill that dream. The nest of killers led

by Iyiola Omisore stopped him in the most bizarre and callous manner. His wife Justice Atinuke Ige also died as a result of the shock she received during the trial of socalled killers of Chief Bola Ige. Saturday August 9, 2014 is again decision time for who will preside over the affairs of the State of Osun, the land of Chief Bola Ige and Omisore, the principal suspect in the brutal murder suspect is standing for election under the platform of PDP. Omisore has been gallivanting all over Osun pretending that Osun people have forgotten the ugly events of the past 13 years.

He has been pretending to love Osun people more than

anyone else, riding on Okada and buying corns by the road side pretending to be a grass root man. No, Osun people are wise people and they know their leaders.

I do not want to believe that Nigeria is a basket because I will be indicting myself but our sense of history worries me. How can we easily forget Chief Bola Ige, Justice Atinuke Ige and others? How can we be eating our food in the midst of human waste?

How can we continue to pretend that yesterday do not matter? How can the worst in our midst be the ones to remain in the front page and driver’s seat? How can the blind continue to lead people with eyes? How can the crippled be our commanders in a war situation? How can the deaf and dumb be our spoke persons? Rewarding Criminals and Murderers has

(and we are already reaping the consequences in the socalled war against insurgency in northeastern Nigeria). The military is to protect the state and its citizens, not the government of the day because sovereignty, an essential element of the state, resides in the people.

The clarion call therefore is that the well-meaning people of western Nigeria must live up to those fine values of their history and ensure they are entrenched with a vote for the incumbent government of Osun state under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. To lose Osun to a backward, disoriented, antidevelopment and irredentist central authorities is to deepen the misery and abjection of the good people of the southwest and Nigerians desirous of an alternative vision of development. Osun election matters, as the Europeans would say to the fascists, and we should say it loud and clear to the irredentists and anti-people forces in the saddle today that they shall not pass. Osun, Ipinle Omoluabi should not fall to known felons. The soul of the country is at stake and to lose is to halt social progress. been the greatest threat to National Unity in this country.

It has at once exposed Nigeria as Country for Scammers, fraudsters and vagabonds.

I consider it the biggest joke of the 21st Century in Nigeria that an Ayo Fayose will defeat a Dr. Fayemi in Ekiti State and some Nigerians will be celebrating it. I consider it an absurd and an affront that in this stage and age in Nigeria, an Omisore of all persons will be a contender in Osun guber race as if we are all historical idiots. No, Nigeria can do better than this.

Now, if the State of Osun still remains the land of Chief Bola Iges , Omisore is no match to Governor Aregbesola. If the State of Osun still remains the land of the Iges, I know then that history cannot be reversed. A friend Bayo Oluwasanmi tells me that “Yorubas are not gullible, manipulable and downright callous. We have long and enduring memory.

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Today’s Diet With Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Student Or Scholar Memorise: Nicodemus saith unto bin how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? John 3:4 Read: John 3:1-4 certain confidence of A student is a person who is enrolled to study at an educational institution or under a master who is skilled in a particular area of life.

A student is someone who is open to knowledge and learning, or a person who takes an interest in a particular subject, for example the Bible.

A scholar on the other hand is a specialist in a particular branch of study, a person who is highly educated or has an appetite for study, a learned person, and someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or niece disciplines. With these definitions very clear in our mind, the question is: are you a Bible student or a Bible scholar in the school of the Almighty.

Characteristically, a Bible student would approach the word of God with curiosity and with a spirit of humility.

A Bible student is conscious of his or her status and therefore the whole focus is centred on learning.

But for a scholar, it is not so. The curiosity of a scholar is not always accompanied with humility. Because a scholar has gained mastery in one or more discipline by long study and research, he or she speaks with the

one who knows. It is for these reasons that the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that the letter kills and in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that knowledge puffs up.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews and a teacher who may be at the level of what is known as a professor of theology today. He acknowledged his limitations in the knowledge of God’s word and came to recognise that Jesus was in a position to enlighten him. This scholar quickly reduced himself to the status of a student, and because of his humble approach, Jesus took His time to tutor him. Jesus gave him the secret of the kingdom which he never knew before, and he shouted in amazement: “how could this thing be?” I believe that the

teaching of Jesus both challenged and t r a n s f o r m e d Nicodemus that day.

Some Christians are not like Nicodemus, they approach God with the arrogance of their limited knowledge in the word of God, thereby denying themselves the revelation knowledge that is available to all that come to Jesus with the humility of a student. When it comes to the matters of salvation, Holy Spirit baptism, sanctification, power over sin, righteousness, the special touch of Master Jesus, the rapture and other kingdom truths that cannot be logically explained or empirically proved, the great Rabbi is definitely required.

Action Point Father, I humble myself before you, please give me r e v e l a t i o n knowledge of your word.

“Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews and a teacher who may be at the level of what is known as a professor of theology today.

