Nigerian observer 23 10 2013

THE NIGERIAN

1

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

The Nigerian

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 38 NO. 338 •WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 20 13 . N 100.00 ISSUES Page 14

IS FG Shifting post on vision 20:2020?

NEW HORIZON

Pages 20 & 24

Understanding who you are

Edo to enact law on entertainment regulation

By ADAMS OYIBOKE /OYENMWEN OMOROGBE EDO State Government is to enact

law that will guide, regulate and promote the activities of entertainers in the entertainment industry in the state.

This was disclosed by the commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Elizabeth Anane Jemitola in an

E n t e r t a i n m e n t Stakeholders Conference held yesterday at Oba Akenzuwa Cultural Continues on page 2

Bullet Proof Cars

Reps to probe Aviation Minister

By EDITH IMOISILI

ABUJA - The last might not have been heard over the purchase of the 1.6 million dollars bulletproof BMW cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the Hon. Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah as the House of Representative ordered a probe into the deal in pursuant to section 88 of the Nigeria constitution of 1999 as amended.

This followed a motion Samson Osagie on the raised yesterday by the floor of the House as he Minority Whip of the urged the House to House and a Chieftain of investigate the matter. the All Progressives Hon Samson Osagie Congress APC, Hon. noted that for the past few weeks the nation had been inundated with the news of the purchase of

PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DIALOGUE/CONFERENCE The Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue/Conference will visit Edo State on Monday, October 28, 2013.

All stakeholders including Civil Society Groups, Traditional Rulers, Women/Youth Organisations, Religious Groups, Ethnic Nationality Groups, Professional Groups, the Judiciary, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Organised Labour, Student Leadership, Leadership of the National Assembly, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assemblies, Organised Private Sector, the Physically Challenged, Edo in Diaspora and other interest groups are invited to make presentations at the Conference.

Venue of the Dialogue/Conference is Imaguero College Hall, Sapele Road, Benin City from 1:00pm.

All stakeholders and interest groups invited through this announcement are advised to be seated by 12:30pm.

SIGNED: DR. AKILU SANI INDABAWA Committee Secretary

$1.6m BMW bullet proof cars by NCAA for the Hon Minister of Aviation and wondered the rationale behind it when according to him the nation was ravaged by

poverty as well as unemployment.

He viewed the action as absurd, unthinkable and unpatriotic for an agency of government to connive with its political

head to incur such expenditure simply for the comfort and safety of one public officer.

Worried over the development, Hon Osagie questioned the

sincerity and objectivity of this present administration’s stand on fight against corruption which was re-emphasized

by Mr. president’s Continues on page 2

Fire guts Warri refinery

By BETTY IDIALU WARRI Pandemonium broke out at about 11a.m yesterday when an explosion occurred, at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Delta State.

As at press time, details of the inferno were still sketchy. It was however learnt that the explosion sent shivers down the spines of workers of the company and those around as they scampered for safety.

THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER learnt that the incident occurred Continues on page 2

Under 17 World Cup

Nigeria Sweden

3 3

LETTER OF CREDENCE: President Goodluck Jonathan (right), receiving Letter of Credence from the Head of European Union to Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.

With them is the Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

Oshiomhole tasks leaders on future generations

LAGOS - Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo yesterday urged Nigerian leaders to start looking beyond the present and prepare for

the future generations.

Oshiomhole spoke at the 13th National Women’s Conference organised by the Committee of Wives of

Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) in Lagos.

The conference’s theme: “See Beyond Today: Enhance the Quality of Life.”

“There is need for leaders to do things differently now and see beyond today,” he said.

Oshiomhole said that a Continues on page 2

Nat dialogue advisory committee visits Edo Oct 28

BENIN CITY - The Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue/Conference will visit Edo State on Monday, October 28,

2013.

All stakeholders including Civil Society Groups, Traditional

Rulers, Women/Youth Organisations, Religious Groups,

Ethnic Nationality Groups, Professional Groups, the Judiciary, Association of Local Governments of Continues on page 2

THE NIGERIAN

2

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

News

Edo to enact law on entertainment regulation

Continued from page 1 Centre, Benin City.

Tracing the history of the entertainment industry to Benin Kingdom, Mrs. Jemitola said entertainers need to go to the roots stressing that Cultural Values and Language of the people should be re-awakened by the entertainers.

She reminded all practitioners in the entertainment industry to explore the use of Edo Language in promoting the industry.

While commending Governor Oshiomhole for the support given to the industry by appointing about 4 persons from the entertainment industry into key position, she posited that a bill to guide, regulate and promote the industry will soon be forwarded to the State House of Assembly for consideration.

She, however, laments the inferiority complex of our local artistes in relation to the International artistes stressing that attention must be given to the local artistes to encourage them to grow.

Jemitola, however, assured Edo artistes in the entertainment industry of government efforts through her ministry of necessary legal framework, security, and the enabling environment to function.

She maintained that when necessary laws have been put in place, it would encourage multinational Organizations to employ the services of the state entertainers in any events proposed for Benin City.

She therefore urged all the Assocations in the industry to

work harder to improve on local content and register with the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism in order to get appropriate relevance in governance.

She also admonished the various bodies to be original and have a sense of belonging.

According to her, “the music you play will bring hope alife, so you need to go back to the roots”, she stressed.

In his address, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Daniel Eromosele who doubled as the convener thanked the comrade Governor for the opportunity to meet with diverse groups in the entertainment industry.

While commending the various discussants at the event, Eromosele said that the conference was the first of its type in Edo State geared towards seeking government

support at discouraging mutinational Organisations who hire the Services of entertainers Outside Edo State.

He expressed the hope that giving the necessary enabling environment and support, Edo state entertainers will perform better than those in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt.

Speaking on the topic “How Entertainment has influenced me”, the Senior Special Assistant to the comrade Governor on Protocol, Mr. Efosa Iyamu said “being a comedian or Entertainer is not learnt but in-built”.

According to him “You are who you are and not a close resemblance of anyone else.

No matter how battered you may be none can make you to be what you wish to be except yourself”.

“Do not run after the crowd, build the inborn natural talents and creativity in you. Nobody

Fire guts Warri refinery

Continued from page 1

during the company’s routine maintainance by the company’s engineers when the 10-H-02 equipment in area 2 exploded, leading to fire which lasted for some minutes, before it was allegedly put out by staff in the Health Safety And Environment (HSE), the safety department of the company.

But NIGERIAN OBSERVER gathered that there were no fewer than 9 casualties who were

surreptitiously ferried to the NNPC clinic and other medical centers nearby.

When NIGERIAN OBSERVER arrived at the gate of the company at about noon, security operatives, including soldiers, were seen keeping surveillance, while people, including staff, were prevented from gaining entrance to the premises.

Journalists were also prevented from gaining entrance into the company as security around the gate of the company was heavy.

Edo LG election peaceful - Minister

UROMI (Edo) - The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, has described the Tuesday’s Local Government election in some areas of Edo State as “peaceful” despite minor delays.

Onolememen, who voted at Ward 4, Esan North East Local Government, Uromi,

Edo State, added that the election, however, witnessed some irregularities.

“The election was peaceful, though there were irregularities.

“The Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) did not meet the guideline as specified by the commission.

Reps to probe Aviation Minister

Continued from page 1

Nationwide broadcast on October 1st 2013.

Osagie later urged the speaker to mandate the house on Aviation to investigate the matter and report back to the house within one week with specific terms of reference.

Other members who spoke in support of the motion also

condemned the purchase of the vehicles with public money without following due process as required by the law of the land.

When the motion was put to vote, by the speaker of the house of representative, Hon Aminu Tambuwal who presided over the sitting, it was unanimously carried.

Oshiomhole tasks leaders on future generations

Continued from page 1

basis should be created for N igerians to be loyal and committed to their country.

He, therefore, charged women to build in their children enduring moral values.

According to him, this will last longer than any physical infrastructure that government can provide.

In his remarks, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, said that better living conditions could be achieved through the conscious efforts of every citizen.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos-Central), called

will help you as much as you will help yourselves”, he said.

While admonishing upcoming entertainers to put aside the inordinate quest for money adding that money comes as individuals learn to stand-out and distinguish themselves in all they choose to do.

He however called on entertainers to build a name among themselves positively stressing that all entertainers should always put God first in everything they do.

Others who gave talk include Mr. Mardonald Business Manager, Silver Bird Television, Andy Bello, Macabe Samuel and Mr. Tony Kabaka, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Neighbourhood Watch, Edo State.

Present at the conference include the representative of the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Asabora, the Director of Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Leina Idehen and many other stakeholders in the entertainment industry in Edo State.

for courage on the part of women.

“There is need to prepare against the future challenges as today’s opportunities will determine the quality of life tomorrow,” she said.

The wife of the state governor, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, said that the conference would continue to provide a platform for women to deliberate on many topical issues.

Fashola, who is also chairman of the committee, said that the aim of the conference was to ensure that a large number of women were truly inspired and empowered.

“But I am happy that I was able to exercise my franchise,” he said.

Also speaking the APC candidate, Mr. Sam Oboh, told newsmen that the election was free and fair.

Oboh said that he did his accreditation at about 9 a.m at ward 9, and voted at about 12 p.m.

“The exercise was peaceful and I think by and large the process is free and fair,” he said.

On his part, the PDP candidate, Mr. John Yakubu, said that the party would resist any attempt by anybody to cause trouble.

The Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) cancelled the election in the local government held on April 22 due to logistical problems.

The commission also cancelled elections in nine wards in Edo South Senatorial District for similar reason.

A very hostile security man asked in a rather unfriendly tone, “who invited you people? go and come tomorrow to meet with the public affairs people”.

No fewer than four ambulances were seen moving to and fro the premises of the company and occupants of the ambulances were armed with hand gloves and nose masks to indicate that the explosion may have been fatal with casualties.

Unconfirmed source said that some of the refinery staff suffered severe burns and were rushed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) clinic in the oil rich city of Warri.

Some members of staff and contractors of the company were seen in clusters in front of the gate of the company, discussing the incident in low tones and were unwilling to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, the situation was said to have been brought under control by officials of the company.

It was gathered that the directives and prompt intervention of the Managing Director, Engr.

Paul Obelley, who was on his way to Port Harcourt in preparation for his daughter ’s wedding this weekend, had to cut short his trip, due to the situation.

Though the cause of the explosion was yet to be ascertained, but a competent source said the officials of the company were still investigating the actual cause of the explosion.

