Nigerian observer 21 06 2013

The Nigerian

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PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 EDHA 2ND ANNIVERSARY CHAT Pages 24 - 25 Our mission is to develop a viable Edo State

- Hon. Philip Shaibu

OBSERVERsports

Page 31

‘Portugal match, a must-win’

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

• Vol . 37 NO.259 • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • N 100.00

EDSG to recapitalise The OBSERVER

By EUBALDUS ENAHORO/OBOH SYLVESTER BENIN CITY- Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has

reiterated his administration’s commitment towards using the instrument of

state to create wealth and consciously pursue policies that are promajority with an

assurance that government will recapitalise and equip the state print media.

The governor who disclosed this on

Continues on page 2

Hold2015elections ACF urges INEC inoneday,

KADUNA - The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday canvassed for the holding of the 2015 general election in one day.

The Chairman, ACF General Meeting in Board of Trustees, Gen. Kaduna.

Jeremiah Useni (rtd) Useni, who was made the call in a represented by the message to the opening Chairman of the forum, of organisation’s Annual Alhaji Aliko Mohammed,

said holding the election in a day would ensure transparency and acceptability of the polls.

“ We have noticed that for a free and fair elections in 2015 there should be only one election day.

“If Kenya would have one day election for

seven elections, that is, the President, Governors, Senators, House of Representatives, State Houses Assembly and

Local Governments all in one day, why not Nigeria.

“We also feel it is going to be cheaper and all the security thing will be

Continues on page 2

Oshiomhole tasks christians on peace

By CLIFFORD AGBAJOR BENIN CITY- Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has

STOP OIL BUNKERING

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· · · · · ·

People of Edo State, Government has discovered that inspite of measures taken by security agents in the State to stop illegal oil bunkering, perpetrators of this shady business have continued unabated.

The State Government is warning all those still involved in oil bunkering in the State to, in their own interest, stop this shady and dubious business forthwith as stiffer penalties await them.

Any person or group of persons caught in the illegal business will be dealt with according to the law.

All vehicles and equipment used will be burnt.

Be patriotic, report any person suspected to be in the business of oil bunkering to the authorities concerned.

Join Government to rid the State of enemies of progress.

Edo State must continue to move forward.

This message is from the Edo State Ministry of Information and Orientation

advised Christians in the country to continue to make peace and tranquility their watchword.

He gave the advise at the first session of the 7th Synod of the Diocese of Benin, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, which took place in Benin

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Death sentence

ANEEJ flays Jonathan

BENIN CITY - The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has flayed President Goodluck Jonathan’s call for State governors to sign death warrant even as it calls on the Federal Government to abolish death penalty in Nigeria.

“We understand that President Goodluck Jonathan premised his comments on the Nigerian Constitution which states at Part II, Chapter IV on Fundamental Rights, Art.33. (1) that “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty

Continues on page 2

DELEGATES CONFERENCE: L-R: President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, TUC President, Mr. Peter Esele and Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, at the TUC 9th Triennial National Delegates Conference in Abuja yesterday.

Police parade 36 suspected cultists, kidnappers

By MIKE OSAROGIAGBON BENIN CITY - The Edo State Police Command made huge progress in the crackdown on Cultists and kidnappers who have been allegedly terrorizing the state in the past two

weeks as no fewer than ten (10) suspected cultists and eight suspected kidnappers were among 36 persons paraded for other various criminal offences yesterday.

A cache of assorted guns and ammunition, regalia said to be for secret cult members with the inscription “7 N.B.M, battle axe, cash, GSM handsets and two female bags were on display along

with the suspects, addressing journalists at the state police headquarters, Benin City yesterday, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo

Continues on page 2

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

News EDSG to recapitalise The OBSERVER

Continued from page 1

Wednesdy when members of the Catholic Media Practitioners paid him a courtesy visit said the government was determined to redistribute wealth to the advantage of the majority.

According to the governor, “we are trustees of the people and when God has chosen you to lead the people, He expects you to do so with the fear of God in your heart and apply resources judiciously to address the needs of the vast majority of the people.

“We have consciously pursued policies that are pro- poor, pro majority and we have tried to ensure that we use instrument of state to redistribute wealth and rebuild public institutions so that the children of the poor, in the case of schools, rural people, in the case of roads, water, and electricity so that this forgotten majority have a sense of belonging and we will continue to do that.

“Because of the challenges we face, you just draw my attention

to the fact that what is good for the Edo Broadcasting Service is also good for the publishers of The NIGERIAN OBSERVER that is very true. “We have obligation to report to the people what we are doing through the state owned media but also to create platform for the people to send appropriate signals to us in terms of what they expect of us or their evaluation of our stewardship, so we can never over emphasised the need to recapitalise and equip our state owned media, particularly sometimes, because of the environment we are in, stories are induced not by facts, not by truth, not by public welfare but induced by partisan consideration and in the end sometime, the truth is missing and we end up generating a lot of heat and very little light.”

According to the governor, “but because of cash constraint we are unable to make the level of investment that we need to make at the Observer.

It is my hope, however, that we would be able to do something about it before the end of my tenure. It is purely issue of resource.”

While assuring the Catholic Media Practioners that the government will identify with them to show that the government appreciates their contribution, not only to enlightening only Catholics and inform them about events around them, he charged them to ensure that even non Catholics also benefit from their work.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Catholic Media Practitioners, Mr. Godwin Egbe disclosed that the association which takes the

Hold 2015 electionsin one day

Continued from page 1

done on that same day. If Kenya can do it I don’t see any reason why Nigeria cannot do it.”

The chairman said the forum would approach the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the suggestion, which he said would ensure that the peoples’ vote count.

On national politics, Useni accused the Federal Government of adopting a divideand-rule tactics to polarise the North ahead of the 2015 election.

“I am very sad that the presidency have started divide and rule on the north. Recently we noticed with dismay that some members of this organisation have gone to the president and assured him that he must contest for election in 2015.

“We were surprised that some of the members that went there are also members of ACF. Particularly two gentlemen. The two gentlemen one belongs to ACF and the other one is in Elders forum. We were surprised because one of them has being

very helpful to us.”

The chairman said the forum was making efforts to reconcile all political camps in the region, including the Northern Governors, for the attainment of the common vision and goals of the region. “ Also, I am saying that during one of our visits to Kano when we saw the Kano State Governor, he suggested that ACF should reconcile the leadership of the north, I think now it is necessary for ACF to intervene on what is happening with regards to Northern governors. “ We are not talking about Nigerian Governors Forum where 36 people cannot decide who to lead them. We are talking about north where

already two governors have withdrawn. It is something that should not be.’’

He decried the continuing insecurity in the region, and pledged that the ACF would continue to work for social, economic and political development of the area.

Presenting the ACF Annual Report, the Secretary General, Col. Musa Shehu (rtd) said the insecurity in the region had necessitated a tour of the region by some of the members.

Shehu added that the members also met with elders from the Southern part of the country and various cultural organisation to discuss issues that would reform the country, improve moral values and ideals.

Oshiomhole tasks christians on northern part not to be peace City, yesterday. provoked to anger despite

in Nigeria.

“But we also know that President Goodluck Jonathan is a Christian, who subscribe to the Holy Bible, where God commanded man not to kill.

“Thou shall not kill” and we know that as religious people that we are in Nigeria, it is trite to state that when man’s law runs contrary to God’s law, God’s law takes precedence,” ANEEJ Communications Officer, Mr. Kelly Umukoro said.

“Beyond the religious and moral dimensions, we wish to call on President Goodluck Jonathan and the thirty-six state Governors in Nigeria to respect the existing de facto moratorium on executions, which has been in place since 2006. It implies that capital punishment, if carried out, would represent a serious setback in Nigeria’s reputation and records in the field of human rights.

“We wish to call on the Federal Government to accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International

Commissioner, Ministry of Lands and Survey, Barr.

Osikhena Boih Donald has commiserated with the Legogie family and the entire people of the state on the death of the former Deputy Senate President, late Chief Albert Legogie who passed on, Monday 17th June, 2013 after a brief illness.

Barr. Osikhena-Boih in a press release yesterday expressed shock over the death of late Chief Albert

Legogie in his condolence message, he described the former Deputy Senate President as a great leader, a true democrat, a role model and a custodian of Africa culture.

The Lands and Survey Commissioner, however, urged the family to take solace that their son lived a fulfilled life and prayed God to grant him eternal rest.

UNIBEN student killing

EDSG directs DPP to examine CSOs evidences BENIN CITY - Edo State Government has directed the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to examine the claims by Civil Society groups over the alleged extra judicial killing of a University of Benin student, Mr. Ibrahim Momodu by the Police at Ogida Police Station.

The Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barr. Henry Idahagbon gave the directive when Civil Society Organizations led by the Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Reverend David Ugolor protested to his office with a letter along with other document of claims demanding the setting up of an independent panel of enquiry by the State Government into the matter.

According to the Attorney General, the state government discontinued its plans to set up a panel of enquiry into the matter in order to avoid multiplicity of enquiry in the case.

He said the Edo State

Police Command was already investigating the matter and the Inspector General of Police also carrying out another investigation into the same matter, adding that if the state government decides to go ahead with the setting up of a panel of enquiry into the same matter, that could lead to multiplicity of enquiry.

He therefore directed the State Director of Public Prosecutions to study the submission of the civil society organisations thoroughly for necessary action to be taken accordingly.

Earlier, the Executive Director of Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice, Reverend David Ugolor noted that as members of civil societies, they have a duty to ensure that all security agencies operate strictly within the ambit of the rule of law and avoid any act of summary judgment or extra judicial killing.

Continued from page 1

The governor who was represe nted by the state

Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius

Egberanmwen Odubu, urged Christians in the country particularly in the

ANEEJ flays Jonathan

Continued from page 1

good news from the Church to the people are proud to identify with the achievement of the state governor so far.

“Your Catholic faith has been a defining model, we note with great fulfilment that one of our own, a member of CAMP by virtue of being the publisher of Edo Light Magazine has successfully taken Edo State to great height in terms of transformation, massive infrastructural development and people oriented policies and programmes. This no doubt has helped to liberalise the social political and religious space of the “state by attracting individuals, groups and organisations to partner with your Excellency for the purpose of social reengineering of our people of the Ach -diocese of Benin City and by extension Edo State,” Mr. Godwin Egbe, among other things, requested the governor to graciously extend his magnanimity and positive gesture to Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, publishers of the observer titles, just as he thanked the state government for purchasing a state of the art equipment for Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS).

Mr. Egbe promised to continue to partner with government in the social reengineering of the state.

He, however, solicited the support of the comrade governor to enable CAMP resalise its major objectives of intensive evangelization as charged by the Church.

Highlight of the occasion was the presentation of the Catholic Missal to the comrade governor

by Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu, who represented the Spiritual Director of CAMP, Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Okojie.

Commissioner for Lands Commiserates with Legogie BENIN CITY- The Edo family State Honourable

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the complete abolition of the death penalty.

But as a prelude, we urge the Jonathan administration to formalise its moratorium on death penalty.” Umukoro said.

ANEEJ’s message to the president further notes: “While we are not encouraging any form of criminality, we believe that the issue of death penalty should be deleted from our nation’s criminal justice system.

Nigeria should join other civilised nations that recognises the sanctity of human life created by God Almighty. We should adhere to international and regional obligations on peoples’ rights which abhor the principle of death penalty.

“We believe that the use of death penalty as capital punishment seriously do not address the issue of criminality, especially in cases where suspects are convicted wrongly. It is well known fact that the death penalty

syndrome definitely does not punish the crime committed but just the individual, necessitating the reoccurrence of such. “Death penalty is no longer fashionable.

President Goodluck Jonathan should respect the obligation of Nigeria to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which provide that no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” the statement emphasised.

It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan on the occasion of this year’s Fathers’ Day, called on State Governors in Nigeria not to shy away from signing death sentences passed on convicted criminals, saying that as leaders, their responsibilities include doing both the “sweet and ugly part,” a call which has received knocks from human rights activists across the country. .

the challenges they had to contend with at the moment.

Describing the period as trying times for Christians, the governor stressed the need for Christians not to revenge any wrong done to them as vengeance belongs to God. Earlier, the Bishop of the Diocese of Benin, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Rev. Peter Imasuen, in his presidential charge, appreciated the state government for its developmental strides, particularly in the areas of roads construction, education and health.

Bishop Imasuen pointed out that the leadership qualities of Governor Adams Oshiomhole has made the people wiser, adding that the political awareness created by the comrade governor’s administration is worthy of emulation.

He, however, called on the state government to as a matter of urgency look into Edo State fire service as the body needs over hauling to ensure efficiency.

The theme of the 7th Synod is “How to Serve the Lord”.

Police parade 36 suspected cultists, kidnappers Continued from page 1 stated that the harvest of arrest was made possible by determination of his men and the co-operation and useful information of members of the public.

Compol Adebanjo stated that the arrest of the suspected cultists followed the on-going cult crisis reported to have claimed unspecified number of lives in Benin City.

While assuring members of the public of security of lives and property, Compol Adebanjo reinterated the command’s readiness to make Edo State a hot bed for unrepentant criminals.

The 10 suspected cultists paraded by the police chief are Sunday Ogunsuyi, Augustine Ideghae, Precious Iguma, Stanley Imuetinyan, Elvis Osazuwa, Bright Ayegbeni and Christopher Osiseme.

Others are Jude Samuel, Emmanuel Otuka and Collins Edoro all of whom three guns and 11 live cartridges were allegedly recovered from.

The suspected kidnappers include Jolly Ighodoro, 34, Udoka Simon, 27, Curtis Osifo, 42, and Enoma Osifo, 27.

Exhibits allegedly recovered from them include one AK 47 riffle, two Ak 47 magazines, 23 rounds of 7.62

mm live ammunition, two house magnum pump action guns, one English made cut-to-size double barrel gun and 107 live cartridges.

Mr. Adebanjo revealed that their confession led to the arrest of one Godwin Idenye, 23 and Ekene Sunday, 23.

Though many of the suspected cultists admitted to be members of various cult groups, they however, denied involvement in the recent killings in Benin City.

Enoma Osifo admitted to have taken the arms and ammunition to Jolly Ighodaro’s apartment where they were recovered, he denied involvement in the kidnap operation as the vehicle owner he drove also he owns the guns.

Admitting to have been forced to partake in a kidnap operation, Curtis Osifo stated that Enoma Osifo drove the car used for the operation in which an expatriate was abducted.

Commissioner Adebanjo stated that the suspects would be charged to court soon.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Inside Edo Commissioner Assures Of Proper Use Of Council Funds BENIN CITY – The Edo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Lucky James has expressed the Ministry’s readiness to collaborate with the National Union of Local Government

Employees (NULGE), Edo State Chapter at ensuring that council finances are adequately utilized.

The Commissioner disclosed this in Benin City when newly elected executive members of the

union paid him a courtesy visit which was meant to formally introduce the officers.

He said his ministry would ensure that all leakages are blocked while excess deductions where

necessary are remitted to the respective councils.

According to him, the state government “is the custodian of its employees

and would protect their interest in all policies,” adding that he operates an open door policy.

The state chairman of NULGE, Comrade Young Illenikhena had congratulated the commissioner on his reappointment as commissioner in the same ministry.

The NULGE boss said their visit was also to express

the union’s preparedness to join forces with the ministry towards ensuring that the welfare of council staff received greater attention.

He highlighted some of the issues bothering them to include the payment of special allowance to nonteaching staff of primary schools and used the occasion to call for audit of primary school teachers in the state.

Don Identifies Importance Of Clothing

By EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU/GEORGE OGBOLU/OYENMWEN OMOROGBE

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Achievement Award for the Federal Republic of Nigeria being presented to President Goodluck Jonathan by Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina (2nd Right), during Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja recently.

BENIN CITY – A University don, Professor Jean M. Borgatti, has described clothing as expressive materials that possess aesthetic capabilities as painting or any artistic medium because they support the body.

She made this assertion during her lecture at the faculty of Arts, University of Benin Lecture series titled: Monuments in clothes: African Textile, old and new.

Prof. Borgatti said that people adorn their bodies so as to make a statement about themselves adding that clothing extends beyond textile or fabrics and include things as jewelry, belts, hats and other objects of status.

Speaking, the Dean of Faculty of Arts, Professor Ofuani; said that the lecture was organized to look at the importance of textiles, stressing that textiles also serve as inspiration to contemporary visual artists in their work.

The lecture is the 3rd in the series of lectures organize by the faculty of Arts of the Ivory.

Madam Elegon Eulogises Late Mogaji BENIN CITY – A Woman Leader in Benin City Madam Omuwa Elegon, popularly known as ‘Madam Lagos’, has commiserated with the Tinubu family and the entire market women in Lagos State on the passage of Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mother of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Madam Elegon said in a statement in Benin City that the nation has lost one of the leading light among women.

She described the late alhaja Abibatu Mogaji as a mother, mentor, a great mobiliser and builder.

Madam Elegon attributed her success to life today to the immense training and counseling she received from the late Alhaja Mogaji whom

she said, inspired her to be creative, courageous, honest and enterprising.

She recalled that she came in contact with the late Alhaja Mogaji in 1962 and had ever since remained close to her and the entire Tinubu family.

“She is my mother, and she made me to be what I am in life today.

“Alhaji Mogaji crowned the market women leader in Tejuoso Market and later in Iporin Market,” Madam Elegon stated.

She described the late Alhaja Mogaji as a detribalized Nigerian who fought for justice equity and the well-being of all Nigerian Women.

Edo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Maigida flanked by Queen Tobi Philips (centre), crowned with Miss World University Africa during the 25th edition of the beauty peagant competition which took place in South Korea recently while on the left is princess (Mrs.) Margaret Jos-Bazuaye Director, Women Affairs in the ministry.

NGO To Empower ‘Okada’ Riders

By VICTOR OMOALU

• Madam Omuwa Elegon

BENIN CITY – Following the prohibition of the use of Motor Cycle/Keke NAPEP in parts of Edo State by the State Government, a Non-Profit/ Government Organization, Norion Foundation has urged the Okada riders to see the development as a pointer to opening another door for them

to be self empowered economically so as to be self – reliant in life.

The President of the Foundation, Dr. Nosa Peter Ighodaro stated this during the presentation ceremony of items/cash to some widows in Benin City.

He expressed the foundation’s resolve to engage interested members of the

public, especially the Okada riders, widows and the less privileged ones in free empowerment skill.

The Public Relation Officer of the Foundation, Engr. Otas Ekhosuehi who spoke for the President, said China was succeeding amongst other countries of the world because virtually every individual is self-reliant producer.

Engr. Ekhosuehi stated further that the foundation’s objectives were geared towards rendering services to the needy as well as training them on areas of production like Liquid Soap, perfumes, bar soaps, disinfectant, insecticide and air freshener amongst others.

Engr. Ekhosuehi who stated that government alone can not

do everything, urged the people, especially the ExOkada riders to see the development as an opportunity for them to learn other trade.

He called on interested okada riders to visit the foundation office in Benin City for an empowerment scheme, loan and free training.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Inside Edo Edo To Provide Succour For Rainstorm Victims

By FUNMI BABATOPE

IGUEBEN- Victims of the rain storm disaster which occurred in Ugun Community in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State will soon smile, as the state government has assured them of its plan to render assistance to the community with a view to ameliorating the sufferings of those affected by the disaster.

The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Maigida, gave the assurance on behalf of the state government when she led representatives of the State Emergency Relief Management Agency (SERMA) on inspection visit to the community to ascertain the extent of damage done by the natural disaster.

The Women Affairs Commission and her team who were conducted round the house affected by the vice

chairman of the council, Prince (Barr.) Edobor Izebhigie informed her that the storm blew off the roof of 13 houses which led to power outage in the

community.

While sympatising with the victims, over the unfortunate incidence, Hon. Maigida also conveyed the state government’s heart felt

sympathy to them and promised, for assistance.

She added that adequate measures will be put in place by the state government to prevent future re-occurrence

BENIN CITY- Edo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social

Church Holds 3-Day Convention In Benin

By OPEYEMI MICHAEL

BENIN CITY- A three-day All Believers /Convention 2013 of the Christian/ Students of the University of Benin begins today at the Akin Deko Hall of the Institution.

The three days convention which is titled: “After His Likeness” is scheduled to begin on Friday, 2013 of June and end on Sunday, 23rd of June 2013.

In a chat with pastor Omoloye Emmanuel Vice Chairman of the Christian community on campus (CCC), he said that the convention was an avenue to suspend all denominationalism and bring all believers on campus together in an atmosphere where we concentrate our similaties rather than our differences.

Reverend Canon Israel Osita and Dr. Ehigie will be guest ministers at the convention including Pastor cosmos, of Hearts of worship and CCC mass choir.

intimated him of her mission to the community and expressed gratitude to the state government for coming to the aid of the victims in their moment of need.

Edo Organises Writing Contest For Students

The Deputy Governor, Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu (right), with the Rev. Friday Imaekhai during the first session of the 17th Synod of the Benin Diocese Anglican Communion in Benin City.

Commissioner Commends Beauty Pageant

By FUNMI BABATOPE

of such an unfortunate incidence.

Earlier Hon. Maigida also visited the executive Chairman of Igueben Local Government Council, Hon. Julius Asemota and

Development, Mrs. Blessing Maigida has commended Queen Tobi Philips for emerging Winner of Miss World University Africa Beauty pageant competition recently held in South Korea.

Mrs. Maigida gave the commendation in her office while playing host to the queen whose visit to the state was to solicit the state

Edo Youths Urged To Partake In Telecoms Competition BENIN CITY-Youths in Edo State have been called upon to participate in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom Young Innovators competition scheduled for Bangkok, Thailand from 19th to 22nd November 2013.

A Statement from the Ministry of Communication Technology, signed by Mrs. Moni Udoh, Deputy Director, e-Government disclosed that winners of the competition have the opportunity to win seed money of up to $5,000.00 in the concept category and $10,000.00 in the startup category.

“In view of the above, the Ministry has since uploaded the information and the link to the ITU World 2013 on its website to create awareness of the event to the target youth,” the statement noted.

government support towards promoting her pet project christened “Clean and Green Nigeria, a platform to champion their campaign on keeping the environment clean at all times, planting of flowers and the overall beautification of the country.

While congratulating Miss Philips for achieving this laudable achievements and making the nation proud, the Women Affairs commissioner described and pledged government support

towards realizing her set goals.

Earlier, Queen Tobi Philips had informed the commissioner that she was in the state to solicit government support for her pet project tagged “Clean and Green Nigeria aimed at beautifying and keeping the society clean.

BENIN CITY-As part of the innovation for Edo’s Development, the state’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) department has organized a creative writing contest open to all students in both public and private Secondary Schools in the state as part of this year’s Edo Technology Day holding next month.

With the topic, “How to use Innovation and Technology to Transform Edo State’s Education,” the writing competition is organized by to set young people up for excellent results in tests and exams, foster real time useful learning and discursions as a lifelong habit and restore the glory of Nigerian Education.

A statement by the organisers disclosed that the Innovation for Edo’s Development, IFD, strives to genuinely encourage and reward innovative ideas and efforts that focus on solutions to the challenges currently affecting Edo State’s Education System.

“The article must not just be a written piece but it must contain a solution that can be implemented within the next one year and to participate, the students are to send a 750 word article on the topic , with name,

date of birth, class, school, contact number of one of their parents and a contact of a teacher in your school by email to: info@passnownow.com “The winners will be unveiled, presented with their prizes and decorated at the Edo Technology Day scheduled to hold in July 2013, by the Executive Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in the presence of top government officials and stakeholders within the information technology and private sector.