He acknowledged his limitations in the knowledge of God’s word and came to recognise that Jesus was in a position to enlighten him.”

Embrace Peace,

Obasogie Of Benin Urges Community Leaders

By ROLAND OSAKUE THE Chairman, Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee, Chief Eduwu Ekhator Obasogie, the Obasogie of Benin Kingdom has urged all community leaders and elders in the state to key into the developmental programmes of the state government in order to bring the dividends of democracy closer to their domain.

Chief Obasogie, who noted that recent transformation in the state under the Governor Adams Oshiomhole led administration, lauded all the traditional rulers, elders, leaders and youths of the various communities in the state over their unflinching support and practical demonstration of love for the state and constituted authorities.

He pointed out that their continued act of maturity in the maintenance of peace, as well as their co-ordinate existence of oneness in their various communities were giant strides for development.

CHANGE OF NAME AIWERIOGHENE – I, formerly Miss.

Aiwerioghene Precious Osato now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OMORUYI PRECIOUS OSATO. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned Authorities and general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OMAFUAIRE – I formerly Miss Omafuaire Gladys Ese now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gladys Ese Osagie. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME OAMEN- I formerly known and called Miss Oamen Joy Eseohe now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Joy Eseohe Okonufua. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC, Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME UWAGBOE –I formerly Miss Uwagboe Blessing Adesuwa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oriakhi Blessing Adesuwa. All former documents remain valid.

General public and concerned authorities should please take note.

The chairman gave the admonition in his office yesterday in Benin City, when he played host to the Enigies of Obagie and Ogheghe Communities.

Chief Obasogie also enjoined them to remain committed in their tempo to apply peaceful resolution to communal problems, even as he urged them to join the government to build a virile, peaceful and prosperous Edo land that would be left in the sand of time.

He however, called on the people to be fair and just in the collection, distribution and utilization of community levies and contributions in the implementation of communal programmes.

The Chairman then warned anyone or group of persons who by any deliberate act disturb the peace of our land to be prepared for the wrath of the law, as there would be no sacred cows that will unturn

the maintenance and sustenance of peace.

Responding, the two Enigies expressed appreciation to the chairman and the members of the Edo State Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee, particularly on the way and manner they have handled the communal boundary crisis that has lingered between the two communities, which they promised to abide.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

ALIEMEKE - I, formerly called Miss. Regina Ewere Aliemeke is now known and called MRS. AKPOJEVUGHE ALIEMEKE EWERE REGINA. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note

SHELU – I, formerly Miss. Shelu Ada Uwa now known and called MRS. MOWOBI ADA UWA. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC, concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

OKOH - I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Bridget Agore Okoh now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. BRIDGET AGORE EKUNDAVO. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and general public should please take

ILOSONNA - I, formerly called Miss. Ilosonna Nkechi Prisca is now known and called MRS. GINIKA NKECHI PRISCA. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC, concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME ERAZUA – I formerly Miss Erazua Ibhazogbore Faith now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ebhodaghe Ibhazogbore Faith. All former documents remain valid.

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, NYSC, Zenith Bank Plc, First Bank Plc, concerned authorities shouldand General public please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE ST. JOSEPH’S CHOSEN CHURCH OF GOD The general public is hereby notified that the above named Church has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for Change of Trustees under the Companies and Allied Matters Act No 1 of 1990 BOARD OF TRUSTEES I. APOSTLE HAYFORD IKPONMWOSA ALILE OFR 2. APOSTLE SHEDRACK OKERUM OZUZU 3. APOSTLE (DR) WILFRED UYIEKPFN OMOREGIE. JP 4. DEACONESS FELICIA OBIOMA IKECHIUKU 5. APOSTLE SAMSON NYECHE OGBU 6. APOSTLE CHRISTOPHER SUNDAY ONYEADOR 7. ELDER BASSEY AKPAN UDO EKONG OLD TRUSTEES REMOVED 1. APOSTLE CHRISTOPHER SUNDAY ONYEADOR - DEFECTED 2. APOSTLE SHEDRACK OKERUM OZUZU - DECEASED 3. ELDER BASSEY AKPAN UDO EKONG - DECEASED NEW TRUSTEES APPOINTED 1. ELDER DR CLEMENT IMUETINYAN ALILE- APPOINTED. 2. ELDER MARSHAL UGOCHUKWU CHINKE-APPOINTED 3. PASTOR (MRS) PATIENCE ALILE.JP-APPOINTED

Any objection to this Application for Change of Board of Trustees should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication Signed: PASTOR LEVI OGBONNA SECRETARY-GENERAL 08133688630

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e

P rspective

Nigerian Muslims:

“The Intellectuals” And Islam

By MUHAMMAD MAHMUD

RECENTLY, the Nigerian Muslims came under yet another attack from a section of the secularists or the so called ‘liberal’ Muslims, for joining the world in condemnation of the Zionist’s genocide in Gaza.

