Nigerian observer 22 07 2014

The Nigerian

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol . 39 • NO.039 • TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 • N100.00 NUTRITIONAL HEALTH AND DIETETICS

Page 14

A healthy diet

Edo appoints 20 new Permanent Oiboh, M.E. Okojie, BENIN CITY – Edo Secretaries Comrade Faluyi State Governor, Edo State Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has approved the appointment of twenty new p e r m a n e n t

Secretaries in the State Civil Service.

A Government House statement issued yesterday and endorsed by the Chief Press Secretary to the

Government, Mr. Peter Okhiria gave the names of the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries as: F.A. Bello, I.O. Okuo, B.E.

Osarayi and V. Enebi.

Others are: O.G. Umolu, Engr. S.E. Eghomare, P.E. Aziagbemhin, O. S. Uhinmwangho, C. O. Continues on page 2

Attracting Investors To Edo

NUTRITIONAL HEALTH AND DIETETICS

Page 14 Protocol on the rights of women in Africa

Jonathan lauds Oshiomhole

OBAYANTOr (IKPOBA-OKHA - President Goodluck Jonathan has commended Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State for attracting investments into the state, saying the Governor is an investor’s delight.

The President gave the he said it is available, commendation yesterday come and get it. Those (Monday) during the are the sort of Governors commissioning of Presco that investors want to BioGas Power Plant work with. A Governor Project at Obayantor, that is dynamic, a Benin City.

Governor that Represented by the understands the Minister of Industry, economics, that Trade and Investment, Mr understands the needs of Olusegun Aganga, the the people, that President said, “for any understands the form of investment, importance of policies are critical, but investments in their the enabling environment states. is far more important. I “I wish also to wish to commend the commend the people of government of Edo state, Edo State for providing in particular the Governor the cordial atmosphere of Edo State, we heard for Presco to operate all his comments when they these years and to said they needed another continue to invest in this 20,000 hectares of land, state and in this country.

It is my hope that the cooperation that has sustained Presco will be extended to other i n d u s t r i a l establishments in Edo

State.”

Dr. Agangan assured that the Federal Government will continue to partner with states like Edo in its

policy to bring about results which Nigerians expect from governance.

He added, “I also want to say thank you to the Governor of Edo State,

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for your kind support for Presco Company in boosting the agro-allied industry.

It is a great honour for Continues on page 2

Edo Assembly charges LG on projects execution

By KEN ABU BENIN CITY – Edo State House of Assembly has urged Chairmen of the respective Local Government Council’s across the state to ensure that they award contracts for only projects that can be completed during their tenure in office in order to reduce the incidence of uncompleted projects.

Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Hon.

Uyi Igbe gave the charge during yesterday’s plenary session at the briefing by the chairman of Akoko-Edo, Egor and Esan Central Local Government Areas.

Presenting his council’s brief to parliament, the chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Council, Hon. Joseph Akerejola stated that during the year under review commencing from

TIT BIT “The monkey that assumes its beautiful face would spare it the assault of the hunters’s bullet would sooner or later realise the foolishness of its assumption.”

- Kinglsey Ogbeide-Ihama

April, 2013 to April 2014, his administration executed projects that positively impacted on the lives of people in his Continues on page 2

COMMISSIONING: L-R: Mr. Pierre Vandebeeck, Chairman, Presco Plc, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment and Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State at the commissioning of Presco Plc Biogas Plant in Benin City, yesterday.

Live in peace with Christians,

By TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN BENIN CITY – Elder Statesman, and two – time Governor of Midwestern and Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia on Sunday urged the Muslim Community in Edo State to continue to live in peace and harmony with their Christian brothers in the interest of progress and development.

Dr. Ogbemudia gave the charge when he hosted the Muslim

Ogbemudia urges Muslims

Community in the state who had converged in his residence on the 23rd day of their Ramaddan period, to break their fast.

According to the elder statesman, “I called the

Muslim leaders in Edo State to come break their fast in my house to ensure that there is harmony and to enjoin them to live together in peace. I also called them

to pray for me and the nation during this Ramaddan period, and that is exactly what the Chief Iman has done. I had made preparations for 30 members but 91

turned up. “I thank God that they accepted my invitation and that they prayed for me and the nation.”

Earlier, the Chief Iman Continues on page 2

FG warns against registration, deportation of ethnic groups

ABUJA - The Federal Government yesterday warned state

governments involved in the registration and issuance of identity cards

to members of other ethnic groups resident in their domains to stop

forthwith.

The decision was Continues on page 2

News Jonathan lauds Oshiomhole

Continued from page 1

me to be here today for the formal commissioning of this Bio-Gas Plant.

“It is important to note that 10,000 Nigerians are among the shareholders of this company.

So every penny they make and the dividends they pay have a huge success in maintaining these 10,000 Nigerians since 1991 when the Company was established.”

He said, “This commissioning is coming at a time when the country is in dire need to move towards renewable energy, waste to power and more importantly, energy for industrialization. Most of us may not realise that one of the advantages of the agro-allied sector is that from the ways of producing most of this things, we have to use adequate power.”

In his remark, the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole while appreciating the Management of Presco and

the Federal Government in its Industrial policy said, “Part of the problem of our democracy is that we spend too much time talking politics and very little time discussing the economy, investment, wealth creation among others and yet we know that the capacity of the political class to bring prosperity to the people requires that we generate wealth.

He said: “part of the challenge in the Nigerian system is that the Nigerian party sytem does not support businesses that require long-term gestation. If you borrow at 20%, 22% or 25%, it would be difficult to break even.

“When nations in Europe are lending at 4% to 6%, we are lending at 20 to 25% its crazy and so I appreciate those facilities that enable you to access loans in single digit.

He said: “we need to do more to ensure that there is policy coherence beyond what we see in terms of what we do as government both at the federal

and state levels. As you know, trade has never been free, nation-states must formulate policies that are informed by their enlightened self-interest.

He said: Nigeria’s policy should come first before that of West Africa and we do not have to be apologetic about it. Our country should be our centrepoint, Nigeria should be the primary purpose of trade policies, foreign policies and diplomacy.

“A situation where we pursue policies that support West African neighbours at our own expense, those policies need to be reviewed. We must not compromise jobs, we must not compromise those industrial policies that are designed to put Nigeria and Nigerians back to work.”

He said the Federal Government must stop the practice of granting waivers, saying “waivers are very damaging to businesses. It distorts the level-playing field, it

rehabilitated some health care centres and provided drugs to them, while salaries and allowances of council staff have been paid up to date.

In their various remarks, Lawmakers Commended, the various local government chairman for embarking on people – oriented policies and programmes in their domain.

They however expressed reservation on the poor profile

them to improve on it.

Summing up deliberations, on the briefs, Hon. Igbe charged the respective council bosses to seek viable alternative means to improve on the profile of their IGR in their respective council.

The speaker disclosed that ad-hoc committees would be set-up to look into the claims as contained in the briefs by the various council bosses.

Edo Assembly charges LG on projects of their Internally Generated Continued from page 1 execution Revenue (IFR) while urging

domain.

The projects, according to the Chairman included provision of 1,775 desks with chairs to schools; construction of blocks of classrooms; construction of health care centres, rural electrification, roads construction and purchase of buses for the council’s Mass Transit Scheme.

Also, Hon. Victor Enobakhare, Chairman Egor Local Government Council while presenting his briefs before parliament, disclosed that his administration has provided 100 Free School uniforms to 30 selected schools in his domain adding that road construction, health – care programmes, rural electrification and education formed the cardinal achievements of his administration during the year under review.

The chairman, Esan Central Local Government Council, Hon. Solomon Eramhahemhen informed parliament during his presentation of brief that his administration has so far embarked on 48 projects across wards in his council, out of which 26 have been completed.

He stressed that Agriculture has been given its pride of place by his administration.

According to him, the administration has also

Permanent Secretaries

Continued from page 1 Odigie, A.C. Osunde, L.I. Obayagbona, R.E. Osaghae and S.E. Omorodion, Esq. The rest are: A.C. Abbe, Dr. Ofure Eboreime, E.E. Osahon, Dan Aigbavboa and Idugboe Helen – Adesuwa.

The appointment of the new Permanent Secretaries, the statement said, takes effect from July 16, 2014.

confuses investors because the rules are unclear and it creates corruption, because the exercise of such discretion cannot in any way be objective.”

Oshiomhole said, “I want to congratulate the management of Presco for demonstrating practically your confidence in the economy of Nigeria by making long term investments.

Also, by your actions, making a bold statement that Edo State is the safest place across the country for investors to come.

“Our people are friendly, they are hardworking, they are creative and as former labour leader, I can boldly say that Edo people are the most productive of all the working people in Nigeria.”

He urged the Management of Presco to continue to demonstrate their confidence in the state by expanding their facilities and assured them of Government’s support in providing the necessary incentives that they need to continue to expand.

Earlier in his address of welcome, the Managing Director, Presco Company Limited, Mr Uday Pilani thanked Edo State Government for providing the enabling environment for Presco to carry out its activities.

The Governor later commissioned the Presco Biogas Power Plant which generates electricity from the waste generated from the oilpalm company.

Live in peace with Christians

Continued from page 1

of Benin Central Mosque who led other Muslim leaders to the residence of Dr. S.O. Ogbemudia thanked their host for inviting them to break their fast and prayed to God to grant him long life, good health and prosperity.

The Muslim Chief, Igala

Community in Edo State, Chief Abdulkarem Ibraheem and those of Hausa and Yoruba Community in Edo State, before the prayers said fighting and violence had never been in the character of the Muslims. He went down memory lane to demonstrate

that Muslims had always cohabited with Christians, adding that any Muslim who wishes to propagate Islam with violence was on his own.

Highpoint of the event was the breaking of the fast with fruits, water and food which was in abundance.

“The council resolved that the issue of registration of Nigerians anywhere in the country and deportation should stop forthwith.

“To reemphasise the importance that the president has attached to this, is the reason he said both of us should address you. This must stop forthwith.”

The SSS boss warned security operatives in the affected states not to be involved as anyone found aiding and abetting such exercise would be severely dealt with.

He also warned youth groups trying to cash in on the development to foment trouble to desist as government was taking serious notice of the situation.

“Security operatives should not register people, security operatives should not be involved in trying to deport people. Security operatives must henceforth not be involved.

“Any operative - police or SSS - found being involved in it will be severely dealt with.

“And also youth groups trying to foment trouble because of this issue are hereby warned to

desist from it because government is taking serious notice of it.

“Government is doing everything possible to stop this from getting out of control.” · Ekpeyong said that the Boko Haram insurgency and the abducted Chibok schoolgirls were the other major security issues discussed at the meeting.

He likened the fight against terrorism to a football match where only goals scored were remembered, while those saved by the goalkeeper were easily forgotten.

Ekpeyong said that the government was doing a lot to curtail the situation and would continue to prevent attacks planned against the unsuspecting public.

He reiterated government’s assurance that security agencies knew the location the Chibok girls were being held and said that efforts were being made behind the scene to rescue them alive.

On his part, Abubakar urged Nigerians to be patient and to continue to support the government and security agencies in their anti-terrorism campaigns.

FG warns against registration, deportation of ethnic groups Continued from page 1

ta ken at a meeting of the National Security Council summoned by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja to discuss the issue.

Mr Ita Ekpeyong, the Director-General, State Security Service (SSS), and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.

Ekpeyong said that the council discussed the reactions that trailed the controversial exercise and concluded that it posed bigger threat to the country’s unity than the Boko Haram insurgency.

“The council discussed in details the issue of Nigerians being subjected to registration; being subjected to deportation and being subjected to being taken away from one part of the country to another.

The council discussed the reactions by some groups in Kano and other parts of the country.

“The council observed that this threat was more potent than Boko Haram and could disintegrate the country and we take this very seriously.

Resolve Your Differences, Support Oshiomhole - CD boss urges Lawmakers

By TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN BENIN CITY – The Coordinator, Campaign for Democracy, Elder Macaulay Ovienria has appealed to lawmakers in the Edo State House of Assembly to resolve their differences and cooperate with Governor Adams Oshiomhole to develop the state, in the interest of all.

Elder Ovienria, in a release noted that Governor Oshiomhole was in a haste to develop Edo State and urged the good people of the State and especially members of the Edo State House of Assembly to shun all evil mechanism geared towards frustrating the developmental efforts of the Comrade Governor.

The campaign for Democracy boss also used the opportunity to commend

Governor Oshiomhole for canceling the competency test for teachers as well reinstating those who were sacked.

“I appeal to those lawmakers in opposition in Edo State House of Assembly who seem to have eaten the forbidden fruits to retrace their steps and follow the footsteps of righteousness by coming back to join their colleagues whom they have been working together ever since to move Edo State forward under the dynamic leadership of our Comrade Governor, Adams Oshiomhole,” Elder Ovienria said.

He equally thanked the Benin Monarch, Oba Erediauwa and other traditional rulers in Edo State for their timely intervention in the avoidable crisis which hit the Edo State House of Assembly.

Reinstatement of 936 Teachers, Assembly C’ttee commends SUBEB BENIN CITY- Edo State House of Assembly Committee on Education has commended the Executive Chairman and Members of State Universal Basic Education Board for implementing the resolutions of Edo State House of Assembly on the reinstatement of about 936 teachers with falsified records and Civil Servants that were granted extension of service.

This commendation was made when the House Committee on Education visited the Board for their oversight functions.

The committee Members led by its Chairman. Hon. Folly Ogedengbe urged the Board to make judicious use of the funds for UBE Project.

While seeking collaborative efforts to reposition Basic Education in Edo State, Hon, Ogendegbe maintained that the house will continue to monitor the Board in order to give the dividends of

democracy to the citizens of the State.

Responding, the Executive Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board Prince Stephen Alao, informed the committee that the Board has successfully mobilized contractors handing the 126 UBE/SUBEB 4 th phase Projects sited across the State.

He said that the present Board has to key into the vision of the Comrade Governor of having at least a modern red roof primary school in every nook and cranny of Edo State.

Prince Alao thefore solicited the maximum cooperation of the house to deliver on the mandate of repositioning Basic Education in the State.

The Executive Chairman and Board Members later led the house committee on Education to inspect some of the on-going projects at Edaiken Primary School, Uselu, Benin City.

EKPOMA - The All Progressive Congress (APC), Esan West Local Government Chapter has constituted a committee to reconcile aggrieved groups and factions within the party in the locality.

The decision was taken at an enlarged meeting of party leaders and members, held at the party secretariat, along Police Barracks Road, Ekpoma, Edo State.

In attendance were Barr.

Gabriel Enaboifo, Chief Simeon Omofuma, Chief K. B. Akhimien, Hon. Vincent Odigie (AKA Gbogbo), Austin Oghadena, Capt. Felix Omokhodion, eight ward chairmen, 10 councillors, representatives from the 10 wards of the local government area, as well as other party leaders and members.

The meeting reviewed all issues precipitated by the

recent party congresses in the local government and discussed ways to build a formidable party in the locality.

Speaking at the meeting, a leader of the party in the local government, Chief Simeon Omofuma admonished opposing factions to shun acts capable of tarnishing the image of the party.

He sued for the co-operation of all party members, stressing that unity within the party was required to muster sufficient strength to face opposition parties in future elections.

Another party leader, Barr.

Gabriel Enaboifo, who spoke at the meeting, similarly dwelt on the need to foster peace and promote intra-party harmony in the local government area.

It would be recalled that the recent ward and local government APC congresses caused a crack in the party in Esan West Local Government Area, leading to the emergence of two factions.

Esan West APC constitutes reconciliation C’ttee

News

Edo High Court Begins Vacation BENIN CITY – The August 4 the vacation shall be fresh annual vacation of Edo

A former Governor of the Defunct Midwest and Bendel States, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia (right) and the Chief Imam, Benin Central Mosque, Alhaji Abdul-Fatai Enabulele during the breaking of fast on Sunday hosted by Dr. Ogbemudia at his residence in Benin City. Photo: OSADEBAMWEN SUNDAY.

State High Court is to commence on Monday August 4, 2014 and end on Friday September 12, 2014.

A statement by the Chief Registrar of the High Court, Hilary Enemaku (Esq) said the vacation followed the directive of the State Chief Judge, Justice Cromwell Idahosa in line with the provisions of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2012.

During the vacation, there shall be one vacation judge in the state who shall

Ministry Begins Distribution Of Oil Palm a text message from the ODUKPANI (Cross Inputs To Farmers include farmer’s phone, which would River) - The Cross River State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has commenced the distribution of oil palm inputs to farmers for the 2014 farming season.

Mrs. Ada Edu, Head, Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme in the ministry, performed the ceremony on Monday at the Odukpani Redemption Centre, in Odukpani Local Government Area.

Edu stressed the need for benefitting farmers to make use of the inputs to boost oil palm production and be ready to key

into the state government’s policies on Agriculture.

She said that with the successful launch of the exercise, farmers were entitled to 50 oil palm seedlings, one bag of 50kg fertiliser and one litre of herbicide.

She disclosed that 1,750 oil palm farmers across the state had so far registered for the Growth Enhancement Support scheme in 2014.

Addressing the farmers, Mr Ubana Ubi, the local government Desk Officer for the project, said that the exercise was an opportunity for farmers across the state to

NSUKKA (Enugu State) - Rev. Fr. Uchechukwu Obodoechina, Administrator of St. Theresa’s Catholic Cathedral, Nsukka Enugu State, has urged catholic faithful to always pray for politicians, especially the 2015 general elections.

Obodoechina, who made the remark in Nsukka during the Church service, said constant prayers to God would ensure victory for only those who had the country’s interest at heart in 2015.

According to him, the best thing to do is to pray to God, the people should not sit down and be complaining all the time as this will not solve our problems.

“As we pray, we should also remember to play our part by voting candidates of our choice during the elections,” he said.

He congratulated the people of Nsukka as the

Enugu State governorship had been zoned to Nsukka District.

The cleric urged politicians from Nsukka to put their selfish interest and political differences aside so as to select the best candidate who would take the state to enviable height.

Obodoechina said that the consensus person should be God-fearing and have good track record of excellent performance.

benefit from the GES. He urged the farmers to make good use of the inputs, adding that both the state and the Federal Government had subsidised all the inputs.

According to him, farmers are to pay only N6,300 for the three items.

Also speaking, Mr. Asuquo Inemesit, Jetlink Coordinator, explained details of the processes of the redemption.

According to him, these

indicate the quantity of the inputs and the amount as well as the farmer’s identity number.

In an interview shortly after redeeming his Agro inputs, Mr. Israel Okon, a farmer from Akamkpa Local Government Area commended both the state and the Federal Government for the initiative.

“I thank them for coming to our aid and I promise to make good use of these inputs, ‘’ Okon said.

sit in Benin Judicial Division, holding at Benin City over the Civil Division of the High Court, and shall entertain only urgent matters.

There shall also be one vacation judge who shall sit in Benin Criminal Division of the High Court and shall entertain only urgent matters, especially issues relating to bail applications and matters incidental thereto.

The statement noted that matters to be entertained by the vacation judges during

matters period and not connected with matters already pending in the courts.

Cases pending before the regular counts, the statement noted may however be heard with the leave of the judge in charge of that court and with the consent of counsel to both parties.

The statement however gave the name of the vacation judge as Justice VOA Oviawe of the High Court, Fugar, Etsako Central Local Government Area.

the heavy down pour on Friday when a building collapsed killing three persons in the process.

They are the two sons and a house maid of the Edo State Chairman of the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON), Mr. Osamudiamen Osagiede.

The incident occurred at Urora Community Ikpoba

Okha Local Government Area of the state at about 3.45 pm.

It was gathered that two of the victims were the only sons of the YSFON Chairman who had gone to the spot to fix their faulty bicycle, with a bicycle repairer. They could not be rescued alive as they died instantly.

The collapsed building, it was also gathered was erected about 15 years ago.

Collapsed Building BENIN CITY – There was Kills 3 tragedy in Benin City during

Cleric Urges Catholic Faithful To Pray For Politicians

Members, Edo State House of Assembly Committee on Education inspecting on-going SUBEB Projects at Edaiken Primary School, Uselu, Benin City. Photo: PAPARAZZO SMART (SUBEB).

FG Allocates 247,000 Bags Of Fertiliser To Farmer

KATSINA - The Federal Government has allocated 247, 000 bags of fertiliser for sale to farmers in Katsina State, through the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme’s e-wallet for the 2014 farming season.

The Katsina State Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Abdu

Aminu Omar, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Katsina yesterday.

He said that farmers would pay 50 per cent of the cost of the commodity, while the Federal and State governments would pay the remaining 50 per cent, adding that one bag of fertiliser would cost N2,750.

The Director said that the

ministry had already begun selling the fertiliser at designated centres across the 34 local government areas of the state.

He explained that each registered farmer was entitled to only two bags of fertiliser under the programme, while each local government would

get its allocation based on the number of registered farmers.

Omar said that improved seeds of maize and rice were also being sold at a subsidised rate, to encourage farming activities.

He said that decision was aimed at providing fertilisers at the door steps of farmers, to enhance agricultural productivity and guarantee food security in the state and

the country at large.

The director also said that the government conducts aerial spray of quail birds every dry season to prevent the birds from destroying crops.

He restated the commitment of the government to initiate programmes that would encourage farming activities in the country.

Across The Nation Group Urges FG To Curb Extortion Of Trader East.

AWKA - Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, PresidentGeneral of Amalgamated Market Traders Association of Anambra State (AMATAS), has urged the Federal Government to curb the incessant extortion of traders conveying goods on highways.

Ezenwankwo made the appeal in an interview with newsmen at the election of executives of Eke-Awka market chapter of AMATAS in Awka.

He said the extortion was affecting traders, adding: “the extortion mostly on highways is one of the daunting challenges the traders are facing in the course of doing their businesses.

“We know what it takes to bring down our goods from Lagos or Onne Sea Port to the South-East.

“Some of us who bring goods from outside the country are not disturbed the way Nigeria security officials treat traders on the roads,” he said.

He commended the state government for creating the enabling environment for traders to thrive, adding that the state had the least tax levied on traders in the South-

The president-general also commended the maturity and comportment of the traders during the election, and charged the new leadership to see their election as service to God and humanity.

In his acceptance speech, the new Chairman of EkeAwka Market, Chief Emeka Agumadu, promised to draw the attention of government to the lingering challenges of electricity and water in the market.

Agumadu assured the traders that his administration

would ensure improvement in the security and upgrading of the market to an international standard.

Other members of the executive were Mr. Echezona Obiano, Vice Chairman; Mr. Emeka Anemezie, Secretary; Mr. Austine Okolie, Assistant Secretary; and Mr. Uchendu Efobi, Financial Secretary, among others.

The state government had appointment a caretaker committee to oversee the market following the leadership crisis that rocked the market for four years.

LAGOS - Mrs. Angela Adegboyega, Chairperson, King Solomon Microfinance Bank, has appealed to microfinance bank operators to intensify grassroots training for the unbanked and small-scale entrepreneurs in the country.

Adegboyega told newsmen in Lagos that the

Microfinance banking sector would become more active if they could train such entrepreneurs on what could sustain their businesses and make them to flourish.

The Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), established the microfinance banking policy in December 2005.

Hon. Victor Enobakhare, Chairman, Egor Local Government Council (left) presenting the briefs of the activities of his council to Mr. James Omorotamwan, Deputy Clerk, Legislative Matters, Edo State House of Assembly during the Chairman’s appearance at the House yesterday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Microfinance Official Tasks Operators On Grassroots Training “The CBN is to grant microfinance banking licenses to institutions to enable them to provide banking services to the unbanked and those that are not attended to by the conventional banks” the policy statement said.

“The need to improve the businesses of micro entrepreneurs is not only through financial empowerment but also by training the entrepreneurs themselves on what could make such businesses to succeed and remain sustainable”.

“The knowledge and

awareness will grow and expand their businesses, revenues, improve the social and economic well being of the entrepreneurs and stem the huge bad debts confronting the sector,” she said.

Adegboyega advised the adoption of a practical and day-to-day language to explain and show the basic things required in setting up and progressing such businesses.

According to her, topics like how to start your business, basic book keeping, managing personal finances and

simple business operations, should be taught to the entrepreneurs.

“Other areas include Market information gathering, growing your businesses, reinvestment policies, positioning your businesses for bank lending and other areas, should also be taught to the small business owners,” she said.

Adegboyega urged the banks to operate an open door policy towards the investors, to enable them to ask questions and seek clarifications on grey areas, as their businesses developed.

Group Tasks Nigerians On Humanitarianism

Hon. Victor Enobakhare, Chairman, Egor Local Government Council (centre) flanked on his right by Mr. Joshua Uwagboe and Mr. Kecity Osifo during the Chairman’s appearance at Edo State House of Assembly Old Assembly yesterday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

LAGOS - The President of the Lekki Lions Club, Lagos, Dr Yewande Jinadu, has called on Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers and assist the less-privileged people in their communities.

Jinadu, made the plea during an interview with newsmen, on

IPMAN, Foreign Investor To Build 2 Refineries ABUJAIndependent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in collaboration with Water Carbornfield Energy Ltd. (CEL), a consortium firm from Panama is set to construct two refineries in the country.

The CEL Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jose Arosemena Mosi, who made the disclosure when he spoke with newsmen in Abuja, said the refineries would be built in Bayelsa and Kogi State.