Our correspondent was reliably informed that no life was lost in the incident, but some few persons working in the affected area may have sustained minor injuries as a result of the explosion.

Another competent source said, immediately the explosion occurred, all the workers were evacuated to safety points, while firefighters put off the fire.

Nat dialogue advisory committee visits Edo Oct 28

Continued from page 1 Nigeria, Organised Labour, Student Leadership, Leadership of the National Assembly, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assemblies, Organised Private Sector, the Physically Challenged, Edo in Diaspora and other interest groups are invited to make presentations

at the Conference.

Venue of the Dialogue/ Conference is Imaguero College Hall, Sapele road, Benin City from 1:00pm.

A statement endorsed by the Committee Secretary, Dr. Akilu Sani Indabawa advised all stakeholders and interest groups invited through this publication to be seated by 12:30pm.

Sale of Edo House

Isekhure hails govt

By INNOCENT OMOAKA

BENIN CITY – The Isekhure of Benin Kingdom has commended the decision of the Edo state Government to dispose off the state Government House in Lagos.

Isekhure position was contained in a statement issued to pressmen in Benin City.

In the statement, Chief Isekhure expressed his absolute support for the decision of the state Government to dispose the asset, stressing that the said asset has lost its value and purpose since the relocation of the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja.

He also described the idea of retaining the Lagos asset as a matter

of poor economic management strategy, stressing that the state Government, many years ago has built another State House in Abuja.

Also, he lauded the initiative of the Governor to utilize the proceeds from the propose sale of the Lagos House in building a Five Star Hotel and a to-warring Mall in Benin City, saying “the initiative is the most prudent venture any responsible government should capitalize on.”

He however urged the State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshomhole to ignore all ill-motivated political distractions while speedy consideration be giving to the transaction, adding that the people of the state know better.

APC wins Etsako West Ward 6 election

By MORRISON HAYBLE

BE EKPERI (ETSAKO CENTRAL) The rescheduled council election for ward six in Etsako Central and wards three and four in Etsako West Local Government was concluded yesterday with a show of utmost decorum and maturity and without any hitch.

A Returning Officer, Mr. Ekpeogwa Moses for ward six in Ekperi declared Athanaciouis Kanoba of APC winner having polled a total of One thousand, One hundred and sixty (1,160) votes to defeat his PDP counter part, Yakubu Isiru who scored six hundred and sixty (660).

At Auchi wards three and four, the election was contested between the PDP, APC and Labour Party but the results were still being collated as at the time of this report.

Respondents who spoke

on the election described it as a family affair as they expressed belief that they were one, irrespective of political divide.

Exchange of pleasantries amongst political leaders of different party affiliation was observed at the polling units, which exemplified good sportsmanship.

Some party chieftains including the council chairman, Hon. Emmanuel Momoh and Hon. Johnson Oghuma of the State House of Assembly who spoke at their various residents expressed happiness that the conduct and the outcome was the beginning of better electoral exercises in the state.

However, security operatives who keenly watched the proceedings were left without any job to do as the election was generally peaceful and hitch free.

Late Nosakhare Okundia for burial Oct 25

BENIN CITY - The funeral service for the late Secretary of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service, Elder Sunday Nosakhare Okurndia has been slated to commence on Friday October 25, 2013 with a service of songs at the Scouting Training ground, beside Igba Zoo, Airport Road, Benin City beginning from 12.00 noon.

Interment follows immediately at No. 18, Amadin Igbinoba Street, Oko-Ogba in G.R.A., Benin City to be followed by Socials/Entertainment at the Scout Training ground beside Ogba Zoo. There will be outing/ Thanksgiving on Sunday,

October 27, 2013 at the Church of God Mission Int’l Inc, Uwelu District Headquarters, Uduosa Street, Off Uwelu, Benin City.

Late Elder Sunday Nosakhare Okundia

THE NIGERIAN

3

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

News Gunmen Kill 2 Vigilante Members In Warri

By BETTY IDIALU WARRI - Barely two weeks after gunmen dispossessed a man of N1.5 million on his way from a bank, armed men in Warri, Delta State, have shot dead two members of a vigilante group.

The midday incident, The Nigerian OBSERVER gathered, occurred at Ginuwa area, along Warri/Sapele Road in the Warri metropolis.

The two victims were said to be on the trail of some hoodlums, before the chase went awry and they were gunned down by the armed men.

It was gathered that the victims, simply identified as Omonigho Monday, alias Omones, who was the chairman of the vigilante group in Agbassa, was in company of his friend, one Odaiah, in the former ’s house when the gunmen came calling.

The armed men shot at them and Omonigho gave up the ghost instantly while the other who was attempting to scale a fence, was shot in the head and died while being ferried in a tricycle to the hospital.

When The Nigerian

OBSERVER got to the scene, there was a crowd making frantic efforts to see the lifeless body of Omonigho on the ground.

Meanwhile, investigation revealed that the armed men were on the trail of a vehicle that went to a bank to cash money, but in a bid to halt the fleeing robbers, two members of the vigilante group were gunned down.

It was, however, gathered that efforts made to apprehend the fleeing robbers by soldiers and policemen failed as the bandits maneuvered their way through Effurun and disappeared into thin air.

Confirming the incident, the Area Commander of Warri Police Command, ACP Rabiu Hussaini, described the incident as unfortunate, adding that his men would surely catch up with the fleeing robbers.

According to him, the hoodlums were only lucky to have escaped because most of his men are presently covering the official visit of the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Zai Smith to Warri prisons.

ACP Rabiu advised members of the public, cashing money in the bank, to always go for police escort when the amount is much, adding that they should also

LG Commissions Schools Furniture

OKPELLA (EDO) – The 800 chairs with desks procured for primary schools in Etsako East Local Government Area by the Hon. Abdulmalik Suleiman Afegbua led administration has been commissioned.

The commissioning ceremony was performed by the Okuokpellagbe of Okpella, His Royal Highness, Andrew Yakubu Eshioramhe Dirisu in Agenebode.

According to the royal father, the Afegbua led administration is a pride to the locality, having made the people proud with his people oriented programme.

Describing the council boss as a good apostle of the state Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the Okuekpellagbe was optimistic that he (chairman) would deliver more democratic dividend to the people.

“He is transforming Etsako East and I’m proud of him as a son, “he said, adding that media report has vindicated the council boss as one of the best in the state.

On his part, the council boss remarked that several schools have benefited from the council chairs distribution exercise describing the commissioning ceremony as the first of such inspite of having purchased and distributed electricity transformers to several communities.

While sueing for more counsel and support from the Okuokpellagbe, Afegbua also called on the people, irrespective of political

affiliation to collaborate with him in developing the entire local government area.

He expressed the administrations commitment to creating a conductive learning environment for pupils in the locality, urging the people to protect public facilities in their dormain.

Supervisor for Education, Hon. Idodo Nasiru who commended the council boss for living up to his electoral promises to the people said that the provision of school buildings and facilities has improved the standard of learning in Etsako East.

Representative of the Local Education Authority Secretary and Head Master, Idodo II Primary School Chief Okiti Kasimu, recalled how the council chairman handed the keys of the completed four classrooms block to him in August, 2013 with a promise to procure chairs and desks.

He said that the promise has now been fufiled, describing him as a pragmatic man who keeps to his promises. He however asked for the provision of teachers chairs tables, and the security of school property.

Also speaking was Mrs. Grace Sado, Head Teacher Eramhe Primary School who Commended the chairman for keeping his electorial promises to the people.

The occasion attracted village Heads, politicians, councilors, supervisors, top council officials and school Head Masters.

maintain silence.

“Police is ever ready to provide security to persons going to cash

money in the bank because even bank officials are alleged to be

giving information to robbers,” the police boss stressed.

Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr Pius Egberanmwen Odubu (left) and All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Edo State, Hon Victor Aigbogun at a Special Thanksgiving Service held at Holy Aruosa Cathedral to mark the birthday anniversary of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Eheneden Erediawa PHOTO: MOSES OBOH

According to Rabiu, to curb the renewed surge in armed robbery in the city, Divisional Police Officers (DPO) have been urged to be visiting bank officials and hold meetings with their managers on daily basis to strategize on how to halt the menace of bank robbery.

“We are determined to flush out criminals in order to make the ember months a hitch-free period. We are surely not going to relent in our efforts in achieving this feat”, stressed the police boss, explaining that police dragnet have been spread to restore the sanity and make the people sleep with their eyes closed.

He further revealed that three notorious criminals who specialized in robbery and kidnapping, were recently nabbed by police in Warri.

Dafinone To Challenge Delta Central By-Election Result SAPELE (DELTA) - The Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) has vowed to contest the outcome of the Delta Central Senatorial poll at the Election Petitions Tribunal.

The DPP senatorial candidate for poll, Chief Ede Dafinone is contesting the victory of Mr. Emmanuel Aguariavwodo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the poll district.

In a statement issued in Sapele, the DPP senatorial candidate described the April 12 byeelection as political denial perpetrated against Urhobo, the fifth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.

“There is little recognition of Urhobo at the federal and state levels in terms of appointments and positions.

Similarly, the interference in the last election where the candidate foisted on the PDP in Delta State is again foisted and this time forcefully on the people of Delta Central”.

The DPP candidate who is not pleased with the result of the election where PDP was declared winner flayed the exercise which he alleged was not free and fair and was enmeshed in violence and intimidation of voters.

He condemned the reckless desperation, the sheer treachery

and lawlessness of leaders of the PDP in the state.

He also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of overturning the rule of fairness and allocating victory to the PDP. “We reject this outright robbery of the people’s will. We condemn this grievous injustice, this mockery of all that is a decent, of all that is fair and just. The army and INEC, both federal government institutions worked with the PDP’s candidate to ensure his victory. The PDP used the army to unleash terror on the people of Delta Central. For hours, gun shots rent the air and

Medical Personnel attending to patients at the ongoing mobile free Health Care Services organised by Hon (Mrs) Elizabeth Ativie of Edo State House of Assembly for the people of her c o n s t i t u a n c y, Uhunmwode Local Government Area P H O T O : OSADEBAMWEN SUNDAY

Group Urges Members To Be Good Ambassadors

By JOEL CHUKWUAGHONIM

MBIRI (DELTA) – President of Out-Chukwuburu-Uzor-ngozi-esen, Dr. Osborn Nwabudike has expressed the need for sociocultural groups to be good

ambassadors of their respective community.

Dr. Nwabudike gave the hint in Mbiri, Delta State on the occasion o f the celebration of the union’s ‘new cloth’.