Their condemnations were echoed, by some Muslims who, though, ostensibly, sincere in their condemnation, failed to understand the mutual exclusivity of the situation.

Their core argument is that the Nigerian Muslims did not do (an unspecified) “enough” about the Boko Haram crisis, after which they could worry about Gaza. Though palatable to them, their argument is as faulty as their attempt to draw a similitude between our situation and the Gaza Genocide. It is, also, as absurd as the claim that the Zionists are “defending” themselves from the people whose lands they, forcefully, occupied. I addressed this some days back. Curiously, these “intellectuals”, seem not to see anything wrong with some Nigerian Christians who publicly supported the Genocide.

None of them, as far as I am aware, even contemplated calling to order Christian extremists, like Femi Fani Kayode, who publicly gloated over the Genocide, justifying killings of Palestinian women, and went as far as wishing same to happen to Nigerian Muslims. They maintain a loud silence on that.

Some elements, among the Muslims, seemingly, appointed themselves as attack dogs against Muslims, they are always ready to condemn Nigerian Muslims on any position they take, on national or international issues affecting their religion. They are, almost, always in conformity with the Nigerian

Islamophobes who are on an incompatibility or auto oppose mode with anything Islamic, but who accuse Muslims of divisiveness.

Incessant, unwarranted and generalized attacks, most often, based on misconceptions, arrant ignorance or half baked Islamic education and/or disingenuously crafted conjectures to smear the Muslim, has became the hallmark of these “intellectuals”.

The dearest words in their mouths, always willing to call Muslims with, are the extremists, terrorists, intolerants and other derogatory and subjective names, used on all Muslims by the Islamophobes. To them, Muslims, the world over, and particularly Nigerian Muslims, have themselves to blame for Islamophobia, the across the globe and particularly in Nigeria, for their “stubborn obsession” with Islam and failure or refusal to “go with the civilized world”. This is despite the fact that Islamophobia reaches far back in history, and deep within the Western psyche.

Exploration and colonization of the Islamic world brought with it a wave of propaganda that characterized Muslim as inferior, primitive, violent beings. This was part of the justifications for invading and occupying Muslim lands.

The deep-rooted misconceptions are part of what is being used to inflame people against Islam and Muslim in the west. Just as so many lies and misconceptions against the Nigerian Muslim, that predated independence, and inflamed as a political weapon breeds Islamophobia here.

To them, for identifying with Muslims and anything that affects Islam the world over,

for what they call “obsession with Islam”, for joining the rest of the Muslim world in being angry with cartoonists who chose to castigate the venerated Prophet in Denmark, for depending themselves against attacks in Jos, Kaduna, etc, for even wearing Hijab in public places, for agitating for Shari’a, for putting religious attachment to, almost, everything, the Nigerian Muslims are guilty of extremism, intolerance and other pejoratives. They are guilty of jeopardizing ‘The National Spirit’ and inflaming dissensions. Why shouldn’t they relegate their religious over-zealousness (whatever that means) into the mosques?

Do they, necessarily, need to be this ostentatious?

Most often, the, supposedly, honest criticisms serve as a cheap cover to smear the Muslims and, in some cases, attack their core belief. There is, absolutely, nothing wrong in drawing attention to the best way(s) to tackle issues or highlighting certain realities,

which seem to elude attention. In fact, we (Muslims) actually need to take a deep look at the way we confront issues. Mob action or spontaneity is never a way to attend to issues.

Both the Qur ’an and the sayings of the prophet addressed this extensively.

Any and every action of the Muslim should be guided by the Qur’an and Sunnah. The use of wisdom, prioritization, goal achieving, longer lasting, far reaching move and efficacy should be fully taken into considerations while taking any action. You can’t just attack your nonMuslim neighbor, for instance, because a non Muslim elsewhere wrote a book castigating your religion, or because Muslims are attacked elsewhere. You cannot torch your Christian neighbor’s property or kill him because a Christian contested a position with a Muslim and won. It is both unIslamic and totally ineffective.

During the time of the Prophet (SAW), any attack on Islam is countered in kind or better approach that will

“Recently, the Nigerian Muslims came under yet another attack from a section of the secularists or the so called ‘liberal’ Muslims, for joining the world in condemnation of the Zionist’s genocide in Gaza. Their condemnations were echoed, by some Muslims who, though, ostensibly, sincere in their condemnation, failed to understand the mutual exclusivity of the situation.”

make a lasting impact. We have so many instances that backs this. When idolaters’ poets, for instance, ridicule the Prophet or the religion, Muslim poets replied in a far better tone and content. Just as the Qur ’an cautioned Muslim not to desecrate anything or person being worshiped by any people, as doing that will result in them paying back in kind. It is wrong to reject or detest everything that comes or emanates from nonMuslims. Things are defined by their permissibility or otherwise in Islam. There are many things that, honestly, need to be put in their respective places or position but which we, wrongly, give similar and/or equal treatment. On the other hand, it will be very insensitive and insensible to expect Muslim not to be worried or angered when their religion is mocked, insulted or attacked. Just as it is a surprise that a man with common sense will find it difficult to understand why Muslims shows exasperation whenever fellow Muslim elsewhere are being killed.