According to him the refineries with targeted capacity of 200,000 barrel per day will guarantee a steady flow of oil products needed to satisfy local consumption.

“The cost of the refineries is

not certain at this moment, we need to do the economic analysis and it will take like two or four months.

“The refinery capacity is about 200,000 barrel per day. It will take like four or five years to build, complete and start production,” he said Mosi said the company would be responsible for the funding of the refinery, while IPMAN was expected to provide the local content.

The IPMAN President, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, said the association sealed the investment deal with foreign company to build the refinery in Agge, Ceek in Bayelsa and Kogi,

respectively.

Okoronkwo said Agge had one of the deepest port in West Africa and with that it would make it on the refinery hub in the region.

He said the one in Kogi would also help to serve the market in the North because of its strategic location According to him, the proposed refineries will help to grow the country’s Gross Domestic Product and reduce capital flight.

Okoronkwo said the project would create about two million direct and indirect jobs, help in production distribution nationwide and reduce dependence on importation.

“You will agree with me that over 80 per cent of the downstream sector is being owned by the IPMAN, when you are talking of petrol station owners.

“So, with these refineries members will have easy access to products and will have it in their stations and by extension it will grow the economy and create wealth,” Okoronkwo said.

The IPMAN president said the host governors had demonstrated willingness to support the projects by providing land and other necessary assistance.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to assist further in creating favourable environment for the investment to thrive

the sidelines of the inaugural board meeting of the club in Lagos.

She said that humanitarian service was the major responsibility of the society and that this should be imbibed by individuals, corporate bodies and groups within the community.

According to her, such humanitarian activities depend on the choices of individuals or groups within the community.

“I, therefore, implore Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers; help one another, especially the less privileged within their communities, including the women and children.

“It is someone today; it might be you or somebody close to you that would be in need tomorrow. Therefore, we need one another to survive and coexist peacefully,” she said.

Jinadu said that the club had a history of providing education, healthcare delivery and hospitality to bring succour to majority of Nigerians.

“We are partners and stakeholders in the Nigeria

project and we do not make any profit from the services we render to Nigerians, to complement government efforts.

“We are planning to refurbish and build toilets, supply school books, eye screening and provision of free glasses, as well as provide well-stocked First Aid boxes in public schools and Orphanage homes in Lekki.

“We hope to achieve these projects by the end of the second quarter of the year, “she said.

Jinadu, however called on well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to donate, sponsor and support the club to assist them carry out their humanitarian services.

She also urged individuals and corporate organisations to reach out to the less privileged, the needy and the vulnerable ones in the society, through their corporate social responsibility activities.

According to her, government alone cannot provide for the needs of all in the society.

Across The Nation Commission Orders NAFDAC To Pay FG N1.4bn

ABUJA -The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has directed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to pay N1.4 billion it was owing the Federal Government.

Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr. Victor Muruako, gave the directive during a meeting of the commission and NAFDAC management in Abuja He said that the debt arose from failure of the agency to remit its correct operating surplus to the government for 2007, 2008 and 2009 and from

some discrepancies in its audited accounts for the years.

He explained that the agency remitted incorrect figures during the period and directed it to pay the money into the Federation Account.

“Based on the Financial Statements submitted to us, NAFDAC was to remit N491 million in 2007, N857 million in 2008, and N607.6 million in 2009 as operating surplus.

“However, your record has shown that you only remitted N64 million in 2007, N93.5 million in 2008 and N105 million in 2009.

“In total, NAFDAC was to

Technology Piracy: Commission Mulls Amending Act ONITSHA - (Anambra) The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) said yesterday it had planned to amend its enabling Act to tackle technological forms of piracy.

The Zonal Manager of the commission, Mr Emeka Ogbonna, told newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State that a bill for act to amend the commission’s mandate had been sent to the National Assembly.

Ogbonna explained that the bill would enable the commission to arrest those patronising the pirates and the middlemen.· “ I can tell you that we have been in touch with the stakeholders on the best way to approach that type of infringement.

“Technology continues to improve and we continue to have

challenges and it is only when you see it that you start working on how best to cut-off the negative aspects of such developments.

“As I speak to you, the Nigerian Copyright Act is being amended and the essence of the amendment is to bring it to a particular level that it can address some of these technological challenges.

“Strictly speaking about the memory cards, MP-3, MP-4, you see, memory card per say, has no problem; MP-3, MP-4 per say is not the problem, the problem is the content.

“Because the same device we are talking about can as well be used for something legitimate.

pay a surplus of N1.9 billion but instead it paid N516 million.

This shows an outstanding balance of N1.4 billion,” he said.

Muruako also said that the FRC was dissatisfied with some expenses incurred by NAFDAC, stating that the expenses were high.

“There are some unusual increases in the cost of maintenance declared in the 2010 audited accounts.

“Building repairs and maintenance increased from N93.65 million in 2009 to N315.6 million in 2010.

“Also, repairs and maintenance of other equipment also jumped from N58.99 million to N203.5 million during the period, showing an increase of 244. 9 per cent.

“You need to provide us with plausible explanations for these increases. This looks like ‘creative accounting’ because even with inflation, the figures shouldn’t change this much,” he said.

Muruako therefore directed NAFDAC management to produce evidence of the expenses, adding that the agency’s Director-General should be at the next meeting between both organizations “to guarantee payment of the

outstanding amount.”

In his reaction, the Director of Finance and Accounts of NAFDAC, Mr Ademola Mogbojuri, said that FRC made mistake in its calculation of indebtedness of the agency to the government.

He said that the two agencies applied different accounting

methods in their calculations, explaining that while NAFDAC based its report on cash collection, FRC calculated on accruals.

According to him, the accruals could have been wrongly translated as income.

“These transactions happened when we were not well informed about the FRC act and because of that, we may not be able to comply with the

Hon. Erumwusee Solomon, Chairman, Esan Central Local Government Council; presenting briefs of the activities of his council to Mr. James Omoataman, Deputy Clerk Legislative Matters, Edo State House of Assembly, during his appearance at the House yesterday.

Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN

2014: Kwara LG Presents

N991.3m Budget

OMU-ARAN - (Kwara) The Ekiti Local Government of Kwara yesterday presented a budget of N991.3 million for the 2014 fiscal year to its legislative arm for consideration.

The Chairman of the council, Mr. Akintoba Fatigun, presented the budget estimates to the councillors at the council’s legislative chambers in Araromi-Opin, Kwara.

Fatigun said the proposed capital expenditure stood at N222.8 million, while the projected revenue was N991.3 million.

The chairman said that Hon. Erunmwusee Solomon, Chairman, Esan Central Local Government Council (centre) housing and community flanked by Mr. O. O. Igbinigie and Barr. Macaulay Ehonor, Head of Service of the Council services were allocated during the Chairman’s appearance at the Assembly yesterday.

N65.7 million being the

largest share of the budget.

He said the general public service and recreation, culture and religion got N42.3 million and N37 million respectively.

He explained that the budget was designed to consolidate on the achievements of the immediate past administration in improving the physical infrastructures and boosting the socioeconomic development of the council.

He listed the areas of priority to include rural d e v e l o p m e n t , enhancement of socioeconomic activities of the

Group Wants FG To Fast Track Tourism Devt

ABUJA -National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Tourism Group has urged Federal Government to develop the tourism sector to fast track economic growth and youth empowerment in the country.

The group’s President, Mr Ezinwa Chinonso, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Monday.

Chinonso said the move would assist in addressing the challenges of unemployment in the country.

He identified lack of interest on tourism as part of the challenges retarding the country’s economic growth, and stressed the need to increase budgetary allocation for the sector.

“Nigerian government do not really have additional budget for tourism, and tourism only have 30 per cent rating in the country,’’ he opined.

He said that effective structures of orientation, understanding the aspect of tourism, encourage Public

Private Partnership (PPP) and effective management of budgeted allocation would promote the development of tourism sector.

The group’s president said creating awareness to the general public would also encourage the development of the sector in the country.

“Inadequate funding structure, absent of private investors on tourism, poor government policy and insecurity as well as insurgency are factors militating against the

verdict for 2007, 2008.

“However, we will try and pay what we owe for 2009, using the cash basis accounting,” he added.

On the unusual increase in the agency’s expenses, Mogbojuri said that it was due to inflation and expansion in its activities and personnel.

He also said that the agency had more facilities to maintain during the period.

development of the sector,” he said.

Also, Mr Gabriel Emmanuel, Vice-President of the group, said the group’s focus was to educate corp members about their environment, culture, ideals, ethics and norms of their country.

Emmanuel said part of the group’s mandate was to travel to places to learn people’s culture and to educate the public about the importance of culture and tourism in Nigeria.

According to him, what the group is doing will improve culture, ethnics and other related issues among the various tribal group in FCT. Emmanuel said the group’s awareness project would provide sufficient knowledge about the values, norms, tradition as well as provide a common ground for all Nigerians to stand.

The NYSC Tourism Group is a Community Development Service group of 2014 batch ‘A’ in FCT.

people of the communities.

The council’s boss said the administration depended much on the collaboration of its workforce and the people of the communities in achieving the desired aims and objectives.

“This budget is aimed at fast-tracking development in the council area through the completion of all projects initiated in the 2013 appropriation by the immediate past council administration,” he said.

Fatigun said projects that needed to be given attention included construction of blocks of classrooms in each of the 10 wards of the council and provision of patrol van to boost security.

He pledged the administration’s strict adherence to provisions of the budget in laying a solid foundation in order to raise the standard of living of the people of the community.

The Speaker, Mr. Olosunde Segun, after receiving the budget proposals said the councilors would give it a speedy passage.

This, he said, would enable the council to accelerate its socioeconomic development agenda.

South West End Strike, Kaduna Residents Appeal To Doctors

Hon. Folorunsho Joseph Akerejola, Chairman Akoko-Edo Local Government Council (left) presenting the briefs of his council to Mr. James Omoataman, Deputy Clerk Legislative Matters, Edo State House of Assembly during the Chairman’s appearance at the House yesterday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Dry Season Rice Farming

KADUNA Some residents of Kaduna have appealed to medical doctors to end their strike in the interest of humanity.

The residents made the appeal in separate interviews with newsmen.

Mrs Beatrice Bala, a civil servant, said the strike had disrupted health services and exposed most Nigerians to untold hardship.

“Doctors should remember that the masses are suffering because of the strike and most people cannot access health services because they cannot afford to pay the bills

charged by private hospitals.

“Some of them are still lying helplessly in public hospitals due to the lack of funds to go to private hospitals for treatment,’’ she said.

Mr Moses Ambi, a farmer, expressed worry over the strike and urged government and the striking doctors to negotiate.

“If the government does not have funds to give the health sector, they should not enter into agreement that they cannot fulfil leaving the masses with pains and insufficient health services,’’ Ambi said.

Farmers Experience High Yields BAUCHI -Dry season rice farmers in Bauchi State have said that the 2014 season had witnessed significant boost in paddy production and called for more federal and state governments’ subsidy.

Dr Yahaya Adamu, the state’s Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), told newsmen in Bauchi that the farmers could do more, if the current subsidy on inputs was expanded.

Adamu described that the current Federal and State Governments’ subsidy of two bags of fertiliser and agroliser as grossly inadequate.

The fertiliser is sold to farmers at 50 per cent discount, water pump at 75 per cent discount while seed is given free of charge.

According to him, a farmer needs at least 10 bags of fertiliser for a hectare of land.

“The farmer will have to procure additional seven bags at N6,000 each in the open market bringing the cost to N42,000.

When you look at this critically, you will agree with me that the subsidy is very minimal.

“Apart from that, a farmer needs three water pumps to effectively water a hectare of land for higher productivity, but the subsidy programme provides only one or two subsidised pumps per farmer and in most cases, farmers in clusters have to share a pump.”

Adamu added that another serious challenge confronting dry season rice farmers was the cost of fuelling the pumps daily to be able to water the farms.

He said that fuel remained crucial in dry season farming and had continued to eat deep into the farmers’ pocket, thereby increasing the cost of inputs and production.

He said that that farmers spent at least N88,000 on fuel in a hectare of land in the four months that the dry season farming was expected to last.

“For example, I spends about N5, 500 on 50 litres at N110 per litre weekly to fuel three pumps that waters a hectare of my rice farm, “If you add up, it would give you N22, 000 in a month and N88,000 in four months.

“Now when you add the N7,500 spent on paying for the three bags of subsidised fertiliser, the N42,000 for additional seven bags and N88,000 on fuel, it means that a farmer spends at least N137,500 per hectare on fertiliser and fuel alone.

“How many farmers can actually afford this, and how much income would they generate at the end of the day? “he asked.

The chairman underscored the need to increase the subsidy to enable farmers to boost their productivity.

“The federal and state governments need to seriously subsidise more fertiliser, increase subsidy on pumps and

assist farmers with pest control, especially against quela birds.”

He, however, expressed optimism that this year’s harvest would supersede the

associations earlier target of 100,000 tonnes of paddy in the 2014 dry season farming, in spite of the evident challenges.

“We are still harvesting the

paddy and I am very confident that this year’s harvest, we would exceed our earlier target of 100, 000 tonnes with over 11,000 farmers,” Adamu said.

He said the agreements should go beyond the health sector, “even the education sector because the strike embarked upon by workers in these sectors affect the lives of Nigerians”.

Mr Ameh John, a businessman, urged the doctors to exercise patience and explore alternative ways of pursuing their cause.

According to him, the health sector is too sensitive to be played with as it affects the lives of people.

“I am appealing to the striking doctors to call off the strike because it is only the ordinary Nigerians that are suffering from it.

“Most of the elite do not patronise government hospitals, they go to private hospitals and some of them prefer going abroad for treatment, it is only the masses that go to government hospitals for treatment.”

Hon. Folorunsho Joseph Akerejola, Chairman Akoko-Edo Local Government Council (middle) flanked on his right by Mr. G. A. Alabi and (Mrs) F. Owolabi, Head of Service of the Council (left) during the chairman’s appearance at the House of Assembly yesterday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Return To Work, Church Appeals To Doctors ASABA - The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has appealed on medical doctors in public hospitals to consider lives lost daily and return to work from their strike while negotiations continue.

Mr. Tunde Abdullahi, the Pastor-In-Charge, RCCG, Delta Province 3, made the appeal at a news conference in Asaba .

He called on the Federal Government to sit together

with the aggrieved doctors to resolve the issues in dispute.

He said that the church was committed and fervently praying for Nigeria especially at this trying period and urged politicians to turn to God for help.

“Nigeria is an outstanding country with good deposits of natural resources and I am sure that it will soon become the destination for people all over the world.

“I pray that God will touch

the hearts of our leaders to do what He wants them to do”, Abdullahi said.

On the activities of the church, Abdullahi said it would inaugurate N120 million edifice and school complex in Asaba on Thursday, July 23.

Abdullahi explained that the structure came as a child of circumstance to address accommodation shortfall in the province.

The pastor said the funds expended on the projects were

sourced from members and that the church was not indebted to anyone.

He added that the two storey building has multi-purpose halls, conference centres, maternity ward, children and youth church, offices and guest rooms.

In addition to the inauguration, Abdullahi said the RCCG Secondary School in Asaba had also been upgraded.

Abdullahi said the church;

maternity and school would give quality services to the general public at token fees.

“We will make the maternity to offer first class services to members and non-members for token fees in order to give back to the community as part of our social responsibility”, Abdullahi said.

Folu, wife of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the church, is expected to perform the inauguration.

News Projects

Support Underprivileged, Group Urges Nigerians LAGOS - The President of the Lekki Lions Club, Lagos, Dr Yewande Jinadu, has called on Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers by assisting the less privileged people within their communities.

Jinadu made this known to newsmen on the sideline of the inaugural board meeting of the club in Lagos.

She said humanitarian service was the major responsibility of the society and this should be imbibed by individuals, corporate bodies and groups within a community.

The president of the club, who is a Medical Director in the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Lagos, said humanitarian activities depended on the choice of individuals or communities.

“I implore Nigerians to be their brother’s keeper, help one another, especially the less privileged within their communities, including women and children.

“It is someone today; it may be you or somebody close to you that will be in need tomorrow. Therefore, we need one another to survive and coexist peacefully,’’ she said.

Jinadu said the club had a history of providing education, health care delivery service and hospitality to bring succour to majority of Nigerians.

“We are partners and stakeholders in the Nigeria project and we do not make any profit from the services we are rendering to Nigerians in complimenting governments’ efforts.

“We are planning to refurbish, build toilets, supply school books, eye screening, provision of free glasses and provide well-stocked First Aid Boxes in public schools and orphanage in Lekki.

“We hope to achieve these projects by the end of the

second quarter of the year,’’ she said.

She, however, called on well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to donate, sponsor and support, the club to assist it in carrying out its humanitarian services.

She also urged individuals and corporate organisations to reach out to the less privileged, the needy and the vulnerable ones in the society through their corporate social responsibility activities.

Jinadu said that government alone could not do everything for the people.

Hon Adun Reassures Constituency

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (2nd right) with other service Chiefs arriving for a security council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.

Hemophilia: Expert Urges Adequate

LAGOS - A consultant hematologist, Prof. Suleiman Akanmu, yesterday called for adequate public awareness on the dangers of hemophilia so as to reduce early deaths among infants.

Hemophilia is a rare hereditary bleeding disorder, predominantly in males, in which blood cannot clot normally following an injury or cut.

Akanmu, Head, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, made the call in an interview with

Awareness

newsmen.

According to him, many male children with hemophilia die soon after birth due to post circumcision bleeding.

‘Hemophilia is not as wellknown as sickle cell disease, but it’s a disease that affects predominantly males.

“We do not know the true prevalence because a lot of people that we are supposed to count as suffering from

hemophilia actually die soon after birth.

“They die soon after birth because of post circumcision bleeding and a lot of these things actually occur in our villages.

“We have a lot of local surgeons who do these things and the male child just perish like that and we do not have an account of how much of these things are actually happening.

“That is why we say we need to come out.

“We need to talk about this disease, we need to enlighten the population. We need to let people know that hemophilia is out there and male births are dying in villages and we are attributing their deaths to something else.

“So it’s a disease that needs real enlightenment.”

He stressed the need for collective action to stop needless deaths as a result of the disease.

Command Sec School Releases Interview Result MBIRI (DELTA STATE) – The result of the interview for admission into JSS1 of the Command Secondary School Mbiri, Delta State has been released.

A statement by the Commandant of the school, Lt. Colonel A.T. Ajimotokan advised prospective candidates to check the list of prospective candidates on the schools L-R: Chief of Staff to President, Jones Arogbofa; National Security adviser, notice board on or before July Sambo Dasuki; IGP Muhammed Abubakar and Deputy Chief of Staff, Ibrahim 24, 2014.

Kachala at a security council meeting in Abuja yesterday.

Forester Marks 70th Birthday With Tree Planting LAGOS - A former National President of the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN), Chief James Odebiyi, said that he planned to plant 1,700 teak trees to mark his 70th birthday.

Odebiyi told newsmen in Lagos that the trees would cover about 1.5 hectares of the Methodist High School, Ogbe in Abeokuta, Ogun State, being threatened by erosion from the Sokori River.

The former Director of Forestry said that the “Sokori

Eco-Renewal Project” would help in reducing ecological problems gradually creeping into the school compound.

“As a major event to mark my 70th birthday anniversary on July 31, I will be planting about 1,700 trees in the degraded part of the Methodist High School, Ogbe.

“I have observed that if something urgent is not done, flood and erosion from the Sokori River will in no time pose a serious threat to the

school buildings and the entire school compound.

“Today, the effects of climate change like the one being observed in this school premises are around us all.

“I have, therefore, decided to use my 70th birthday to save this school from being taken over by flood and erosion from the Sokori River,’’ he said.

Odebiyi said that the initiative was to support the Ogun State Government’s forestry resources development, as well

as promote sustainable environment.

The former FAN president said that the area to be planted, would in the near future serve as a good research site for students of agriculture and wildlife.

Odebiyi also urged governments at all levels, communities, private organisations and individuals, to urgently rededicate themselves to the planting of more trees in their communities.

The forester said that it was imperative for everyone to be involved in the planting of trees, as well as achieving sustainable environment.

“The time has come for us all to embrace the planting of trees in our compounds, streets and other deforested areas.

“We need to come up with these measures, to be able to reduce the effects of climate change in our communities,’’ he added.

BENIN CITY- A Lawmaker Rt. Hon. Jim Adun, representing Egor/Ikpoba –Okha constituency at the House of Representatives has assured members of his constituency that he will always embark on projects that will be more beneficial to the majority of members.

He gave the assurance in a press statement made available to The NIGERIAN OBSERVER. In the statement by his campaign organization, Hon. Adun said that he was taken aback at the request of two youth organisations for financial assistance from him for the completion of their private fish pond project and other self aggrandizing purposes.

According to him, he had to courteously turn them down, saying that as a legislator representing a people, he was more interested in projects that will benefit the greatest majority of the people.

This is why it has become quite disturbing to note that in recent times, members of these groups have subsequently made themselves available to detractors and political opponents.

“By devising several uncouth means including an orchestrated campaign of calumny in a desperate but futile attempt to discredit me with my overwhelming political stature as the countdown to the Edo South Senatorial race draws nearer”, the statement added.

The statement also pointed out that Hon. Adun is aware of section of plans to use the media in Edo State to spread and perpetuate deliberate and unfounded falsehood against him with a view to dissuading him from pursuing his senatorial ambition in the coming election.

“I wish to make it abundantly clear that I cannot succumb to cheap blackmail neither will be intimidated by these deliberate attempt by members of these groups, their sponsors and cotravelers to disparage my person or make me loose focus in my commitment towards attracting development to my constituency”, he stated.

It added that genuine youths of Egor/Ikpoba-Okha constituency and their organisations are well known and have been carried along by way of constant interaction and consultations in his activities.

“Therefore seize this opportunity to call on members of the public particularly people of Edo South Senatorial District and our teeming supporters to beware and disregard this campaign of falsehood and other mischievous machinations by members of these groups, their faceless sponsors and co-travelers orchestrated against me.

“My many developmental projects which have made life better for members of my constituency (Egor/IkpobaOkha) are evidently available for all to see. Some of these projects have even received the commendation of Edo State Governor, his Excellency, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole and many other traditional rulers in my constituency”, he further added.

Across The Nation NSCDC Advocates Synergy Among Security Agencies

L-R: Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Land Transport, Dr. Sokonte Davies; Director, Civil Engineering, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Halim Amodu; NRC District Manager, Eastern Region, Mr. Donatus Ogbodo and Managing Director, Mr. Seyi Sijuwade, during an inspection of reconstructed NRC bridge ‘15’ at Nyama, Enugu State recently.

Nasarawa Impeachment Plot

MINNA- The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has called for synergy among security agencies to tackle security challenges threatening the country.

Mr Emmanuel Ojeniyi, Commandant of the corps in the state, made the call in Minna while speaking at a one-day security summit tagged ‘Security Challenges in Nigeria, Need for InterAgency Collaboration in Niger State’.

“Colleagues in the security business, you will agree with me that

Wamba Residents Threaten To Recall Legislator LAFIA- Some residents of Wamba Local Government Area of Nasarawa state have threatened to recall their representative at the state House of Assembly, Mr Abdulkarim Usman.

The threat is contained in a statement signed by Malam Usman Jade, Chairman, Wamba Youths Association, and made available to newsmen in Lafia.

According to the statement, the people of Wamba local government expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the lawmaker in the plot to impeach Governor Umaru Al-Makura.

It added that the people

also expressed dissatisfaction with Usman’s performance in the legislature.

The statement said the

people have concluded plans to follow legal process to recall the legislator.

It urged the people to get ready to sign a petition

which would be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for action.

The statement also

expressed the dissatisfaction of the people over recent political developments in the state and called for sustained peace.

IGR: Kwara To Restructure Agencies ILORIN- The Kwara Government has said that it would restructure its parastatals and agencies to enable them to improve on their revenue generation profile.

The Senior Special Assistant to the state Governor on Parastatals, Monitoring and Compliance, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe, stated this when he visited the state’s Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA)

in Ilorin.

Ajeigbe urged all the parastatals and agencies to look for ways to block leakages in their systems and ensure efficient service delivery.

He advised KWEPA to partner international agencies and be able to access foreign intervention funds that would complement the state government’s efforts.

He affirmed the state government’s commitment to

ensuring that all agencies and parastatals in the state aligned with its policy of “Shared Prosperity Programme”.

Responding, the General Manager of KWEPA, Chief Adefila Sunday, said that the organisation needed professional staff, adequate

equipment, including fumigating machines and ICT facilities, to monitor waste collection and disposal.

Adefila said that some of the professionals currently in the employment of the agency had reached retirement age and needed replacement.

there is no better time than now to come together as stakeholders to salvage this ugly situation in the country especially in our dear Niger state‘,’’ he urged.

Ojeniyi said the summit would develop structures and training strategies that would contribute to the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in tackling pipeline vandalism, oil theft and insurgency.

Mr Emeka Sammuel, the Guest Speaker at the event, advised members of the public to be security conscious and report any suspicious object or movement to security agencies.

He called on members of the public to collaborate with security agencies to tackle insurgency in the country.

“There is need for the country to be at peace to ensure meaningful development,’’ he said.

The summit was organised by Niger command of the NSCDC.