“The first prize winner will go home with N500, 000 tuition fee contribution, Samsung Galazy 10.1 inch tablet, live reading of article to the audience , publication of article on major newspapers and online media platforms across the country, the second prize will get N300, 000 tuition fee contribution, 15.7 inches Laptop Computer, live reading of article to the audience, publication of article on major newspapers and online media platforms across the country and the third prize, N100,000 tuition fee contribution, 11 inches Netbook computer, publication of article on major newspapers and online media platforms across the country,” it added.

Ministerial Platform FCT Minister Gives Account Of Stewardship

By EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU/ WINIFRED OSASOBO

BENIN CITY- The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Hon. Bala Mohammed, has said

that crime rate in the Territory has been reduced by 70% due to the administration’s zero tolerance to insecurity.

He made this revelation in

The wife of Edo State Deputy Governor, Deaconess Endurance Odubu (arrowed), with the graduating students of Edo State Skill Acquisition Centre, Evbomodu, Benin City. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

Abuja while giving his ministerial briefing at the 2013 Ministerial platform which was monitored in Benin City adding that security is a serious business that his administration will tackle seriously to a logical conclusion.

He disclosed that the FCT has set-up a security body called G7 in partnership with neighbouring states.

He therefore urges all residents of the FCT to support the administration in fighting crime by giving useful information to security Agency.

Also, he said that the FCT gives free medical services to those between 0-5 in rural areas, this, he said was to reduce child mortality and morbidity.

He also revealed that some hectares of land have been concessioned for the building of health centers while also providing facilities for health centers.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Across The Nation FG To Review Allowances Of Medical Workers

ABUJA - The Federal Government has promised to review allowances of medical workers, Chief Richard Egbule, the Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, said.

Egbule said this when members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) led by its National President, Dr Osahon Enabulele, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

He said the medical practitioners in Nigeria had always enjoyed more privileges in terms of good salary packages than most government workers because of the sensitivity and complexity of their job.

“You have a package no one shares with you, if you will agree with the commission.

“We will set up a committee to look into the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and its Associated Allowances for Medical and Dental Practitioners (CONMESS) and make the necessary corrections.

“I don’t have any personal interest to deny you anything or give you what you don’t deserve but you have no reason to collect allowances for those who do not deserve it.

“It is not all health workers who work in the hospitals or the medical lecturers that perform the same professional duties.

“Therefore they can only be paid what is due to them but we will look into it and make corrections,’’ Egbule said.

Egbule said a committee would be set up to look into how some corrections could be made in the new salary structure to favour the NMA.

Earlier, Enabulele had requested for correction in the CONMESS on the grounds that the correction made in the new minimum wage had put most health workers at disadvantage.

The NMA also complained that the duty call allowance of its member became reduced once they were promoted to the next level.

The medical practitioners said the take home pay of a grade

level 17 medical practitioner should be increased to be the same with the Judges in the federal civil service.

“The NMA agreed with the Federal Government that whenever there is an increase in salary, such allowances as call duty, health professional nonclinical duty, special and clinical duty will be raised with the same proportion or rate.

“This was not given

Kidnapping

Police Arrest Pastor, Bank Staff

FRSC Arrests 136 Traffic Offenders ENUGU - The Enugu Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Fumbiyi Olawoyin, said on Wednesday that 136 motorists were arrested for light sign violation between June 9 and June 16.

Olawoyin told newsmen in Enugu that six other motorists were arrested for number plate violation during the Operation Rainstorm in the state.

He said that two persons were also arrested for dangerous driving during the period.

He said the exercise was in line with the 2013 strategic goals which, among other things, aimed at reducing road traffic crashes and improve service delivery.

The commander said the exercise focused on road traffic violations, including light sign, dangerous driving, overloading, drivers’ license, over-speeding and number plates.

He said the corps was not interested in the fines being paid by the violators, but was out to enthrone a good driving culture in Nigerian motorists.

He reminded the motorists of the need to change their number plates and drivers’ license as the deadline for their enforcement was approaching.

expression in the implementation of the new minimum wage; it is our wish that this agreement be respected whenever salaries are adjusted.

“There are doctors who are employed as university health service lecturers and some strictly academic lecturers but the circular from the commission has made such lecturers not to be remunerated for what they do,’’ Enabulele said.

L-R: Chief Judge of Anambra, Justice Peter Umeadi, Governor Peter Obi and Deputy Speaker, Anambra House of Assembly, Prince Chukwudi Orizu, at the inauguration of new judges’ quarters in Onitsha recently.

FRSC Considers Stiffer Penalties Reckless Driving:

UMUAHIA - The Federal Road Safety Commission, Abia Command, says it is deeply worried by the spate of road accidents in the area and is considering stiffer penalties against reckless driving.

The Sector Commander, Mr. John Meheux, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Umuahia on Wednesday, expressed the hope that the measure would serve as deterrent to others.

Meheux explained that 28 persons were involved in different auto crashes on the Abia end of the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene road between June 13 and June 14.

According to him, six persons

died in the accidents, 19 sustained various degrees of injury while three escaped unhurt.

He said that the victims include five members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) who died when their Uyo-bound bus had a head on collision with a truck on the road on June 13.

Meheux attributed the high rate of accident on the highway in the area to excess speed, wrong overtaking and the narrowness of the road.

He said that the road, which was in a terrible state of disrepair, had “a single lane without shoulders.”

Meheux said, “the route needs

to be worked on, the road needs palliative repairs.’’

The sector commander reminded drivers that the road was narrow and that there was the need for them to be cautious while driving.

He said that the command carried out regular surveillance on the routes, adding that “the FRSC mobile court, presided over by a magistrate, also holds regular sessions in the area.”

He said that many erring drivers had been convicted and made to pay various fines.

Meheux, however, explained that none of those convicted had their sentences committed to jail term although the court reserved the right to do so.

“The fines are supposed to serve as deterrents but you know that our people do not learn any lesson from their mistakes.”

Meheux maintained that the driver-testing programme organised by FRSC was being vigorously implemented to ensure that only trained and certified drivers were allowed to drive on the road.

He revealed that the command had certified 15 driving schools in the state to operate, saying that the measure would help to eliminate “killer-drivers” from the highways.

The sector commander said that an Uyo-based transport company, which usually transited through Abia to Lagos, had been identified as being reckless on the road.

He explained that the command had contacted its Uyo Sector Command to take up the matter with the company.

According to him, the company has become notorious, as “hit-and-run” transport outfit, killing and maiming people of the area.”

OWERRI - The Imo police command has confirmed the arrest of a pastor and a driver with a first generation bank, allegedly involved in different cases of kidnapping in the state.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mrs. Joy Elemoko, confirmed the arrests in Owerri on Wednesday in an interview with newsmen.

Elemoko alleged that a suspect, simply identified as Pastor Obinna of UmuezeduruAmuzari, Mbano Local Government Area, and two others at large, kidnapped a one-month old baby at Okwuosu-Amuzari village.

She said the suspect was trailed to his residence around 1.30 a.m. where his wife tried to forcefully breastfeed the baby to stop it from crying.

She said the pastor, who hails from Umuaro Iho, Ikeduru Local Government Area, had first claimed that his wife collected the baby from a mad woman.

Elemoko also said that the driver, who hails from Oforola in Owerri West Local Government Area, was arrested at the Emekuku branch of the bank, near Owerri.

He was arrested by a combined team of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and the police who had his name on their wanted lists.

The spokesperson said the pastor would soon be charged to court while the driver’s case was still under investigation.

Ubah Denies Clashing With Umeh

AWKA - A gubernatorial aspira nt in the proposed

L-R: Acting Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Ibadan, Prof. Odunayo Oluwatosin, the lecturer, Dr. Ayotunde Fashola and Acting Secretary, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Mr. Olusola Owojuyigbe, at the Faculty Lecturer by College of Medicine with the theme: “Snoring, the Untold Story” in Ibadan recently.

November election in Anambra, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah, has denied ever clashing with the factional Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh.

Ubah, who seeks to carry the party’s flag in the election, told newsmen in Awka that the purported clash was a figment of the imagination of mischief makers.

He said there was no misunderstanding between

him and Umeh, saying that the clarification followed insinuations in some quarters that there was a misunderstanding between them.

He said that no form of campaign of calumny or propaganda would separate him from Umeh.

“The story is not true. I don’t understand why people chose to play this type of politics. Victor Umeh is a friend and a brother and we

have never had any reason to disagree at any point.

“I know that this is the handwork of detractors who believe that the only way to play politics is by blackmailing others.

“I wish to urge the people of Anambra to discountenance such stories because it never happened. I will not be cowed by enemies of the state who are bent on distracting my agenda and good intentions for my brothers and sisters.’’

7

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Lagos Stakeholder Commends Payment Of Oil Subsidy Claims In FG Commended LAGOS - Mr Adewumi Ilori, a stakeholder in the oil industry, has commended the Federal Government for the payment of 2011 fuel subsidy claims of 39 oil marketers.

Ilori, Managing Director, Metib Oil and Gas Ltd., told newsmen in Lagos that this would enable marketers to repay loans they took from the banks.

It could be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Finance, had on Monday, announced the payment of N192.5 billion subsidy claims to 39 oil marketers for the last quarter of 2012.

The ministry said that the payment was on the basis of claims submitted in batches by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Ilori said:“Most of these oil marketers borrowed money from banks to import the products and the banks are on their necks to recover their money with interests.

“With the payment, the

marketers will offload part of the loans they collected from the banks.”

He said that it would also give room for them to invest more in their businesses.

Ilori said that the payment was delayed due to verification of their claims by government to ascertain their genuineness.

The stakeholder urged the Federal Government to also ensure prompt payment of subsequent claims in transparent and efficient manner to protect the interest of Nigerians.

He said that it would be difficult for marketers to continue to import without government repaying them promptly.

Ilori advised government to repair the local refineries for the country to stop further importation of petroleum products.

“It is very sad that a country that is blessed with abundant oil and gas resources is still importing petroleum products,” he said.

L-R: Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Head of State, Retired Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, National President, Muslim Council of Nigeria, Justice Usman Mohammad, Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State and former Governor of Lagos State, Retired Gen. Buba Marwa, during the FIDAU Prayers for Alhaja Abiabat Mogaji, the Iya Oloja of Lagos, in Lagos recently.

Ikuforiji Mourns Demise Of LAGOS - Speaker of Mogaji Lagos state House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has said that he will miss the late President-General of National Association of Market Men and Women, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji for her forthrightness, honesty and boldness.

He passed the message while fielding questions from reporters at the residence of the son of the late Mogaji who is the National Leader of the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he led other lawmakers on a condolence visit to his home at Ikoyi.

Hon. Ikuforiji described the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji as a forthright, honest and bold leader. “She was always straight to the point no matter whose ox is gored”, he remarked.

Describing her as the mother of the nation, Ikuforiji related how activities of the late Mogaji cut across the length and breadth of the country.

“She was not just a totally detribalized Nigerian, she was mother of all, and in Lagos, she carried all of us along, you will wonder if she is not really the mother of the nation”, Ikuforiji said.

Signing the condolence register, Hon Ikuforiji wrote, “A quintessential

mother of the nation, we will all miss you. May the Almighty Allah grant Mama’s soul rest in Aljannah”.

Deputy Whip of the House, Rotimi Abiru wrote, “Mama may your soul rest in peace”, while Wahab Alawiye King representing Lagos Island 2 wrote, “Mama rest in peace”.

Electronic Bill Board destroyed by Rain Storm at Apongbon area of Lagos recently.

Oil Coys Assess Communities’ Needs

By THOMPSON ERHOMONSELE BENIN CITY – A total of 20 communities comprising 10 each from Edo and Delta States were represented to confirm their respective needs at the Community Needs Assessment forum jointly organised by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of Nigeria National Petroleum Development Corporation and Pan Ocean Oil Corporation in Benin City yesterday.

The communities from Edo State were Ologbo, Obayantor, Iguomukhua, Utesi, Ogheghe, Iguelaba, Uroho, ObagieNokenkporo, Iyanomon N’Iyekeorhionmwon (Abe) and Ona-Ageka.

From Delta State are: ObiAnyima, Ekuku-Agbor, UteEremu, Ejeme-Aniogor, Ovade, Otefe, Mosugar, Owe and Amukpe communities.

Sequel to this needs assessment meeting, these communities which are hosts to Pan Ocean Oil Corporation, had earlier been visited by consultants to ascertain their respective infrastructure needs.

Edo State Commissioner for Special Duties, Oil and Gas, Ambassador Orobosa Omo-Ojo assisted the representatives of the Pan Ocean host communities from Edo State to make useful choices for the socio-economically viable projects that would be of

meaningful and enduring benefits as well as to avoid duplication of such projects in their respective communities.

Special Adviser to the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Delta State, Mr. Godwin B. Omadoye, who represented the commissioner, also assisted the representative of the Pan Ocean host communities in Delta State to determine their projects.

The projects being requested to be executed in the host communities in Edo and Delta States included construction of roads with side-drains linking several communities, health-care facilities, provision of electricity and transformer, pipe-borne water, provision of micro-credit and soft loans, construction and furnishing of town halls, construction and equipping of blocks of classrooms, perimeter fencing of schools, construction and equipping of skills acquisition centres, building and equipping of agro-allied milling factories with training of the operators, provision of scholarship and bursary for their indigene and provision of commuter buses.

In his remarks, Edo State Commissioner for Special Duties, Oil and Gas, Ambassador Orobosa Omo-Ojo said the gathering was for Pan Ocean to meet with its host communities, pointing out that it was a prerequisite for the execution of projects for the host

communities.

He encouraged the representatives of Pan Ocean host communities to openly demand for the social infrastructure that would be of immense benefit to them.

Similarly, the Community Relations Manager of PAN OCEAN Oil Corporation, Olabanji Ajijola explained

that the forum was for the representatives of the communities to confirm the various projects demanded or make changes where necessary.

He affirmed that when such projects were confirmed to meet their needs, same would form the five-year project rolling plan for the joint venture of PAN OCEAN and NAPIMS. Also, the Community Development Officer in the Public Affairs

Department of NAPIMS, Mrs. Henrietta W. Obioma-Igwe disclosed that execution of the projects would commence as soon as the necessary formalities were completed.

She said NAPIMS is to contribute 60 percent counter-part funding while PAN OCEAN will provide the other 40 percent for the execution of the joint venture projects.

Mrs Ajufo Goes Home At 73

IBUSA - The death has occurred of a Philanthropist and Community Leader, Mrs. Magdalene Ajufo in Benin City, Edo State. She was aged 73.

Late Mrs. Ajufo, who hails from Ibusa in Oshimili Local Government Area of Delta State passed on at UBTH in Benin City after a brief illness.

A statement signed by the eldest son, Pastor Sylvester Ajufo indicated that his late mother who was a retired potter with UNIBEN is survived by her husband, Chief D.O Ajufo and nine children.

It further stated that the funeral ceremony of the departed philanthropist will be announced later.

Late Mrs. Ajufo.

8

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Across The Nation

FG, States, LGs Share N620bn For May ABUJA - The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) on Wednesday shared N620.65 billion among the three tiers of government for May. The Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, made this known when he briefed newsmen shortly after the committee’s meeting.

“The total revenue distributed

for the month of May, including Value Added Tax (VAT), is N620.65 billion.

“The distributable statutory revenue was N502.61billion and there was no augmentation proposed for the month. “ The sum of N7.61 billion was refunded by NNPC while the sum of N35.54 billion was proposed for distribution under

the SURE-P programme.

A breakdown of the distribution showed that the Federal Government received N235.77 (52.68 per cent), states had N119.59 billion (26.72 per cent) while the local governments got N92.19 billion (20.60 per cent).

The minister said that N48.87 billion or 13 per cent derivation

fund was paid to the six oil producing states.

Ngama said that the gross revenue of N590.77 billion received for the month was lower than the N621.07 billion received in the previous month

by N30.29 billion.

“This was due to drop in crude oil production and lifting operations occasioned by force

majeure declared at Bonny Terminal and continuous theft and vandalism. “ However, non-oil revenue increased during the period partly due to the increased payments by companies filing their returns in order to comply with the due date,’’ he said.

The minister said that the mineral revenue collected for the

month was N464.11billion, adding that the amount was less than N544.75billion received in the previous month.

He noted that the non-mineral revenue collected in May was N126.66, showing an increase of N50.35 billion compared to N76.31 that was collected in April.

SSS Confirms Arrest Of Proprietor, Inmates

Baby Factory:

People waiting for free eye check up sponsored by Jigawa Government at Dutse General Hospital recently.

UMUAHIA - The State Security Service (SSS) in Abia says it has arrested 16 pregnant inmates and the proprietor of an alleged ‘baby factory’ in Umungasi, Aba, the commercial hub of the state.

The state Director of SSS, Mr Matthew Obodoechi, told newsmen that the proprietor, Dr Ndudim Orikara, is now in custody.

Obodoechi said that the expectant mothers, whose ages ranged between 17 to 37, and the proprietor, were arrested on Monday and Wednesday, respectively following intelligence reports in Aba. He alleged that the proprietor, who owned a NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO), called Cross Foundation International, keeps pregnant

women.

According to him, the proprietor keeps pregnant women, who upon delivery, are given a paltry sum of N50,000 and sent away, while their babies are sold to people from different parts of the country.

The SSS director said that the investigation so far conducted by the officers and men of the service, showed that some of the women were brought to the foundation by their relatives and friends.

He mentioned the case of a particular woman, who secretly took her daughter to the place, because she did not want her husband to know that their daughter was pregnant.

Obodoechi, called on the Abia House of Assembly to enact a law, with stiffer punishment for

Requests For New States Lack Constitutional referendum ABUJA Sen. Ike Requirements - Ekweremadu Earlier, Ugwoke, said the Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President and Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Review, said none of the 61 requests for state creation got the committee’s nod.

Ekweremadu stated this in Abuja when Enugu State Government Committee on the Actualisation of Adada State led by retired Maj.-Gen. Godwin Ugwoke visited him.

“To be sure that we are fair to all, especially in matters that have to do with state creation, I insisted that the 61 requests be analysed individually.

“We referred the entire work to our panel of consultants made up of the best in the areas of Constitutional Law and Federalism in this country.’’

He, however, assured state agitators that they still had ample opportunities since the exercise was continuous.

“We use the opportunity to state clearly, not just to the people of Adada, but the other groups also, that the opportunity for state creation is a continuum.

“It is not limited to when there is a constitution amendment and we are not giving up on state creation, but what we insist on is for the correct thing to be done.

“I don’t want any section of Nigerians requesting for state creation to get disillusioned and drop their pursuits.

“We want to encourage everybody from all parts of Nigeria that desire new state to

sustain their agitation as they will succeed someday.

He said the failure of the 61 requests was based on analysis and advice of constitutional law experts engaged by the committee.

He explained that the request for Adada state was not recommended by the committee because the document they presented did not meet the provisions of Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution.

Ekeremadu pledged that the committee would ensure fair and equal treatment of all the groups

agitating for new states.

He pointed out that some of the signatories for the proposed Adada state were former office holders in the local, state and federal levels.

“Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution that deals with the issue of state creation does not make any time frame within which it should be done.

“If you are asking for a state, the signatories have to be current elected officials who are in office within the period. ‘‘Otherwise, you cannot say that you have signatures of

members of the House of Representatives when they are no longer in the House of Representatives.” he said that any request that does not meet the requirements of Section 8 of the constitution could still be upgraded in accordance with the constitutional provision and forwarded to the National Assembly.

“Once we are satisfied that the signatories are genuine, we will take the next step by directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a

People waiting for free eye check up sponsored by Jigawa Government at Dutse General Hospital recently.

committee came to seek clarification on why their request failed to sail through the committee.

He urged the Senate to give its much needed support to the creation of Adada state out of the existing Enugu State.

culprits, in order to serve as deterrent to others.

He said that those arrested in connection with the act would be prosecuted by the organisation in conjunction with the police and other relevant security agencies in the state.

Obodoechi warned those who hide under the guise of NGOs to perpetrate crimes and other illegalities, to desist forthwith or be ready to face the full wrath of the law.

“Members of the public should assist security agents with useful information that will help us to permanently deal with the phenomenon,” he said.

A cross-section of the inmates told newsmen that they were catered for by the foundation, pending when they would be delivered of their babies.

Ifunanya Nwankworie, a 25year-old student of Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, who hails from Ikpoku in Rivers, said that she was impregnated by a panel beater in Owerri, who later denied the pregnancy.

While 19-year-old Chioma Kalu, from Arochukwu also told newsmen that she was impregnated by a man in Jos, adding that she came to the foundation from Jos, following a friend’s advice.

Bayero University To Scrap Diploma Programmes KANO - The Bayero University Kano (BUK) is to phase out all diploma and other sub-degree programmes being run by the university with effect from this year.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Abubakar Rashid, made this known in Kano while briefing newsmen on the 30th Convocation of the university scheduled for June 23.

Rashid said in line with the new policy, no new students would be admitted for any diploma and other sub-degree programmes, this year in the university.

According to him, the university will now focus on its primary mandate of producing qualified graduates and post graduates students.

He, however, announced the establishment of a new Institute of Continued Education which would run open and distance

learning as well as part time degree programmes.

This, he said, was aimed at giving opportunity to those who were employed to come on part time to acquire degrees in various fields of study.

According to him, the council and senate have approved the establishment of Centre for Quranic Studies to assist in finding solution to Almajiri system of education in the north.

Rashid said 14, 521 graduates would receive degrees at the occasion.

He said 107 graduates would receive doctorate degrees as against 2,533 master degrees, while others would be awarded first degrees for 2010/ 2011 and 2011/ 2012 sessions.

He, however, said the convocation would be low-keyed as no pre-convocation lecture, chancellor’s dinner and Award of Honorary Degrees during the occasion.

9

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Abuja UTME: FG Approves New Cut-Off learning process in the

By JOSES SEDE Marks institutions.

A lecturer at Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Mr. Abdullahi Umar, delivering lecture at National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Sensitisation and Awareness Workshop on Measles, Cholera and Lassa Fever in Bauchi recently. With him are Representative of Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Ismaila Umar (left) and Gombe State NEMA Head of Operation, Mr. Apoollos Jediel.

The National President of Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, Mr. Jacob Oloadele Olaniyi (standing), reading his address at the 6th PPFN Regional Council meeting held in Benin City. With him are the South-South Regional Director, Dame Dorothy Ekhator and Chief Okon Volunteer PPFN, South South Regional Chairman. Photo: OSADEBAMWEN SUNDAY.

FAAC:

By JOSES SEDE

ABUJA Federal Government has approved cutoff marks for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2013/ 2014 academic session.

The Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, announced yesterday that the cut-off marks into Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and other degreeawarding institutions as 150 while 180 is for federal universities.

Rufa’i said this at the Fourth Combined Policy Meeting on Admission to Degree-Awarding Institutions, National Diploma (ND), Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and National Innovation Diploma (NID) awarding institutions.

She said the meeting was to plan for the selection of qualified candidates into the nations tertiary institutions and also to restore confidence in the education system.

“I implore all stakeholders to follow the Federal Government’s guidelines on admission which stipulates a 70:30 Technology/NonTechnology ratio for ND programmes.

“Also, 60:40 Science/Arts ratio for Degree and Nigeria Certificate in Education programmes and also to observe the criteria on merit, catchments and educationally less developed states.

“In addition, we must not forget the carrying-capacity of our institutions as approved by

FG, States, LGs Agree To Clear Arrears

ABUJA - Following the last week dramatic walk-out by state commissioners of finance from the last Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, the three tiers of government have agreed to clear the controversial arrears that brought about the walk-out.

Addressing journalists at the end of a meeting initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve the crisis, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of finance Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, announced that the three tiers of government “have agreed on what the arrears are and how much they are and we are going to clear them.”