When admonitions seek to disrobe or strip us from the religion, boldly questioning or faulting the texts and/or ideologies, intrinsic to the religion, on which our actions (or reactions) are based, there is no doubt of a possible hidden agenda therein. It is one thing to proffer better and intelligent

way(s) for the ummah to face its problems; it is another to attempt detaching them from their religion by demanding they put aside the basics of their religion.

The most essential part of any activity, to Muslims, is the intention, motive or purpose. If the niyyah (intention) is to acquire the pleasure of Allah, or to comply with the commands of Allah, or to avoid the wrath of Allah, that work or undertaking is for Allah, and Allah will reward it, as the prophet of Allah said. If you demand that I put Allah out of it or I do it as a human being, not a Muslim, you are literally saying I do the same activity not to please Allah but, to please his servants, or for nothing. Worst, that connotes a call to irreligiousness. It is very important to understand that it is one thing to engage in activities or undertakings without any intention or motive to please Allah; and it is another to do such as an irreligious person or with an atheistic mind. The latter is what these “intellectuals” think we should do. As the Qur’an explained “…When Allah is mentioned ALONE, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, but when those OTHER THAN HIM are mentioned, immediately they rejoice” (emphasis mine).

Premised on the wrong understanding or belief that we are first humans before being Muslims, these “intellectuals” believe that we should detach ourselves from religion on one thing and attach back on another.

But in Islam, as the Prophet said, every human is born a Muslim, his parent turn him into Christianity, Judaism or Idol worshiper. A day old child of a Muslim is entitled to inherit and be inherited, because to Muslim he is a Muslim. Before we come to this world, we took a covenant that we will be Muslim, as the Qur ’an clearly pointed. In addition, Muslims are commanded to “enter Islam completely” and not to “follow the footsteps of Satan”. They are not to obey some parts of the Qur;an and disobey other parts”. The whole of Qur’an is meant to be complied with any time anywhere, as the circumstances warrants.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

FROM Wilson Oruma to Macualey Chrisantus, Nigeria youngsters have dazzled before falling by the wayside.

Nigeria is a country close to 200 million people and undoubtedly blessed with an abundance of talents in many fields, especially football, the amount of success the country has achieved in age group competitions only makes you wonder why the team have failed to each the quarterfinals of the senior world cup, despite appearing in three knockout stages to date.

At the end of 1993 edition of the under-17 world cup, the Nigeria trio of Wilson Oruma, Peter Anosike and Nwankwo Kanu had 16 goals amongst them, with Oruma clinching the Golden Boot. In the long run, only Kanu progressed and became a world-class star, winning the UEFA champions league and Olympic Gold between 1995 and 1996. More titles followed with Arsenal, Ajax and Portsmouth among others.

Oruma, on the other hand retired in 2010 having played for nine clubs, Marseille being the most prominent of them. Anosike didn’t get the opportunity to play a the highest level and his footballing career faded into obscurity.

The Golden Eaglets arguably have the best record at under-17 World Cup level, having appeared in seven finals, winning four and ending as runners-up three tones. One can still ask however, why the Super Eagles have never won the same tournament in the under-20 age group that collapse against Mali on home soil inn 1999 at the Nnamdi Azikwe stadium in Enugu still lingers in memory.

Victor Brown, Soga Sambo and Femi Opabunmi were all stars of the team that reached

the finals in 2001 but none of them developed into household names.

Macauley Chrisantus, Kabiru Akinsola, and Ganiyu Oseni all played

Will Iheanacho Become Another Failed Promise?

By EDET ELIJAH EGOMA

the plane to Brazil instead of some squad peripheral figures.

Manchester City. The Ivorian mid-fielder tipped the Nigerian

Manchester City’s club tour in the United States.

Yaya Toure said.

“Kelechi is an exciting player, I love the way he plays and I feel that he will have a good career at the club and go on to become one of the players of the future,” super sport com quoting Toure on the club’s official website.

Many have expressed their optimism for this great potential but will Iheanacho buck the trend of so many failed, forgotten Nigerian talents and finally transfer his prodigious ability to the senior side?

We all hope he does not follow the pattern of other failed promises.

Player Profile

• Kelechi Iheanacho

important roles in the all conquering team of the late Coach Yemi Tella in 2007, with Chrisantus claiming the Golden Boot. Eight years on he has failed to break into the Super Eagles and now plays for Sivasspor in the Turkish league while Toni Kroos who was the star of the German team in that tournament is now a world champion and has just signed a contract with the biggest club in the world.

