Nigerian observer 20 08 2013

THE NIGERIAN

The Nigerian

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol . 38 • NO. 297 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 20 13 • N100.00 NUTRITIONAL HEALTH AND DIETETICS Page 14

Arthritis and what to do (1)

FG identifies 34 minerals in commercial quantity identified over 34 different solid minerals in commercial quantity in different parts of the country.

Sada, said this in a

message he sent to a workshop on Economic Diversification and Enhancement of Revenue Generation, taking place in Gombe.

IBADAN - Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, yesterday in Ibadan prayed that God should uproot all the leaders with evil intentions against the country so that the polity could move forward.

Gowon spoke during ministration work praying his visit to Gethsemane fervently for peace and Prayer Ministries progress of Nigeria.

Cathedral, Eleyele, He also faulted the Ibadan presided over by prediction that the National Coordinator, country would break up Nigeria Prays, Rev. by 2015, saying that Moses Aransiola. similar prediction by “I want God to uproot France had already bad leaders from Nigeria failed. as a way of moving the The former Head of country forward from the State said, “Nigerians present situation,” he should stand up as one said. and intercede on the The ex-military ruler crises rocking this nation. had been involved in “That is when God will

uproot all the leaders that have evil intention against this country.

Nigerians needs to desist from creating problems which they cannot solve and stop blaming God for their shortcomings.

“We had series of crises in the past and if Nigerians can pray fervently well, sooner or later, this country will be

GOMBE The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Musa Sada, yesterday said the federal government had

The workshop was organised by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for the NorthContinues on page 2

God ’ll uproot bad leaders HEALTH Page 18

Rotavirus The silent child killer

- Gowon

free from its challenges; God has heard our cries and will surely answer.

“I don’t believe that the prediction by America that Nigeria will break before 2015 will happen. France said the same thing in the past that we will break up

before 2014, but we still stand as one.

“Every Nigerian should stand against the claims.

If we believes that it will not happen, then it will not.

“I believe God will not allow such to happen.

Nigeria Prays is really praying against such.”

He said Nigerians at home and abroad were very concerned about the crises rocking this nation.

“We believe that only prayer can solve it. If you love Nigeria the way I love Nigeria, we should have faith, then we shall overcome”.

Continues on page 2

Security: Zone

By MIKE OSAROGIAGBON

BENIN CITY – The

Assistant Inspector – General (AIG) of Police, Zone ‘5’ Mr. Hashimu Salihu Argungu has placed his men on red alert ahead of any security challenge that may arise across the zone during and after the forthcoming ember months.

The AIG gave the indication at a sensitization meeting held in Benin City, for officers and men including Edo State Police Commissioner, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo.

“The essence we are here is to sensitize you all (policemen) on the coming ember months; we believe in planning; proper planning prevents poor performance; we know the current crime and criminalities in our society”. He stated.

Mr. Argungu expressed joy at the reported cases of arrest

5 on red alert

of kidnappers and the rescue of their victims.

“Our statistics show that a lot is being done and we will not relent.

That is why we are here now and we can eliminate and reduce crime to the minimum level in our society, especially here in Edo,” AIG Argungu maintained.

The Zonal Police Chief called for support as police in the zone are ready to collaborate with relevant federal agencies, including the Federal Road Safety Corps, to curb crime and road accidents during and after the ember months.

He reiterated the ability of his men to safeguard lives and property,

“despite that the Federal Government has abandoned its much publicize plan to deploy close circuit Television Cameras at Strategic locations across the country as part of efforts to check rising insecurity.”

The police boss however assured that the sensitization confab would also be held in Bayelsa and Delta States, which are under his command.

VISIT: Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (left) and Rev. Felix Omobude, President, Pentocostal Fellowship of Nigeria during a visit to the Governor in Benin City yesterday.

Development of Edo: PFN

President lauds Oshiomhole

BENIN CITY President of the Pentecostal Fellowship

of Nigeria (PFN), Reverened Felix Omobude says Governor

Adams Oshiomhole has repositioned Edo State to the forefront after its

Council to regulate teachers’ diploma ABUJA - The Minister of Education, Prof.

Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, says the Teachers Registration Council of

Nigeria (TRCN) will now regulate the teachers’ professional diploma at various academic levels.

Rufa’I said this on

- Minister

Monday in Abuja when a delegation from the Teachers Education Department in Tanzania

visited her in Abuja.

“For the first time we have a document that we can uniformly use for Continues on page 2

many years of neglect by the past governments.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Governor in Benin City yesterday, Reverend Omobude said from the outset, it was clear that Oshiomhole had a positive vision for the state.

He said: “you left no one in doubt that you meant well for Edo State.

I’m very thankful to God and proud that once again Edo State has come to the forefront.

“While we commend your efforts so far, we know that there are many Continues on page 2

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

News

PFN President lauds Oshiomhole

Continued from page 1

things to be done, many miles to be crossed.

“We want to assure you of our prayers; we stand with you and by you to move our state forward. I thank you for making yourself available for the giant strides your administration is making.”

Reverend Omobude noted that Governor Oshiomhole has a respected voice both locally and nationally and should therefore continue to

speak up on ways to move the nation foreward.

In his response, Governor Oshiomhole yesterday commended Reverend Omobude for his role in pioneering technical education in the rural communities.

He said: “I congratulate you on your well-deserved victory as president of PFN. I know that the Pentecostal Fellowship won’t have been in a better hand at this point in

time and considering the visibility of the immediate predecessor across the country.

“We appreciate your outstanding contribution to education, especially technical education, as represented by the Lighthouse Polytechnic where you are investing huge resources in a rural community. I emphasise rural community, because the challenge of rebuilding a new Nigeria needs development and to achieve even

development and keep our rural people where they are and reverse urban-rural migration, we must bring development to rural areas, not by sermon and that is what your pioneering effort in this regard has demonstrated.

“The effort has helped to complement our own effort to recognize the need to provide more Technical Schools as opposed to conventional studies provided by universities.”

Head of Service inducts 26 directors

ABUJA - Alhaji Bukar Aji, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, on Monday inducted 26 for newly employed Directorate Officers.

They are on transfer from the Federal Capital Territory, Ebonyi, Bayelsa and Bauchi.

Inducting the directors, Aji said the training was mandatory in order to acquaint and expose the directors to the rudiments, basic structures, processes, procedures and operations of the civil service.

He said the induction was also to introduce them to the subjects of code of conduct: ethics and attitudinal change in the Federal Civil Service.

At the end of the induction, the newly employed would have been equipped to imbibe courtesy in service delivery, commitment to duty and discipline in workplace.

He urged them to shun all

forms of corrupt practice since the civil service was an institution that had zero tolerance to corruption.

“As officers coming from different backgrounds, exposures and experiences in your various states, you will find the training a most appropriate source of information on the operations

of the federal service.

“This will prepare you well to face the tasks and challenges ahead that you will meet in the course of your duties and responsibilities in the service.

“No doubt, you will find the training interesting and worthwhile in view of the faculty of service. We have retired public officers as

Continued from page 1

East sub-region.

Represented by the Chief Accountant in the ministry, Mrs Edith Ezeokoli, the minister said diversification of the economy was a major component of the federal government’s transformation agenda.

He said a lot of the minerals

had been found in the NorthEastern part of the country, which according to him, when harnessed, can benefit the host communities.

“The North-East geopolitical zone in particular, is endowed with a variety of mineral resources comprising clay, coal (lignite), kaolin, marble, limestone, barite,

Responsibility Bill to block all leakages in revenue collection, as well as enhance prudence and transparency in our financial transactions.

“In addition to PAYE, usually deducted from source, efforts have been intensified to ensure that businessmen and corporate organisations pay their correctly-assessed taxes to the government as at when due. “‘We have also recorded success stories in massive socio-economic infrastructure, agriculture, health sector and employment opportunities for our teeming youth and women, ‘’ he said.

He called on resource

persons and participants in the workshop to passionately brainstorm on ways to achieve adequate diversification of the economy by tapping from the abundant natural resources found in the region.

Earlier, the chairman, RMAFC, Mr Elias Mbam, said that there was an urgent need to diversify the source of revenue in the country to meet the increasing expenditure requirements of governance and development.

Mbam said diversification of the economy would guarantee actualisation of various socio economic programmes of government.

FG identifies 34 minerals

Diversification of economy ’ll enhance GOMBE - Governor Ibrahim development - Dankwabo Dankwambo of Gombe State stressed on Monday in Gombe that diversification of Nigeria’s economy would engender economic growth and development.

Dankwambo stated this at the opening of a two-day advocacy workshop on “Economic Diversification and Enhanced Revenue Generation’’ for the North- East zone.

“In view of global economic realities, there is a need to maximally harness and utilise the the country’s abundant natural resources to rebuild the economy and improve the living standards of the people,’’ he said.

Dankwambo said diversification of the economy was possible through revamping of manufacturing industry and enhanced development of agriculture, culture and tourism, solid minerals, education, commerce, science and technology, among other sectors.

“It is against this backdrop that at the inception of this administration, we wasted no time in constituting sectorbased committees to review the various sectors.

“On revenue generation, we have passed a Fiscal

bentonite,and lead/zinc ores, among others.

“Exploitation of some of these minerals, has made this part of the nation, especially Potiskum and Fika, hubs for gypsum trading activities.

“The discovery of very high grade iron ore in Nangere Local Government Area of Yobe State and Trona in both Borno and Yobe states, have joined to make these states, and indeed the North-East Zone, a centre for sourcing trona for domestic and industrial use,” he said.

The minister called on mining operators to add value to their products before selling them to enhance their economic value.

He also called on researchers to conduct researches on how to add value to Nigeria’s mineral resources before exporting same.

The minister urged state governments to provide logistic support to local mining companies to increase their productivity and jobs creation potentials.

Council to regulate teachers’ diploma Continued from page 1

teachers at the postgraduate diploma education level, which is really an important milestone for us because we do have a lot of challenges when it concerns teachers.

“This will enable us to have a way forward in addressing some of the issues,‘’ she said.

She said that the council had been doing a lot in terms of registration of teachers, capacity development and

God ’ll uproot bad leaders

Continued from page 1 should be ignored, as they On political activities ahead of 2015 general elections, Gowon said, “the politicians are over-ambitious.

Gowon advised that the over-ambitious politicians

resource persons on various subjects and issues.

“All I want to plead with you is to give your full attention and commitment to the lecture.

“I am confident that at the end, you would have been well equipped to face the challenges ahead.

“It will also enable you to make modest contributions to the task of transforming the Federal Republic of Nigeria in line with internation

spelt doom for the nation.

“Politicians should not be selfish but should protect the interest of the people to ensure equitable development of the country,” he said.

professionalisation.

She said that Nigeria and South Africa were the only two countries having teachers’ regulatory bodies.

Rufa’I said that she got information that Tanzanian was also establishing a council to regulate teachers in terms of development and professionalisation.

“I am happy to hear that you are here to under study how our teachers’ registration council in Nigeria is working.

“I believe that by the time you under study what we do, it will really help you out to replicate them in Tanzania.

“I also believe that the outcome of what you will do, will definitely make you outstanding.”

She commended the

Tanzanian government for sending a high powered delegation to Nigeria to under study the council.

Mrs Helen Liawa, Assistant Director, Teachers Education Department in Tanzanian, said that the delegation was in Nigeria to study the council’s operation, to establish one.

“The objective of our visit is to learn from your ministry on matters pertaining to teachers’ professionalism.

“We will like to especially learn from different educational leaders as well as teachers themselves because in Tanzania, we are planning to establish Tanzanian teachers professional council.

“We understand that it is only Nigeria and South African that have such, so we are here to learn so as to get the best

Why we resuscitated UPN - Prince Eweka

By PEACE MADOJEMU/ VICTOR IMADE

BENIN CITY – The Chairman, Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Prince Sylvester Eweka has disclosed that the party is not a new political party and that the founding father is Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Prince Eweka stated that the resuscitation of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) over the years is to impact positively on the lives of the people of Nigeria. he added that he noticed that the present Nigerian Government has nothing to offer Nigerians.

According to him, he stated that the main objective of UPN is to build humanity, wipe out tears from the eyes of the people and what look like an Herculean task to be easily attained.

He disclosed that the party can provide free education, good health care, Agriculture, low-cost Housing and massive development infrastructure, he added that all these have not been seen in recent time, hence the Re-

birth of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

The UPN state chairman stated that the party has capable hands which comprise of professionals that include Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, even professors who are presently on ground building the party in various states of the federation.

The chairman stated further that presently in the 3 senatorial Districts of Edo State. There are over 200 co-ordinators sensitizing the people on the programmes of the UPN and the response from the people is that of enthusiasm and a willingness to participate in the building of the party,” he added that within just two months of it’s resuscitation they have coordinators in the 36 states of the federation.”

Prince Eweka stated that the UPN has no zoning system because it is an all embracing party which gives everyone equal opportunity, he added” all other parties are free to come and contribute their quota to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).”

Educ development

Mrs Odubu commends UNESCO, others

By INNOCENT OMOAKA

BENIN CITY – Wife of Edo State Deputy Governor, Deaconess Endurance Odubu has lauded the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the National Commission for Mass Education (NMEC) for partnering with the State Government in improving the education sector.

Deaconess Mrs. Odubu made the declaration in Benin City during the opening ceremony of the State Level Training Seminar by the Agency for Adult and NonFormal Education of the State Ministry of Basic Education.

According to her, the seminar, which is aimed at eradicating illiteracy in the society, is complementing the efforts of Adams Oshiomhole’s drive to reposition the education sector in line with the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs).

She, however, called for the sustenance of similar training in Edo State, which would help eradicate poverty and ignorance among the people.

Hon. Patrick Aguinede, the Commissioner for Basic Education, Edo State, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Barr.

Usi Osemwonwa noted that the training programme is in line with the state government’s policy on grassroots capacity building to improve the human and infrastructural development and reposition the states education sector.

Executive Secretary, NMEC, Alhaji Jibrin Piako, represented by Mr. John Edeh of NMEC noted that facilitators were drawn from across the 18 local government areas of the state in order to equip them with practical knowledge and skills aimed at revitalizing adult and youth literacy of the non-formal education sector.

Two-party system best for Nigeria - Utomi

LAGOS - A political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, on Monday said that a two-party system was best for Nigeria.

Utomi’s said this on the backdrop of registration of two new political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

INEC on Friday announced the registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Independent Democrats (ID).

INEC Secretary, Mrs. A.C. Ogakwu, had said in a statement that the registration was in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).

Utomi told newsmen that he recognised INEC’s constitutional power to register political parties but said that a two party-system would be

preferable for Nigeria.

“It is left for political actors to develop a convention for a two-party system,” he said.

Similarly, the Lagos State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Godfrey Lemchi, described the registration of the two new parties as contradictory.

“The registration of two new political parties coming from a commission that deregistered 28 political parties, not long ago, is contradictory,” he said.

Lemchi urged INEC not to appeal against the recent court judgment nullifying the deregistration.

However, a former Electoral Commissioner of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr Mohammed Oyefeso, said that the registration of the new parties was in order.

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Inside Edo Environmental Protection

Rector Urges UN Proactiveness

By MORRISON HAYBLE

AUCHI – The United Nations (UN) has been entreated to compel world leaders, through diplomacy or sanctions to apply necessary measures toward saving the environment as part of far reaching steps to address the incidence of climate changes appeared mired in global politics.

Rector, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Dr. (Mrs.) Philipa Idogho in a remarks while declaring open the 7 th Annual Conference of the school of Environmental Studies of the institution noted that in spite of several summits by world leaders studies on climate change,

industialzed nations seemed unwilling to evolve strategies to cut down on green house emissions.

Dr. Idogho remarked that incidence of sea of gully erosion was another environmental issue threatening mankind as deep frightening gullies threaten roads, and built up habitats pointing most of which often result from indiscriminate practices in land use and environmental planning.

“Rapid and indiscriminate deforestation, roads without gutters, building on the natural pathway of water flow, poor storm water management in urban areas have contributed to environmental woes,

especially in our urban and emerging cities.”

The Rector who observed that the major challenges to man was the environment, expressed her belief that the problem could be surmounted if Nigeria’s town planning authorities scrupulously implement extant laws in urban and regional development without fear or favour.

She pointed out that the measure would serve to reclaim much of the cities as well as guarantee urban renewal drive.

The theme of the conference is, “Climate Change, Human Settlement, and vulnerability: Issues and Challenges for Sustainable Built Environment.”

visits to all the drainage sites in Ubiaja metropolis, system with a view to ascertain their functionality or otherwise.

Hon. Ikpea who frowned at the level of neglect of the drainage by previous administration in the said he decide to go on the

R-L:Chairman, Esan South East Local Government Council, Hon. Joseph Ikpea at the inspection of a failed drainage project in Ubiaja. With him is the Supervisor for Works, Hon. Monday Osoh; Supervisor for Education, Hon. Lizzy Ehiabhi and the Treasurer to the Local Government Council, Mr. Anthony Akhimien.

Ministry Holds Valedictory Session For Perm Sec BENIN CITY- The Permanent secretary, Ministry of Budget, Planning and Economic

LG Boss Inspects Drainage Sites UBIAJA – The Chairman of Esan South East Local Government Council, Hon. Joseph Ikpea has made inspection

Chairman, Esan South East Local Government Council, Hon.Joseph Ikpea inspecting a failed drainage system in Ubiaja, the administrative headquarters.

inspection due to the prediction by experts that erosion/flood was going to destroy large part of the country this year.

He promised that his administration would reopen all the drainage system in Ubiaja so that the community would not be affected by erosion/flood.

Hon. Ikpea was accompanied on the inspection visit by top council functionaries, including the Secretary to the Local Government, Hon. Solon Oyedo Head of Local Government Administration, Barr.

Osagiator Ojo, Treasury to the Local Government, Mr. Anthony Akhimien; Supervisor for Works; Hon. Monday Osoh; and the Supervisor for Education, Hon. Lizzy Ehiabhi.

AFUZE – EMAI-Owan East Local Government Council Chairman, Hon. (Barr.) Jimoh Ijegbai has said that his administration would support the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Owan East Chapter to ensure that its objective of building a better society is achieved.

them positively in order to build a virile society.

She added that the association equally assists distressed communities as well as individuals and sued for the Chairman’s supports to enable the Federation meet up its objective in terms of organizing workshop for members.

LG Boss Assures FOMWAN Of Support The council boss gave this pledge when he played host to members of the Federation led by Hajia Aisha Saliu Musa in Afuze, the headquarters of the council.

The Chairman advised members of the Federation not to hesitate to seek his administration’s support,

since he maintains an open door policy.

Hajia Musa had commended the council boss for his electoral victory.

She explained that the association is saddled with the responsibilities of empowering women and children and mouldings

Development, Barr. Louis Aliu has advised members of the ministry to sustain their diligence, hardwork and loyalty to the state Government Barr.

Aliu gave the advice at a valedictory session organised by the ministry, on the eve of his disengagement from the science.

The Permanent Secretary remarked that the success of the ministry during his tenure can only be sustained if the staff maintain the high standard of service they are known for.

He commended all members of staff for their level of cooperation and the diligence shown during his period in the ministry.

The Commissioner for the Ministry, Honourable Lawrence

Aghedo described the out – going Permanent Secretary as a very thorough officer and, a great team leader who is hardworking and with high sense of experience on the job.

He stated that the Permanent Secretary always is a team player all activities embarks upon and prayed that the good Lord grant him long life, prosperity and favour in all his endeavour.

The directors and staff expressed profound gratitude to the Permanent Secretary and also thanked him for sharing his leadership qualities with them, describing the Permanent Secretary as a team leader who always mobilized his staff to achieve the set goal.

BNCL Internal Auditor’s Mom For Burial Aug 23

By ISEMHENBITA FAITH

BENIN CITY – The burial ceremony of Madam Atiti Imasuen, (Nee Idada), Mother of Mr. Gabriel Imasuen, the Internal Auditor of Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), publishers of the Observer titles has been scheduled to begin on Friday August 23, 2013.

A statement endorsed by Mrs. Orumwense and Mr. Imasuen Gabriel indicated that on Friday August 23, 2013 at 10am, the body will be taken from God’s care Hospital Mortuary in a motorcade to her residence, No 6/7 Idemudia Street, Off Useh College Road for lying-in-state and service of songs at 3pm.

On Saturday August 24, 2013, there would be social dance/entertainment of guests at Baptist High School, TV Road, Benin City.

The ceremony will climax on Sunday August 25, 2013 with

a thanksgiving service at CSSM, 70 Imagbenikaro Street, Off Siluko Road at 10am and another thanksgiving service at Head-Stone Endtime Ministries, 168 Ikpoba Slope, Benin City at 11am, as well as Grand Children’s Day at 1pm.

Late Madam Atiti Imasuen died on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

She is survived by Seven Children, including Mr. Imasuen Gabriel, 34 Grand Children and 10 Great-grand children.

Late Madam Atiti Imasuen

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Across The Nation

State Of Emergency, No Bar To LG Poll DAMATURU - Alhaji Muhammad Jauro, Chairman of Yobe Independent Electoral Commission (YSIEC), has said that the state of emergency imposed on the State, would not hinder the conduct of council polls Fielding questions from newsmen in Damaturu.he explained that the state of

- Electoral Commission

emergency did not prohibit political activities and the conduct of elections.

He said the commission was prepared to conduct the elections any time from now as most of the non-sensitive election materials,

had been procured.

“We have on ground, most of the materials required for the election and government has released funds for logistics. We have also obtained the updated voters register from the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC).

“The commission is however yet to print ballot papers until a date is fixed and the actual number of political parties participating in the elections, ascertained” he said.

The chairman observed that the security situation in the state, had improved and that the atmosphere was now conducive for the elections.

He said the commission would meet with stakeholders, including political parties, to deliberate on

the proposed election.

Jauro thanked political parties, politicians, opinion leaders and security operatives in the state, for their co’operation during the sensitization campaign on voter education embarked upon by YSIEC. Reports say that the local government elections were initially scheduled to hold in June

APGA Will Not Reverse Disqualification Of Soludo

AWKA - The Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra, Chief Mike Kwentor, said it would not over ruled the disqualification of six aspirants for the party’s governorship ticket.

Kwentor told newsmen in Awka that the action of the screening committee was in line with the party’s constitution.

He said that it was better for the party to go into the election with a candidate without blemish than with one whose victory could be voided.

According to him, the constitution says you must be eligible to vote before you can be voted for and for you to be eligible to vote, you must have voter’s card.

“So, I think that the Screening Committee disqualified those Chairman, Esan South East Local Government Council, Hon. Joseph Ikpea with Mrs. Edna Ogbebor, the Esan Police Area they disqualified based on cogent reasons.

Commander who was on a familiarisation visit to the local government.

“I am sure that even those

Untreated Cataract Can Lead To Blindness - Expert

LAGOS - Dr Anne Ebri, the Sub-Regional Manager, West African Branch for Brien Holden Vision Institute, has warned that untreated cataract can result in blindness.

Ebri gave the warning when he spoke to newsmen in Lagos.

The institute carried out a surgery to remove a bilateral cataract from Melchizedek Abraham, a 20-month-old boy.

Cataract is opacity of the eye lens, which can happen for many reasons.

She said that cataract could occur more often in adults as part of the ageing process and rarely in children, but for hereditary reason or due to complications in pregnancy.

“However, today we are dealing with a child, and in this particular case, it is congenital; meaning the child was born with it.

“What we are trying to do here today is to prevent lifelong blindness,” she said.

She also said that this was possible through a surgery that took less than an hour and carried the usual risks associated with any other surgery.

Ebri said Melchizedek was sent home with his medication after his surgery on Thursday.

“He will receive glasses in a month’s time, after that he will be required to go through checkups every three months to chart his progress,’’ she said.

She said by the age of three, Melchizedek would be

expected to undergo another surgery to implant ‘Intraocular Lenses’, which would eliminate the need for glasses.

According to her, the institute do not usually sponsor surgeries, but this is a special circumstance that serves the institute’s general purpose.

“The Brien Holden Vision Institute supports government hospitals internationally by equipping government hospitals and training their staff to do their work better and with

cost effective measures.

“We are training local community-based workers to identify eye problems in the community and to facilitate referrals to centres we have equipped.

“It is in the course of this that we found Melchizedek, although it is not in the core of what we do, we see this as an opportunity to create awareness.

“This will be a good case study to show how a child can be restored through surgery after

seeking help,” she said.

Ebri explained that most Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas, were so

scared of surgery that they would rather bear the illness.