She explained that the FAAC accumulated some arrears when trying to put our accounts together and that would be cleared.

She insisted that there was “no debt and no agreement to sign, it’s a federation account issue we are all in it together.”

Asked to explain the nature of the arrears and to give the timeline for clearing the arrears, the Minister of State for Finance

and Chairman of FAAC, Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama said “we had shortages in revenue so the amount that we had statutorily reduced for the three tiers of government including the

federal government.”

Earlier, the chairman of the committee set up by the president to resolve the impasse and Governor of Bauchi State Alhaji Isa Yuguda said, “an

agreement has been reached on the Federation Account to resolve all outstanding issues to do with the Federation Accounts.

As part of this, a commitment to settle the arrears of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) payments has been agreed.”

the accrediting bodies,’’ she said.

According to her, the accreditation bodies are the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

Rufa’i said in order to enhance the carrying capacities of the country’s institutions the ministry had undertaken continuous development and rehabilitation of infrastructure in the institutions of higher learning.

She, however, said the Tertiary Education Trust Fund had disbursed N256.4 billion over the past three years for diverse development activities in the institutions.

She said that at the polytechnic level all the 51 Federal and state and polytechnics had benefited from rehabilitation and upgrading of their laboratories to 21st century standards at a total of N15 billion.

She said that this had helped to enhance the teaching and

She also said that work had also started on the construction of micro-teaching laboratories in our colleges of education.

The minister also said that all Federal Colleges of Education and one state College of Education per state would benefit from this, making a total of 58 institutions at a cost of N11.6 billion.

“I am pleased that these interventions continue to translate to expanded carrying capacity in our institutions.

“For this academic year, we expect carrying capacity to increase from 400,691 admitted last year to over 500,000.

“I urge all institutions to carefully examine their carrying capacities in relation to their expanding infrastructure. You must make sure that you fill the quota for each course.’’

She called on all institutions to adhere to the admission timetable as prepared by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Rufa’i commended JAMB on the successful conduct of the 2013 UTME.

Court Sentences Labourer For Escaping From Police Custody ABUJA - An Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court has sentenced one Musa Abdullahi to 90 days imprisonment for escaping from police custody.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr Zubairu Mohammed, sentenced Abdullahi after he pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of escaping from the Life Camp Police Station.

Mohammed, however, gave the convict an option of N2,000 fine.

“There is need to punish offenders to deter others from committing crimes.

“The court is sentencing you

after listening to your plea for leniency. The sentence is also based on the fact that you are a first time offender,’’ he said.

Earlier, the police prosecutor, Cpl. Simon Emmanuel, had told the court that the 22-year-old convict, who lives in Jabi Garage Abuja, was arrested on June 14 for alleged joint act, theft and causing hurt on one Samaila Jibrin of Daki–biyu village, Abuja.

He said that while the convict was detained in the police cell, pending investigations, he escaped but was later re-arrested.

Man, 48, Arraigned For Defrauding Woman

ABUJA - The police has arraigned a businessman, Eugien Egbokwe, 48, of no fixed address, in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court for alleged breach of trust and cheating.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr Mohammed Ahmed, told the court that the matter was reported on June 4 to the Maitama police station by one Vivian Ichere, of Aso village, Abuja.

Ahmed said that on June 11, Egbokwe dishonestly collected N319,000 from Ichere with a promise that he would use the money to purchase chemicals for the production U.S. dollar notes.

He said Egbokwe did not fulfil his promise, but rather

converted the money into his own use.

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

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

Section 312 of the code states

that whoever commits a breach of trust shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or be fined or be punished with both.

Section 322 states that whoever cheats shall be

punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or be fined or be punished with both.

The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs Grace Adebayo, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Adebayo stated that the

sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court.

According to her, one of the sureties must be a civil servant while the other should be a responsible citizen working or doing business in a recognised company.

She adjourned the case to July 15 for hearing.

FG To Establish More Cultural Centres ABUJA - The Federal Government is to establish cultural centres in four states, Mrs Lizzy Iwuamadi, Assistant Director, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, has said.

Iwuamadi told newsmen in Abuja that the states to benefit from the centres in 2013 are Imo,

Bayelsa, Nasarawa and Oyo. She said that the ministry had already established cultural centres in Enugu, Edo, Sokoto, Benue, Ogun and the FCT. According to her, the move is part of the ministry’s plan to establish more cultural centres to cut across the six geo-political zones in the country.

“The project is designed to create jobs for women and the youth through skills acquisition and to empower the benefiting communities economically,’’ Iwuamadi said She added that beneficiaries had so far received training in capacity building and skills acquisition preparatory to the

take of the new centres.

Iwuamadi noted that the project would be public-private sector driven.

She, however, said that the centres would be handed over to the state governments for proper monitoring to ensure that the facilities were properly utilised and maintained.

10

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

South South Effective Taxation Can Boost Nation’s Economy - Experts

L-R: Executive Board Member, Nestle Nutrition Africa, Prof. James Renner, Chief Executive Officer, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr. Dharnesh Gordhon, Head of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chris Isokpunnwu and Marketing Services Director, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Iquo Ukoh, at the 2013 Nestle creating shared value media workshop in Lagos recently.

Shareholders at the 30th Annual General meeting of First City Monument Bank Plc in Lagos recently.

EFFECTIVE taxation and compliance by citizens toward Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has been describe as the bedrock on which sustainable economic development of a nation can be achieved This was the submissions of the trio of the President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Alhj.

Kabir Alkali Mohammed, the Chairman, Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, Hon. Joel Onowakpo Thomas, and former Economic commissioner in the state, Chief Clement Ofuani.

Speaking in Asaba, Delta State capital at the weekend during a lecture titled “Delta State Beyond Oil: Taxation as a catalyst for the socioeconomic development of Delta State” as part of activities marking the 2nd anniversary public lecture of the 5th Assembly of the Delta State House of Assembly, the trio held strongly that for sustainable economic development in the state to hold sway beyond oil revenues, adequate taxation cannot be over-emphasized.

Specifically, they held that “As Delta State takes strategic view of its future and particularly its growth and development prospects beyond oil, the place of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through tax and diversification into tourism and agriculture cannot be overemphasized” Delivering his 17 page lecture, the ICAN President commended officials of the

FG Assures Investors Of Conducive Environment

CALABAR - President Goodluck Jonathan assured prospective investors in the power sector of conducive environment for investment.

Jonathan gave the assurance in Calabar at the groundbreaking ceremony of the one billion-dollar ($1 billion) investment by General Electric (GE) on Multi-Model Manufacturing and Industrial Services at the Calabar Free Trade zone (CFTZ).

Jonathan, who was represented by the Vice President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, said that GE‘s investment was a result of the confidence the company had in Nigeria’s economy.

He said that since the initial

memorandum of understanding with the company was signed in 2009 with the Federal Government, the company had maintained a loyal and respectable partnership.

The president said that GE, which is the third largest global investment company had maintained relationship with Nigeria, dating back to the fifties, adding that the government cherished the relationship.

He described GE as a reliable development partner, adding that the company’s decision to build the biggest power plant in Calabar was a clear demonstration of its

confidence in the country’s economy.

He said that the country’s long-term development goals was geared towards making Nigeria among the top 20 economies in the World by 2020.

He said the government had achieved a number of goals in the power sector reform programmes, adding that government was fully committed to the completion of ongoing privatisation of the power sector.

According to him, once the ongoing projects in the sector are completed by the end of the year “we expect to add about 4000mw to our national grid.’’

Aide Defends Dickson’s Frequent Trips

YENAGOA - Governor.

Seriake Dickson’s frequent trips outside the state is in the best interest of the people, Chief Fred Agbedi , his Special Adviser on Political Matters, has said in Yenagoa.

Agbedi, who spoke to newsmen in Yenagoa, said such trips had fast track the developmental programmes of the state.

He explained that Dickson was working for the

actualisation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 reelection bid, hence his frequent consultations with political interests.

The aide said that participation in national politics, mobilisation of a support base for Jonathan was central to the fulfilment of the desires of the people of Niger Delta region.

Agbedi assured the people of Bayelsa that the governor was

on course and was already delivering the dividends of democracy in education, roads, fiscal discipline, security and peace.

He welcomed the inauguration of a Regional Office of Bayelsa Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) office in South Africa.

He said the new office was an indication that Bayelsa was ready for investment and development.

He said that government was doing everything possible to ensure peace and security in the country.

Earlier, Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River, said that GE’s investment was not only a big boost to the economy of the state but the country at large.

Imoke said that his administration had created a conducive environment for business to thrive in the state, adding that GE’s investment had added to the growing foreign investment in the state estimated at over two billion dollars.

“Our environment is always conducive for investment,‘’ he said.

In his speech, the Global Vice President of GE, Mr. John Riise, said that Calabar was considered ahead of other seven states because of its friendly investment climate.

Riise said that the Cross River Government was instrumental to the choice of Calabar, adding that the government provided them with assurances.

He said that one billiondollar investment was the company’s biggest investment in sub-Saharan Africa.

Several dignitaries attended the ceremony, including members of the state executive council, senators, traditional rulers and members of the business community.

state board of internal revenue for raising the state IGR from its former N1.2 Billion in 2009 to its present position of N5.74Billion as at January this year.

However, he noted that the present status of the state IGR is still not substantial given it economic growth and development prospects, adding that taxation, if properly harnessed, should provide alternative funding support for the state economy.

Effective taxation in this sense, he opined, would achieve two key objectives of improving the investment climate in the state by creating a level playing field for all market players as well as increase the revenue flow.

Onowakpo, a codiscussant of the lecture with Ofuani, said given the volatile nature of oil revenue in relation to the state government’s poise for economic sustainability beyond oil, the state board of internal revenue has since risen to the challenge by being proactive in its support for the ‘Delta Beyond Oil vision of the present administration.

To this end, The Revenue Board Chairman said officials of the board has since embarked on crusades to villages, communities and religious institutions on the need to support the vision as well as ensure prompt and regular payments of tax.

He said, “Effective taxation will continue to boost the infrastructural developments in the state which will in turn boost the economic development” just as he noted that taxation will also enhance job creation as well as sustain the peace and security agenda of Governor Emmanuel Uguaghan administration in the state.

Based on this, Onowakpo has said that tax defaulters in the state stand the risk of being prosecuted asserting that tax payment is civic responsibility that must not be undermined.

FRSC Boss urges Drivers Not To Hurt Marshals, Officers PORT HARCOURT - Dr Kayode Olagunju, the Rivers Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has urged drivers to avoid violent acts in their interaction with traffic marshals.

Olagunju made the call in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt.

He said that the recent confirmation of a death sentence by a court on a driver who killed a marshal should serve as a lesson to road users.

A bus driver, Emeka Mbachu, was convicted for killing Mr. Clifford Azubuike, a Special Marshal, on Nov. 3, 1995 while on patrol duty on Aba Road, Port Harcourt.

The convict was sentenced to death on July 15, 1999 by a Port Harcourt High Court after a review of the case.

His appeal against the conviction at the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt was dismissed on May 13, 2013, and his conviction affirmed.

Olagunju warned drivers not to hurt marshals or officers of the corps, saying that justice would prevail no matter how long it lasted.

He said that the corps would pursue legal means to bring culprits to book.

“Some drivers were recently convicted by mobile courts in the state for assaulting marshals on duty or engaging in violent conduct against FRSC patrol men.

“The FRSC will continue to protect its men and resources in our task to evolve a better and safer motoring environment in Nigeria,’’ he said.

11

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Media What Edo State Catholic Media Practitioners Told Governor Oshiomhole

Protocol THIS is a historic moment for the Catholic Media Practitioners (CAMP), Edo State Chapter. It is historic because, the Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole has given us another opportunity of outreach. An opportunity to inform you about the Catholic Media Practitioners in Edo State as well as the opportunity to highlight our responsibilities, aims and objectives.

The Catholic Media Practitioners, CAMP for short, is a body of Catholic Media Professionals in Edo State. It is affiliated to both national and international bodies, with National headquarters at the FCT – Catholic Social Communications Centre, Abuja.

Our primary missions include the development of a better and enduring society through the instrumentality of our profession and experience as well as propagate the Catholic Faith and its doctrines. In order words, we take the good news from the church to the people.

Your Excellency, we are indeed very proud to identify and be associated with you and your achievements so far in the life of your administration of which your Catholic faith has been a part of the defining module.

We note with great fulfillment that one of our own, a member of CAMP by virtue of being Publisher of EDOLIGHT Magazine, has successfully taken Edo State to a new height in terms of transformation, massive infrastructural development and people oriented policies and programmes.

This no doubt Sir, has helped to liberalize the socio-political and religious space of the State by attracting individuals, groups and organizations to

Being An Address Presented To The Comrade Governor

By Edo State Chairman, Catholic Media Practictioners (CAMP), Archdiocese Of Benin City Mr. Godwin Egbe On Wednesday June 19, 2013 On The Occasion Of Camp Courtesy Visit To Government House, Benin City.

• Governor Adams Oshiomhole

• Mr. Godwin Egbe

partner with Your Excellency for the purpose of social re-engineering of our people of the Archdiocese of Benin City and by extension, Edo State.

Your Excellency, following the charge contained in the message of His Holiness for the 47th 2013 World Communication Day titled: “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith: New Spaces for

Sir, I would like to emphasize that several challenges militating against our success as CAMP must first be surmounted. To effectively surmount them, we crave the indulgence our Comrade Governor, to be favourably disposed to our plight in the efforts as well as our desire to acquire and achieve the under mentioned; hence the appeal for your support and the support of every

Evangelisation”, the Vatican in Rome has charged Media practitioners across the globe, particularly in this year of Faith to use the social media for intensive evangelization to be able to reach and nourish both the spiritual and moral demands of the over 1.2 billion social media digital network users across the world.

To enable us succeed in this mission/partnership

meaningful individual or group. (a) Convening of a Constitutional conference to review our constitution (b) Utility Van for evangelization. (c) Computers/Social Network Media Facilities to aid evangelisation. i.e. laptops, Ipads, desktops, etc. (d) Quarterly payment to sustain Faith-based TV and Radio Programmes/ Catholic prayers. E.g.

Rosary, the Angelus, Holy Masses, etc. (e) Training programmes for our members particularly in Computer and use of Social Media. (f) Other Financial needs, etc.

I cannot complete this address Sir, without commending you on the numerous achievements of your administration. I must sincerely thank you for purchasing state-of-the-art equipment for Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS). This, no doubt, will provide the competitive edge for EBS to remain relevant in the business of broadcasting within our immediate and remote environment. I would also like to appeal to your Excellency, to extend same gesture and even patronage to Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), publishers of The OBSERVER titles, and the Edo State Government Printing Press, Benin City.

On behalf of the Catholic faithful, the Archbishop of the Benin Archdiocese, Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze, our Spiritual Director, Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Okojie, his Assistant, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu and the entire members of the Catholic Media Practitioners, Edo State Chapter, I wish to thank you very sincerely for granting us audience in spite of you tight and busy schedules.

Once again, thank you and God bless you.

“I cannot complete this address Sir, without commending you on the numerous achievements of your administration. I must sincerely thank you for purchasing state-of-the-art equipment for Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS). This, no doubt, will provide the competitive edge for EBS to remain relevant in the business of broadcasting within our immediate and remote environment. I would also like to appeal to your Excellency, to extend same gesture and even patronage to Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), publishers of The OBSERVER titles, and the Edo State Government Printing Press, Benin City.”

12

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 IT is noteworthy that efforts at ending the vestiges of Boko Haram in Nigeria including declaration of state of emergency and proscription of Boko Haram are yielding fruits; not withstanding the renewed insurgence.

REGRETTABLY, several 60 lives perished recently, following the suicide bombing of a bus, at a motor park in Kano. The terrorist act traceable to Boko Haram. The unfortunate event which shook the city of Kano to its foundations came at a time when some powerful forces in the North were asking for amnesty for Boko Haram.

SINCE the incident, a lot of condemnations and protestations have trailed the blast from the UK, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and lawyers of note in the country.

THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER strongly condemns this latest Boko Haram orchestrated terrorist attacks. But beyond that, we call on the Federal Government to urgently prosecute those already arrested and others with records of complicity. The reason for this position is not farfetched.

ALMOST on a daily basis, there are accounts of several security threats arising from armed robberies, assassinations, armed militancy and banditry, kidnapping, bombings and of recent, the blood-let from a religious sect called the Jaamatus Alhus Sunnah Lid Daawatis Wal Jiliad (otherwise called Boko Harm) who say they are opposed to Western education and are ready to attack every vestige of western civilization.

INDEED, the rate of crime and criminality, as exemplified in the high incidence of kidnapping, bombings and other organised crimes has sadly moved from the realm of security threat to an area of real and present danger.

THE frightening security condition in Nigeria has not only been a source of worry, it has also dented Nigeria’s International status.

FOR instance, on August 26, 2011 the terrorist group, Boko Haram bombed the United Nations

Ending Boko Haram Insurgence (UN) Headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s Federal capital city. The consequences of that attack, as of today, are yet to abate.

IN the wake of the UN building attack, Nigeria, lost her hosting right of the global food security meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which was moved from Abuja, to Senegal. The meeting was an assemblage of experts and food administrators all over the globe.

ASIDE the UN building bombing on August 26, 2011 that claimed 23 lives including 11 UN personnel, local Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, had until late, been orchestrating series of isolated attacks predominantly in Northern Nigeria. The sect is believed to be targeting centres of international attraction, especially in the Federal Capital Territory.

CURIOUSLY, the presidential committee on security challenges in the North East Zone has identified security lapses, inter-service rivalry and lack of collaboration as factors that have encouraged the proliferation of security crises in the Northern part of the country. It also blamed the security breaches on high level of poverty, unemployment and other social ills.

THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER is however of the considered opinion that serious security collaboration and intelligence sharing must be urgently evolved to arrest security breaches and this needs to go beyond the shores of the nation. The federal government must build inter-agency cooperation through diplomatic channels/pacts, and international intelligence to ensure that crime of whatever scale is nipped in the bud.

MOST importantly, there is the overriding need

to promptly move to demilitarize the Nigerian society and reduce the heavy influx of arms and ammunition in the country which have unfortunately gone into the wrong hands.

TO this extent, the Customs and Immigration Services, in tandem with the Ministry of Interior should work round the clock to protect the porous Nigerian borders.

SOMETHING fundamental equally needs to be done to reduce, if not totally eliminate the existence of private militias that were established, funded and used by politicians and individuals who later dumped them after having been trained to handle arms.

ALSO, the various security agencies, beside the need to be technologically equipped and funded to carry out their assigned tasks, would need to be restructured. The structure and duties of our security agencies must be revisited so as to ensure that each organ very well knows its specific roles and function, while the laws establishing these agencies must be made clear on who does what.

THE government at all levels, particularly the federal government, urgently needs to carry out reforms in the security sub-sector to eliminate inertia created by inter-agency rivalry and react decisively to security threats with dispatch.

ON their part, the citizens must cooperate with the security agencies by supplying them with prompt, useful and relevant information on likely security breaches. This can be facilitated by the existence of a well-coordinated biometric database of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike indicating where people live, their nature of jobs and background. This will assist in fishing out the bad eggs in the society.

DECISIVE steps should be taken to cripple Boko Haram Sect and their operations as well as end their menacing reign. If anything, a safe, secure and peaceful environment is what the present democracy needs to be strengthened and sustained, as such the government and people of Nigeria cannot afford to leave this to the whims and caprices of miscreants.

13

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Discourse Creation Of Midwest Region Of Nigeria And Life Times Of Senator Dalhton Ogieva Asemota O.B.E.

By NOWAMAGBE A. OMOIGUI

Continued from last week.

THE years 1961 and 1962 moved with dizzying speed. At the Midwest regional conference of the AG, Chief Awolowo kept up his oft repeated statement that he would work for the simultaneous creation of the Midwest, COP and Middle Belt States. In the Midwest, however, his comments were regarded with skepticism, all the more so considering what was regarded as his preference for a balkanized version of the Midwest. In any case, in March 1961, the NCNC- urged by Chief Okotie—Eboh — formally opposed the exclusion of Akoko-Edo and Warri from the Midwest minority area.

When Chief Awolowo was confronted with the commitment the Western regional House of Assembly had made to creation the entire Midwest back in 1955 by approving the Sowole motion, he replied that he was no longer bound by that motion because the country was under colonial rule at the time (Federal Parliamentary debates, April 4, 1961) . The comment merely served to confirm suspicions that he did not support the creation of the Midwest - under any circumstances - even though he challenged Balewa to create the Midwest before the end of May 1962.

Meanwhile, back in the Midwest, the NCNC and Action Group were locking horns in increasingly aggressive confrontation between party thugs regarding the alleged misuse by the AG of customary courts and tax assessments to harass political opponents, particularly in Ishan division, where the pro— Midwestern Prince Shaka Momodu was active, but just as much elsewhere West African Pilot, August 30, 1961). In the near crisis atmosphere that this created in the Midwest, Michael Okpara and the NCNC wanted the Balewa government to declare a state of emergency in the West, but Balewa resisted the temptation, seeing as it had other problems on its hands such as the

controversy over the Anglo - Nigerian defence pact and the Congo controversy. Balewa also wanted to reach out to the Action Group during this period.

On April 4th, 1961, what is now known in history as the first Midwest motion was moved and carried by voice acclamation in the federal House of Representatives Federal Parliamentary Debates, 4 April, 1961, col. 802]. It was a private number’s motion, which would run into legal trouble later because no formal count had been taken, as constitutionally required, of those in favor or against, and many complained that they had

the NCNC in Lagos, in order to get an agreement on the proposed Midwest Constitution Act which would respect its views on what should constitute he Midwest. By this time it was obvious that the first Midwest motion was inadequate because no vote count was taken.

Therefore, on March 22nd, 1962, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa introduced the second Midwest motion.

Late on March 23rd, 1962, Senator Dalton Asemota of the Benin province received an important visitor in his apartment at the federal legislator’s legco Flats in Victoria Island, Lagos. His visitor was none other than Chief Anthony Enahoro, Vice President of the Action Group and leader

eternal credit, smiled and told my parents, Do not worry, my children, even if it costs me this position, 1 shall not act against the interests of my people.” (personal communication, Go Omoigu) After overcoming an attempt by Action group legislators, therefore, to amend the motion by deleting Akoko-Edo, Warri and Western Ijaw from the definition of “Midwest” and then obfuscate issues by adding the creation of it new states as a pre condition, the Federal House of Representatives, and Senate approved the second Midwest motion by 214-49 on March 24, 1962 The final count-down had begun.

Six days later on March 30th, 1962 the Midwest

opposing the federal Midwest motion (Daily Times, April 14, 1962) In May 1962, an important development occurred within the Western region and Action Group which would open the way for the Midwest to bolt out of the West. A crisis erupted between Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo (Party Leader and Leader of the Federal Opposition in Lagos) and Samuel Akintola (Premier of the West . This crisis had many causes (Sanya Onabamiro, Glimpses into Nigerian History.

MacMillan Nigeria, 1983. p149) . For one, the position of party leader (Awolowo) and head of government in the Western region (Akinnola) were held by two different persons, one

“Six days later on March 30th, 1962 the Midwest referendum Bill was passed. It was followed on April 17th and 18th by the Midwest Parliamentary Bill which specified the addition of Akoko-Edo, Warri Western Ijaw areas to the proposed Midwest. No sooner did this vote take place than Barrister S. 0. Ighodaro, Attorney General of the Western region, went: to court to challenge the validity of the Midwest if Parliamentary Bill and the Eastern region’ s approval of the federal Midwest Bill. Separately, the Olu of Warri and Chief Reece Edukugho filed court proceedings to contest the inclusion of Warri in the Midwest.” left the council chamber before the voice vote was taken. The April 1961 Midwest motion in the federal legislature was followed by initial approval in June 1961 in the Eastern region and in September 1961 in the Northern region. During this period newspaper articles written by AG loyalists appeared in which various ethnic groups of the proposed Midwest were warned of “Benin domination.” In the smear campaign, designed to derail Midwest unity, rumours were spread about how certain posts were going to be dominated by “Ben in.