After Kelechi Iheanacho’s heroics at the most recent edition of the under-17 competition in UAE, scoring six gals in seven games to claim the Golden Boot, one wonders if it would have been better for Nigerian football in the long term had Keshi taken him on

Any Nigerian who saw the 17-year old’s performance for the Etihad giants vs. Kansa City in their recent preseason friendly will be tempted to say that he’s the next big hope of Nigeria football and there is every reason for optimism.

The youngster boasts close control, good vision, decent pace and the supreme ability to read the game and get into goal-scoring positions are his biggest attributes. He’s also good at bringing his team mates into play but that doesn’t mean he’s the finished work Kelechi is still a work in progress but one that have every chance of being a true star.

Many have tipped Iheanacho to succeed including Yaya Toure of

youngster to record massive success with Manchester city in future after impressing with

• Mannuel Pellegrini

Full name – Kelechi promise Iheanacho Date of Birth – 3 October 1996 Place of Birth – Imo State, Nigeria Height – 1.85m (6ft 1in) Playing position – Attacker Current Club – Man City FC, England Jersey No. 72 Best foot – Left Age – 17 Nationality – Nigeria Youth career – Taye Academy; Nigeria, Mancity FC, England.

Achievement – Best player at the latest under 17 championships where he also won the golden boot award in UAE (United Arab Emirates).

He’s regarded as the Nigerian Messi and the future hope of the Super Eagles. Will he meet up to expectations or break our hearts? The future will decide.

The youngster boasts close control, good vision, decent pace and the supreme ability to read the game are his biggest attributes

THE WEEKEND

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

Compiled by EDOBOR HARRISON AND CHUKWUNEDO TONY

Unveiling The New ‘Boys’ Of Premier League Arsenal Newly Signed Players Alexis Sanchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez is a Chilean footballer who plays for Arsenal in the Premier League and the Chilean national team as a forward, most commonly in the right wing position.

Born: December 19, 1988 (age 25), Tocopilla, Chile Height: 1.69 m Nationality: Chilean Salary: 5.8 million USD (2012) Parents: José Delaigue Current teams: Chile national football team (#7 / Forward), Arsenal F.C. (#17 / Forward)

Alexis Sanchez

David Ospina Ramírez is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Arsenal as a goalkeeper. Wikipedia Born: August 31, 1988 (age 25), Medellín, Colombia Height: 1.83 m Weight: 79 kg Salary: 840,000 EUR (2012) Siblings: Daniela Ospina Current teams: Colombia national football team (#1 / Goalkeeper), OGC Nice (#1 / Goalkeeper)

David Ospina Mathieu Debuchy

Calum Chambers Calum Chambers is an English footballer who plays as a right back for Premier League club Arsenal. Originally a member of Southampton’s academy system, Chambers was promoted to the first team at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. Wikipedia Born: January 20, 1995 (age 19), Petersfield, United Kingdom Height: 1.82 m Weight: 66 kg Career start: 2012 Current team: Arsenal F.C. (#21 / Defender)

Mathieu Debuchy is a French professional footballer who plays for English club Arsenal. He is often deployed in the right back position, but began his career playing as a midfielder usually acting as a deep-lying playmaker.

Wikipedia Born: July 28, 1985 (age 29), Fretin, France Height: 1.77 m Spouse: Ludivine Debuchy (m.

2007) Current teams: Arsenal F.C. (#2 / Defender), France national football team (#2 / Defender) Children: Manon Debuchy, Lukas Debuchy, Lalou Debuchy Parents: Dominique Debuchy, Jean-Pascal Debuchy

Calum Chanbers

David Ospina

Mathieu Debuchy

Man City’s New Arrivals

Willy Caballero

Willy Caballero

Fernando Franscisco Reges

Bacary Sagna

Wilfredo Daniel “Willy” Caballero Lazcano is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Manchester City in England as a goalkeeper.

Wikipedia Born: September 28, 1981 (age 32), Santa Elena, Argentina Height: 1.86 m Weight: 80 kg Career start: 2001 Current team: Manchester City F.C. (#13 / Goalkeeper)

Fernando Francisco Reges, simply known as Fernando, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Manchester City as a defensive midfielder.

Wikipedia Born: July 25, 1987 (age 27), Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Goiás, Brazil Height: 1.83 m Weight: 74 kg Current team: Manchester City F.C. (#6 / Midfielder) Salary: 642,600 EUR (2007) Siblings: João Batista Francisco RegeS

Bacary Sagna is a French footballer who plays for English club Manchester City and for the France national football team.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has described him as the best right back in the Premier League.