She added that this leads people hiding their illness or their sick children from the world.

- Chairman

disqualified know that the reason for which they were disqualified was cogent, otherwise, they will appeal because the party made provision for appeal,” he said.

The Alhaji Tayo Sowunmi-led Screening Committee screened the 14 gubernatorial aspirants and disqualified six aspirants.

Those disqualified are: Prof.

Charles Soludu, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, Dr Chike Obidigbo, Chief Chinedu Idigo, Chief Tony Nnacheta and Mr. Emma Nweke.

They were disqualified for nonpossession of voter’s card, tax clearance, lack of evidence of sound financial muscle, and unresolved issue with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.

In a reaction the Special Adviser to Governor, Mr Fidel Okafor, corroborated Kwentor’s views.

“I am sure what the committee members did was not deliberately targeted at the affected aspirants, and I am convinced that they told them their shortcomings,” Okafor said.

Okafor also said though the affected aspirants had formidable credentials, but was optimistic that those cleared could defeat any other candidate of the opposition parties.

Union Urges FG To Enroll 2006 LAGOS - The Nigerian “Those of them who can make Retirees it still Union of Pensioners (NUP), come to the secretariat here Federal Civil Service Sector, Lagos, has urged the Federal Government to enroll 2006 retirees on the pension pay roll.

The Chairman of the sector, Mr. Pius Chukwura, made this appeal when he spoke to newsmen in Lagos.

Chukwura said many of the

pensioners were actually suffering and were living on ‘handouts’ from families and friends.

“Many of them have not been paid their gratuity since 2006 when they were retired till date, not to talk of being on the pension pay roll.

at the Federal Civil Service Club, Ikoyi, to update their records.

“We have about 10, 000 of such members who have done their paper works and completed the necessary forms which we have sent to the Head of Service.

“Uptill now, nothing has come out of it,” he said.

Chukwura said that the appeal had become necessary to ensure that the hardship being faced by some of their members were reduced.

“We are not saying that all the names should be included in the pay roll at once, but it would be a relief if during our Wednesday meetings, some pensioners were told their gratuity had been paid or their names are now on the pay roll.’’

The chairman, who is also the NUP National Secretary, said that its secretariats nationwide were always updating the lists of pensioners.

He said that they also assist members in completing necessary forms and the documents to submit and forward same to the Head of Service.

Chukwura said the union also Front rows, Chairman, Esan South East Local Government Council, Hon. Joseph Ikpea (3rd left) in a group photograph took statistics of pensioners who with Mrs. Edna Ogbebor, Police Area Commander-in-charge of Esan Command, (2nd left) and Hon. T. E. Igogbe the Vice received their pay every month Chairman, Chief Iyase of Ewatto (left) during a familiarisation visit by the Police boss. and those who were not paid.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

South-South Rivers Judiciary Attributes Success To God PORT HARCOURT The President of Customary Court of Appeal in Rivers, Justice Peter Agumagu, on Friday attributed the success of the state judiciary to the grace of God. Agumagu made the assertion at a thanksgiving service to mark the end of the 2012/2013 Legal Year in Port Harcourt.

According to him, the

judiciary is grateful to God for leading it successfully throughout the year.

Agumagu commended members of the Judiciary for their efforts at ensuring efficient and productive service delivery to the people of the state.‘”I commend all members of the Nigerian Bar Association for their efforts in ensuring a successful

year.’’

Agumagu urged members of the state judiciary to be courageous in all they do to maintain peace, law and order in the state. He also urged them to remain focused while on vacation and resume with

joy to continue in the fight for justice in the state and country.

Delivering the sermon, Rev. Innocent Ordu, Bishop of Anglican Diocese of EVO, said that God who is the highest Judge, had passed through the judiciary to bring

peace.

Ordu urged members of the judiciary to always acknowledge God in their entire practise for more wisdom just as he gave to Solomon in the Bible.

“God loves justice, that is

why he gave wisdom to judges and also love them for bringing peace among people of the earth,’’ he said. The bishop advised members to reflect on how God had helped them to achieve much through the legal year.

NRC To Rehabilitate rail lines, had Rail Tracks Makurdi completed about 34 per cent PORT HARCOURT The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is to rehabilitate rail tracks in the south eastern part of the country. The Eastern Regional Manager of NRC, Mr Felix Njoku, made this known when he inaugurated the movement of the imported track materials to the zone in Port Harcourt.

Njoku listed the materials as 13,500 pieces of 12 meter long rail lines, 165 pieces of steel sleepers, fish plates, pandrol clips, bolts and knots. “The imported rail lines will cover a distance of 81 kilometres of track while a balance of the rails will be stored and used for maintenance of the rail lines on completion of the rehabilitation.

He said in order to enhance speed of rehabilitation; the contractor had connected all the missing sections of lines between Port Harcourt and Enugu.

“The reconstruction of the Nyaba rail bridge at Enugu, Heavy Washout at Eziama, Aba, and Bridge Three in Port Harcourt, have been completed”, he said.

Njoku said that Eser West Africa Limited, a contractor rehabilitating the 463kilometre Port Harcourt-

of 51 bridges across four eastern states. According to him, the project has reached 48 per cent completion and will attain 60 per cent completion when the materials reached their destinations.

Njoku said the rehabilitation would be fasttracked to enable commercial train services to resume by the end of December. He said that NRC was collaborating with communities to protect railway lines from vandals.

L-R: Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadiri and National President, Nigeria Bar Association, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN) at the valedictory ceremony in honour of retiring Chief Judge of Rivers, Justice Iche Ndu in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Navy Arrests Suspected Oil Thieves

L-R: President, Customary Court of Appeal, Rivers State, Justice Peter Agumagu; retiring Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Iche Ndu and his wife, Dame Ngozi at the valedictory ceremony in honour of the retiring Chief Judge in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Activist Demands Probe Into Death Of Nigerian YENAGOA - Former Secretary-General of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr Udengs Eradiri, has called for probe into the death of a Bayelsan, 28-year old Stanley Eteimo, in Cyprus.

Eradiri made the call in Yenagoa when he spoke with journalists.

He said Cyprus had not done enough to unravel the actual circumstances that led to Eteimo’s death.

“It is sad to hear that an Ijaw son was murdered in North Cyprus. Till now, the authorities could not explain the circumstances that led to his death. We won’t take this any longer. “We condemn the killing of the Ijaw youth studying in North Cyprus and call for further inquiry into the circumstances that led to his death’’, Eradiri said.

Reports says that the body of Eteimo, a budding singer, was reportedly found floating in a hotel beach after a night party with friends on August 8.

It was also gathered that Eteimo had gone to a party at the popular 5-star Kratos Hotel with some friends. “Eteimo had met an old white female classmate at the venue and went to say hello when her jealous boyfriend stepped forward and warned him to stay clear of his girlfriend. “The eyewitness claimed that both men

had a heated argument before the angry Cypriot boyfriend threatened Eteimo, saying he would deal with him for disrespecting him’’, he said.

Eradiri said Ijaw youths were not satisfied with the claim by Cyprus police that the victim got himself drowned in the hotel beach.

“A brother of the deceased, Julius Eteimo, who went to identify the body, insisted that his brother had no reason to kill himself and that he saw blood

stains on his ear, mouth, nose and neck. “The brother has also called on the hotel to produce tapes of the CCTV for that night, which the hotel management has turned down.’’ He said the man who threatened his younger brother should be interrogated.

Eradiri, who said he received the news with shock and disbelief, called on the Federal Government and the Cypriot authorities to ensure that justice was done on the matter.

YENAGOA - The Nigerian Navy said in Yenagoa that it arrested six persons, who allegedly attempted to tow a distressed barge laden with crude oil. “The suspects were arrested while using a tug boat to retrieve the distressed barge, “Rear Adm. Sidi-Ali Usman, Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, said.

Sidi-Ali told journalists that the security agencies were making efforts to ensure the barge was salvaged from its present position. He said that a naval team on routine patrol spotted the barge, identified as MV LILA. He said that the navy had taken measures to prevent the likelihood of oil spill and consequential damage to the environment.

Sidi-Ali, however, said that investigations into the incident had since commenced.

He warned that illegal oil vessels without valid documents plying the waterways in the area would be seized when they were sighted.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

South West Invest In Walnut Cultivation, Expert Urges Farmers

Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (left), inspecting parade of guards, during the second Commanding Officers’ workshop 2013, to build the capacity of Unit Commanders and meet contemporary security challenges in Kaduna yesterday.

OSOGBO - A nutritionist has urged farmers to invest more in the cultivation of walnut, otherwise known as ‘asala’ in Yoruba and ‘ukpa’ in Igbo languages, because of its nutritional values and medicinal benefits.

Mrs Veronica Ajayi of Global Foods Limited, Osogbo, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Osogbo.

Ajayi noted that many people consumed the fruit without knowing much of its vast potential as a good source of varied nutrients.

Oyo To Probe Allocation Of Shops IBADAN - Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State said that his administration would re-examine the processes adopted in allocating shops at the Scout Camp Market at Challenge in Ibadan.

Ajimobi made the announcement when he made an unscheduled visit to the market, inaugurated recently by the State Government.

The governor said that he was in the market to ascertain the level of compliance, regarding the relocation of traders to the market

and to listen to the traders’ complaints on shop allocations.

He said that his administration would not tolerate any form of sabotage such as double allocation or allocation of shops to nontraders at the market.

Ajimobi said that he had never sent anyone to acquire shops on his behalf or to collect money from any trader on behalf of the State Government.

He appealed to the traders to exercise patience with the government on the number of

Auto Crash:

ITORI (OGUN) - Six unidentified people have been confirmed dead, while 21 others were critically injured in a multiple accident that occurred on the Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway.

The Itori Unit Commander of the FRSC, Mr. Fatai Bakare, who confirmed the incident, told newsmen that the accident occurred at Osunpori Village,

shops available.

Some of the traders, who spoke The governor said the at the market, commended the government would soon embark initiative of the Ajimobi on the construction of more shops to cater for everyone.

Ajimobi also urged the traders to maintain proper sanitation in the market, warning that anyone

By ROLAND OSAKUE caught trading by the roadside would be prosecuted.

BENIN CITY-It was pomp He reiterated his and ceremonies at the St. Francis administration’s determination to Catholic Church in Benin City giving interest-free loans to Sunday as the Assistant Parish traders as soon as the issue of Priest of the church Rev. Fr. Job allocation of shops was resolved. Ekabo marked his one year

Rev Fr. Ekabo Marks 1-Yr Of Priestly in the Lord’s messengers of God, in order to Ordination anniversary receive the unexpected vineyard.

6 Killed, 21 Injured

near Wasinmi in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun.

He said that the accident, involving three vehicles occurred at about 11. 45 p.m.

Bakare said that an Iveco truck with registration number Lagos GGE 200 XC, a Mazda pick-up van (XA 626 AAW) and a Nissan pick-up van marked

administration in constructing the market, pledging their support to the governor.

She said researchers had found out that walnut leaves, nuts and trees could be used for the treatment of dysentery, infertility and stress, among others.

The nutritionist added that walnut contained vital nutrients that help the growth of the body, and urged farmers to invest more in its cultivation. ‘’Researchers in the agriculture sector have declared that one hectare of walnut farm can fetch more than N500,000 annually, if well managed. ‘’Imagine what a farmer with five or more hectares will earn annually; so let farmers especially in the southern part of the country embrace walnut cultivation to improve their incomes,’’ Ajayi said.

Lagos XZ 19 EKY were involved in the accident.

The unit commander disclosed that 27 persons, comprising 20 males and seven females were involved in the crash.

“One of the driver lost control of his vehicle and he rammed into the other and there was a serious situation afterwards.

“Those who died so far include

two males and four females, while 21 others, made up of 18 men and three women sustained varying degrees of injuries.’’

Bakare said that the corpses of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital in Ifo, near Abeokuta.

He said that those injured in the crash were also being taken care of at the same hospital.

The ceremony which was officiated by four Catholic Priests in attendance, , had in attendance thousand of parishioners and non Catholic faithfuls alike from across the country that joined the celebrant in thanksgiving to God. In a homily, the Parish Priest of Holy Family Catholic Church, Warri, Delta State and the elder brother of the celebrant, Very Rev. Fr. Christopher Ekabo urged Christians, irrespective of their denomination to follow the doctrines of Jesus Christ in order to receive the gift of eternity.

Very Rev.Fr. Ekabo, who entitled his message, “unexpected help”, taking his text from the book of Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10 admonished the congregation to always prepare for the Lord’s unexpected assistance whenever they foreclose their trust in God. The Cleric however enjoined the people to remain steadfast in the teachings of the Lord while advising them to always emulate the cardinal focus in God’s manifestation which are in faith, patience and believing in the

assistance.

He stated that Jeremiah was thrown into a well by those who got offended by his message, but only to receive the unexpected assistance from the Lord through Ebed-melech (SIC) the Ethiopian, who went to King Zedekiah to plead for his removal from the well in order to save his life.

Highlight of the occasion was the thanksgiving by the celebrant, Rev. Fr. Ekabo, as well as refreshment for guests and members of the church, who showered encomium on him.

ABEOKUTA - The Ogun State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board has said that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria(NAHCON) would subsidise foreign exchange rate for intending pilgrims for this year’s hajj.

The Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Sefiu Rasheed, made the announcement in a statement he issued in Abeokuta.

Rasheed said that NAHCON had approved a subsidised rate of N146, instead of N160 to a dollar exchange rate for basic travelling

allowances for the intending pilgrims.

The statement urged intending pilgrims to utilise the opportunity of the subsidised exchange rate by the Federal Government.

It also urged all eligible intending pilgrims to turn up for medical screening and inoculation exercise from Aug. 20 to Aug. 22 or forfeit their slots.

Rasheed said that the medical screening was meant to ascertain the state of health of intending pilgrims and to ensure adequate care for them in Saudi Arabia.

Rev Fr. Job Osemudiamhen Ekabo

NAHCON To Subsidise Exchange Rate For Intending Pilgrims

Participants at the second Commanding Officers’ workshop 2013, with the theme to build the capacity of Unit Commanders and meet contemporary security challenges in Kaduna yesterday.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Lagos Lagos Nigeria’s Film Industry, Tool For Diplomacy - Minister

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (right) and the Acting National Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Remi Akitoye (left) during the condolence visit of members of the PDP National Working Committee to the Governor over the passage of his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Bayo Fashola at the State House, Marina, Lagos, on Sunday.

LAGOS - The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, said on Friday, that the Nigerian Motion Picture Industry (MPI) was a dynamic tool for promotion of Nigeria’s cultural diplomacy.

Duke said this at a lecture organised by the National Institute of Cultural Orientation (NICO) at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos.

He said that the Nigerian’s film industry had witnessed phenomenal growth in the last couple of years.

“It is now ranked the second largest in the world, and there is no arguing the fact,’’ the minister said.

The theme of the lecture is: ‘Nollywood as an Instrument for Nigeria’s Cultural Diplomacy: Reflections of a Cultural Administrator.”

Avoid Litigation, Medical Practitioners Urged LAGOS – Dr. Adegboyega Ogunwale, a consultant psychiatrist at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, urged medical practitioners to keep to established medical standards to avoid unnecessary litigation.

Ogunwale told newsmen in Lagos that doctors could be sued for any practice not acceptable by the standard of the profession.

“A doctor can also be sued for negligence by failing to achieve the established medical standard.

“He can be sued for assault and battery, fraud, criminal abortion as well as other areas of infamous conduct in a professional respect.

“The patient has got rights, a good doctor will always respect the rights of the patient; the patient must recognise his or her own rights and see to it that those rights are respected.

“The patient should not become unduly belligerent and where there has been some misunderstanding, should not see it as a case of accusing the doctor of malpractice, instead of trying to clear such issues of misunderstanding,” the psychiatrist said.

Ogunwale traced the history of litigation in the Nigerian medical practice to the late 1950s with cases like Dickson Igbokwe versus U.C.H Board Management, and Alakija versus Medical Council Disciplinary Committee.

According to him, those lawsuits are first indication that medical practitioners can be called into account for their deeds or misdeeds.

Ogunwale said that most liabilities were avoidable by being honest and conscientious in the medical career.

He said: “While the risks for liability are always inherent in the duty that we assume toward our patients, we have adopted available defence when we get sued by patients.

“The key thing would be to ensure that we obtain informed consent from our patient; we should ensure that we conform to

the standard methods, standard decorum and those things that are generally acceptable within responsible medical opinion.

“In doing that, we would have been able to reduce the risk to the barest minimum.

“When there is a liability suit or a legal tussle related to the

practice of a doctor or a procedure that a doctor has undertaken, then, resort to these defences would help one escape.”

Ogunwale said the doctorpatient confidentiality was a problem area in Nigeria, adding that the code of medical ethics in

Nigeria was the best guide for any doctor in doubt.

“Doctor-patient relationship constitutes a secret and as such must in no way be divulged to a third party, even, if the patient and their spouse are family friends,” he said.

Ogunwale said that the code,

however, allowed for minimum disclosure of information in special circumstances including education, research monitoring and public health surveillance.

He said that there were limits to whom information could be disclosed and what part of the information could be disclosed.

people. As you are seeing me, I am confused already. I only offered to lead the prayers for the dead out of inspiration.”

Others described Nwike as a nice and cool headed man who

had no time for frivolities.

Some residents of the area who spoke with our correspondent said they could not figure out what caused the midnight inferno.

Payment for Metering Implementations (CAPMI).

He told newsmen in Lagos that the CAPMI would curb incessant complaints about PHCN bills.

Idemudia said that the installation of CAPMI meters had commenced since July, adding that more than 1000 customers

within the zone had started using them.

The general manager said that the CAPMI scheme was an intervention designed by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to eliminate problems of “estimated“ billing.

Family Of 5 Roasted To Death

By RAHEEM IBRAHIM LAGOS - Tragedy occurred at Mosan in Mosan Okunola Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, when a midnight inferno burnt a family of five to death while asleep in their home.

The victims were learnt to be fast asleep when the incident happened in their three bedroom Boys Quarters bungalow located at 9, F Close, Mosan.

Among the victims of the fire disaster, as reliably gathered, was Chukwu Nwike, who sold female clothes at Yaba, his aunt and her three children.

Nwike was said to be living with the aunt while the husband of the deceased, a pastor, was said to be on a pastoral mission outside the state.

It was gathered that it took the combined efforts of Agege and Ikotun Fire Service men to put out the fire.

When the door of the bungalow was eventually broken after the fire was put out, the remains of Nwike was found close to the burglary proof with one of the kids clinging to it.

The remains of the victims have been removed and deposited in the mortuary.

It was also alleged that their neighbours who occupy a four storey building inside the same compound with the deceased, did little or nothing to rescue them.

Sources who spoke with our correspondent revealed that they were only calling the fire service men for assistance, instead of breaking the bungalow’s door when the fire was burning the family who were shouting for help.

When our reporter visit the scene hours after it occurred, the neighbours had deserted the building while Nwike’s

colleagues from Yaba market were seen around.

One of them who spoke with newsmen said, “I’m not in the position to speak with you my

Get New Pre-Paid Meters, Electricity Coy Advises Customers

LAGOS - The Eko Electricity Distribution Company has advised customers to register for the new pre-paid meters to stop allegations of arbitrary billing by the PHCN. Mr. Godwin Idemudia, the company’s Assistant General Manager, Public Affair Division, said on Wednesday that it was to the customer’s advantage to apply for the Credit Advance

“Films are cultural products and assets considered the most influential medium for entertainment and education.

“It behoves us to take advantage of it to launder our international image and also draw attention to Nigeria as a fascinating tourism destination.

“It is imperative that stakeholders see themselves as our cultural ambassadors and work assiduously to use film as a medium to project Nigeria positively to the international community, ‘’ Duke said.

The minister said that the Federal Government was much concerned about the challenges confronting the film industry.

On the issue of piracy and copyright infringement, Duke said government was doing everything possible to check the menace so that stakeholders could fully reap the fruits of their labour.

Prof. Ayo Akinwale of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, in his lecture, urged the Nigerian filmmakers to pay attention to the nation’s cultural diplomacy when producing films.

He said that some of the films paid due attention to the nation’s cultural diplomacy, while many did not.

Akinwale predicted a brighter future for the Nollywood industry if necessary attention was paid to production of good films.

“For a film to sell, it must be aware of its exportation capabilities, language, costumes and emotional interaction or else it will not contribute anything to the nation’s cultural diplomacy.

“There is need to correct all the errors that we have noticed in our production. Such errors that came as a result of putting commerce before excellence in production must be addressed,’’ he said.

The don suggested that attention should be paid to content, script writing, artiste welfare and professionalism.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN (6th right) with the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Alhaji Oyinlomo Danmole (left) in a group photograph with the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Tunji Shelle (7th left) and other members of the PDP National Working Committee who paid him a condolence visit on the passage of his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Bayo Fashola at the State House, Marina, Lagos on Sunday.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Across The Nation Kano Pardons 370 KANO - The Kano State Government pardoned 370 prisoners in the past two years, the state’s Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Maliki Kuliya, announced in Kano.

Kuliya, who made the announcement in an interview with newsmen in Kano, said the prisoners were released from various prisons after the state’s Committee on Prerogative of Mercy recommended the release to government.

He said that most of the prisoners were set free on humanitarian grounds, due to either ill health or old age.

Prisoners

The commissioner said that government had spent over N12 million on the purchase and distribution of some facilities in various prisons in the state.

He said the items, including cups, buckets, plates and other utensils, were provided to improve the living condition of the prisoners.

According to him, the State Government has also purchased and distributed 65 computers and printers to various courts in the state to facilitate their work.

ASUU Condoles With properly fund the university NUJ system.’’

AWKA - Academic Staff Union of Universities, Nsukka, has condoled with Anambra Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), over death of three journalists in auto crash on August 2 in Osun.

Chairperson of Nnamdi Azikiwe University branch of the union, Prof. Ike Odimegwu, led a seven-man delegate to deliver the message to NUJ in Awka.

Odimegwu expressed regrets over the painful loss.

The don said the accident would have been avoided if the roads were in good shape and called on the Federal, State and Local governments to revamp decaying infrastructure in the country.

“This delegation was mandated at ASUU congress to come and mourn with NUJ because the death was tragic and a huge loss to the nation.

“The circumstances of their death should always provoke our thoughts on the state of infrastructure in this country.

“The current nationwide strike by ASUU can be appreciated in this context because the strike is basically intended to pressurise the Federal Government to

Dr Godson Okafor, a member of the delegation, urged newsmen to continue to partner with the union in its efforts to give the university its pride of place.

Chairman of NUJ, Mr Henry Nwasike, praised the ASUU leadership for their concern and solidarity.

He said the death of the three colleagues really dealt a devastating blow on Nigerian journalists.

It would be recalled that Mr Adolphus Okonkwo of Voice of Nigeria, Miss Kafayat Odunsi, NTA and Mr Tunde Oluwanike, FRCN, died in the crash.

Seven others sustained serious injuries.

L-R: General Co-ordinator, Atlasjet Airlines, Mr. Ercument Fitiz, Executive Director, Atlasjet Airlines, Mr. Serken Yazicioglu, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh and Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara, during the signing of Air Charter Agreement with Atlasjet Nigeria Limited for 2013 Pilgrimage in Abuja yesterday.

Ebonyi Disburses N200m To Rural Hospitals

ABAKALIKI - Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi has disbursed N200 million to six rural hospitals under his Health Intervention Initiative in the 15th tranche of grants to rural private hospitals.

The benefiting hospitals are: Mater Misericordae Hospital, Afikpo, N36 million; Presbyterian Joint Hospital, Uburu, N22 million; and Rural Improvement Mission Hospital, Ikwo, N41.2 million.

The others are: Mile Four Hospital, Abakaliki, N30.6

million; St Vincent Hospital Ndubia, N35.2 million; and Sudan United Mission Hospital, Onuenyim Izzi, N35 million.

Gov Elechi, who distributed the grants in Abakaliki, urged the management of the hospitals to make judicious use of the funds to save lives.

He described their financial managerial skills as ‘second to none’ as the funds were not abused since the inception of the grants in 2008.

Kidnap Of Traditional Ruler’s Wife: Police OWERRI - The Imo Police Command said that three of the five-man gang that allegedly kidnapped the wife of the traditional ruler of Nkwumeto community had been arrested.

A statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Joy Elemoko, said the suspects were arrested 48 hours after the incident.

“Imo Police Command wants to state that within 48 hours of the incident, the principal suspects were traced to their

Arrest 3 Suspects

hideouts and arrested,’’ the statement said.