In early 1962, Dr. Okpara’s plans for a contrived state of emergency in the Midwest petered out, reportedly because it had been leaked by a reporter in February, faced with what seemed to be a constitutional certainty, the AG met with

of he Midwest Regional Executive. Enahoro stayed on in Senator Asemota’ s flat until the early hours of the morning lobbying him to adopt the party position of the AG to vote against the second Midwest motion. The Senator, who was not a party man, was nonetheless reminded that he owed his position to the goodwill of the Action Group government in Ibadan. Early on the 24th, late Senator Asemota’ s wife, late Mrs. Onaiwu Asemota (nee Obinwa family of Onitsha) rushed to my parent’s house to report the conversation Enahoro had with Senator Asemota . On this basis, the Senator’s brother in Benin late Pa Elekhuoba Asemota was contacted emergently by phone with a report of what had transpired. My parents rushed to the Senator’s flat to ask him whether he had decided to oppose motion.

The late Senator, to his

referendum Bill was passed. It was followed on April 17th and 18th by the Midwest Parliamentary Bill which specified the addition of Akoko-Edo, Warri Western Ijaw areas to the proposed Midwest.

No sooner did this vote take place than Barrister S. 0. Ighodaro, Attorney General of the Western region, went: to court to challenge the validity of the Midwest if Parliamentary Bill and the Eastern region’ s approval of the federal Midwest Bill. Separately, the Olu of Warri and Chief Reece Edukugho filed court proceedings to contest the inclusion of Warri in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, on April 4th the Eastern region passed the second Midwest motion, followed on April 5th, by the Northern region. On April 13th, a counter-motion was passed by the Western House of Assembly,

from the non-Oyo group of rain forest Yorubas (Awolowo from Ijebu) and the other from the 0yo group of savannah Yorubas (Akintola from Ogbomosho) secondly, Akintola felt that Awolowo ought not to have allowed any competition with him as “deputy loader” for the position of Premier when Awolowo left Ibadan to go to Lagos as Federal Leader of Opposition at the end of 1959. Thirdly, control over spending of the Cocoa Marketing Board investment funds built up during the Second World War caused friction between them. Fourthly, they disagreed over whether to accept an invitation by Prime Minister Balewa for the Action Group to join the federal government. In this proposal, Balewa intended for Awolowo to be deputyPrime Minister and Minister for Finance which would have

displaced Okotie-Eboh from that position. To all of this was added the undercurrent of a serious conflict between their wives.

On April 13, 1962, one day after S. O. Ighodaro went to court on behalf of the Akintola government to challenge the Midwest motion, Chief SL Akintola was expelled from the Action Group by Chief Obafemi Awolowo after an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation.

The Governor of the West Sir Adesoji Aderemi was advised by a majority of Action Group legislators at Ibadan to dismiss Akintola as ppremier and replace him with Alhaji D.S Adegbenro – an act that was challenged all the way up to the privy Council in London. On May 26, 1962 an attempt by the Western House to meet and ratify Akintola’s dismissal ended in confusion, leading to Police intervention. Armed with his wet handkerchief as an antidote to teargas V.E. Amadasun was one of the first to rush to Lagos from Ibadan to inform the Midwest community in the federal government of the development, which led to the eventual declaration of a State of Emergency in the West on May 29 (Federation of Nigeria Official Gazette, supplement to No. 38, Vol. 49, May 29, 1962).

Although the Privy Council eventually approved the Governor’s action, its “approval” had been overtaken by events in Nigeria because of a constitutional amendment by the Federal House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, under the “ e m e r g e n c y administration” of the West led by Senator MA Majekodunmni, a fresh slate of predominantly proMidwest Midwesterners became ministers, including Mark Uzorko, T.E. Salubi, Webber Egbe, A. Y. Eke etc, with Oba Akenzua II and the Olu of Warri as adviser . It was the emergency administration in the West which gave the Western region’s approval for the Midwest referendum to proceed.

To Be Continued

14

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

CLASSIFIED:CHANGE OF NAME EROMOKHODION – I, formerly known as Miss Isabel Omoye Eromokhodion now wish to be known as Mrs. Isabel Omoye Akhuemokhan.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

IGHINAKHASE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Faith Ighinakhase now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Faith Udiomuno.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

EVBOTA – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Omozee Evbota now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Enofe Omozee. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

IYEKEKPOLOR – I, formerly known as Miss Osasere Iyekekpolor now wish to be known as Mrs. Osasere Oture. All former documents remain valid.

Diamond Bank Plc, concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

EDOKPAYI – I, formerly Miss Joy Imuentinyan Edokpayi now wish to be called, known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Otasowie Imuentinyan Nkechika. All former documents remain valid.

Cenit Medical Centre, Benin City and the general public please take note.

EHIGIE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ehigie Blessing Osarumen now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Blessing Osarumen Amadin. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin City and the general public please take note.

IKIEBE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ikiebe Celestina Ikpemosi now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. Osumah Celestina Ikpemosi. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

AGBONLAHOR – I, for-

merly Miss Odegua Elizabeth Agbontalor now Mrs. Odegua Elizabeth Ejefiavbo. All former documents remain valid. All Banks and the general public please take note.

THIS SPACE IS FOR SALE

OSAWE – I, formerly called Miss Tracy Evbu Osawe now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. Tracy Evbu Omorokunwa. All former documents remain valid.

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EBIEGA – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Justina Enuwa Ebiega now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Justina Enuwa Ichoja. All former documents remain valid.

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EROMOSELE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Rosemary Omonzele Eromosele now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rosemary Imawa. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

EVWARAYE – I, formerly called Miss Lilian O. Evwaraye is now known and called Mrs. Lilian O. Ayeni.

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UDOYE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anulika Evans Udoye now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anulika Evans Obasi. All former documents remain valid.

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AGBONTALOR – I, formerly Miss Odegua Elizabeth Agbontalor now Mrs. Odegua Elizabeth Ejefiavbo. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OSAGIE – I, formerly known and addressed as Osagie Osazuwa now wish to be known and addressed as Ogiemwonyi Osazuwa. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

KASIMU – I, formerly Miss Helen Omolegho Kasimu now wish to be known, called

and addressed as Mrs. Helen Omolegho Isokpehi.

All former documents remain valid. Owan East Local Government Council and the general public please take note.

State Universal Basic Education Board, Benin City, Orhionmwon Local Government Education Authority Abudu, and the general public please take note.

UMEJI – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Umeji Success Okwuchi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ohakwe Success Okwuchi. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

AKHIGBE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing Ekata Akhigbe now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Blessing Ekata Momodu. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, Owan East Local Government Council, Afuze and the general public please take note.

AWUJO – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinwe Blessing Awujo now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chinwe Blessing Ajele. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

ODIN – I, formerly called Miss Odin Magdalene is now known and called Mrs. Diala Magdalene. All former documents remain valid. College of Education, Ekiadolor, concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

EJALE - I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Ejale Irene Aroboma now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Irene Aroboma Adoghe. All former documents remain valid.

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OYEKALE – I, formerly Miss Oyekale Toyin now wish to be known as Mrs. Ogunwole Esther Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid.

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AGHO – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Osasere Deborah Agho now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osasere Deborah Eghomwanre. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

YARUEGBE – I, formerly known and addressed as Yaruegbe Cyril Imafidon now wish to be known and addressed as El-Shaddai Cyril Imafidon. All former documents remain valid.

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OSE – I, formerly called Miss Ose Imuetinyan now wish to be called and addressed as Mrs. Omofonmwan Precious Imuetinyan. All former documents remain valid.

AGHO – I, formerly called Eseosa Ray Wealth is now known and called Agho Eseosa Ray Wealth. All former documents remain valid. Zenith Bank Plc, concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

ODUGHAEN – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Oghogho Odughaen now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Oghogho Ogiamien. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

IZEVBIGIE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Tracy Edamwen Izevbigie now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tracy Edamwen Uyi-Eguakun.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OKORO – I, formerly Miss Chisom Lovelyn Okoro now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Chisom Lovelyn Nwaneri. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

JUMBO – I, formerly Miss Christiana Johnson Jumbo now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Christiana Joseph Ekanem.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, Light and Love Educational Centre and the general public please take note.

OTENIYA – I, formerly Miss Cecilia Iyabode Oteniya now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Cecilia Iyabode Negbenebor. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OBASEKI – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Esther Uvbi Obaseki now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Esther Uvbi Aiworo. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, Primary Health Care, Iguobazua and the general public please take note.

SALAU – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Salau Oluwatoyin now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okhosimeh Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the general public please take note.

OSADARE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Faith Adesuwa Osadare now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Faith Adesuwa Isaac. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH) and the general public please take note.

OBIDIKE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ukamaka Francisca Obidike now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ukamaka Francisca Ibedion. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH) and the general public please take note.

SULEIMAN – I, formerly Miss Medinat Suleiman now wish to be known, called and addressed as Mrs. Medinat Suleiman Oyarekhua. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

UDUGBAI – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Judith Oduaki Udugbai now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Judith Oduaki Ehibor. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the general public please take note.

OGIEHOR – I, formerly

known and addressed as Miss Modupe Ogiehor now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Egbon Dupe. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

UNAEGBU – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Unaegbe Chinomso Chinyere now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osazuwa Chinomso Chinyere. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

UWHUDJARHO – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Edesiri Evelyn Uwhudjarho now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Edesiri Evelyn Uwhudjarho Osaghae. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

ESUA EKPO – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Idara Esua Ekpo now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idara Akan Udoh. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

AGBONTEAN – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Omosivie Elizabeth Agbontean now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agbuduwe Elizabeth Omosivie. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

HILDA - I formerly known and addressed as Hilda Abimha Imokhai now wish to be known and addressed as Hansine Anooghena Imokhai. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OHIJEAGBON – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joyce .A. Ohijeagbon now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oboh Emmanuel .O. Joyce. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua and the general public please take note.

Continued on page. 15

15

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

CLASSIFIED:CHANGE OF NAME

ADVERTISEMENT NO. 10 OF 2013 EDO STATE OF NIGERIA LAND USE DECREE OF 1978

OKORIE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Loveth Okorie now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Arika Loveth. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, Nigeria Police Force and the general public please take note.

please take note.

UDEZE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adaobi Vivian Udeze now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adaobi Vivian Okwesi. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

UKOLIKO – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Linda Uyoyou Ukoliko now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lydia Uyoyou Anorh. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, NYSC and the general public please take note.

OSUNHON – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ehimwenman Osunhon now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Osaretin Ehimwenman Ehizogie.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the general public please take note.

SHOLOKWU – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nneka Sholokwu now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Okoro Kevin Nneka. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OSAGHAE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Osaghae Yvonne Osarumen now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Asemota Yvonne Osarumen. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

S/N

OJELEDE – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Winifred Edeghoghon Ojelede now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Winifred Edeghonghon Omokhua.

All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

EGUAOJE – I, formerly called Miss Eguaoje Osaleke now wish to be called Mrs. Alakoroeye Osaleke. All former documents remain valid.

The Nigeria Police Force and the general public please take note.

EVBUOMWAN – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sunshine Osama Evbuomwan now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sunshine Osama Ohenhen. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

ONWORDI – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Marian Dumebi Onwordi now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Marian Dumebi Oveh. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OSHOMA – I, formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Peace Olere Oshoma now wish to be known and addressed as Dr (Mrs.) Peace Olere Ehi-Imuse. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, University of Benin, Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA), NYSC and the general public

IMOMOH –I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Imomoh Osarugue Queen now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ilivieda Osarugue Queen. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

OSSAI – I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ossai Philomina now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Enagbare Philomina. O. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Edo State and the general public please take note.

RECONCILIATION OF NAME

I, Mrs. Princess Eweka is the same person as Princess Jimoh and Ramatu Jimoh Musa.

Henceforth, I now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Princess Lami Eweka. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

EDOKPOLOR - I, formerly known as Miss Edokpolor Helen Osas now wish to be known as Mrs. Eduwuirofo Helen Enadiakhe. Former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Hedges Aghatise Edebiri wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person known and called Aghatise Edebiri as appeared respectively in some of my valuable documents including certificates. However, I am now properly known and called Hedges Aghatise Edebiri. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

The underlisted applications have been received under the Land Use Decree of 1978 for grant of Statutory Right of Occupancy.

2.

Any member of the public who may wish to object to any of the application(s) below should do so within 21 days (Twenty-one days) of this publication.

3.

Notice of objection should be accompanied with the copies of Sworn Affidavit, Evidence of Title of ownership and a non-refundable fee of N5,000 (Five thousand Naira) for each objection and addressed to the Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Lands, Surveys and Housing, P.M.B. 1072, Secretariat Building, Sapele Road, Benin City.

4.

Any notice which does not conform with the above stated procedure will be ignored.

Signed: Enabulele O. Henry Secretary Land Use and Allocation Committee Edo State

OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA PARTICULARS OF PLOT

Ages Chariots Limited LUC 7746

Parcel of Land at Egbirhe Village Area, Benin City transferred by Mr. Jolly Owie shown on survey plan No. NSK/ED/103/2013, Area 4576.070 Square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDK8776ZC to SC/ED K8779ZC. Commercial –Undeveloped.

2.

Mr. Godwn U. Ekhorutomwen LUG 7744

Parcel of Land at Ward 20/K Uzebu Quarters Benin City, transferred by His Majesty Akenzua II Oba of Benin shown on Survey Plan No. ATM/ED/ 057/2013, Area 461.534 square metres and Beacons Nos. PZ6817, PZ6842, SC/EDK9515S, SC/EDK9516S. Residential — Developed

3.

Hon. Charles Idahosa LUC7749

Parcel of Land Along Ohuoba Street, Benin City, transferred by Mrs. Grace Eke (Nee Oshodin) shown on Survey Plan No. SEA/ED/551/08, Area 356.204 square metres and Beacons Nos.SC/EDE9350K to SC/EDE9353K Residential —Developed

4.

Mr. Fidelis Qgbole LUG 7750

Parcel of Land at Amagba Village, Benin City, transferred by Mr. Peter Erinmwinrose (AMB) shown on Survey Plan No. GEO/1920A/2013, Area 965.010 square metres and Beacons No. SC/EDK5818ZG, SC/EDK9773ZG, SC/EDK9772ZG, SC/EDK9775ZG. Residential –Undeveloped

5.

Mr. Fidelis Ogbole LUC 7751

Parcel of Land at Amagba Village, Benin City, transferred by Mr. Peter Erinmwinrose (AME) shown on Survey Plan No. GEO/1920B/2013, Area 965.010 square metres and Beacons No.SC/EDK9771ZG, SC/EDK9772ZG, SC/EDK9775ZG, SC/EDK5817ZG. Residential —Undeveloped

6.

Mr. Okos Chris Onah LUG 7753

Parcel of Land at Ogumwenyin Village Area Benin City, Transferred by Hon. Alfred lgbinosun Uwadiae shown on Survey Plan No. GEO/1533/2013, Area 1438.485 square metres and Beacons Nos.SC/EDL1011ZG to SC/ EDL1018ZG. Residential —Developed

7.

Mr. Asemota Ikponmwosa LUC 7764

Parcel of Land at Ogbesasa Village Area, Benin City transferred by Dr. Harry O. Ohangbon Mrs. E.O. Arhienbuwa and Mr. Fred Osagie Shown on Survey Plan No. NKS/ED/639/2013, Area 440.580 Square mtres and Beacons Nos SC/EDL 236ZC, to SC/EDL 239ZC. Residential – Developed.

8.

Mr. Ehidiamen Vincent Agenmonmen LUG 7762

Parcel of Land at Uholor Village Area, Benin City, Transferred by H.R.H Jackson .O. Igbinoghene (Enogie of Uholor) shown on Survey Plan No. AME/ED/100/2011, Area 9006.644 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/ EDK471ZH to SC/EDK474ZH. Agriculture

IKPOBA-OKHA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N

NAMES OF APPLICANTS

PARTICULARS

1.

Technova Construction Nigeria L.T.D LUG 7761

Parcel of Land at Ologbo Village Area, Benin City, transferred by Ologbo Ikaye Community Ologbo shown on Survey Plan No. OSYI/ED2013/77, Area 55.998 Hectares and Beacons Nos. SC/EDL679AB, SC/EDF91 O6ZK, SC/EDL68OAB, SC/EDL674AB Industrial –Undeveloped

2.

Mr Uchechukwu Ogbonnaya LUC 7192

Parcel of Land at Ward 40/B Ohovbe Quarters, Benin City, transferred by Mrs. Veronica Airhuoyuwa shown on Survey plan No. AJETS/EDO6/102, Area 930.253 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDC6724C, SC/ EDC6723C, SC/EDD3564A, SC/EDC8996A. Residential —Undeveloped

EGOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N 1.

NAMES OF APPLICANTS Mr. Charles Osamudiame lyoha LUG 7759

PARTICULARS Parcel of Land at Ward 43/B Evbuotubu, lguedaiyi-Okhokhugbo Village Area, Benin City, transferred by Mr. Edomwonyi Emovon shown on Survey plan No. NSK/ED/445/2012, Area 930.592 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDK8423ZC to SC/EDK8426ZC. Residential —Undeveloped.

OVIA NORTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N

NAMES OF APPLICANTS

PARTICULARS

1.

Mr. Nosakhare Ejetavabo Amadasun LUG 7758

Parcel of Land at Isiohor Village Area, Ward 11/K, Benin City, transferred

by Chief Victor Ugiagbe shown on Survey plan No. KS/ED/019/2013, Area 917.801 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDK9929E to SC/ EDK9932E. Residential —Undeveloped

2.

Hon. Jude Ise-Idehen LUC 7763

Parcel of Land at Ofunmwengbe Village Area Ovia North East Local Government Area transferred by Mrs. Mabel Imade, Mrs. Esohe Freeborn Omonigho (Nee Imade) Mr. Adams Adayiangbon Imade, Mrs. Deborah Uwangue and Mrs. Janet Obarisiagbon Shown on Survey Plan No. GEO/ 1431/2013 Area 14.411 Hectares and Beacons Nos. SC/EDL1137ZG to SC/EDL1143ZG. Agriculture

UHUNMWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N

NAMES OF APPLICANTS

1.

Mr. Ehikioya Edewede LUC 7665

RECONCILIATION OF NAME AIGBE – I, formerly called Miss Daniela Osarumwense Aigbe and Daniela Osarumwense Itohanmwen who is one and the same person as appeared in some of my documents respectively is now known and addressed as Mrs. Daniela Osarumwense Odiase. All former documents remain valid. Indomie Multipro Enterprise Limited, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, concerned authorities and the general public please take note.

NAMES /FILE NUMBER

1.

PARTICULARS Parcel of Land at Ward 8F Eyaen Village Area, Benin City, transferred

by Mr. Clifford Izamojie shown on Survey plan No. GEO789/2012, Area 473.266 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDK7912ZG to SC/ EDK7915ZG. Residential —Developed

AKOKO-EDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N 1.

NAMES OF APPLICANTS Ifechukwu Obinatu LUC 7748

PARTICULARS Parcel of Land Behind the Apostolic Church Igarra, transferred by The Apostolic Church Area 1036.220 square shown on Survey plan No.SEA/ ED1922/08, metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDF3069K to SC/EDF3072K. Residential —Developed

ESAN NORTH-EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA S/N 1.

NAMES OF APPLICANTS Chief Charles Edosomwan (SAN) LUC 7747

PARTICULARS Parcel of Land at Afuda Village, Area Uromi, Edo State transferred by Princess Veronica Ekikhalo Edosomwan Nee Ugege shown on Survey plan No.DSS/ED/448/2011, Area 413.121 square metres and Beacons Nos. SC/EDKO32ZK, SC/EDKO33ZK, SC/EDKO34ZK, SC/ EDKO35ZK

16

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Insight WHEN leaders give reasons for change to people who don’t agree with them, it’s worse than ineffective. A significant body of research shows that it usually entrenches those people more deeply in opposition to what the leaders are proposing.

The problem for people these days, is that unless they can generate sustained enthusiasm for the ideas they are pursuing, their very survival as individual is in jeopardy. Both had powerful reasons why they should remain in their jobs, but in each case, reasons did not prevail. Why? Many psychological studies have shown that when we believe something firmly, our immediate reaction to news indicating the opposite is to jump to the conclusion that something must be wrong with the source.

Charles Lord and his colleagues in Stanford University in 1979. They took 24 proponents and 24 opponents of capital punishment and had them read scientific studies. Some studies supported the case for the death penalty, while others undermined it: The researchers found that both sets of subjects were reinforced in their views by studies that were consistent with their preexisting opinions, while they were able to find ingenious reasons why the studies that conflicted with their preexisting opinions were unsound r not to be taken seriously. The result was that the group was more polarized after the, experiment than before. The experiment has since been replicated many times in many different settings.

This is why the traditional leadership approach of trying to persuade people of something different by giving them reasons why they should change their minds isn’t a good idea if the

audience is at all skeptical, that is, cynical or even hostile. If a leader presents reasons at the outset of a communication to such an audience, it will likely activate the confirmation bias and the reasons for change will be reinterpreted as reasons not to change.

This occurs without the thinking part of the brain being activated: the audience becomes even more deeply entrenched in its current contrary position. Reasons don’t work, because the audience is neither listening nor thinking.

So although leaders might imagine that giving a presentation discussing and analyzing problems and reaching rational conclusions in favor of change can do no harm, they need to think again. Giving a talk full of abstract reasons arguing for change can quickly turn an audience into an army of strident cynics.

And yet appealing to reason to change people’s minds isn’t rare. Think back for a moment to the last memo you wrote, or the last time you gave a presentation.

If you followed the traditional model of communication, you went through a familiar trinity of steps. You stated the problem you were dealing with. Then you analyzed the options.

And your conclusion followed from your analysis of the options.

Define problem>> Analyze problem>> Recommend solution If this was your model, it wasn’t unusual. You were doing what has always been done in organizations or universities. It’s the “normal,” the “commonsense,” the “rational” way of communicating. It’s an appeal to reason—a model that has been the hallowed Western intellectual tradition ever since the ancient Greeks. It reached its apogee in the 20th century. And it works well enough when the

Leadership Is About Ongoi

By BAMIDELE MICHAEL aim is merely to pass on information to people who want to hear it.

But if you’re trying to get human beings to change what they are doing and act in some fundamentally new way with sustained energy and enthusiasm, it has two serious problems. One, it doesn’t work. And two, it often makes the situation worse.

How Successful Leaders Communicate To find out what language is capable of generating enduring enthusiasm for change, we have spent time studying how successful leaders communicate in scores of organizations, large and small, around the world.

What I’ve seen time and again is that massive differences in the impact of leadership communication can be achieved by paying attention to the tiniest details of the words that are used, the patterns they form, and the order in which the patterns are deployed. As Malcolm Gladwell has observed, “Human communication has its own set of very unusual and counterintuitive rules.”

Successful leaders approach communication in a way that is fundamentally different from the traditional, abstract approach. They communicate by first getting attention, then stimulating desire, and only then reinforcing with reasons: Get attention>> Stimulate desire >> Reinforce with reasons When the language of leadership is deployed in this sequence, it can inspire enduring enthusiasm for a cause and spark action to start implementing it.

Moreover, successful leaders don’t stop with a one-time communication.