Wikipedia Born: February 14, 1983 (age 31), Sens, France Nationality: French Spouse: Ludivine Kadri Sagna (m. 2010) Salary: 3.12 million GBP (2012) Current teams: Manchester City F.C. (#3 / Defender), France national football team (#15 / Defender) Children: Elias Sagna

Fernando Reges

Chelsea Newly Signed Players

Bacary Sagna

Didier Drogba

Mario Pasalic Mario Pa+alic is a Croatian footballer who plays for Elche CF on loan from Chelsea as a midfielder.

Wikipedia Born: February 9, 1995 (age 19), Mainz, Germany Height: 1.86 m Weight: 78 kg Current team: Elche CF (Midfielder)

Tébily Didier Yves Drogba, known as Didier Drogba, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League as a striker, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Ivory Coast national team. Wikipedia Born: March 11, 1978 (age 36), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Nationality: Ivorian Height: 1.88 m Spouse: Diakité Lalla (m. 2011) Current team: Ivory Coast national football team (#11 / Forward) Salary: 4 million EUR (2014)

Mario Pasalic

Cesc Fabregas Francesc “Cesc” Fàbregas Soler is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, and the Spanish national team.

Wikipedia Born: May 4, 1987 (age 27), Arenys de Mar, Spain Height: 1.79 m Partner: Daniella Semaan (2011–) Salary: 6 million EUR (2011) Current teams: Spain national football team (#10 / Midfielder), more Children: Lia Fàbregas

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea as a striker. He began his career with Braga in Portugal, and was signed

by Atlético Madrid in 2007.

Wikipedia Born: October 7, 1988 (age 25), Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil Height: 1.88 m Weight: 81 kg Career start: 2006 Current teams: Chelsea F.C. (#19 / Forward), Spain national football team (#19 / Forward) Nationality: Brazilian, Spanish

Diego Costa

THE WEEKEND

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

Januzaj Inherits Number 11 Shirt

MANCHESTER United have announced their squad numbers for the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season, with Luke Shaw taking the firstchoice left-back jersey as expected and Adnan Januzaj inheriting the shirt previously occupied by Ryan Giggs.

Summer signing Shaw has been confirmed as United’s new number three - in place of Patrice Evra, who has departed for Juventus - on the day it was confirmed he would miss

• Adnan Januzaj

the start of the season with a hamstring injury.

Belgium midfielder Januzaj, also 19, takes the number 11 famously worn during his illustrious playing career by Giggs, who is now Van Gaal’s assistant.

Ander Herrera, the midfielder signed this summer from Athletic Bilbao, has taken number 21 in place of Angelo Henriquez, departed to Dinamo Zagreb on loan.

Juna Mata has been given number eight, with fellow midfielder Anderson being demoted to 28.

No-one has claimed the number five or 15 shirts worn previously by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, the centre-backs now with QPR and Inter Milan respectively.

Manchester United Premier League shirt numbers for 2014/15: 1 De Gea, 2 Rafael, 3 Shaw, 4 Jones, 6 Evans, 8 Mata, 10 Rooney, 11 Januzaj, 12 Smalling, 13

Lindegaard, 14 Hernandez, 16 Carrick, 17 Nani, 18 Young, 19 Welbeck, 20 Van Persie, 21 Herrera, 22 Powell, 23 Cleverley, 24 Fletcher, 25 Valencia, 26 Kagawa, 28 Anderson, 29 Zaha, 30 Varela, 31 Fellaini, 34 Lawrence, 35 Lingard, 36 Vermijl, 38 M Keane, 39 Thorpe, 40 Amos, 41 James, 42 Blackett, 45 Petrucci, 46 Rothwell, 48 W Keane, 49 Wilson, 50 Johnstone.

• Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“I have a contract until 2016,” Ibrahimovic told ESPN. “I will be 34 next season and I don’t see myself continuing to play at the top level after that.

“So yes, I will probably retire at PSG.” Ibrahimovic’s matchwinning performances in the French capital have led some to claim les Parisiens would be nowhere near as strong without him, but he insists that PSG are no oneman team.

“I don’t feel like I am PSG at all,” he added. “I would be nothing without the team and my team-mates.

VINCENT Kompany has signed a new five-year contract at Manchester City.

Kompany, 28, is the most successful captain in the club’s history and penned the new deal to keep him at City until 2019.

“When I arrived in 2008, I could never have dreamed that we could achieve what we have over the last six years but, for me, this is just

the start of the journey,” Kompany, who also captains Belgium, told the City website (www.mcfc.co.uk).

“Lifting two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup have been four of the best days of my life but I believe that there are many more of these occasions ahead.”

Since moving to the Etihad Stadium from Hamburg SV

six years ago, Kompany has established himself as an integral part of the City defence and one of the finest defenders in Europe.

He joins Aleksandar Kolarov, Samir Nasri and David Silva in agreeing a new contract at the big-spending club ahead of the new Premier League season.

City start their title defence at Newcastle United on Sunday.

league table. It is against this backdrop that this match seeks to be a very thrilling and exciting one.