Cholera: Kano Sends Medical

Team To Affected Community KANO - The Kano State Government said

L-R: Director-General, Consumer Protection Council, Mrs Dupe Atoki; Permanent Secretary, Amb. Abdulkadir Musa and Chairman, Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Steel, and Agriculture, Mr. Solomon Nyagba at the former presentation of the draft competition and consumer protection policy to ministries, extra-ministerial agencies, organised business community and state governments in the Northern part of Nigeria in Abuja recently.

that it had sent a medical team to Kafin Dalawa village in Tudun Wada Local Government Area of the state to assess the outbreak of cholera in the area.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Kano.

He said the team, which went to the affected area, had been directed to chlorinate all the wells in the village. “ We have since sent a medical team to the village to assess the situation and bring its

report. ‘’In addition, the team has been directed to chlorinate all the wells in the village before it returns,’’ the commissioner said.

Labaran, who attributed the outbreak to filthy environment and poor personal hygiene, advised people to always wash their hands and keep their environment clean. “ People should always observe simple rules of personal hygiene to prevent illness or possible outbreak of diseases,’’ he said.

Abuja NNPC Boosts Refineries Capacity ABUJA- The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has retooled the nation’s refineries and raised their capacity utilisation to 60 per cent ahead of the planned turnaround maintenance.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, in Abuja.

The statement quoted, Mr Andrew Yakubu, NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), as saying that the refineries had been raised to 60 per cent utilisation capacity of their nameplate capacity.

Yakubu said there was a setback in the plan to get the original builders of the refineries to undertake their scheduled turnaround maintenance.

He said this was because of their refusal to come to Nigeria following security challenges facing the country.

The group managing

director said the corporation had therefore deployed inhouse expertise to fix critical units of the refineries which had increased their capacity utilisation to 60 per cent.

“The recent improved performance of our refineries, including the re-streaming of the secondary units, especially the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units, is contributing to a substantial reduction of petroleum products into the country,” he said.

Yakubu said that the refineries were still facing constraint in capacity utilisation due to crude oil supply challenges as a result of pipeline vandalism.

He explained that NNPC was still working with the companies recommended by the original builders to outline the scope of work.

He said negotiations were nevertheless ongoing to ensure that the nation got value for every kobo to be expended on the project.

The Chairman, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Barrister (Mrs) Lucy Omagbon (left) being congratulated by the Benin Zonal Director of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Barrister (Mrs) Pauline Igbonor at an award ceremony organised in Benin City by NTA. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

Terrorism

Ekweremadu Urges Courage

By JOSES SEDE ABUJA - The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has called on Nigerians to exhibit faith and courage in the face of the security

Victim Support Fund To Complement Safe School Initiative - Okonjo-Iweala ABUJA- Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the “Victim Support Fund’’ recently announced by President Goodluck Jonathan would complement “Safe School Initiative Programme’’ to ensure safety of students in schools.

The minister made the disclosure at the inaugural meeting of the Safe Initiative programme Committee in Abuja.

She said that the Initiative, which was announced by the business community at the World Economic Forum on Africa, had 20 million dollars set aside for its take-off.

She added that the business community in Nigeria and the Federal Government had given 10 million dollars each to support the programme.

She noted that the international community had also shown strong interest to support the project.

“There are other components for a comprehensive approach to the programme and the President has made some other effort, the first one was that yesterday the Victim Support Fund was launched.

“The Fund will complement the Safe Schools Initiative

Theft: Court Jails

Man, 21

ABUJA- A Senior Magistrates’ Court sitting in Life Camp, Abuja, has sentenced an applicant, Sadir Ismail, to 100 days imprisonment without option of fine for stealing.

Ismail, 21, of no fixed address, was charged for joint act and theft, which he pleaded guilty and pleaded for leniency.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr Abdullahi Illelah, in his judgment, sentenced Ismail and held that cases of joint act and theft were rampant within the FCT. Illelah said that the court took judicial notice of the convict’s previous criminal records.

He said the convicted had jailed for the same offence, adding that the sentence would serve as a

deterrent not only to the convict but also to others.

Prosecutor Odigiri Onah had told the court that the accused, an ex-convict, had other cases against him with the police.

Onah told the court that Joseph Akintan and a team of security men attached to Citec Estate in Abuja arrested the accused person.

He said the complainants lodged the complaint against the accused at the Life Camp Police Station on July 14.

The prosecutor said convict and two others now at large walked into the estate and entered into the Akintan’s house.

He said Ismail stole two sport bicycles, one motor rim, a pair of addidas sport canvas and a mat.

Onah said the police recovered the items from Ismail, who admitted the crime.

because parents, victims and other people who suffered will now have a place to go in terms of support for them.

“There is also the Presidential Initiative on the North East which will ensure that emergency relief and other emergency support to people who are affected are also implemented.’’

The minister explained that a component of reconstruction of damaged infrastructure under the Presidential Initiative on the North East would also work with the Safe School Initiative.

According to her, the whole package is planned to complement each other to ensure that success is achieved.

“This is the comprehensive picture that the President wanted to paint for these attempts to handle the difficult situation we have in the north eastern part of the country,’’ she added.

She said all the initiatives were being carried out with the consent of the states involved.

She added that in implementing the Initiative, the states and local governmentcommunities, as well as international partners and the Federal Government would work together.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno, representing the governors of Adamawa and Yobe and the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, were present at the meeting Others include business mogul Aliko Dangote, the Publisher of Thisday newspapers Nduka Obiagbena, NEMA DirectorGeneral, Muhammed Sani-Sidi.

and related challenges facing the nation.

Senator Ekweremadu made the call while delivering a lecture at the maiden Lecture/Award Dinner organised by the Senate Press Corps in Abuja.

Speaking on the topic “Courage in the Times of Extreme Danger”, the Deputy President of the Senate noted that “although individuals, groups, and nations face one form of danger or the other once in a while, it becomes most worrisome when it turns extreme or becomes a pattern of life”.

He regretted that Nigerians in peculiar times in which terrorism, violent crimes, moral decadence, corruption, and impunity in high places were taking their tolls on the nation.

However, citing the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela in the face of racial discrimination and John F. Kennedy during the popular

October Crisis in 1962, Senator Ekweremadu stressed that the strength of any great nation was best manifested at such times by its ability to overcome such threats eventually.

The Deputy President of the Senate described terrorism as “a mind game”, which primary purpose was to “instill fear in the minds of the people by carrying out acts of destruction of human lives and property to give the impression that they are in charge.”

He therefore enjoined Nigerians to rise in defence of the fatherland as “the blood of the innocent is continually wasted.”

He said: “For Nigeria to overcome the scourge of terrorism and related vices, we must all awaken the passion for fatherland and humanity. Let patriotic zeal extinguish all unhealthy ethnic, tribal, religious, sectional, and political

sentiments. After all, our enemies, their bombs and bullets do not know any tribe, religion, section, or party.”

While commending the National Conference for adopting multilevel policing, the Deputy President of the Senate urged the Nigerian media to counter the Boko haram propaganda.

He called on the media to “see through the insurgents’ propaganda and refuse to help them to market their false claims.”

He added: “In the battle for the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the safety of her people, our story line, headlines, and analyses should reflect that overriding national interest.

“At a time like this, the press is expected to boost the confidence of the nation, the morale of our gallant soldiers and security operatives in the war fronts, and celebrate the superiority of our firepower.”

Most Snr. Apostle (Dr) Joshua Osasuyi, the Spiritual leader, Christ Chosen Church of God International receiving an award plaque from the Benin Zonal Director Nigerian Television Authority, Barr. (Mrs) Pauline Igbanor at an award ceremony organised in Benin City by the station. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

Business + Economy Sanitation Challenges

Utako Market Mgt Restates Commitment ABUJA- The management of Utako Market has said it was committed to addressing the sanitation challenges confronting the market.

The Manager of the market, Mr Daniel Danjuma, told newsmen that the management

had adopted effective refuse disposal methods as to keep the market clean.

He urged marketers to demonstrate and comply with good hygiene practices to facilitate easy refuse

management in the market.

According to him, maintaining proper sanitation will be achieved, if the traders cooperate with the management.

He told newsmen that every weekend, environmentalists

usually evacuate the refuse and also provide facilities where refuse should be dumped.

“The security agents in the market are putting in maximum efforts in guarding the place.

“So far, trading is going on

normally with less tension as there is no report of insurgency.”

In a separate interview, Mr Chukwuemeka Uzo, who sells cosmetics in the market, told newsmen that the issue of sanitation was critical as the

market operators were not relenting in their efforts to keep the market clean.

He noted that maintaining a good sanitary condition would promote good health and proper security checks.

Korea Pledges Support For Vision 20:2020 ABUJA- South Korea is prepared to share “its experience” with Nigeria to enable it to achieve its vision of belonging to the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.

Jung Hoon Sang, the Chief Representative of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Nigeria, made the statement at a forum, organised by newsmen.

Jung explained that Korea had a unique experience of developing from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the most economically advanced within a short period.

He said Korea was able to achieve its current development feat through many factors, including leadership, human resource development, policy consistency and rural development.

“I can see strong potential in Nigeria and I envy Nigeria because you have many things.

Even many Koreans do not speak English as much as Nigerians do.

“You have big talent and capacity. If you have some confidence, I am sure the transformation agenda to become the 20th largest economy by year 2020 can be achieved.

“You can achieve the target as long as you have some determination. But what is most important in achieving it is confidence about your future and leadership qualities,” he said.

Jung said Korea had worse experience in terms of development challenges and expressed optimism that Nigeria would surmount its current development challenges in no distant time.

“In the 1970s, Korea had a Gross Domestic Product per capita of about 80 million dollars.

“Today, in a matter of a few decades, we are members of the “Rich Country Club” known as Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development/ Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC).

“The ‘know-how’ and experience gained from this transition are invaluable assets that allow KOICA to efficiently support the sustainable socioeconomic development of its partner countries and to offer them hope for a better world.

“Korea seeks to share its unique experience with developing countries like Nigeria,” he said.

The KOICA chief explained that the mission of Korea was to realise sustainable socioeconomic development and enhancement of the quality of life in Nigeria.

He said the agency was pursuing the goal through collaboration with the Nigerian Government to provide development aid to Nigerians.

“Korea’s Country Partnership Strategy for Nigeria is in consideration of Nigeria development needs and priority as well as comparative advantage and resource management capacity.

“Therefore, we work in close collaboration with the National Planning Commission and other Nigerian counterparts to achieve national development goals.

“KOICA is here to help the Nigerian Government to achieve Nigeria Vision 20:2020,” he said.

Jung said that the secret of Korea’s rapid development was human resource development, which was a key component of KOICA’s aid intervention in Nigeria.

“In Nigeria, KOICA supports Nigeria’s human resource development by sponsoring public officials for short term programmes as well as masters programmes in Korea.

“KOICA has sponsored over 1,000 public officials on various courses to Korea to boost human resource development in Nigeria,” Jung said.

Locked premises of Oyo State Chief Magistrate’s Court in Iseyin, due to strike by judicial staff workers union of Nigeria (JUSUN) yesterday.

ECOWAS Single Currency

Jan 2015 Not Feasible ABUJA- The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has said the lunch of Single Currency for the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) by January 2015 might not be feasible.

Emefiele made the assertion when he delivered a Keynote address at the 31st meeting of the

Committee of Governors of WAMZ held in Abuja.

According to him, from the study of countries’ preparedness, there are challenges hindering the performance of their economies from meeting the convergence criteria for single currency.

“The study notes that various countries continue to make

Deserted industrial court in Ibadan yesterday due to industrial action embarked upon by the judicial staff workers union.

remarkable progress towards the establishment of a common market and the implementation of the ECOWAS trade integration protocols and reform of their financial systems.

“On the strength of this assessment, the study concluded that the launch of the monetary union by January 2015 is unlikely’.

“Their level of institutional preparedness for the monetary union remains inadequate,’’ he said.

Emefiele said the study showed that the performance of member states’ on the convergence scale relative to that required for the establishment of a monetary union was still inadequate.

He added that the study revealed that member countries business cycle synchronisation in terms of real Gross Domestic product (GDP), inflation, broad money and interest rate remained weak.

Emefiele said there was need for the buy-in of all member states in WAMZ project, adding that effort to update each other on the level of progress should be strengthened.

He called for intensified effort on sensitisation of all stakeholders and urged individuals to evaluate, sign and ratify the various WAMZ

-Emefiele protocols and strive to implement them accordingly.

“It is my believe that with strong commitment to the WAMZ project as demonstrated so far, combined with the necessary political will, we can use our various state machineries to foster the union project by promoting trade integration.

“As the Central Bank and Financial Sector regulators, we must commit to develop and support sound banking system and efficient payment network capable of facilitating the required rapid trade expansion in the sub-region,’’ he said The governor said that effort must focused on effective coordination between fiscal and monetary policies to support price stability mandate and create appropriate macroeconomic environment conducive for intraregional trade.

He called for the implementation of a framework for quoting and trading in WAMZ member countries’ currencies to improve trade integration.

Reports state that Emefiele has been elected the Chairman of the committee to succeed Mr Amadou Colley, Governor of the Central Bank of the Gambia.

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY (21/07/2014) Stocks

Open

Close

Change

Deals

Units

Value

NASCON

10.87

10.7

-0.17

0

2,645,594

28,823,534.22

7UP

100.03

100.03

0

0

24,918

2,617,032.29

NB

171.51

177.09

5.58

0

1,138,336

201,344,855.50

ABCTRANS

0.9

0.89

-0.01

0

1,647,840

1,456,622.90

NCR

15.2

14.44

-0.76

0

110,866

1,600,905.04

ACADEMY

1.71

1.71

0

0

1,700

2,857.00

NEIMETH

1.24

1.18

-0.06

0

156,000

184,080.00

ACCESS

9.8

9.8

0

0

12,792,779

125,499,872.00

NEM

0.81

0.83

0.02

0

11,432,126

9,561,507.10

AFRINSURE

0.5

0.5

0

0

2,500

1,250.00

NESTLE

1125

1125

0

0

172,796

193,912,342.40

AFRIPRUD

3.45

3.31

-0.14

0

14,033,545

46,545,214.30

NEWGOLD

2054

2067

13

0

9

18,603.00

AGLEVENT

1.39

1.39

0

0

64,967

91,794.48

NIG-GERMAN

7.36

7.36

0

0

4,625

32,375.00

AIICO

0.8

0.8

0

0

3,178,763

2,592,576.30

NIGERINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,248,225

624,112.50

AIRSERVICE

2.23

2.23

0

0

24,400

53,734.00

NNFM

20.5

20.5

0

0

89,500

1,743,720.00

ASHAKACEM

33.03

33

-0.03

0

2,281,186

75,296,108.81

NPFMCRFBK

1.1

1.1

0

0

1,885,811

2,071,047.00

AVONCROWN

1.69

1.69

0

0

7,500

12,675.00

NSE30

1948.74

1944.33

-4.41

0

248,729,876

3,639,712,074.00

BERGER

9

9

0

0

10,620

94,527.52

NSE50

2107.95

2103.99

-3.96

0

443,253,536

4,184,352,009.00

BETAGLAS

16.3

16.3

0

0

6,080

104,028.80

NSEASI

42891.85

42784.39

-107.46

0

535,076,684

4,374,954,617.00

CADBURY

74.25

74.25

0

0

72,582

5,253,508.51

NSEBNK

438.71

436.56

-2.15

0

133,230,428

910,382,179.60

CAP

40.1

40.1

0

0

136,490

5,441,581.78

NSECNSMRGDS

1059.78

1060.41

0.63

0

10,594,679

641,538,042.80

2767.11

2770.47

3.36

0

8,006,854

238,188,636.50

CAPHOTEL

4.5

4.5

0

0

6,000

25,680.00

NSEINDUSTR

CAVERTON

6.7

6.4

-0.3

0

274,065

1,754,361.90

NSEINS

150.41

148.35

-2.06

0

77,111,181

67,338,200.80

CCNN

11.9

12.04

0.14

0

4,763,444

57,157,209.03

NSELOTUSISLM

2853.38

2848.7

-4.68

0

14,108,444

627,354,359.70

469.09

470.24

1.15

0

50,048,108

1,411,325,600.00

25

26

1

0

47,329,337

1,201,605,282.00

CHAMPION

10.17

10.17

0

0

5,000

48,350.00

NSEOILGAS

CHELLARAM

3.95

3.95

0

0

77,449

291,208.24

OANDO

CONTINSURE

1.15

1.12

-0.03

0

437,620

492,011.90

OKOMUOIL

33.01

33.01

0

0

51,755

1,728,900.80

1.5

1.57

0.07

0

200,430

314,675.10

COSTAIN

1.26

1.2

-0.06

0

536,238

647,199.88

PHARMDEKO

COURTVILLE

0.57

0.56

-0.01

0

270,840

151,381.20

PRESCO

38

38.01

0.01

0

121,000

4,620,184.00

CUSTODYINS

3.79

3.96

0.17

0

1,673,739

6,523,420.88

PRESTIGE

0.54

0.54

0

0

49,468

26,203.46

38.5

39

0.5

0

1,718,360

67,065,884.73

4.97

5.19

0.22

0

3,227,621

16,115,478.90

CUTIX

1.8

1.89

0.09

0

306,000

577,140.00

PZ

DANGCEM

240.05

240.5

0.45

0

326,811

78,562,033.50

REDSTAREX

DANGFLOUR

8.01

8.08

0.07

0

346,085

2,797,783.87

RESORTSAL

0.5

0.5

0

0

20,000,000

10,000,000.00

0.53

0.51

-0.02

0

153,140

78,101.40

DANGSUGAR

9.3

9.25

-0.05

0

2,243,899

20,711,002.41

ROYALEX

DIAMONDBNK

6.5

6.4

-0.1

0

3,463,042

22,059,527.47

RTBRISCOE

1.05

1.05

0

0

99,468

101,441.63

DNMEYER

1.2

1.2

0

0

31,905

40,130.34

SEPLAT

702

675.05

-26.95

0

57,160

39,559,307.00

3.45

3.28

-0.17

0

53,401,407

186,231,840.00

DUNLOP

0.5

0.5

0

0

10,000

5,000.00

SKYEBANK

ETERNA

4.3

4.09

-0.21

0

1,066,764

4,383,002.04

SOVRENINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

39,000

19,500.00

ETI

16.85

16.62

-0.23

0

881,228

14,633,867.93

STACO

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,200

600

ETRANZACT

2.21

2.21

0

0

2,000

4,200.00

STANBIC

27.26

27.13

-0.13

0

835,425

22,677,431.32

EVANSMED

2.35

2.3

-0.05

0

73,280

169,182.00

STDINSURE

0.5

0.5

0

0

54,000

27,000.00

FBNH

15.9

15.62

-0.28

0

16,060,439

252,730,511.90

STERLNBANK

2.38

2.37

-0.01

0

1,553,303

3,685,046.44

FCMB

4.26

4.21

-0.05

0

2,011,858

8,549,607.66

TOTAL

180

186.2

6.2

0

155,395

29,176,328.00

FIDELITYBK

1.94

1.95

0.01

0

36,570,465

70,516,877.86

TRANSCORP

6

5.7

-0.3

0

93,629,027

550,267,221.60

FIDSON

3.06

3.06

0

0

596,200

1,814,858.00

TRIPPLEG

1.88

1.88

0

0

1,333

2,386.07

FLOURMILL

77.87

77.87

0

0

118,778

8,932,883.45

UAC-PROP

17.46

17.56

0.1

0

268,550

4,710,878.30

FO

238

227

-11

0

190,228

43,329,794.67

UACN

62.12

62

-0.12

0

356,883

22,139,284.13

GLAXOSMITH

68.99

68.99

0

0

11,425

759,003.10

UBA

8.06

8.01

-0.05

0

9,458,878

75,789,088.42

GUARANTY

30

30.01

0.01

0

7,351,966

220,588,404.80

UBCAP

2.3

2.19

-0.11

0

11,599,691

25,625,276.59

GUINEAINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

250,000

125,000.00

UNIC

0.5

0.5

0

0

1,744

872

GUINNESS

197.28

197.5

0.22

0

238,715

47,107,107.14

UNILEVER

52.77

50.14

-2.63

0

1,136,937

57,045,484.38

HONYFLOUR

4.3

4.3

0

0

221,005

953,025.49

UNITYBNK

0.5

0.5

0

0

41,777,259

20,888,629.50

IKEJAHOTEL

0.75

0.76

0.01

0

500,000

363,200.00

UPDCREIT

9.95

9.95

0

0

1,000

9,750.00

INFINITY

1.6

1.6

0

0

39,900

63,832.00

UPL

4.32

4.3

-0.02

0

401,210

1,685,702.12

INTBREW

29.5

29.5

0

0

112,560

3,231,806.00

VETGRIF30

19.49

19.44

-0.05

0

251,100

4,883,814.50

INTENEGINS

0.5

0.5

0

0

930,000

465,000.00

VITAFOAM

4.38

4.35

-0.03

0

399,114

1,693,442.44

JAPAULOIL

0.57

0.55

-0.02

0

6,775,583

3,727,790.65

VONO

1.44

1.44

0

0

480

657.6

JOHNHOLT

1.2

1.16

-0.04

0

105,402

122,158.28

WAPCO

119.01

119

-0.01

0

176,223

20,956,007.07

LAWUNION

0.5

0.5

0

0

8,000

4,000.00

WAPIC

0.9

0.89

-0.01

0

56,677,119

50,420,964.04

LEARNAFRCA

1.65

1.57

-0.08

0

1,000,251

1,574,434.07

WEMABANK

1.16

1.21

0.05

0

28,414,149

32,919,985.06

LIVESTOCK

3.06

3.08

0.02

0

679,900

2,068,074.00

ZENITHBANK

25.22

24.95

-0.27

0

7,539,305

189,359,399.00

MANSARD

2.67

2.55

-0.12

0

703,839

1,796,712.90

MAYBAKER

1.75

1.75

0

0

156,460

273,240.20

MBENEFIT

0.54

0.54

0

0

3,339,289

1,803,216.06

MOBIL

162.22

170.33

8.11

0

495,922

83,595,396.13

MRS

59.31

61.99

2.68

0

488,755

29,231,237.77

MULTITREX

0.5

0.5

0

0

3,245,618

1,622,809.00

MULTIVERSE

0.5

0.5

0

0

50,000

25,000.00

NAHCO

5

5

0

0

1,278,377

6,386,899.07

TOP 10 GAINERS Stock NEWGOLD MOBIL TOTAL NB NSEINDUSTR MRS NSEOILGAS OANDO NSECNSMRGDS PZ

Close 2067 170.33 186.2 177.09 2770.47 61.99 470.24 26 1060.41 39

TOP TOP 10 10 LOSERS GAINERS Gain

Stock

Close

Loss

13 8.11 6.2 5.58 3.36 2.68 1.15 1 0.63 0.5

NSEASI 107.46 SEPLAT 26.95 FO NSELOTUSISLM NSE30 NSE50 UNILEVER NSEBNK NSEINS NCR

42784.39

-

675.05

-

227 2848.7 1944.33 2103.99 50.14 436.56 148.35 14.44

-11 -4.68 -4.41 -3.96 -2.63 -2.15 -2.06 -0.76

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

WHILST many observers and commentators believe the crisis was an internal affair of the twenty-four elected members of the House, which has also informed their commentaries, what appears incontrovertible as at the moment is that external forces, acting behind the scene are responsible for the impasse.

Regrettably, ordinary citizens of Edo State whom the House was established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make laws for and oversight the activities of the Executive arm of government are the ones bearing the pains occasioned by the crisis.

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

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

ALSO, all those who submit themselves to be used to destabilise the House should know that they have a date with history as their roles today would be recalled in no distant future.

Such members of the House must remember that they are carrying the mandate of every citizen of their constituency irrespective of

THE NIGERIAN

Parliamentary Peace In Edo their political affiliation. Those involved should equally know that they have families and offsprings who they equally represent and that in fullness of time, someone, somewhere someday will remind them of their roles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WE THE PEOPLE of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: HAVING firmly and solemnly resolved: TO LIVE in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign Nation under God dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding: AND TO PROVIDE for a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people: DO HEREBY MAKE AND GIVE TO OURSELVES the following constitution:PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERRIA 1999 My late father, Joseph Idumebor Obuseh - bless his memory - told me in these exact words that: “During the years following Nigeria’s independence from British over-lordship, there was widespread optimism across the length and breadth of the country that at last the baton of leadership had passed firmly into the hands of Nigerians themselves; that at last Nigerians now had their collective destiny in their hands; that Nigerians could now decide how they wanted to be governed. It was a period of hope garnished with solid resolve by all Nigerians to make a success of the young nation. The pomp and pageantry that accompanied the lowering of the Union Jack and the hoisting of the GreenWhite-Green was deafening.

It was the most historic moment in the history of this country. Nigerians looked forward to better days, relishing in their new found freedom”.

Although I wasn’t yet born during that glorious period of our early history as an independent state, I was held spellbound by the masterful and highly emotional manner my father recounted the carnival-like atmosphere of 1st October 1960, and the high expectations that accompanied the succeeding years. I could smell the aroma, taste the mood, and feel the allure of freedom in my mind’s eye. I wondered how happy I would have been had I been born then.