As implementation proceeds, it is inevitable that the cause

they are pursuing will evolve. While that is happening, leaders and their followers stay in communication and cocreate the future by continuing the conversation.

Of course, words alone won’t work. The language of leadership is most effective when certain enabling conditions are in place, including a truthful commitment to a clear, inspiring change idea that is illuminated by narrative intelligence, appropriate body language, and an understanding of the audience’s story. When all these enabling conditions are present and working in sync with the language of leadership deployed in the right sequence, transformational leadership takes off.

The Language of Leadership: Key Steps Let’s look in a little more detail at each of the three key steps of the language of leadership.

Step 1: Getting the Audience’s Attention If leaders don’t get people’s attention, what’s the point in even trying to communicate? If people aren’t listening, speakers are simply wasting their breath.

And in most settings today people simply aren’t listening in any attentive way. They are mentally doing e-mail, preparing for their next meeting, reminiscing about what happened at last night’s party, planning lunch, or whatever. They may be aware in a vague, background way that someone is talking, and even conscious of the subject under discussion. The first step in communicating is to get their urgent, rapt attention.

How do you get people’s

“What I’ve seen time and again is that massive differences in the impact of leadership communication can be achieved by paying attention to the tiniest details of the words that are used, the patterns they form, and the order in which the patterns are deployed.”

attention? A couple of years ago, authors Tom Davenport and John Beck conducted an experiment with 60 executives to see what got their attention over a oneweek period.

Their conclusion, as reported in the Harvard Business Review: “Overall, the factors most highly associated with getting attention in rank

particularly if the presenter is new to the audience.

• A surprising question or challenge in an area of interest to the audience.

• At Microsoft in the early 1990s, a young engineer named J. Allard became alarmed at the competitive threat the Internet was posing to Windows.

• Allard didn’t just write

order, were: the message was personalized, it evoked an emotional response, it came from a trustworthy source or respected sender and it was concise. The messages that both evoked emotion and were personalized were more than twice as likely to be attended to as the messages without these attributes.”

Social scientists have also shown that negative messages are more attentiongetting than positive messages. Among the more effective ways to get the audience’s attention are • Stories about the audience’s problems (“These problems are serious.

• Stories about the likely trajectory of the audience’s problems (“These problems are getting worse • A story of how the presenter dealt with adversity that is relevant to the issue under discussion—

memos, he got people’s attention by buttonholing anyone he could find and physically dragging them to come and look at the Web in action on the computers that he had set up in the corridor.

Step 2: Eliciting Desire for a Different Future Failing to distinguish between getting attention and stimulating desire can have disastrous results.

That’s because what gets people’s attention typically doesn’t stimulate a desire to act. Whereas getting attention is generally done more effectively by negative content, getting people to want to do something different needs to accentuate the positive. Negative stories, questions, or challenges wake us up. They activate the reptilian brain, suggesting fight or flight.

They start us thinking, but they also generate worry, anxiety, and caution. They

don act

pra com ana cha act slo tra rea aud

up em ano wr ga lea hea Th cha lea em sti dif em no sti bec alm Ma say

im an eve abo to tha It’ aud tha

17

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Insight

ing Opennes To Dialogue

n’t stimulate enthusiastic tion.

Nor does the traditional actice of using a mprehensive set of alyses of the reasons for ange generate enthusiastic tion. For one thing, it’s too ow. By the time the aditional presenter has ached the conclusion, the dience has already made

its mind—largely on motional grounds. For other, it’s addressed to the rong organ of the body. To in enthusiastic buy-in, aders need to appeal to the art as well as the mind. he audience has to want to ange. To be effective, a ader needs to establish an motional connection and mulate desire for a fferent future. Without the motional connection, thing happens. And mulating desire is key, cause decisions are made most instantly, or as alcolm Gladwell might y, in a blink.

The task here isn’t about mposing the leader’s will on audience, which, in any ent, is impossible. It’s not out moving the audience a predetermined position at the leader has foreseen. s about enabling the dience to see possibilities at they have hitherto

missed. It means creating the capability in the audience to see for themselves the world and their relations with others in a new and more truthful light. It involves pointing a way forward for people who find themselves—for whatever reason—cornered by the current story that they are living.

The idea that storytelling might be important for leadership has been gaining recognition in recent years.

But the kinds of stories that are effective for leaders in stimulating desire for change are very different from what most people suspect. Some of the most effective stories are not big, flamboyant, theatrical epics, well-told stories with the sights and sounds and smells of the context all faithfully evoked.

Stories told with a bullhorn don’t necessarily elicit desire for change.

What is often counterintuitive to leaders is that the most effective stories are often the smallest and the least pretentious. It’s precisely because they are small and unpretentious that they work their magic. It’s a question of understanding the right form of story to elicit desire: generally, it’s a positive story about the past

where the change, or an analogous change, has already happened and the story is told in a simple, minimalist manner.

Such stories can be astoundingly powerful by sparking a new story in the mind of the listener. It’s this new story that the listeners generate for themselves that connects at an emotional

level and leads to action. In the new story, listeners begin to imagine a new future.

Quickly stimulating desire for a different state of affairs is the most important part of the communication: without it, the leadership communication goes nowhere. It’s also the piece that is most consistently missing in the communications of aspiring leaders. And it’s the trickiest facet leadership, because it involves inducing people to want to do something different. The key insight is

that if the listeners are to own the change idea, they have to discover it for themselves in the form of a new story.

And it’s not just” a story.

What’s generated becomes a new narrative to live by, a story that is both credible, because it makes sense of their lives as they understand them, and capable of being put into practice. The newly emerging narrative is constructed both from the ongoing stories of the people and their organization and from the new story put forward by the leader. It is born in the listeners’ minds as a more compelling version of their ongoing life stories.

The listeners themselves create the story. Since it’s their own story, they tend to embrace it. What the leader says is mere scaffolding, a catalyst to a creative process going on inside the listener.

Step 3:Reinforcing with Reasons An emotional connection by itself isn’t enough.

Reasons are still relevant.

The desire for change may wane unless it is supported and reinforced by compelling reasons why the change makes sense and should be sustained. But where the reasons are placed in a presentation is crucial When we encounter strange new ideas, we are subject to’ the confirmation bias and seek to preserve our existing viewpoint. We stubbornly ignore, discredit, or reinterpret information that is contrary to views we already hold, to avoid the dissonance of being wrong.

By contrast, when we have made a decision to explore change, we actively look for elements that confirm the decision we’ve already made.

So if reasons are given before the emotional connection is established, they are likely to be heard as so much noise. Worse, they

tend to flip, becoming ammunition for the opposite point of view. By contrast, if the reasons come after an emotional connection has been established with the change idea, then the reasons can reinforce it, because now listeners are actively searching for reasons to support a decision they have in principle already made.

Giving people reasons at a time when they are ready to receive them is one of the keys to communication that leads to action. Reasons are put in the flow at a different position from the Western intellectual tradition. They come not at the beginning or middle but at the end.

These three steps-one, getting attention, two, stimulating desire for change, and three, reinforcing the desire for change with reasons- are the same whatever the leadership setting. Of the three steps, the middle stepstimulating desire for change-is the most important, because it generates desire for change.

Without desire for change, there is no energy or enthusiasm.

Indeed, without desire for change, there is hardly any point in getting the audience’s attention. And without desire for change, there is nothing for reason to reinforce. it’s desire for change that drives the change process. So if transformational leaders do only one thing, they should make sure they stimulate desire for change.

The three steps form a flexible template. They offer a way of making sense of any leadership presentation. In some situations where resistance in the audience is particularly high, the speaker may need to spend a great deal more time getting attention than when the audience is already somewhat interested. By contrast, in an “elevator speech,” there may be time only for the critical middle step—a story that kindles desire for change. Where

generous time is available, the speaker may be able to give a large number of reasons in favor of change.

The template can be tailored to meet the needs of the specific audience and the time available.

Continuing the Conversation Leaders who talk in this way sound very different from typical authority figures of the past— managers, teachers, parents, or politicians. True, some of those people were inspiring.

But most of them communicated in the familiar top-down, paternalistic, authoritarian, domineering, I’m-charge-soI-know-what’ s-right manner that people in positions of authority have been adopting for thousands of years. Too often they sounded hollow, flat, distant, uninviting, arrogant, almost inhuman.

By contrast, the true language of leadership feels fresh and inviting; energizing and invigorating; challenging and yet enjoyable; lively, spirited, and fun, as when equals are talking to equals. It generates laughter and energy. It is not laughter at others, but laughter with others. It’s the exhilaration of the discovery of possibility. Leaders show people that the end they thought they were coming to has unexpectedly opened: they laugh at what has surprisingly come to be possible.

In short, it feels like being engaged in a great conversation that opens up new vistas and wider horizons.

And once started, the conversation must be continued. Leadership isn’t about making a single presentation, after which the audience sees the light and rushes out to do what the leader says. It’s about an ongoing openness to dialogue, combining a fierce resolve with a continuing willingness to listen.

“By contrast, the true language of leadership feels fresh and inviting; energizing and invigorating; challenging and yet enjoyable; lively, spirited, and fun, as when equals are talking to equals. It generates laughter and energy. It is not laughter at others, but laughter with others. It’s the exhilaration of the discovery of possibility.

Leaders show people that the end they thought they were coming to has unexpectedly opened: they laugh at what has surprisingly come to be possible.”

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Art Alive

With Francis U. Odupute

‘Artists’ Colony Will Foster Creative Exchanges

THE curative director of Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, Abuja, Mr. Jeff Ajueshi, told newsmen recently that a serene environment for creative contemplations, artistic experimentations, knowledge sharing and cultural opportunities, “Artists’ Colony newly opened in Ogharefe, Delta State, would help many talented Nigerian contemporary artists to up their games via art residencies, workshops, traveling exhibitions, cultural and creative tourism, etc.

Artists’ Colony had already recorded its first set of residents- an audacious group of contemporary artists of Nigerian origin, some of whom are based abroad. The place promises to be home for many national and international art residencies and cultural exchanges as well as artistic collaborations.

Among the early birds at the Artists’ Colony was Erikan Ekefrey, based in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. A graduate of the Federal College of Education, Akoka,

Lagos State, Erikan, who works mainly in oil on canvas and acrylic on canvas, told pressmen that he came to the Artists’ Colony with a view to making himself and his works known and appreciated also in Nigeria, his home country. The young emerging art master, who is being promoted to the arts community in Abidjan by his German manager, Stefan Meisel, simply says, poetically, “I find joy in what I do and it makes me express myself in front of my canvas and it finally impress to the people with lots of colours spreading all around”.

Next was Donald Onuoha, a zealous Lagos-based contemporary artist who said he holds a HND from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.

Donald thrives in expressing himself through acrylic on canvas, and as he did what he knows best to do at the Artists’ Colony that afternoon, the avid artist said with great verve, “I love painting and I can’t stop because art is life and life remains interesting because it

Donald Onuaha busy at the Artists’ Colony

WHAT happens when too many people occupy the same space? Who do you become when your own space is being invaded? By “space” I am not talking about your office space, or your market space, or your bedroom space. I am referring to that space over which you have control; I am referring to your identity (which includes your thoughts, language, values, feelings, emotions, actions, personality, etc). My space is me - my very person. Not just my tangible body but the person of me that lives and interacts with others.

Life is about relationships – interpersonal relationships, marriage relationships, bilateral relationships, sociocultural relationships, business relationships, etc.

From person to person, community to community, tribe to tribe, nation to nation and race to race, our individual

identities/spaces, physiological and cultural differences, etc, are integral unifying and aesthetic components that drive our human relationships and make the world a beautiful, dynamic and interesting place to be - united and sustained in originality, variety and diversity.

In any relationship it is universally a natural instinct to think of my space, your space, and the space which we all share - our space.

For any relationship to thrive our individual spaces/identities must be well defined, known, valued and respected by us ourselves, and then by any other party involved in the relationship. This is central to our sense of self worth, our purpose and our productivity.

It is, indeed, the catalyst for promoting our collective cultural spaces (or identities) and our efficacious contribution/commitment to

is colourful”.

Also at the Artists’ Colony was Ada Godspower, a prolific Nigerian contemporary painter based in France. He said he had a diploma from the “Ecole Beauxart De Lily Le Forestier” and enjoys being an artist. Says Ada: “Just do what you do right, the result is always beautiful”.

The only female artist at the new Artists’ Colony, Ogharefe, at press time was Patricia Mnena Ikpakyegh, who said she is a painter and an NCE holder from the College of Education, Kastina Ala, Benue State.

- Jeff Ajueshi

we’re here in Delta State where we have the Artists’ Colony, an experimental studio and workshop where artists meet to experiment on contemporary arts.

“After their stay here, we’re planning to have an exhibition that will traverse Nigeria and some West African Countries…we’re expecting some artists from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and others. We’ll be doing a moving exhibition as well.”

Jeff Ajueshi of Thought Pyramid Art Gallery

Ada Godspower at work inside the Artists’ Colony

On the main objectives of the new Artists’ Colony, Mr Jeff Ajueshi, said, “We promote contemporary artists, and we support the artists as well. But as of now

for participation. This is the first phase of the residency and experiments by African contemporary artists and applications are mainly via online.

Tucked in way off the busy Benin Sapele road in Oghara,

along Water Board Road, Ogharefe, the new Artists’ Colony is a place where artists, creative and cultural practitioners come around, live for some time, interact with each other and share knowledge and creative ideas, etc.

Mr. Ajueshi said the Artists’ Colony is open to any interested Nigerian and foreign contemporary visual artists who meet the criteria

“The Artists’ Colony is open to any interested Nigerian and foreign contemporary visual artists who meet the criteria for participation. This is the first phase of the residency and experiments

by African contemporary artists...”

Erikan Ekofrey... from Abidjan to the Artists’ colony

‘Space Invasion’

By FRANCIS U. ODUPUTE

the general interest.

Problem often arises, however, when one person, for whatever reason(s), invades another person’s space and tries to run his/her life; or one culture invades another culture’s space; or one government invades another government’s space; or one religion invades another religion’s space; or one language invades another language’s space (mother tongue in context); and so on.

Crises of identity, originality and status, relevance and responsibility, mediocrity and inferiority/superiority complex, resistance and violence, breakdown of relationships, even lawlessness

and criminality, are usually a natural consequence.

Who do you think you are? Is your space (i.e. your identity, your person, your life) today a product of some external influence? What defines your understanding of yourself and the world around you?

“SPACE INVASION”, is an artistic inquest into the deteriorating trend of gradual extinction of Mother Tongue in the socio-cultural fabric of the Nigerian polity particularly, and the African society at large. The project will explore how language forms an integral part of one’s whole identity, and the erosion of which results in cultural alienation,

mediocrity and poor productivity in the face of rising globalization/culture diversity, new frontiers in communication technologies, evolving cultural pluralism and multi-ethnic social climate.

When a human being is born into the world, the immediate mark of identity with which he/ she is recognized by, and relates with, others is the facial appearance; the next is the language the suckling child learns from the mother as a lingua franca to communicate with the rest of the human society.

Language redefines the individual identity of the typical Nigerian youths today. Many are lost, unable to carve a niche for themselves and contribute meaningfully to national development and productivity,

primarily because they lack the exact answer to the simple question of who they think they really are. Cultural imperialism/western influence- fuelled by poverty and corruption, and countercultural civilization, have made most youths to become strangers to their own cultural identities, especially in the context of loss of their individual ethnic mother tongues.

In England, the citizens are identified by their mother tongues- English language- as the lingua franca, in Germany, they are identified by the German language (Dutch), in Sweden, they are known by their Swedish language, in China, they speak Chinese. In Nigeria, however, the citizens have no language identities.

Language identity/space invasion by English, French, etc, have redefined us all.

(To be continued)

19

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Art And Culture

With AMBROSE EKHOSUEHI

Stars Influence On Human Culture STARS influences on human culture relate to the people and things that are on the world. Each person is a kind of star Loving, helpful or destructive with changing moods, expressed through individual character.

Stars radiations affect each other including the earth and all things on it.

They determine much of the happiness and satisfaction in human lives.

Human beings are able to throw off emotion in some sort of action, in good cry,; walk it off, or tell the troubles before it can build up too far and physically ill.

Stars help to understand the universal forces working on and through this understanding, human being can become more properly adjusted to surroundings and find selves coping where others may flounder.

Human body is largely influenced by things around; over which human person have very little control as the body is under constant bombardment of events that influence lives to varying degrees. They may include human evolution as body, mind and response to environment, bodily structure, the human mind and so on. It is not too difficult to imagine that there must be connection between outer space and the earth. People on earth see and feel the influence of heavenly bodies in almost every aspect of existence.

There is no doubt that the sun has the greatest influence on life on this earth. Without the sun, there would be no warmth,

no division into day and night, no cycle of time and season, clear and easy to see.

There are many ways in which the influence of the moon manifests itself on earth; both on human and animal life. The movements of water on earth, the ebb and flow of tides are caused by the moon’s gravitational pull. The human body falls within the scope of moon’s influence; similarly, many illnesses reach crisis at the change of the moon; sexual desire has been associated with phases of the moon.

The aspect of the stars at the time of a person’s birth predict the person’s future.

Astrology, the science of stars began its inquiry with totality of human experience and saw it as an effect; then look to find the cause and came up with the extraordinary principle of stars influence.

Useful classification were devised which, have predominant influence on character. The faculties exist in all persons without exception, for instance “a thinking person” means that in any situation the person tries to be rational and follows that emotion.

It can be sensible and reasonable or calculating and un-sympathetic while the emotion can be recognized by exaggerated language. Everything is either marvelous or terrible and in extreme cases, even invent drama and quarrels out of nothing, just to make life more interesting.

There are faculties of intuition and physical sensation which does not only care for food and drink, nice clothes and furniture but also interested

in all forms of physical experience.

Intuition is a form of perception which is common in all persons but works through that part of the mind which is not under conscious control, it sees meanings and connections which are not obvious to thought or emotion.

Inventors and original thinkers are always intuitive, so too are superstitious persons who see meanings where none exist.

Sensation tells us what is going on in the world.

Emotion, feeling tells us how important it is to ourselves.

Thinking enables us to interpret it, and work out what we should do about it. Intuition tells us what it means to

across them. Extrovert finds truth coming to a person from outside, believes in experts and authorities and wants to think that nature and the Laws of nature really exists, that they are what they appear to be and not just generalities made by human beings.

The introvert is one who finds truth inside himself rather than outside; and it not ideally suited to religion or political party which tells what to believe. They are original thinkers.

The sky at the time of ones birth is the representation of the skies with the stars in exact position, they occupied at the time a person is born, and the position always different but its signs are

this reason, each persons star and reading those minute time changes, dictate the finger character differences in persons.

Love is not just between man and woman. It involves love of children, parents, home, offices, industries and so on, but the big problems involve the choice.

ourselves and others. All the four faculties are essential and all people are guided chiefly by one while others by another.

Besides those four faculties, there are extrovert and introvert which cut

fixed.

The time of birth apart from the date, is important because the planets travel at such great speed that the patterns they form change from minute to minute, for

Stars has established degrees of compatibility that exist between people born under various signs of the star because people are individuals but the fact remains that some groups of people are suited for each other and some are not. The study of stars in terms of characteristics can find fulfillment or enduring happiness in each other that reference is made to it as far back as the first written record of human race, and people must have looked for an explanation for the various happenings in lives,

“It is not too difficult to imagine that there must be connection between outer space and the earth.

People on earth see and feel the influence of heavenly bodies in almost every aspect of existence.”

and wanted to know why people were different from one another.

Humanity has natural instinct for order so that observing the regularity of the heavenly bodies made it logical that peoples should turn heaven words in search for an understanding of the world which they did find in the

“The time of birth apart from the date, is important because the planets travel at such great speed that the patterns they form change from minute to minute, for this reason, each persons star and reading those minute time changes, dictate the finger character differences in persons.”

movement of stars.

The exalted gentlemen were concerned with the stars in order to examine the movements of the terrestrial world with the object of prognosticating goods and bad fortune and from the clouds, determine coming floods, droughts, famine or abundance crops harvest, the king or Emperor to aid the Government and allow for variations in ceremonies according to circumstances.

The adage “Tell it to Orion” Tuma Aghoo, is an extract from early record of ancient Benin that stars have influences in human culture.

20

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

That Ban On Bikes

New Life On The Walkway

IT amazes me, like sweet relief, how the Comrade Governor got away gracefully, unscathed, by his announcement of a ban on our common means of transport with barely a week between us and enforcement deadline to enable us tighten some loose ends. It is also benumbing that ‘feedeefee’ did not call a conference nor mobilize a riot. No one would have listened, no sensible bike man would have been willing to play politics with their safety

dearly could also bike deeply!

So, on the Eve of the ban, all the bikes began to fritter away from our memories! Soon, we would be scouring the internet to see how a bike looks! That is the magic wand of the people’s governor! And, he has told us the undeniable truth: that it is his lot to ensure our safety. Well, I think we should not be begged not to die, that is what I decipher out of it all. The Comrade Governor does not have to feed our unconscious willingness to

surprisingly become less heady without the bikes. Climate change has happened in Edo State. The ozone layers around our environment will take some time to adjust to quietness in contrast to the noise pollution it had hitherto been adapted to, to the undulating, criss-crossing that palpitate our hearts.

Our ears, our brains and the entire sensory organs are also learning to adjust to life outside hurly-burly, the maddening rush, the squeezing, the curses,

Okadas fading away? and freedom.

The compliance was total, like all other things involving our beloved governor (don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the popular moon-slide elections, those judicial victories, etc even the metamorphoses of the state) I deliberately roamed the streets on deadline day, hoping to see just one unruly bike man, but I couldn’t find any. It occurred to me, at the end of my fruitless search, that these bike comrades understood the comrade Governor more than I would ever imagine: they knew that a dog which could love

commit suicide; that is what it means to allow bikes to continue plying our roads, like allowing a sore to fester because of the phobia for the gauze and iodine!

If the fading of bikes from our memories means our safety, Oh, let the memory remain in the abyss of history! Why would people want one cancerous limb to be done away with? Because of the love of life!

This one is not the same thing as fuel subsidy day, yet we survived that one. This one is for our collective safety. We will be safe and live. Survive. And talking of living, life has

Words On Marble We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action - Frank Tibolt

the blaring horns, severed limbs, the smell of death at the nightmarish accident and emergency wards, the sight of widows, widowers, orphans, families bereaved in one moment of maddening rush...

Now, back to reality… the bikes are gone! We are trekking, the sweat organs, the pores, the epidermis, they are all open now, free radicals are being excreted. Those of us who have inherited calories or acquired them from years of eating ‘extra’ or by just sheer natural endowment, miracles of re-birth will begin to happen now: ‘Pastor! A woman that was weighing pounds and stones has just become tingalingaling!”

Now, it’s less luxury, cluxury on

bike and more life! We will learn to exercise for life even as we bask in this new found environment of peace!

Again, it’s not Valentine’s Day but there’s love in the air! Our on-the-mark and eligible spinsters and bachelors are now meeting on those beautiful walkways all over the place. It’s no longer jumping onto the first available bike as usual. There wont’ even be ‘show your low

FEMINIQUE With IJEOMA UMEH email: ladywithegoldenpen@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 08182382839 waist’ on bikes anymore.

Whether from Jumat or Fellowship, from lectures or market, from salon or gossip corner, someone has to walk!

Even car owners will one day trek to seek out a Mechanic or buy fuel. It’s no longer briskness as usual! Take a walk, look around, appreciate the beauty of

Making Poverty History Norion Foundation Empowers A FEW more months to go someone fish anytime they before the Millennium Widows asked, teach them how to fish.