In week 23 of the National League, Edo State’s Bendel Insurance FC who currently sits above the middle of the table in number 8th position will play host to the “Anaedo boys,” Gabros International FC who presently occupy the second position in the league table with 35th points.

Bendel Insurance will

seek to reduce the point deficit as they compete for the crown while Gabros FC will seek to climb on top of the table. This promises to be an entertaining match as both teams play good and fascinating football.

The Nigerian women Premier League also promises to be nothing short of a block buster as Edo Queens do battle with Osun Babes with Edo Queens FC playing host.

These matches will take place at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.

Bayelsa Utd, Bendel Insurance And Edo Queens On Duty

By EDET ELIJAH EGOMA

Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium will be action-packed this weekend as the Nigerian Glo Premier League, the National League and the Women Premier League resume live action across the country.

Bayelsa United FC are zone as they are currently set to lock horns with occupying the 18th Kaduna United FC as both position in the league struggle for survival in table. week 24 of the Nigerian Also, their opponent who Premier League (NPL) is sitting close to the Bayelsa United FC playing bottom of the table will at home will need at least also need at least an away a win to secure little hope draw to push them out of of escaping relegation the relegation battle zone

Ibrahimovic Plans To Retire At ZLATAN Ibrahimovic has “I am playing with very revealed his intention toPSG In 2016good players, players who retire from professional football when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires in 2016.

The 32-year-old forward arrived at Parc des Princes from AC Milan in 2012 and has starred in successive Ligue 1 title triumphs for les Parisiens, although Champions League success continues to elude him.

Having dismissed suggestions earlier this month that he wants to return to Juventus before he retires, the Sweden international has now claimed that he will finish his career at the Parc des Princes.

Vincent Kompany Signs Long-Term Deal With Manchester City

respect me. I respect them.

Respect is a very important notion for me.

“You can’t do well if there is no respect. We work hard every day to reach the same goals and objectives.

Everything comes with hard work.

“I am one of the leaders, but there are a few. We have a good group here. We have a great atmosphere in the dressing room. We never had any problems.

“It is a funny dressing room. Everybody likes to have a laugh and take the p*ss out of each other, so it’s good. I like it.”

as they currently occupy the 17th position of the

Match Fixtures Nigerian Glo Premier League Bayelsa United vs Kaduna United Division & League Bendel Insurance vs Gabros Int. FC Women Premier League Edo Queens FC vs Osun Babes FC 16-08-2014 Saturday 17-08-2014 Sunday 18-08-2014 Monday

United Confirm Luke Shaw Injury Blow MANCHESTER United’s preparations for the start of the season have been hit with the news that Luke Shaw is out for four weeks.

The 19-year-old has picked up a hamstring injury and the club confirmed he faces a month on the sidelines.

The injury to the left-back is likely to speed up the club’s move for Sporting Lisbon’s Marcos Rojo who is believed to be trying to force through a transfer to Old Trafford.

Ajax’s Daley Blind is

another player who can play in that position and has been linked with a move to Manchester United.

United are short of left sided defenders after selling both Patrice Evra and Alexander Büttner in the summer.

Shaw became the fourth most expensive defender in history when he swapped Southampton for United in a deal that could cost the Old Trafford club £30million.

Although he played for

England at the World Cup, it is worth remembering Shaw only made his full Premier League debut in November 2012.

Manchester United kick-

• Luke Shaw

off the new Premier League season against Swansea City at Old Trafford in Saturday’s early kick-off.

THE WEEKEND

CMYK

32

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014

English Premier League Opener

Wenger Tips Alexis To Make Instant Impact

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger believes Alexis Sanchez will not need to time to find his feet in English football following his 35 million-pound move from Barcelona.

Alexis, 25, is set to make his Premier League debut against managerless Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium this evening.

And Wenger is convinced the Chile international, who started in Sunday’s Community Shield win over Manchester City, will impress from the off against the Eagles.

“I think he will be very quick to adapt,” Wenger told his prematch news conference. “He is very keen. He is a player who is proactive, wants to

Jose Mourinho

For Mou, It’s PL Title Or Bust

It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day. It’s a new life. So who is really feeling good entering the 2014-15 English Premier League campaign?

Arsenal is improved, first appearance at Manchester City is the Stamford Bridge – 57 champion, Liverpool is seconds to be exact – relevant, Manchester Costa found the back of United is rebounding the net. He would score rather impressively and again in Chelsea’s 2-0 Everton is as strong as friendly victory over Real it has been in recent Sociedad, but the prememory. But no one is season goals only feeling as good as hinted at the quality Chelsea about its Pre- Chelsea acquired at its mier League title point of attack.

Costa finished one goal chances.