According to the statement, the police are able to track the suspects as they were negotiating the ransom.

It said that one of them was killed, three were arrested while the fifth suspect escaped.

The command appealed to members of the public to give useful information that would lead to the arrest of one Nwagbisi

and advised him to report to the nearest police station.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina, said that anybody that had the knowledge of the whereabouts of any criminal elements but failed to report it would be treated as an accomplice.

Gunmen had kidnapped the wife of Eze Basil Nwokeke of Nkwumeto autonomous community, Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area.

“The effective management of the grants has resulted in the reduction maternal mortality rate in the state.

“I commend the recipients for their resilience and with this encouraging performance the people of Ebonyi will in the next five or six years enjoy a comprehensive free healthcare service,’’ he said.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Sunday Nwangele, said that N1.7 billion had been invested in the programme to provide quality health care in the state.

According to him, the initiative has helped to make rural health care services affordable to the people.

“The secret of the success of the programme is in the proficient management of the grants.

“The six rural hospitals have become referral centres, while 47 new structures have been constructed, equipped and put into active use.

“Twenty-one new outreach sites have been established, thereby, extending quality services further into the hinterland,” Nwangele said.

Nwangele said that hospital services had improved with ante-natal care improved from 25,742 in 2008 to over 60,000 in 2012.

He said that maternal deaths dropped from 41 deaths in 2007 to 18 in 2011, while immunization services improved remarkably which is evidenced by the no polio case recorded in the state this year.

Responding on behalf of the recipients, Dr Nte Mbam of Rural Improvement Mission Hospital, said the gesture was an evidence of justice for the poor and the indigent people to access healthcare in the state.

Available statistics showed that Mater Misericordae had so far received N310 million, Sudan United Mission Hospital, N292 million and Presbyterian Joint Hospital, N282 million.

The others are Saint Vincent Hospital, which received N280.28 million, Rural Improvement Hospital, N279.85 million and Mile Four Hospital, N254.91 million.

BIRNIN KEBBI - The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it had commenced the assessment of areas identified as flood-prone in Kebbi.

The North West Coordinator of the agency, Alhaji Rilwanu Ismail, announced this when he visited the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, in his office in Birnin Kebbi.

Ismail said the assessment would help the agency to adopt measures to prevent future havoc in the state.

He called on state governments to support the agency in preventing damage sequel to the expected flood,

adding: “the agency will collaborate with states to prevent the havoc’’.

Aliyu said a statewide campaign would be conducted on the measures to prevent damage during the expected flood.

He said the relevant authorities had been alerted on the expected flood, and “we will adopt measures to prevent that, especially finding alternative settlement to people living on flood plains.

The reports say that Kebbi was among the 14 states identified by the Ministry of Environment which would experience heavy rains and flood in 2013.

NEMA Begins Assessment Of Flood Prone Areas

L-R: Representative of the High Commission of Canada, Alexandra Mackenzie, former EFCC Chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Buba and representative of the Governor of Plateau, Dr. Paul Wai at the InterCommunal Peace Dialogue with Communities in Jos yesterday.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Abuja Suspected Boko Haram Member Arrested By JTF

Military Doing Its Best To Tackle Insurgents CDS

ABUJA - The Chief of Defence Staff, Adm. Ola Ibrahim, has said that the military is doing its best to tackle the insurgents in the North East to ensure security in that area.

Ibrahim stated this in Abuja as the special guest at the monthly jogging organised by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

The CDS, represented by Commodore Andrew Dacosta, described theme of the exercise, “Jogging Together for National Security and Safety’’ as apt.

He said that it best described what the nation was currently going through in terms of security.

“We are all aware that the country is faced with multidimensional and multifaceted national security especially in the North Eastern part.

“But the military is doing its best to ensure security in that part and the entire country,’’ he said.

Ibrahim assured the FRSC that the military would continue to partner with the commission to assist it to carry out its duty of ensuring safety on the road.

Also speaking, the Director, Defence Information, Brig.Gen. Chris Olukolade, assured the FRSC of support and said that the military would abide by traffic rules and regulations to ensure safety on the road.

“We are aware that they are often available to us in terms of operations, in that spirit, we will always be in partnership with them in their activities,’’ he said.

Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the FRSC, said that the number one task of any nation was to guarantee the security and safety of its citizens.

Chidoka said that the commission was ready to collaborate with the military and work tirelessly to ensure that.

‘The number one task of any country is to guarantee the security and safety of its citizens,’’ he said.

He said that accident rate in the country was going down without giving figures, but gave the assurance that the FRSC was working harder to further reduce accidents of the roads.

By JOSES SEDE

Representative of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Mukhtar Ahmed (left), with the National Team Leader, State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) of DFID, Kevin Gager, at a Public Dialogue on Deepening Legislative Engagement in promoting public finance management at Sub-National Level in Abuja yesterday.

Minister Donates To Distressed Families

ABUJA - Hajiya Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, has made cash donation to 12 distressed families.

Reports say that the donation was made in partnership with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Maina, who made the presentation at a news conference on “Empowering Families with Distress,’’ urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money to improve their lives.

She said the ministry was committed to improving the lives of vulnerable persons in the society, adding that government alone could not meet the needs of all Nigerians.

According to her, the role of the family in any society cannot be over-emphasised as families form a basis for all social existence.

“Nigeria boasts of a current population of about 170 million people made up of about 21 million families, no doubt the family institution is the most important custodian of society’s culture, tradition and values.

“The society’s strength, progress, stability and prosperity is therefore anchored on the capacity of each family and literally dependant on the nation’s investment on its citizens.”

The minister said the event was in line with the transformation agenda of the president which sought to address poverty and social exclusion by providing opportunities for families in distress.

Maina commended corporate organisations carrying out humanitarian support for vulnerable persons, while calling for more support to improve their lives.

The minister also urged all stakeholders to rise to the

challenge of improving family lives through sustainable action plan and programmes.

Mrs Olufunke Baruwa, Desk Officer, Gender, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, reiterated governments’ effort at improving the lives of vulnerable persons.

Baruwa said her office would intensify collaborations with the ministry to follow-up on judicious use of the funds.

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to newsmen, expressed appreciation to the ministry and its partners in their efforts to improve their lives.

Ms. Shamsiya Umar, a 16year-old girl, with a fractured femur, who was given N386,000 for the cost of her surgery, said, “I appreciate the ministry for its efforts, my family has been looking for money to complete the bills for my surgery.”

“I had this accident four years ago when a car came to hit me at the gate of my house, life has been difficult, but I thank God for today.”

Another beneficiary, Idris Azeez, a person with disability,

was given N400, 000 to buy a wheelchair and financial empowerment, also thanked the ministry.

“Before now, I have been surviving from begging from neighbours and family members, this money will really go a long way to change my life,” Azeez said.

Mrs Chinyere Eke, a mother

of a set of quadruplets, was full of praises for the ministry.

“My husband abandoned me with these children immediately after their birth, I have been suffering to take care of them with the best of my ability.

“I want to promise the minister today that this N200,000 given to me will be used to improve our lives,” Eke said.

KANO - One person suspected to be a member of terrorist group, Boko Haram was said to have been arrested at Mohammed Abacha’s house in Kano state, North West Nigeria.

Informed sources volunteered that a combined team of JTF stormed the house of Mohammed Abacha, the son of former Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha and arrested the individual yesterday.

“I saw them in about five vehicles surrounding the house, after some minutes they came out with the person having covered his face with red rag.”

However, JTF in Kano could not confirm the arrest as the JTF spokesperson, Captain Ikedich Iweha told correspondents to go to Mohammed Abacha’s house to find out themselves.

“I have also read the story published by Daily Trust but I want you to go to Mohammed’s house to find out.” It is not everything the paper wrote that is true”. Iweha added.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact Mohammed Abacha or his spokesperson were not successful as sources close to Mr. Mohammed explained that he, along with Major Hamza AlMustapha is currently in Abuja.

Hospital Inaugurates Emergency BWARI (FCT) - Kubwa Paediatric Unit General Hospital has inaugurated its Emergency Paediatric Unit to cater for the medical and health needs of children in the area.

Dr Ahmed Danfulani, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, announced this at the inauguration of the facility and the staff quarters at Kubwa in Bwari Area Council of FCT. According to him, the unit will ensure effective treatment of children because they will now be isolated from adults. “ Before now, the children and adults were being attended to in

the same unit and this is not healthy. ‘’The ideal thing is to separate the children from the adult, `` he said.

Danfulani expressed optimism that the new unit would also safeguard the children from further infections within the hospital environment.

He said the hospital now had a standard restaurant, laundry service, physiotherapy unit, a creche and a standard pharmacy where the inflow and outflow of drugs could be monitored over

L-R: Country Director, UNDP, Ade Lekoetje, Chairman, Conference of Speakers of States Houses of Assembly, Inuwa Garba and the representative of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Mukhtar Ahmed, at a Public Dialogue on Deepening Legislative Engagement in Promoting Public Finance Management at Sub-National Level in Abuja yesterday.

the Internet.

“The Website would contain all the services that the hospital can render so that patients can either book or cancel an appointment with their doctors online, “ he said.

Dr Ademola Onakomaiye, the Secretary of FCT Health and Human Services, said the health sector had made “tremendous success” within the last two years. “ In the FCT, this is the third paediatrics unit to be inaugurated.

“We are not expected to mingle children with adults in treatment to reduce cross infection and to enhance speedy attention to them.

“Before we came on board, there was no intensive care unit in the FCT, no dialysis centre in the FCT but today we have one. “ Formally, there was no mammography in the whole of FCT, today we have two units one in Maitama, another in Asokoro, “ the secretary said.

He, however, lamented over insufficient funds to cater for the health needs in FCT. “We are being over worked; we need more doctors,“ he said.

Reports say that goodwill messages were delivered at the occasion by the Chief Medical Directors of Maitama, Kuje, Bwari, Nyanya and Wuse General Hospitals.

THE NIGERIAN

10

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Business + Economy 4 Banks Raise $1.45bn From International Capital Market LAGOS - Four Nigerian banks have raised $1.45 billion (N227.65 billion) from the creation of sovereign benchmark in the International Capital Market (ICM), the Debt Management Office (DMO) said.

The DMO Director-General, Dr Abraham Nwankwo, said this at a one-day retreat on “Opportunities for the Private Sector from Public Debt Management’’.

The event was organised in Lagos by the DMO for financial journalists.

Nwankwo said that the amount was raised between January, 2011 and July, 2013, adding that the banks that issued the Eurobonds were Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Fidelity and First Bank.

Nwankwo said that achievements recorded in the development of the domestic debt management led to the endorsement of the FGN Bond market by reputable financial institutions.

According to him, the financial institutions were JP Morgan and Barclays Capital.

Nwankwo said that the establishment of the Nigerian Sovereign Bond in the ICM provided foreign investors with the requisite market information for investment decisions.

He said that the sovereign bond created market benchmarks for future borrowings by the sovereign, sub-national and corporate institutions.

“More Nigerian corporate institutions should leverage on existing benchmarks to raise long-term capitals in the domestic market and ICM to develop the real sector and infrastructure,’’ Nwankwo said.

According to him, DMO will continue to strengthen and deepen the FGN Bond for enhanced liquidity through the issuance of benchmark bonds and introduction of other varieties of debts instrument.

He said that the organisation would soon float N80 billion FGN bonds in form of Global Depository Notes (GDN) and 100 million dollars (N15.7 billion) worth of Nigerian Diaspora Bond to strengthen Nigeria’s presence in the ICM.

ENUGU - The Enugu State Economic Planning Commission has said it had targeted to raise its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N15 billion by 2014.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Mr Dan Onyishi, announced the plan at two-day workshop to review the states’ Medium Term Development Plan in Enugu.

He added that the state’s IGR in 2012 was N12 billion.

Onyishi explained that an increase in the IGR would reduce over-dependence on federal allocation and also improve service delivery in the state.

The executive secretary noted that poor budget performance by some ministries, departments and agencies affected the the IGR and called for improvement to achieve higher results.

“We do not have up to 50 per cent MDAs performing very well in terms of budget implementation.

“There is need to improve the budget performance both at sector and aggregate levels to improve the IGR because we are targeting N15 billion by 2014,’’ he said.

Declaring the workshop open, Governor Sullivan Chime reiterated the need to review the medium term plan to assess the implementation in line with the four-point agenda of his administration.

The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Amechi Okolo, said the government was working to ensure the implementation of the plan to better the lives of the citizens of the state.

Also speaking, the Enugu State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Kester Agbowo, explained that the review was to create a road map and bring in fresh ideas and robust plans for the future.

The states’ Commissioner for

Enugu Targets N15bn IGR

L-R: Wife of Chief of Air Staff, Mrs. Mary Badeh, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh and Air Officer Commanding tactical Air Command, AVM Chimechefulam Onyemaobi, at the inauguration of the Air Force Officers quarters at the 75 Nigeria Air Force Base in Yola yesterday.

Expert Tasks FG On N220bn Facility

LAGOS - An economist, Mr Alarape Ajani, has urged the Federal Government to provide an enabling environment for utilisation of the proposed N220 billion Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) credit facility.

Ajani, the Managing Director of Remmy Associates Ltd., told newsmen in Lagos that a favourable environment would make the loans more meaningful.

He hailed the government for the gesture and hoped that it would enhance sustainable economic growth.

Reports say that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Lamido Sanusi, said that the N220 billion credit facility would boost the informal sector.

Sanusi said this at the 7th Annual Conference of SMEs in Abuja.

Ajani told newsmen that a desirable environment must have adequate power supply.

He said that insufficient electricity supply hindered the growth of SMEs and the entire Nigerian economy.

“There is the need to fast-track the development of the power sector so that the loan given to SMEs can impact positively on the economy,’’ he said.

Dr Tunde Adeoye, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said that the proposed credit facility would promote economic activities in an environment with developed infrastructure.

Adeoye said that infrastructure development would attract investors and provide job opportunities.

“Serious monitoring and transparency in the distribution of the fund would also ensure the achievements of the objectives of the credit facility,’’ he said.

He said that the loan, if properly managed, would assist in harnessing the potential of Nigerians and contribute to the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

Adeoye advised the government to establish a monitoring team that would, through the CBN, facilitate provision of loans to SMEs from commercial banks at single digit interest rate.

Dr Kazeem Bello, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, told newsmen that the government should intensify efforts in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.

Don Canvasses Home Grown Solution

Economic Growth: LAGOS - A university lecturer, Dr Kayode Esuola, has said that Nigeria’s economic emancipation depended on using home-grown solutions and not borrowed ideas of other countries.

“We cannot overcome our economic woes strictly on the throes of any binational commissions we enter into,“ he told newsmen in Lagos.

Esuola, a political scientist in the University of Lagos, said that any borrowed development plan that was not domesticated would not liberate the people.

He urged the Federal Government to always utilise

L-R: Representative of Chief of Army Staff, Brig-Gen. Johnson Oladeinde, Director of Islamic Affairs, Mohammed Abdulsalam and representative of Sultan of Sokoto, Dr. Kamil Olosho at the Annual Training Conference of the Nigerian Army Islamic Affairs in Ibadan yesterday.

indigenous ideas to upgrade the standard of living of Nigerians.

The don said developing nations should be careful not to enter into any trade agreement that would end up impoverishing them.

He added that, any form of exploitation must be discouraged

by African Governments.

“Nigeria must look inward for her socioeconomic and political emancipation.

“No country will willingly make another nation better off, and every nation must guard against being exploited while relating with others,“ Esuola said.

Top-Ten Stockbrokers Break Record

By RAHEEM IBRAHIM LAGOS - A total cost of quality volume 34, 849,616,667.25 72.74 was valued at the Nigerian Stock Exchange by top ten brokers between August 12 and 16, 2013.

The top ten brokers includes, SISB STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED with 20,782,791,611.34 43.38, RSNL RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED valued 3,479,762,992.87 7.26, FBNS FBN SECURITIES LIMITED 3,254,553,082.25 6.79, CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED 1,614,016,951.42 3.37 and BGL SECURITIES LIMITED at 1,506,850,248.69 3.15.

The top 10 Stockbrokers which accounted for 60.43% of the total Volume also included DYNM DYNAMIC PORTFOLIO LIMITED with 108,961,480 2.97, ARMS ARM SECURITIES LIMITED 68,751,712 1.87, MERI MERISTEM SECURITIES LIMITED 65,366,952 1.78 and PASL PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES LIMITED

61,764,208 1.68.

Also, the ranking Broker Description Quantity % Volume by the NSE at the same period by STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED was 797,616,567 21.74, IHIL HERITAGE CAPITAL MARKETS LIMITED, 449,879,811 12.26, FBN SECURITIES LIMITED 226,174,609 6.16, RSNL RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED 157,653,418 4.30, CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED 150,582,303 4.10 and BGL SECURITIES LIMITED 130,450,452 3.56.

Others brokers which also ranked high include DYNM DYNAMIC PORTFOLIO LIMITED with 108,961,480 2.97 percent, ARMS ARM SECURITIES LIMITED 68,751,712 1.87, MERI MERISTEM SECURITIES LIMITED 65,366,952 1.78, and PASL PARTNERSHIP SECURITIES LIMITED with 61,764,208 1.68percent, totaling 2,217,201,512 60.43.

The top 10 Stockbrokers accounted for 60.43% of the total Volume between 12/08/2013 and 16/08/2013

THE NIGERIAN

11

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY (19/08/13) Stocks

Open

Close

Change

Deals

Units

Value

MANSARD

2.28

2.3

0.02

14

951,464

2,185,589.20

7UP

72

72

0

5

21,000

1,512,000.00

MAYBAKER

2.4

2.4

0

22

284,195

695,050.44

ABBEYBDS

1.53

1.53

0

1

1,000

1,500.00

MBENEFIT

0.5

0.5

0

1

22,000

11,000.00

ABCTRANS

0.9

0.91

0.01

10

110,737

100,480.41

MCNICHOLS

1.5

1.5

0

1

1,500

2,205.00

119

119

0

11

10,552

1,171,457.40

ACADEMY

1.76

1.93

0.17

16

8,988,229

15,832,844.61

MOBIL

ACCESS

11.01

11.08

0.07

209

5,925,264

65,255,548.61

MRS

36.14

36.14

0

4

3,904

126,997.12

AFRIPRUD

1.88

1.88

0

52

592,155

1,118,901.93

MULTITREX

0.66

0.6

-0.06

4

181,000

118,320.00

AGLEVENT

1.54

1.41

-0.13

7

310,050

447,997.80

MULTIVERSE

0.5

0.5

0

2

30,000

15,000.00

6.26

6.2

-0.06

45

777,524

4,799,931.41

AIICO

0.94

0.96

0.02

37

4,160,236

4,098,519.00

NAHCO

AIRSERVICE

4

4

0

1

100

400

NASCON

11.2

11.2

0

37

974,146

10,915,262.47

ALEX

10.5

10.5

0

1

200

1,890.00

NB

169.5

169

-0.5

125

2,838,705

471,360,152.06

ARBICO

5.6

5.6

0

2

1,000

5,040.00

NEIMETH

1.4

1.4

0

10

39,734

52,125.80

0.72

0.73

0.01

21

1,891,264

1,441,048.34

ASHAKACEM

22

22

0

62

1,841,686

40,356,547.71

NEM

ASOSAVINGS

0.5

0.5

0

1

70,000

35,000.00

NESTLE

935

935

0

88

131,614

122,936,898.03

AUSTINLAZ

2

2

0

1

5,000

11,000.00

NIGERINS

0.5

0.5

0

2

65,000

32,500.00

BERGER

9.61

8.7

-0.91

6

62,492

543,785.37

NNFM

29.3

29.3

0

6

2,435

71,345.50

0.83

0.83

0

4

2,420

2,008.60

BETAGLAS

13.18

13.18

0

11

104,552

1,253,979.98

NPFMCRFBK

BOCGAS

6.5

6.5

0

3

9,945

61,816.95

OANDO

12.2

11.4

-0.8

236

5,816,976

68,885,911.17

CADBURY

50.9

51

0.1

89

3,405,489

174,680,103.89

OKOMUOIL

43.75

44.5

0.75

62

736,826

32,774,038.84

CAP

43.65

43.65

0

14

29,893

1,313,179.45

PAINTCOM

1.7

1.72

0.02

7

246,000

420,400.00

5.56

5.56

0

1

493

2,908.70

CAPHOTEL

4.55

4.55

0

1

200

820

PORTPAINT

CCNN

9.3

9.3

0

12

112,051

1,030,914.10

PRESCO

36.29

35

-1.29

31

275,908

9,650,255.40

CHAMPION

19.35

19.35

0

2

2,685

46,772.70

PRESTIGE

0.55

0.55

0

3

60,000

32,524.86

CONOIL

33

29.8

-3.2

28

279,842

8,342,552.20

PZ

37.6

37.6

0

53

145,970

5,345,771.02

4.69

4.69

0

19

66,057

303,696.56

CONTINSURE

1.16

1.22

0.06

27

17,590,287

21,008,233.52

REDSTAREX

CORNERST

0.5

0.5

0

12

2,477,400

1,238,700.00

RESORTSAL

0.5

0.5

0

1

10,000

5,000.00

COSTAIN

1.2

1.12

-0.08

23

993,000

1,219,896.07

ROYALEX

0.52

0.52

0

4

60,236

32,578.00

COURTVILLE

0.69

0.75

0.06

18

763,096

571,472.00

RTBRISCOE

1.42

1.4

-0.02

8

132,001

184,971.39

5.32

5.32

0

2

580

2,778.20

CUSTODYINS

1.48

1.5

0.02

19

1,297,837

1,936,445.96

SCOA

CUTIX

1.8

1.8

0

2

4,000

7,650.00

SKYEBANK

4.05

3.91

-0.14

127

4,488,353

17,953,945.41

DANGCEM

190

190

0

28

220,347

41,847,004.86

SOVRENINS

0.5

0.5

0

1

100,000

50,000.00

DANGFLOUR

9.5

9.5

0

34

330,225

3,135,606.19

STACO

0.5

0.5

0

2

800

400

17.2

17.15

-0.05

74

1,937,048

33,251,127.17

DANGSUGAR

11.08

11

-0.08

68

1,090,792

12,017,495.18

STANBIC

DIAMONDBNK

6.7

6.46

-0.24

28

615,418

4,019,546.40

STDINSURE

0.5

0.5

0

2

2,310

1,155.00

DNMEYER

1.58

1.58

0

1

4,900

7,007.00

STERLNBANK

2.75

2.63

-0.12

36

3,258,947

8,427,896.40

DUNLOP

0.5

0.5

0

1

496

248

TANTALIZER

0.5

0.5

0

1

100

50

155

155

0

20

9,164

1,392,571.45

ETERNA

2.9

2.81

-0.09

11

441,615

1,246,872.00

TOTAL

ETI

14.67

14.4

-0.27

66

648,306

9,382,720.58

TOURIST

4.08

4.08

0

1

2,200

8,976.00

EVANSMED

4.74

4.74

0

7

13,942

59,532.34

TRANSCORP

1.3

1.34

0.04

80

12,256,224

16,259,415.58

FBNH

16.36

16.25

-0.11

491

19,276,327

312,950,957.01

TRANSEXPR

1.05

1.15

0.1

2

115,150

132,422.50

18

18

0

30

218,961

3,651,714.75

FCMB

4.39

4.29

-0.1

38

705,883

3,021,004.38

UAC-PROP

FIDELITYBK

2.85

2.85

0

104

4,386,034

12,212,382.37

UACN

61.89

59

-2.89

53

363,594

21,577,447.13

FIDSON

2.06

2.12

0.06

15

153,140

321,523.80

UBA

7.91

7.99

0.08

186

6,531,201

51,281,782.17

FLOURMILL

76.56

76.56

0

69

361,356

27,665,415.36

UBCAP

1.25

1.25

0

48

2,446,351

3,040,721.45

10.9

10.22

-0.68

83

1,553,106

16,305,621.24

FO

40

39

-1

44

279,412

10,824,706.82

UBN

FTNCOCOA

0.5

0.5

0

1

1,000

500

UNILEVER

63

62.5

-0.5

43

370,720

23,199,926.11

GLAXOSMITH

65

65

0

18

53,211

3,321,245.36

UNIONDAC

0.5

0.5

0

20

2,320,178

1,160,089.00

GUARANTY

25.01

25.02

0.01

317

16,492,361

412,371,828.84

UNITYBNK

0.55

0.56

0.01

49

8,991,135

4,810,367.88

4.1

4.1

0

7

33,100

142,636.45

GUINNESS

265

258

-7

80

567,503

142,982,658.75

UPL

HMARKINS

0.5

0.5

0

2

103,880

51,940.00

VITAFOAM

4.3

4.3

0

10

66,546

271,941.80

HONYFLOUR

3.2

3.22

0.02

53

1,360,893

4,266,543.77

VONO

0.62

0.62

0

1

8,500

5,780.00

IHS

2.6

2.6

0

9

340,000

886,393.00

WAPCO

96

95

-1

66

695,307

66,142,167.15

0.8

0.75

-0.05

13

2,426,250

1,864,529.84

INTBREW

21.45

21.45

0

22

99,597

2,096,733.74

WAPIC

INTENEGINS

2.03

1.83

-0.2

2

462,888

847,085.04

WEMABANK

1.05

1.01

-0.04

39

2,115,887

2,159,911.10

IPWA

0.95

0.86

-0.09

4

495,063

425,754.18

ZENITHBANK

20.84

20.99

0.15

248

5,542,210

114,030,096.48

JAPAULOIL

0.52

0.51

-0.01

37

3,073,258

1,585,571.58

JBERGER

71

71

0

24

214,692

15,273,933.32

JOHNHOLT

1.16

1.16

0

1

720

828

JOSBREW

1.16

1.27

0.11

3

107,311

136,284.97

LASACO

0.5

0.5

0

1

20,000

10,000.00

LEARNAFRCA

1.7

1.7

0

5

9,540

15,696.80

LIVESTOCK

4.13

4.2

0.07

59

1,260,313

5,237,011.90

TOP 10 GAINERS Stock OKOMUOIL ACADEMY ZENITHBANK JOSBREW CADBURY TRANSEXPR UBA ACCESS LIVESTOCK COURTVILLE

Close 44.5 1.93 20.99 1.27 51 1.15 7.99 11.08 4.2 0.75

TOP TOP 10 10 LOSERS GAINERS Gain

Stock

0.75 0.17 0.15 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.06

GUINNESS CONOIL UACN PRESCO FO WAPCO BERGER OANDO UBN NB

Close 258 29.8 59 35 39 95 8.7 11.4 10.22 169

Loss -7 -3.2 -2.89 -1.29 -1 -1 -0.91 -0.8 -0.68 -0.5

THE NIGERIAN

12

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

THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 2000/2001 Human, development report on Nigeria, states that 70 per cent of Nigerians are in abject poverty while massive unemployment of people and the under utilization of resources are the order of the day.