Development Goals (MDGs) would hit their target deadline, both individuals and corporate organizations are working round the clock to see how parts of those goals, which have been said to be women-friendly, would still be achieved.

However, for Norion Foundation, an NGO, touching and affecting lives go beyond meeting specific human or corporate targets. It is deeprooted passion, the zeal to change lives for the better.

Recently, the organization opened up its heart of gold, threw its doors open and began one of its major empowerment programs which is targeted at the empowerment of widows.

Penultimate week, 100 widows got succour from this empowerment gesture, and according to Dr. Nosa Peter Ighodaro who presides over the organization alongside his wife, “This is not the first, neither would it be the last. We will continue to bring relief, help and succour to all those who genuinely need it, God willing.

We will continue to put smiles on their faces, says Dr. Ighodaro.

He spoke to FEMINIQUE during the organization’s recent empowerment of widows in Edo State through bales of assorted foodstuff, provisions and clothing, stating that the organization which came into

being just about a year back has reached out to prisoners, drug addicts and “every person on the street who lacks focus.”

Dr. Ighodaro, who is also a clergy, stated that God had said it by his divinely-inspired word that “there should not be any poor among you” and therefore, the need to make poverty history should not be compromised.

He stated that the organization itself was a divine assignment as given by God in contrast to other manners of nongovernmental organizations.

“This is what God has called us to do, to support what human governments are doing in positively affecting lives; reaching out to prisoners, drug addicts, every person on the street who lacks focus. There’s poverty in the land. It is not God’s will in any way that His people should go starving or destitute. A beggar had approached me one day, it is a common sight in the land, begging for money to buy food.

I was deeply touched by her pathetic situation, and she had hungry-looking children with her. It was a clear case of poverty. I gave her some money there and then, but I didn’t stop there. Norion Foundation deemed it wise to empower her.

Like they say, rather than give

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

- Thomas Edison If you never want to see a man again, say, “I love you, I want to marry you, I want to have children…” - they leave skid marks - Rita Rudner

Find Out If You Are Depressed!

Check Out These Work Place Signs (1) Decreased Productivity (2) Issues of low Morale (3) Lack of Cooperation (4) Safety problems, Accidents (5) Absenteeism (6) Frequent Complaints of being tired all the time (7) Complaints of unexplained aches and pains (8) Alcohol and drug abuse

creation, inhale fresh air, exhale.

Let all the eligible spinsters and bachelors say, “I can see clearly now the bikes are gone…” Turn it into a song and sing!

Halleluyah! Let the bells of wedlock chime! Let it chime!

Let it chime!

• Norion Foundation at an Empowerment Programme for women

We have several avenues for skill Acquisition, so we brainstormed and decided to fix her up on one of them. She needed to have skill.

The skill Acquisition is given free of charge. We also have a place where they could learn barbing, soap-making and all kinds of things. They are all given freely.”

While the Norion Foundation Home is still being planned, the organization does not mind, it still goes ahead to give mindblowing support to almost all the orphanage homes in Edo State.

The Manager, who is also the Secretary General of the organization confirmed to FEMINIQUE that indeed, virtually all the orphanage homes in Edo State receive supports from NORION: “We give all we can to make people live happier lives. We give the homes soap on weekly basis and clothes on monthly basis. We also assist persons livings with HIV/AIDS and carry out campaign against stigmatisation.”

With hundreds of widows smiling home with foodstuff to last them a while and indigent students and youths either getting scholarships or skills with which to tackle the issue of growing unemployment, the NORION Foundation is not yet done as many widows continue to benefit from its empowerment programes.

According to Dr. Nosa Ighodaro, the rate of poverty, unemployment, lack of skill, restiveness and criminality is on the increase in our state, even in our country as a whole. We are working to surmount those challenges posed by extreme poverty, and we are not resting until then.” He state.

Where does the Executive Director hope to see NORION in 2020? He was quick to answer: “At that time we will be able to transform Nigeria, to ensure that indeed, poverty becomes history.” He querried. The organization has also empowered 200 orphans.

21

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Milestone Celebrating Sir Franklin Imouokhome @ 80

I

N life, there are those whose achievements and humble contributions to the shapening of society never go unnoticed even after many decades of retirement from public life. A foremost Super Permanent Secretary and Knight of St. Christopher (KSC) in the Anglican Church, Sir Franklin Ijesei Imouokhome perfectly fits into this category of persons who qualify to be described as “Avatar”.

Born June 10, 1933, Sir Imouokhome, clocked 80 years on Monday June 10, 2013. Known for his modest lifestyle, this octogenarian did not see the need for a flamboyant or elaborate celebration, not even when he was prodded so to do. As a retired Career Civil Servant, Sir Imouokhome lives a highly organised, unobtrusive life, devoid of pride and arrogance. In him you see piety, meekness and gentility of the highest order.

When, on the eve of his 80th birthday, The NIGERIAN OBSERVER sought his views on life at 80; his civil service career; his educational exploits and life after the service, vintage Imouokhome clinically reeled out details of the key events that shaped his world view and that of the country during his time as student, public servant and now pensioner.

Exuding confidence and soundness of mind, you could see a man whose mind remains highly productive and fertile, even at age 80.

With his husky, baritone voice that commands attention, Sir Imouokhome gave The OBSERVER editors a blow by blow account of how he started life as a child; his outstanding performance while in the secondary and tertiary institutions, and more spectacularly, what fired his interest in education.

Hear him: “In my time, to enroll in school, you have to show that you were very mature by putting your hand across your head to touch your ear at the other side. I underwent such a test. A day came when I was cracking kernel, when my father

called me to go with him to a speech day at the school in my area. Speech day back then was a day the school goes on vacation when results would be called and prizes awarded to deserving kids.

“It was filled with other activities like drama; debates and so on. Seeing all these, I was challenged and that was the purpose my Dad had in mind to have allowed me to go with him

By TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN

this particular incident, the one who usually came 1st position wept bitterly. As the results were being announced, the Headmaster set a table for me to stand on top for everybody to see me.

I enjoyed it because it was talked about by everybody in the school”.

On completion of standard 6, the young Franklin gained admission into Holy Trinity

in 1959 with a second class upper division degree in History.

He won the departmental prize that year.

How was Baba’s social life? He put it this way: “Social life was quite limited. You had the literary and debating society, which was the most outstanding society and I was a member of that society. In games, I was not an outstanding

of 60, that I saw Christianity as a relationship between me and God. “At 80, I see that God truly exists and dominates our life; that if we relate with Him properly, he also relates to us. I see God at the centre of everything. You have to surrender yourself totally to Him to be able to gain from Him”, Sir Imouokhome emphasised.

Because Sir Franklin Imouokhome was born to Chief Imonokhome Okhian

• Sir Franklin Ijesei Imouokhome

though he was invited alone.

This was how my father prepared my mind towards early education.”

Sir Imouokhome also recalled that his academic brilliance was something to talk about by others. At St. Luke’s Central School, Afuze, the young Franklin was a delight and pride to his teachers. He said: “I liked the school, its environment and the pupils and teachers.

I began on a good note and was among the three outstanding boys in my class in terms of academic performance. The classes then were up to standard six.

I didn’t repeat any class. In standard three or so, I remember beating the other two outstanding boys to come first in my class.

Before then, I was either in the 2nd or 3rd position. On

Grammar School, in Sabongida-Ora where he was also outstanding, carting away all the prizes.

Even at the University College, Ibadan, his brilliance in academics never diminished. He applied and secured government scholarship from the Western Region government. He graduated

performer. I was more of an observer in games. I took part in Athletics, though not admirably.

“About my spiritual life, the schools I attended were Christian schools. So, it was a routine at the time to go to church. Yet, it was not something that made serious impact on me. It was much later in life, at about the age

of Emai clan in Owan East, a renowned and successful farmer known for his industry, hard work and selfless services to his community, the young Franklin fell in love with farming. Even at 80, he still attends to farming; though not on commercial basis.

As a technocrat of no mean repute, Sir Franklin

Imouokhome served Colonial and Post – Colonial Civil Service as UnderSecretary, Assistant Secretary and Permanent Secretary in various ministries in the defunct Western Region, Midwestern Region and Bendel State of Nigeria.

According to Sir Imouokhome himself, he had a very rewarding, fruitful and outstanding academic and Civil Service life from which future administrators can tap, with respect to policy formulation and direction as well as implementation in the public service”.

At various times, he was Cabinet Secretary to State Military Administrators and governors during which time, he set the pattern and standard for recording proceeding at cabinet meetings.

Sir Imouokhome’s career spanned the Nigeria civil war period, during which he played a major role as Cabinet Secretary in all the talks, agreements and disagreements which led to the Aburi Accord.

He retired as a Permanent Secretary in 1985 from the Bendel State Civil Service.

Since then, he has devoted his precious time to serving God and mentoring the young ones.

Sir Franklin Imonokhome is blessed with a wife, who is a retired Nurse, and six children, among whom is the eldest, Prof. (Mrs.) Aize Obayan, former ViceChancellor, Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State.

For keeping him in sound and perfect health at 80, Sir Imouokhome quietly offered personal thanksgiving to God in his church, St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Lagos Street, Benin City, Edo State.

“At various times, he was Cabinet Secretary to State Military Administrators and governors during which time, he set the pattern and standard for recording proceedings at cabinet meetings. Sir Imouokhome’s career spanned the Nigerian civil war period, during which he played a major role as Cabinet Secretary in all the talks, agreements and disagreements which led to the Aburi Accord. He retired as a Permanent Secretary in 1985 from the Bendel State Civil Service. ”

22

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Issues

Sport: A Tool For Empowerment SPORTS has become a phenomena that has turned the lives of many around for good.

Sport, has been defined as any physical activity in which people compete against each other.

Sporting activities have been in existence even before the Europeans came to African shores. Back then, wrestling and other sports were some of the sport that were taken part in.

With the high level of poverty and unemployment in the society, sport has become a tool the emancipation of poverty and empowerment of youths via getting jobs in the sporting sector.

According to the United Nations, sport is a recognized viable means to curtail /reduce poverty rate and create employment.

Also, according to UN, participants, volunteers and coaches acquire transferable life skills which increase their employability. Sport programmes provide jobs and skills development.

Forbes’ listed some individuals whose lives have been transformed via sports. Tiger woods, an American golfer, according to the list, is the wealthiest sport personnel in the world.

And Poverty Eradication He had earned $78.1 million throught sports.

Also, the Swiss Tennis player, Roger Federer, reaped $ 71.5 million income.

David Beckham, the English footballer, has also gotten $ 47.2 million through sports.

This money-spinning nature of sports, unlike before, has made so many people to troop into it. The former National coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Dr. Magnus Kpakol, “we see sport as a very important tool in the fight against poverty”. Kpakol said that he was convinced that there were unsung, talented Nigerians at the grassroots, who could be mobilized, trained and given the opportunity to get hired by foreign clubs and thereby earn decent living, while uplifting their families and communities from the clutches of poverty.

Reports from the media suggests that an estimated R 93 billion went into the South African economy as a result of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The June 11 to July 11 sporting event contributed around 0.5% to the Rainbow nation’s yearly gross domestic product growth.

After the hosting of the 2009 U-17 World Cup,

By EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU

Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos said that the economic and social benefits that Nigeria gained has provided an impetus for Nigeria to do more, as the people have been employed at various levels and have benefited from

sports related activities contributed nearly 3% to the European economy furthermore, the share of sport related employment in the 27 European Union member nations, was put at 2.12 % of total E. U employment which is

improved transportation, security and infrastructure.

In a study conducted by the Expert Group on sustainable financing of sport, or the Austrian institute for sports economics, sports and

equivalent to 4,460,888 persons.

Besides, sports has been noted to offer opportunities for social interaction and friendship.

Sports participation leads to increased self- esteem,

“Coming home to Nigeria, with the array of sport men, especially footballers who ply their trade in Europe, it couldn’t have been any more better for them. As at the last check before portsmouth of England had financial trouble, Kanu Nwankwo was earning about 30,000 pounds weekly. What about John Mikel Obi?”

self-confidence and enhanced sense of control over one’s body.

The United Nations further said that girls and women access leadership opportunities and experience. Again, women and girls with disabilities are empowered by sportbased opportunities to

Maestro, smiles to the bank weekly with a wage of 80,000 pounds.

Also, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, who plies his trade for Guangzhou R and F, is reported to be earning nearly 100,000 pounds weekly. His yearly take home at the Chinese club is placed at 5,040,000 pounds.

get health information, skills, social networks and also experience in leadership.

Coming home to Nigeria, with the array of sport men, especially footballers who ply their trade in Europe, it couldn’t have been any more better for them.

As at the last check before portsmouth of England had financial trouble, Kanu Nwankwo was earning about 30,000 pounds weekly.

What about John Mikel Obi? The Chelsea Midfield

These are just but a tip of the iceberg of what sports can do in transforming people’s life via poverty alleviation and empowerment of course, sport is not a silver bullet to the problem of poverty and disadvantage.

The power of sport to effect change is as a tool within a broader toolkit. Sport is indeed a lucrative business and is not only played for the pleasure.

That is why the need to develop sports cannot be understated.

23

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Reflection

With REV. FR. JOHN DAMIAN ADIZIE

World Refugee Day

Jesus, The Hope Of Refugees HAVE you ever visited any refugee camp? If you have not visited any, please try to do so.

When you visit a refugee camp you will agree with me that it is not the best place to be. East or west home remains the best. Those people living in refugee camps or many others you find along the streets and motor parks begging for alms are all normal human beings like you and me. No one chooses to be a refugee and no one would like to die as a refugee.

There are things that are unimaginable. For instance, I don’t know if you have ever imagined yourself leaving your homeland, your wealth, your house and even your friends and relatives, to live in other people’s country as a refugee? Do you even know that anybody can answer a refugee?

Within a twinkle of an eye a family living together may loose everything and be forced to flee for their dear lives. Think of what happened last year during the flooding. No one bargained for it. But it did happen. A lot of people were displaced for weeks.

Those who witnessed the Nigerian-Biafran war did experience what it means to be exile in one’s own nation, how much more when one is totally dislodged from his or her country. A nation like Nigeria that has witnessed countless number of terrorist’s attacks is living under tension and fear of war.

It is only the special grace of God that is keeping Nigeria together. The moment there is war in Nigeria (May God not allow this to happen), any Nigerian citizen that escape to another nation have automatically become a refugee. The freedom, the peace, and the warmth, we are enjoying in our nation now is by the special grace of God. World Refugee Day is held every year on June 20. This day was established by the United Nations in 2001 to raise awareness of the existence and situation of refugees throughout the world. It is a day to honor the courage and determination of men, women, and children who are forced to flee their homeland due to war, violence, poverty, and other forms of oppression. Most people may not know what it

means to be a refugee; some people do not even know that we have refugees in Nigeria and that they need our support and encouragement. I pray that this reflection will inspire you to cater for the needs of the refugees in our society.

The refugees are displaced people. People who flee their homeland due to war, poverty, famine, threat to life, natural disaster, human right violation, and other unbearable hardships. Most of these refugees live in camps.

Some of them are living under bridges, motor parks and even cemeteries due to lack of accommodations. War is the root cause of refugee and immigration movement. A lot of families are torn apart by war.

Poverty and famine have driven a lot of people out of their homeland. In most poor developing countries, young people are trooping out of their countries in search of greener pasture. In the Bible, for instance, Jacob and his children migrated to Egypt because there was no food in the whole of Canaan (Genesis 46:1-34). This was the journey that brought them into slavery in the land of Egypt.

Like the Israelites, most refugees are treated like slaves or even outcasts.

People flee their country due to threat of imprisonment and life.

Other factors that lead people to flee their homeland include ethnic, tribal and religious violence; natural disasters such as flooding, and earthquake. For instance, last year in Nigeria, most people who were living around the River Niger were displaced by the unprecedented flooding that destroyed so many lives and properties. Whenever there is war and other natural disaster the family is always the first to suffer. Families are torn apart during wars and natural disasters. In most cases you discover that children and parents are separated from each other. It takes the grace of God to bring these families together.

Any refugee that runs into any nation is looking for a safe haven where they can recover from mental, physical and spiritual trauma and rebuild their hopes for a better future. Unfortunately, instead of finding empathy and

understanding, they are often met with mistrust and scorn.

What a double tragedy! Some of the refugees are even regretting fleeing from their homeland due to the harsh situation they are facing where they find themselves.

Most of refugee camps are having shortage of food and water, poor toilet facilities, indecent accommodation, etc.

Refugee is a perennial

problem. Most prominent people in the Bible were forced into exile. Most of them left their land due to severe famine. Abraham, for instance, left Canaan and settled in Egypt because there was famine in Canaan (Genesis 12:10-20). While he was at Egypt, the king took his wife because his wife Sarah was a beautiful woman. If not for the Lord’s intervention Abraham would have lost his wife as a refugee. This is what most modern Refugees are facing. Women are forced into prostitutions and hard labour.

In the book of Genesis chapter 37:12- 36, Joseph was forcefully and maliciously sold out by his envious brothers. He was taken to Egypt where he ended up in prison. There in the prison God favoured him through the gift of dream interpretation.

He interpreted the king’s dream. He later became the governor of Egypt even as a refugee. God used him to save the Egyptians and other parts of the world during the great

famine that ravaged most parts of the world. Do you know that God can as well favour your nation through one of the refugee in your nation? One of them could be the Joseph that God could use to save your nation from economic meltdown.

In Genesis chapter 46, Jacob and his family went to Egypt in search of greener pasture.

This was after Joseph was

To be a refugee is not a crime. Like the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, God may decide to take you to another country to preserve your life from the hands of your enemies. Jesus became a refugee to identify with thousands of refugees in the world. He is the Hope of the hopeless, the Refuge of the refugees. As a refugee, he understands the plight of

made the governor of Egypt.

Before leaving for Egypt Jacob consulted God with sacrifice; God approved his journey, saying, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, I will make your descendants a great nation there. I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land” (Genesis 46:3-4).

Before leaving your country for any reason you must consult God to know the country that will favour you.

In the New Testament, when Herod wanted to kill the child Jesus God told his father Joseph in a dream, saying, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave” Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died (Matthew 2:13-15). This was how Jesus became a refugee in Egypt, one of the African nations.

refugee. To encourage the refugees, he said, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If you are a refugee and you think no one cares, Jesus cares. If only you could come to him he will never abandon you. He will raise people who will cater for you.

On May 24, 2013, Pope Francis had a meeting with members of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers as they were holding their plenary assembly at the Vatican to discus the rights and needs of refugees and forcibly displaced people. During this meeting, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, describes the Refugees as people who are displaced and stateless. These people are particularly vulnerable to the plague of human trafficking, which increasingly involves children and women. They are subjected to the worst forms of exploitation and even recruitment into armed conflicts and prostitution.”

Consequently, the Pope urged government leaders, legislators and the international community to find effective initiatives and new approaches for safeguarding their dignity, improving their quality of life and for facing the challenges emerging from modern forms of persecution, oppression and slavery. He also urged Christians, especially Catholics, to take seriously their obligation to see migrants and refugees as their brothers and sisters and “give voice to those not able to make their cries of pain and

oppression heard.

Refugees are normal human beings like any one of us.

Remember, no condition is permanent. Who knows, some day in the future any one of us could be knocking at a stranger’s door hoping to find a safe shelter. Anything you can do to put a smile in the face of a refugee for heaven’s sake, please do it. We need to visit them, chart with them, encourage them and even share our money and food with them. We should extend to them the kind of welcome we would like to receive if we were in their position.

Jesus encourages us to visit the homeless. Each time we visit a homeless orphan or refugee we are not just performing a charitable act we are visiting Jesus himself for he says, whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren that you do unto me “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” (Matthew 25:34-40) As you visit the

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Anniversary Chat

Our mission Is To Develop

HON. Philip Shaibu, Majority Leader, Edo State House of Assembly, (EDHA) is a team player, a rallying point and grassroots mobiliser whose background in students activism has greatly helped in his legislative foray. In this chat with the team of OBSERVER Editors, Hon. Shaibu throws light on the workings of the state Parliament and anchors the mission of the Parliament on development.

Excerpts:

Two years of the 5th Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), how far, how well?

Well, I think we have done greatly. We Thank God first and foremost, for sparing our lives, and for giving us the strength and wisdom to get to this level of development, across the entire state, because without a progressive House of Assembly, definitely, development would not be possible. So I want to thank God that I am part of this government which everybody in Nigeria and the whole world has acclaimed to be a successful government with a mission obviously, without the House of Assembly, those accolades that are been showered on the executive arm would not have been complete. So, I am grateful to God for a legislative arm in the 5th Assembly that is progressively minded.

In terms of law-making and oversight functions, would you say the Edo State House of Assembly has done well in the last 2 years?

Yes, in terms of oversight functions, I think we have done very well. This is the House of Assembly that is always proactive, we are always there at the right time, and you can see this from the most recent, which is the dissolution of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

It was a function of our oversight duties. For us to have discovered that monies meant for staff that were stopped, were now being used to develop other areas, though it may be positively okay but it was wrongfully administered.

Positively okay in the sense that no money was stolen, the money was used to fix schools, but in terms of legislative oversight, we all have our own different responsibilities. For you to use such funds, you need virement that must be

approved. It’s okey that you have good intentions to fix some projects, which is very well. Our investigation also shows that the money

we have done very well in terms of oversight function.

The kind of synergy and harmony between the House of Assembly and the Executive, what do you ascribe to it?

I think we have a government whose vision is development and a House of Assembly that keyed into that vision. God helping all

is as a result of a mutual interest, and understanding to develop the state and grow our communities in line with the vision of the Governor. So, it cells for a smoot and harmonious relationship.

The last time we checked, you did some projects in your constituency to make your people happy. Have

Hon Philip Shaibu, Majority Leader, Edo State House of Assembly.

was actually used for those projects that they mentioned, but what was wrong was that there was no proper virement. These are all functions of oversight, and I think we have done very well in that aspect.

Also in terms of road construction that is ongoing everywhere and schools that are being constructed, we are always there to monitor and to check and ensure that the quality of jobs done are according to Executive specifications as provided for in the budget and in line with the Bill of Quantity (BoQ) and the contract signed. So, I think

of us, this same government with a vision of development had always lived to its name, by bringing progressive bills which are in line with that developmental vision. For us in the House of Assembly that have keyed into that Oshiomhole vision of development, we feel the only way out is to develop our own constituencies if we must be re-elected and grow politically. So, any of us that refuses to key into the vision of the Comrade Governor obviously wants to put Edo State on reverse gear in terms of development. The synergy

you improved on that since then?

I remember that the last time you came, I already had about 13-14 constituency projects. As I speak to you today, I can boldly tell you that I have up to 17 constituency projects across my constituency and among them is an ultra-modern market. They used to call it Otukue market (village Square Market), but today, it is an ultra-modern village market which does not exist in any other place in Edo State presently apart from my constituency. The traditional market is an open

“I think we have done very well. This is the House of Assembly that is always proactive, we are always there at the right time, and you can see this from the most recent, which is the dissolution of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). It was a function of our oversight duties.

For us to have discovered that monies meant for staff that were stopped, were now being used to develop other areas, though it may be positively okay but it was wrongfully administered. Positively okay in the sense that no money was stolen, the money was used to fix schools, but in terms of legislative oversight, we all have our own different responsibilities. For you to use such funds, you need virement that must be approved.”

market where they display their wares, but I had to demolish those kiosks and rebuilt them to have the open market where they still display and sell wares down floor that have lockup stores. So, it is interesting that we were able to achieve that dream.

Today, the edifice speaks for itself and complements the dual-carriage way that the Comrade Governor has constructed in that area. For me, that is what development is all about.

From zero level constituency projects to 1617 projects is something amazing even to my humble self; that you can achieve that in six years is really amazing.