Nigeria’s independence was

collectively won by all. It was not the wacko concoctions of a few politicians and their British counterparts. It was achieved on the altar of the selfless, dogged, collective and indefatigable sacrifices of the Nigerian peoples. Yes, Nigerians of all climes contributed their quota to the

majority would, at least, have their say in the running of the fledging state. But something went wrong along the line.

The power shift that occurred between 1960/1963 had serious repercussions for the newly independent state as it reconfigured its politics. We consolidated on our independence by acquiring a republican status, which is premised on the thinking that

Cutting Edge With Obuseh Jude GSM: 08033510173

About The Federal Republic Of Nigeria (1) birthing of the new nation!

Some historians have been unfair by downplaying the significant roles played by ordinary Nigerians in the country’s march to independence. They have tended to paint the whole

government is based completely on the consent of the people; an idea made popular by the postulations of political theorists in ancient Greece and Rome. Prior to this elevation we were still administratively yoked to our British masters.

Our

process culminating in our paper freedom as the preserve of the political class. This is far from the truth. Politicians where simply the vehicles through whom the people expressed their visions and expectations. They simply stole the limelight by being in the forefront of the struggle.

The general enthusiasm expressed at independence was affirmation of the collective optimism the whole country was engulfed in, which was premised on the assumption that the emerging new state would carry everybody along. That the

independence was partial since we still retained our dominion status; it was incomplete as appeals from our Supreme Court could still be heard in the Privy Council in London, where final decisions were taken on such cases.

Nigeria’s achievement of a republican status in 1963 should naturally have paved the way for the emergence of a participatory political system; a people-centered, stable, interactive political arrangement. But Nigerians were in for a rude shock as the emerging political class seemed to be bereft of the

nuances of republicanism.

They saw the state as a personal patrimony; as their due for helping Nigeria gain independence. The interests of the Nigerian people, in the calculations of these political entrepreneurs, did not matter.

Thus, they went about the

business of acquiring as much power and wealth as they could, instead of forging a strong alliance with the people in the true spirit of republicanism. There is a saying that “when a man acquires power, the use to which that power is put is what matters, not its mere acquisition: will it be used for the common good or for destructive personal ends”?

We all know the answers to these rhetorical questions in the case of our country, Nigeria.

Every political system is defined by a constitution. The constitution spells out the

“The 1963 Republican Constitution of Nigeria, supposedly put power in the hands of Nigerians; a compendium of original articles to which the people “agreed” to and adopted as their constitution.”

relationships that should exist between the state and its citizens, among the institutions of government, and between government and the state. The constitution is like an umpire that points out the rules of the game. It is the map that helps all the constituent units within a state navigate through the complex maze of relationships within that state. It is supposed to be made by the people who constitute the government, and should not be the passing act of government - as has become the case in Nigeria today. It acts as a sacred document containing the tacit agreement between the government and the people; it is the sole evidence of any contract whatsoever, between the state and the people, and constitutes the basic authority on which the government of any state can exist. A constitution precedes the state and its government, for without a constitution there would be no state, nor government.

The 1963 Republican Constitution of Nigeria, supposedly put power in the hands of Nigerians; a compendium of original articles to which the people “agreed” to and adopted as their constitution. Other subsequent constitutions since 1963 have been referred to as republican (?): a body of parent laws that were not supposed to be the property of the state, but of the people. In the absence of a formal “Social Pact” between the Nigerian state and its citizens at the inception of the union, the constitution should naturally act as substitute; an arbiter between the state and its constituents; a kind of alternative for the nonexistent agreement on which the Nigerian project should naturally have been constructed, considering the brazing manner the union of 1914 was carried out. But this has never been the case in our country.

On hindsight, the preamble to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended), in concert with those of previous

(post-independence) constitutions, formalized the grand deceit that has come to define the relationship between the Nigerian citizen and the state; a relationship that is as skewered as it is damning. Our British colonial masters can be excused for not carrying us completely along in the drafting of the preindependence constitutions - if one considers the primary goals of their enterprise. This cannot be said of the processes leading to the drafting of successive constitutions after independence which tended to tow the lines of the same British we worsted out of power; the documents that emerged from these caricature constitutional conferences were doctored “chiffon de papers” – blank pieces of paper - that were treacherously yanked together to ease the achievement of the new agenda of the emerging ruling class; a collection of anecdotal notes that where full of words signifying nonsense; empty documents that went through the kangaroo processes that culminated in the churning out of the pieces of trash they call republican constitutions. The statement, “We THE PEOPLE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA “, is the greatest insult to the collective psyche of all rightthinking Nigerians; semantically deceptive, and syntactically sacrilegious. It belongs to the realm of myths and legends, and constitutes a conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

Nigeria has never had a popularly made constitution.

All the blasphemous documents being bandied around as constitutions since 1960, are mere agreements among a few treasure-hunting business men (civilian and military), who have partitioned the state and appropriated her resources to satiate their insatiable vanities and compulsive, primitive urges to accumulate riches; documents that have emanated from the assumed authority of the ruling elite, not from the popular will of the people.

To be contd next week

Nutritional Health And Dietetics A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition such as water, adequate essential amino acids from protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and adequate calories.

The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of plant based and animal based foods.

The major functions of a healthy diet is to provide

energy needs and also provides for human nutrition without exposure to toxicity or excessive weight gain or from consuming excessive amounts where lack of calories is not an issue. It also lowers health risk – such as obesity, heart disease, type two diabetes, hypertension and cancer.

Leafy green, allium and cruciferous vegetables are key components of a healthy diet, Poor nutrition is a chronic problem linked to poverty, poor nutrition understanding and practices and deficient sanitation and food security.

Malnutrition globally provides many challenges to individuals and societies.

Lack of proper nutrition contributes to worse class performance, lower test scores and eventual less successful student and less productive and competitive economy.

Malnutrition results to wasting away and disabilities and finally, death if adequate

A Healthy Diet care or nutrition is not provided on time.

Good nutrition on the other hand helps children grow, promotes human development that would lead to economic growth. Nutrition also, deals with the body’s metabolism and physiological responses of the body to diet.

The human body is made up chemical compounds such as

more often and recover from injury and illness more slowly.

Poor nutrition is a major health problem for many elderly people.

Dangers of too much fat The typical American diet is very high in fat – far too much for safety. Need we wonder that Americans have the highest rate of coronary thrombosis in the world.

It is a striking fact that coronary artery disease rarely occurs among the poorer people of China, Japan and other oriental lands. All of these people live on a simple diet consisting largely of fish and vegetables. But among the well-to-do-chinese, the disease is just as common as in Western Europe and the United States.

water, carbohydrate (sugar, starch and fibre) amuno acids – protein, fatty acids from lipid or fat and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). Food nutrients are also made up of elements such as: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese and so on.

Major classes of Nutrient Food nutrients are carbohydrates, fats, dieting fiber, minerals, proteins vitamins and water. These nutrients can be further classified as macro-nutrients needed in relatively large amounts or micro nutrients needed in smaller quantities.

The macro-nutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fibre, proteins and water. The micronutrients are minerals and vitamins.

The type of food we eat affect our health and our quality of life. Poorly nourished people get sick

However, most other Western nations are not very far behind America in coronary thrombosis incidence.

Cholesterol alone is not the answer. Any diet that is high in fats can be dangerous. It is wise to reduce the amount of fat in the diet. Arteriosclerosis develops slowly. It is already going on in the arteries of many who are reading these lines. But it is a disease that in many cases can be prevented by reducing the high intake of fat.

It had previously been suggested that arteriosederosis strikes only certain races of European extraction.

Research has shown that a rich fat diet will produce the condition in almost any person. Some have thought that Negroes were not subject to the disease. It is true that in certain parts of the Southern United States, the disease is far prevalent. But when some of these negro people migrate to Los Angeles or New York and begin to eat the same fatty,

With

O.C. Madu GSM: 08056379608 high – calorie foods, they develop the disease just as do those of other races.

Diet no doubt plays a part, but the stress of living in a large city may also contribute to hardening of the arteries in these people.

Fat people die suddenly Hippocrates, the great Greek doctor of ancient times noted that fat people die suddenly.

We now know why. They die of heart attacks because of blocked coronary arteries.

This is the way they died in ancient Greece. People who are overweight, not only run this risk, but they are more prone to develop diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure. So, be wise on what you eat and how you eat it.

Those who want to avoid heart trouble should watch their diets carefully. They should avoid an excess of animal fats and also, those vegetable fats that have been made solid by some modern manufacturing process in the process known as hydrogenation whereby, the liquid oil is changed into a solid fat that spreads like butter.

Animal fats Not all fats are bad for your health. Although fat helps keep your hair and skin healthy and is also an essential part of nutritious diet, the Harvard school of public health recommends limiting your consumption of saturated fats, a type of fat that can increase your risk of developing health problems such as cancer, heart disease and obesity.

Saturated fat – Most saturated fat come from animal sources like red meat and butter and are solid at room temperature. These fats can raise low – density

lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol levels in the body.

High levels of LDL in the blood stream put you at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. Diets that contain too much saturated fat are linked to chronic conditions such as diabetes and atherosclerosis.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting your consumption to no more than seven percent of your daily calorie intake. The American Heart Association states that eating foods that contain a high amount of saturated fat raises the level of cholesterol in your blood stream. Too much cholesterol in the blood stream can lead to clogging of arteries and can greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease.

People with diets that contain a high level of saturated fats are at a risk of developing breast, colon and prostate cancer and women who consumed more fats from animals and red meat showed an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Generally speaking, the diet of the Mediterranean is a healthy one, based on grilled meats and fish, raw vegetables, bread, fruit, herbs and yoghurt. To the uninitiated, it may provide a limited choice of raw ingredients but with the clever use of herbs in the North and spices in the South, each country has developed a culinary style to be envied.

The three main crops of the Mediterranean are cereal, olives and vines. The olive crop is of great importance to Mediterranean countries for the thick green oil with its distinctive taste and the sharptasting fruit.

“Cholesterol alone is not the answer. Any diet that is high in fats can be dangerous. It is wise to reduce the amount of fat in the diet. Arteriosclerosis develops slowly. It is already going on in the arteries of many who are reading these lines.”

Politics

Why Has Dan Orbih Not Reacted On Doctors Nationwide Strike?

ALL Medical Doctors in Government Hospital all over Nigeria embarked on Nationwide strike since last week as a result of the failure of the Federal Government under the leadership of our brother, Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan.

It is said that life is the most precious gift that God Almighty has given to all (both poor or rich) and all have right to life and good health. But for more than a week now it is no longer news that numbers of Nigerians have lost their life as a result of no service by the medical doctors. All Government Hospitals are now empty.

The burden of paying through the noise in private Hospitals can only be done by the affluent, while the poor ones are now left to die on daily basis.

I have been expecting the chairman of PDP (Edo State) Mr. Dan Orbih to address a-world press conference because of the failure or inability of the President to manage the Health sector. This is another National tragedy and a great malady. The Chibok Girls are still nowhere to be found.

THE dictionary meaning of politics according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is actions or behavior of someone, based on good judgment, prudence and wisdom. So politicians, in general terms are supposed to be those good citizens that have conscience and based their behavior on good judgment, prudence and full of wisdom.

It is only in Nigeria that I hear people say politics is a dirty game. It is not suppose to be so but for DESPERATE POLITICIANS that want to reap where they did not sow.

Without democracy, which means government of the people by the people and for the people, the politicians have no relevance and have no place.

Without much ado I will take the Edo State politicians as a case study.

The today Edo State is a creation of Midwestern region, then Bendel State and today Edo State. This democratic government being enjoyed by very few Nigerians today did not come on Plata of Gold, some Nigerians fought for it and died for it. For example, Late Moshood Abiola while the then president of Nigeria Labour Congress Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole was attacked and detained several times in the struggle for good governance and the installation of democratic rule in Nigeria.

Those people that stood behind the military juntals are today feeding from the system. They worked against it. Some were ministers and spokesmen to General Babagida and Late Abacha. Nigerians can forget so easily and this is a problem.

Edo State have witnessed un-interrupted democracy since 1999 (15yrs) and have had three Governors namely Mr. Lucky Igbinedion, Barr. Osariemen Osunbor and the incumbent Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.

The State has never witnessed the revolution of infrastructural development as it is since 2008 when Comrade assumed the leadership of Edo

Dan Orbih, Edo State Chairman of the PDP.

I want to use this medium to call on Mr. President to as a mater of public importance resolved the problem of the doctors so that the daily carnage on our roads, sicknesses will be reduced. Too many people have died in Nigeria since three years ago more than fifteen years back.

For democracy to strive, the opposition political parties are necessary, but when the opposition is biased and try by all means to incite the public against the Government of the day over unfounded rumours and faults accusation, it becomes dangerous.

There is no law that says that the opposition should not hail a performing leader. Accusation must be based on the fear of God than to get a cheap publicity over trivial issues. Meanwhile where is this hence man for the 10 years PDP ruled Edo State.

Desperate Politicians

By JOHNSON IMUAGBONHEN

State.

I stand to be challenged. Before 2008 how many roads were dualized in the state. But today all over the three senatorial districts, dual carriage ways are the order of the day. For example, the Sapele Road, Oba Market Road, Siluko Road, Airport Road, Isonoro area, Five junctions at Uselu, Iheya area, Akpakpava, Oba Ovoranmwen Square, to mention few. These are all roads constructed by this illustrious son of Edo Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (AKA BABA OSHIO OR OSHIO BABA) with side drains, walkways and street lights. On health matter, the Governor turned the former consulting centre of Central Hospital in Sapele Road to State of the art health centre by increasing the numbers of working doctors, provision of drugs and materials• for patients while the building of the modern Hospital is on-going. This was not done before him.

Educationally the achievement of BABA cannot be over emphasized as his administration has been nicknamed ‘RED ROOF REVOLUTION’. This is the construction and renovation of almost all

the primary and secondary schools in Edo State as there is no ward out of the 192 in the state that have not witnessed the construction and renovation of schools.

He also gave water to those (especially Edo Central district) which hitherto have no water. The Benin water storm is another Billion naira peoples’ oriented project under construction. I only labored myself to mention very few projects carried out by this GURU in order to differentiate him from the desperate politicians who have ruined Edo State between 1999 and 2007.

Comrade Oshiomhole worked very hard and because of his high performance these desperate politicians that could not have enough money to share now turn against Baba.

POLITICS SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS A DO OR DIE GAME. THERE SHOULD BE SOME DECORUM AND GOOD SENSE OF JUDGMENT. OUR POLITICIANS SHOULD HAVE SOME SENSE OF SATISFACTION. THE GREED IS TOO MUCH. THEY MUST REMEMBER THAT VANITY UPON VANITY IS EQUAL TO VANITY. CRITICISM OF ANY GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY SHOULD BE BASED ON FACTS AND FIGURE WITHOUT BLACKMAIL OR INCITING THE PUBLIC.

“I stand to be challenged. Before 2008 how many roads were dualized in the state. But today all over the three senatorial districts, dual carriage ways are the order of the day. For example, the Sapele Road, Oba Market Road, Siluko Road, Airport Road, Isonoro area, Five junctions at Uselu, Iheya area, Akpakpava, Oba Ovoranmwen Square, to mention few. These are all roads constructed by this illustrious son of Edo Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (AKA BABA OSHIO OR OSHIO BABA) with side drains, walkways and street lights.”

Perspective ON November 25, 2005, the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (the protocol) entered into force, after being ratified by 15 African governments Two years earlier, in July of 2003, the African Union —the regional body that is charged with promoting unity and solidarity among its 53 member nations— adopted this landmark treaty to supplement time regional human rights charter, the African Charter on human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter). Time protocol provides broad protection for women’s human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights.

The significance and potential of the protocol go well beyond Africa. The treaty affirms reproductive choice and autonomy as a key human right and contains a number of global firsts. For example, it represents the first time that an international human rights instrument has explicitly articulated a woman’s right to abortion when pregnancy results from sexual assault, rape, or incest; when continuation of the pregnancy endanger the life or health of the pregnant woman; and in cases of grave fetal defects that are incompatible with life, Another first is the protocol’s call for the prohibition of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FC/ FGM) which have ravaged the lives of countless young women in Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the worst indicators of women’s health -particularly of reproductive health — of any world region. These indicators include time highest number of HIV-positive women and the highest infant, maternal and HIVrelated death rates worldwide.

The ability of a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body and her reproductive life are key to improving these indicators. The protocol can help advocates pressure government to address the underlying social, political, and health care issues that contribute to the dismal state of women’s health throughout the continent.

This briefing paper offers concrete suggestions for women’s health and rights advocates within and beyond Africa. It provides detailed information that can help African women use the protocol to exercise their reproductive rights, and suggests ways that governments can implement the protocol’s landmark provisions.

The paper can also be useful to advocates outside Africa who are seeking to establish similar guarantees.

WHY A PROTOCOL ON

Protocol On The Rights Instrument For Advancing Rep WOMEN’S RIGHTS? Although the African Charter is the primary treaty providing a framework for human rights in the region, its provisions on women’s rights arc largely seen as ineffective and inadequate.

The charter recognizes and affirms women’s rights in three provisions. First, article 18(3) requires states parties to “ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of the women.”

Second, article provides that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the charter shall be enjoyed by all, irrespective of race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, national and social origin, economic status, birth or other status. Third, article of the African Charter states that every individual shall be equal before the law and shall be entitled to equal protection of the law. And yet the protocol note that “despite t lie ratification of the African Charter ... women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practice The protocol, which resulted from years of activism by women’s rights supporters in the region, has attempted to reinvigorate the African Charter ’s commitment to women’s equality by adding rights that were missing from charter and clarifying government’s obligations with respect to women’s rights. Only one out of the more than sixty articles in the African Charter makes specific reference to women. The following are key shortcomings of the treaty as it pertains to women: • its failure to explicitly define discrimination against women; • its lack of guarantees to the rights to consent to marriage and equality in marriage; and • its emphasis on traditional values and practices that have long impeded the advancement of women’s rights in Africa.

In Africa, some of the most serious violations of women’s rights take place in the private sphere of the family and are reinforced by traditional norms and cultural values.’’ Articles 17(2) and (3) of the Africa Charter state that every

individual “ may freely take part it in the cultural life of his community” and that “ promotion and protection of morals and traditional values recognized by the community shall be the duty of the State.”

Article 27(1) of the African Charter further provides that “every individual shall have duties towards his family and society.” Moreover, the only specific reference to women’s rights in the charter is contained in a clause concerning “the family and tradition, thereby reproducing the essential tension that plagues the realization of the rights of women” in Africa. ‘ Indeed, the African Charter has been interpreted to protect customary and religious laws that violate women’s rights, such as the rights to equality and nondiscrimination; to life, liberty, and security of the person; and to protection from cruel and degrading treatment.’ In a recent ruling by the Zimbabwean Supreme Court, for example, the court held that domestic laws discriminating against women carry greater weight than international instruments protecting women front discrimination.

And in considering whether a woman could inherit her father’s estate, that court relied on traditional conceptions of the family and the male patriarch—as stressed under the African Charter—as the sources of women’s status, rather than on the rights and standards guaranteed under international legal instruments.

Advocates for women’s rights recognized these weaknesses and sought to address them by adopting an additional protocol that focused solely on women’s rights. In April THE PROTOCOL IN BRIEF The protocol requires states to “ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected and promoted.’

The protocol also calls upon states to: • provide adequate, affordable, and accessible health services to women; • establish and strengthen prenatal, delivery, and postnatal health and nutritional services for women

during pregnancy and while breast-feeding; • prohibit all medical or scientific experiments on women without their informed consent; • guarantee women’s right to consent to marriage; • set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years; • ensure equal rights for women in marriage; • protect women against all form of violence during armed conflict and consider such acts war crimes; • enact and enforce laws prohibiting all forms of violence against women, including unwanted or forced sex; and • reform laws and practices that discriminate against women 1997, a draft protocol was created and was finally ratified some six years later. The adoption of t protocol signifies a renewed political commitment to the advancement of women’s rights as human rights in Africa. Furthermore, attempts to strengthen the African human rights system through the reinvigorated African Union, which replaced the Organization of African Unity, and through the creation of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (the African Court), should embolden ad to press for more vigorous enforcement of the protocol.

KEY WOMEN’S RIGHTS PROVISIONS IN THE PROTOCOL This section examines key reproductive rights protections in the protocol within the context of existing international protections for women. The section supplies direct relevant quotes from the protocol; the full text of the treaty can be found at http://www. africa-union.org.

Global and Regional Standards for Reproductive Rights At the regional level, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the African Charter on the Right and Welfare of the Child contain provisions— including the rights to equality, life, liberty, security of the person, health, and protection from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment—that underlie women’s sexual and

reproductive rights. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights has been ratified by every country on the continent and legally obligates every African state to respect, promote, and fulfill the rights guaranteed to African women.

In addition to the regional treaties, African women’s sexual

• the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; • the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); • the international Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); and • the International Covenant on

comm monit gove time espo inter treati and i them,

and reproductive rights are embedded in the six major United Nations international human rights treaties: • the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; • the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);

Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

These treaties are legally binding instruments that require all ratifying countries to take action at time national level to respect, protect, and fulfill women’s rights.

The content of women’s sexual and reproductive rights under international law is further elaborated in the work of

issue recom concl state obliga issue memb broad huma incre interp bindi conte right impro right gene concl gener and s In g organ than impa becau less l impo effect syste share socio tradit I. P Repr

Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Comparisons Estimated total number living with HIV/AIDS (ends of 2004) % of HIV positive adults who are women (end of 2004) Estimated total deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2004 Estimated maternal mortality ratio (2000)(maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) Number of maternal death (2000) Lifetime risk of maternal death (2000) 1 in Infant Mortality Rate(2004)(per 1,000) Sub-Saharan Africa 25,400,00 52% 2,300,000 920 247,000 16 104 South &South East Asia 7,100,000 29% 490,000 330 (Asia) 253,00 (Asia) 94 (Asia)67 (South Asia) North Africa and Middle East540,000 46% 28,000 130 (Northern Africa ) 4,600 (Northern African ), 210 (Northern African) 45 Latin America 1,700,000 35% 95,000 190 22,000 160 27 Developed regions 570,000 (Western Europe) 28% (Western Europe ) 16,000 (Western Europe ) 2,500 2,500 2,800 5 Global 39,400,000 44% 3,100,000 400 529,000 74 54 *source UNAID &WHO, AIDS EPIEMIC UPDATE 2004 (2004),WHO ET AT., MATERNAL MORALITY IN 2000 (2004),UNICEF, STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2005(2004)

Perspective

s Of Women In Africa productive And Sexual Rights

mittees (known as treaty toring bodies) that monitor rnment compliance with rights and obligations used by these six key rnational human rights es. On the basis of reports information submitted to , treaty monitoring bodies

e country-specific mmendations (known as luding observations) to help s parties meet treaty ations. The committees also general committee to aid all ber states in interpreting the d provisions of international an rights treaties. These easingly comprehensive pretations, while not legally ing’s to elaborate on the ent and meaning of particular ts and thereby facilitate oved observance of these s. Both the committees’ ral comments and their luding observations have rally embraced reproductive exual health for women. general, regional treaties and nizations are more likely global ones to have an act on local human rights use regional agreements are likely to be seen as being osed by outsiders. An tive regional human rights m is based on a region’s ed legal, political, economic, and intellectual tions Provisions Relating to roductive Health and

Reproductive Autonomy A. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES I. States Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive berth, is respected

and promoted. This includes: a) the right to control their fertility; b) the right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children; c) the right to choose any method of contraception; d) the right to self protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; e) the right to be informed on ones health status and on the health, status of ones partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognized standards and best practices; 1) the right to have family planning education.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and communication program to women especially those in rural areas; b) establish and strengthen existing pm-natal, delivery and

pre-natal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while they are breast –feeding The protocol is the first legally binding human rights instrument to expressly articulate women’s reproductive rights as human rights, and to expressly guarantee a woman’s right to control her Fertility. It also provides a more detailed articulation than global human rights instruments of women’s right to reproductive health and family planning services. The protocol affirms women’s right to reproductive choice and autonomy, and clarifies African states’ duties in relation to women’s sexual and reproductive health.

Existing global human rights standards recognize women’s right to “the highest attainable standard of health to equality in “access to health care services, including those related to family planning.” Among the current global human rights treaties, women’s right to Family planning is expressly recognized only in CEDAW and the CRC. CEDAW additionally guarantees women’s right to “appropriate services in connection with pregnancy” and to “decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children, and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights.”

The CRC affirms women’s right to “necessary medical assistance and health care” to “appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mother, and to “Family planning education and services.”

B. Abortion States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: c) protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.

The protocol is the first human rights instrument to expressly articulate a woman’s right to abortion in specified circumstances.

No other human rights treaty explicitly articulates women’s right to abortion. The Human Rights Committee, the treaty monitoring body that supervises government compliance with the ICCPR, has interpreted existing global human rights standards to guarantee a women’s right to safe and legal abortion, under certain circumstances. This pertains to the interpretation of stated rights to equality, nondiscrimination, life, liberty, security of the person, and the highest attainable standard of health. The CEDAW Committee, the treaty monitoring body that monitors government compliance with CEDAW, has framed the issue of maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion as a violation of women’s right to life. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the treaty monitoring body that monitors government compliance with the

CRC, has also linked illegal, unsafe abortions to high rates of maternal mortality, and has expressed concern over the impact of punitive legislation on maternal mortality rates.