According to him, one sure way of doing this is for members to live exemplary

lives and conduct themselves in manners that would not bring disrepute to their respective group.

The Out-chukwu-buruuzor-ngozi-esen is a fraternity committed to the well-being of members and the development of the society.

the people were clobbered. Also, the announced result shows PDP in first place. As if that is not bad enough, the result shows All Progressives Congress (APC) in second place with DPP the Populist Party in the third place.

All that combines to make the whole result laughable” the statement said.

The statement said the party’s legal team had been told to head to the poll tribunal.

“As law abiding citizens, we intend to explore all legal means to ensure this sham of an election is cancelled.

“We shall be proceeding to the election petition tribunal to present our case” the statement added.

Pa Enoruwa For Installation As Odionwere

UHOLORThe Installation ceremony of Pa Ekhator Isaac Enoruwa as Odionwere of Uholor Community Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State has been slated for Saturday October 26, 2013.

A statement by the Enogie of the community, Mr. Friday Ekhator indicated that the ceremony would hold at Uholor Community, Upper Ekewan Road, Benin City Beginning at noon.

Pa Ekhator Isaac Enoruwa

THE NIGERIAN

4

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

News Woman Jailed For Purchasing Stolen Blocks KUJE (FCT)-A Grade 1 Area Court in Kuje, FCT, has sentenced a 31-year- old business woman, Mary Ajayi, to three months imprisonment for buying stolen blocks.

The presiding judge, Mr Nuhu Ibrahim, said the convict was guilty as charged and sentenced her to three months’ imprisonment with an option to pay N10,000 fine.

“Ajayi pleaded guilty to buying 161 stolen blocks from Mr Suleiman Lawal and she is hereby convicted of committing the offence.’’

Ajayi, who had no counsel,

Church Holds Women Convention Oct 24 BENIN CITY- The 2013 Women Convention of the Queen’s Circle of El-Shaddai Ministries (Oasis of Love Church), is scheduled for Thursday October 24-Sunday October 27, 2013.

The event with the theme: “The leading Woman would hold at No 10 Imadiyiosa Street, Off Evbareke spare Parts Market Road, Off Textill Mill Road, Benin City.

According to the programme for the event, services shall hold at 4pm daily, except on Sunday October 27, 2013 when service shall hold at 9 am.

Speakers at the occasion include the host, Pastor and Mrs. Sam Omorebokhae, Pastor Mrs. L Osha (Guest Speaker) and Pastor Mrs. H. Enunwanoye, the statement added.

had pleaded guilty to the charge against her and begged the court for leniency.

She was arraigned on onecount charge of receiving stolen property, contrary to Section 316 of the Penal Code.

The police prosecutor, Cpl. Samuel Ocheche, had told the court that Mr Emmanuel Dung of Nuwalege village, Kuje, reported the matter at the Kuje Police Station on October 17.

Ocheche said that Ajayi, resident of Gosa, Airport road, Abuja, bought the blocks from Lawal at N30 each as against the normal price of N180 per block.

Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Ehenden Erediauwa (left) and the member representing Oredo F e d e r a l Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives during a Special Thanksgiving Service at Holy Aruosa Cathedral to mark the Crown Prince’s birthday recently. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

Court Denies Female Robbery Suspect Bail

LAGOS- A Lagos High Court, Igbosere, has denied bail to one Esther Ihedime, 25, who allegedly attempted to rob another woman with a toy gun.

Justice Aishat Opesanwo ruled that there was no cogent evidence before the court to support the defendant’s claim of ill-health.

She said that although the affidavit attached to the bail application said that the gun was not found on the defendant, other charges might be preferred against her in the course of the trial.

Opesanwo noted that the defendant submitted that she was running an errand for her mother when she was forced by some gunmen to join them in a robbery.

“The court is not in doubt of the defendant’s story, but every case is determined by its peculiarity,” she held.

The judge also said that denying the defendant bail was in her interest as it would

prevent the unknown gunmen from contacting her.

Opesanwo ordered an accelerated hearing in the case, and adjourned it till November 15 for substantive trial.

The reports state that Ihedime is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and attempted robbery.

The charge sheet said that Ihedime committed the offences on November 2,

2012 at No. 159A, Akerele Extension, Surulere, Lagos, at 2.45p.m.

According to the charge, the defendant with others now at large - while armed with a toy gun- attempted to rob one Miss Rukayat Abdulsalat of

her valuables.

The alleged offences contravene Sections 296 and 298 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

Section 296 provides that any person convicted of attempted robbery is liable to imprisonment for not less than 14 years but not more than 20 years.

punishable under Section 2 (2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearm (Special Provisions) Act Cap RII, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, applicable to Delta.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Augustina Monye, who did not take the plea of the accused, said that the case was

beyond the jurisdiction of the court.

Monye ordered that duplicate copies of the case file be sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), for advice.

She adjourned the case till Ocober 25, for mention.

Bricklayer Remanded For Robbery ASABA- An Asaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Delta has remanded a 32-year-old bricklayer, Lazarus Igwe, in prison custody, for allegedly robbing PHCN of its transformer coils valued at N1.8million.

The accused is standing trial on a one-count-charge of armed robbery.

The Prosecutor, Mr Augustine Otubu, told the

court that the accused, residing at Ogwuashi-Uku in the Aniocha-South Local Government Area of the state, committed the offence on August 21.

Otubu told the court that the accused committed the offence, opposite the premises of God is Good Motors, Asaba, while armed with a gun.

He said the offence was

Edo State Head of Service, Princess (Mrs) Ekiuwa Inneh and the member representing Oredo Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives during a Special Thanksgiving Service at Holy Aruosa Cathedral to mark the birthday anniversary of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Eheneden Erediauwa recently. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

Alleged Theft

Salesgirl, 21, Docked ABUJA- The police has arraigned a sales girl, Christiana Iwuchukwu, 21, of Mpape Village, Abuja in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court, charged with theft.

The prosecutor, Cpl Monday Akor, told the court that Mrs. Agnes Ochigbo of Citec Mbora Estate, Abuja, reported the matter at the Maitama Police Station on October 14.

Akor said Iwuchukwu conspired with another man, currently at large and stole 11 pieces of Senegalese Kaftan, valued at N440,000, belonging to her employer.

He said that the accused could not give satisfactory account of her actions during

investigation.

The prosecutor added that the offence contravened Section 289 of the Penal Code.

If convicted, the sales girl is liable to serve a prison term of seven years or be given an option to pay a fine or both.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the onecount charge of theft.

The Magistrate, Mr Aliyu Shafa, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N150,000 with a surety in like sum.

Shafa ordered that the surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court and adjourned the case to November 6 for further hearing.

THE NIGERIAN

5

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

South-West Imbibe Reading Culture, ANA Chairman Counsels Students OSOGBO - The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Osun chapter, Mr. Abiodun Oloyede, has called on students to develop more interest in reading.

Oloyede gave the advice in an interview with newsman on the sidelines of the National Literacy Campaign organised by the association in Ibadan.

He said this why the association aimed at encouraging Nigerian literature in schools and creating a forum where the young ones would have the opportunity to express their thought.

“There has been a great decline in the reading culture

among students. I was shocked at the students’ response when I asked about what they had read.

“We have been to five secondary schools before now, and students in these schools said they had never heard about tales like ‘Aladdin and the magic lamp’ and ‘The magic carpet’.

“But we want them to discover the joy in reading, because reading not only makes a man, it also edifies,’’ Oloyede said.

The Osun ANA chairman said that was also why the association earlier this year had a teenage authors’ campaign.

“During this campaign, we put the teenagers through the rudiments of writing poetry, prose and drama.

“We were challenged to come up with writings which

have been committed to ANA for publication,’’ he said.

Oloyede however said the Nigerian nation must be able to create an environment where libraries must be well stocked

and book clubs established in schools, if possible in communities.

“We must do this earnestly if we want to encourage reading,’’ he said.

P r e s i d e n t G o o d l u c k Jonathan (right) shaking hands with the outgoing Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Mahesh Sachdev at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.

Theft Of Goats

Man, 33, Docked SANGO-OTA (OGUN) The police in Ogun have arraigned a 33-year-old man, Shakoni Adeniyi, over alleged theft of eight goats.

Adeniyi is facing a threecount charge of conspiracy, theft and breach of the peace before an Ota Magistrates’ Court.

The prosecutor, Insp Peter Molokwu, told the court that the accused, a resident of No.22, Adeyemi St., Ota, conspired with another person still at large to commit the offences at 7.00p.m. on October. 19 at Akute in Ota. Molokwu added that the accused was caught at a police checkpoint in Ota. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 390 (3) and 516 of the Criminal Code, Law of

The state ANA chairman said 10 secondary schools across Osun had already benefitted from the literary awareness campaign by the association.

Ogun State, 2006.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

Senior Magistrate Titi Bello granted him bail in the sum of N50, 000 with one surety in like sum.

She adjourned the case to November. 25 for mention.

Create Innovative Compulsory Insurance Products, Expert Urges Operators LAGOS - Mrs. Roseline Ekeng, the Managing Director, International Energy Insurance, has urged insurance companies to create more compulsory insurance products to encourage more people to buy insurance policies.

Ekeng gave this advice in an interview with newsmens in Lagos.

NAN reports that some existing compulsory insurance products are the Third Party motor, Owners/ Occupiers Liability and Professional Indemnity.

According to her, the directive of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on compulsory insurance products had created retail business opportunities in the industry.

“It has also opened up a huge opportunity for retail

and micro insurance businesses.

“Retail business is the way to create massive insurance penetration in Nigeria,” she said.

Ekeng said that in response to NAICOM’s mandate the company had introduced the Third Party Motor Scratch Cards for private motor, trucks and motorcycles.

She said that the company had also set up a call centre, fully equipped with the latest

technology, to attend to customers’ challenges in using the scratch card.

According to her, the scratch card is an online platform through which the general public can have access to genuine third party motor insurance policies.

Ekeng expressed optimism that the call centre would become handy for the company to develop technology based products for the other compulsory insurance businesses.

Father Arrested For Impregnating Daughter

Giving a helping hands during flooding

LAGOS - A Federal High Court in Lagos, fixed November. 14 for ruling on whether the prosecution had competence to prosecute a 50year-old man accused of impregnating his 14-year-old daughter.

The prosecution, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP), had on March 28, 2011, arraigned the accused, Yesiri Onajobi, 50, on a two-count charge.

The charges, according to the prosecutor, are seducing his daughter and having unlawful carnal knowledge of her.