Since the report nothing about the poverty level has changed dramatically.

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

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

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

HOWEVER, by daily interactions within society and among communities and nations, it is clear that poverty has striking universal

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Re-appraising Our Poverty Eradication Policies perception and similarities because of its crosscountry feature and characteristics. The basic feature being that people suffer hunger and deprivation with not enough to eat, lack shelter and clothing as well as basic necessities required for human existence.

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

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

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

IN Nigeria, however, government has put in place social programmes as National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), National

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

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

A general overview of Nigeria’s poverty crisis indicates therefore that there is a fundamental problem which the Federal Government needs to identify and tackle in order to address the continuing poverty level in Nigeria. The NIGERIAN OBSERVER urges the government to re-appraise some of its economic policies and those geared towards poverty eradication.

Beside, it is remarkable that government insensitivity to suggestions put forward to it is increasing and is not being addressed as they should.

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

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

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

THE NIGERIAN

13

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

EDO 2016: What

APC Must Do (3) Continued from last week

LAST week’s piece ended with the question bothering on how the APC can leverage on the comparative advantage it enjoys over the opposition political parties in Edo State to consolidate on its position as the unrivaled ruling party in the state come 2016. This concluding piece answers that teaser.

Like I pointed out in last week’s piece, the key strategy that has turned the APC into the ruling party in Edo State is the quality of candidates it nominated to fly its flag in all the polls it has contested in since 2007, at both the state and local government levels. With the 2016 gubernatorial polls approaching, the party is expected to stick to this highly effective strategy, in conjunction with other tactical approaches, especially as other opposition parties continue searching for panaceas to the current monopoly it currently enjoys over them.

It must continue with the winning formula that has kept it head and shoulders above its rivals.

In shopping for its governorship flag bearer for the 2016 polls, the party must endeavour to shop for a tested candidate, preferably someone that is already serving in the current administration; somebody who is part of the current winning team; somebody who is a key player in the ongoing transformation of the state; somebody who already has a stake; that individual who knows what is expected of anybody occupying that exalted position; that person who will be able to carry on with what is already on ground; that person who can continue from where Oshiomhole stops – if not for anything, but for continuity’s sake.

Continuity is the most crucial factor to be

considered in choosing the APC next governorship candidate. Considering the ongoing successes that are being recorded by the current administration on several fronts across the state, there is need to go for a candidate who is already making key inputs into the developments on ground; that individual who is already working closely with the incumbent; that individual who already commands some degree of respect and trust in the present administration; a true statesman who will be preoccupied with adding something to the mammoth achievements already on ground, and not detracting from it; a thoroughbred technocrat who can maintain the present high tempo, not one that will dampen it. That is the type of candidate the APC should go for.

The good people of Edo State have come to trust the APC. They have come to see it as the only platform from which their hopes and aspirations can be projected.

More importantly, they have come to see the ongoing transformation of the state under the auspices of the man they all trooped out in masse on two occasions – 2007 and 2012 - to elect as their governor, as a vindication of the trust they reposed in the party from the onset. That is why it is incumbent on the party’s top hierarchy to ensure that all hands remain on deck to guarantee that the man who is selected to contest for the position of the chief executive officer of the state is another individual Edos can also trust.

Elections, like I mentioned in part 2 of this piece, are won by sellable candidates. They are won by individuals whose credentials speak for; won

by individuals whose excellent performances in past callings advertise; individuals whose stainless credentials speak for – won by brands – won by well packaged products. The APC has legions of such candidates, but I will suggest it goes for the pick of the pack; that one individual, I believe has what it takes to win votes; that individual who has being there all the way; that individual who personifies the values of the party. He is no other than the current Deputy Governor of Edo State, Rt Hon (Dr) Pius Egberanmwen Odubu

Cutting Edge With Obuseh Jude GSM: 08033510173 checkered political history of Edo State, in his capacity as deputy to the incumbent, he can be the next face of the party come 2016. As an ardent student of the utilitarian school of thought; a school that obviously drives the APC political ideology, Odubu can effectively bear the party’s standard if given the nod.

For a man whose loyalty

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State+

(BL).

Now, the question shifts to: Why Odubu? The answer is not farfetched.

Apart from his solid academic, professional and political resume, it is also logical that having being a member of the first and current APC-led administrations in the

remains unassailable, and who has the added push of having effectively acquainted himself in his current station, the nudge should be given to him to bring his wealth of experience over the years to bear on the onerous tasks ahead. For a man whose twin stints - 1999 to 2002,

“The good people of Edo State have come to trust the APC. They have come to see it as the only platform from which their hopes and aspirations can be projected.

More importantly, they have come to see the ongoing transformation of the state under the auspices of the man they all trooped out in masse on two occasions – 2007 and 2012 - to elect as their governor, as a vindication of the trust they reposed in the party from the onset.”

and 2003 to 2006 - as a federal lawmaker attracted several development projects to his constituency, and whose successive tenures as Deputy Governor of Edo State, has continued to attract plaudits from far and near, a chance to lead a developing state such as Edo will not be misplaced.

A man of prodigious strength, who religiously reveres the APC history and

name on the lips of the majority – a fitting testimony to the high level of popularity he enjoys across the state, and the degree of expectations in the minds of the people that he will consequently succeed Oshiomhole. This is evidently a signal to the party as to the proactive steps it should take ahead of the battle of 2016.

I am formally using this

Dr. Pius Egberanmwen Odubu, Deputy Governor

traditions, Odubu is also a well versed strategist who understands the key strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, and can bring this knowledge to bear if given the opportunity.

Power belongs to the people – they are the popular sovereigns, who have the preserve of either accepting those they feel are qualified to lead them, or rejecting those they feel are unfit to do so. From feelers gathered from a mini interface yours sincerely had with individuals drawn from across the state at a recent public function, Pius Odubu seemed to be the

medium to implore the top hierarchy of the APC to consider the marketability, acceptability, popularity, track records, and backgrounds of any candidate it ultimately nominates to fly its flag in the next gubernatorial polls in Edo State. Pius Odubu meets all these criteria - and even more (See The Nigerian Observer, Tuesday, June 11, 2013 page 13; Tuesday, June 4, 2013, page 13; Tuesday, May 28, 2013, page 13).

That is why it would be wise to endorse him as the party’s torch bearer for 2016. That is what the APC must do.

I rest my case.

(Concluded)

THE NIGERIAN

14

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Nutritional Health And Dietetics

Arthritis And What To Do (1) INFLAMMATION of a joint or joints can have many causes, the chief of which are: emotional tension or upset, faulty body chemistry and faulty feeding. It is thought that it can also be caused by auto-immunity.

Overfeeding and wrong feeding will produce a selfpoisoning within the digestive tract (autointoxication) that will do about the same to the system as alcohol and narcotics. The beginning of Bright’s Disease usually comes from an abused digestive tract that has to throw off so much poison through the kidneys that the kidneys become diseased and can no longer function.

This form of trouble is very common with the businessmen. Remember that hate fear, excitement or any strenuous depression or fighting emotion stops the peristalsis of the digestive tract (the wave motion) and the food is not carried on and digested as it should be. There is fermentation (autointoxication) is carried through the system and all the gland and tissue suffers.

Persistent nervous tension, anxiety and emotional upsets cause changes in the pituitary – adrenal – gland relationship upsetting the balance of the various chemical secretions chormones produced by these glands (John, 2000).

This is what happens, in the normal way, one of the hormones produced by the pituitary gland is A.C.T.H which stimulate the production by the adrenal glands of two hormones, one of which is called cortisone, the other is an inflammatory hormone. But if the secretion of A.C.T.H. is stopped or decreased by a neural blockage caused by a deep-seated emotional conflict or upset, the odrenal gland will cease production of enough cortisone to keep in check the inflammatory hormones it also produces.

This inflammatory hormones will then set up inflammation in any strained or weekend parts of the body, particularly, the muscles and joints and their internal capsular ligaments and membranes. For this reason, cortisones and A.C.T.H are both used in the treatment of arthritis. They are injected into the blood stream to check the over – production of inflammatory hormones by the adrenal glands. These injections according to John (2000) often alleviate the symptoms, even though, they do not cure.

To cure, the cause must be removed, this is not too difficult if the cause is faulty body chemistry or faulty feeding (deficiency food etc) but not so easy if the main cause is an anxiety state or emotional tension. This can be cured only when the anxiety or tension is relieved.

Faulty body-chemistry can cause an insufficiency of acids hydrochloric and ascorbic in the digestive juices of the stomach and this means that although, you may be getting enough calcium in the foods you eat, you are not able to assimilate it properly because of lack of these digestive acids and it piles up in the joints. Thus, calcium is erroneously thought to be a cause of arthritic joints, whereas, actually, it is a lack of it in the blood that causes the trouble.

A lack of calcium also, means that vitamin C is deprived of help in forming good strong cartilage around the joints.

Shock is a blow to the emotion from fright, anger, worry,

operation injury or some unpleasant experience. Under too long continued stress the ductless gland system or endocrine system ceases to function and the adrenals stop sending out the supply of epinephrine, which is the tensing fluid and the heart slows, the blood vessels relax and the brain

loses its blood and unconsciousness follows. The skin turns white because, the blood is no longer driven to the surface and a general condition of collapse ensues. If adrenal secretion is not supplied by artificial means or the latent forces within the person given a chance to recuperate, death will follow.

Unconsciousness has beer the turning point for the recovery of many a patient. The emotion and fears were for the time blotted out and their inhibiting power was dispelled and the latent power within the endocrines had an opportunity to assert itself. Joy, hope, love, religious fervor and other inspiring emotions have freed the endocrines and given them an opportunity to act harmoniously and constructively. Life is too strenuous and when we learn the things that the endocrinologists are trying to teach, we will play fair with the forces within us.

When we live so fast, we are in a constant state of shock though we may not be in a faint or unconscious. We are in a lesser state of consciousness because of our tenseness than we would be if we knew how to be calm and harmonious in our being. Our tenseness of living causes us to suffer with fatigue, nervous exhaustion, sensitiveness to cold, loss of appetite, cold hands and feet and a loss of the zest to life.

“Unconsciousness has beer the turning point for the recovery of many a patient. The emotion and fears were for the time blotted out and their inhibiting power was dispelled and the latent power within the endocrines had an opportunity to assert itself. Joy, hope, love, religious fervor and other inspiring emotions have freed the endocrines and given them an opportunity to act harmoniously and constructively.”

With

O.C. Madu GSM: 08056379608

We have mental inability, tendency to worry and weep and as we said before, a general condition of “shock”. All the glands are involved in shock but the adrenals are the specific glands of shock. The person with insufficient adrenal gland action is very apt to succumb to diphtheria and severe fevers.

After all wars the nations involved are always in a state of shock. Men and women are not normal. Waves of crime and excesses follow every war. Women become more masculine from the constant shock of their adrenal endocrines.

Worry, anxiety and emotional out burst if continued for a long period will cause great overeactivity of the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands whose increased secretions in the blood are antagonistic and suppressive to the insulin secretion of the pancreas. This suppression of the insulin secretion stops the final break-up of glycogen into lactic acid and the lactic acid into carbon dioxide and water in the tissues and muscles, so that , some intermediary and harmful product (possibly, pyruvic acid) whose nature is not definitely is retained.

It is retained in the joint tissues and especially, in the muscles, causing a chronic irritation of these structures leading often to the formation of calcified and fibrotic deposits causing spasm and wasting of muscles and immobility of the joints accompanied by unbearable pulling pinching and shooting pains.

There are no signs of redness, inflammation and swelling of the joints, nor is the pain hot and burning in character as in gout or as in acute articular rheumatism.

Arthritis is an acute or chronic inflammation of one of more joints of the body. The inflammation may involve some or all of the structures entering in the formation of a joint, which are the bones, the cartilage and the synovial membranes lining the joint and also the bursas, muscles and other structures near the joint.

To be concluded next week. Thanks for reading.

THE NIGERIAN

15

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Discourse

World Youth Day: What Hope For

The Future?

WITH the hall overflowing with beautifully and handsomely dressed ladies and gents, there was energetic euphoria reverberating across the hall. Nature has endowed this group of people with energy and vibrancy that can transform things. As the programme kicked off, their faces, beaming with hope and zest was even rippled with more smiles.

After the Master of Ceremony (NC), had reeled out some inspiring words telling how important they are. To these young minds, the future is theirs and there is no stopping that fact as even the United Nations dedicated August 12 to celebrate them (youths) yearly.

According to the UN the World Youth Day is set aside “to improve the situation of young people” globally. The celebration of the World Youth Day, every August 12, followed 54/ 120 resolution of the UN on December 17, 1999. the resolution was after the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998).

This year youths, (1835), marked their day with the theme: “Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward.”

According to information on UN website, “young people make up a significant share of the global number of international migrants. In 2010, there were an estimated 27 million international young migrants.” It was meant to draw attention to risks associated with youth migration and also raise awareness, share knowledge and information and engage people (young) on the inherent opportunities and dangers in youth migration.

While speaking on the theme on this year’s event, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, explained that, “It is important to emphasize the positive contribution young migrants make to societies of origin, transit and destination – economically and by enriching the social and cultural fabric. Most work hard to earn a living and improve their circumstances.

The remittances they send to support families in their home countries are a major contributor to economies worldwide.”

Globally, youths are known to be the future of any nation.

Their importance to the growth and development of a country, is due to their endowment and energetic disposition.

However, with these potentials embedded in them, the youths which make up 70% of Nigeria’s population, are constantly threatened by myriad of problems.

According to statistics, globally youth unemployment stood at 12.7% in 2012. in Nigeria, youth unemployment is said to be standing at over 50%. Youth unemployment has become a threat to the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria.

They are the next generation of people with the abilities to transform the economic fortunes of any nation. In Nigeria, it is a situation of hopelessness.

In streets and major highways, Nigerian Youths and wasting away their talents. Majority of them have turned their youthful creativity and energy into nefarious activities that have further truncated the economic situation.

With the helpless conditions most youths find themselves in, greedy politicians and they are taking advantage of them to perpetuate crises and

By EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU trouble.

The most disheartening is when young and vibrant people with degrees are seen roaming the streets with files searching for virtually non-existent jobs.

During electioneering

who are doing their best to savage something out of the ugly trend facing them, are left with hands akimbo.

Why? For any business or entrepreneurial skill that is acquired, if there is no corresponding capital/

ameliorated their plight?

Additionally, the lack of access to education has remained an indelible problem to the nation’s youths. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in 2006, 35% of persons aged 15 years and above, could not

period, these young minds are used as thugs by unscrupulous politicians in order for them (politicians) to quench their thirst for political power. The youths are psyched with all manner of “stipends” just to carry ballot boxes since to them (youths) “At all, at all, Na him bad pass!”

At other times, drug abuse, cyber crime, robbery and sexual abuse, are carried out by most youths due to the unemployment and “unempowerment” ravaging the country.

Similarly, most youths

financial background, it is as good as pouring water into an empty basket.

Although the Federal Government has come up with diverse strategies and policies to curb the seemingly intractable problem as Youth Enterprise with innovation in Nigeria (You Win) it is akin to ask: How many people have been thus far empowered? Have the policy empowered the right persons and not political office holders high jacking it? What about those that finally get empowered?

How have this policy

read or write in any language. The NBS revealed that only 47% of persons in Nigeria, have access to secondary education (69.3%, urban and 37.5%, rural).

For the youths that manage to scale through these hurdles to acquire education, they are rarely fit to tackle the challenges of the present age. The curriculum in schools are majorly not functional and qualitative. Youth that go through these schools, are rarely inputted with the required vocational/ technical skills that will

make them employers of labour. Majority of schools in Nigeria, are not I n f o r m a t i o n Communication Technology (ICT) complaint. In this age of ICT-driven world, most Nigerian youths are rendered “powerless” in the scheme of economic growth.

Again, if there is a

problem thwarting the release of potentials by youths, it is their vulnerability to debilitating diseases. According to the Executive Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Michel Sidibe, “an estimated 700,000 young people aged 15 to 32 are living with HIV-a number nearly one-fifth of the total population of HIVpositive people in Nigeria.”

He went further to warn that “Nigeria is at the risk of the danger of new HIV Continues on page 23

“Although the Federal Government has come up with diverse strategies and policies to curb the seemingly intractable problem as Youth Enterprise with innovation in Nigeria (You Win) it is akin to ask: How many people have been thus far empowered? Have the policy empowered the right persons and not political office holders high jacking it? What about those that finally get empowered? How have this policy ameliorated their plight?”

THE NIGERIAN

16

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Perspective IT is an incontrovertible veracity that since the inception of Nigeria’s fourth republic, the nation has come under scrutiny over corruption. That every facet of life in Nigeria is being ravaged by corruption is no longer a subject of debate because it is as clear as crystal.

For instance, the latest reports by two global watchdogs, the Institute for Economics and Peace and the Transparency International, TI, on Nigerians predilection for corruption is anything but flattering.

In its Global Terrorism Index, GTI, released on Tuesday, December 4, 2012; IE (which measures the impact of terrorism and associated economic dimension,) rated Nigeria as the seventh most terrorized country in the world.

Specifically, it disclosed that in year 2011, 168 incidents of terrorism in which 437 people died and 614 others sustained varying degree of injury.

The survey which covered 158 countries placed Nigeria in the top bracket of countries in which anarchy reigns supreme.

War-tom Somalia is the other subSaharan African country which fell into this unenviable category.

The report also placed Nigeria third from the bottom (105 out of 108) in its Positive Peace Index. The organisation said Nigeria’s performance was poor in the areas of equitable distribution of resources, acceptance of the rights of others and level of corruption.

On the corruption scale, hard on the heels of GTIs report, TI scored Nigeria’s 27 per cent and

placed it on 139 out of 176 countries surveyed worldwide. In the report, Nigeria shared the same position with such countries as Azerbaijan, Kenyan, Nepal and Pakistan which are also steeped in corruption. In the 2011 rankings by the same organisation, Nigeria took the 143rd place out of the 182 countries covered by the survey to stand as the 39 th most corrupt country among the nations of the world.

However, it must be noted that this is not the first indictment of Nigeria over its lack of seriousness in the handling of cases of fraud, embezzlement and other forms of abuse of office against various categories of officials in the public as well as the private sector. Not long ago, wife of the former President of the United States of America, USA, Mrs. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State threw barbs at Nigeria over widespread corruption.

In spite of efforts by the anti-graft agencies, namely, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission, ICPC, which has often resulted in bringing to limelight high profile cases of corruption against public officials, there has been no appreciable success as quite a number of persons alleged are shielded from prosecution, especially former governors who escaped punishment by the immunity clause in the constitution but were charged to court when they took their exit from office in 2007. Only those of them who have

Corruption: wriggled out of trouble through the dubious concept of plea bargain have had their cases concluded-albeit questionably. The case files of all the others are gathering dust courtesy of a legal process that gives room for endless manipulation.

The celebrated bribe-forbudget case which cost a Senate President and a serving Minister their

panels and committees have unearthed mindboggling fraud and monumental financial losses to the Nigerian citizenry but nothing has followed.

Characteristically, the reaction of successive Nigeria leadership is one of denial of the potently obvious. Recently, when the United States Bureau of Democracy,

Nigeria In President Goodluck Jonathan warned Nigerians to be wary of the assessment and described the State Department report as “parachute researchers” limited by absence of any knowledge of the country and its affairs.

Despite viewing the report as an insult on the country, the PDP administration, however, agreed that

Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, Chief Justice of Nigeria

exalted positions has, like many others, come to a dead end.

Similarly, cases with international dimensions such as Siemens, Wilbros and Halliburton, have ended up like many others under the carpet.

Government sponsored

Human Rights and Labour, an arm of the State department decried the endemic nature of corruption in contemporary Nigeria in its annual country report, the Peoples democratic Party, PDP, led administration of

corruption was everywhere and that the party had been fighting the scourge, obviously with little success.

Interestingly, the report said that corruption undermines the growth and development of Nigeria,

By AKPESIR

it identifies the unresolved oil subsidy scam, the Police pension fund, including the trial and conviction of ex-governor James Ibori in the United kingdom, UK, as challenges that must be taken up with a view to tackling the monster.

The federal government should stop treating corruption with kid gloves or trivializing it through spinning by its hirelings. It must realise that corruption war deployed in the past as a justification for despotic military putsch and therefore has remained a veritable source of instability in the realm. The time has come for the government of the day to tackle this challenge headlong.

It is a shame that the sixth largest oil producing country has the wellbeing of its citizens ranked among the lowest in the world.

The structures for fighting corruption or even preventing it are too weak.

An exemplary leadership can breathe life into the sinews of government, cut short the depending habituation to and tolerance of corruption.

To effectively tackle the monster of corruption, both the law

“Interestingly, the report said that corruption undermines the growth and development of Nigeria, it identifies the unresolved oil subsidy scam, the Police pension fund, including the trial and conviction of ex-governor James Ibori in the United kingdom, UK, as challenges that must be taken up with a view to tackling the monster.”

an n C th s i a so c ad

J

P a r i le in a le f I G S r 7 a s th p r e n d H a w th a o th c e e o p m a o T th r i h c O r R th th s p w “ c H th to m

THE NIGERIAN

17

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Perspective

Global Perception

RI OGHENERHABOKE

nd the judicial process need to be strengthened.

Corruption cannot but hrive under the present ituation in which n n u m e r a b l e djournments can be ought and obtained and ases can be prolonged d infinitum. The idea of

establishing special courts to handle corruption cases which has, at different times, been discussed and embraced by relevant authorities appears to have been abandoned.

For as long as treasury looter can walk free and use their stolen wealth to

Jumbo Salaries:

PRESENTLY, the papers and internet were full of evealing comparative nformation that our egislators are the highest paid n the world and our ministers are also among the top in the eague table of jumbo salaries or executives. n November last year, the Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had evealed that Nigeria uses 70% of its budget on salaries and emoluments of public servants in the executive and he legislature. He made a passionate call for the eduction of these emoluments so that we as a nation can free resources for development.