C. HIV/AIDS 1. States Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected and promoted. this includes... c) the right to choose any method of contraception; d) the right to self protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS e) the right to be informed on one’s health status and on the health status of one’s partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognised standards and best practices.

The protocol is the only treaty to specifically address women’s rights in relation to HIV/AIDS, and to identify protection HIV/ AIDS as a key component of women’s sexual and reproductive rights. In addition to guaranteeing women’s right to protection from sexually transmissible in including HIV/AIDS, the protocol guarantees women’s right to adequate, affordable, and accessible health services. It also articulates a state’s duly to protect girls and women from practices and situations that increase their risk of infection, such as child marriage, wartime sexual violence, and FC/FCM. HIV/AIDS is not expressly mentioned in any other global or regional human rights treaty.

Existing global human rights standards on the right to equality, to the highest attainable standard o health, and to life have all been interpreted to indirectly guarantee women’s rights in relation to HIV/AIDS. For example, the CEDAW Committee has acknowledged that inequality and discrimination against girls and women play a role in making women more vulnerable to HIV infection, and the committee has asked governments to adopt a human rights-based approach to HIVIAIDS. However, no global human right’s instrument other then the protocol has expressly articulated the standards governing women’s right and states’ duties in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

States Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is respected a promoted. This includes... the right to have family planning education.

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information education and communication programmes to women especially those in rural areas.

The protocol guarantees women’s right to family planning education, thus reaffirming the right to family planning explicitly

recognized in CEDAW and the CRC. CEDAW recognizes “access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families,, including information and advice on family planning” as a key component right to equality in education. The CRC requires states parties to “develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.

Provisions in other human rights instruments protecting “the right to receive and impart information” have also been interpreted as safeguarding women’s right to sexual education.

11. Provisions Relating to Violence Against Women A. BODILY INTEGRITY “Violence against women” means all acts perpetrated against women which cause or could cause them physical, sexual, psychological and economic harm including the threat to take such acts; or to undertake the imposition of arbitrary restrictions on or deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life in peace tune and during situations of armed conflicts or of war.”

States Parties shall adopt and implement appropriate measures to ensure the protection of every women’s right to respect for her dignity and protection of women from all forms violence, particularly sexual and verbal violence.

States Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to: a) enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex whether the violence takes place in private or public.

The protocol goes beyond existing global and regional treaties by affording specific legal protection against gender-based violence, in both the public and private sphere, including domestic abuse and marital rape. The protocol significantly advances woolens rights by relocating everyday abuses in the private sphere of the home to the public realm of rights violations for which states must be held accountable. In addition, the protocol is unique in its express guarantee of women’s right to be protected from threats of both physical and verbal violence.

None of the existing global human rights treaties define or openly address violence against women. This gap in the protection afforded to women was, in part, due to a historic legal distinction between rights violations that occur in the public sphere and those that occur in the private sphere, until relatively recently, the so-called “private” violence of domestic abuse, marital rape, and harmful traditional practices escaped specific mention and legal scrutiny under international, regional, and national laws.

The CRC, the most recent of the global human rights treaties, requires states to ‘protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,

maltreatment or exploitation.’

However, this provision of the convention is expressed in gender-neutral terms and does not recognize the particular vulnerability of girls and female adolescents to violence. Nor does it articulate specific state obligations in relation to genderbased violence.

Provisions in other global treaties—ie., those guaranteeing the rights to equality, nondiscrimination, life, liberty, security of the person, and the highest attainable standard of health-have been interpreted to include women’s right to be protected from violence. For example, in its General Recommendation on Violence against Women, the CEDAW Committee states the definition of discrimination includes gender—based violence. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.” The Human Rights Committee has also identified domestic violence and sexual violence as violations of women’s right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

B. PRACTICES HARMFUL TO WOMEN “Harmful practices” means all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity.

States Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patients of conduct of women and men through public education, information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for women and States Parties shall prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices which negatively affect the human rights of women and which are contrary to recognised international standards. States Parties shall take all necessary legislative and other measures to eliminate such, practices, including: a) creation of public awareness in all sectors of society regarding harmful practices through information, formal and informal education and out reach programmer b) prohibition, through legislative measures hacked by sanctions, of all forms female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalisation and’ para-medicalisation of female genital mutilation and all other practices in order to eradicate them; c) provision of necessary support to victims of harmful practices through basic services such as health services, legal and judicial support, emotional and psychological counselling as well as vocational training to make them self-supporting; d) protection of women who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices or all other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.

A brief for civil societies

Nature Science

HOW does the cerebral cortex work? Some animals with a cerebral cortex, such as dogs and monkeys, have limited powers of associating different objects or experiences together. By experiments with dogs, Pavlov and his team of research workers in Russia have discovered a great deal about the way in which the cortex functions. He showed that the basis of the power of association, which rests in the cortex, was what he called the conditioned reflex. He first noticed that when very young dogs were first being weaned, saliva was produced in the mouth only when food was placed on the tongue; this was an inborn reflex action. Later on during weaning, the sight of food or the smell of food was sufficient to cause the saliva to flow. He then designed experiments to find out whether other stimuli, quite unconnected with the food itself, could be made to stimulate reflex. A dog was placed in a quiet room where it could be fed and observed without interference. Each time the dog was fed, a bell was rung just before the plate of f was lowered to the dog; it salivated and ate the food. After a few repetitions the bell was rung but no plate of food was lowered and the dog was observed; as soon as the bell rang, it wagged its tail and saliva flowed in its mouth.

This was repeated and for several days the dog produced the response at the sound of the bell only. Thus the dog had learned to recognise the bell as a sign of food, and the sound of the bell and the sight of the food had become associated in the dog’s brain. The newly learned response was called conditioned reflex.

Normally, what had happened was that the sight or the smell of food sent stimuli to the brain; the sensory impulses went to the sight and smell sensation centres in the cortex an then on to the motor cortex; fibres took the response on to the motor centres in the hind- brain which then transmitted the necessary motor impulses, via nerve to the salivary glands.

During the experiment this passing of impulses down the same path occurred regularly as the bell was rung; impulses also went therefore via the auditory nerve to the brain and on to the hearing sensation centres in the cortex; these nerve centres were stimulated just at the same time as the visual, smell and motor

Between Growth And Conditioned Reflexes centres were being stimulated by the food. Repeatedly, these areas in the cortex were being stimulated simultaneously and became associated in some way, probably by synapses between nerve cells in the cortex When only the cells in the hearing centre of the cortex were stimulated by the bell alone, the motor cortex cells were stimulated in sympathy and the impulses went out to the salivary gland as before. This is a remarkable advance, because by this means behaviour is no longer limited to give one fixed response for only one fixed stimulus, as in animals without a cortex. A dog without a cerebral cortex cannot recognise the sight or the smell of food or the sound of the bell, and only salivates if the food is placed on its tongue; this is the fixed inborn response.

In the above experiment the response to the bell eventually died out unless food was given again, and the conditioned reflex therefore became ‘inhibited’.

Pavlov’s experiments went much further and showed that chains of conditioned reflexes could be built up. Another important discovery was that if two conditioned reflexes competed with one another, one of them was suppressed or inhibited. Lf any stimulus impinged on the cortex without the normal responses and reward taking place, the stimulus had an inhibiting effect on the cortex; moreover, if any part of the cortex was activated, its activity tended to inhibit activity in other parts of the cortex.

Much of an animal’s behaviour and many human actions depend on chains of conditioned reflex actions which have been learned and are carried out without ‘thinking’. We are not born with many inherited instincts and must therefore learn to carry out all our actions, such as standing, walking, jumping, riding a bicycle, playing games, writing and talking. With practice we get better at these things and do them without thinking. Many of our reactions are the result of the selection of some conditioned reflexes and the inhibition of others. At all times some parts of

our cortex are probably being inhibited, and when we are asleep the whole of the cortex and the lower centres of the brain are either in an inhibited or inactive, unresponsive state. Our own cortex is much more complicated

the best way of learning and of learning to remember, because we form strong associations in our cortex cells and can therefore recall the ideas they represent.

GROWTH IN SIMPLE

called growing points, where the cells remain young. Cells which mature and become specialised are no longer able to grow or divide. Animals and plants show a great diversity in their growing points and in their ability to

than that of other higher mammals because of the association or silent areas. These permit us to think into the past through our memory and into the future through our power to work out what may happen. We can form ideas in our minds; these ideas are probably due to the associations of cells in our cortex.

It is interesting to notice that this gives us several other things which animals may not have; we have mentioned language, mathematics, music and abstract thought, but in addition to these it gives us an awareness, our own idea of things and this we call consciousness. The development of association areas also gives us the power to make up our ‘own minds and act by what appears to be our own free will. Another useful thing to remember as students, and in fact all our lives, is that the things we do ourselves, the experiences we get of our own initiative, are the things which mean most to us. This is

ORGANISMS All living things grow. The addition of body substance which builds up the tissues of the organism is part of life and results in an increase in the size and weight of the body. An amoeba increases in size as it builds up new protoplasm from the food substances it absorbs. Soon its body becomes too large and certain difficulties arise. The inner parts of the cell cannot get enough food and oxygen because the surface area for absorption is insufficient. Also, waste products become difficult to eject, and diffusion, which is a slow process, is not efficient enough to keep the large body healthy.

The amoeba meets this difficulty when conditions are favourable and it grows too large, simply by dividing its body into two halves; each half then begins an individual life of its own. Many other simple organisms, for example Paramecium and Chhlorococcus, show this same kind of growth and subsequent multiplication. Spirogyra threads increase in length by the division of any cell of the thread into two; a new cell wall then arises between the two daughter cells.

GROWTH IN HIGHER ORGAN JSMS In n animals and plants, growth also takes place by division of cells. The tissues and cells in different parts of the body, however, are specialised, and growth is limited to certain areas

continue growth. In general, they grow fastest when they are young, and after reaching a climax the growth rate falls off gradually and at maturity may cease altogether. In man and most higher vertebrates, growth and development have very definite limits; the growing points cease to he active and the tissues gradually age in adult life until some vital part ceases to function and the animal dies. Exactly why cells cease growing is not known, and it is remarkable that cells from a bird or a mammal can be kept growing in tissue cultures for an indefinite period. Trees, fish, molluscs and crustaceans continue to grow throughout life, but insects have limited growth.

A boy in his first year of life increases in weight by 200 per cent, in the second year by only 20 per cent and by the age of 7 by only 10 per cent. During puberty from about 14 to 18 years, there is a slight increase in the rate of growth, usually accompanied by a marked increase in height, but by the time he is a young man of 20 the increase in weight is down to I or 2 per cent per year. Most of us do not grow any taller after 20, although we may go on increasing in weight according to our health, diet and way of life.

Increase in height is due to the lengthening of the vertebrae and the long bones of the legs; the cells in the gristly end-pieces of these bones multiply and lay

“Much of an animal’s behaviour and many human actions depend on chains of conditioned reflex actions which have been learned and are carried out without ‘thinking’. We are not born with many inherited instincts and must therefore learn to carry out all our actions, such as standing, walking, jumping, riding a bicycle, playing games, writing and talking.”

down more bone tissue which eventually joins with the main shaft of the bone. Growth in length is then at an end. It is fortunate that our adult size is fixed and that we do not continue to grow throughout our lives, as some animals do; it would be very inconvenient in our specialised social life and delicately balanced physiology if we did continue to increase in size.

Insects have limited growth because the final size to which they can grow is limited by their physiological make-up. Their respiratory and excretory systems cannot function efficiently above a certain size. Insects in which the adult has fully developed wings cannot moult again, and so their growth must cease if they are not to burst their hard skins.

Caterpillars increase in size enormously at first but gradually the rate of growth slows down as they enlarge, and they pupate long before they become too big to exist.

REGENERATION In man the power to replace parts is limited to the repair of tissues and to the healing of wounds and broken bones. A limb once lost cannot be replaced. This is true of all higher vertebrates, although a lizard can grow a new tail by the formation of new vertebrae, if its original tail is broken off.

Crabs, lobsters and spiders can grow new limbs. At each moult the new limb increases in size. A spider caught by a bird often manages to escape by shedding a limb. Simpler animals such as starfish, earthworms, flatworms and Hydra are able to regenerate the whole body from a piece broken off the body, provided the piece is sufficiently large. If an earthworm is chopped in half both parts can grow a new ‘head’ or ‘tail’ region as required. Hydra multiplies itself by branches from its body becoming detached and becoming new individuals.

SHAPE AND GROWTH Another most remarkable feature about growth is the way in which it is controlled in different parts of the body to give shape and form to living things.

In man and higher vertebrates, different organs and tissues growth different rates and stop growing at their appointed time, so that the adult size and shape is fixed within narrow limits. From birth, our arms and legs grow faster than our trunk, and our trunk grows faster than our head, so that by the time we have matured the proportions of the body are determined and are very different from they were at birth.

Crabs and other crustacea go on growing throughout their lives and so have no fixed size; the male fiddler crab is a curious example.

Courtesy: Andir Book of Sciences/Nature

Drumbeats

Dream Heroes II PRESIDENT of the United States. Born Barrack Hussein Obama on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where her father worked on oil rigs during the depression. After the Japanese attack on Pear Harbor, Dunham’s father, Stanley, enlisted in the service and marched across Europe in Patton’s army.

Dunham mother, Madelyn went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, the couple studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program and, after several moves, landed in Hawaii.

Obama’s father, Barrack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. The elder Obama grew up herding goats in Africa, eventually earning a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams of college in Hawaii. While studying at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Obama Sr met fellow student, Ann Dunham. They married on February 2, 1961. Barrack was born six months later.

Obama’s parents, when he was two years old later divorced.

Obama, Sr. went on to Harvard to pursue Ph.D. studies, and then returned to Kenya in 1965. In 1966, Dunham married Lob Soetoro, another East West Center student from Indonesia. A year later, the family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama’s half sister Maya soetoro Ng was born. Several incidents in Indonesia left Dunham afraid for her son’s safety and education so, at the age of 10, Barrack was sent back to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. His mother and sister later joined them.

While living with his grandparents, Obama enrolled in the esteemed Punahou Academy, excelling in basketball and graduating with academic honours in 1979. As one of only three black students at the school, Obama became conscious of racism and what it meant to be African American. He later described how he struggled to reconcile social perception of his multiracial heritage with his own sense of self “1 began to notice there was nobody like me in the Sears, Roebuck Christmas catalog.., and that Santa was a white man, “he said” I went to the bathroom and stood in front of the minor with all my senses and limbs seemingly intact, looking the way I had always looked, and wondered if something was wrong with me.”

Obama also struggled with the absence of his father, who he saw only once more after his parents divorced, in a brief 1971 visit. “ My father had left paradise, and nothing that my mother or grandparents told me could obviate that single, unassailable

fact, “ he later reflected. “ They couldn’t describe what it might have been like had he stayed.

“Obama, Sr. eventually lost his legs in an automobile accident, also losing his job as a result. In 1982, he died in yet another car accident while traveling to Nairobi, Obama, Jr. said of his death, “my father remained a myth to me,” Obama said, “both more and less than a man.”

After high school, Obama

February 1990, Obama was elected the first African American editor of the Harvard Law Review, and he graduated magna cum laude in 1991.

After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill and Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School, and helped organize voter registration drives during

Barrack Hussein Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two ‘ears. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in Political science. After working in the business sector for two years, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked on the south side as a community organizer for low income residents in the Roseland and the Altgeld Gardens communities.

It was during this time that Obama, who said he “was not raised in a religious household,” joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his biological father and paternal grandfather. For a longtime I sat between the two graves and wept, ‘ Obama said. 1 saw that my life in America the black life, the white life, the sense of abandonment I felt as a boy, the frustration and hope I’d witnessed in Chicago all of it was connected with this small plot of earth an ocean away.”

Obama returned from Kenya with a sense of renewal, entering Harvard Law School in 1988.

The next year he met Michelle Robinson an associate at Sidley and Austin law firm in Chicago.

She was assigned to be Obama’s adviser during a summer internship at the firm, and soon the couple began dating. In

Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. On October 3, 1992, he and Michelle were married.

They moved to Kenwood, on Chicago South Side, and welcomed two daughters: Malia (born 1998) and Sasha (born 2001).

The Obama Published his autobiography in 1995, Dreams from My father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. The work received high praise from literary figures such as Toni Morrison and has since been printed in 10 languages, 2004 and is currently being adapted into a children’s version. The 2006 audiobook version of Dreams, which was narrated by Obama, received a Grammy award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He won election in 1996. During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services, and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned income tax credit for the working poor.

Obama became chairman of the Illinois senate’s Health and Human Service Committee as well, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, he worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations

and confessions in all capital cases.

In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the US. House of Representatives seat held by four term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush. Undeterred, Obama created a campaign committee in 2002, and began raising funds to run in the 2004 U. S. Senate Race. With the help of political consultant David Axelrod, Obama began assessing his prospects of a Senate win.

Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Obama was an early opponent of President George W. Bush’s push to war with Iraq.

Obama was still a state senator when he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002. “1 am opposed to the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

Despite his protests, the war with Iraq began in 2003.

Obama, encouraged by poll numbers, decided to run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. in the 2004 Democratic primary, he won 52 percent of the vote, defeating multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes. That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues.

After the convention, Obama returned to his US. Senate bid in Illinois. His opponent in the general election was supposed to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, a wealthy former investment banker. However, Ryan unsubstantiated sexual deviancy allegations by Ryans ex wife, actress Jeri Ryan.

In August 2004, diplomat and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. In three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers and tax cuts. In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70 percent of the vote to Keyes 27 percent, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history. With his win Barrack Obama become only the third African American elected to the U. S. Senate since the Reconstruction.

Sworn into office January 4, 2005, Obama partnered with Republican Senator Richard

With Apostle Dr. Raphael O. Ayemere 08035459593

Lugar of Indiana On a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Eastern Europe and Russia. Then, with Republican Senator Tom Corburn of Oklahoma, he created a website that tracks all federal spending. Obama also spoke out for victims of Hurricane Katrina; pushed for alternative energy development; and championed improved veterans benefits.

His second book. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006. the work discussed Obama’s visions for the future of America, many of which became talking points, for his eventual presidential campaign.

Shortly after its release, it hit No. 1 on both the New York Times and Amazon.com bestsellers In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and then U.S. Senator from NewYork, Hillary Rodham Clinton. On June 3, 2008 however, Obama became the presumptive nominees of the Democratic party, and Senator Clinton delivered her full support to Obama for the duration of his campaign. On November 4, 2008, Barrack Obama defeated Republican presidential nominee John McCain for the position of U. S. President, 52.9 percent to 45.7 percent. On January 20, 2009, Obama became the 44th President of the United States and the first African American to hold this office.

When Obama took office, he inherited a global economic recession; two ongoing foreign wars; and the lowest international favorability rating for the United States ever. He campaigned on an ambitious agenda of financial reform, alternative energy, and reinventing education and health care all while bringing down the national debt. Because these issues were intertwined with the economic well being of the nation, he believed all would have to be undertaken simultaneously. During his inauguration speech, Obama summarized the situation by saying “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.

They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America; they will be met.”

Between Inauguration Day and April 29, the Obama administration took to the field on many fronts. Obama coaxed congress to expand health care

insurance for children and provide legal protection for women seeking equal pay. A S787 billion stimulus bill was passed to promote short-term economic growth. Housing and credit markets were put on lifesupport, with a market-based plan to buy U.S. banks’ toxic assets. Loans were made to the auto industry, and new regulations were proposed for Wall street. He also cut taxes for working families, small businesses and first time home buyers. The president also loosened the ban on embryonic stem cell research and moved ahead with a S 3.5 trillion budget plan.

During his first 100 days, President Obama also undertook a complete overhaul of America’s foreign policy, he reached out to improve relations with Europe, China, Russia and open dialogue with Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.

He 1obbied allies to support a global economic stimulus package. He committed an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan and set an August2010 date for withdrawal of U S troops from Iraq. In more dramatic incidents, he took on pirates off the coast of Somalia and prepared the nation for an attack of the Swine Flu. For his efforts, he was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

On January 27, 2010, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union speech. During his oration, Obama addressed the challenges of the economy,.

Proposing a fee for larger banks, announcing a possible freeze on government spending in 2010, and speaking against the Supreme Courts reversal of a law capping campaign finance spending. He also challenged politicians to stop thinking of reelection and start making positive changes, criticizing Republicans for their refusal to support any legislation, and chastising Democrats for not pushing hard enough to get legislation passed.

He also insisted that, despite current obstacles, he was determined to help American citizens through the nation’s current domestic difficulties. “We don’t quit. I don’t quit,” he said “Let’s seize this moment to carry the dream forward, and strengthen our union once more.”

Barrack Obama a child of destiny as he is fondly called by millions of people across the world became the President of America because of his ambition and desire for greatness. A man without a strong desire for greatness cannot achieve the successes which Barrack Obama has in his years on earth.

Law

Income Tax Appeals THE Commissioner may serve a notice on an employee requesting him in a financial year to deduct such specific amount of tax as may be stipulated in that direction from the salary of a named employee whenever payment of salary is made to that employee. If the employer fails to make the deduction during the financial year, the Commissioner may either direct that the tax shall be a civil debt due and payable by the said employer unless he can show sufficient cause for the failure, or that the present employer of the tax payer, if he has changed his employment, will now make the deduction.

This can be done at any time and as often as necessary during the next ensuing six years. An appeal lies against this direction of the Commissioner by an aggrieved employer. This right of appeal by the employer is distinct from the right of appeal by the employee against the deduction of tax from his salary. The High Court may confirm or annul the direction and the decision of the High Court is final.

The Minister of Finance may make rules generally for carrying out the direction of the Commissioner. But perhaps, this would not empower the Minister to make rules for the appeal.

However, no rules have been made by him for the appeal: It is submitted that where the Commissioner directs that the tax be a civil debt against an employer, such employer shall not appeal to the High Court till the Commissioner fails to rescind the order after he, the employer, has unsuccessfully shown him a “sufficient cause” for the failure, and that the rules of appeal under section 26 (5) may as far as practicable govern the appeal when made to the High Court.

Failure to keep Accounts or Records If a tax payer fails or refuses to keep adequate ac counts or records to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to enable the necessary information for his

decision of the High Court is final. Nonspecific provision is made for rules of appeal under this section and it is submitted that rules under section 26 (5) may as far as practicable apply.

Return of Income The Commissioner is required by the Law, not later than the first day of May of each year of assessment, to publish a notice requiring every tax payer for that year whose total in come exceeds two hundred naira, to prepare and deliver not later than thirty days after the date of the publication, to the person and at the place specified in the notice, a statement in writing or in the form of return supplied by the Commissioner. This provision, however, leaves the Commissioner with a discretion in the matter. His failure to do so cannot annul an assessment.

Similarly, where such notice was given but a tax payer failed to file a return, an arbitrary assessment raised on him would not be void!

So the appeal court cannot set aside the assessment on such grounds.

Apparent Error or Mistake in Assessment Errors or mistakes in assessment shall not be the subject of an appeal but may be corrected by the Commissioner on application of the tax payer made any time within six years after the end of the year of assessment in respect of which the tax was paid. If the Commissioner, after due enquiry as he may deem fit, becomes satisfied that there was an error or mistake in the record of the assessment, he shall order such repayment of the tax to the tax payer as the circumstances of the matter may justify. The jurisdiction hereby conferred is exercisable by the Commissioner only where the error or mistake is apparent on the records of the assessment and which shall not involve the reopening of any issue agreed by the tax payer or otherwise determined before payment of the tax was made.

By A. OBI-OKOYE is served on a tax payer, he may, if aggrieved by the assessment by way of objection, apply to the Assessment Authority concerned to review and re vise the

an appeal.

Appeal to the Board of Commissioners Usually, before an assessment, the tax payer makes a return

assessment. The application shall be made not later than twentyone days from the date of service of the notice of assessment unless the Assessment Authority extends the time for making the application. The application may be oral or in writing but shall state precisely the grounds of the objection.

The Assessment Authority shall inquire into the objection and make a decision to the best of his judgment. He shall act promptly and is not bound to interview or hear the applicant in person, if the application is in writing. The decision shall be

whereby he sets out his admitted income. The Assessment Authority may accept this income or not and shall assess the tax on the account of income acceptable to it. Where a higher income than the one declared by the tax payer is the basis of an assessment, the tax payer may become aggrieved.

The difference between the amount of tax payable on the in come declared by the tax payer and the one payable is the amount of tax in dispute between the tax payer and the Assessment Authority. In case no declaration was made, the admitted income shall be stated in the notice of

“Errors or mistakes in assessment shall not be the subject of an appeal but may be corrected by the Commissioner on application of the tax payer made any time within six years after the end of the year of assessment in respect of which the tax was paid.” assessment to be ascertained, the Commissioner may by notice in writing direct him to keep these accounts or records in such form and in such language as the Commissioner may specify. An appeal lies from any such direction to the High Court. The High Court may confirm, modify or annul such direction, and the

This jurisdiction does not exclude the right of appeal on grounds of error or mistake. The utility of the provision lies in the fact that the jurisdiction is exercisable by the Commissioner over a period of six years, when the right of appeal shall have expired.