The accused had on arraignment, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was remanded in Ikoyi Prison by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke.

Counsel to the accused, Austine Akpormeta, told the court that his client had a pending application based on the competence of the prosecution to prosecute the case.

The prosecution counsel, Mrs. Kehinde Falade, told the court that the accused was not in court because the prison warder could not bring him to court.

Justice Aneke adjourned the case to November. 14 for ruling.

THE NIGERIAN

6

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Across The Nation

Osun Launches Breast Cancer Awareness Programme OSOGBO - The Osun Commissioner for Health, Mrs. Temitope Ilori, has inaugurated a breast cancer sensitisation programme to raise awareness about the disease.

Ilori told a rally in Osogbo that breast cancer is a tumor that could spread to other parts of the body if not checked.

She said 95 per cent of women who developed breast cancer do not know it’s risk factor and stressed the need for health experts to redouble their efforts toward sensitising women on the dangers of the disease.

The commissioner listed the symptoms of breast cancer to include a change in the shape or size of the breast, swelling

of the upper arm or armpit and discharge from the breast.

Ilori stressed the need for Self Breast Examination (SBE) among women to identify any changes for quick

medical attention.

She said that the state government, in partnership with the Tumor Suppressors Maternal Organisation (TSMO) had made necessary

arrangements with patients to have access to adequate treatment.

She advised patients to visit the Ladoke Adelabu University of Technology

Teaching Hospital, Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, Jaleyemi and Hamstring Specialist Hospital/Diagnostic Centre all in Osogbo for counselling and treatment.

Ogun Assembly Warns Against Recognition Of Unrecognised Chiefs ABEOKUTA - Mr. Olakunle Oluomo, the Chairman, Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, has warned the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs against recognising illegal Chiefs.

Oluomo said this in Abeokuta while on an oversight visit to the ministry.

He noted that there were some chiefs not recognised by law and asked the ministry to desist from inviting them to attend meetings.

“I represent Ifo constituency and the only recognised Oba is the Olu of Ifo and there is another illegal Oba parading himself as Onifo of Ifo in the same

environment.

“If the ministry does not want to promote conflict in our state; it should stop dealing with or recognising illegal Obas.’’

He also urged the ministry to prepare a bill to authenticate the activities of the vigilante group in the state.

The committee chairman said the bill would enhance the efficiency of the vigilante groups give legal backing to their activities.

In his address, Mr. Olatunde Olowonyo, the Permanent Secretary said the ministry had been able to settle boundary disputes between local governments.

Olowonyo also said that the ministry had installed six chiefs in the state in eight months.

L-R: Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; Emir of Jama’are, Alhaji Mohammed Wabi III and Chairman, Jama’are Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Jama’are during the Emir’s courtesy visit in Bauchi yesterday.

Ban On Unaccredited Institutions

Deputy Speaker Commends Ministry MAKURDI - The Deputy Speaker, Benue House of Assembly, Dr Stephen Onmeje, has commended the state’s Ministry of Education for banning unaccredited tertiary institutions in the state from operating.

He made the commendation in Makurdi when the1975 members of

the Igumale Old Students Association paid him a courtesy visit.

He described the ministry’s action as “a right step in the right direction”, saying the move would sanitise the education sector if sustained.

Onmaje expressed concern at the proliferation of illegal

and unaccredited schools in the state, which he said would not augur well for the education sector.

He advised people who were willing to assist the state government in establishing schools to follow laid down rules before doing so, noting that “education is a critical sector which should not be put in jeopardy by anyone.’’

The deputy speaker pledged the assembly’s resolve to partner with the state government to reposition the education sector in the state.

He urged members of the association to support their

alma mater to uplift the standard of teaching and learning.

Earlier, the President of the association, Mr. Benjamin Ekalinu, had commended the deputy speaker “for his immense contributions to debates at the assembly.

Ekalinu also commended Onmaje for constructing an ultra modern administrative block in the school.

The president of the association said Onmeje had made the old students of the school proud by his action and urged him to sustain the tempo.

Battering Court Dissolves 3-YearOld Marriage her at the slightest

Representative of the Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Sen. Olugbenga Obadara (left), addressing a meeting of Joint Committees on Education, Science, Technology, Youth, Sport and Culture in Lagos yesterday. With him is Chairman, Communication and Information Technology, ECOWAS Parliament, Comrade Jefferson Kanmoh.

ILORIN - An Ilorin Area Court has dissolved a threeyear-old marriage over battery by the man.

The judge, Mr. Yusuf Abdulkareem, dissolved the union of 30-year-old Mrs. Ramat Fatahi and 33-year-old Yusuf, following a petition by Ramat, a resident of Alore in Ilorin.

The petitioner had told the court that Yusuf was beating

provocation.

“My husband gets provoked easily and beats me up in public places,” she said.

She added that Yusuf beat her up on the last New Year Day. Yusuf did not object to the application.

“My wife is pompous and has no regard for anybody; she always provokes me,” he submitted.

THE NIGERIAN

7

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Group Backs Proposed National Conference

LAGOS - A North American-based Yoruba socio-cultural group, Egbe Omo Yoruba, has urged Nigerians to honour the late pro-democracy activist, Dr Baba Omojola, by ensuring the success of the proposed National Conference.

The group gave the advice in a statement issued in Lagos by its National President, Chief Bolu Akindutire.

Reports say that Omojola died on Saturday in Akure after presenting a memorandum at the maiden Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference on Friday.

“His last act before he died was the presentation of a draft of the constitution produced by the Nigeria Ethnic Nationality Conference to the Advisory Committee on National Conference and his insistence on its adoption.

“The nation can only remember and honour Oluwide Omojola if we work towards the Peoples National Conference that he stood for.

“A dogged fighter, he never sat on the fence.

“An activist who was in the theatre of activities, an adroit and revolutionary teacher who educated Nigerians on good government, died doing what he knew best,’’ it said.

The statement said that Omojola’s activities along with others in PRONACO led to the production of the draft of the people’s constitution at the National Conference of Nigerian

Lagos Chairperson, NGO Committee on S p i r i t u a l i t y, Values and Global Concerns, New York, MS Sharon Hamilton (left), presenting the “Spirit of the United Nations” award to the P e r m a n e n t Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu in New York on Monday.

Ethnic Nationalities between 2004 and 2007.

“His training of today’s and future political and labour activists will be dearly missed.

“Baba was at the forefront of the calls for the restructuring of Nigeria through a Sovereign National Conference,” the statement said.

DPP Orders Prosecution Of Robbery Suspect

L-R: Member, Board of Directors, Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority, Alhaji Manir Ja’Afaru, Managing Director, Prof. Paul Marley and Chairman, Dr. Sam Ode, at the Board’s meeting in Kaduna yesterday.

Mechanic Docked For Theft

IKEJA - A 33-year-old mechanic, Abimbola Oluwole, who allegedly stole a Blackberry Torch and an I-phone, worth N125,000 from a shopper at the Ikeja Shopping Mall, has appeared before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

Oluwole, a resident of No.

17, Oke Ira Powerline, Agege, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The prosecutor, Insp. Edet Okoi, told the court that the accused and others at large, committed the offences at 5:40 p.m., on October 15, at

the shopping mall at Alausa, Ikeja.

He said that the accused stole a Blackberry Torch and an Iphone handset with a total value of N125, 000, property of Mrs. Oge Onyebuchi.

“The accused removed the phones from the complainant’s

FG Approves Lifting Of Scrap Metals

LAGOS - The Federal Government has granted approval to 11 companies to lift scrap metals littering the operational areas of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

The corporation’s Director in charge of Mechanical and Electrical Department, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos .

He said that the development would pave way for introduction of a modern technology to improve

rail transportation.

Okhiria said that the metals were no longer useful to the NRC. “There was a ministerial committee that took necessary surveys, and an approval was given for the metals to be disposed of.

“An advert was placed on newspapers for interested end users to apply, and 11 companies were given the

approval,” he said.

Okhiria listed the companies to include Philips Parker Nig. Ltd., BSS Steel Rolling Mill Ltd., Abbaccon Investment Ltd., Fortified Services Ltd. and China Zhonghao Nig. Ltd. According to him, the others are: Design Age Consult Ltd., J. Oliz Maritime Services, Bernard & Rose Industry Ltd., Yaks

Solutions Ltd., Yaks Solution Ltd., and Datol Nig. Ltd. He told newsmen that the scraps had become a nuisance and served as hideouts for criminals.

“The scraps have littered the whole operational areas; they occupy the whole places.

“Steel is more valuable than gold; its price still goes up in the world market; it is unfortunate that Nigeria does not have the wherewithal to turn around these metals,” he said.

handbag, while she was walking towards the car park.

“He was, however, seen by the complainant’s driver and security officials at the car park,” the prosecutor said.

Okoi said that the offences committed contravened Sections 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 285 provides that any person who steals is guilty of a felony and is liable, if no other punishment is provided, to three years imprisonment The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Margaret Dan-Oni, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Dan-Oni adjourned the case till December 3 for mention.

LAGOS - The Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), on Monday directed the prosecution of a robbery suspect, Emeka Ndukwe, alleged to have robbed some bank customers.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Margaret Dan-Oni, said that the legal advice from the DPP had established a prima facie case against the accused.

She said: “A prima facie case has been established against the accused and suspect will be prosecuted at the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, based on the advice.”

The advice, dated June 6, stated that a prima facie case of conspiracy to commit felony, and unlawful possession of firearms in a public place, with intention to commit robbery, was charged against the accused.

According to the advice, the allegation of the offence which was contrary to Section 409 and 296(3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, was established against the accused.

The DPP noted in the advice that Ndukwe, with one other at large, stalked customers of a Bank as they left the premises, and attempted to rob them.

It said: “One of the bank customer who resisted the attack with the help of people in the area, foiled the robbery attack, the accused was arrested while his cohort escaped.

“A gun was recovered from the suspect, and he confessed to the crime.”

Newsmen report that the accused was arraigned on July 20, 2012, on a two-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony, and unlawful possession of firearms.

THE NIGERIAN

8

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Across The Nation Ethnic Groups In North Endorse Confab

L-R: Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; Permanent Secretary, Amb. Godknows Igali and representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shola Enikanolaiye at the 7th Annual Conference of the NigerianGerman Energy Partnership in Abuja yesterday.

JOS - Several ethnic nationalities in the North Central Zone of the country in Jos endorsed the proposed national conference to discuss issues about the fate of the nation.