His call was drowned out by anger of our legislators who were furious at his statement hat the legislature consumed a significant percentage of overhead costs. It is important hat our country returns to the core argument that by paying excessively high salaries and emoluments to top public officials, in particular, permanent secretaries, ministers and legislators; we are mortgaging the rights of our people to development.

That we are refusing to spend he bulk of available public esources to provide mproved infrastructure, health and education to our citizens.

On July 2011, the professional uffle of feathers, Nasir El Rufai had warned the nation hat the total revenue from oil hat year could not pay “the salaries and allowances of politicians and public sector workers and their “overheads” – their tea, coffee, travel and estacode.”

He pointed out that it costs on he average about 2.5 million o maintain each of our one million public servants the

influence the course of justice, corruption will remain a way of life.

Also, Nigerians perception and attitude to public institutions and governance must change for the better.

The breakdown of family values must be

addressed via emphasis on ethical re-orientation if the youths who are future leaders are to escape the claws of corruption.

Furthermore, restructuring the country in ways that are expressive of fiscal autonomy for the

federating components could also help to mitigate corruption as the over-reliance on petroleum revenues by all tiers of government has fuelled corruption in no small measures.

Above all, the proposed strategy should include remodelling Nigeria’s politics, removing its current commercial values and making it

attractive only to genuine servants. Now, this is the only business in town and the desperation in the scramble for it fuel corruption in ways unimaginable. Central to this is a drastic reduction in the cost of governance in the executive branch, the legislature and the civil service.

Greed Or Constituency Servicing?

cost of maintaining one legislator is 320 million Naira”, he argued. “This is the reason why we have been borrowing to carry out capital projects” he pointed out.

The legislature in particular has been very sensitive, if not hostile to any discussion about their salaries and emoluments. They appear to think that they have been too often the targets of unfair attacks and have reacted with anger at those who raise the issue. I feel that there is sufficient basis to have a debate on jumbo salaries with the overall objective of redressing the excessively high cost of governance in the country. This discussion should be focused on both the legislature and the executive.

As both, the executive and the legislature have responsibility for the high cost of governance, the tradition of one accusing the other of guilt in this regard should cease.

The legislature however has special responsibility because they determine the final budget and there are increasing accusations that the process of appropriation is being increasingly compromised by self-interest of legislators. It might be the case that they have attenuating circumstances.

Joel Barkan for example has argued that legislatures, or more accurately, legislators acting individually, rather than as members of a corporate organization that engages in collective decision-making, perform the additional function of constituency service. In most African countries, legislators have imposed upon them two forms of constituency service – (a) Regular visits by MPs to their districts to meet constituents and assist some

By IRABOR PETER ODION

with their individual needs. (b) Involvement in small to medium scale development projects that provide various forms of public goods – roads, water supply systems, schools and scholarship schemes, health clinics, meeting halls, etc. to their constituents. This constituency service function has always provided the subtext for raising emoluments of legislators but has never really been placed on the table for discussion.

The consequence is that the Nigerian National Assembly has had a very bad press and an eroding reputation with the public. Press reports, allegations from the Executive branch and statements by major national players and analysts have presented the members of the National Assembly as selfserving individuals who pay themselves enormous illegal allowances. In addition, they have been accused of using their powers of oversight to blackmail ministers and heads of agencies for pecuniary gain. Finally, over the years, there have been accusations that certain laws have been passed on the basis of hefty inducements to legislators.

I believe that there is the tension between legislating and constituency service because the first seeks to arrive at decisions that serve the entire nation while constituency service is, by

definition, addressed to a smaller sub-community of society.

In Nigeria, the legislature has responded to its constituency service function at three levels. First is the introduction of constituency projects in which legislators propose specific projects for their constituents, which are implemented, not by them, but by various ministries, departments and agencies under the Millennium Development Goals Programme. So while the executive branch carries out the projects, the legislators get the credit.

The second is the increase of constituency allowances to allow legislators respond to regular appeals from constituents for financial help for weddings, burials, ill health and so on in addition to other demands for jobs, contracts and every conceivable demand. Thirdly, almost all legislators have developed a set of personal projects, which they develop for their constituents.

The argument for constituency services can be stretched to all public officials and indeed all persons with a regular income. We are all participants in a demand system in which relations, friends, associates and everyone else come to people considered to be relatively more well off who then

become targets of solicitation.

It is because of these more well spread phenomenon that civil society and the media have responded very negatively to these developments and the articulation of their concerns has played a major role in creating the reputation erosion that Parliamentarians have been suffering from. There must be limits placed on those who finalise the budgets on what they pay themselves if we are to maintain sanity in public finance.

The National Assembly should embark on a path of transparency and accountability in engaging Nigerians in a frank conversation about the imperatives of constituency servicing and its limits. They should be open about what they receive, they should also respond to numerous calls by Nigerians for a cap on the legislature’s recurrent budget.

Even more important, they need to take a more proactive role, together with civil society partners in getting citizens and constituents to understand better their legislative functions so that expectations on them are reduced.

Civil society and the media have a responsibility to take a lead in this debate and educate the public on the reasons they should be moderate on the type of personal demands they make on their legislators. In

addition, civil society and the media should orient their civic education programmes and activities towards getting the citizenry to better understand the legislative process so that their set of expectations from their legislators begins to change.

I believe that waste of public resources is higher in the executive branch compared to the legislature. If therefore the legislature takes the initiative to curb its own excesses, they will be strengthened in using their over-sight and budget making powers to curb the excesses of the executive.

I believe that the strong arguments made by Nasir El Rufai in his lecture to the Guild of Editors are more than enough to urge the Presidency and the National Assembly to respond on the ethics, irrationality and high costs of spending the earnings of 167 million Nigerians on the one million in the public sector.

We must bring in the people as beneficiaries of public revenue through the expansion of public services.

As we become less capable of selling our petroleum and give up the fight against oil bunkering, the reality on the ground is that we can no longer sustain the current expenditure profile. As the world asks us how can we afford such jumbo pay for a few, we should have the courage to confess to ourselves that we cannot.

“The National Assembly should embark on a path of transparency and accountability in engaging Nigerians in a frank conversation about the imperatives of constituency servicing and its limits. They should be open about what they receive, they should also respond to numerous calls by Nigerians for a cap on the legislature’s recurrent budget.”

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Health

Rotavirus: MRS Ebiere Amechi watched helplessly as her baby, Michael, a plump and lively boy, started vomiting and stooling.

The woman has been assured that when babies entered their teething period; incessant stooling and vomiting are usually the precursors.

Ebiere helplessly watched her child slipping away from her, as Michael continued to depreciate in weight each time he passed out stool.

She later became frightened and sought the help of her next-door neighbour, Mama Kelechi.

Mama Kelechi made Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) for Michael but when he was not showing any sign of improvement, Ebiere carried her baby and scampered to the hospital.

“This is a case of Rotavirus madam; you are lucky you brought this child here on time,’’ the doctor said.

“What is Rotavirus?’’ a bewildered Ebiera asked.

“Diarrhoea is caused by a virus called Rotavirus and this causes gastroenteritis, whose symptoms include stooling and vomiting,’’ the doctor replied.

Most people like Ebiere are ignorant of Rotavirus, which is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among infants and young children.

MedicineNet.com, an online health publication, describes Rotavirus as a genus of double-stranded ribonucleic acid known as RNA virus in the Reoviridae family.

Reoviridae is a family of viruses that can affect the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract. Viruses in the Reoviridae family have genomes consisting of segmented, double-stranded RNA. The name Reoviridae is derived from respiratory enteric orphan viruses.

The publication says that the term “orphan virus’’ means a virus that is not associated with any known disease. Even though viruses in the

The Silent Child Killer

Reoviridae family have more recently been identified with various diseases, the original name is still used, it adds.

Medical experts say that by the age of five, nearly every child in the world has been infected with Rotavirus at least once.

However, with each infection, immunity develops, and subsequent infections are less severe; adults are rarely affected.

There are five species of Rotavirus and they are classified as A, B, C, D, and E. Rotavirus A — the most common species — causes more than 90 per-cent of infections in humans.

Since 2006, vaccination has been available for Rotavirus infection. Prior to the availability of a vaccine, almost all children became infected with Rotavirus by their third birthday.

Although rotavirus was discovered in 1973 and it accounts for up to 50 per cent of hospitalisations for severe diarrhoea in infants and children, its importance is still not widely known within the public health community, particularly in developing countries.

In addition to its impact on human health, Rotavirus also infects animals, and it is a pathogen of livestock.

Rotavirus is usually an easily managed childhood disease but unfortunately, more than 450,000 children under the age of five worldwide still die from Rotavirus infection each year, according to MedicineNet.com.

Nigeria is also one of the countries that have the vaccine, although most people are still not aware of it.

The public health campaigns on Rotavirus infections focus on providing ORT for infected children and vaccination to prevent the disease.

Medical experts note that the incidence and severity of Rotavirus infections have declined significantly in

By PERPETUA ONUEGBU

countries that have added Rotavirus vaccination to their routine childhood immunisation policies.

However, Dr Kelechi Odinaka, a paediatrician with Kofa Hospital and Maternity, Agbara, Lagos, stressed that teething was not a causative

some parents erroneously assume that whenever a baby is stooling, it is because of his or her teeth development.

“They ignorantly leave the child in that condition, with the hope that the diarrhoea will cease as soon as the teeth emerges.

causes discomfort, itching and pains in the infant’s gums, he or she introduces any object to the mouth in a bid to mitigate the discomfort.

“Due to the tender body system of the child and because diarrhoea is caused by an association of germs, such habit triggers stooling in the child,’’ he said.

Odinaka bemoaned the

Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health

factor of stooling, which most babies experienced.

He rejected the notion that teething in infants was accompanied with diarrhoea, saying that most parents erroneously had the notion that whenever a “child begins to develop teeth, that child automatically starts stooling’’.

“Rotavirus does not come with teething in children, but

“This has led to the death of a number of children, who became dehydrated due to frequent stool, as a large volume of body fluid is lost in the process,’’ he said.

According to Odinaka, the period of teething in some children begins from five to six months and this is the crawling stage of the child.

“Due to the fact that teething

“Rotavirus is usually an easily managed childhood disease but unfortunately, more than 450,000 children under the age of five worldwide still die from Rotavirus infection each year, according to MedicineNet.com. Nigeria is also one of the countries that have the vaccine, although most people are still not aware of it.”

situation where some parents still have the notion that their babies’ diarrhoea was one of the consequences of teething.

“The proper thing for parents to do, when they discover their baby is stooling, is to try as much as possible to rehydrate the child with an oral salt solution.

“This solution should be given repeatedly to the child each time he or she passes stool, so as to help replace the electrolytes that are lost due to dehydration.

“Diarrhoea is the number one killer disease in children, and mothers must ensure they get medical advice when they are ignorant of what to do,’’ he added.

Odinaka, however, urged parents, guardians and

caregivers to provide a hygienic and well-sanitised environment for the children.

The paediatrician said that tangible efforts should be made to disinfect the children’s toys and instructional materials regularly so as to guard against Rotavirus infections, which he described as the “silent child killer’’.

Sharing similar sentiments, Dr Monica Aletor, a paediatrician in Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, stressed that teething was not the factor that caused stooling and vomiting in children.

She attributed the medical condition to the objects which a teething baby used in scratching his or her aching gums.

“You will notice that the child puts any object in sight into its mouth; all in the bid to get relief from pains in the gums. Even the child passes out more spittle, which if not cleaned off on time, can cause rashes on the neckline of the child.

“So, you find that all these things occur as a result of the amount of care been given to the child at this point in time; when a mother pays better attention to the sanitary needs of the child, the child is better for it.

“Mothers should know that teething is a critical stage of a child’s development and they should do all in their power to ensure good hygiene so as to prevent Rotavirus infections in their children,’’ Aletor said.

Mrs. Chinasa Amadi, a mother of two, said that her children had never experienced vomiting and stooling while teething, adding that she always ensured that all their toys and the floor were well disinfected and dry.

“Mothers should know that in nursing a child, tangible efforts should be made to prevent the baby from catching unnecessary ailments.

“I never had such experience because I always adopted all the necessary precautions to put in place hygienic conditions for my babies; and I thank God that my efforts were fruitful.

“So, mothers who want healthy children should be ready to pay the price; we should make concerted efforts to prevent our babies from getting infected with Rotavirus,’’ she said.

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Drumbeats

Ingredient For Living A Successful Life

JESUS saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto The father but by me” John 14v6 Your ability to know Jesus, follow him and accept him into your life as your Lord and personal Saviour will give you access into having and enjoying ingredients for living a successful life.

Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, and many people whose names are not in the Bible followed and served God faithfully and were not disappointed.

You have nothing to lose if you follow Jesus wholeheartedly. The quest for material things and the desire to amass more wealth, power, position and influence had made many people to forsake Jesus and walk in their own ways.

“And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straightway left their nets and followed him” Matthew 4v 1 9-20 look at Peter, a professional in fishing industry, left his fishing business in obedience to Gods calling and followed Jesus wholeheartedly. If Jesus did not disappoint Peter, John, James, Paul, Philip and Bartholomew, why do you think he will fail you if you follow him faithfully?

Jesus holds the key to your success, satisfaction and total fulfillment on earth. Remember who you were before and what God had done for you. Were it not for the sake of Jesus, you probably would have been so poor, wretched, afflicted, confused, forsaken and in reproach daily. Now that the hands of providence has smiled on you, why would you forsake and turn your back on Jesus.

Jesus alone has the key to your wealth and he alone has the power of longevity of life. I will implore you to follow and serve Jesus and tell others about him.

No matter how famous, powerful and successful we are, we can never ignore the legacies of Jesus.

EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WHO FAITHFULLY FOLLOWED JESUS AND THEIR END RESULTS MARY -MAGDALENE And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and

Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

And they said among themselves, who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?

And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great.

And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were afflicted.

And he saith unto them, be not afflicted; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified, he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him.

But go your way, tell his disciples and peter that he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him, as he said unto you” (Mark 16v1-7) Mary Magdalene knew who she was when Jesus changed her life positively. In appreciation to that she came in company of Mary the mother of James and Salome to anoint Jesus body. Even after the death of Jesus, Mary Magdalene is being adored, appreciated and used as a reference point because of her steadfastness and consistency and faithfulness in serving Jesus.

APOSTLE PETER “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, Saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.

And he saith unto them follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straightway left their nets, and followed him” Matthew 4v 1 8-20 Peter’s ability to obey Jesus, serve and follow him faithfully led to his breakthrough in life and today Peter is regarded, known and seen as the head of the Apostles APOSTLE PAUL “And now, behold, 1 go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,, not knowing the things that shall befall me there.

Save that the Holy Spirit witnesseth, in every City, saying that bonds and afflictions “abide me.

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself; so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that

With Apostle Dr. Raphael O. Ayemere 08035459593

ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.

Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears”. Acts 22-7vs3 1.

Though Paul persecuted the

thirty-eight, she married Alexander Van Alstyne, who was also blind. He was an organist in two New York City churches, and his musical knowledge helped her in countless ways. They were married for forty-four years.

Although Crosby did not begin her life’s work of writing hymns until she was forty years old. She ultimately wrote the text for more than 8,000 hymns, using more than 200 pens names. Under contract to a music publisher, she wrote 3 new hymns each week during much of her life. From 1865 to

popular in both D. L Moody’s evangelistic campaigns in England and also in the Billy Graham crusade across America. In addition to her work as a musical poetess, Crosby loved to visit the rescue mission in New York City.

There she would make what she called a “Pressing plea” for any boy present who had “wandered from his mother’s

church in ignorance when God saved and changed him from his evil ways, he preached Christ in season and out of season. In fact he was willing to die in doing God’s work and he eventually died preaching Christ. Paul almost single handedly wrote the entire new testament Bible. He laboured more than the rest of the apostle of Jesus Christ. Today Apostle Paul’s name is written in gold in the lives of many Christians.

FANNY CROSBY When fanny Jane Crosby was only six weeks old, she lost her sight as a result of a doctor’s error in treating an illness. She never voiced bitterness about blindness, however, she once stated, “1 have always believed that the good Lord, in his infinite mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do”.

When a Scottish minister tried to express sorrow at her blindness, she quickly replied, “If I had been given a choice at birth, I would have asked to be blind, for when I get to Heaven, the first face I will see will be the one who died for me”.

At age fifteen, she entered the New York institute for the blind, where she received an excellent education. She later taught there, and at the age of

1905, she produced nearly 200 songs a year. Her hymns have been noted by generations for their thought and praise-. filled texts. Her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages and distributed by the millions in English-speaking areas.

Many of Crosby’s songs were written in collaboration with her friend William H. Doane. At times, Crosby would write the lyrics first, at other times Doane would write a song, and Crosby would respond, “That tune say to me” and write a stirring text.

Phone Palmer Knapp, wife of the founder of metropolitan life insurance company, composed a tune in 1873, and she brought it to Crosby in Brooklyn, Crosby asked Knapp to play the tune for her on the organ as Crosby knelt in played nearby.

She played it a second time and then a third. The blind woman finally responded, “that says.

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!” The hymn “Blessed Assurance” is one of her most famous.

Among her best known hymns are ‘Jesus, keep me Near the cross”, ‘Draw me nearer, Rescue the perishing”, ‘I am Thine, 0 lord” and “All the way my saviour leads me” her song ‘To God be the Glory”, was

home and teaching” to see her at the end of the service. She had numerous opportunities to share her faith in Christ with those who responded to her plea” MARTIN LUTHER Some people experience success because they are the right people at the right time.

In the Case of Martin Luther, he seemed to produce the “right word” at the right time, they were words that were to become the sounding gun for the reformation.

Luther chose to become an Augustinian monk rather than complete his law studies, and in 1512, he received a degree of “Doctor of the Theology”, from the University of Wittenberg. He later joined its faculty.

Initially, Luther was not disenchanted with the Roman Catholic Church.

His grievances against the church rose gradually, as a result of his spiritual pilgrimage and his studies in the Bible, especially in Paul’s epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans.

In 1510, he took a trip to Rome and was shocked at the worldliness he saw displayed by the Clergy.

He got angry and spoke out against them, however. Rather, he took aim at the church’s practice of

selling indulgences, a granting of remission for the penalties of sin as the result of giving contributions to the church. In October 31, 1517 the eve of all saint’s day he posted on the door in Wittenberg church his celebrated ninety-five Theses.

In this statement he strongly denounced corruption in the church in general and the practice of selling indulgences in particular. Not only where the theses posted in the door, but copies were also distributed widely throughout the area, including a copy to the Archbishop of Mainz.

His protest broadened in scope, and Luther subsequently focused on the limitation of church authority found in the Bible. For this opinion, he was summoned to appear before church officials. After various hearings and orders to recent his position, he was pronounced a heretic and an outlaw. His writings were banned by the pope.

The outcome for his branding as a heretic would normally have been death by burning at the stake, but Luther’s views had found widespread support among the German people, including several German princes. He went into hiding, and his growing support was strong enough to keep him from experiencing any serious criminal penalties imposed by Rome.

As a prolific writer, his works were given mass distribution His opinion that the Christians should be guided by the Bible and by plain reason was an opinion that gained great popular support. He also translated the Bible into Germany, which made it possible of course, for literature people to study the scriptures themselves.

The prose of his Bible translate had a great influence on German doctrine d literature.

Luther advocated that salvation come only through faith and the grace God. the doctrine of justification by faith alone gave hope to many who realized like Luther that they could not do enough to save themselves. Finding nothing in the Bible to justify the celibacy of clergy: Luther himself married a former nun, and they had six children.

Although Martin Luther was not the first protestant thinker, he is considered the man chiefly responsible for the protestant reformation.

THE NIGERIAN

20

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Travelogue FROM all perspectives, a recent tour of Calabar was very delightful, justifying the tourists’ assumption that the ancient city is always a tourist delight.

Although the visit was for the National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA). It gave the conference’s participants the opportunity of knowing more about Calabar’s tourist sites and their potentialities.

The Cultural Centre, Calabar, the venue of the conference, displayed some of the tourist expectations of the rich cultural values in other parts of Cross River state.

The well-paved roads leading to the centre were beautified and they showcased some elements of the abundant tourist attractions in the state.

The conference of librarians also attracted exhibitors, publishers and friends of the association.

During the conference, 14 papers were presented, while three celebrities, including Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Chief Emeka Ofor, a prominent businessman, were honoured with NLA Merit and Eminent Personality Awards.

The participants savoured the aesthetics

The Beauty, Thrills And Memories Calabar:

of the neat and wellplanned city but their ecstatic mood switched into to a sombre mood when they visited some places.

They visited some places of interest such as the Marina Slave Museum and Tinapa Business Resort, among others.

The visit to the museum brought back the memories of the horrific Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which was then perpetrated by European slave traders and their African collaborators.

The visitors walked in a single file formation to re-enact the way the

By STELLA EJIOGU

slaves were forced to move in chains to “their destinations of no return’’.

Viewing some of the antiquities and artworks was quite emotional and, in fact, some of the visitors broke down in tears.

Some of the artworks reflect the slaves’ voyage to faraway places, during which they were forced to lie down in a way that made it virtually impossible for them to communicate with one another.

In the artworks, the weak and sickly slaves were isolated from the

healthy ones, while some were thrown into the sea.

The emotions of the visitors could have lingered for a longer time if they were allowed to take pictures of the revealing artworks.

One of the chambers of the museum contains the chains and shackles used in tying up the slaves to prevent them from escaping.

The visitors were told that the slaves were exchanged for valueless items such as guns, hot drinks and mirrors, while each of the items could be exchanged for ten human beings.

“The publication argued that before Africans could blame Europeans for the atrocities of the slave trade, they should first investigate the involvement of various community leaders, who searched the hinterland and captured the slaves for the European slave merchants.”

Another chamber contains the slavemasters’ rods, which were used for stamping identification marks on the slaves.

Some of the artworks contain images such as white men flogging fleeing slaves and bull dogs, used by the white slave-masters to hunt down slaves.

One of the artworks depicts slaves groaning under the yoke of heavy chains, while working on sugarcane plantations.

Some of the artworks provoked strong feelings in the tourists, as some of them, who could no longer control their emotions, burst into tears, recalling the striking instance of man’s inhumanity to man.

Some of the visitors asked thought-provoking questions such as: “How could the people who brought Christianity to us unleash this kind of bestial acts on our

people?

The visitors, however, found solace in a chamber of the museum in which the statues of Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a former slave who later became the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria, and William Wilberforce, who fought for the abolition of slave trade, are erected.

At the Tinapa Business Resort, a magazine — Waka About Africa — carried a cover story, “Badagry: A Walk Through The Slave Route’’, which caught the attention of the visitors.

The publication argued that before Africans could blame Europeans for the atrocities of the slave trade, they should first investigate the involvement of various community leaders, who searched the hinterland and captured the slaves for the European slave merchants.

The magazine, however, noted that after the proclamation that made slave trade illegal, the trade stopped in British West Indies in 1863 and in Brazil in 1818, while Africa followed in 1870.

It noted also that long after the abolition of slave trade, the inhuman trade in persons still flourished in Badagry until 1886.

The general consensus among the visitors is that, other forms of slavery still exist nowadays, citing human trafficking and child labour as examples.

They underscore the need for governments and relevant agencies to make concerted efforts to eradicate any form of modern-day slavery.

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Issues Opinion

Towards Making Education Work Again In Edo

THE importance of education to the development of any nation cannot be overemphasised; hence much attention should be given to it.

Education is most times one of the distinguishing factors in placing you among the top cadre in the society. I will like to emphasise that education goes beyond only the lessons in the classes but also the environment in which the teaching is done.

In the words of the highly respected Nelson Mandela, “Education is the world’s most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. With this in the mind, the spot light beamed on the educational sector in Edo state by the comrade Governor, Adams Oshiomhole is something laudable.

Furthermore, the state government under the leadership of the governor, recently began a certificate verification Exercise, and few days into it; drama have started unfolding. The media has been awash with the news about a teacher in Edo state who was not able to read the sworn affidavit she tendered as part of her credentials. The exercise took a twisted turn when Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who paid an unscheduled visit to the State’s Staff Training Centre; venue of the exercise, was appalled that a teacher could not read, saying “if you can’t read, what do you teach the pupils, what do you write on the board”? Mrs Augusta Odemwinge, a teacher at Asologun Primary school, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Benin City; stuttered and read the affidavit as if a kindergarten was learning to read, to the consternation of everybody around.