The Land Use Charge Law has just been amended. What is the driving force behind this law?

By profession, I am an Accountant and basically I subscribe to the idea that leaders should seek for solution to problems instead of lamenting, because the purpose of governance is to create an environment that is conducive for meaningful life. To create that you need resources and a government that tells its citizens that “you have voted me in power but there is no money to work” is not a responsible government. So it is the duty of the good leader to find solutions to issues that seem impossible. And that is why we keep referring to those era in history when our forefathers had solution to problems wherein, as you left school, a job would be waiting for you, and you are sure of two or three bedroom flat. Then, taps were running everywhere, good medical facilities available everywhere. How did they do it, when there was no oil then? It was done through taxes. Those days, you had tax collectors and people took to their heels then when they sighted them. We had the pyramids; the Enugu Coal, the rubber, cocoa and so on the resources came then from tax payers money not oil.

Today, they have set the

clock of development in reverse gear by being lazy and using the instrument of governance as a means of survival and not development. For Nigeria to be what it is we must join the comity of nations where the issue of who should pay taxes or not is paramount.

The election of Romney and Obama for instance, the issues of the day were taxes.

So I think for you to be responsible and have the right to challenge the government of the day, you must be a financial contributor of the development of the society.

I see Edo State or Nigeria as that community or association wherein you have a stake by contributing to the payment of taxes.

So, what is propelling me to say we should pay tax is development. Today, we have a governor whose vision is development, and our hope is that he is able to put the structure in place that would not reverse the resources of this state backwards. Lagos State today can stand without federal allocation. We want to see Edo State that can stand without federal allocation. If you have a state that cannot pay its workers for instance, without external funding, that state is not viable to be a state. If you have a country that can no longer pay its workers salaries, that country is no longer viable.

Such a company or country that cannot pay its workers’ salaries cannot survive. For a state to be truly worth its name, it must be able to pay its workers salaries internally and be able to develop its area. Any other money should be used to project for the future and save for the rainy day.

Federal allocation in Edo State should be invested in the future while tax payers money in Edo State should be used to pay the workers and develop the state as it is today. For me, we need to re-educate our people, and re-focus them on what is used to be in the past those good old days particually the aspect of Continues on page 25

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Anniversary Chat

A Viable Edo State

Continued from page 24

paying taxes. If you must eat omelette you know all of us must break eggs. All of us must make sacrifice.

That is my driving force.

As for the amendment to the land use charge law, which the Edo House of Assembly did recently the implementation of the law is about to start and we discovered that there are some of the clauses that we needed to amend. For instance, because of the battle some classes of people went through, not the average Edolite, we discovered that the law may be subject of litigation when it is being implemented. We discovered that the Board of Internal Revenue is no longer in existence by the new law that we passed, we only have Edo State Revenue Service. So if you say you have to pay to Board of Internal Revenue, out of sheer mischief people can go to court to challenge the government, to say that they are being asked to pay to an organisation that does not exist or that is not known to law. So, we needed to amend that aspect that has to do with the Board of Internal Revenue.

You know too, that a ministry was just being created, the Housing and Urban Planning Development Ministry. We need to refocus the issue of land use charge to the appropriate ministry. We had to take it from Ministry of Land, and put it is a new ministry that ought to be responsible for that. We also discovered that there are some typographical errors which needed to put the law in its correct perspective.

But the issue of exemptions still remains for instance, places of worship, recognised palaces public libraries etc, still remain.

But insinuations are rife that the property tax law is anti-people. What is your response?

Ah, how can the property law be anti-people? For you to be a property owner, you must have reached a certain level of responsibility and have some amount of resources. Even in the rural area the amended version

- Hon. Philip Shaibu, Majority Leader

targets a property that is above ten million naira. For you to own and afford a property of ten million naira, you must be able to pay tax too, because you need good roads is that place, you need electricity and all the amenities that will befit all that N10 million property and you should be able to pay tax.

When you make laws, they are not meant to be vindictive. All of us are going to pay the taxes. For instance, I am going to pay

Agency, and FAAN – the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, need to be overhauled completely.

Why I am saying so is that Nigeria airspace is supposed to be the safest in Africa, but it is not. I think those people at the head of these organizations are not doing well at all. That is why I am calling for their sack. Recently, I was a victim of unsafe airspace. It is God that is just saving people. In my own case,

the pilot said we should all go and do thanksgiving.

That tells you that it was a serious matter. For me, the issue goes beyond Oshiomhole’s aircraft being recalled or grounded. We need a total overhaul of FAAN and NAMA and a sack of the heads of the two bodies. We mustn’t wait for another plane crash before lamenting these are signs. I understand, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra had a similar experience the Commissioner for Planning and Budget in Edo State

traffic, you cannot land in Benin Airport at right. I want to thank the federal government for uplifting the Benin Airport, but it is incomplete when certain things are not put in place especially reading equipment the perquisite to fly is weather. If the weather is bad, the plane cannot fly.

The ban on ‘Okada’ riders. Can you throw more light on the decision of government to ban commercial bike riding?

I sympathise with genuine bike riders. The reason is that are some who are

Hon. Philip Shaibu (right), fielding questions from our Editors during the Anniversary Chat.

and as I have always said, in my street in the rural area, I may probably be the only one to pay the tax. So, if I am supporting this tax, it means that I am also ready to contribute my quota to the development of the state. Globally, advanced countries like United States and Britain live on taxes, so we should live on taxes because oil well will dry up one day.

The recent grounding of the chartered helicopter of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has been described as political in some quarters. Do you subscribe to that?

Well, I don’t know whether it is political. My own take is that I feel NAMA – the Nigeria Airspace Management

between Benin to Lagos we spent 2 hours to get to Lagos. There was such a serious turbulence that everybody on board started shouting on top of their voices and calling on their different deities to save them. At a time nobody was talking. We all started praying in silence. We had given up, because a journey that had 15 minutes left to be completed, according to the pilot, took us almost another one hour. We were completely out of track, and the plane navigated round until the pilot told us that we were now in the East wing of Lagos, the meaning of that is that we were close to Cotonou. It was after we had landed eventually, that

equally had a similar experience in a different flight, a week after my ugly experience. In their own case, the pilot had to land in Cotonou and spent 4 years there after it ran out of fuel.

You can imagine that in 2 weeks three of such ugly incidents happened. That is why I am asking for the sack of NAMA and FAAN heads.

In advanced country they should have resigned on their own. But not so, in Nigeria. So, I am calling on the federal government to sack the two aviation chiefs and do a complete overhaul of the sector and do something about all the equipment that are needed to read the weather and landing issues. With all the

actually genuine, it is a business for them and they see it as purely there business and not to undermine the security of the state. But you will agree with me that the rate at which bike riders use bike for criminal purposes is very alarming. Delta banned Okada riders and they found themselves in Edo. In the North they banned them, they all moved to Edo. From all the state surrounding Edo where they banned Okada, they all moved to Edo. Majority of the bike riders are security threat because they used it to snatch people’s belongings, including money. Obviously when you make policies, there are innocent ones that

feel and bear the brunt. I sympathise with those ones.

But the truth is that we need the ban at this time of insecurity. People keep asking government to provide security as we are getting insecure if this is one of the measures to reduce insecurity in our state, I think those affected should see it as a sacrifice. Our commuters can join the Comrade buses plying some of the routes. I salute the courage of the Comrade Governor who has accepted to ban them, because of the serious security threat. As you must know the bike riders are his friends. It was rather painful for the Governor to have take that decision. He doesn’t like to hurt his friends. It’s just that a leader must taken certain drastic steps to sanitise the society, no matter who is being affected. The employment challenge, not withstanding, it is the best decision to check the insecurity in the society.

When we industrialise our state, the issue of unemployment will be tackled in the long run.

As majority leader, how different are your duties from those of other lawmakers in the EDHA? As majority leader, I am just a member of the Edo State House of Assembly. We only give ourselves titles to be able to co-ordinate certain functions and affairs in the House. If you are not a member at first, you cannot be a majority leader. So I think, being a majority leader is first an opportunity to assist the House to co-ordinate affairs of my own colleagues.

When you are coordinating your colleagues you must know that they are not your staff. You are one among equals. You don’t give orders, but only persuade your colleagues. But when working with your staff, you give orders. As majority leader you are only to coordinate colleagues in providing leadership, you tap from the ideas of 23 other wise men, including the speaker, to see how you can make your contributions to the development of the state through legislation. All things considered, I prefer to be a

legislator.

26

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

International

Compiled By OKHUELEIGBE FAITH

Pakistan Influences Taliban of Afghanistan. In 1996, ISLAMABAD Talks Taliban soldiers swept through Pakistan’s powerful military Pakistan may now calculate

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta turns to speak to a member of his delegation at the Somalia conference in London May.

has played a central role in convincing Afghanistan’s Taliban rebels to hold talks with the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, a shift from widely held views in Washington that it was obstructing peace in the region.

U.S. and Taliban officials were due to meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in the next few days, raising hopes for negotiated peace after 12 years of war between American-led forces and the Islamist insurgents.

Neighboring Pakistan’s role in the war has been ambiguous - it is a U.S. ally but has a long history of supporting the Taliban as its proxy in Afghanistan, part of its wider jockeying with regional rival India.

Western officials believe

Afghan Taliban look on after handing over their weapons as they join the Afghan government’s reconciliation and reintegration program in Herat province.

Taliban Offers To Free US Soldiers ISLAMABAD - The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said yesterday.

The offer follows this week’s official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho.

He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.

In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said yesterday that Bergdahl “is, as far as I know, in good condition.”

Suhail did not elaborate on Bergdahl’s current whereabouts.

Among the five prisoners the Taliban have consistently requested are Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mullah

Mohammed Fazl, a former top Taliban military commander, both of whom have been held for more than a decade.

Bergdahl’s parents earlier this month received a letter from their son who turned 27 on March 28 through the International Committee of the Red Cross. They did not release details of the letter but renewed their plea for his release. The soldier’s captivity has been marked by only sporadic releases of videos and information about his whereabouts.

The prisoner exchange is the first item on the Taliban’s agenda before even opening peace talks, saidn Suhail, who is a top Taliban figure and served as first secretary at the Afghan Embassy in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad before the Taliban government’s ouster in 2001.

“First has to be the release of detainees,” Suhail said when asked about Bergdahl. “Yes. It would be an exchange. Then step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in Doha ahead of Saturday’s

conference on the Syrian civil war.

While in Qatar, Kerry is also expected to meet with the Taliban but timing was unclear.

On Wednesday in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. had “never confirmed” any specific meeting schedule with Taliban representatives in Doha.

Prospective peace talks are also still in question, especially after Afghan President Hamid Karzai became infuriated by the Taliban’s move to cast their new office in Doha as a rival embassy.

The Taliban held a ribboncutting ceremony Tuesday in which they hoisted their flag and a banner with the name they used while in power more than a decade ago: “Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” Later, the Taliban replaced the sign to read simply: Political office of the Taliban.

At the ceremony, the Taliban

welcomed dialogue with Washington but said their fighters would not stop fighting. Hours later, the group claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Bagram Air Base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed four American service members.

that its interest is better served by helping to broker peace that would lead to the emergence of a friendly government in Kabul capable of stabilizing Afghanistan and preventing chaos spilling over the border.

Several military and civilian officials told Reuters Pakistan helped persuade the “relevant Taliban commanders” to talk to the Americans and Afghans and also sought to convince them that getting into talks was in their interest.

“It would not have been possible without our facilitation. Convincing the Taliban that it was in Afghanistan’s interest and also convincing the other parties that this is what the Taliban actually have in mind,” one senior army officer said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Pakistan has a civilian government but the military has ruled the nation for over half of its 66 years of independence and holds sway over large areas of policy, including relations with neighbors.

A meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan military chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani in Brussels in April was a turning point in arranging the talks in Doha, said a former senior Pakistani official.

“The key was the trilateral meeting hosted by Kerry in Brussels,” said the former official.

Pakistan helped get Taliban leaders to a series of secret meetings with representatives of the Afghan government in Europe in recent months that helped pave the way for the planned talks, Pakistan’s foreign ministry told Reuters.

“Many of them travelled to Doha and other places and things started moving. We hope this will move on to its ultimate phase where there will be an inter-Afghan dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said.

The Taliban movement was born in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan during the Soviet Union’s 1979-1989 occupation

their nation and took control of Kabul, many say with the support of Pakistan’s army and its ubiquitous spy agency, the ISI. After the 9/11 bombings and under pressure from Washington, then-president Gen. Pervez Musharraf officially distanced Pakistan from the Taliban and threw its lot in with the United States, making it a strategic ally in the “global war on terror” despite misgivings among his top military brass.

But as late as last year, Washington said the Taliban, and the Haqqani faction linked to it, were allied to elements in Pakistan and the ISI. It declared the Haqqani group a terrorist organization in September.

“There has in the past been skepticism about their support, but in recent months I think we’ve seen evidence that there is genuine support,” a senior U.S. administration official told reporters on Tuesday about Pakistan’s involvement.

“The government of Pakistan has been particularly helpful in urging the other side - that is, the Taliban - to come forward and join in a peace process,” another U.S. official said.

With the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan firmly underway, U.S. officials have abandoned long standing demands that Pakistan crack down on Taliban safe havens, and instead sought to enlist Pakistan’s help to promote dialogue.

Pakistan military officials say they want to seal a deal in Afghanistan to avoid the risk that instability after the foreign combat mission ends in 2014 will spill across the border and energize a stubborn insurgency

by Pakistani militants.

However, the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai remains deeply suspicious, fearing Pakistan’s military remains wedded to a time-worn strategy of backing militant proxies such as the Taliban and that it is extending minimal cooperation merely to appease the West.

Al-Qaida Gathers Strength In Northern to assassinate the provincial Iraqi City governor and killed another local

BAGHDAD - Al-Qaida’s Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off antigovernment anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials.

It is a disturbing development for Iraq’s third-largest city, one of the country’s main gateways to Syria, as al-Qaida in Iraq makes a push to establish itself as a dominant force among the rebels fighting to topple the Syrian regime.

The show of force comes as Mosul residents vote in local elections that have been marred by intimidation by militants, as in the past. Al-Qaida’s muscle-flexing is evident in dollar terms too, with

one Iraqi official estimating that militants are netting more than $1 million a month in the city through criminal business enterprises.

Mosul and the surrounding countryside have emerged as major flashpoints in a wave of bloodshed that has killed nearly 2,000 Iraqis since the start of April — the country’s deadliest outbreak of violence in five years. Gunbattles have broken out between militants and security forces, and several candidates have been assassinated.

Just since the start of last week, attackers in and around the city have unleashed a rapidfire wave of five car bombs, tried

politician and four other people in a suicide bombing.

Other Sunni militant groups, including Ansar al-Islam and the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandi Order, are also active in Ninevah. Mosul is the capital of the Sunni-dominated province.

Al-Qaida’s rise is particularly worrying because it is thought to be behind the bulk of the bombings across Iraq and because it is trying to assert itself as a player in neighboring Syria’s civil war. The head of al-Qaida’s Iraq arm last week defied the terror network’s central command by insisting that his unit would continue to lay claim to al-Qaida operations in Syria, too.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

By SAM EHEBHA GSM: 08056626091

EVERY FRIDAY WEEK 49, 2013 LAST SEASON RESULT Anderson Richwell 1.2. X. Forecast

WEEK 49, 2012 11 DRAWS

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28

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Messi, Father ‘Charged For Tax Fraud’

BARCELONA star Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, have been indicted on tax fraud charges and a court hearing has been scheduled for September 17, according to El Pais.

Public prosecutor Raquel complaint appeared to be Amado filed a complaint at a strong, while noting that Barcelona district court on hiring or establishing a June 12 alleging that the company - even one overseas reigning, four-time World - to manage players’ image Player of the Year evaded rights was legal as long as +4.2 million in tax between they met their tax burdens in 2007 and 2009, the Spanish Spain. “(The complaint) is well newspaper reports.

Messi has denied any argued,” he said, adding that wrongdoing - as has his father it reminded him of the - and his lawyers issued a investigation of Inaki statement last week saying Urdangarin, the son-in-law of that he “has always Spain’s King Juan Carlos punctually attended to his who is under investigation for possible tax fraud and money fiscal obligations”.

The case was submitted at laundering.

Messi is not the first athlete the court in Gava, near the Mediterranean coastal town to be investigated in Spain for where Messi lives. If found taxes.

Last year former Portugal guilty, and barring an out-ofcourt deal with the tax office, star Luis Figo - himself a oneMessi and his father could time World Player of the Year face two to six years in jail, - was forced to pay +2.45 according to Professor million in income tax Sandalio Gomez, a sports pertaining to image rights finance analyst at the IESE from 1997-99 while playing for Barcelona. In 2009, Business School.

In the complaint, state former top-ranked women’s prosecutor Raquel Amado player Arantxa Sanchezalleges that from 2006-09 Vicario had to pay millions in Messi “obtained significant back taxes.

Messi is widely considered revenue derived from the transfer to third parties of his the best player of his image rights, income which generation and one of the best in history after winning an should have been taxed”.

Gomez told the Associated unprecedented four straight Press that the prosecutor’s FIFA World Player of the

Keeper Shot In Head But Finishes Game rtalica then went on to

AN amateur goalkeeper in Bosnia completed a 90minute match and conceded just one goal, despite being shot in the head by a stray bullet.

PA PhotosThe ‘keeper was competing in an amateur tournament in the Sarajevo suburb of Boljakov Potok Dusko Krtalica, 51, was competing in an amateur tournament in the Sarajevo suburb of Boljakov Potok.

The shot-stopper soon complained of a headache, but assumed it was brought about after he hit his head on a goalpost while making a save.

complain of a stiff arm and of trouble speaking, before being driven to a local hospital.

According to Saraejevo newspaper, Dnenvi Avas, the doctors found a 9mm bullet lodged in the ‘keeper’s cranium.

Krtalica is now in a stable condition after having the bullet removed in surgery.

Police discovered, after searching the local area, that the bullet had been fired into the air by a man celebrating a wedding in the suburb.

Dnenvi Avas claim that a 42-year-old man was arrested near the pitch.

Ramon Azeez Closer La Liga Action

EX-Flying Eagles skipper Ramon Azeez has moved closer to playing in the Spanish La Liga after his club Almeria won 1-0 away at Girona.

In the first leg final play off on Wednesday, Charles, whose brace dashed Chrisantus Maculey’s hope in the semi-final, scored the only goal of the game in the 51st minute.

Almeria need just a draw in the return leg on Saturday to

grab the promotion ticket.

Elche and Villarreal, who parade Nigeria striker Ikechukwu Uche, have already won automatic promotion to the Spanish top flight.

Highly-rated central midfielder Azeez has played for both the main team and the youth team of Almeria since he joined up with them in 2011 after the U20 World Cup in Colombia.

Year awards. He has scored 133 goals for Barcelona over the last two seasons and helped them win their fourth La Liga title in five seasons last term.

The 25-year-old, who is rated by Forbes as the world’s tenth highest-paid athlete, reportedly earned $41.3 million to June this year; with $20.3 coming

from his club salary and $21 million in endorsements.

Messi leads an apparently quiet life focused on his family - he became a father last year - and has always steered clear of controversy, making him a universally popular figure around the world.

Spain has been cracking

down on tax evasion as it fights to repair the country’s public finances amid recession and the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector.

The country has been further hurt by a series of corruption and financial fraud cases which until now had been limited to the worlds of business and politics.

FIFA To Modify Offside Law

FIFA are planning a major change to the offside law this summer, according to German football magazine kicker.

The current interpretation of the Law 11, as noted on the official FIFA website, states that a player is offside when the ball “rebounds off an opponent to [the]

Lionel Messi

Bilic Sacked After One Season consent and appointed FORMER Croatia manager Belarussian Leonid Kuchuk in Slaven Bilic yesterday said he In Russia his place. was “unbelievably sad” after unbelievably sad because I being sacked as coach of Russian Premier League side Lokomotiv Moscow after just one season in charge.

The 44-year-old came to Moscow amid high hopes he would lift the Russian Railways outfit back to its former glory but the side could only finish ninth, with the final straw a 4-1 end-of-season drubbing at the hands of champions CSKA. “I am just very sad,

wanted to stay in Russia for the long term,” Bilic told the Sport Express daily.

“I signed a contract to put the club onto a new level and not just work for one year and leave the team. But no one is immune to the sack, including me,” he added.

Lokomotiv said that the former Hadjuk Spilt, Everton and West Ham defender ’s contract was ended by mutual

Slaven Bilic

Bilic, who managed Croatia in last year ’s European championships, admitted that despite his sadness, his dismissal was not a shock, saying that it had for some time been clear that “we were not in the place that we should be”.

He said he would miss Moscow which, when there is good weather, “simply looks like the best city on Earth, fantastic” and did not rule out coming back to Russia one day.

“For the moment I just want to agree to relax. I have been called (with offers) but for the moment I have not decided anything,” he said.

“It does not have to be England,” he added. “The main thing is that the club is an ambitious one.”

Despite Bilic’s exit, several prominent foreign managers are still preparing to take clubs into the new season which kicks off next month.

Romania’s Dan Petrescu is leading Dinamo Moscow, Dutchman Guus Hiddink is at the helm of Anzhi while Italian Luciano Spalletti is expected to oversee Zenit Saint Petersburg’s new campaign despite rumours he could get the chop.

attacker” if the attacker has previously been in an offside position.

It is currently not seen as an offence if an opponent interferes with a planned and intentional action by the defender - such as the ball being cleared - as the attacking player had previously been in a passive position.

According to the report, the law will no longer differentiate between an intentional nor nonintentional “defending action” which should make life easier for referees, coaches and spectators. Only if the defending player is clearly continuing with play and makes an error can the attacking player play the ball. So a defender would have to have control of the ball and essentially enter a new phase of play for the attacker to become active.

German referees’ chief Herbert Fandel is expecting to receive a letter from FIFA over the next couple of days in time to brief officials during a pre-season camp in Bavaria next week.

The German season starts on the weekend of August 10, with the fixture list revealed at 11am BST this Friday.

Gervinho Would Consider Marseille Move ARSENAL striker Gervinho has hinted he would be open to a return to French football with Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille.

Gervinho, 26, has struggled to break into the Arsenal side in his two years at the club, and made just 12 Premier League starts last season.

The Gunners are now looking to recoup some of the £10.5 million they paid Lille for his services in the summer of 2011, with Marseille already having declared their

interest in the Ivory Coast international.

He enjoyed a strong start to the 2012-13 season, but following his return from African Nations Cup duty in February he made started only three matches.

Arsenal are expected to spend big on extra firepower, with Gonzalo Higuain thought to be at the top of their wanted list with rumours that a £22 million fee has already been agreed with Real Madrid, meaning

Gervinho is likely to be surplus to requirements.

“It is true that I had little time to play on my return from the African Nations Cup,” he told abidjan.net.

“But it is the choice of the coach [Arsene Wenger].

“Now, it’s the holidays. I’ll relax for a while and then after I will look to the future, to see what I should do. There are still three weeks before pre-season. I really have time to think about it later. If I want

a new start, I will have offers.

“Marseille is one of the leading French clubs, and I have a good relationship with some people there. I cannot say yes or no, but it is always flattering for a player to know that there are a lot of clubs who are interested in him.”

Meanwhile, the Sun is reporting that Arsenal’s interest in Swansea City defender Ashley Williams could hit the skids over his £10 million price tag.

29

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Shearer Upset By Kinnear Appointment

Arsenal Can Be Champions

ARSENAL defender Bacary Sagna is confident the north London club can battle for the Premier League title next season.