Presenting a paper to the Presidential Committee on National Dialogue on behalf of his state at the opening ceremony, Mr David Salihu, the Secretary to the Benue Government, urged the National Assembly to enact a law that would give the conference a legal backing.

“The National Assembly should as a matter of concern enact a law that will give the conference a complete backing so that all grey areas will be thrashed.

“We in Benue are completely in support of the conference so that issues of marginalisation of minorities will be tackled.

“The issue of the national resources, security and corruption will also receive proper discuss at the conference,” he said The scribe suggested that the committee should be given at least nine months to organise the conference.

Salihu urged Nigerians to support the committee to help it conduct a successful conference that would stand the test of time.

Speaking on behalf of the Berom ethnic group, Sen. Wash Pam, said that the entire Berom tribe was in support of the conference that would discuss burning issues that had been bothering them.

Pam said they wanted the issues of citizenship, indigene

and settler to be thrashed at the national conference.

“We will also want the conference to look at issues of solid minerals, soil degradation and quota system at the federal level.

“We desired that the powers at the federal level be reduced and more powers given to states and local governments,” he said.

Also speaking on behalf of the Idoma tribe, Dr Okopi Alex, called on the committee to address the political structure of the country so that the minority tribes would be given a sense of belonging in the country.

“The minority tribes have been relegated to the background and there is the need to give all Nigerians a sense of belonging.

“We want Nigerians to be united and the issue of revenue sharing should be given top priority at the conference,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the Jasawa community, Alhaji Mansur Nakande, urged the government to organise sovereign national conference that would thoroughly discussed the problems threatening the country.

“We want all those in the position of authority to be relieved of their positions and the committee to take over their powers.

“We are making this submission without prejudice. We want all the problems to be tackled once and for all,” he said.

The reports state that all the groups who submitted memoranda to the committee opposed the disintegration of the country.

Zamfara To Partner NEMA On Disaster Mgt L-R: German Secretary of State, Mr. Harold Braun; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Amb. Godknows Igali and Secretary, National Energy Council, Mr. Ibrahim Njiddah, at the 7th Annual Conference of the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership in Abuja yesterday.

GUSAU - The Zamfara government has expressed readiness to partner with the National Emergency

Defence College Begins Assessment Of Infrastructure In Enugu, Others ENUGU - The National Defence College (NDC) Abuja, has began a tour of infrastructure in Enugu State to assess their impact on the state’s development.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Governor. Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, the Leader of Course 22 team, Air Commodore Mohammed Usman, said the geo-strategic tour was part of the team’s programme which centred on states and socio-political environment.

The leader noted that the tour was aimed at assessing the state of infrastructure and how it had influenced the development as well as the people of the state.

He said the team would tour some road projects and other amenities in the 17 local council areas in the state.

Usman said the tour with theme: ‘Infrastructure as a Catalyst for Development,’ was also aimed at improving their services.

“Normally, we undertake this visit to some selected states in the country to see the extent of

development in that state.

“We want to see the state of infrastructure in Enugu State and how it has influenced development of the state. There are no special criteria for choosing states to visit.’’

He listed some states which the team would also visit to include

Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Ondo and Plateau.

Usman said the results of their findings would be documented for effective service delivery and training at the college.

Responding, Chime, who was

represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Amechi Okolo, called for stronger ties with the NDC to train citizens and help improve security in the area.

“The state has enjoyed partnerships with security

agencies and the defence college.

The college has always involved the state whenever a programme like this comes up.

“I want to call for continued cordial relationship between the college and the state.’’

The NDC was set up in 1992 as the highest military institution in Nigeria to tutor military personnel on ways to improve professionalism.

Rehabilitate Bad Roads In Ngor-Okpala Group Urges Govt

OWERRI - A socio-cultural group known as Obiri NgorOkpala has called on the Imo State Government to address the deplorable condition of roads and lack of electricity supply to the Ngor-Okpala council area.

The group made the call at a development summit it organised with theme “Ngor-Okpala Development in the 21st Century”.

The event held at the Umuneke-Ngor, the NgorOkpala Local Government Headquarters.

The Chairman of the group, Mr. Ken Amadi, listed the dilapidated roads to include the

Imeriewe-Obokwe-OrishezeUmuikoro-Opuehi, ImerienweUmuekwune-Umuezom, IhitteUmuneke and LogaraUmuohiagu-Nnorie roads.

According to him, the others include Umuneke-Obike-Elelem, Okpala-Eziama-Mbato and Mbutu Okohia-Egbelu roads.

Amadi said that the summit was aimed at bringing the people of the area together to reflect on their past and plan for a progressive future.

He called on the member representing the local government at the state assembly

to ensure that rehabilitation of the roads was included in the state’s 2014 budget.

He listed Umuekwune, Amala, Mbato, Obokwe, Oburu, UmuIkoro and Opuehi as communities in the council area which had yet to have electricity.

Amadi urged the member representing Aboh Mbaise/NgorOkpala Federal Constituency, and the Senator representing Owerri Zone to use their positions to urgently redress the situation.

The guest lecturer, Monsignor Theophilus Okere, attributed the

poor development of the council area to greed among its elite.

“We have very little to boast of when compared with our neighbours.’’

The cleric called on the people of the area to embrace unity and selfless service to facilitate development.

The Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and Chairman of the occasion, Dr Sam Amadi, said that no community could develop in an atmosphere of disunity.

He called on indigenes of the area to shun selfishness and sabotage to move the communities forward.

Management Agency (NEMA) to ensure effective disaster control and management in the state.

The Acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji, made the government’s position known in Gusau when he received relief materials donated to flood victims in the state by NEMA’s North-West Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Musa Illallah.

Rikiji said the state government had, through the state’s Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA), always contacted NEMA whenever a disaster occurred in the area.

“We have seen many progress and achievements through our contact with NEMA in the management of disasters in the state,” he said.

He assured NEMA of the state government’s support and cooperation in discharging its duties in the state.

He commended the agency for its efforts in managing disaster in the state and the country.

Presenting the materials, Illallah said items donated included food items, clothes and cosmetics worth millions of naira.

He said the donation was for three local government areas of Gummi, Talata-Mafara and Shinkafi.

THE NIGERIAN

9

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Abuja Subject Nat’l Confab Report To Referendum, Nwodo Urges FG ABUJA - Chief Charles Nwodo, the National Chairman of defunct Progressive Action Congress, (PAC), has urged the Federal Government to subject the outcome of the proposed National conference to a referendum in the interest of the nation.

Nwodo made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

He said that subjecting the conference’s outcome to a referendum would be better rather than forwarding it to the National Assembly for ratification.

Nwodo said that other countries had gone through constitutional drafting and amendment with the use of a referendum, therefore, ours could not be an exception.

According to him, the aims and objectives for which the conference is expected to achieve may be defeated if forwarded to the National Assembly for ratification.

He said that the final decision should rest with the peoples’ input at the end of the

Sales Boy, Jailed For Breach Of Trust

ABUJA - An Abuja Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 28-year-old sales boy, Abiodun Idowu, of Sauka Kahuta Village, Lugbe, Abuja, to four months jail term for criminal breach of trust.

The Magistrate, Mr. Celestine Odo, sentenced Idowu after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

Odo did not give the convict an option of fine.

The magistrate said that the sentence was to deter those who might want to engage in similar acts.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Paul Anigbo, had told the court that Balogun Michael of Wisdom Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, reported the matter at the Lugbe Police Station on October 2.

Anigbo said that the convict, a sales boy at the complainants company, Micky Vicky Global Resources, Utako, Abuja, defrauded his employer of N690,000.

He said the convict had confessed committing the offence during investigation which was contrary to the provisions of Section 314 of the Penal Code.

In his plea, the convict said: “my wife had a miscarriage and I could not afford to pay her hospital bills so I went to my boss for assistance but he said he didn’t have any money.

“As the sales boy of the company, I collects close to N1 million from clients on daily basis, so I took just N350,000 from the money I received on October 2 and not N690,000 as reported.’’

day to justify the relevance.

“It is necessary that the people of this country give their decisions a seal of approval in order to make the conference meaningful to the people. “ If it is just conceded without the public input, it may look as if nothing positive has actually taken place,” Nwodo said Nwodo said that the essence of the referendum as supported by some Nigerians was to make it “a collective will of the people rather than sections of the people” He urged that “every Nigerian” should be carried along whenever the country was taking decisions on matters that border on the life of the people, their liberty and future of the nation.

Nwodo noted that it had become imperative for the outcome of the conference to be subjected to a referendum for it to salvage the yearnings of the people.

L-R: PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; President Goodluck Jonathan; Founder, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark Foundation, Chief Edwin Clark; his wife, Bisola; former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and the Keynote Speaker/President, Rainbow Push Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson at the launch of teh Edwin Kiagbodo Clark Foundation in Abuja recently.

House C’ttee Warns Against Poor Funding Of HIV/AIDS

ABUJA - The House of Representatives’ Committee on HIV/AIDS, Malaria Control, Tuberculosis and Leprosy has warned about the danger in the government’s dependence on donor agencies for funding of HIV and AIDS programme in Nigeria.

The committee’s Chairman, Dr Joseph Kigbu, told newsmen in Abuja that this was because the donor agencies could withdraw their support for the health programme in the nearest future.

Kigbu called on the Federal Government to intensify its financial commitment to the control and treatment of HIV and AIDS in the country.

“My opinion as the House committee chairman for HIV/ AIDS is that the national response to HIV and AIDS is below average; we need to scale up our response.

“There are so many areas where we have not got it right. In terms of creating awareness, we have improved but in terms of funding, we have not done well as a country.

“It is 80 to 90 per cent donor funds we are using for the procurement of anti-retroviral drugs.

“Funds for capacity building, HIV awareness and testing are from donor agencies like the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria as well as the U.S. Centre for Disease Control,’’ he said Kigbu said that the development aptly signified that Nigeria, like many other African countries, had failed to give

priority importance to public health issues.

“We need to scale up our efforts; resource mobilisation is very important because if our donor partners, for any reason, have a natural disaster or economic shutdown; then, we don’t get those funds and the local supply chain of antiretroviral drugs will be interrupted,’’ he said.

Besides, Kigbu expressed concern over the burden of HIV and AIDS in the country, saying that about 7, 000 new infections came from paediatric HIV/AIDS. He also lamented that Nigeria was behind target in several important indicators, as not less than one million HIV-positive

Mobile phone repairers at Shuarin Village market in Jigawa.

persons were not on antiretroviral drugs.

He said that ideally, not less than 1.5 million citizens were supposed to be receiving medication, adding, however, that only 500, 000 HIV-positive people were currently on antiretroviral drugs.