Also, before her turn, the governor joined in perusing the documents of

some other teachers at the screening venue. This revelation has underscored the importance of this exercise and the impact a ready government can make to the wellbeing of her people. This might just be one among the many that are in class, doing nothing but confusing the future leaders of tomorrow.

The importance of the functions of the teachers is so delicate and enormous that care should be taken, before anybody is allowed into the class.

Furthermore, a teacher is not just someone with qualification but someone that loves to teach. The teaching profession should not be a dump ground for people who have made efforts in other sectors but were not picked; teaching is a rare privilege that has the capacity to influence the leaders of tomorrow, and the wrong leaders can develop better under a wrong teacher. Chickering and Gamson (1987), gave seven principles for good practice in Undergraduate education, he described an effective teacher is described to: Encourage contact between students and faculty Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students Encourage active learning Give prompt feedback Emphasise time on task Communicate high expectation and Respect diverse talents and ways of learning The reality is that effective teaching goes much beyond developing subject matter expertise.

From my experiences in higher education, great teachers share two common characteristics: an extraordinary sense of humility, and a strong commitment to continual improvement, based upon a fundamental motivation to inspire student success ( Natasha Kenny blog).

needs teachers that are patient enough to manage the total wellbeing of the students in her class.

George Evans once said, “every student can learn just not on the same day, or

the governor in trying to revamp the educational sector in Edo state. Other state governments should follow suit and even the Federal Government should take steps to make the educational sector a place that houses professionals that can

And it will be good for this verification exercises to be replicated in other ministries and government organisations.

In addition, government at all levels should also conduct such verification exercises, and increase the verification boundaries

the same way”, if this is properly understood by all teachers, education in Nigeria will be more imparting.

Some of the misbehaviours we have today should have been handled if we had effective teachers in the classes.

Hence I laud the efforts of

produce excellent future products.

However, I appreciate the Governor for his efforts in making sure the educational system in Edo state is strong. He further displayed his resolve to make sure Edo children are in school and have the best of environments to learn in.

beyond certificates to

By OLUGBEMIRO O. MICHAEL

Moreover, we need to begin to have teachers who do not teach because of their salaries, but because they have the heart to develop the best of students to make the society a better

Gov Adams Oshiomhole

place (that does not mean, they should not be paid for their services, but money is not their major motivation). We need teachers that are not only interested in dishing out Fs but want to know why those students failed, and how to help them reach their peak. This nation

include other qualities that make a teacher better. As having a first class in the University does not automatically make you a good teacher, but a passion padded with discipline and knowledge will go a long way.

“However, I appreciate the Governor for his efforts in making sure the educational system in Edo state is strong. He further displayed his resolve to make sure Edo children are in school and have the best of environments to learn in. And it will be good for this verification exercises to be replicated in other ministries and government organisations.”

THE NIGERIAN

22

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Issues

The Antics Of Solidarity Visits In Nigeria’s Politics IT is funny that Nigerians, especially our politicians and those of higher class status, are very good at setting crazy standards.

Standards that are often unheard of or discouraged in other advanced or developing nations across the globe. The issue of solidarity visits, particularly by Nigerian ‘professional’ politicians, can be described as one of such observed crazy practices in the polity, which often times amounts to nothing but selfserving interests.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the word solidarity means “unity, agreement and support resulting from shared interests, feelings, actions, sympathies, etc; hence we see solidarity in the face of opposition”. But in Nigeria the kind of solidarity we see in our political circles is the kind that is often propelled by sycophancy, hyporicrisy and self-centered interests. The so called “solidarity visits” we often see around Nigeria’s political circles is not really because they want to “solidify’ or actualize a common goal that would be in the general interests of the masses, not at all. But rather it is if often self-centered driven. For those still very active in the political circles, solidarity visits are often opportunities to scheme, plan, organize and strategize how to ‘deal with’ or displace those perceived as oppositions or not in their camp. While there are others, like our supposed elder statesmen, traditional rulers etc; who see/use Solidarity visits as an opportunity to refill, reemburse their ‘drying’ pockets with government funds.

For the latter group, Nigeria’s political structure and the Nigerian factor has

created the ground for them to engage in this practice of lining their pockets with State’s funds in the name of solidarity visits.

Right from the Local Government Chairman to the State Governors, members of the National Assembly and the Presidency; Nigeria’s political structure and its players have one thing in common. And that is the fact that they all love sycophants/ praise-singers in their various camps who support/agree with/show solidarity to whomever they would benefits from; even when such political leaders are blindly leading them in the wrong direction. As long as they stand to gain something from such visionless leaders, they are ready to go to any length to show their unwavering support.

Apparently, those in the corridors of power are equally taking advantage of this ‘solidarity visits” platform to garner as much support as they can from whomever that shows it, especially when it is coming from supposed elder statesmen and respected men/ women of the society. We call them Nigerian Professional Politicians. In other to sustain and maintain this ‘flow’ of supports via solidarity visits, those in the corridors of power are ever willing to line the packets of those giving the supports, with state’s fundsjust to keep them coming and interested. Hence, we see a constant circle of such solidarity visits in government circles.

Once these Nigerian Professional Politicians are broke, they go for solidarity visits to show their unwavering support or to pass a vote of confidence to the political leader concerned.

After which they come back with enlarged bank accounts and Ghana-must-go bags. But

By ZIK GBEMRE

of course, the monetary gains that are often attached to such solidarity visits are usually carefully hidden away from the eyes of the public. Aside the obvious we read on national tabloids, there are countless others (of such solidarity visits) that go on a daily basis that Nigerians are not aware of.

the hearts of those in the corridors of power; and rightly advise or positively influence the affairs of the state in the interest of the masses, they prefer to sell their birth rights for several pots of porridge and ephemeral things. As long as their family members and close friends are equally partakers of such ephemeral

use the flawed system to climb or ascribe for themselves mandates that were never given to them in the first place by the people, to gain cheap scores and popularity through any ‘support’ means possible and to morph into self-appointed custodians of the Nigerian resources. This leaves us with political leaders that are willing to “buy the support” they need to remain in

President Goodluck Jonathan According to a friend, he said recently that, “Nigeria seems to have no democrats”.

And we totally agree with him. Those that our future generations should be looking up to for guidance are more interested in feeding fat from the disorganized system.

Rather than be distinguished elder statesmen of integrity that would inspire visions in

gains from the state’s purse, the rest of the people can go to blazes.

It is a known fact that as part of our governance evolutions, most people become public servants by accident but they usually soon get so used to the “glamour of office” that they lose sight of their own ordinariness or where they come from. They

“Once these Nigerian Professional Politicians are broke, they go for solidarity visits to show their unwavering support or to pass a vote of confidence to the political leader concerned. After which they come back with enlarged bank accounts and Ghana-must-go bags. But of course, the monetary gains that are often attached to such solidarity visits are usually carefully hidden away from the eyes of the public.”

government circles by all means necessary. That is the Government Houses across the country, up to the exalted Aso Rock Villa, are seen as ‘commercial banks’ by these Nigerian professional politicians whose habit is to use solidarity visits (by virtue of their status in the society) to ‘withdraw’ from the government.

We have them all around us. In the South-South (Niger Delta), South-West, SouthEast, North-Central (middle belt), North-East and NorthWest. What we even find disturbing is the fact that our Traditional Rulers (Kings, Monarchs) have also joined the band wagon of those who pay solidarity visits for self-

conceited purposes. Almost on a monthly basis, you see these group of praise singers flocking to Abuja and different parts of their states where political power resides, to pay one solidarity visit or the other, even to government officials that everybody knows that are underperforming.

The problem with all of this; which is a great disservice to the nation, is the fact that when those in the corridors of power are doing something wrong and leading the people astray, the so called elder statesmen and traditional rulers cannot say or do anything. They cannot tell the political leaders in power the “truth” or suggest things actions that would be in the interest of all. They would rather shamelessly continue giving their support (by paying more solidarity visits), to such visionless political leaders so as not to spoil or disrupt the flow of ephemeral gains/benefits. This leaves the Nigerian political circles with more sycophants and hypocrits. Where does that leave the future generation?

When elders and past leaders in government circles are more interested in what they can still gain/benefit from the system than what they can give back to benefit all, where then is the place of sacrifice for others? What example are they showing for the future generation? The situation is quite pathetic.

We strongly ask that our political holders; starting from the Presidency, State Government and Local Government, should discourage in total, all the antics associated with solidarity visits across board.

If the government is doing well by meeting the basic needs of the people, they will be acknowledged and appreciated by Nigerians. The observed level of sycophancy/ praise singing in the polity will not help the masses but only the interests of few Nigerians. The time, often wasted by such solidarity visits, should be channel by political office holders to address pressing needs of the people. We ask that the right thing should be done.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Discourse Continued from page 15

infection if its youths are not properly educated about the effects of the virus.”

The vulnerability of Nigerian youths is triggered by the lack of money to properly take care of themselves.

Sometimes, these young minds are left incapacitated when these diseases strike.

At major roads/streets, some youths are seen roaming around with one form of illness or the other.

As someone once said jokingly, when he was in primary school, his teacher, has told him that they are “the leaders of tomorrow.”

But he is about to graduate from the university and most of the leaders then are still very much around in the political scene. “When is the tomorrow?, he asked.

Nigeria’s young

population has been sidelined in the scheme of things. It is only a fraction of the 70% of youths that are in policy making positions. When will the tomorrow come?

Nationalists as late Nnamdi Azikiwe were major players in the political game during the early years of the country’s independence.

The Zik of Africa, as he was called then, with Ernest Ikoli, H.A Davis, Sam Adesanya and others, formed the Nigerian Youth Movement in 1933. the party was to later challenged and ultimately ended the National Democratic Party’s dominance of the Lagos Town Council led by Herbert Macaulay in October 1938. does the country have such verile youth body now? For the

...What Hope For The Future? small fragment of youths that are “ogas at the top,” most of them are practicing “stomach democracy.” They are just to “hit and run” with their share of the national “moi-moi” Also, the state of security in this state has adversely affected the hub of the nation (youths). The terrorist dimension that crime is assuming, has even aggravated the situation. On numerous occasions, youths have been killed by angry mobs and dare devil terrorist. The case of the ALUU 4 who were lynched by on angry mob in Aluu Community near Port Harcourt last year, is still fresh in the peoples’ mind.

The world cannot forget in a hurry the massacre of about 43 students of four

different tertiary institutions in Mubi, Adamawa State, also last year. The sour part of the story was that the Mubi students were sent to their early grave while in their hostel rooms. And these are the leaders of tomorrow?

“Leaders of tomorrow” that cannot feel protected in their fatherland. Will the “tomorrow” be in their various white sepulchers?

As a Nigerian proverb rightly say, someone who cannot tell where the rain started beating him, cannot say where he dried his body. Youths have lost the cultural values that knitted the country before now. It is a shameful and mindblowing revelation for a youth to say that he/she cannot speak or understand

his/her language. How would such a person know where to start from? Go to any secondary school and see the infinitesimal fragment of them that have history as a subject. Little wonder the spirit of nationalism exhibited by Nigerians of yore, is at its lowest ebb now.

It is a case of swallowed the bitter pill of westernization while relegating their identity to the background. Most youths, due to corruption level in the country, or underdevelopment as some may call it, have developed a penchant for “checking out.” “Checking out” is a term used to describe the unrelenting quest of most youths to migrate (illegally), to other nations irrespective of the hazards

associated with such.

At most times, the media is awash with headlines of either people rotting away in prisons or boats capsizing in crocodiledominated seas/rivers. It wouldn’t have been any better with the theme of this year’s World Youth Day Celebration focusing on: “Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward.”

As experts have opined, the youths, though endowed with energy, zest, vibrancy, potentials and all that, cannot be the “leaders of tomorrow” if they are not given the platform to showcase their potentials.

As the world celebrates the World Youth Day, the question many are asking is; “Are the youths still the “leaders of tomorrow?”

Health

Addressing Scourge Of Maternal Mortality MOTHERHOOD is a thing of joy, as every woman is happy that after nine months of carrying a child in the womb, she finally gives birth. This is seen to none and she holds it close to her heart and cherishes it. The birth of a baby brings celebration to every family blessed with such bundle of joy and those that have not experienced it, should pray to.

The joy surrounding pregnancy for expectant mothers seems to be disappearing very fast as a result of the rise of maternal and mortality rate in Nigeria.

The issue is commanding global attention and Nigeria needs to step up to the challenges to drastically

reduce the scourge, if not totally eradicate it in the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. While motherhood is often a positive and fulfilling experience, for too many women, it is associated with suffering ill-health and even death.

The WHO and United Children’s’ Fund Estimated that millions of women suffer from disease or complication during pregnancy and child birth and more than half a million women die of causes related

By WINIFRED OSASOBO

to pregnancy and child-birth each year.

According to child Health Epideminelogy reference group (CHERG) the major overwhelming death from maternal mortality in developing countries, arises from the risks attributable to pregnancy and child birth as well as from the poor performance to health service.

Statistics have it that a woman dies from complication in child-birth every minute, the vast majority of them are in developing countries.

According to unicef the causes of maternal morbidity and death are haemorrhage, infection, obstructed labour,

hypertensive disorder in pregnancy, and complications of unsafe abortion. There are birthrelated disabilities, that affect many women and go untreated, like injuries to pelvic muscle and organs or the spinal cord. At least 20% of the burden of disease in children below the age of five is related to poor maternal health and nutrition, as well as quality of health care at delivery and during the new born period.

Also children are tragically left motherless each year.

These children are ten times more likely to die within two years of their mother death.

Another risk to expectant

“Majority of these deaths and disabilities are preventable, according to UNICEF, due to insufficient health care during pregnancy and delivery result to death. Further, about 15 percent of pregnancies and child births need emergency obstetric care because of complications that are difficult to predict.”

women is malaria. It can lead to anaemial and infant mortality and development problems for bodies.

Nutritional deficiencies contribute to low birth weight and birth defect as well.

HIV infection is an increasing threat. Mother-tochild transmission of HIV in low-resource settings, especially in those countries where infection in adults is continuing to grow or has stabilized at very high levels, continues to be a major problem, with up to 45 percent of HIV-infected mothers transmission infections to their children.

Majority of these deaths and disabilities are preventable, according to UNICEF, due to insufficient health care during pregnancy and delivery result to death.

Further, about 15 percent of pregnancies and child births need emergency obstetric care because of complications that are difficult to predict.

UNICEF works with the United Nations Population

Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners in countries with high maternal mortality in a well-defined supporting role as well as part of an emerging global partnership for maternal, new born and child health.

UNICEF also helps work with policy makers to ensure that emergency obstetric care is a priority in national health plans, including help in poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) and sector – wide approaches (SWAPs), and assists its partner and government with assessments, training and logistic.

Improving maternal health is one of the WHO’s key priorities.

To reduce maternal death globally the government, private enterprises and individual bodies need to provide and ensure adequate and available resources, effective health service should be provided or installed especially in rural areas, to help in the reduction of mother and child death rate in the country.

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Over 20,000 Syrian Refugees Cross Into Iraq GENEVA - More than 20,000 Syrian refugees have entered northern Iraq since Thursday in one of the largest crossings in the more than two-year-old conflict and the influx is continuing, the United Nations said yesterday.

Syrians began pouring into the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq last Thursday, taking advantage of a new bridge along the largely closed border, the U.N. says.

“It looks like the total from last Thursday to now is somewhere in the region of 20,000 or more coming across,” Adrian Edwards of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. “If not the biggest influx across the border at a single time then it is among the largest in the whole Syria crisis.”

Hundreds of Syrians fleeing fighting in Aleppo and other parts of northern Syria were massed along the Tigris River yesterday near the pontoon crossing, UNHCR staff said.

International

Mubarak Will Be Freed Soon - Lawyer

CAIRO - Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president overthrown in an uprising in 2011, will be released from jail soon after a prosecutor cleared him in a corruption case, his lawyer and a judicial source said yesterday.

Mubarak, 85, was arrested after he was ousted. In scenes that mesmerised Arabs, the former leader appeared in a court-room cage during his trial on charges that ranged from corruption to complicity in the murder of protesters.

More than a year now, the only legal grounds for Mubarak’s continued detention rest on another corruption case which his lawyer, Fareed el-Deeb, said would be settled swiftly.

“All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 An Egyptian soldier takes his position on top of an armored vehicle while guarding an hours. He should be freed by entrance to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Israel is carefully watching events in Egypt the end of the week,” Deeb and keeping in touch with the Egyptian army through the Arab nation’s latest turmoil, told Reuters. officials say, working together in the common battle against Islamic militants.

Without confirming that

the two. Eide on Sunday said Congolese representatives haven’t responded to formal communications from him, British Foreign Secretary William Hague or Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Mubarak would be freed, a judicial source said the former leader would spend another two weeks behind bars before judicial authorities made a final decision in the outstanding case against him.

Mubarak, along with his interior minister, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of protesters in the revolt that swept him from power.

He still faces a retrial in that case after appeals from the prosecution and defence, but this would not necessarily require him to stay in jail.

Mubarak did not appear at a hearing in the case on Saturday. He was also absent from yesterday proceedings.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, is being held at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of Cairo, the facility where senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been detained since they were arrested in a crackdown on the organisation that began in July.

The military removed President Mohamed Mursi, a senior Brotherhood official, on July 3 after mass protests against his rule. Mursi is in detention at an undisclosed location.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

OTABOR – I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Otabor Sandra Scholastica Osagioduwa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Otabor Sandra Osagioduwa. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

IZEVBIGIE – I formerly known and addressed as Miss Iyogie Izevbigie now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Iyogie Remigius Ikechukwu Okonkwo.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

Norwegian Imprisoned in Congo Dead - Lawyer

OSLO — Tjostolv Moland, one of two Norwegian citizens imprisoned in Congo since 2009 on murder charges, has died in prison, his lawyer and government officials said.

He was 32.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, attorney Hans Marius Graasvold said.

British-Norwegian citizen Joshua French, who was

Gunmen Kill 24 Egyptian Policemen

CAIRO - Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 24 Egyptian policemen yesterday in the Sinai peninsula, where attacks on security forces have multiplied since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

Three policemen were also wounded in the grenade and machinegun attack near the north Sinai town of Rafah on the border with Israel, medical and security sources said.

The attack underlined the challenges facing Egypt’s new rulers, locked in a struggle with Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood in which at least 850 people have been killed since the security forces opened fire at pro-Mursi protest camps last week.

The authorities portrayed their campaign as a fight against terrorism. The Brotherhood renounced violence decades ago and denies any links with armed militants, including those in Sinai who gained strength since autocrat Hosni Mubarak fell in 2011.

Mounting insecurity in Sinai also worries the United States because the area lies

Compiled By FAITH OKHUELEIGBE

next to Israel and the Hamasruled Gaza Strip, as well as the Suez Canal.

At least 36 Islamists died in government custody on Sunday, in an incident that the Brotherhood described as “murder” and the authorities said was a thwarted jailbreak.

“The murders show the violations and abuses that political detainees who opposed the July 3 coup get subjected to,” said the Brotherhood.

The Interior Ministry said 36 Brotherhood detainees had been suffocated by tear gas during an attempted prison breakout near Cairo. A legal source said 38 men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van.

Egypt’s descent into the bloodiest internal conflict in its modern history is causing global jitters, but no consensus on how to respond has emerged in the West or the Arab world.

European Union diplomats were due to meet in Brussels to review how best to leverage some 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) of promised grants and loans, looking to apply pressure on Cairo’s army-backed government to find a compromise.

imprisoned alongside Moland, is upset but in good health, Graasvold said.

The two former Norwegian soldiers were sentenced to death in Congo in the murder of their driver, Abedi Kasongo, and attempted murder of a witness. The court in the northeastern city of Kinsangani also convicted them of spying for Norway because they were carrying military ID cards at the time.

They have denied the charges and the Norwegian government has denied that the men were spies.

Moland, who grew up in Vegardshei in southern Norway, worked for the Norwegian military until 2007. After that, he and French went on to work for private security companies in Africa, according to Norwegian daily Aftenposten.

Among other things, they helped companies keep their ships secure off Somalia’s coast.

Graasvold said the two were in Congo in 2009 to do research for a potential startup of an event company that would arrange extreme tourism holidays.

They had hired Kasongo as their driver after their motorbike broke down while traveling through the rainforest in eastern Congo.

They have consistently denied the charges against them, saying they are innocent and were ambushed by gunmen.

The British charity organization Reprieve, which has assisted French’s legal team, has sharply criticized the conviction of the two, pointing out there was no physical evidence against the men and that two people were paid to testify against them.

Graasvold said he was last in contact with Moland about a week ago and wasn’t notified he had any health problems then. Previously, during his time in prison Moland has been ill with

malaria and other diseases.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Moland was found dead in his cell Sunday morning and that members of his family in Norway have been informed.

“More than anything, our thoughts now are with them in this very difficult situation,” Eide said, adding the government has been concerned about French and Moland’s situation for a long time.

Norwegian authorities have tried to have the two transferred to serve their sentences in Norway and have also worked closely with Britain to put pressure on the Congolese officials to pardon

IYOGIE WEDS REMIGIUS The solemnization of marriage between former Miss Iyogie Izevbigie (A Business woman) and Mr. Remigius Ikechukwu Okonkwo (An Engr. based in Spain) took place on Monday 19th August, 2013 at the Oredo Local Government Council Marriage Registry in Benin City. Amongst those present were Evang. Roseline Erhabor, Hon. George .O. Okuonghae, family members, relations, friends and well wishers. Picture shows the couple at the Registry. Congratulation.

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

International Features EGYPT’S deputy prime minister will propose a way out of a bloody confrontation between the security forces and deposed President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood when the cabinet discusses the crisis.

But his ideas seemed to run counter to a suggestion by the prime minister to dissolve the Islamist organization, the target of a crackdown by the armybacked government last week.

The authorities declared a state of emergency and killed hundreds of people in raids on two protest camps set up in Cairo to demand Mursi’s reinstatement.

The capital’s frenetic streets, unusually empty in the past few days, were returning to normal, although the army kept several big squares closed and enforced a curfew overnight.

At night, soldiers standing by armored personnel carriers man checkpoints and vigilantes inspect cars for weapons.

Banks and the stock market reopened for the first time since Wednesday’s carnage, and shares plunged 2.5 percent.

“As long as we have bloodshed on the streets, it takes away any reason for foreign and regional investors to buy in Egypt,” said Amer Khan, director at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai.

The initiative by Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa el-Din, a liberal, calls for an immediate end to the state of emergency, political participation for all parties and guarantees of human rights, including the right to free assembly.

The Brotherhood has said it will keep up mass protests until Mursi, toppled by the army on July 3 after huge demonstrations against him, is freed from jail and returned to office.

P O L A R I S E D REPUBLIC It was not clear how much support Bahaa elDin’s proposal, seen by Reuters, could gain among the new leaders of a deeply

Egypt’s Cabinet To Debate Fate Of Muslim Brotherhood

polarized Arab republic experiencing the worst bout of bloodshed and internecine conflict in its six-decade history.

Blaming a defiant Brotherhood for the bloodletting, Prime Minister Hazem elBeblawi has proposed banning the 85-year-old movement and effectively forcing it underground.

“There will be no reconciliation with those whose hands have been stained with blood and who turned weapons against the state and its institutions,” Beblawi told reporters on Saturday.

Bahaa el-Din stayed in office even after a leading fellow-liberal, Deputy President Mohamed ElBaradei, resigned over the violent break-up of the protest camps in Cairo.

His proposal does not address Mursi’s fate or specifically call for an amnesty for detained leaders of the Brotherhood.

The Islamist group, which won five successive votes held in Egypt after President Hosni Mubarak fell in 2011, now faces the prospect of political elimination by armybacked rulers who say the most populous Arab nation is at war with “terrorism”.

During Mursi’s year in power, accusations of incompetence and attempts to monopolize government tarnished the reputation the Brotherhood had acquired for social work and upholding Islamic principles in 30 years of opposition to Mubarak.

Brotherhood leaders accuse the military of deliberately sabotaging their time in office and plotting their demise.

More than 700 people have died, most of them backers of Mursi, in four days of violence. That has earned Egypt stiff condemnation from Western nations, uncomfortable with Islamist rule but also with the overthrow of a freely

elected government.

AID REVIEW European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged all sides to show restraint and prevent further violence,

Interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy sought to preempt any attempt by the West to pressure Egypt by cutting financial aid by announcing he would scrutinize all foreign assistance.