Review of Assessment When a notice of assessment

immediately communicated to the applicant, and where the assessment is revised, whether by reduction or by increase, the tax payer shall be served with a fresh notice of assessment reflecting the revision. The making of an objection shall not affect the tax payer’s right of appeal. Objection may be made concurrently with

appeal given by the appellant.

Where a tax payer is aggrieved by an assessment of his income and the amount of tax in dispute does not exceed one hundred naira, he may appeal against the assessment to the Board of Commissioners appointed for the area in which his place of employment situates.

Apart from the general public notice which the Com missioner makes during the first two months of the financial year requiring every tax payer for that year whose total income exceeds two hundred naira to prepare and deliver a return of a statement of

his income within thirty days, the Assessment Authority may also at any time and as often as it may be necessary specifically by notice in writing require a particular tax payer to make such return of income as may be directed within a stipulated period. Also for the purposes of obtaining full in formation in respect of any income or personal circumstances of the tax payer, the Assessment Authority may, in writing, require him within a specified time, to prepare and deliver a specified statement or to attend personally before the Assessment Authority for examination as regards any matter relating to that income or those personal circumstances, or to produce or cause to be produced for examination any document, book, account, or record relating to that income or those personal circumstances.

Failure by any tax payer to comply with any such specific notice shall be a bar to his appeal on facts to the Board. He can only appeal on a question of law.

There is also a right of appeal to the Board by a tax payer aggrieved by any deduction from his income made pursuant to a direction to his employer by the Commissioner, where the amount of the deduction in dispute does not exceed one hundred naira.

The appeal shall lie to the Board in the area where his place of employment is situated. The amount in dispute shall be the difference between the amount of

deduction ordered by the Commissioner and that, if any, admitted by the tax payer to be deducted.

213. The appeal is regulated by provisions of section 24 (4-15) of the Law, and the Income Tax (Boards of Commissioners) Regulations published as E.R.L.N. No. 153 of 1956.

The notice of appeal, in writing shall be lodged not later than twenty-one days after the date on which the tax payer is served with the notice of assessment or not later than twenty- one days after the date stated in the notice of assessment as the date on which the tax is payable, whichever is the later.

Where the appeal is against the Commissioner’s direction to the employer for deduction of tax, the notice shall be given not later than twenty-one days after the last day of the financial year during which the deduction was made. This means that the appeal may be lodged any time after the direction to deduct was received up to twenty-one days after the financial year has closed.

An employer who has received a direction to deduct from an employee shall, notwithstanding that the employee is appealing, continue to make the deduction till the appeal is determined. The period of twenty-one days within which an appeal may be lodged cannot be extended by the court.”

The appellant shall pay half of the tax in dispute and the other half remain in abeyance till the determination of the appeal. Any balance later found due shall be paid not later than twenty-one days after the date of service upon him of the notice of the amount payable as determined by the Board. The payment is not stated to be a condition for the lodgement of the appeal nor for the hearing of the appeal, but the rules require the amount to be paid before the grounds of appeal can be filed, and also provided that if on the hearing date the court becomes satisfied that the payment was not made it shall dismiss the appeal. The appeal shall not affect the liability of the tax payer to pay the tax not in dispute within the period stated in the notice of assessment, unless otherwise permitted. by the Assessment Authority.

The appellant shall attend the hearing in person or by a legal practitioner. The hearing of the appeal shall be in cam era unless the Board otherwise directs on the application of the appellant.

The respondent cannot demand a hearing in public nor can the Board sit in public as a matter of course. The onus of proof shall be on the appellant to establish that the assessment or the deduction is excessive.

The Board may confirm, reduce, increase or annul the assessment and may award such costs as may be fixed by the Board at its discretion. The decision of the Board shall be final on facts and no appeal shall lie therefrom. Further appeal lies to the High Court on point of law only, by the appellant or the Commissioner.

Issues Gender Issues

IN recent years the reform process of the UN system has become a crucial issue on practically all UN agendas.

During the 50th Session of the CSW, the International Women’s Tribune Centre (IWTC) and the Heinrich Boll Foundation organized a NGO panel discussion on the implications of the UN reform process for women and women’s advocacy worldwide as a contribution to efforts in broadening the UN Reform debate, particularly in creating spaces for more women’s voices to be heard. The panel discussion highlighted a need to provide more information about the ongoing reform steps and—more importantly provide a space for dialogue on the promise that this process holds for women.

The discussions in the panel resulted in a publication by several contributors, UN Reform: What’s in it for Women?, that examines the UN reform agenda and its relevance for women from many different angles and experiences, ranging from the newly set up Peace building Commission, to women’s advocacy perspectives in the new Human Rights Council, to transformation of the multilateral system, to a proposed vision for a Women’s Commission on UN Reform. On the basis of this publication and discussions in the panel, a concise paper was prepared in July 2006, entitled Gender Equality Architecture and UN Reforms, and submitted to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Systemwide Coherence as the contribution of women’s organizations into the reform process of the UN system.

Governments’ Reports Double Checked by NGOs The shadow report-strategy, which had been used earlier within the system where governments reported on their implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, was also used by NGOs during the Beijing+5 process in 2000.

The shadow reports contain the findings and views of people in comparison with the official reports prepared by the Member States. In fact, NGOs can verify the official reports of their governments as well as bring in their own findings and experiences in implementation of CEDAW or the Beijing PFA in their own country.

A collateral outcome of the preparation of shadow reports— or alternative reports as they are also called—is that an increasing number of women are mobilized to study the Beijing PFA and their governments’ reports and put them under scrutiny. The work accomplished and ideas collected in this process provide NGO women with more competence and experience to participate in UN processes, both at the national as well as the international level. In some countries it has resulted in the government inviting NGOs to participate before hand in the preparation of the national report to the UN, i.e. the government wants to hear women’s views at an early stage.

Women And UN Reforms

By HILKA PIETILA

The alternative reporting process in connection with Beijing+l0 doubled. The shadow reporting was launched by the NGO Committee on the Status Women in New York by sending the UN questionnaire through various channels to NGOs inviting them to prepare their responses. The questionnaire was the same as the one sent to governments. Somewhat later,

five UN Economic and Social Regions and in some of them the reports were prepared by several sub-regions. All the contributors used the WEDO questionnaire as their starting point, but they took different approaches and emphasized different themes depending on sub-regional priorities and the rich diversity of

NGO Reports Reflect Women’s Realities Both of the NGO summary reports are so rich in substance that it is impossible to further summarize them. The following extracts provide a few highlights from both of them.

The WEDO report starts by

the NGO/CSW Committee prepared a simplified version of the questionnaire in order to facilitate the process.

In 2003, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) established an International Advisory Group to prepare and guide national and international NGO follow-up processes on Beijing+l0. The Group included regionally diverse feminist activists with a wide range of expertise on a number of issues and who often had previous experience from earlier operations led by WEDO in the l990s.

The WEDO Group prepared their own questionnaire, which also covered new issues that have emerged since 1995, such as peace and security; trade and finance; sustainability; and HIV/ AIDS. They also felt that the linkages of the 12 Critical Areas of the PFA are now even more complex and intertwined.

Therefore, they combined them into seven different themes: Human Rights; Peace and Security; Power and DecisionMaking; Poverty Eradication; Education; Natural Resources and Environment; and Health.

The WEDO initiative was received with enthusiasm; women every where affirmed the need for a new global monitoring report to impact the 2005 Beijing+10 Review and the 2005 UN World Summit. However, it was soon clear that “one size does not fit all” when it comes to the international women’s movement. The process was organized regionally according to

women’s daily life and experiences.

Such a thorough and diversified process demanded an enormous effort and involved hundreds of organizations and thousands of women as contributors within the process that took about two years. The overwhelmingly rich amount of material was summarized and merged together in New York and made into an impressive report— Beijing Betrayed: Women Worldwide Report that Governments Have Failed to Turn the Platform into Action (WEDO, 2005).

The NGO Committee on the Status of Women received 42 shadow reports covering 112 organizations. The number of countries covered is difficult to specify as some of the reports were sub-regional and a few country reports were prepared collectively by several NGOs. The summary report, Ten Years After Beijing: Still More Promises than Progress 19952005: Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Being Platform for Action, was prepared for the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York (NGO/CSW/NY, 2005).

The report is systematic since it is structured according to the 12 Areas of Critical Concern in the PFA. In the beginning of each chapter there are references to the strategic objectives of the respective PEA sections, and there are also comparisons to the corresponding sections of the NGO Alternative Global Report produced in 2000 (CONGO, 2000).

saying: “This report presents women’s realities—their concerns, experiences, perspectives and analyses—in the implementation process and contrasts sharply with the more formal and often abstract reports governments have presented.”

The NGO/CSW/NY report begins by characterizing the main features of the reports they received: “The NGO reports keep their sights clearly focused on gender mainstreaming and efforts to achieve equality between men and women as the central issues of review at this ten- year benchmark. They pay close attention to the means by which their governments do and do not hold themselves accountable for the commitments they made at Beijing.”

The NGO/CSW/NY report also notes that gender mainstreaming and gender impact assessment were the highest cross-cutting policy commitments governments made at Beijing.

“The gender main- streaming is not an end in itself but a means to prevent and over come discrimination based on culturally and socially determined roles. It is not a onetime operation but an ongoing process demanding heightened awareness and training. These are of paramount importance to the effective implementation of mainstreaming.” NGOs cite good efforts by governments to promote gender main- streaming but they also give many examples of limited implementation: a lack of systematic data collection and gender impact assessment; failure to set and meet clear

benchmarks and timeframes; inadequate budget allocations inconsistent integration of gender into policy measures, etc. “A key indication of support for gender equality and mainstreaming is the degree of commitment to funding and resources through allocated amount. One recurring theme throughout the reports is the discrepancy between commitment and reality of funding for both women’s programmes and NGOs dealing with women’s Issues,” the NGO/ CSW/NY report finds.

Violence against women in its various forms is clearly a universal, acute problem affecting some two-thirds of women worldwide. Until the 1985 Nairobi Conference, it was a carefully silenced issue both in the private lives of women and in wars and conflicts. It was taken up openly in a few paragraphs of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies and through various UN efforts thereafter violence against women has become a burning issue in public debate and part of the UN agenda.

During the Beijing-I-b process it was the most frequently raised issue in the NGO reports from various regions. For example, in West Africa women’s rights organizations mobilized against female genital mutilation (FGM) and won positive legislation in Benin. Burkina Faso, Cote d’lvoire, Ghana, Senegal and Togo. The opposite occurred in I3angladcsh where law enforcement authorities found themselves ineffective to contain gang rape, acid violence, dowry deaths and trafficking.

The trafficking of women and children into bonded sweatshop labour, forced marriages, forced prostitution, domestic servitude and other kinds of work has become large global concern since Beijing. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of women being trafficked from the former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE/CIS countries) as up to 175,000 women from these countries are being drawn in sex industry in Western Europe each year. Prostitution and trafficking in women and children was the most crucial problem discussed during the Beijing-i-I 0 preparatory conference of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Region held in Geneva in 2004. So far, governments seem to be fairly helpless to combat these crimes and to protect women affected by them.

In the field of education, positive results have been achieved for some years in many parts of the world. According to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2005, so far five regions are close to universal enrolment in primary education, with an enrolment rate of 90% or higher (UN, 2005c). Achieving the goal will require dramatically scaled-up efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Oceania. However, the first countries to make the crucial step of abolishing school fees at the

primary level are Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Efforts to increase adult literacy are continuing in many countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

On the other end of the scale, in many European countries women’s qualifications in education are on average higher than men’s. However, this is not reflected in women’s academic positions and incomes in the labour market.

Concerning women and economics, the WEDO report describes the situation: “A combination of global trends the predominance of the neo-liberal economic framework, growing militarization, and rising fundamentalism — have created an environment that is increasingly hostile to the advancement of women’s rights.

Since Beijing, the neo-liberal economic model and market driven policies have increased poverty and intensified inequalities between and within nations, with the harshest impact falling on women, the majority and poorest of the poor. Women’s work in the care economy remains unaccounted for in gender-blind macroeconomic policy and poverty reduction strategies that further exacerbate the feminization of poverty.”

The consequences are most tragic in former socialist countries. They have deregulated their economies, decreased the role of the State in monetary and fiscal policies and linked their national economies to world economic processes. Shock privatization had led in many cases to the plundering of privatized assets. Rising poverty and unemployment have spurred prostitution and trafficking in women and children. Almost half of women in those countries consider themselves poor: in Moldova and Ukraine the figure is- close to 70%; and in Kyrgyzstan women made up roughly 57% of the total number of unemployed in 1999.

The WEDO report also takes up increased militarization and revival of both secular and religious fundamentalism, which have created a stifling climate for progressive change. “Increased militarization comes on top of an increase in regional ethnic and communal violence in many parts of the world.

Fundamentalist parties, often led by or supported by the US, seek to rollback the gains of Cairo and Beijing, particularly on sexualand reproductive health and rights, and to limit the freedom and opportunities of women and girls around the world. The devastating impact of all of these trends intensifies women’s social and cultural vulnerabilities, especially the poorest and those coping with the consequences of the HIV V/AIDS pandemic.”

The WEDO report deems that the inaction of the governments in the face of such intense opposition to women’s rights justifies its conclusion: governments have betrayed the promises they made in Beijing.

Development

Creating A Road Map For Solid Minerals’ Dev In Nigeria STAKEHOLDERS in the mining sector argue that Nigeria is vastly endowed with a lot of mineral resources and underscore the need for the creation of a pragmatic roadmap for their development and sustainable exploitation.

They, however, concede that the roadmap, which the Federal Government presented in 2013, could serve as a veritable guide for all the solid minerals’ development processes in the country.

In January 2013, the Federal Government announced a roadmap for solid minerals’ development and economists laud the plan as a pragmatic effort to grow and diversify the nation’s economy.

At the presentation of the roadmap, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said that the blueprint had articulated strategies for the diversification of the economy.

He urged the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to ensure that the roadmap was utilised by foreign and local investors in the solid minerals sector so as to achieve better results.

Malam Musa Sada, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, said that the ministry would ensure that the solid minerals sector was repositioned to provide job opportunities for the youth.

Apart from this, economists believe that the roadmap will tackle some challenges facing mining operations such as inadequate geosciences data which is needed to facilitate comprehensive minerals’ exploration by the private sector.

In a recent interview, Sada said that the policy thrust of the roadmap entailed import substitution, job creation and promotion of modern mining practices, among

By FATIMA SULE others.

He said that the roadmap would increase per capita consumption of steel, provide legal and regulatory framework for the metals sub-sector, and guarantee transparency in the grant of mining titles and permits.

The minister noted that although the roadmap had been implemented in some parts of the country, its full implementation had been hindered by factors such as poor funding, security issues and inadequate infrastructural facilities at mines sites.

Nevertheless, Malam Muhammad Amate, the Director-General of Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office, said that the office had been working hard to address the challenges.

According to him, the office has become a credible Federal Government agency mandated to facilitate the development of mineral resources in the country and function as a gateway to mining.

Amate said that the office guaranteed an independent, efficient and transparent system in the granting, administration and management of all mining titles.

“In modern term, the office is the combination of geographic information system, database and procedures relating to the application, processing and grant of mining rights,’’ he said.

He said that four foreign companies would soon begin the mining of gold and iron ore in Kebbi, Osun and Kogi.

He also said more than 20 foreign companies from Australia, Canada, United

during the period.

Mr John Jegede, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, said that the roadmap would facilitate Nigeria’s efforts to attain some socio-economic and environmental objectives via sustainable exploration

roadmap was its capacity to attract investments into the solid minerals sector.

“The agency is discussing with the International Mining for Development Centre, an initiative supported by the Australian government, to provide training and capacity building in mining, geology, environment, laboratory training and mineral processing,’’ he

becoming a major world player in the mining industry require a conscious and focused development of professional manpower in mining and geosciences.

“Government recognises the need to expand the scope of the mandate of the institute to reflect the current realities in the global minerals industry,’’ he said.

He said that ever since the ministry launched the roadmap, the institute had

Malam Musa Sada, Minister of Mines and steel development

Kingdom, Italy, China, Republic of Niger, India, South Africa and Ukraine had obtained exploration licences to carry out solid minerals’ exploration across the country.

Amate stressed that the office had issued more than 4,000 mineral titles from 2011 to date, while generating N2.2-billion income via the issuance of titles to mining companies

of mineral resources.

Jegede said that after the launch of the roadmap, it had become the reference document that guided the ministry, stakeholders and the public in efforts to assess the performance of the solid minerals sector.

Mr Utsu Adie, the Chairman of Solid Minerals Development Fund, said that the strategic critical success factor of the

said.

However, Malam Idris Umar, the DirectorGeneral, Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences, Jos, said that the global increase in demand for mineral commodities had necessitated the production of a good roadmap for the development of the country’s solid minerals.

“The challenges of

“The minister noted that although the roadmap had been implemented in some parts of the country, its full implementation had been hindered by factors such as poor funding, security issues and inadequate infrastructural facilities at mines sites.”

been working in line with the roadmap’s objectives, conceding, however, that several challenges had hindered the implementation of the roadmap.

All the same, economic experts note that the challenges should not be allowed to truncate the execution of the roadmap.

They insist that the government has no other choice than to diversify Nigeria’s economy, considering the abundance of the country’s solid minerals and their economic potential.

The experts insist that the roadmap will reposition the solid minerals sector and strengthen it to foster the growth of the national economy. (NAN)

Education

Functional Primary Education Bedrock For Self Employment “...THE elementary (primary) Schools simply produce ill -educated and frustrated city dwellers whose unbalanced and inadequate education has forced to manual labour for which they have contempt. In order to revert the trend, elementary (primary) education should prepare the pupil for a more effective life in his local community. This calls for a new type of functional schools, the ‘people’s schools’, we shall call them” (Professor B. 0. Ukeje) Like Nigeria adopting a 63-3-4 system of Education (Ukeje, 1966: 163) and the N.C.E. teachers becoming the foundation of professional educationists in Nigeria, replacing the Teacher’s Grade II Certificate holders even at the primary School level (Ukeje, 1966:96), the above, among several others yet to ripe were timely observations and advice of a great educational scientist and leader of our time.

Though these trends and events in the Nigerian education history were prophesied more than twenty years ago, we have always been caught up in meeting the demands of their maturity.

With the 6-3-3-4 system now in its 5th year, we are yet to catch up with its requirements in many respects including required staff, books and equipment. Most of the N.C.E. teachers now moving to the primary schools have their orientation in the curriculum and methodology of the Junior Secondary School education. Many Colleges of Education and

not do with the taught determines the quality of the taught.

In the Light of this assertion, this paper takes an angry look at our seemingly negligent attitude to timely warning and advice, a sympathetic consideration of the plight of some of our prospective primary school leavers, and in the main, makes suggestions on curriculum and methodology adjust and emphases to rescue them.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS: HAVE THEY FAILED US? In the sense that they are, through their programme, persistently and obediently preparing children for clerical jobs in government service, preparing job assistants for commercial firms, and preparing worthy entrants into post primary institutions (the operational arena of each of these being generally outside the rural communities) they have not. These have been their assignment since the colonial era, resulting in primary school leavers looking for jobs outside their rural communities for which they develop apathy.

But in the failure to telescope the future and come to terms with Jeffery’s idea of education (1946 : 3) as a direct meens by which a people seeks to shape its own destiny and to transform itself from what it knows itself to be into what it would hope to become ..., they have failed us. As yet developing nation without a fully developed economy but with an alarmingly increasing school population resulting 1mm the then universal compulsory elementary education, it

By EZE DENCO No Nigerian would admit that what we would like to become is a country with some three million unemployed school leavers with more million yet coming up their educational ladder to join them! But here we are

schools, not for lift in the society. This is evidenced from the great number of them who sit for and pass the ‘Common Entrance Examination’ into secondary schools. Even though it is true

with it. If we sensed and resented this much earlier than now, we would have taken. to Ukeje’s advice and identified our primary education more with Robert King Hall’s idea of Basic education (1954:581) as a

that many primary school leavers will not get into or finish secondary education, we: nonetheless plan our primary school curriculum using conventional subjects taken almost directly from secondary curriculum to them

“Unfortunately, even till today, the aim of our primary schools is mainly to prepare pupils for the secondary schools, not for lift in the society. This is evidenced from the great number of them who sit for and pass the ‘Common Entrance Examination’ into secondary schools. Even though it is true that many primary school leavers will not get into or finish secondary education” Institutes of Education of many Universities are yet to mount programmes and design courses specifically for the production of primary school teachers.

Teacher orientation has implications for teachers performance at the level of his duty assignment. What he knows or does not know himself, what he does or does

needed no sophisticated social, economic and educational statisticians to predict that time was in sight for e limit in the number of clerks the government and commercial firms could employ, or the number of qualified candidates our postprimary institutions could absorb and effectively process.

kind of minimum education for all the people to help them understand the problems of their immediate environment and to participate more effectively in the economic and social progress of their community.

Unfortunately, even till today, the aim of our primary schools is mainly to prepare pupils for the secondary

(Ehiewere, 1982:139). A child must therefore finish secondary school be a failure since no provision for otherwise is made in the curriculum offerings of the primary school.

BACKGROUND TO THE SHORTCOMINGS OF OUR PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION’ Having conceived primary

education as a means to and end rather than any end in itself, it is little wonder why it is simply anticipatory and largely theoretical in its approaches to curriculum implementation. The notion that the children ‘will yet learn more about it’ looms loud in rue mind of mans teachers. It appears to them

that nothing is meant to be truly and completely understood to a level of functionality or utility. This notion appears to also influence many of their teachers who see teaching as the interaction between those who function as teachers and those who function as learners (Adams and Garrett, 1969:129); they lack basic concept of task analysis which requires a teacher to at least adopt an operational model for his teaching assignment Consequently, they do not define precise instructional objectives in term of observable and measurable learner behaviour; they do not ascertain their entering behaviour to enable them select and expose learners to possible and adequate learning experiences capable of inculcating the content of instruction so that the designated objectives would be positive on evaluation, nut do they care about using feedback fro evaluation to rectify or improve on such designated objectives since the pupils are ‘yet to learn more about them’ in future.

Besides, verbalisms dominate instruction at the

expense of mechanical representation and realia while the available ones are pooly used, and their suggestive directions and opportunities not explored. A case in point in this direction is the instructional use of the text book pictures and illustrations which, being 2Dimensional only, can appeal to just one learning sense the visual.

In the Modem Science for Nigeria, Book S (Oladitan, 1973, 72 pp) for example, is covered as content — the

human body, Parasites, the Moon, Water, Study of Air, Work and Machines - in appreciable detail for the level learners, outtressed with colourful pictures and illustrations these are but mechanical representations inferior to real experience. To increase content learnability, deepen and functionalise pupil understanding, teachers can lead pupils to the making and use of simple levers or the 3Dimentional making .and use of much that they see only in pictures and diagrams.

Besides, most of the pictures and diagrams are suggestive of real life practice, observation and experimentation but none of these are usually exploit.

Grossly, lacking in most of our primary schools today are needed equipment to practicalise and functionalise learning. They have thinned down to inadequate accommodation, seats, chalkboard and even chalk.

Gone are days of their adequate supplies and other aids to learning like wall maps charts and models.

Headmasters no longer have vote for basic materials from Continues on page 27

International Features

Ukraine: Rebels SEPARATIST rebels have spirited away all 196 bodies that workers recovered from the Malaysia Airlines crash site to an unknown location, Ukraine’s emergency services said on Sunday.

Associated Press journalists saw the proRussia rebels putting bagged bodies onto trucks at the crash site Saturday in rebel-held eastern Ukraine and driving them away. On Sunday morning, journalists saw no bodies and no armed rebels at the crash site and emergency workers were searching the sprawling fields only for body parts.

Ukraine and the separatists accuse each other of firing a surface-toair missile Thursday at Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur some 33,000 feet (10,000 meters) above the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. Both deny shooting down the plane.

All those onboard the flight — 283 passengers and 15 crew — were killed.

Ukraine says Russia has been sending sophisticated arms to the rebels, which Moscow denies. The crash site is close to the Russian border.

Ukrainian Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Nataliya Bystro said recovery workers in the rebel-held territory had been laboring under duress and were forced to give the bodies to the armed gunmen.

“Where they took the bodies — we don’t know,” Bystro told The Associated

Press on Sunday.

Separatists were not immediately available to comment on her statement.

A spokeswoman for the international monitors at the crash site, Iryna Gudyma, later said some of the bodies had been loaded onto trains in the rebel-held town of Torez, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the crash site. Speaking Sunday from the crash site by phone, she said she did not know how many bodies were in Torez.

News reports of how the bodies had been decaying for days in the summer sun had ignited outrage worldwide, especially from the Netherlands, home to over half the victims.

Alexander Pilyushny, an emergency worker combing the crash site for body parts Sunday morning, told the AP it took the rebels several hours to take away the bodies on Saturday. He said he and other workers had no choice but to hand the bodies over to the rebels.

“They are armed and we are not,” Pilyushny said.

“The militiamen came, put the bodies onto the trucks and took them away somewhere.”

Neither Bystro nor Pilyushny could explain what happened to the 102 bodies of plane victims that have not yet been recovered.

Earlier, the Ukraine government claimed it had reached a preliminary deal with the separatists to remove the bodies.

The U.S. has pointed blame at the separatists,

Move Crash Victims Bodies

saying Washington believes the jetliner was probably downed by an SA-11 missile from rebelheld territory and “we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel.”