Kigbu said that the alarming number of those who were not on anti-retroviral drugs necessitated urgent government attention and intervention in order to control the spread of the disease.

He called on the Federal Government to scale up funding for the HIV and AIDS programme to enable increased procurement of drugs, while intensifying efforts to achieve

zero new infections.

“What this means is that not less than one million Nigerians, who are HIV sero-positive, are just walking around the street, having sex and transmitting the virus; so, we must wake up and tackle the development,’’ he said.

He called on the government to increase its commitment to public health issues, expressing hope that President Goodluck Jonathan would address the public health issues more critically.

Labourer Remanded Pending Sentence

ABUJA - An Abuja Magistrates’ Court has ordered a 30-year-old labourer, Jibril Abubakar, to be remanded in prison till October 24 pending the outcome of the judgement.

The Magistrate, Mr. Abdullahi Illelah, gave the order after Abubakar pleaded guilty to the charge of theft.

Abubakar, who resides on Daki biyu Village, Jabi FCT, had also told the court that he specialised in stealing motorcycles.

Illelah said that he suspended the sentence to enable him (accused) to assist the police in apprehending other members of his gang.

Abubakar, who was arraigned before Illelah at the Life Camp Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, promised to assist the police to apprehend other members of the gang.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp.

Audu Bitrus, told the court that the matter was reported by one Mutaka Ibrahim of Daki biyu village, in the Life Camp Police station on October 15.

He said the complainant took the accused on his motorcycle from the Code of Conduct Bereau office and snatched the bike from him.

THE NIGERIAN

10

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Business + Economy NSE Indicators Dip By 0.20 Percent

Remove Barriers To Telecoms Expansion, ATCON Urges FG LAGOS - Mr. Lanre Ajayi, President, Association of Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), urged the Federal Government to remove barriers limiting the expansion of telecommunications services in the country.

Ajayi told newsmen in Lagos that the barriers were frustrating efforts of operators to provide more effective services to the 150 million active subscribers.

He said that government’s support was vital to the attainment of desirable services in the sector.

The ATCON official said the country would continue to experience poor services if the government failed to take urgent steps to remove those barriers.

“The telecoms revolution will be a mirage if government does not take urgent steps in mitigating vandalism and theft of telecom equipment at the Base Transmission Stations (BTS).

“Others are extortion by officials of the three tiers of government, bureaucratic bottleneck in acquiring approval to build BTS and the protracted issue of granting Right-of-Way,” he said.

Ajayi alleged that efforts by operators to invest in BTS rollouts for improved service were being frustrated by agencies of the state and local governments.

“Factors impeding quick rollout of BTS that were critical to quality services include the delay by the relevant authorities in approving the site building proposals for the

operators.

“This is preventing the operators from achieving the number of BTS the country needs to guarantee better services,” he said.

Ajayi advised states and local governments to work together with the telecom operators in building more BTS for enhanced services in the sector.

Naira Records Mix Performance Against Foreign Currencies

LAGOS - The Naira depreciated marginally against the dollar at the official and parallel markets it was gather.

The Naira, at the Bureau de Change, closed lower at N164.50 from N165 it achieved on October. 18.

At the “black” market, the Naira traded for N164 to the dollar while at the official market, it sold for N159.

The currency, however, remained firm against the Pound at the Bureau de Change (BDC).

It sold for N265 to the Pound from the N266 it sold on Friday.

It traded at N265 to the Pound at the black market while it went for N250 at the official market.

Also, it slightly appreciated against the Euro as it sold for N225 from the N226 on October.

18 at the black market.

At the official market, it depreciated by selling for N245.

US Investments In Nigeria Hits $50m

LAGOS - Mr. Jeffrey Hawkins, the U.S. Consul General in Nigeria, has said that his country’s investment in the Nigerian economy so far in 2013 had reached 50 million dollars (N7.89 billion).

Hawkins announced this during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos.

He said that the American government was building a solid trade framework with the Nigerian government to ensure increased growth.

The consul-general called for the creation of transparent investment environment by the management of the stock exchange to increase investor participation.

Hawkins said that the country’s economy would not grow without the capital market.

Mr. Oscar Onyema, NSE Chief Executive Officer, said that the NSE would support economic ties between the two countries.

He said that the NSE would drive portfolio investments from the deepest market (New York Stock Exchange) in the world to ensure increased activities in the nation’s bourse.

Mr. Sam Ndata, a senior

stockbroker on the NSE, called for U.S. assistance in bringing more investments and development to the nation’s capital market.

L-R: Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar; Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nebolisa Emordi and Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Oluseyi Sijuade, at the NRC’s Public Private Partnership Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abuja yesterday.

Industrialist Tasks FG On Industrialization

ABUJA - An industrialist, Mr. Isaac Duru, has urged the Federal Government to establish factories in towns and villages across the country to reduce unemployment and curb rural-urban migration.

Duru, who is the Chairman of Paradise Productions Limited, made the call in his speech at the opening of the 4th Nigeria International Small and Medium Scale Industries Trade Fair taking place in Abuja.

He said such factories should be set up in communities which produce relevant raw materials to save cost and time.

He added that “the establishment of factories and industries in rural areas will create employment opportunities for the country’s teeming unemployed youths.

“It will also stop the mad rush to urban cities in search of white collar jobs that are not readily available.’’

The industrialist urged unemployed youths to refocus their attention away from white collar jobs and explore available opportunities to establish their own businesses and become employers of labour.

“There is no glory in being an applicant. Let the applicants take advantage of this fair by looking inwards, thinking big and starting small to become self-reliant,’’ he noted.

The fair is jointly organised by Paradise Productions Limited, the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation.

Duru said that the fair with the theme “Promoting Commerce and Investment for Global Competitiveness’’ was aimed at promoting the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Federal Capital Territory.

He noted that “the micro, small and medium enterprise sector is the corridor to economic growth and industrial development of any country.

“We believe that the key to the industrial development of Nigeria, being a developing country, does not lie on large scale industries but on cottage, small and medium scale industries.

“I believe that the opportunity created through the fair should trigger the needed vertical and

horizontal networking to kickstart the foundation laying process for a vibrant national economic base.’’

In his opening address, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr.s Tony Ukpoju, said that globally, SMEs serve as engines of economic growth, employment generation, wealth creation and poverty eradication.

Ukpoju, who is a Principal Tourism Officer in the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, said the fair would meet its objectives.

LAGOS - Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on a downward trend as the market indicators dipped by 0.20 per cent, due to price losses.

The All-Share Index lost 74.77 points or 0.20 per cent to close at 37,267.96 as against 37,342.73 recorded on Friday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N11.897 trillion, declined by N24 billion or 0.20 per cent to close at N11.873 trillion.

Nestle Nigeria led the laggards’ chart with a loss of N30 to close at N1,010 per share.

It was trailed by Guinness by N6.05 to close at N239.96 while MRS Oil dipped by N1.80 to close at N34.34 per share.

Champion Breweries lost 84k to close at N16.15 while Lafarge Wapco decreased by 50k to close at N98.50 per share.

On the other hand, Conoil led the gainers’ chart by N3.57 to close at N38.56 per share.

Cadbury came second with a gain of N2 to close at N59 while PZ Cussons gained N1.97 to close at N41.47 per share.

UACN gained N1 to close at N66 while International Breweries appreciated by 80k to close at N22.20 per share.

NAN also reports that a total of 295.69 million of shares worth N3.91 billion was transacted in 5,921 deals.

This was against a total of 364.73 million shares valued N4.8billion traded in 5,850 deals on Friday.

Reduce Listing Requirement, Operators Urge SEC, NSE

LAGOS - Some capital market operators have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to reduce listing requirements to attract more firms to the NSE. They told newsmen in Lagos that listing of more companies

L-R: Former Minister of State for FCT, Sen. Solomon Ewuga (left), with the Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar at the NRC’s Public Private Partnership Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abuja yesterday.

would boost activities in the capital market.

Mr. Sehinde Adenagbe, the Managing Director, Standard Union Securities in Lagos, said that SEC and NSE should scale down listing requirements to encourage more companies to be quoted.

Adenagbe said that the stock market still had limited tradeable equities because the number of unlisted companies far outweighed those listed.

Mr. David Adonri, Chief Executive Officer, Lambeth Trust & Securities Ltd., Lagos, said that government should ensure the privatised agencies were listed on the NSE. Adonri said that a robust capital market would facilitate enhanced growth and development of the country.

Meanwhile, the All-Share Index of the NSE appreciated by 351.11 points or 0.95 per cent last week to close at 37,342.73 from the 36,991.62 achieved in the preceding week.

Also, the market capitalisation appreciated by N115 billion or 0.98 per cent to close at N11.897 trillion due to price appreciation.

Forte Oil led the gainers’ table in percentage terms by 33.96 per cent or N16.30 to close at N64.30 per share.

Conoil followed with a gain of 21.49 per cent or N6.19 to close at N34.99, while Cadbury gained 10.47 per cent or N5.40 to close at N57 per share.

THE NIGERIAN

11

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

12

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

THERE have been growing cases of insecurity in Nigeria over time with the increasing incidence of religious extremism by members of the Boko Haram sect. The continued Kidnapping of citizens in the country is also worrisome as this have grave consequences on Foreign Direct Investment and development as a whole.

Mother of Finance Minister was kidnapped, three primary school teachers also and recently, Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

WE are disturbed over the security situation in the country as some foreign countries based in Nigeria are restricting the movement of their citizens within some states in the country.

WE are even more worried over the implications of corporate citizens’ perceptions of our security on larger businesses and in particular, growth and development of the country. Unfortunately, efforts by Nigerian security to address the challenge have not yielded the desired results.

IT is an incontrovertible fact that there could be no meaningful development in any society where security of lives and property is heavily under threat. Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative reports have exposed loss of colossal sums of money through oil theft by criminals who, in our view act in concert with powerful and well connected Nigerians including even some unscrupulous officials of the nation’s security organisations.

THE NIGERIAN

Tackling National Insecurity THE sad situation the nation finds itself is an attestation of the lack of political will by government over the years to deal decisively with the various security challenges that have arisen with one leading to the other, some of which now have ethnic, and religious colourations. Kidnapping of multinational oil workers in the Niger Delta went on for too long unaddressed until it metamorphosed into kidnap of innocent low income earners, a situation which speaks volumes of our unpreparedness to tackle the menace of kidnappers until the mother of the Finance Minister and Head of the economic team of Mr. President was kidnapped by hoodlums to the utter embarrassment of the whole nation.