“By reviewing aid I want

downs in the past. We hope things will go back to normal promptly,” Fahmy said.

The Foreign Ministry, as part of a push to disseminate the state’s narrative of events, also distributed a pack of

foreign reporters at the scene.

“We as Egyptians feel deep bitterness towards coverage of the events in Egypt,” presidential political adviser Mostafa Hegazy said, accusing Western media of ignoring

Muslim Brotherhood members protesting the ouster of President Mohammed Mursi by Eygptian Military.

saying the EU would urgently review its relations with Egypt and act accordingly.

The crackdown has, however, drawn messages of support from wealthy Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, which have long feared the spread of Brotherhood ideology to the Gulf monarchies.

The United States has delayed delivery of four F16 fighters to Egypt and cancelled a joint military exercise to rebuke the army for its actions, but it has not halted the $1.55 billion in mostly military aid that it gives Cairo every year.

to determine what is useful and what is not and what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility.

We will proceed based on our findings,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“We are not looking to replace one friend with another but we will look out to the world and continue to establish relations with other countries so we have options,” he said.

“The relation between Egypt and the U.S. has been there for a long time.

It has been through ups and

photos showing what it said were Muslim Brotherhood members carrying clubs and firearms - and in one picture a black al Qaeda flag.

The Brotherhood denies links to the global militant network.

On Saturday, Mursi supporters exchanged fire with security forces in a central Cairo mosque where scores of protesters had sought refuge from confrontations with police the day before.

Police cleared the building and made arrests, with onlookers cheering them on and harassing

attacks on police and the destruction of churches blamed on Islamists.

At least 173 people were killed on Friday during a “Day of Rage” called by the Brotherhood two days after police destroyed its protest camps. Police have since arrested more than 1,000 Brotherhood “elements”.

The state news agency said 250 faced possible charges of murder, attempted murder or terrorism.

The Brotherhood has called for daily street protests this week, but there were no reports of trouble on Sunday morning.

“There will be no reconciliation with those whose hands have been stained with blood and who turned weapons against the state and its institutions.”

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Affection

Things To Do In Your Bedroom That Can Save Your Life

YET, did you know that your bedroom can be not only a haven of intimacy and solace, but the staging ground for several effortlers things that can help you live a longer, sweeter life? It’s true Read on.

Have Breakfast in Bed Take your coffee, tea and toast to bed and begin your day – slowly.

Contrary to what we’ve so often inclined to do, don’t hit the road in a rush. Studies at Harvard University and in many other medical settings show that the risk of having a heart attack is highest during the first few hours of the day.

The cardiovascular system needs more blood and oxygen to get started at a time when the blood vessels are most constricted which is the case after an extended

and wise investment.

Sleep Tight

period of rest. A calm paced start to your day protects not only your heart but to your peace of mind.

Stretch When You Get Up However restful your night, you will wake up with some tight muscles.

After your shower, stretch your muscles before you go out.

A morning stretch is a natural instinct that can have mega health benefits. A five minute stretch starting with the neck, progressing to the arms and shoulders and lower back and calves improves circulation boasts joint health and increases flexibility. You will feel great, and those warmed up, stronger muscles will carry you safely through the day.

BY PEACE MADOJEMU

Take a Look at Yourself Naked in a Full Length Mirror Most of us avoid looking at our naked bodies. Looking at yourself naked gets you familiar with the normal you. Then you will notice things such as bumps, or spots of inflammation that signal serious diseases if they don’t go away.

Have Sex A 10 years study of 1,000 middle aged men at Queens University in Belfast, Ireland, showed that men who engaged in weekly sex had half the death rate of men who had less frequent orgasm. During sex, the body releases

endorphins, the “joy” hormone as stress hormones plummet, muscles grow stronger, deep breathing and circulation increases and chronic pain lessens. A benefit for both genders.

People get sleepy after orgasm and sleep in good for the body.

A Moment of Peace Taking a moment just before sleep, in the privacy of your bedroom, to pray or meditate and count your blessings can boost your mental health and your immune system.

A scientific Study revealed that people who consciously pause to give thanks to the universe, to God, to their families, to one another

are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, headaches, muscle pain and other manifestations of stress.

The last thing you think about at night is important.

Sleep In Nature Despite the human desire to want to struggle under blankets, natural tendency of the body is to cool off as we sleep which is a good thing.

Heavy pyjamas can disrupt that, not to mention waking us up when they get twisted and turned around our limbs. Sleeping Nude is a healthy luxury for empty nesters. But if you have housemates or kids, at home, a bedroom door lock is a simple solution

Getting a sound sleep decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol that regulates the metabolism of sugar, protein, fat, minerals and water. Poor sleep can raise your metabolism, making you feel hungry and deprived, liable to eat up the kind of foods that lead to belly fat. “A person should not brag about getting by on little sleep because, a lost night or a week of four hours sleep can give individual the same reaction time as drunks.

But we’ve accustomed to forfeiting sleep so we live with it accepting declining health in the process” says a clinical psychologist Micheal Breus.

“Take your coffee, tea and toast to bed and begin your day – slowly. Contrary to what we’ve so often inclined to do, don’t hit the road in a rush. Studies at Harvard University and in many other medical settings show that the risk of having a heart attack is highest during the first few hours of the day.”

THE NIGERIAN

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

Viewpoint A new dawn may have arrived at the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) with the just-concluded election which ushered -in a new executive committee. The election was part of the highlights of the 15th Elective Ordinary General Assembly held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, between July 11 and July 14.

With a renewed mandate of some astute sports personalities in the executive committee, the team pledges a new lease of life for the Apex African Olympic Body. Cote d’Ivoire’s Gen. Lassana Palenfo, the committee’s President was returned unopposed, while Nigeria’s Habu Ahmed Gumel was also returned as the TreasurerGeneral.

However, the return of a veteran sports administrator, Tommy Ganda Sithole of Zimbabwe, had all the drama of the reappearance of a prodigy. Sithole defeated the incumbent Secretary-General, Khaled Zein Eldin of Egypt, in an election that kept all the delegates on the edge. The two contenders had tied at 25-25 in the first ballot with two voided votes, but the Zimbabwean sprinted to a photo-finish with 26-24 margin to clinch the position.

Sithole had served as ANOCA’s Secretary-General from 1997 to 2003 before he became the Director of Cooperation and Development in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2003 when outgoing IOC President Jacques Rogge assumed the leadership of the world’s most prestigious sports-governing body. The Zimbabwean told newsmen shortly after his election that his 10-year sojourn in the IOC was like going back to school.

“I have now graduated to come back to re-organise things at ANOCA. I have to put- to -use my years of experience at IOC in transforming ANOCA.’’ Sithole said.

Mitchell Obi, the President of the Association of International Sports Press (AIPS-Africa), who was in

Has There Been A Change Of Vision In ANOCA? Abidjan as one of ANOCA’s special emissaries to witness the General Assembly, commented on the outcome of the elections. He said that judging from the results, it was now obvious that a new vista had been opened in efforts toward the evolution of Africa’s sports development strategy for the period between 2013 and 2016. “When you have somebody, who had been in the corridors of the Olympics power, coming to direct Africa from its secretariat; then, you know there is bound to be a shift in direction,’’ he said. Obi was apparently referring to the second coming of Tommy Sithole, a one-time secretarygeneral of ANOCA, who is now returning to the position after a 10-year stint at the IOC. Nevertheless, Sithole, a former President of Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, is still IOC’s Director of Cooperation and Development and he is expected to conclude his contract at the IOC in January.

Gumel, who widely is regarded as “Nigeria’s Ambassador’’ to the IOC, was returned unopposed after two other candidates from Mali and Botswana pulled out of the election.

Habbib Sissoko of Mali and Malealea Kgosietsile of Botswana had written letters of withdrawal to the African Olympic body, indicating their intention to stand down for ‘a worthy candidate’’.

Palenfo said that with the calibre of persons like Gumel and Sithole as members of the executive committee, ANOCA would now have a better lease of life in the next four years.

“I see the two men as brilliant and they understand the job, this is a very good team. With them, you can be rest assured that we shall do a good job at ANOCA to the glory of Africa,’’ he said.

However, shortly before Gumel’s victory, some ANOCA sources in Abidjan

By TONY NEZIANYA

said that the other two aspirants filed nominations to run against him because they had been misinformed that Nigeria was no longer interested in the position.

evolution of the fraternal relations between the body and Nigeria. This fact is not lost on many delegates.

But Gumel stoutly denied the claim and he put up a

of health after his past expenditures and the budget were examined and ratified.

It was, therefore, somewhat surprising that Gumel, soon after coasting to victory, vowed that his immediate task would be the

Blessing Okagbare There are speculations that Gumel played pivotal roles in the relocation of ANOCA secretariat from its original location in Cameroon to Abuja in 2005 and has since aided the

strong case to convince delegates to the Assembly that this was not true. He, however, strengthened his fortunes during the plenary session, when he was given a clean bill

“But Gumel stoutly denied the claim and he put up a strong case to convince delegates to the Assembly that this was not true.

He, however, strengthened his fortunes during the plenary session, when he was given a clean bill of health after his past expenditures and the budget were examined and ratified.”

early completion of the permanent secretariat for ANOCA at Abuja. “My immediate task on return to Nigeria is to ensure the full completion of the ANOCA Building in Abuja, so that ANOCA can settle in Nigeria.

“This is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Federal Government and ANOCA. As a member of the executive committee, I will work hard to accomplish this task. “I want to also help my country to

develop youth programmes through ANOCA. This is possible with cooperation with the National Sports Commission,’’ Gumel said.

Amadou Dia Ba, a retired Senegalese sprinter, said: “The just concluded election that has brought in this committee has been a good one. “I see those elected as people of integrity. I, however, want to urge the new executive committee to ensure good communication with all the NOCs. “It should also work hard to attract more competitions to Africa, while ensuring that more African athletes qualify for the Olympic Games,’’ he added.

Ba, who won the silver medal for 400 metres hurdles at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, however, urged the committee to strive to secure more scholarships for African athletes from the Olympic Solidarity Commission.

As the president of ANOCA Athletes’ Commission, Ba particularly underscored the need for ANOCA to organise more high quality competitions. He also urged the executive committee to establish more Olympic Training Centres for Africa, saying that these centres could stimulate the growth of African athletes in a more sustainable manner.

He stressed that the centres should strive to assist African athletes to have access to sound training in Europe and America, where they could exposed to high quality training and competitions.

In spite of the fact that many delegates hailed the election, particularly the wide acceptance of the elected officers, they solicit the adoption of an electronic voting system for subsequent elections in place of the obsolete ballot paper system.

“The electronic voting method ought to be the preferred option,’’ Obi stressed, adding that it would make the electoral process faster and more transparent. “It is unthinkable that in this day and age that Africans are still using the archaic method of voting. Africa must of necessity embrace change,’’ he said.

Observers, however, insist that the transformation of ANOCA in the coming years will largely depend on how purposeful the secretariat turns out to be.

“Only time will tell,’’ some of the observers add.

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Kolo Welcomes Back Suarez LIVERPOOL defender Kolo Toure believes the club needs Luis Suarez to return from his ban and will welcome him back with open arms.

Luis Suarez, suspended for Liverpool FC’s 1-0 home win over Stoke on Saturday, returned to training with the rest of the first team on Friday having been exiled by manager Brendan Rodgers.

Suarez’s attitude and commitment was questioned by the Reds boss after the 26year-old publicly criticised the club, claiming they had gone back on their word on a deal to allow him to join a Champions League club if they bid £40million.

Suarez’s re-integration to the squad has been made easier by his renewed attitude, but the Ivoirian is by no means condoning the striker’s questionable behavior.

“I think Suarez was defending himself and the club were defending what they wanted as well because they know by keeping him we are going to be really strong, because he is one of the best strikers in the world,” said the centre-back.

“For us it is really important to keep him. What the club did, for me, is right because we want to keep him.

“You would never want one of your best players going to another team. We want him to stay because this

is a big club.

“It is nothing, for us we know football. It is big business. For a player like Suarez there is no problem, we love him.

“He can do anything. He just resolved the problem with the manager and we want him to score our goals - that is what we are looking for.

“The manager sorted it out with him. He (Rodgers) was very clever - and Steven Gerrard as well - they worked (on him) and we are happy he is back training with us again. That is great.”

RVP Hails Opening Win

Marouane Fellaini

United Bid For Fellaini, Baines Rejected

UNITED have offered £16 million for 25-year-old Fellaini just over a fortnight after a £23.5 million buyout clause expired, sources told ESPN. warned David Moyes off The Premier League returning to Goodison Park to try champions also attempted to to sign his former players. Moyes include Baines, 28, in their bid left Everton after 11 years in for a further £12 million — charge at the end of last season having had an identical offer for to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as the England left-back rejected in United’s manager. late June.

And after appointing Martinez Everton manager Roberto in early June — before Fellaini’s Martinez confirmed last escape clause expired — Thursday that Fellaini’s buy-out Kenwright said: “I’ve not said to clause expired on July 31.

David [Moyes]: ‘David, come He said then: “Marouane had a buy-out clause where it was very straightforward. If someone met that valuation, the club had no MANAGER Arsene Wenger say. That finished on July 31 so believes how his squad respond you can imagine during that to the opening day disaster period everyone was a bit against Aston Villa will shape expectant about what would their season. happen. Once that date went, you The Gunners were booed off just focus on working for the next after they lost 3-1 at home to an industrious Villa side, finishing season.”

Chairman Bill Kenwright has

2008, and is under contract until the summer of 2016.

Baines, signed from Wigan for £6 million in August 2007, has a deal that runs until 2015, although Martinez is looking to extend it.

Meanwhile, Everton’s manager is pushing to sign midfielder Gareth Barry on loan, but is only likely to get him if Manchester City agree to subsidise the 32year-old’s salary, which is reported to be around £90,000 a week.

Wenger Wants Reaction From Gunners

Gareth Bale To Miss Further Spurs slotted home from the penalty TOTTENHAM Hotspur boss Games spot.

Andre Villas-Boas has refused to discuss the future of Gareth Bale but did reveal he expects the forward to miss the forthcoming games against Dinamo Tbilisi and Swansea City.

• Fitch: Triumphant Spurs can get a whole lot better Bale, who has been strongly linked with a +100 million move to Real Madrid, missed Sunday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace with a foot injury.

Villas-Boas refused to be drawn on the future of the Wales international, preferring to discuss the performance of his team against Palace, as Roberto Soldado scored the winner.

Reflecting on the victory at Selhurst Park, he said in The Sun: “I’m extremely happy with the performance. We had good chances to put the game to bed during the 90 minutes.

“I can only be pleased we remained strong at the end to take it through to the final whistle.

“The other question that you and everybody else wants to

on.’ I’ve said exactly the opposite. I’ve said to David: ‘We all know the situation at Everton.

We all know there’s a player who’s got an escape clause, but the others are not for sale.’

“I’m as in love with this football squad as any Evertonian out there. They are this club and we don’t want them to go.”

Everton signed Belgium international Fellaini for £15 million from Standard Liege in

know I’m not going to comment on.

“The player is injured. He’s not available for selection and is not likely to start against Tbilisi or Swansea.”

Of his new signing Soldado, Villas-Boas hailed the Spain international’s impact after he

He added: “You have to bear in mind that Robbie hasn’t been involved a lot because of the Confederations Cup. He was with us for only three weeks.

“So as soon as he gets fitter and sharper things will be even better for him. Of course I think he can get 20 league goals for us. His career speaks for itself.”

with 10 men following the dismissal of defender Laurent Koscielny for a second yellow card just minutes after he had conceded a controversial penalty.

Wenger was criticised by some home fans - with banners of “spend, spend, spend” and calls to splash the cash as frustrations around Emirates Stadium boiled over.

After failing to land any major summer transfer targets despite declarations by chief executive Ivan Gazidis the club were ready to escalate their financial firepower, with some £180million in the bank, it was hardly the ideal warm-up ahead of Wednesday night’s first leg of a crucial Champions League play-off against Fenerbahce at the intimidating Sukru Saracoglu

Moyes Not Getting Carried Away DAVID Moyes was happy to begin his tenure of Manchester United with a win over Swansea, but insists it was a result not worthy of any great celebrations.

United came through a potentially tricky opening test at the Liberty Stadium with flying colours as two goals apiece for Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck sealed a 4-1 victory.

Moyes admitted it was a relief to emerge with three points but insisted there was still room for improvement.

Asked if it was a dream start to his reign, Moyes told Sky Sports: “It is because you always want to win your games and as manager of Manchester United your job is to win games.

“Swansea had a lot of the ball and they passed it very well and are very well managed under Michael Laudrup, but we limited to them to few opportunities.

“They were quality goals. We could have played better at times but I am more than happy with winning 4-1.

“It is one game in the season and it is just the start for me.

There is a long way to go but there’s no big celebration.

“We’ve done a good job because this will be a really hard place for teams to come and play, so to come here and win was good.”

Both of Van Persie’s goals were excellent strikes and Welbeck also completed the scoring with a sublime chip, but it was the England striker’s first from close range which most pleased Moyes.

stadium.

Wenger, though, will use the next few days to focus on all things positive.

“There is always a lot of dangers in a team because it is a human activity multiplied by 25, the negativity can become quick and spread quickly,” said Wenger, who saw defenders Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna as well as England midfielder Alex OxladeChamberlain added to the injury list on Saturday.

“It is the first game of the season and we want to bounce back. I believe our season will depend on how we respond to this defeat.”

Wenger added: “After such a disappointing start that will be difficult, but we will bounce back because the spirit and the focus in the team is good. We missed chances, were unlucky and had injuries, roll the three together and it is a fragile position, but the difference between us and the rest is not massive.”

Arsenal, who missed out on the signature of Gonzalo Higuain earlier this summer and have not been able to secure a deal for Luis Suarez with Liverpool, will have to make do with whatever side they can pull together next week, having now passed the UEFA deadline for registering new players.

Wenger, though, insists Arsenal’s problems will not be solved by just simply spending for the sake of it.

ROBIN Van Persie says Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Swansea was an important result for the start of the season.

Van Persie’s contribution was sublime, hooking in the opener before smashing home a 20-yard effort 17 minutes from time.

Danny Welbeck also netted twice for the defending champions in their first league match under new manager David Moyes, while Wilfried Bony struck for Swansea.

“It is the first game of the league away from home,” Van Persie told Sky Sports.

“They are a great team the way they play. I love the way they play and they are very hard to play at times. It is a big win.

“The first goal changed the game and we got the second shortly after so it helped us.

“The first one I had a touch and felt at the time it was quite heavy so I had to take it (the shot) as high as possible.

“The first game of the season you just don’t want to lose. We worked very hard so I’m very pleased.”

Chelsea Await Confident Villa

CHELSEA will be in search of back-to-back league wins when they host Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

The Blues gave coach Jose Mourinho a war reception with a 2-0 win over Hull City on Sunday afternoon with Oscar and Frank Lampard finding the back of the net.

Villa secured an even better result from their first match of the season, coming back from a goal down to beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates courtesy of a brace from Christian Benteke and another goal from Antonio Luna.

The last time the two sides met at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea romping to an 8-0 victory with Ramires netting a brace.

However, Paul Lambert’s side have improved defensively and it is unlikely that they will be met with the same fate this time around.

Utd Gear Up For Blues

MANCHESTER United will spend the week preparing for their massive Premier League clash against Chelsea next Monday.

The Red Devils began their campaign on a great note on Saturday evening when they crushed Swansea 4-1 in Wales, but the visit of the Blues to Old Trafford will be a much more difficult test.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea began their Premier League season with an easy 2-0 win over Hull City and looked in good early season form.

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Ancelotti Bemoans Poor Defence Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti bemoaned his side’s defensive frailties despite the club emerging from its La Liga opener with a 2-1 win over Real Betis.

Madrid were forced to come from behind against Betis, new signing Isco emerging the hero after his 86th minute winner gave Ancelotti the perfect start to his

new life in Spain.

But the Italian, who, just like his predecessor Jose Mourinho, left Spanish captain Iker Casillas on the bench, was far from satisfied with the his squad’s performance at the back, admitting there could be change ahead of the club’s next game.

“We have to improve. We created chances to score but we

had problems in defence,” explained the former PSG boss.

“Today I decided to choose Diego Lopez. I don’t know who is going to play in the next game.

“I have a great squad. [Alvaro] Morata, [Angel] Di Maria and Casemiro made the team stronger tonight [when they came of the bench].”

However, the former AC Milan boss saved praise for young Spain international Isco.

“Isco gave it all in this game,” stated the 54-year-old. “He scored a fantastic goal.

Ibra Excited About Cavani Partnership Ibrahimovic, 31, started alongside Cavani, 26, for the first time when PSG faced Ajaccio in their maiden home game of the Ligue 1 campaign on Sunday.

Cavani’s 86th-minute

Magnificient Seven For Barca Barcelona produced a stunning display in Gerardo Martino’s first competitive match in charge as they hammered Levante 7-0 at the Camp Nou on Sunday, while Real Madrid left it late to give Carlo Ancelotti a winning start as they beat Real Betis 2-1.

Spanish champions Barcelona showed no signs of early season rust as they ripped the visitors apart with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi (2), Dani Alves, Pedro and Xavi giving them an incredible 6-0 lead at half-time.

There was even more for the home fans to cheer after the break as Neymar made his competitive debut as a substitute and even after Martino had shown the visitors some mercy by withdrawing Messi with 20 minutes remaining, more woeful defending allowed Pedro to round off the scoring with his second of the game.

“I was anxious for the league to start to see where the team were and I have been left very calm,” said Martino.

“We put a lot of emphasis on pressing and we managed to sustain it for the majority of the match.”

It took Barca barely two minutes to register their first goal of the campaign as Sanchez finished off a fine team move before Messi opened his account for the season with a side-footed finish from close range.

Alves added the third on 23 minutes before further strikes from Pedro, Messi from the penalty spot and Xavi made it six before half-time.

The Catalans weren’t quite as clinical after the break but the moment many inside the crowd had been waiting for arrived on 62 minutes as Neymar made his competitive bow in a Barca shirt in place of the impressive Sanchez.

The Brazilian’s only moment of note was when he picked up an unnecessary yellow card, but Barca did manage one more goal before the end as Pedro sidefooted home his second of the night.

It was a far more complicated evening for Real however as

they needed a headed winner from debutant Isco four minutes from time to take all three points against a spirited Betis.

“I am very happy, above all for the victory,” Isco told Canal Plus afterwards.

“It is the first goal that I have scored with my head.

“The truth is that Betis surprised us a bit but it is the first game of the league, we have to

improve a lot but we have just started.”

Jorge Molina gave the visitors the lead their bright opening deserved on 14 minutes as Cedric Mabwati burst past Sergio Ramos and laid the ball across the area for Molina to slot home.

Betis could even have been two in front moments later as Joan Verdu fired wide with the

Lionel Messi

goal at his mercy after more good work from Mabwati.

Slowly but surely Madrid started to find their feet though and they were level midway through the first-half when Karim Benzema swept home from Isco’s pass.

Betis were inches away from retaking the lead just after the half hour mark though as Nosa rose highest to meet Verdu’s corner and thundered a header off the bar.

After the break it was Madrid’s turn to feel hard done by as Cristiano Ronaldo came within inches of marking his 200th appearance for the club with a goal as his shot from the edge of the area came back off the bar.

The Portuguese then had a great chance to give his side the lead as he was played in by Mesut Ozil but his low drive was straight at Stephan Andersen.

Nosa then had another fantastic opportunity to put Betis back in front as he headed over when completely unmarked just 10 yards out.

And Betis were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal as with the clock winding down Isco made a fine late run into the area to meet Marcelo’s cross and plant a header high past Andersen

Falcao Hits Out At Real Link ‘Lies’ Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri heaped praise on Emmanuel Riviere after the forward scored a hat-trick against Montpellier in Ligue 1.Tags: Ligue 1, Monaco, Montpellier, Claudio Ranieri, Falcao, Emmanuel Riviere, Victor Montano Monaco boss Claudio Ranieri has denied that Colombian forward Radamel Falcao will leave for Real Madrid, with the player himself reiterating that claim.

Falcao, 27, joined last season’s Ligue 2 champions on a five-year deal for a reported +60 million earlier this summer. On Sunday, Spanish sports daily Marca claimed Falcao would welcome a return to La Liga if principality club Monaco were forced to

apply the French government’s proposed 75% tax on all earnings of more than +1 million — a move that would significantly eat into his reported +14 million salary.