And the French international insisted he would have quit the club had he thought the Gunners would continue their silverware drought.

Much speculation has surrounded the 30-year-old Sagna, the former Auxerre player struggled with injuries and form last season and a move back to his homeland was strongly rumoured as his contract enters its final years.

But after the Gunners were able to overtake arch-rival Tottenham in the race for a Champions League spot late in the season, Sagna started to believe the current Gunners squad could return past glories to the club.

“I truly believe we can be champions or else I wouldn’t be playing football,” Sagna told www.gulfnews.com. “I would have gone already. I truly believe we can succeed with the team we have.

“I strongly believe we have the quality to be the best in the Premier League.

“Look at the end of last season, when we got 26 points from a possible 30. Not a lot of teams can do this and this is what makes me believe we can beat anyone.

“What we managed last season can be done only by a true team with a great team

Bacary Plays Down Exit Reports

BACARY Sagna says contractual talks with Arsenal are still ongoing and plays down reports he might leave the club.

The French international defenders’ future at The Emirates has been the subject of speculation with just a year remaining on his contract after six years with Arsenal.

“We are still talking [about a new contract],” he told Gulf News.

“I never said I wanted to leave the club, but there are some journalists who want to speculate as I have just one year to go.

“The fact is that I am still at Arsenal and I am looking forward to playing next season.

“Arsenal made me grow as a player and as a man. People have been talking about me going back to France, but at the moment I am at Arsenal.”

- Sagna

spirit. I believe we can achieve a lot more.”

However, Sagna warned his team-mates that to fulfil their potential, they had to eradicate the common mistakes that have plagued Arsene Wenger and his men in recent years.

“On some days we can switch off and lose to anyone and to avoid this, we need to take things game by game and stay focused from the beginning to the end,” he said.

“There are no major things that we ought to do to continue succeeding.

“I think we just have to stick around as a team, where each one helps out on the pitch, and stay consistent like we did in the second half of the season.”

On a new deal with the club, Sagna added: “We are still talking [about a new contract].

I never said I wanted to leave the club, but there are some journalists who want to speculate as I have just one year to go.”

“The fact is that I am still at Arsenal and I am looking forward to playing next season.

“Arsenal made me grow as a player and as a man. People have been talking about me going back to France, but at the moment I am at Arsenal.”

ALAN Shearer says he is sickened by Newcastle’s appointment of Joe Kinnear as director of football.

Kinnear, a former manager of the Premier League club, has given a number of highprofile interviews this week in which he has drawn attention to his arrival at the club by mistakenly pronouncing players’ names ESPN understands that the appointment of Kinnear has left manager Alan Pardew considering his future at the club, and managing director Derek Llambias has already resigned from his position.

In a column for the Sun, Shearer says that Pardew’s position has been undermined and the club has been turned into a laughing stock.

He said: “Where do we start? What I do know is that right now people are

Mikel Obi

Mikel Confirms He Wishes To Quit Chelsea

CHELSEA midfielder Mikel Obi has confirmed Galatasaray have made him an offer and he is ready quit his EPL club.

[Galatasaray] playing “I’m very pleased with Champions League football Galatasaray’s offer,” and doing well in the Mikel told Turkish competition.”

The Nigeria international newspaper Sabah.

“I asked Drogba for said he does not expect any advice and he told me cash problems and Chelsea that Istanbul is a fantastic to stand in his move to city, that Galatasaray is a Turkey.

“Talks have reached an huge club and that I have advanced level between to make the move.

“I have played at Chelsea and Galatasaray.

Chelsea for a long time Chelsea won’t make the difficult and and it’s now time for me move regarding my salary there to leave.

“I’m still only 26 and won’t be a problem,” he it’s great to receive an said.

“All that is left is for the offer from a club

clubs to reach an agreement.”

The 26-year-old defensive midfielder joined Chelsea from FK Lyn for +26 million in 2006 and has four years left on his contract.

Mikel has made 277 appearances for Chelsea during which time he has won the Premier League title, four FA Cups and lifted the Champions League as well as the Europa League trophy Galatasaray are considering their options in the defensive midfield position after talks with

Juventus over a transfer for Felipe Melo hit a stalemate

Gerrard Back In Training

LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard has returned to training as he takes the next step towards recovering from shoulder surgery.

Gerrard, 33, missed the final two games of his side’s 2012-13 Premier League campaign after an operation in May, with the midfielder having been troubled by his shoulder for several months.

He was forced to sit out England’s end-of-season

Fashanu Urges Continuous and turns.

Support For Eagles twists “We must understand

Confed Cup: JOHN Fashanu, a former Wimbledon FC of England striker, wants Nigerian soccer fans to continue to support the Super Eagles at the ongoing Confederations Cup, even if it failed to play well.

Fashanu, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, in Lagos, noted that the team did not have a monopoly of victory.

“No team owns the monopoly of victory,’’ Fashanu said.

The 1988 winner of the English FA Cup with Wimbledon, advised fans to be more constructive in their utterances, pointing out that the team was getting better by the day.

“Everybody can see that they are gradually improving with each match, and I think everybody should be happy about the improvement in the team.

“Football fans should not always be in a hurry to castigate these boys,

because our comments affect them psychologically so we should talk cautiously.’’

He remarked that fans were now under the illusion that since the Super Eagles won the African Cup of Nations, “we must win every other match; it does not work that way’’.

Fashanu, who also plied his trade with Aston Villa FC of England, described football as a game of the unexpected with many

that in the game of football, there are times good sides perform well, and also perform poorly.’’

He commended the Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi, for the courage he had exhibited on the job, in spite of the barrage of criticisms levelled against him and the players.

“Keshi has really come a long way and the boys have shown commitment in each of their outings,’’ the former striker added.

laughing at the football club I support. And that sickens me.

“I promised myself years ago never to be surprised by what happens in football particularly when it comes to Newcastle.

“But this situation really is stretching it a bit.

“While other clubs are all plotting and planning for next season, Newcastle have a manager who has just been totally undermined.

“Alan Pardew has said he will carry on but I am sure it will be a difficult situation.”

He added: “As for that announcement, what are the players to think when he can’t even get their names right? It’s all a PR disaster.”

Pardew is yet to speak out officially on Kinnear’s arrival and Shearer believes the manager’s silence on the subject is telling.

“His silence on the appointment of Kinnear himself over recent days said it all,” Shearer said. “But what could he say?

“He is in such an intolerable position. He can’t come out and slaughter his employers but at the same time he can’t agree with a situation which no manager would find comfortable.”

Steven Gerrard

friendlies against Ireland and Brazil, amid reports – later dismissed by Liverpool – that he was in danger of missing the start of next season.

The Reds have indicated that their medical team are satisfied with Gerrard’s progress since his operation, and the England captain is on course to play a full part for both club and country when the 2013-14 campaign kicks off.

30

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Pele Calls For End To Protest BRAZIL legend Pele has In Brazil amenities. urged protesters in his eanwhile, two of the homeland to leave the streets and focus on football.

Demonstrations continued across Brazil yesterday with protesters notably blocking the main access road to the Arena Castelao, in Fortaleza.

The protest was the latest of a wave in recent days that has marred the ongoing Confederations Cup, and has been organised by groups demanding better public services and complaining about the local government.

“Let’s forget all this commotion happening in Brazil, all these protests, and let’s remember how the

• Neymar

Confederations Cup

Neymar Punishes Mexico

MEXICO coach Jose Manuel de la Torre rued poor finishing and the genius of Neymar after his side’s Confederations Cup ambitions were dashed by Brazil in Fortaleza. into the semi-finals, while Neymar scored one superb Mexico’s elimination was goal and made another in a 2confirmed by Italy’s 4-3 win 0 victory that sent the hosts over Japan in the second

Garcia Targeting Europe NEW Roma manager Rudi Garcia has targeted a European spot as his main objective heading into his first Serie A season.

The former Lille manager signed a two-year contract with the option of a third year this month, becoming the first Frenchman to coach the Rome giants.

And the 49-year-old Garcia has already issued the first challenge to his new squad, aiming to return the club to the continental action.

“The most important thing is getting back into Europe, and the season is a long one,” Garcia told asroma.it.

I would have preferred to be playing in Europe now but bearing in mind that we won’t be playing every three days, we can focus on our performances in the league.

“What does it matter what’s happened in the past? Who cares if some seasons have gone badly? I’m only worried about the present and winning with Roma.”

However, one of Garcia’s first task will be to assess the playing group for its weakness and strengths and see if needs to bring in reinforcements.

Recently, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg signed for Premier League club Fulham, while Italian international Daniele De Rossi has eyed a move away from the club.

But despite singling out certain individuals, Garcia preferred to think of the playing group as a whole and not as solitary problems.

“I think the idea of the whole squad is very important,” he said. “You always want to have talented players in the group and luckily we have them at Roma.

“Francesco Totti is an important player and he will play a big role both on and off the pitch. De Rossi is a great player, in the national side too, and I really want to meet him and all the other players in my squad.

“I think there is already a high-quality squad at Roma.

My mission is to work out what the best team is. First of all I want to get to know everybody – and they will all have to get behind me.

“Then, obviously, we have to think about improving the squad. I won’t talk about individuals today. We are talking about the squad for 2013-14 with [Roma director of sport Walter] Sabatini now and then you will know more.

“The DS knows the Italian market well but we will make any decisions together. Nobody will sign for Roma without my consent.

“To have a great team you need a very strong goalkeeper and we are working with Sabatini towards finding an excellent one.”

Group B game.

“We conceded a goal at the start, with a great effort from Neymar, which changed the circumstances,” said De la Torre.

“We had a certain amount of dominance for a large portion of the game but we lacked enough precision to score.

And at the end, there was a great contribution from Neymar (setting up a goal for Jo), which made it 2-0.”

Mexico have now won just once in 11 games in 2013, which has left their hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Brazil in the

balance.

But De la Torre said he was not disheartened by their current situation.

“We’ve not achieved our objective. It’s not a setback,” he said.

“We’re on track. The principal objective is qualification (for the World Cup). In this competition (the Confederations Cup), we didn’t manage it. That’s how it is.”

Mexico will play Japan, who have also been eliminated, in their final Confederations Cup group game in Belo Horizonte on Saturday.

Brazilian squad is our country and our blood,” Pele told O Globo.

The former Santos player’s appeal, however, was soon derided on social media, with many claiming that his wealth meant he was unable to emphasise with the ordinary Brazilian.

Another former Brazil international, Ronaldo, was also criticised after commenting that “you can’t hold a World Cup with hospitals”, in response to the protests over the billions spent on stadiums that many Brazilians feel would have been better invested in public

Sevilla Calm Negrado To Atletico Talk SEVILLA president Jose Maria Del Nido admits he has talked to Atletico Madrid about selling them Alvaro Negredo but claims a deal is still a long way off.

Negredo is expected to leave the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan this summer, with Sevilla sporting director Monchi saying this week that offers of up to +18 million received so far had not been high enough.

Del Nido told AS that Negredo’s name had come up during a recent dinner with Atletico chief executive

Van der Vaart Backs Santa Cruz

HAMBURG’s Rafael van der Vaart has backed the mooted arrival of Paraguay international Roque Santa Cruz.

The former Manchester City striker has recently been linked with a switch to Hamburg, who are looking to bolster their frontline after the +10 million transfer of South Korea international Heung-

• Santa Cruz

Min Son to Bayer Leverkusen.

Santa Cruz, 31, is a free agent after his contract at City expired this summer, after struggling to make an impact in Manchester and most recently being loaned out to Malaga.

“Roque Santa Cruz joining us – that would be the bomb,” former Tottenham midfielder

country’s biggest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, have struck an agreement to revoke an increase in public transportation fares, that first helped spark the nationwide demonstrations.

Sao Paulo state Governor, Geraldo Alckmin, announcing a reduction in fares to their level before the hike, called it “important... so the city can have the tranquility needed to debate issues calmly”.

The Selecao picked up their second win of the Confederations Cup on Thursday with a 2-0 defeat of Mexico.

Van der Vaart told Bild on Thursday. “He would help us with his routine and continue to up the quality of our squad.

“I think the world of Santa Cruz. He’d have what it takes to take us to Europe. He is a killer in front of the goal.

Magnificent!”

Hamburg finished the 2012-13 season in seventh, just outside the European places, and found it hard to find the back of net, scoring only 42 goals all season.

Meanwhile, the club are set to announce the signing of the 21-year old FC Basel attacker Jacques Zoua. The Cameroon international will be reunited with his former coach Thorsten Fink.

Bild reports the Hamburg and Zoua have reached an agreement and FC Basel are reportedly willing to let the attacker, who scored only once in 24 games, leave for a transfer fee of around +1.5 million.

Miguel Angel Gil Marin, but nothing concrete had been agreed.

“Whoever wants Negredo will have to buy what he is, a ‘crack’ [legend],” he said.

“He is not going to leave for a price which we ourselves do not set. The other day I had dinner with Gil Marin and we spoke about that possibility and others, other players who might be interesting, but I see the possibility of [Negredo] leaving Sevilla very far away at the moment.”

Negredo reportedly favours a move to Atletico over other options which could include Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, West Ham and Everton.

His name appears on the website of third-party investment fund The Doyen Group, along with those of other Sevilla players including Geoffrey Kondogbia, Alberto Botia and Jose Antonio Reyes, however Sevilla maintain they can decide if and when to sell.

The Vallecas-born hitman scored 25 Primera Division goals last season, but was overlooked by Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque for the current Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Sevilla have already signed Romania striker Raul Rusescu from Steaua Bucharest this summer for a fee reported to be around +2 million, while Monchi has admitted to interest in Real Zaragoza’s Helder Postiga, who looks a more like for like replacement for Negredo.

31

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

Under-20 World Cup

‘Portugal Match, A Must-Win’

FLYING Eagles coach John Obuh has declared today’s opening World Cup match against Portugal is a must-win one.

The Nigeria U20s will take on their Portuguese counterparts from 7pm Nigerian time at the beautiful Kayseri Kadir Has Stadium to kick start their 2013 World Cup campaign.

“This is our first game at the World Cup. It’s very crucial and a must-win match because a win will ease the pressure on the team and it will boost our confidence,” said Obuh, who is making his second appearance at the U20 World Cup. “Victory on Friday against what many regard as a good team from Portugal will give us qualification to the next round of the competition.”

Two weeks ago at the Toulon International

Tournament in France, Portugal edged past Nigeria 2-1.

Incidentally, both teams also battled leading up to the 2011 World Cup in Colombia. The first friendly in Lisbon ended goalless, while Portugal won the second match 2-0 in an invitational tournament in Panama.

Portugal will go on to reach the World Cup final, while Nigeria crashed out at the quarterfinals.

Obuh said the Flying Eagles must therefore ensure they make fewer mistakes on Friday.

“We have to be calm and make sure we make fewer mistakes against a good side like Portugal. Mistakes have

often cost us dearly and so we cannot afford such,” he warned.

“And we also have to take our chances in front of goal while always making sure we keep a clean sheet at all times.”

The Flying Eagles, who have already trained with the official match balls Cafusa, will have a first feel of the match venue Thursday

evening.

Meanwhile, the 2013 World Cup in Turkey will record many firsts.

For the first time in this tournament, referees will use the vanishing spray to indicate things like free kick spots and where a defensive wall should stand.

Turkey 2013 will also present a new trophy for the competition.

National Amputee Football Team Calls For Early Preparations LAGOS Ugochukwu Obieze, a defender in the National Amputee Football team, has called for the immediate preparation of the team for the 2013 Amputee African Cup of Nations in Kenya.

Obieze told newsmen in Lagos that although the competition would hold in September, early preparation would ensure the team’s overall victory at the competition.

“The Nigeria Amputee Football Federation (NAFF) should commence immediate preparations in earnest for the competition because September date is nearer.

“The preparation is overdue, so we should start now to enhance a better outing in the biennial tournament,’’ he said.

Obieze recalled that late preparation made the team to crash out in the preliminaries of the last edition in 2011 in Ghana.

“We are still standing still and looking, no preparation in terms of training and camping of players, this was exactly what affected us in 2011 where we lost in the preliminaries.

“We did not start training until a week to the competition. So, how possible is it for us to compete favourably with countries that had started training and camping in the last six months.

“It is not possible; sport is about training and performance. We do not even have a place to train on our own at the National Stadium, Lagos.

“We have to go as far as the Parliamentary Playing Ground at the back of the Stadium Hotel, closed to the stadium,“ he said.

Obieze added that the team’s dream was to fly Nigeria’s flag high not only in Africa but at the world level.

“Our failure not to excel at the continental level was not due to our lack of commitment, but to administrative lapses.

“Our goal is not limited to African but the world, so we should not miss the 2014 Amputee Football World Cup in Kenya in September, “ he said.

According to Obieze, the team needs good training tour and friendly matches to hone their skills before the tournament.

Flying Eagles Coach Obuh

Edo Wrestlers Beg For Equipment BENIN - Wrestlers in Edo have appealed to the state government and philanthropists to procure state-of-the-art equipment for them to enable them to continue to be on top of their game.

The state’s wrestling coach, Sunday Edekin, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Benin.

“You can see that for now what we are using is nothing to write home about, yet we are happy doing our training.

“But if we get something better, we can obviously become better athletes,’’ he said.

On the forthcoming maiden Chief Edwin Clark National Open Championship Wrestling in Warri, Delta, Edekin said: “We are going there to clinch the medals at stake.

“We are very enthusiastic about this

championship since it will be our first tournament after the ‘Eko 2012’ National Sports Festival.

“We will use this championship to make a statement.’’

The one-week championship, slated to hold from July 31 to Aug. 5, is being organised by the Nigeria Wrestling Federation.

Athletes are expected to feature in10 different weight categories in the Greco Roman, Freestyle and Female Wrestling.

T h e championship will be used to select wrestlers to represent the country at the 2013 World Championship in Budapest, Hungary and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Govt Urged To Uplift Female Soccer

NNENE Etim, a former Coach of the Super Falcons, has appealed to government and corporate organisations in the country to assist female footballers, especially those aspiring to attain international standards.

Etim spoke with newsmen on phone, in Lagos.

According to her, their assistance is vital to restore the ranking of Nigeria’s female football which, she said, had dropped significantly in the past few years.

“All the female national teams, the Super Falcons, the Falconets and Flamingoes, had fallen in their international

rankings in recent times due to inadequate international competitions.

“These days, we no longer hear about the Super Falcons and such will not motivate aspiring athletes that want to play football for the country,’’ Etim said.

She advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to organise regular national and international competitions for the national teams.

“The NFF should also strive to organise regular competitions to discover young and talented athletes who

have the passion to play football and represent the country.

“Such competitions will engage them and keep them away from social vices that can jeopardise their future.

“These girls need motivation and encouragement to exhibit their inner talents and for international reckoning,’’ she added.

She claimed that companies were averse to sponsoring female football because they thought there were no quality players to be promoted.

Etim said that the government should not be

saddled with the responsibilities of promoting athletes alone, stressing that individuals and c o r p o r a t e organisations should complement the government’s efforts.

“We have foreigners coming to invest in this country and making money, why can’t they be compelled to invest in sports development too?’’

Etim urged the National Sports Commission to assist the Nigeria Women Professional League (NWPL) to make it as popular as the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

CMYK

32

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013

The Need To Ban Certain Politicians

IF Nigeria were to be seen as a human being, it would appear as a malnourished and very sick person. Since he is being given either the wrong diet or severely being starved, then his survival has to depend on the grace of God as it is now with Nigeria.

At independence, despite the struggle to be in-charge of Nigeria’s wellbeing having some ethnic dimensions, but leading the team of such prospective ethnic doctors or caregivers were persons who really bothered about the welfare of the country.

In the course of several events, the general interest in the welfare of the country or patrimony became lost, and the interest shifted to what could be gotten from keeping it perpetually sick; rather than making it healthy.

It may be difficult to imagine why some persons feel they would profit more from making a situation worse; than making it better.

Sometimes, it is not truly that such persons naturally prefer seeing things in a worse state.

But when they rigidly believe that they alone have the capacity to fix a problem in spite of several failed attempts at solving the problem, it becomes a logjam for everybody; including those who would certainly have done better.

In answering the question: How did we arrive at this mishap where the ‘blind’ have to be leading those with sight? Then we must first accept that to be ‘blind’ is not a fundamental mistake as much as not knowing the direction to a preferred destination and yet forcing everybody to follow your lead.

There is no nation that has ever embarked on a

developmental journey with an all certainty of success. But along every path that leads to success or failure are signs which the wellintentioned drivers analyse to facilitate their projections or to make a

the eventual whereabouts of such profits have ended up as mindboggling fairytales.

In our case, such profits that are kept in the ‘safe’ custody of the blind safe keepers always end up being plundered by the

reinvent themselves in power. And the list was such endlessly long.

This may not be unconnected with why the ‘seed monies’ various regimes pretend to be saving of behalf of the citizens suddenly vanish and enquiries are never fruitful. Realising that it would always

• President Goodluck Jonathan

retreat when perceived to be against the intended projections. It may take a good sense of dialogue, smell, touch or maybe sight to achieve this. However, I certainly do not know how this can be achieved through a gluttonous sense for feeding or greed.

In the history of nations that have attained success is found sacrifices which the citizens have had to make at one time or the other. Importantly too, gains from these sacrifices have been stored to be reinvested as seed capital. Even when our occasional or accidental wisdom has won for us certain profits,

unseen hands.

Recently, somebody posted something in the social media which relates to why Nigeria may never have its young ones becoming future leaders of the country. The post was an accurate account of how some persons who have ruled the country over 20 -30 years ago, somehow

demand huge sums of money to remain in the perspective of political power, it is therefore imperative to stack up for the future political quest.

This is the siege that has been placed on the national life of our dear country. The means of coming into and stayingput in power have been

FEED BACK

By KINGSLEY OGBEIDE-IHAMA

so well coveted and doctored by those who make it impossible for other easily affordable factors of the ordinary Nigerian to be forever put on hold and considered irrelevant.

Some optimist may claim it is a wrong or defeatist mindset to assume that the ordinary Nigerian does not have the wherewithal to get onto any elective political office. But when you consider what it would cost to achieve all the n e c e s s a r y documentation which include several years’ tax payment, the statutory amount demanded by the electoral bodies, funding of campaigns and its hangers-on of party leaders and followers - it becomes much clearer to appreciate why the very brilliant unemployed persons or the poor would never get to the seat of any elective political office.

And perhaps by some contradictions of fate, even those who claim it is through one of those miraculous feats of the benevolent God they found themselves in political power; have done far worse by strengthening the grip of retardation with either their actions or their

silence in alluding to the conditions and policies that make the poor ever becoming poorer.

How then do we get out of this mess? Just as it was not difficult to have an accurate account of most of those who have held-tight to political power being posted on the social media, certain persons and their proxies have been identified as the cause of our underdevelopment as a nation.

At the height of people’s anger, some persons have prescribed the rather hash treatment of the former Ghanaian leader, Jerry Rawlings, who uncompromisingly got rid of the perceived corrupt past Ghanaian rulers. But in my reasoning, I would not ascribe to this manner of treatment irrespective of understanding the colossal damage that has been done to a greater number of Nigerians through their mischief.

It is therefore my wish that they should be banned from politics. This is not a case of proposing an uncivilised policy. It is a case of what is proper to be done for Nigeria to attain the status of a civilised society which we are presently very far away from.

“ At the height of people’s anger, some persons have prescribed the rather hash treatment of the former Ghanaian leader, Jerry Rawlings, who uncompromisingly got rid of the perceived corrupt past Ghanaian rulers. But in my reasoning, I would not ascribe to this manner of treatment irrespective of understanding the colossal damage that has been done to a greater number of Nigerians through their mischief.”

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