TERROR groups in Northern Nigeria have, since the inception of the Jonathan administration unleashed mayhem on innocent citizens in most parts of the region with security agencies and the presidency promising almost on a daily basis to deal with the insurgence without any lucid headway till date.

CLEARLY, the Nigeria Police Force has failed woefully to live up to its responsibility as from every indications, the police themselves, including the high authorities are themselves either involved in criminal activities or are pre-occupied in shielding perpetrators of criminal offences.

THE political class have equally not helped the situation as most of them are involved in arming youth groups to do their political billing who in turn go back to the trenches with such arms to perpetrate criminality against the people and the state.

WE are strongly of the view that if Nigeria must attain its national goals and objectives, the present administration must take proactive steps to fight insecurity in the land and restore hope and confidence amongst all stakeholders.

BUT in all, we believe the President needs to exercise the political will to make this happen. Mr. President needs to throw away ethnic, sectional and other sentimental garbs and wear his nationalistic apparel to deal with insecurity in the country.

GOING forward, we recommend a well organised, multi-stakeholder approach to dealing with insecurity in the country. The Nigerian Army, Navy, Air force, Department of State Security Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, Nigerian Immigration, Nigerian Customs and most importantly, the Nigeria Police Force need urgent overhaul. All outfits need better coordination to arrest the situation and make the country safer for all.

THE NIGERIAN

13

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Agriculture IN recognition of women’s role in national development, especially in rural communities, the United Nations declared October 15, 2008 as International Day of Rural Women.

The date has since been marked globally to celebrate rural women whose efforts, research had shown, contribute towards enhancing food security and eradicating hunger and rural poverty.

Stakeholders in agriculture say that the day is important because rural women play critical roles in the rural economies of both developed and developing countries.

They agree that with adequate participation of women in food production, especially at the grassroots, abundant food production will be sustained to fight hunger and poverty.

For instance, available statistics in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development indicates that more than 70 per cent of farmers in Nigeria are women who produce 90 per cent of the food consumed in the country.

Ms Eve Crowley, Principal Advisor, Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division at Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), says the population of grassroots women will impact on food production because they constitute between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of agricultural wage workers.

“They often predominate in high-value industries for export such as fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers.

“Although these nontraditional sectors of agriculture can present women with unprecedented income opportunities, we

often find that women are hired on temporary or casual contracts to perform labour-intensive, manual tasks.

“They are given limited opportunities to acquire new skills; and overall, higher-level positions continue to be captured by men,” Crowley said.

As the world celebrates International Day of Rural Women, she says that recognising the contributions of women and taking account of their needs at all levels were cardinal to food production.

Against this backdrop, Miss Constance Okereke of ActionAid Nigeria, says there is need to carry along more women farmers in budgetary processes.

Speaking at a workshop on empowering smallholder women farmers to influence, challenge and change policies and actions on public finance in the sector, Okereke opined that women farmers should be involved in policy making in agriculture.

According to her, this will help women to relate well with policy makers, and ensure that their issues are well attended to.

“This is the only way that the government can know exactly what they need and how to ensure they gain assistance,” she said.

Stating some constraints against women farmers, Hajiya Aishatu Mohammed, President, Smallholder Women Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, notes that the major challenge of women farmers in the FCT was land acquisition.

According to her, women farmers in rural areas are not producing enough food due to inadequate farmlands.

“Most times, these women inherit the land they

Ensuring Food Security Through Women Farmers use from their fathers or husbands, but sometimes, estates developers do not allow them use it for long,” she said.

Calling for government’s assistance, Mrs Nyarim Habila, a farmer from Bogoro Local Government of Bauchi State, noted that some women farmers in her community did not benefit from the 2012 Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) of the Federal Government.

According to her, such schemes should target women farmers separately to ensure that they are not marginalised.

“If women farmers receive such inputs in their various commodity associations, it will make more impact than it does now,” she noted.

Also commenting, Mrs

By PERPETUA ONUEGBU

Rakel Nasiru from Shela Local Government Area of Gombe State said unhindered access to improved seeds through GES would make an impact in women’s effort to achieve food security.

“If the government can add improved seedlings like soya beans, groundnut, maize and rice which they intend to distribute, it will help us to increase production.

“This is because these are some of the crops most of our women farmers around here are familiar with; the seeds should come early with enough fertiliser so that we can utilise the rainy season,” she pleaded.

Mr. Akinbolawa Osho, Director of Fertiliser, Federal Ministry of

“Speaking at a workshop on empowering small-holder women farmers to influence, challenge and change policies and actions on public finance in the sector, Okereke opined that women farmers should be involved in policy making in agriculture.

According to her, this will help women to relate well with policy makers, and ensure that their issues are well attended to.”

Agriculture and Rural Development, observed that there were challenges in the first phase of GES. He was quick to add that the Federal Government had introduced supply chain managers as part of measures to address the challenges of getting inputs across to farmers.

“This year, we have improved on addressing the challenges of mobile network and Short Message Service (SMS) to farmers; we have addressed those to a large extent,” Osho said.

The federal government insists that it has made several efforts to ensure that women farmers enjoy all facilities required to boost food production.

Vice President Namadi Sambo recently announced approval of N15 billion loan to be routed through the Bank of Agriculture.

Sambo told the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) in September in Abuja that the loan would be disbursed to farmers at single-digit interest rate.

In the same vein, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in 2009

established a N200 billion Commercial Agriculture Credit -Guarantee Scheme (CACS) to promote commercial agricultural enterprises.

The scheme is being funded through the issuance of federal government bonds by the Debt Management Office in two tranches.

Media reports indicate that N101.38 billion had so far been released to finance 109 privately-owned projects, while 19 state governments received one billion naira each for disbursement to farmers’ cooperatives and unions.

However, observers note that as Nigerians join the rest of the world to mark the International Day of Rural Women, relevant stakeholders should implement policies that will restore the agricultural sector, and empower and encourage rural women.

According to them, empowerment of women farmers will contribute immensely to government’s desire to boost food production and combat hunger and rural poverty. (NAN)

THE NIGERIAN

14

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Issues

Is FG Shifting Post On Vision 20 : 2020?

WHEN in year 2009, the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua enunciated a developmental blueprint and christened it vision 20:2020, Nigerian of all shades of character and ideological polarization believed it implied that Nigeria could squeeze at least one country off the G20 list and ensconce itself in their midst.

Simply put, four years ago, the federal government of Nigeria had hoped to displace in real terms some 27 countries, wherever they come from out of the 46 countries that are, by and large, on the G-20.

However, the G-20 is actually 19 major economies plus the European Union, EU which is represented by President of the European Council and by the European Central Bank. Specifically, the EU is a group of 27 countries in Europe generating about 20 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, measured in terms of Purchasing Power Parity, PPP. In effect, according to the international Monetary Fund, IMP, the G-20 account for 82.2 per cent of the world’s economic growth by GDP (PPP). But even at that and given statistical representation, can Nigeria realize its agenda of joining the elite economic groups in eleven years?

Late President Yar’Adua who could answer that question, and the one under whose tenure the target was set in 2009 is dead. But mercifully, according to the immediate past Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, the 20.20 date is no longer realistic for Nigeria to become a member of G-20.

“We should look at perhaps joining the G-25 as the more realistic group our economic output merits,” he said wistfully.

His consolation, however, is that Nigeria has made much more progress than we get ourselves credit for.

According to him, “where were we in 2009? We were number 44. By the end of 2012, we were 36. This is progress. Setting aside the absolute lack of realism in

our economic planning, as evidence by failed expectations over the decades, is it not possible that Nigerian leaders are simply too besotted to sloganeering for their own good? Do we not remember how magical it sounded in the early 1990s when our leaders ululated over Year 2000, when, they hoped everything from poverty to malnutrition, lack of housing and eradication of all forms of injustices and health problems would be banished? Were we too young to remember that once the magical Year 2000 became unrealistic, our leaders began to whoop for vision 2010, from whence their irrepressible souls soared on the wings of imagination to the sweetsounding Vision 20:2020?

What next? Might Vision G2080 not be appropriate, even poetic?

Meanwhile, in the last five months, authorities of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party, administration, through agencies and officials has admitted to three alarming shortfalls of the government.

They all border on the down turn of the economy, especially as it affects the ordinary Nigeria.

As a matter of fact, sometime in April, the Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, addressed the media admitted that about 39 million Nigerians, representing bout 23.9 per cent of the population were jobless. Also, on June, 5, on the World Environment Day, the immediate past Minister for Environment, Hajiya Mailafiya, also admitted that 200,000 children die of hunger everyday worldwide.

What the minister didn’t however, say was how many were Nigerians. But given the poverty level in the nation, with about 40 million jobless, a good percentage of the figure would accrue to the nation: According to her, over 20,000 children die of hunger everyday and over one-third (1.3 billion tones), of world food production are wasted every year. The former minister stated this at the

By AKPESIRI OGHENERHABOKE

2013 World Environment Day. She said food wastage causes air pollution because as it releases hazardous methane gas.

Mailifia said the main objective of the event is to highlight the magnitude of food waste worldwide and the impact on socio-

various places and showcase solutions relevant to developed and developing countries.

‘Infrastructure and technology can reduce the amount of food that perishes after it is harvested and before t reaches the market.

By reducing food waste, we

President Goodluck Jonathan

economic development of the world. “Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, of United Nations, about one-third of global food production is wasted from farm to fork, which is equivalent to 1.3 billion tons of food annually. The volume of waste is said to be more than the total net food production in sub-Saharan West Africa.

This monumental wastage is happening at a time that an estimated 870 million people go hungry worldwide and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger,’ she said.

Furthermore, she said ‘food loss and waste is what we can all address. We need to raise awareness in our

can save money and resources, minimize environmental impacts and most importantly move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat.”

Just a day after that shocker, Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, told Nigerians the home truth, that 120 million of the canvassed 160 million Nigerians lived in darkness because they couldn’t have access to electricity. That figure represents 80 per cent of the population of the nation. He said the country’s current available 4000 megawatts could only take care of about 40 million people, leaving about 120 million Nigerians without power.

He explained that privatization was meant to be concluded in 2012 and government was to stop funding the maintenance of power plants, hence no provision was made in the 2013 budget. He noted that investment in the power sector had the potentials to provide more returns than currents returns in the oil sector, lamenting that poor funding had been responsible for poor power supply.