Since returning to West behind Lionel Messi and London, manager Jose four tallies behind Mourinho has publicly Cristiano Ronaldo when pleaded for a top striker. time was called on the Over the summer, he fi- last Spanish season. nally found his man in His production was on Diego Costa. The Brazil- par with the two top scorian-born forward who ers of this, or any, genpledged international eration, and had Costa allegiance to Spain is so not been dealt a thigh striking that his arrival at injury late in the season, Stamford Bridge over- he may have well finshadowed the return of ished ahead of Messi the king, Didier Drogba. and Ronaldo in terms of Within a minute of his not just goals but also meaningful trophies.

In his final season on the Iberian Peninsula, Costa led Atletico Madrid to a league title with 27 goals in La Liga, but his inability to last even 10 minutes in the Champions League final did not help Atletico’s failed bid at a first-ever European Cup. If Costa was the only major acquisition for the Blues, one could argue

By EDET ELIJAH EGOMA Edo State Sports Ministry in collaboration with Investment One Financial Services Limited (IOFS) will from the 16th of August hold a sevenday grassroots table

SATURDAY, 16 AUGUST Swansea City Everton Everton Hull City Hull City vs.

Aston Villa Aston Villa Sunderland Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur vs.

Crystal Palace

SUNDAY, 17 AUGUST Liverpool Newcastle United

vs. vs.

Southampton Southampton

Manchester City

MONDAY, 18 AUGUST Burnley

vs.

from the title race.

With Costa alone added to the mix, Chelsea should have been good enough to challenge City as title favorites.

However, the additions of Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luis promulgated the Blues as a clear step ahead entering the new Premiership campaign.

Edo Holds Table Tennis Clinic For Students

English Premier League Fixtures Manchester United vs.

Leicester City vs.

Queens Park Rangers vs.

Stoke City West Bromwich Albion vs.

West Ham United vs.

Arsenal Arsenal

Chelsea could still dethrone City for league honors. Chelsea was intertwined in a threeway title race with Manchester City and Liverpool late in the 2013-14 campaign when Mourinho, arguably, prematurely renounced his club’s chances and abdicated

Chelsea

tennis development clinic for Secondary School Students in the state between the ages of 9 to 15 years.

A representative of IOFS revealed to the OBSERVERSports that the event is a joint effort with the state Sports Ministry to elevate the standard of grassroots table tennis in the state, thereby scouting for talents to be worked and improved upon as part of Oshiomhole’s-led administration’s transformation agenda.

He said “The stage is set for all Secondary School Students in the state between the ages of 9-15 years with passion for table tennis to come and develop their talents. When talents are discovered early in life, it gives room for proper development.

Usain Bolt and Co. were all discovered so early in life and worked

on which has made them what they are now.

That is what we represent and we encourage other non-governmental organizations to support the government in organizing events such as this to expose hidden talents.

He also encouraged parents to support children who have flair and passion for sporting activities.

The event will take place at the indoor sports hall, Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, Edo State.

make things happen, runs at people. He is committed. I believe he has all the ingredients to be a very good Premier League player.

“I am happy with our signings. [Mathieu] Debuchy, [Calum] Chambers and Sanchez have integrated well with the team. We are not destabilised. It is a strong re-enforcement of our squad.”

Wenger believes the “serene” atmosphere surrounding his squad in a summer when he has not lost any of his key players is a positive factor heading into the new season, while he feels they are ready to mount another title challenge.

“I’m very excited,” Wenger said when asked to sum up his mood ahead of the upcoming campaign.

“What these players have is ambition and a good togetherness in the team. I believe we

have a chance [in the title race].

“We were top of the league for so long last year. It is difficult to know how the other teams will be and we still have some challenges to face that we did not face well last year.

“We need to take more points from the top teams and that will be our real challenge this year and keep the consistency we had last year against the teams that are not challenging for the championship.

“There is a little bit of weight off the shoulders [after winning the FA Cup], that’s for sure.

Confidence is there for this team, but we want to transform that into efficiency with our performances.

“This is the calmest environment I remember certainly, but I am long enough in the job to know that all that matters is the first game.

Arsene Wenger

Ideye In Line For Baggies Bow WEST Brom’s record signing Brown Ideye is in contention to make his competitive bow for the club in their Barclays Premier League opener against Sunderland on Saturday, but fellow summer recruit Joleon Lescott will miss out as he continues his recovery from a knee problem.

James Morrison (knee) is also not avail-

able for the game at The Hawthorns, while it remains to be seen whether Gareth McAuley (calf) will be ready to feature.

Along with Ideye, a host of other players signed over the summer - including Andre Wisdom, Chris Baird, Jason Davidson, Sebastien Pocognoli and former Black Cats man Craig Gardner could be involved in what will be head coach Alan Irvine’s first competitive fixture with Albion as well.

Provisional squad: Foster, Myhill, Wisdom, Olsson, Baird, Davidson, Pocognoli, McAuley, Dawson, Yacob, Gardner, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Ideye, Anichebe, Berahino, Sessegnon.

Brown Ideye

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