However, after scoring his second goal in as many Ligue 1 games in his team’s 4-1 victory over Montpellier on Sunday, former Atletico Madrid striker Falcao hit out at Marca.

“I would simply like to say that the article in Marca is a tissue of lies,” L’Equipe reported him as saying. “It’s just a load of rubbish.

I’m very happy in Monaco. I chose this project.”

Falcao, making his home debut, was upstaged by strike partner Emmanuel Riviere, who hit a hattrick as Monaco registered a

second successive league win.

At full-time, Ranieri told reporters: “What do you want me to say? The rumours are rumours.

Falcao is staying at Monaco. Of course he’s happy here. His child [Dominique, born on August 13] was born here — he feels good here.”

Those sentiments were echoed

by Falcao’s team-mates, with Jeremy Toulalan saying: “After the way he played on Sunday, there’s nothing to worry about.

They’re questions that have no place to be asked.”

Eric Abidal added: “I don’t know too much about what the press is saying. For the moment, he’s here. “I hope he’ll stay with us, and I think that’s his objective.”

equaliser, cancelling out Benoit Pedretti’s ninthminute opener, gave Laurent Blanc’s side a second successive draw.

But although the outcome was disappointing, Ibrahimovic saw enough to believe that those who claim he cannot form an effective partnership with the exNapoli man are wrong.

“He scored a fantastic goal this evening. I know how he’s feeling, because I scored on my first game at the Parc des Princes too,” he said. “I’m certain he’s going to score a lot more.

“We talk a lot with each other. He had a lot of chances, I did too. He did his job by scoring, I didn’t do mine.

When the team works as much as it did, it’s easier for the forwards.

“Now, we have to gain experience together. The team is going to continue putting us in good positions and things will start to go better very quickly.”

While Cavani snapped up

his late chance from one of three shots, Ibrahimovic — who hit a league-high 30 goals last season — had 11 efforts on goal but failed to find the net, although opposing goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, played a part in frustrating the Sweden international.

However, despite seeing the +64 million signing beginning to repay his Ligue 1 record transfer fee and upstage Ibrahimovic, PSG president Nasser AlKhelaifi expects more to come when Cavani takes to the pitch at Nantes next Sunday.

“Everyone knows him, he’s a great player,” said the Qatari of the former Palermo player, whose preseason was truncated by his involvement in the Confederations Cup with Uruguay. “He’s scored the goal today, but he’s not 100% in shape. I hope we’ll see Cavani, the real Cavani, next week.”

Juve had been struggling for results in pre-season, but Sunday’s emphatic win shattered the illusion that Juve are on the slide as they prepare to defend their Serie A title.

“I always knew that we would have the right attitude for this game,” Conte told RAI television. “And that was the case. It is going to be a difficult year for us and we’re going to need the motivation we showed today, playing with our minds and our hearts.

“I never felt I had lost my team. In fact, our preparations have been fantastic, without any injuries, apart from the one to [Claudio] Marchisio tonight.

For the second year running, we’ve followed the Scudetto with the Supercoppa and that is what I would sign for again this season.”

Lazio boss Vladimir Petkovic could only apologise to the supporters but said the defeat would serve as a lesson to his team.

“I’m sorry for our fans and for

everybody here, and apologise for this, but we have got to turn the page,” the Serbian said. “As soon as they scored their second goal, we gave up.”

The Biancoceleste came into the game at their Stadio Olimpico home in buoyant mood and were convinced they could pick up the first piece of silverware of the season. Instead, they were left with more questions than answers a week before the start of the season.

“We’ve got to do some soul-searching, starting with me,” Petkovic said. “We need to recognise our own errors and look ourselves in the face, talk about things and start over.

“Our path starts here. After defeats like this, you’ve got to react and I’m certain we’ll be ready for the first game in the league against Udinese.

Against them and against Juve in Turin, you’ll see a different Lazio.”

Juventis Ready To Defend Their Title

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Modeste Inspired By HOFFENHEIM striker, Drogba Anthony Modeste, has

Pirates To Querry THE massacre of more than 800 people in Egypt last week again raises questions about Orlando Pirates’ next trip to Cairo.

Pirates are due to play against Zamalek in the troubled city on September 1.

It will be the fourth match of the group for the Buccaneers and will come after they thrashed the White Knights 41 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.

Pirates were originally due to play in Egypt on August 30 but have had the game moved back one day because of television scheduling rather than because of the violence in Egypt.

But a fluid situation in the north African country is likely to prompt the club to again ask the Confederation of African Football about moving the same to a neutral venue.

Cairo Trip

Pirates asked the same question before their last trip to Egypt but were turned down. CAF have previously switched matches in troubled countries to neutral venues but not often. To move a game away from Egypt would be a very sensitive move.

Similar violence preceded Pirates last trip to Egypt when they beat Al Ahli earlier this month.

Before the trip, coach Roger de Sa expressed concerns and admitted his players were nervous about traveling to the strife-torn country.

But their trip proved uneventful as they were whisked through Cairo and flew onto the Red Sea resort of Hurghada and played their matches next door at El Gouna. Afterwards, Pirates praised the hospitality of the Egyptians.

revealed his idol is Chelsea legend Didier Drogba and hopes to be a role model like the Ivoirian.

The 25-year-old Frenchman arrived at Hoffenheim in the summer and announced himself on German soil in style with his brace in his side’s emphatic 5-1 victory over Hamburg on Saturday.

Modeste has pulled off three solid displays so far

Ivoirian International Joins Basle

Didier Drogba

Keeper Sent Off In Brazil For Kicking Ball Into Crowd ATLETICO Mineiro goalkeeper Victor was sent off for angrily kicking a ball into the crowd after his team’s goalless draw at Internacional in the Brazilian championship.

Corinthians forward provoked. “There are matches Alexandre Pato was jeered by where you are spat for the whole his own fans in a 1-0 win over match and they throw other Coritiba and six-times liquids which you can’t identify.” champions Sao Paulo missed Corinthians fans lost patience another penalty as they extended their winless run to 12 matches in other matches on Sunday.

South American champions Mineiro played for more than one hour away to former Brazil coach Dunga’s Internacional with 10 men after Fernandinho was sent off for elbowing an opponent, but still managed to hang on for a point.

After the final whistle went, goalkeeper Victor immediately collected the ball, turned around and hoofed it into the Internacional fans behind him.

As he left the field, Victor, who had already been booked for time-wasting during the game, was given a second yellow card and sent off.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” he told Sepp Blatter reporters, adding he had been

with former AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato after he missed two good chances against Coritiba and jeered him off the field when he was substituted by Peru forward Paolo Guerrero.

Guerrero later scored from a penalty to take Corinthians up to fourth with 25 points from 15

games while Coritiba, fading after a good start to the championship, dropped to sixth (24 points).

Sao Paulo (11 points) remained one place off the bottom after their 0-0 draw against Flamengo in which Jadson missed a penalty.

Jadson stepped up to take the kick instead of goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni, the regular penalty taker who also missed during the 2-1 defeat to Portuguesa one week ago.

Botafogo stayed top with 29 points after winning 3-1 at Portuguesa while second-placed Cruzeiro, one point behind, thrashed Vitoria 5-1.

“I have become a bit of a different person. I learned a lot in prison,” he said at a press conference. “My wife and my kids were behind me the whole time.

“I’ve thought a lot about God, and without God there’s not much.”

Breno will be picked up daily from prison at 0830 local time and after four hours of training with Bayern will be returned to prison by 1330.

“Thanks to Bayern. I’m fine,” said the Brazilian, whose German has improved noticeably over the last year.

“The time in prison was hard for me and I am pleased that Bayern

IVORY Coast forward Giovanni Sio has joined Swiss champions Basle from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for an undisclosed fee, the German club announced on Saturday.

Basle confirmed the move and he is set to play in their Uefa Champions League play-off, first-leg tie against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad on Wednesday should the paperwork be completed in time.

“The move is a great chance for Giovanni and

he can establish himself as a first-choice option at FC Basle,” Wolfsburg’s team manager Klaus Allofs said.

“We wish him all the very best for this new challenge.”

The 24-year-old Sio, who signed for Wolfsburg in January 2012, made only ten Bundesliga appearances and was also sent on loan twice during his time at the club.

SIo came off the bench for Ivory Coast in their 41 defeat to Mexico in New York City on Wednesday evening.

Mandela Challenge Beautiful -Nyathi AJAX Cape Town assistant coach, David Nyathi, described this weekend’s Nelson Mandela Challenge as ‘beautiful’.

The Bafana Legends opened the event at the FNB Stadium with a 2-0 defeat to the Italian Masters on Saturday morning, in

Breno Freed From Prison To Coach At Bayern

EX-BAYERN Munich defender Breno, who was convicted of arson last year, went straight from prison to his new job as assistant coach of the European champions’ junior side on Monday.

The 23-year-old Brazilian was convicted of aggravated arson in July 2012 and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison after he set fire to his rented luxury Munich villa in September 2011.

Having served 13 months, Breno has been granted day release and left Munich’s Stadelheim jail for the first time shortly before 0900 local time to help coach Bayern’s Under23 side, but must return to prison every day.

and admits he is using the Galatasaray hitman as inspiration.

“I am satisfied with my first months at Hoffenheim and I expect to be able to continue in this vein,” he told Spox.

“Drogba is my idol. He is the prototype of a complete striker. I often watch and try to learn as much as possible to then perform on the pitch, but that is easier said than done.”

will give me this opportunity.”

His lawyer is hoping Breno will be released on probation in January at which point he will be deported back to Brazil.

Having kept himself fit, Breno will work alongside the Under-23 team’s head coach coach Erik ten Hag, but as a non-EU citizen he is not allowed to play for the junior side.

“We have done everything we can to give Breno this chance at Bayern,” said club president Uli Hoeness.

“We have to thank the authorities for their excellent cooperation.

“He will be deported after his

imprisonment and will try to play in Brazil.”

Breno joined Bayern from Brazil side Sao Paulo in 2008 for 12 million euros ($16 million), making 28 league appearances, but had suffered from depression after picking up a knee injury while on loan at Nuremberg in March 2010.

Champions League winners Bayern had always promised to take Breno back into their employment and a rehabilitation programme has been agreed by immigration authorities and state prosecutors.

Last month, Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari called on the Munich authorities to release Breno to allow him to continue his career in his home country.

which the local icons tried to showcase some tricks, particularly Jomo Sono.

Nyathi, who played alongside the likes of Neil Tovey and Andre Arendse on the day, says the event was a great way to honour the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

“It was a beautiful day and a nice game. The tempo was a bit slow; we showed our age,” he told MTNFootball while laughing.

“The Italian Masters were well organized and fitter than us, but we put on a modest show.

“Some tried to pull a few tricks out of the bag, but, at the end of the day, it was a befitting way to honour the legend that is Nelson Mandela.”

David Nyathi

‘Shabba’ Up To Third SIPHIWE Tshabalala’s goalscoring display against Burkina Faso on Saturday lifted him into third in the Bafana Bafana all-time caps list.

‘Shabba’ netted the opener for his side in what was his 81st appearance, one more than Benni McCarthy.

It is likely that the Kaizer Chiefs star will move past second-placed Siyabonga Nomvete (82 caps) in the coming months, perhaps as early as three weeks’ time when Bafana take on Botswana in a World Cup qualifier, and a few days later

Zimbabwe in a friendly.

He has some way to go to beat the all-time caps leader though, with former skipper Aaron Mokoena setting the record with 107 appearances for his country.

Tshabalala made his debut for Bafana in a 2-1 victory over Egypt in January 2006, a surprise selection at the time ate the age of 21.

He is known for his spectacular goals, but the most famous came in the opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup when he netted against Mexico in a 1-1 draw. In all he has 12 goals for his country.

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League Play-Off

Egbe-Uzebu Amazons Eye Pro-League Promotion

By KEHINDE OSAGIEDE

AS Egbe-Uzabu Amazons intensify their preparations ahead of the 2013 Nigeria Amateur Women League play offs, scheduled to run from September 1st to 5th, 2013, the coaching crew of the Benin based Female Club, led by Coach Kingsley Erhunmusele has assured their club owner and fans of their determination to secure promotion to the women professional league division.

Though the venues and fixtures of the playoffs which will determine promotion of some successful Amateur Clubs to the Women Professional League next season are yet to be decided by the Women Department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), but the Egbe-Uzebu Amazons are quite optimistic that they will gain promotion irrespective of the side they will face.

Ejike Wants More Goals BRIGHT Ejike who scored Heartland winner in a 1-0 win over Dolphins has told MTNFootball.com he hopes for more goals as league gathers momentum.

Heartland now have 34 points.

The former Sharks forward told MTNFootball.com he has been kept out of the league by his time with the Nigeria U20, but he is now back to score for his club.

I was happy to score the only goal of the game which gave us victory. The game was not easy but we mapped out plan and it worked for us,” said Ejike, who hit target from the penalty spot in the second half.

This is my first goal in the league and that was because I was always away with the Nigeria U20 team, I have played just five games this season.

“I am now promising fans that I will get more goals as the league goes on, it is my work as a striker to score, so no matter how good I play in matches, if I didn’t score, it is nothing.

I am new in this team, I think I have adapted well now to bang in more goals.”

“We are very optimistic that we will be one of the female clubs from Edo State in the nation’s Women Professional League next season. Our girls are in high spirit and our chairman, Engineer Egbe-Uzebu has been doing everything to motivate the team, and has also assured us of more this time in order to boost our morale”, Coach Kingsley emphasized.

According to the female coach of the team Otasowie Ogbomwan who also spoke with The OBSERVERSports, “My Club Chairman said he will give his all for the club to have a good outing in the league playoffs and gain promotion to the Women Professional League next season. We don’t lack anything; and we always get assistance both financially and otherwise from our Soccer loving Chairman, Engineer Egbe Uzebu who has vowed to take us to the professional league division next season, so we cannot afford not to perform”, Otasowie said.

Coach Otasowie however called on the state government and Edo people to support their club and others from Edo State that will be participating in the women playoff.

The Benin Club Egbe-Uzebu Amazons will undoubtedly be relying heavily on the services of their very experienced striker Tonaria Tega aka Sosoliso, goalkeeper Joy Joseph, known for her excellent saves and others to triumph.

ALL FOR SPORTS: Some Fulani damsels in a cultural display during a recent sporting event in Benin City.

Photo: OSADEBAWMEN SUNDAY.

FEPSGA President Assures On 2013 Games MR Victor Orji, the President of the Federation of Public Service Games (FEPSGA), has given the assurance that the standard of the 2013 FEPSGA games will surpass those of previous editions. drawn from the 36 states and Orji told newsmen yesterday the Federal Capital Territory.

The 2012 edition was held in Abuja that the optimism was based on the preparations in Akwa Ibom, and more than so far made for the current 50 MDAs participated.

“Right now, we are edition.

FEPSGA Games is an optimistic that the 2013 annual competition for public edition of the Games will be servants in Ministries, more successful than the 2012 Parastatal Agencies and Extra- edition.

“This is because all our Ministerial Departments jogging since the beginning of 2013 has surpassed the ones we have had in the past years and that means we are moving ahead.

“It means that the ministries and agencies are also getting ready for the games, so, we are on course,’’ Orji said.

He disclosed that a post-

tournament award dinner would be hold on Thursday to honour individuals and MDAs who excelled at the 2012 Games to encourage others to do more.

“The award is a celebration of the success of last year’s game and that is why it is called “the 2012 post tournament Award dinner’’.

“There will be three categories of award, one for the Grand Patron and the Pillar of Sport; the second will be for those that helped in the success of the game.

“The third category is for successful individuals and MDAs and it is a forum where we want to recognise them, so that they will know that it is not all about participation,’’ he

said.

Orji added that he was sure that after the awards, other MDAs who did not perform well during the last game would step up their performances so as to be recognised.

He said the award would be given to MDAs with first, second and third positions, as well as the most outstanding athlete (male and female) and the highest goal scorer in the football event.

Orji said that the occasion would be used to raise fund for the association’s activities ahead of the 2013 game.

He said that a tentative date of November 21 to November 30 had been picked for the Games but added that a host state had yet to be decided.

RANGERS defeated Gombe United 1-0 to climb to sixth place on the league table with 39 points.

Lanky Christian Obiozor scored the only goal of the encounter in the 51st minute to send ‘The Scorpions’ back home empty handed.

Rangers goalkeeper Godwin Ayalogu told MTNFootball.com it was a satisfying team performance.

“Gombe United were tough, they really played good based on their capacity but we did our best to see that we won the game,” said the shot stopper.

“I am satisfied with the result because victory is what we wanted and we got it. I am just looking forward to getting at least a draw in our next game.”

Rangers were by far the

better team on the day, but a combination of splendid goalkeeping and some unpardonable misses by Rangers attackers robbed the match of more goals. he quartet of Emeka Eze, Sunday Chinedu, Meshack Chibuikem and Christian Obiozor was a handful for Gombe, but goalkeeper Ahmed Yusuf proved his worth between the sticks to ensure that the game ended goalless in the first half. angers continued from where they left off in the first half and were eventually rewarded as new boy Christian Obiozor rose above his marker to nod home a cross from Ugonna Uzochukwu to the delight of the 2,000 spectators at the match.

The introduction of Victor

Barnabas and Sani Mohammed almost turned the game in the visitors’ favour as they stretched the defence line of Rangers that had Senegalese duo of Pierre Coly and Ousmane Pape Sane as well as Chibuzor Okonkwo, but were unlucky not to have scored on the two occasions they went past that defence.

“We lost the game to a simple mistake. Although Rangers were good today, we were not disgraced at all. I am proud of my players,” said Gombe United Belgian coach Maurice Cooreman.

Before the kick-off, a minute silence was observed for the late wife of Rangers new Burundian midfielder, Steve Nzigamasabo, who died on Saturday in Burundi.

Rangers Pip Stubborn Gombe

Bright Ejike

Babatunde Eyes Great Start THE Nigeria international joined Volyn on a four-year deal from Kryvbas FC last week.

The former Heartland FC winger was unveiled on Saturday after passing the routine medical.

I feel great and excited to join a lovely club in Ukraine,” Babatunde told MTNFootball.com “The atmosphere is very inviting and conducive. I was well received by everybody here and it was as if I have been here for long.

I am looking forward to debut for my team on Monday, and I hope it will be on a winning note.

If a goal comes with it, I will be a lot happier.

“I hope to reciprocate their love and confidence in me. Everyone is interesting, the president, fans, teammates and coach. I am here to show my stuff and won’t disappoint.”

Michael Babatunde featured for Nigeria at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. He scored twice in 44 games for Kryvbas FC.

THE NIGERIAN

CMYK

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T is not gentlemanly the statement that was credited to Barr Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, the junior Minister of Education on August 3, 2013, at his G r a s s r o o t s Development Initiative (GDI) rally in Port Harcourt, that he will make the state ungovernable, by making sure that the residents will not sleep with their two eyes closed. This is where the junior minister misfired and lost in the roughand-ready and undiplomatic political fights that have been rocking the state, which he is, one of the arrowheads.

No matter who may be compelling Wike to engage Governor Chibuike Amaechi of his state in this careless and blundering fight, it is only the bamboozled that would still stand by Wike’s side, after hearing or reading the unedited statement of the junior minister, which was that the residents will no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.

It is incongruous for Wike to think that this era was that time, when people made flippancy comments and got out of it. No more. It is conceivably that the presidency, which observers have fingered in many accounts, of being the powerhouse for Wike, has gone unaccompanied against him. Possibly, it is now cautioning Wike that a man in such a position as his, is not supposed to be found with unprintable comments.

What the Wike’s comment has shown is that the Rivers State that he is plunging into a freefor-all fight place cannot be entrusted into his care. No one hangs a bone on a dog’s neck!

The irony of the matter is that Wike did not see reason to make the state ungovernable, when he was appointed the Chief of Staff by Amaechi and, was later made the campaign manager of the governor in the 2011 electioneering

campaign, before he was appointed minister.

It is now that he was appointed a minister, by the same governor, who was under pressure two years ago by Mr. President to

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013

boasted of not being a minister, but fought for Amaechi, he was not a national figure. He was then playing Obio/Akpor and ASALGA kind of politics.

But today, he is a minister

ByOKHAREDIA ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE By IHIMEKPEN

Wike Has Lost The Rivers Power Tussle

drop Wike and nominate a woman, that Wike wants to chase the residents out of the state, because of some political rapacious gains that do not last.

No doubt, Wike is a powerful man. But one side of his powerfulness has bitten the dust in the recent times, due to his perceived overzealousness. Wike

of the federal republic, yet, still behaving like one ward counselor, who is ready to fight, because of something that does not meet the eyes.

One cannot understand what Wike stands to gain

Nyesom Wike, Minister of State for Education has lost his once political sagacity and dexterity in the Rivers State politics, following his uncalculated games and utterances. The crises also, have to-someextent, humbled Governor Amaechi to use his head, instead of his mouth, which he was once known to be a specialist in.

Reading in-between lines of any comments that Wike has made, one would understand that his major problem is just conceit and self-importance. He has said that he has overstayed as a minister, at least for two years. He has also said that if by tommorrow he ceases to be a minister, it will not change anything about him, not even the brainless fight he said that he believes in.

What Wike has refused to understand or understands, but has refused to imbibe in his life is that in the 2007 he has

in all these. What precedent is he setting for the teeming youths, who, perhaps, are looking-up to him as their mentor? He has boasted of knowing the politics of the state more than anybody and that when he was in Rivers State, people were sleeping with their two eyes closed and were travelling about. So..?

Wike should spare the residents these disgraceful embarrassments and comments by saying that the PDP in the state suspended his rivals in the state, because he is a lion that should not be touched.

And that it was because they touched the lion that they were suspended.

Odikwa egwu! Lion is just an animal! And animals do not know anything comprehensible to man.

What was expected of Wike to do was to redress anything he had, politically,

with his challengers in the court of law, and not to place the entire state in an insecure atmosphere and calls such, political wizardry. What kind of hogwash mentality is that and in which constitution

towards Wike; the president knows that Wike has brought him to world’s condemnation about the Rivers State crises. Wike is just running round to see if he wins the first family’s favour again that he once

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State did he read that a people must not sleep again through riotous activities, like the one in which some governors from the North who visited Amaechi were molested at the airport by the same Wike and his allies?

It is advisable to tell Wike to understand that he has drowned himself in the political impasses. He should take time and observe that Mr. President and “Mrs. President” that he has always leaned on to cause confusion in the state are distancing themselves from him, because of his one statement of making the residents of Rivers State to sleep with their two eyes open.

There is no amount of support that Wike may drum for Mr. President’s 2015 re-election bid that will make the president to change his removed mind

enjoyed, but no more.

This is why Wike has continued to use such hoodwinking statement as: “In Rivers State, Jonathan is our son, Jonathan is our in-law and his wife is our daughter. So, we have no choice, but to continue to support him. Your duty is to mobilise the entire state for our son when he decides to run eventually. We believe that the people of South-South cannot sacrifice, whatever it is, our own son for anything less than President.” But the president is now wiser and the Rivers masses and South-South are wiser than the ‘Lion’ of a minister.

Wike continues to lose.

Of-late, a group known as the Ikwerre Peoples Forum dissociated itself from Wike and his angling in becoming governor after Amaechi. The group believed that since both men came from the same

tribe in Rivers State, it cannot support any Ikwerre becoming governor in 2015, when it was supposed to be the turn of another tribe in the state.

And this has been the position of Amaechi: That power in the state must shift to another tribe or senatorial zone in the state. But the ‘Lion’ is saying no. This is why many informed residents of Rivers State are seeing Wike as a joker.

On-the-contrary, Gov. Amaechi should not be defocused. He should face good governance and make sure that all and sundry that may have not been paid their salaries are being paid. The state cannot continue to afford any agbero to dictate the pace of politics in the state again. Imagine that just once a common domestic Chief of Staff wants everybody to be paying allegiance to him. The height of end of politics!

Let Wike and his Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI) stop bringing themselves to the public ridicule by saying that Amaechi is being wasteful with the resources of the state to fight what they say is a national battle. Which national battle? Wike is expected to resolve the ASSU first strike before talking anymore. This is his number one failure as a minister. Wike should do that so that the ASSU people will sleep with their two eyes closed. He should refrain from making himself a man who is known to be making persons and organisations not to sleep with their two eyes closed. Afterall, Wike is the person who is supposed not to be sleeping with his two eyes closed for failing to manage the ASSU, but this is not for a man who has no self-esteem.

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