An Associated Press journalist saw a Buk

destabilizing a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them.”

“We must turn this moment of outrage into a moment of action,” he wrote.

In a coded attack on

into the plane’s downing, armed separatists limited observers’ access to the crash site on Friday and Saturday.

“We have to be very careful,” said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the 24 international monitors. “We are

The Dutch led the way in outrage over how the victims’ bodies were being treated.

“The news we got today of the bodies being dragged around, of the site not being treated properly, has really created a shock in the Netherlands,” Dutch

Emergency workers carry the body of a victim at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the Village of Hrabove, Eastern Ukraine recently.

missile launcher in rebelheld territory close to the crash site Thursday just hours before the plane was brought down.

The latest U.S. intelligence assessment suggests that more than one missile system was given to the separatists by the Russians in the last week or so. But both Russia and the rebels vehemently deny any role in downing the plane.

In a blistering article for the Sunday Times, British Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack a “direct result of Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders who have blocked efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Cameron said Europe must now “respond robustly.”

“For too long, there has been a reluctance on the part of too many European countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern Ukraine,” Cameron wrote.

Despite calls by world leaders for an independent, international investigation

unarmed civilians, so we are not in a position to argue with people with heavy arms.”

The U.S. State Department described the rebels’ refusal to give monitors a full access to the site “an affront to all those who lost loved ones and to the dignity the victims deserve.”

Despite the restrictions seen by journalists and observers at the crash site, separatist leader Alexander Borodai insisted the rebels have not in any way interfered with the work of observers.

Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans told the Ukrainian president in Kiev on Saturday. “People are angry, are furious at what they hear.”

Timmermans demanded that the culprits be found.

“Once we have the proof, we will not stop until the people are brought to justice,” he said.

Putin and Merkel agreed Saturday in a phone call that an independent commission led by the International Civil Aviation Organization should be granted swift access to the crash site.

Courtesy: AP

“Ukraine and the separatists accuse each other of firing a surface-to-air missile Thursday at Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur some 33,000 feet (10,000 meters) above the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. Both deny shooting down the plane. All those onboard the flight — 283 passengers and 15 crew — were killed.”

International Features

Gaza: Israeli Incursion Leaves Scores Dead THE first major ground battle in two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting exacted a steep price Sunday. It killed 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers and forced thousands of terrified Palestinian civilians to flee their neighborhood, reportedly used to launch rockets at Israel and now devastated by the fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive would continue “as long as necessary” to end attacks from Gaza on Israeli civilians.

But Hamas seems defiant, international cease-fire efforts are stalled, and international criticism is becoming more vocal as the death toll among Palestinian civilians rises.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Israel’s latest incursion “atrocious,” and said it must do far more to protect civilians. The U.N. Security Council was holding an emergency session Sunday night at the request of council member Jordan on the situation in Gaza.

In Israel, public opinion will struggle to tolerate rising military losses in an open-ended campaign. Already, Sunday’s deaths marked the highest number of soldiers killed on a single day since Israel’s war in Lebanon in 2006.

The ferocious battle in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood came on the third day of Israel’s ground offensive, which had been preceded by a 10-day air campaign.

In all, at least 432 Palestinians were killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the past two weeks.

The overall death toll on the Israeli side rose to 20, including 18 soldiers, along with dozens of wounded troops, during that period.

On Sunday evening, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri in Gaza claimed his group had captured an Israeli soldier. An announcement on Gaza TV of the soldier’s capture set off celebration in the streets of Gaza City.

But the claim could not immediately be verified, and the Israeli military said it was investigating the report. “There’s no kidnapped Israeli soldier,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Ron Prosor, told reporters Sunday night.

Hamas has made similar claims of capturing Israelis in the past that were not true. For Israelis, a captured soldier would be a nightmare scenario. Hamasallied militants seized an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in

2006 and held him captive in Gaza until Israel traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom were involved in grisly killings, for his return in 2011.

Sunday’s battle began when Israeli troops backed by tanks entered the densely populated Shijaiyah district just after midnight Sunday. They were met by a “huge” level of resistance

by Hamas fighters who fired antitank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons from houses and buildings, said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an army spokesman.

Residents said they came under intense Israeli tank fire.

“The gate of hell has opened, and shrapnel came through the windows,” Shijaiyah resident Jawad Hassanain said by phone.

He and his family fled to a nearby building after their house shook from explosions.

After daybreak, the extent of the devastation slowly became apparent: At least 65 Palestinians had been killed and nearly 300 wounded, Gaza health officials said, while dozens of homes badly damaged or destroyed.

Casualties were rushed to Gaza’s central Shifa Hospital.

Wailing parents, some covered with blood or dust from debris, carried children peppered by shrapnel, and the emergency room quickly overflowed, forcing doctors to treat some patients in a hallway.

During a brief Red Crossbrokered lull later in the day, rescue workers toured the neighborhood to retrieve the dead, pulling bodies from the rubble of homes.

In a last sweep of the area on Sunday afternoon, rescue workers heard the faint voice of a woman in the rubble of a house.

“I’m here with my husband and niece,” the woman said, adding that there were also three bodies near her. “I’m here under the shop. God please, I can’t breathe.”

In the incident witnessed by Associated Press journalists, rescue workers tried to organize a bulldozer, but the situation was deemed too dangerous and the crew left. Later, the rescue workers returned with a bulldozer, after coordination with Israeli forces through the Red Crescent, and pulled the three from the rubble, said Said Hamam, a member of the rescue services.

The 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in several separate incidents in Shijaiya, including gun battles and rocket attacks. In

the deadliest, Gaza fighters detonated a bomb near an armored personnel carrier, killing seven soldiers inside, the army said. In another incident, three soldiers were killed when they became trapped in a burning building, it said.

Despite the losses, the army

within a house, the army said.

“It’s like the Underground, the Metro or the subway,” said Lerner, the army spokesman, referring to the tunnel system.

The first days of the current ground offensive were in marked contrast to Israel’s last major invasion of Gaza in January 2009,

number of dead and wounded among Palestinians, he said Israel is only targeting militants.

“All civilian casualties are unintended by us, but intended by Hamas. They want to pile up as many civilian dead as they can. ... It’s gruesome,” Netanyahu said. “They use telegenically

“We condemn the acts of aggression that Israel has carried out against the Palestinian people, and most recently the massacre of Shijaiyah today in which most of those killed were children,” said al-Attiya.

Ban’s had harsh words for Israel’s military operation, while

Pro-palestinian protesters during a demonstration against Israel’s military action in the Gaza strip, in Vienna recently. chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said Israel intends escalate the operation. Gaza residents received automated phone calls late Sunday, warning them to evacuate refugee camps in the center of the Gaza Strip.

Israel had launched the campaign to hurt Hamas’ ability to fire rockets and to destroy tunnels dug by the militants to sneak into Israel to carry out attacks.

Shijaiyah was targeted as a Hamas stronghold and because 8 percent of more than 1,700 rockets fired at Israel since July 8 were launched from there, said Lerner.

The military said that since the beginning of ground operation late last week, it has killed 110 Gaza fighters and targeted more than 1,000 sites linked to militants. Soldiers also exposed 14 tunnels, all interconnected and leading toward Israel, and detonated six of them, including one with a length of 1.2 kilometers and an access point

known in Israel as Cast Lead, when Hamas fighters rarely engaged Israeli forces.

Now, Gaza’s militants seem better armed, including with antitank rockets.

“I see an escalation in weaponry,” Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli military intelligence chief, told Israel TV’s Channel 10. “This isn’t the same weaponry as in Cast Lead.”

Netanyahu said in nationally televised comments Sunday that the ground campaign is vital to Israel’s security because the tunnels could be used for “mega terror attacks and kidnappings,” but acknowledged the operation is “full of risks.”

Speaking earlier to CNN, Netanyahu said the ultimate goal is to “restore a sustainable quiet” for Israel’s citizens. Once that is achieved, he said he hopes to enlist the international community “to demilitarize Gaza,” but did not explain what that would entail.

Asked about the mounting

“Declaring that his first trip would be to the Donbass - though quite when is unclear as it may take some time to be sworn in - Poroshenko said he was ready to negotiate with anyone, and to offer the region autonomy, Russian language rights and budgetary powers that many want in the east.”

dead Palestinians for their cause.

They want the more dead the better.”

Meanwhile, a speedy ceasefire seems elusive, as the U.S. and some of the regional powers disagree on how to resolve the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Hamas rejected Egypt’s proposal last week that both sides halt fire and then discuss a possible easing of the Gaza border blockade, enforced by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

For Hamas, easing the blockade is key to survival, after an intensified border closure of Gaza by Egypt in the past year drove the movement into a crippling financial crisis. Hamas has insisted on guarantees concerning the blockade before it stops fighting and has demanded that others, including Qatar, join Egypt as a mediator.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sided with Israel and Egypt on Sunday, saying giving in to Hamas’ conditions for a ceasefire would mean rewarding terrorism. Kerry told NBC’s “Meet The Press” that he will head to the Middle East in coming days to help with ceasefire efforts. He said Israel “has every right in the world to defend itself” from attacks by Hamas militants in Gaza.

Qatar is seen as more sympathetic to Hamas.

Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiya said after a meeting with U.N. chief Ban Kimoon that it is not important which country achieves the terms of a cease-fire so long as justice is achieved.

reiterating his call for an immediate cease-fire.

“While I was en route to Doha, dozens more civilians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shijaiyah neighborhood in Gaza,” he said.

“I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians,” he said.

Courtesy AP

CHANGE OF NAME

UMOH – I, formerly called Miss Blessing Edoabasi Umoh now wish to be called Mrs. Blessing Edoabasi OseUgbebor. All former documents remain valid.

All concerned authorities and the general public take note.

RECONCILIATION OF NAME I, Mrs. Bridget Aniemeka wish to bring for the information of the general public that I am the same person as Adolie Ogbuokwu and Bridget Osemenam as appeared in my various documents. Henceforth, I am now properly known and addressed as Mrs. Bridget Aniemeka. All former documents remain valid.

Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

International Features A distraught, grieving mother summed up a swelling mood of despair and anguish in the Netherlands on Sunday at faltering efforts to repatriate the bodies of loved ones killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, appealing directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to return the bodies of her son and his girlfriend.

Silene FredrikszHoogzand, whose son Bryce and his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, were killed when the plane was shot down Thursday over Ukraine, said she was appalled their bodies and those of other victims had been left lying for days.

“I am not a politician,” she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “But I know for sure that Mr. Putin can do something.”

Earlier, at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, she made a simple, but heartrending appeal to the Russian president: “Mr. Putin, send my children home,” she told Sky TV. “Send them home.

Please.”

International monitors say armed rebels have limited their access to the crash site and Ukrainian officials said armed rebels took 192 bodies away from their workers by force Sunday.

Fredriksz-Hoogzand’s son and his girlfriend were among the 193 Dutch victims of the crash, making this nation of 17 million the hardest hit by the tragedy. The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Grief is turning to anger for the Dutch as pro-Russian rebels hamper efforts to recover the dead and investigate

the cause of the disaster.

“No words can describe it,” FredrikszHoogzand told journalists. “Bodies are just lying there for three days in the hot sun.

There are people who have this on their conscience. There are families who can never hold the body of a child or a mother.”

She said she sent Bryce and Daisy on vacation to Bali to get over the grief of Daisy’s mother dying two and a half months ago.

“It’s a tragedy on top of a tragedy,” she said.

Asked Sunday night what delay was

People walk next to a refrigerated train loaded with the bodies of victims, in Torez, eastern Ukraine, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 recently.

Plane Crash: Send My Children Home acceptable in returning bodies to their families, Prime Minister Mark Rutte replied: “Zero.

Nothing is acceptable.

All this should be done two days ago. But we are working as hard as possible to ensure a quick repatriation.”

Across the nation, worshippers at church services prayed for the victims of the disaster and their next of kin.

At the St. Vitus church in the central city of Hilversum, Father Julius Dresme described the nation’s pain.

“It’s terrible, and everybody’s hearts are bleeding and crying,” he said. “And it makes (people) restless and people feel sorrow, and feel a little anger but mostly sadness, confusion.”

In Rome, Pope Francis led thousands of tourists and pilgrims assembled

- Distraught Dutch Mother

wreckage and bodies in in St. Peter’s Square in tragedy. extremely intense eastern Ukraine.

“At the same time, prayer for peace in He said Foreign t e l e p h o n e special forces must be Frans conversation.”

Ukraine and the Mideast. Minister “I invite you to Timmermans was on his “I told him the time is deployed to track down remember and to keep way to New York to running out to quickly the perpetrators of this praying for tensions and speak to the United show the world that he mass murder and bring conflicts which are going Nations and Security intends to help,” Rutte them to the Netherlands on in different parts of the Council members “to said. “He must take the to face justice.”

Also Sunday, the chief world, especially in the further expand the responsibility now with Middle East and in international coalition the rebels and show the executive officer of Airlines, pushing for quick Netherlands and the Malaysia Ukraine,” he said.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Others mourned recovery of the bodies world that he is doing in the and getting to the bottom what is expected of arrived privately.

Netherlands and signed a At the Amsterdam of the terrible events on him.” student rowing club MH17.”

Rutte said he planned condolence book at Skoll, a single member sat A day earlier, Rutte to speak to Putin again Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for victims of the weeping Sunday as she angrily condemned the Sunday night. wrote in a condolence rebels for interfering Best-selling Dutch crash.

The airline also book for two members of with the wreckage and newspaper De Telegraaf the club who died, Karlijn bodies in Ukraine. went further in a front- announced it was “This is totally page appeal for decisive “retiring” the flight code Keijzer and her disgusting. It is also action to protect the 17 of its Amsterdam-toboyfriend, Laurens van Kuala Lumpur flights serious because it crash site. der Graaff. “out of respect for our undermines the Amid the grieving, Under the Dutch crew and passengers of investigation,” he headline, “Enough is Rutte is pushing for Putin the mentioned flight said. to use his influence over enough,” the paper code” and replacing it the rebels in eastern Rutte called Putin on called for NATO troops from July 25 with the Ukraine to ensure a full Saturday and had what to be deployed in flight code 19. investigation into the he described as “an Ukraine to secure the Fredriksz-Hoogzand said her only concern was getting back the “International monitors say armed rebels have limited their bodies of her son and his girlfriend. access to the crash site and Ukrainian officials said armed “She was such a kind girl,” she said, her voice rebels took 192 bodies away from their workers by force Sunday. cracking with emotion.

Fredriksz-Hoogzand’s son and his girlfriend were among the “And she has been murdered, together with 193 Dutch victims of the crash, making this nation of 17 million my son. They were totally innocent.” the hardest hit by the tragedy.”

Courtesy: AP

Education

...Self Employment

Continued from page 23 which interested teachers can improvise. The making of apparition by teacher now stops after passing practical teaching examination in the teacher training college. Gone are the days of intensive agriculture, natural study and gardening in our primary schools, and pupils do little or nothing with their hands. The period for Handwork - the period for the practical making of traditional brooms, varied basket types and mats, cane chairs, ropes, etc. has now degenerated to a period for compulsory collection of some 20 kobo levy from every Pupil.

If we cannot honestly deny these facts, wherein lies our belief and claims for cultural roots of the curriculum, let alone our hope in functional education that should provide a place for the ‘school leaver in his environment?

FUNCTIONAL PRIMARY EDUCATION Functional education is dedicated to the cultural and environmental orientation of the educated. The primary school children need to understand the little world around them — the cultural (people, places, occupations, names, operations, etc.) and the physical (topography), vegetation, water, heavenly bodies, living things, etc.) — all through experience and interaction they grow. The primary school science is coined from the nature of the wing children as natural explorers of the world around them. It is natural at they try out things to see how they work, they experiment, they manipulate, they are curious and they ask questions and seek answers ... (Blough, and Schwartz. 1979:5) and these are better done outdoors than indoors. The habit of continued stay indoors for most lessons for primary school pupils is unnatural and stands as condemned as the disappearance of field trips in many primary schools.

Field trips are so important in Functional education and are therefore recommended because they provide the pupils with real experience in the community outside the classroom, the community becomes laboratory (Callahan and Clark 1977 : 60) offering first hand knowledge of how a number of skills, processes. etc. blend into a whole as well as providing then with cultural experience available in no other way (Pierce and Lorber, 1977 :133ff). Pupils become more interested in school work when they see a relationship between what they are studying and the real world.

It is observed that the much indoors stay is due to the

overemphasis on the 4R’s at the expense of functional education, The new orientation should be the other way round. The 4 R’s ‘of course have their basic importance but should now be studied not only with local background content but a view to their servicing functional “education.

FUNCTIONAL PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR SELF EMPLOYMENT If our children grow up with the Orientation and solid background of harmonious school and society relationship, they would have no problem in regarding them as interservicing Post-primary life would then be seen by them as some continuation of some aspects of primary school experiences. This

envisaged situation will materialize only if, by practical orientation, we turn our primary schools into ‘the prople’s school’s- schools practically indentifying with the problem, needs and aspirations (including food, employment, health, human relations, security, etc.) of the immediate contemporary community. (There could be reasons for some modifications filtering in as exception rather than as rule).

Our primary schools should now revert a large measure of their turn. curriculum offerings to reflect a possibility and ease of immediate self-employment after school days. This can be done by asking and providing ourselves with answer to such questions as these: (1) Should we prepare children for job opportunities at the primary school level?

(2) What job opportunities

exist within the immediate environment for primary school leavers? (3) How do we hope to prepare them effectively for some jobs and (4) What results do we anticipate?

As regards the first question, the view of childhood as a time of preparation for adulthood is a striking feature of our culture as seen in ean1y involvement of the children in the occupations and routine practices of their parents.

Unless we involve them, children are too young to think about or visualise their future; Even for adults, future just years away often seems remote. On the child’s time scale, his own adulthood must seem so remote as to he scarcely real as to begin thinking about it and

preparing for it. If he should do so, it is because we insist and not because he prefers to think about the future good (Calvert Barbara 1975, 20 ff).

Besides, the state of mass unemp1oyment in Nigeria at this time calls for urgent preventive and remedial Unlike many other nations and communities perhaps Nigeria has count less job opportunities for her teeming population in the direction of self employment especially under acceptance and internatisation of the concept of Reality Therapy - the will toes the way. Thus, the convinction that one can make a career and a modest living at least in a chosen field of talent. is all we required to solve our unemployment problems had it not been that even the poorest in our midst abhores mediocrity and convincingly strugg1es towards becoming a multi-

millionaire in no distant future. Otherwise since functional, like vocational education should place emphasis on the development of occupationally oriented curriculum (Harm 1972:16) our primary schools should now revise their curriculum to provide for early orientation “ the many facets of agriculture - food growing and processing, animal rearing. fishing, etc., in the many aspects of village polytechnics - pottery, smithing’ weldling, etc., and in- many crafts like cane chair making shoe, basketry, mat making, wood cawing, etc. in each of which people are marking at least modest living already.

The acquisition of practical skill for these would then constitute out primary schools’. general studies programme. As soon as each

If the Government supplies the basic materials and tools as would be needed, local experts would, with minimum inducement, very willingly co-operate with regular teachers to impart the required knowledge and practical skills. All we would need emphasise is teachers’ strictest adherence to the imperative demands of skills training — skill analysis, certainty of entering behaviour for proper placement, training in component sub-skills for efficiency following expert demonstration and supervision, then feedback and its cybernetics (DeCecco, 1974: 272 —283).

Though some would frown at preparing primary school children for self employment as being synonymous with committing them to illiteracy and mediocrity, it is not.

pupil shows special interest in an area, a work experience placement is arranged. In the view of Webster (1980 : 22 ff) “a pupil will go to work everyday and punctually for a week or two, or perhaps every Wednesday for a term, and work besides the particular person on real job, sharing the work experience”.

It requires but time table adjustment.

Acquisition of skills for some job constitutes no embargo to secondary and tertiary education for those who will. It is rather an attitude formation and correction strategy aimed at upholding the dignity of labour and bridging the usually unholy hiatus between those who largely work with hands and those who largely work with the brain, at all levels.

In the circumstance we now find ourselves in Nigeria, it is not unreasonable to opine that the greater hope of economic survival for a majority of our youths, is indentification with agriculture, local occupations and dedication to the cause of village polytechnics in alignment with the view of Pine and Boy (1977:47) that “our best preparation for an evolving society is ‘helping children face the future with confidence in their own abilities and with a faith that they are worthwhile and important members of what ever culture (and social change) they might find themselves in”. We are caught up in an unpleasant social change’ characterised by unemployment. Education without eventual place in the society is worthless and disturbing. Afterall the most important criterion for educational development is not the’ criterion for quantitative goal realisation (e.g mass production of school leavers) but the criterion of how well a nation’s educational output measures up to the needs ‘generated by its aspirations, its own drives for development, and Utilisation of the products of the school system (Adesina Segun, 1977: 230). Obviously, this criterion is not being met in Nigeria with our present three million unemployed school leavers.

As their former teachers, we groan at their plight. At present, we are not responsible for their plight.

Hereafter, we owe a duty not to educate others of their kind whose failure would be ours.

We should functionally educate successors and equip them with occupationally oriented skills needed by their immediate society.

The glory of the teacher is the success of the taught.

When the student has not learnt, the teacher has not taught. If the school leaver the taught, is unable to find gainful self-employment within his cultural environment he was taught out of it.

This is the challenge and problem of our time, to which solution, ‘a functional primary education for selfemployment’ is being suggested.

“If our children grow up with the Orientation and solid background of harmonious school and society relationship, they would have no problem in regarding them as interservicing Post-primary life would then be seen by them as some continuation of some aspects of primary school experiences.”

Manchester Utd To Launch New 54m Euro Vidal Bid MANCHESTER United are ready to launch a new 54 euro million bid for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal this week.

The Old Trafford club are increasingly confident of landing the Chilean World Cup star and are looking to make progress in their move for the 27-year-old in the coming days.

Louis van Gaal, who officially took charge at United on Wednesday, is a big fan of Vidal, having tried to sign him while in charge of Bayern Munich in 2011, and has approved a move for the midfielder.

“In Italy, there’s the feeling that Vidal may be the marquee player to leave Juventus during this transfer window.

“After the shock of Conte’s departure, Juventus have pushed ahead with a move for Argentinean Roberto Pereyra from Udinese, who could be seen as a reasonable replacement for Vidal in a starting XI that new coach Massimiliano Allegri will switch from 3-5-2 to 4-3-1-2.”

The Dutchman encouraged the pursuit of Vidal earlier in July,

James Rodriguez

Real Madrid, Monaco Agree James Deal

REAL Madrid and Monaco have agreed terms for the transfer of James Rodriguez, with an official statement expected from the European champions on either today or tomorrow this week, according to AS. Bernabeu. German tabloid Bild Both clubs had been in talks for reports that Germany midfielder the past week before finally Sami Khedira, who has just one reaching an agreement on year remaining on his Real Sunday evening. contract, could be used as a AS reports that Monaco will makeweight in the deal. receive a fee close to 80 million Madrid would ideally like to euros for the Colombia resent James at the stadium this international and that only a few week. That would mean minor details need to be resolved president Florentino Perez and to conclude the deal and whether director general Jose Angel a Madrid player will be included. Sanchez would have to delay Ronaldo: Internazionale bright their trip to Los Angeles, where young thing. the first-team squad are due to PLAYERS TO MOVE land on Monday for their CLUBS AFTER WINNING preseason tour.

GOLDEN BOOT James — who will no longer 2014: James Rodriguez link up with the Monaco squad (Colombia) - Monaco to Real for their preseason tour — would Madrid (TBD) join up with the Real squad, 2002: Ronaldo (Brazil) - Inter together with France Milan to Real Madrid internationals Raphael Varane 1994: Oleg Salenko (Russia) - and Karim Benzema on Aug. 1.

Logroñés to Valencia AS reports that James refused 1986: Gary Lineker (England) to say anything about his move - Everton to Barcelona to Madrid when he was asked by 1930: Guillermo Stábile reporters at Madrid’s Barajas (Argentina) - Huracán to Genoa airport on Sunday.

Monaco are keen on Diego The player was in the Spanish Lopez — though the goalkeeper capital to take a connecting flight insists he wants to stay at the to Nice, France. But the news

was later confirmed by his agent, Jorge Mendes.

At the Bernabeu, everything is in place for the unveiling: the president’s suite has been ready since last Thursday, when new signing Toni Kroos was

goals last season.

Lovren would be the third player to join Liverpool from Southampton, following striker Rickie Lambert and midfielder Adam Lallana.

The 25-year-old could complete a move to Anfield in the next few days as Liverpool also look to conclude the signing of striker Loic Remy from QPR. Remy is set to fly to the United States, where Liverpool have just arrived to start a preseason tour, for a medical on Monday.

The Reds agreed a fee of eight million pounds with QPR for the France international at the

“Our strategy is clear; we want to keep all our best players, including Vidal and Pogba,” he told Tuttosport. “We don’t want to sell anyone, especially Vidal.

“Certainly, if there were a high bid for them, we’d have to think about it but we don’t want to sell our champions.

“We want to be competitive in the Champions League and the only sales to be players who are not part of our plans.”

Publicly, United have aimed to manage expectations regarding signings but Vidal has emerged as their No.1 target and chief executive Ed Wooward has confirmed that the club are still in the market for players this summer.

“We’ve been working with Louis over several weeks with regards to targets and we’re continuing to move forward on some of those targets,” Woodward told MUTV. He added: “We are willing to invest. There is no fixed budget.

Financially we are extremely strong and funds are available.

Louis is assessing what’s going on and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, so watch this space.”

presented. There is even a plaque bearing his name on his future room, No.110, at the players’ residence in Valdebebas.

James will wear the No. 10 shirt which was last worn by Mesut Ozil.

Riccardo Saponara

I Want To Be AC Milan’s Di Maria - Saponara

Dejan Lovren

Liverpool Close In On Dejan Lovren

LIVERPOOL are close to agreeing a deal with Southampton to sign defender Dejan Lovren.

The Reds had a bid for the Croatia international rejected at the end of May, but made significant progress in talks to push through the signing, sources have told ESPN FC. Southampton have indicated they are ready to accept the structure of Liverpool’s offer for Lovren, according to The Times.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has made Lovren his top central defensive target this summer as he looks to tighten up a back line that conceded 50 Premier League

despite the club being told that a move could cost them 56m euro plus Nani.

United have monitored the situation regarding Vidal closely during a turbulent summer at Juventus, which has seen Antonio Conte leave the Serie A champions amid talk of unhappiness regarding the club’s transfer policy.

Juventus have signed forward Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and are set to complete a move for Roberto Pereyra, while suggestions that Vidal could be sold grow louder in Italy.

Vidal, who is currently resting in Chile following the World Cup, has recently conceded that his future in Turin looks uncertain.

“I don’t feel like my time at Juventus is over, although I can’t say more right now,” he told a Chilean radio station. “When I’m back from Chile, I’ll talk to my executives and we’ll see what will happen.”

Juve director Pavel Nedved, meanwhile, says that the club are reluctant to sell both Vidal and Paul Pogba but admits that a bigmoney bid could force them to part ways with the Chilean.

weekend. He is ready to join up with a Liverpool party who touched down on Sunday in Boston, where they will face Roma in a friendly on Wednesday.

Liverpool are also hopeful that they can sort out a deal to sign Lille’s Belgium international Divock Origi.

The 19-year-old held talks with the Reds on Merseyside earlier this month after the two clubs agreed an initial fee of six million pounds, which could rise to 9.5 million with various add-ons.

Origi said that he wanted time to consider his future, but has

now indicated that he is interested in a move to Liverpool.

If the transfer goes through, the midfielder would be loaned back to Lille for the coming season.

Emre Can and Lazar Markovic have already joined Lallana and Lambert as new signings, with Rodgers having spent around 57 million pounds on the quartet.

He saw a 16 million pound bid for Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno turned down in May, which fuelled interest in Swansea defender Ben Davies.

However, Tottenham appear to lead the chase for the 21-yearold.

RICCARDO Saponara has voiced his admiration for Real Madrid attacker Angel Di Maria and is hopeful of becoming a key player at AC Milan this season.

The 22-year-old joined Milan from Empoli in the summer of 2013, but failed to make an impact in his first season at the San Siro side.

Saponara remains confident that he can become important at Milan, though, and is determined to convince head coach Filippo Inzaghi of his qualities by emulating the standards of the Argentina star.

“My role model is Di Maria.

He has attacking qualities, but he has shown that he can do everything,” Saponara told the official Milan website.

“I’m coming off the back of a year of experience and settling in. I’m learning so much and the coach is helping me. I have a lot of desire to learn and convince the coach.

“When Inzaghi said he would have given me another chance, I didn’t even think twice and I decided to stay here.

“I have a lot to give in physical terms. I played very little last season, but I feel that I have big

margins for improvement. The faith from the fans is a matter of pride and a great responsibility.”

Saponara has made seven Serie A appearances for Milan so far, but has failed to score in his Rossoneri career so far.

Klose Announces Retirement 2015

LAZIO striker and World Cup winner Miroslav Klose has announced that he intends to retire next summer.

The Germany star was decisive in his country’s triumph in Brazil, setting a new all-time record of 16 goals in World Cup finals.

“I’ve decided to retire in 2015,” Klose told Bild newspaper.

Having just renewed his contract with Lazio, it means he will see out his career in Serie A at the Stadio Olimpico.

Klose turned 36 last month and joined Lazio in July 2011.

Chelsea, Atletico Hold Talks Over Torres Return

CHELSEA and Atletico Madrid are in talks about Fernando Torres making a sensational return to the Vicente Calderon.

Eurosport Spain informed the London sources have revealed club that his buy-out that the two clubs have clause is +30m (£23.7m) spent several days in and they will need to London talking about his trigger that if they want possible return. to sign the 29-year-old Chelsea are looking for Brazilian. a transfer fee of £13m for Chelsea’s interest in the player they signed Miranda contradicts a from Liverpool for £50m statement made by Jose four years ago, but Mourinho over the Atletico are trying to get weekend that his club that fee reduced. were finished in the Atletico’s chief transfer market for the executive Miguel Ángel summer.

Gil Marín has spent the Chelsea have already weekend in London signed Diego Costa and discussing the transfer Felipe Luis this summer and will return to Madrid from the Liga on Monday where he champions, while will continue negotiating goalkeeper Thibaut the deal.

Courtois, who spent the Chelsea are believed to last three seasons on want Atletico Madrid loan with Atletico from centre-back Joao the Blues, returned to the Miranda and are trying to club. negotiate a price for him Torres is considered a within the Torres club legend at Atletico discussions.

Madrid after progressing However, Atletico have from the club’s youth

system to be their star striker for a number of seasons.

He scored 91 goals in 244 games for Atletico before moving to Liverpool in 2007.

Atletico sources also told Eurosport Spain that the club are ready to announce two more signing this week in addition to Torres.

The players were not named but the sources told Eurosport they were “important names that will be a statement of intent to fans.”

Pardew:

NEWCASTLE boss Alan Pardew has dedicated the forthcoming season to the two fans who died in the Malaysian Airlines tragedy.

John Alder and Liam Sweeney were killed when flight MH17 came down in eastern Ukraine last week as they travelled to New Zealand to watch the Magpies play.

The club paid its own tribute to the pair at the Sir

Former Arsenal Flop Andre Santos Attacked By Fans

FLAMENGO’S season went from bad to worse on Sunday when defender Andre Santos was punched and kicked by the club’s fans as he left the stadium after a 40 defeat by Internacional that left the Rio club bottom of the Brazilian first division.

Local media reported that the left back was hit in the face as he left Beirario stadium in Porto Alegre. Angry fans also kicked him as he sought refuge in the van that was picking him up outside the dressing rooms, according to the reports.

The former Brazil and Arsenal defender has failed to impress since signing for

Flamengo in July last year and has been a constant target of fans.

That anger boiled over on Sunday as Flamengo lost again to find themselves rooted to the bottom of the league with just seven points from 11 games.

The Rio club had Chicao sent off in the first half and were no match for an Internacional side who are now one of five clubs with 19 points, six behind leaders Cruzeiro.

Corinthians are in second on 20 after getting a point in a drab 0-0 draw away at Vitoria.

Cruzeiro are the only team in the top half of the table to win both their games since the World Cup break and their 2-1 victory at

Palmeiras on Sunday meant they extended their lead at the top of the table to five points.

Ricardo Goulart got a goal after seven minutes and Manuel headed home another three minutes later.

Palmeiras got one back after eight minutes of the second period through Tobio but could not grab what would have been a deserved equaliser.

The other big winners were newly promoted Chapecoense, who came to Sao Paulo on Saturday and beat the home side 1-0 in front of 43,075 fans, the biggest crowd of the weekend.

Gremio, Botafogo, Fluminense and Atletico Paranaense also won.

Mourinho

We Will Honour Fans Bobby Robson statue at St James’ Park, and members of the public have added their own in the days since.

However, Pardew is hoping his team can produce the kind of performances on the pitch next season to give their grieving families something to remember them by.

He told a press conference: “None of us would be sitting here without the fans.

“Owners and managers come and go, as do players, but the fans are always there, and these two guys in particular, to go to the lengths that they did to get out here, has brought home just how important supporters are to us.

“Sometimes when you lose lives in that manner, it puts into context what we do.

“This season we want to give their families something to remember

Andre Santos

them by, by having a successful season.”

Newcastle face Sydney FC on Tuesday in their opening fixture in the southern hemisphere, and Pardew has vowed to play a strong team.

He said: “It’s important we represent ourselves in the right manner, especially after losing John and Liam - our supporters who were travelling out here.

“We have to conduct ourselves well on and off the pitch and get some strong results.

“That is what they would have wanted and that is what we want, so in memory of those guys in particular, we want this to be a successful tour.

“We have to honour these guys in the right manner because it does mean a lot to us. Their tragic loss has hurt the group.

“On Tuesday, I will be playing a very strong side. That is only right and fair in light of

what’s happened.”

The tragedy, in which a total of 298 people died, prompted Sunderland fan Gary Ferguson to set up a fund with the intention of raising money to buy flowers to lay at St James’.

His £100 target was reached within minutes as fellow Black Cats supporters answered his call, and with fans of other clubs also becoming involved the total had reached in excess of £22,000 by Monday morning.

Pardew said: “A lot is made of the rivalry between the two cities, and of course that is there.

“But I would like to thank all the Sunderland fans who have paid tribute and helped raise a staggering amount already.

“I am very proud of Sunderland Football Club for the way they have conducted themselves and I want to thank them.”

Rangers: Chime Releases N50m Backlog

Sign On Fees For Players Coaches

GOVERNOR Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has released N50 million as part payment for the backlog of sign-on fees owed players and coaches of Rangers International Football Club of Enugu.

The General Manager of Rangers, Paul Ozor, made money would be given to the disclosure in a the team from the monthly telephone interview with subvention that the state had just received. newsmen in Abuja.

“The money will be Ozor, who said the released in installments money was released on until the N220 million is Thursday, July 17, was a cleared. fraction of the N220 “With this type of million approved by the motivation, the players will governor for disbursement wake up and improve on to the players and coaches. their performances in this “I was told that more

Salah Spared National Service

CHELSEA’S Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah has been spared national service, the Barclays Premier League club have confirmed.

It was feared that Salah would be forced to return home to fulfil the military obligation that lasts between one and three years, but he has been given permission to continue his promising career at Stamford Bridge.

The 22-year-old became eligible for military service, which is postponed for students, after cancelling his enrolment in one of Egypt’s education institutes.

Salah has made a positive impact since completing an £11million transfer from

Rory Mcllroy

Basle in January, scoring two goals in 10 Premier League appearances.

The move came after he impressed when the Swiss club faced Chelsea in the group stage of the Champions League last season. He was on target in both games.

A fine international record reads 17 goals in 29 appearances and the news that he will not be required for military service enables him to participate in Chelsea’s pre-season training camp in Austria.

Meanwhile, the Blues have declined to comment on reports that Didier Drogba will return to Stamford Bridge for the 2014-15 season on a oneyear deal.

current Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.

“The players have assured me that they will now begin to play like Rangers,’’ Ozor said.

He said the players and coaches would begin to collect their money from Monday, July 21, as the Accounts Department of Rangers had worked out the modalities for payment.

Ozor commended the governor for his love for Rangers, saying the money was an indication that he cared for the needs of the players irrespective of where they came from.

He assured the governor that Rangers would not die in his tenure instead it would reclaim the glory it was known for in football as the “pride of the eastern region’’.

On the contract between its player Ugonna Uzochukwu and Shippa United FC of South Africa, Ozor said the management of Rangers was yet to reach a deal with the team

He expressed regrets that the player signed a two year contract with the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) side without financial deal reached by both clubs.

“There is no doubt that the club has got in contact with our Legal Department, but they have not offered us any money but Uzochukwu called me that he had signed with them.

“For me, that deal will not work if they fail to conclude with us because we are the ones to give him his International Transfer Certificate (ITC),’’ Ozor said.

He explained that Mamelodi Sundowns, another PSL side had since concluded with Rangers on the signing of Super Eagles winger, Ejike Uzoenyi, in spite of moving to the club as a free agent.

Ozor urged Shippa United to ensure that it concluded the financial part of Uzochukwu’s transfer to South Africa or risk losing the deal.

Khedira Advised To Withdraw From Final SAMI Khedira was withdrawn from Germany’s team to face Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final after the team doctor noticed something was not right with him during the warm-up.

Khedira, 27, missed most of last season with Real Madrid due to injury but returned in time to play a role for Germany as they reached the World Cup final in Brazil.

However, doctor HansWilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt advised Khedira not to take to the field in the Maracana after spotting something was amiss from the touchline.

“I saw that something was not right with Khedira when he was warming up,” MullerWohlfahrt said on Sunday at an awards ceremony in Munich.

“I felt that there was a bit too much tension in his calf.

When Jogi [Germany coach Joachim Loew] asked me what was wrong, I told him: ‘If he starts, then he’s going to come off after 10 minutes, or he’s not going to be able to sprint.

“In such cases, I’ve got to

trust my hands and that comes from experience. Khedira said to me: ‘Doc, if you tell me I can’t play, then I won’t play’.”

As misfortune would have it, Khedira’s replacement Christoph Kramer did not even make it halfway through the first half before a head injury saw him replaced by Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle.

Meanwhile, Khedira looks increasingly likely to have played his last game for Real Madrid.

After being linked with a move to Arsenal for much of the summer, it is now being reported in Spain that he is being offered as a makeweight in Real’s bid to sign James Rodriguez from Monaco.

Khedira’s contract with Real expires next summer and both he and Angel Di Maria could be used to help bridge the gap between Real’s cash offer for Rodriguez and the 85 million euros the Ligue 1 club are reportedly demanding for the Colombian striker, who won the Golden Boot at the World Cup with six goals.

Miroslav Klose

Alvaro Negredo Fractures Metatarsal

MANCHESTER City striker will miss the start of the new Premier League season after fracturing his metatarsal.

Negredo, 28, confirmed via his official Instagram account he had suffered a fracture to his fifth metatarsal, an injury that was picked up during City’s preseason friendly with Hearts.

He wrote: “I want to let you know that it’s going to be hard for the next few months, I fractured my 5th metatarsal and will be out a few months. I will be back stronger than ever.”

The injury looks likely to end any possibility of a summer move for Negredo, who City were considering selling in order to make way for the imminent 32 million pound arrival of Eliaquim Mangala from Porto.

With City being limited next season to 17 non-homegrown players in the Premier League and 16 in the Champions League

Alvaro Negredo

after breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, the signing of Mangala would push them over the limits and they may be forced to offload both Negredo and Javi Garcia.

Former Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo scored 23 goals in his debut season in England.

Negredo has been linked with a move away from City this summer, with Atletico Madrid reportedly interested, but underlined his commitment to the club in an interview with their official website.

City begin a tour of the U.S. on Wednesday, where they will play Sporting Kansas, AC Milan, Liverpool and Olympiakos before facing Arsenal in the Community Shield on Aug. 10.

The Premier League champions then begin the defence of their title at Newcastle on Aug. 17.

Nedved Criticises Chiellini Bite Reaction

Giorgio Chiellini pulls down his shirt after the much publicised bit incident.

JUVENTUS legend Pavel Nedved has criticised current Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini for the way he reacted to being bitten by Luis Suarez during the World Cup — also revealing how the Turin club tried to sign the Uruguayan two years ago.

Nedved, currently a board member at the Serie A champions, said he could understand Suarez “to a certain extent,” admitting that he could see similarities between himself and the former Liverpool forward, who joined Barcelona this summer.

What he could not understand, however, was the way Italy international Chiellini responded, although he did praise the Juve defender for accepting Suarez’s apologies.

“To a certain extent, I can understand Luis,” Nedved told Czech newspaper Denik Sport, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“His reaction was babyish — showing the referee the bite marks.

He then showed intelligence in the way he spoke during the days after and by asking FIFA to reduce Suarez’s suspension.”

Pavel Nedved “I was very similar to him as a player, even though there are certain things I cannot approve of.

In spite of this, I was furious with Chiellini’s reaction.

“His reaction was babyish — showing the referee the bite marks.

He then showed intelligence in the way he spoke during the days after and by asking FIFA to reduce Suarez’s suspension.”

While there was criticism from Nedved of a current Juve player, there was only praise for one who might have been. “[Luis] is a great player and I would have taken him to Juve in an instant,” Nedved said. “In fact, we were about to get him two years ago and I was absolutely behind the move. He’s a champion, that’s all you need to say.”

Patrice Evra On Verge Of Juventus Move

JUVENTUS are closing in on the signing of Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, with United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward saying a others might be going soon as well.

Evra signed a one-year of the player.

Evra, who has been at contract extension with United eight weeks ago, United for eight years, is on but the defender has since holiday at the moment, but been allowed to leave Old Press Association Sport understands he could be Trafford.

The 33-year-old’s move announced as a Juve player to Turin had been put in on Monday. Evra will not doubt following the be the last player to leave resignation of manager Old Trafford this summer.

When asked whether Antonio Conte, but his there would be any other replacement Massimiliano player departures, Allegri was keen to Woodward told MUTV on continue the club’s pursuit

Sunday: “Yes, I think so.

“The manager makes that decision and a few players have already gone and there may well be a few others that go.

“It’s also worth commenting that we’re not in Europe this year (so) there’s less games, maybe the manager takes the view that he wants a tighter squad.

“If you do the analysis over last year, Liverpool performed extremely well with a smaller number of players but that’s a decision for the manager.”

Woodward has become tired of seeing targets slip through his fingers.

“I want to stop seeing the best players going to other

clubs in Spain, I want us to stand out as the best club in the world,” he said.

“We’ll do absolutely everything we can to achieve that.”

Hamilton Brake Failure Being Investigated - Formula 1 FORMULA 1 brake supplier Brembo believes it can get to the bottom of why Lewis Hamilton suffered an unexpected failure at the German Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s hopes of fighting for victory at Hockenheim were wrecked when a right front brake disc failed during qualifying, pitching him off the track and in to the barriers.

The incident prompted Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg to switch to Carbone Industrie discs for

Drogba To Return To Cheslea REPORTS in the French

Patrice Evra

media suggest that Didier Drogba is to return to Chelsea on a one-year deal, with a view to moving on to the coaching staff.

L’Equipe suggest that Drogba is relishing the opportunity to work with Jose Mourinho once more following his free transfer from Galatasaray.

Chelsea have lost striking options in Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o so far this summer, and 36-year-old Drogba is always likely to offer goals.

The news broke ten years to the day that Drogba originally signed for the club from Marseille.

Ivorian striker Drogba who in 2012 left West London

Lewis Hamilton

for an ill-fated spell in China before moving to Turkey to play for Galatasaray for a season and half - is regarded by many Chelsea fans as one of the greatest players in the club’s history.

Dorgba was the hero when the club won the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich scoring a late goal that sent the match into the extra-time and then winning penalty in the subsequent shoot-out.

Drogba also won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups at Chelsea, scoring 157 goals in 341 appearances in eight years.

the race, only escaping penalties because the FIA accepted the discs were similar in weight, inertia and function.

Rosberg: Brakes still an issue for Mercedes Brembo is continuing its investigation into the failure - which caused the disc to split in to three - but insists there are no major concerns about its products as the problem appears to be a one-off.

A Brembo spokesman told AUTOSPORT: “We are calm because of the fact that it was a single episode and because we will discover the causes which determined the issue.

Didier Drogba

“The same material with the same specification has been successfully used this year in more demanding and harder grands prix, such as Canada and Bahrain.

“Each single brake disc is tested on a test bench with stresses and tests in excess of the maximum effort conceivable during the race, so with maximum margins.

“The causes that can have induced the failure are various and even external, and as soon as we have at our disposal all telemetry data we are able to give correct, complete and true information.”

Oshiomhole’s Olive Branch I never gave a thought to the idea that I could be a teacher. But teach I did when I could not secure a job years after completing my national service. For five years, I did the little I could in preparing young minds for post tertiary institution examinations.

Until journalism took me away from the classroom, I derived great pleasure in seeing those young faces look up to me almost in awe as I impacted knowledge on them.

Years later, I got a joyful surprise when a young lady ran up and gave me a bear hug in, of all places, Oshodi, Lagos.

She turned out to be one of the many young people who went through my tutelage. To put it mildly, I felt like a king for the rest of that day convinced that I played my part in a profession that can has all the hallmark of the divine given its contribution to the relevance of every generation or civilisation.

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that given the teachers’ noble efforts, there ought to be no debate on the need for them to get the best in terms of societal reverence, remuneration and or pecks of duty. Sadly, whereas this is the case in civilised climes, the situation in Nigeria has tended to run along the opposite direction, advertised mainly by the regularity of the dingdong battle between them and governments, both at the state and federal levels. The result is that Nigerians are now more familiar with teacher ’s strike than they are with power supply.

But efforts to right the ugly trend have not been in short supply given that all levels governments appear committed to the search for both a lasting solution and the need to

turn education sector around for the better with Edo state government demonstrating a very remarkable determination thus far. For instance, as part of its quest for a lasting solution, the Oshiomhole administration initiated the teachers’ competency policy intended to ensure that the sectoral reform heralded by the construction of new school buildings and provision of other relevant infrastructure across the state, also took into account the very vital issue of individual teacher ’s readiness to function professionally. The initiative became imperative following the discovery that a number of those claiming to be teachers were neither qualified nor in possession the requisite professional qualification to function as such. Unfortunately, instead of embracing the proposal, the teachers, prompted by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, hauled bricks at it, the same way they attack even the noblest policy decision of the state government. In the end, they reduced the proposal to a design deliberately orchestrated by the administration to witch hunt or retrench them. No explanation to the contrary would ease their opposition, hence amicable solution becacme virtually impossible.

However, while negotiations remained ongoing, stake holders mounted pressure on the administration that reversing the proposal will be of more benefit to all. Arguably to demonstrate that the administration has not reneged on its let-thepeople-lead mantra, the state governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, did the needful and cancelled the decision on Thursday, July 3, 2014.

As part of the design to end the long drawn battle with the teachers, the governor also announced that the 936 teachers whose names were deleted from payroll over certificate forgeries and age falsifications would not only have their names restored

but also be paid outstanding salaries. Thirdly, he declared that public school teachers will now benefit from the state’s relativity pay. For members of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, and Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, who were at the meeting, the largely unexpected offer was an “Olive Branch” that is worthy of comnendation.

Long before the coming of the Oshiomhole

test. Unfortunately, the move resulted in an unusually illogical and politicised resistance orchestrated, as earlier pointed out, by the opposition.

In taking the obviously magnanimous step of cancelling the test, the administration also announced the adoption of a corresponding policy which emphasises training and re-training for both teachers and the state’s

MATTERS IN FOCUS With Ernest Omoarelojie Teachers Special Allowance, TSA. With it, the salary of a teacher in, for instance, grade level 8, step 2, became bigger by 25 per cent than that of a fellow public servant of the same category in another branch of the state’s public service.

In an attempt to bridge the differential, the state governmen introduced

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor

administration, education in the state was in a mess.

Undoubtedly, there was the need to bring dignity to the sector. It took no time before the administration began to initiate deliberate policies to standadize the quality of the sector ’s physical infrastructure as well as its human capacity.

Thus, having built schools for which it received plaudits, the administration moved to the next stage of auditing the quality of teachers manning its classrooms.

Not unexpectedly, the move unearthed an endemic rot that required urgent surgical cleansing hence the decision to conduct the now rested competency

other workforce with the hope it will provide the impetus needed to ginger them into reciprocating the gesture. One can only hope that calm will return to the sector very soon, after all, to whom much is given, much more is expected.

But while waiting for calm to return, it must be noted there is a tinge of hypocrisy in some of the teachers’ demands that snowballed into the deadlock that has just been broken by the cancellation announced by the governor. Part of their demand is that they also must be paid the relativity pay. The disparity came into force when the federal government introduced the

the relativity pay to bridge the gap between the allowances earned by the teachers and their other public service counterparts.

The allowance reduced by 10 per cent the 25 per cent disparity between the wage earned by teachers and other workers in the state’s public service.

Despite an obvious 15 per cent difference, the teachers insisted that they also must be paid.

The point being made here is that while the competency controversy raged, the teachers argued that the government had no reason to exclude its other workforce from the test if the policy was not

meant to witch hunt them. In other words, they sought to make the point that what is good for the goose should be sauce for the gander. But the question begging for an answer is this; if indeed, the teachers are concerned about the need for equity and fairness, how come they conveniently chose to forget that their counterpart in other sectors of the state’s public deserve equal pay and allowances?

While the purpose for asking the question above is not to ruffle already calmed feathers, one must not fail to reiterate the point that to whom much is given, much more is expected.

If that is true, the teachers ought to understand that there is need for them to be good enough for the job for which they are being paid so much. In other words, if they are deserving of special pay and allowances, they ought to be ready for special assessment. Fortunately, the governor has done what appears to be the needful. What remains to be seen is that the beneficiaries of his gesture must find the moral courage to reciprocate it in kind. The people of Edo state are waiting eagerly to see not only the colour of their response but also how soon it will manifest. But whatever colour or hue the response takes, they must not forget the reasons given by the governor for initially insisting that the competency test must be conducted.

For emphasis, his concern is that basic education is like the foundation of a house. If it is weak, the building will collapse.

Right now, the foundation is in the teachers’ hand. *Ernest Omoarelojie writes from Benin City

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