Similarly the Centre for Non Formal Education and Training, CENFET, is a Non Governmental Organization geared towards transformation and restructuring Education in Nigeria through improved Head-teachers and teachers in institutions across the Nation. The Champion of the Centre, Mrs. Rosemary Nwangwu, during the recent public presentation of her books titled; Taking Responsibility for School Improvement” and The Transformational Teacher” in Abuja, identified every individual as stakeholders when educational issues are concerned.

According to her, “publics should play their roles in supporting teachers to pull themselves up, dust themselves up and start all over again so as to regain lost glory of the profession, as there are many problems surrounding teachers, part of which includes; salaries, welfare packages, fringe benefits, credit worthiness etc.

She said qualified teachers are generally few in the country, teachers are regarded qualified when they hold the NCE certificate for basic education schools.

“The National Teachers’ Institution is upgrading a number of teachers who have certificates, out of 43,765, Pre-Primary School Teachers, only 30,503 are qualified while, 1,825857

children are enrolled at this level. As for JSS classes, out of 133,338 teachers only 124,124 are trained and certificated with either NCE or a first degree, and since the minimum qualification for teaching in Senior Secondary School is first degree with teaching qualification, the proportion of qualified senior secondary school teachers nationwide is therefore (57.94%) while about 42.0 per cent are not qualified.”

Nwangwu averred that Nigeria does not have adequate teachers, nothing that “there are about 133,338 teachers at the JSS level. A gap has already been calculated (over 500000 short) which makes it impossible to meet our teacher needs for EPA (Education for All) policy.”

To encourage quality teaching and earning, the National Policy on Education (NPE) recommends a teachers; pupil ratio of 1:35 at the basic education level, though varies in some states, Bauchi is 1:109 and Yobe is 1:127, having as low as 421 and 500 qualified teachers for students’ population of 46,013 and 63,953 respectively.

From the foregoing, it is appalling that successive administration’s fecundity for coining socio-economic catch phrases can be mollified by disappointing uncertainties, and if government considers the chasm between goals and ability, shouldn’t it now embrace reality and moderation with the simplicity and innocence of a child?

Of course, there is nothing wrong dreaming but how does the hopeful’ Nigerian leaders The answer should not prove too arcane for Nigeria’s gifted and imaginative economic technocrats.

“Also, on June, 5, on the World Environment Day, the immediate past Minister for Environment, Hajiya Mailafiya, also admitted that 200,000 children die of hunger everyday worldwide. What the minister didn’t however, say was how many were Nigerians.”

THE NIGERIAN

15

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Foreign Features Myanmar: Rohingya Kids Face Hard Labour, Bleak Lives THE 10-year-old struggles up the hill, carrying buckets filled with rocks.

Though he tries to keep a brave face in front of his friends, his eyes brim with tears. Every inch of his body aches, he says, and he feels sick and dizzy from the weight.

“I hate it,” whispers Anwar Sardad. He has to help support his family, but he wishes there was a way other than working for the government construction agency.

He adds, “I wouldn’t have to live this life if I wasn’t a Muslim.”

The lives of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children like Anwar are growing more hopeless in Myanmar, even as the predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million wins praise for ending decades of dictatorship.

The Muslim ethnic group has long suffered from discrimination that rights groups call among the worst in the world. But here in northern Rakhine state, home to 80 percent of the country’s 1 million Rohingya, it is more difficult now for children to get adequate education, food or medical care than it had been in the days of the junta.

They have few options beyond hard labor, for a dollar a day.

The Associated Press’ visit to the area was a first for foreign reporters. Local officials responded with deep suspicion, bristling when Rohingya were interviewed.

Police meetings were called, journalists were followed and people were intimidated after being interviewed, including children.

In a country torn by ethnic violence over the last 15 months, this is the one region where Muslim mobs killed Buddhists, rather than the other way around. And although only 10 of the 240 deaths occurred here, this is the only region where an entire population has been punished, through travel restrictions and other exclusionary policies.

Muslim schools known as madrassas have been shut down, leading to crowding in government schools, where Rohingya, who make up 90 percent of the population in this corner of the country, are taught by Buddhist teachers

in a language many don’t understand.

In the village of Ba Gone Nar, where a monk was killed in last year’s violence, enrollment at a small public school has soared to 1,250. Kids ranging from preschoolers to eighth-graders are crammed so tightly on the floor it’s nearly impossible to walk between them.

“Our teachers write a lot of things on the blackboard, but don’t teach us how to read them,” says 8-year-old Anwar Sjak. “It’s very difficult to learn anything in this school.”

There are only 11 government-appointed teachers — one for every 114 students. On a day reporters visit, they fail to show up — a common occurrence.

Rohingya volunteers try to maintain order. One man circles the room with a rattan cane, silencing the chatter by whacking the trash-strewn concrete floor.

Few kids have chairs or desks. Many are coughing.

Others talk among themselves, flipping through empty notebooks. They look up at newcomers with dazed stares.

“If I could be anything, I’d be doctor when I grow up,” Anwar says. “Because whenever someone in my family gets sick and we go to the hospital, the staff never takes care of us. I feel so bad about that.

“But I know that will never happen,” the thirdgrader adds.

“The government wouldn’t allow it.”

Rohingya are not allowed to study medicine in Myanmar. There are no universities in northern Rakhine, and Rohingya there have been barred from leaving the area for more than a decade. An exception that allowed a few Rohingya to study in Sittwe, the state capital, ended after last year’s bloodshed.

“They don’t want to

teach us,” says Soyed Alum, a 25-year-old from the coastal village of Myinn Hlut who holds private classes in his home for Rohingya kids.

“They call us ‘kalar’ (a derogatory word for Muslim).

They say, ‘You’re not even citizens. . Why do you need an education?’”

Every year, thousands of

No Rohingya birth certificates have been handed out since the mid-1990s. Rohingya children are “blacklisted” — denied even basic services — if their parents are not officially married or previously reached a twochild limit that is imposed only on their ethnic group.

The official neglect

them Rohingya — and deliver them to riverbeds.

“See? They want to work,” says U Hla Moe, the administrator of Lay Maing.

Later that day, he will summon children who were interviewed by reporters into his office — for the AP’s security, he says. The children say he frightens them as he demands to know the questions they were asked and their answers.

commonly stretches into hatred.

A government minder assigned by the central government to facilitate the AP’s trip asks why they are so eager to interview “dogs.”

When young Rohingya girls peer into the open windows of the crew’s vehicle, the minder bitterly mumbles crude sexual insults at them.

One thing the government does offer Rohingya kids is work, even if they are as young as 10. The Ministry of Construction, one of the bigger employers, offers them 1,000 kyat — a dollar — for eight hours of collecting and carrying rocks under the tropical sun.

Early in the morning, giant pickup trucks swing by villages to pick up dozens of sleepy-eyed boys — all of

Among the kids called in is Anwar Sardad, the 10-yearold stone carrier.

From 8 a.m. until dusk, he works alongside his twin brother and five or six other boys from their village, scooping up river rocks and briskly carrying them up a hill. They look more like little men than boys: No smiles.

Each step sturdy and determined. Not an ounce of energy wasted.

Anwar is exhausted but works fast. He even stops to help friends when they struggle with their buckets.

Though the work is grueling, it will help the children and their families eat.

The region has some of the country’s highest chronic malnutrition rates, according to a report released last year by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil

Rohingya kids Rohingya flee northern Rakhine and take perilous sea journeys in hopes of finding refuge in other countries.

Because of the recent sectarian violence, in which 250,000 people, mostly Rohingya, were driven from their homes, right workers anticipate that one of the biggest exoduses ever will begin as soon as the monsoon season ends this month and seas in the region calm.

Some historians say Rohingyas have been in northern Rakhine for centuries, though some living there now migrated from neighboring Bangladesh more recently. All are denied citizenship, rendering them stateless.

“They are all illegal,” state advocate general Hla Thein says flatly.

They remain barred from becoming citizens, or from working in civil-service jobs.

“If Rohingya children get critically ill, they might never make it to a hospital, either because their families cannot afford bribes demanded at checkpoints or because of the Sittwe travel ban.”

Protection Department. That deprivation severely affects mental and physical development.

The work of humanitarian organizations has been greatly limited in northern Rakhine. A lack of vaccination coverage in the neglected area means they are exposed to almost every preventable childhood disease, says Vickie Hawkins, the deputy head of mission in Myanmar for Doctors Without Borders, which has worked in the area for 15 years.

If Rohingya children get critically ill, they might never make it to a hospital, either because their families cannot afford bribes demanded at checkpoints or because of the Sittwe travel ban.

Mohamad Toyoob, a 10year-old Rohingya, has received medical care, but not the surgery that doctors have recommended.

He lifts up his shirt, pressing on the right side of his stomach, where he has felt sharp pain for the past three years. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” he says. “It feels like there is something inside.”

One diagnosis among the stack he has saved says “abdominal mass,” followed by a series of question marks.

The doctors Mohamad saw at a limited-capacity public hospital are unable to perform the potentially lifesaving surgery they recommended. To get it, he would have to go to Sittwe, which is off-limits, or Bangladesh. The latter is possible, if his family pays hefty bribes, but he may not be able to get back home.

Money is another obstacle: His family can’t even afford his medication, let alone surgery.

He digs into a pocket and pulls out two little plastic bags filled with red, pink, yellow and light blue pills. They cost 200 kyat (20 cents) per day.

To get the money, Mohamad works with other village kids at the riverbank, struggling to lift rocks.

Sometimes it makes the pain worse.

“My father lost his job after the violence,” he says.

“When he was working, we could afford it. But now we have nothing.

“I have to take care of myself.”

Source: AP

THE NIGERIAN

16

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Midweek Magazine IF I do not go on heaping praises on our leaders for what they have done for the growth of our democratic enterprise, it is because I believe that the truth can only empower us to do better. The reality in which we live of course tells much of the content and context of governance leadership and democratic values in our country today.

At the end of the day, democracy is about people. It is also about quality leadership, constitutions and constitutionalism, the rule of law, political discipline, the construction and nurturing of democratic values, building strong and viable political institutions and giving hope to the ordinary person that there is indeed a collective future to work for. Democracy is also about human, especially socioeconomic and cultural rights, due process, accountability, fiscal discipline, transparency and the careful but targeted deployment of scarce resources to meeting the basic needs of the majority of the people. Let me add that democracy is about ensuring a steady and qualitative improvement in the lives of the people. in their socioeconomic, political, cultural and spiritual development, the protection of their environment, the decolonisation of their minds, and putting the people in the middle of holistic and sustainable growth and development. The question therefor is: are we moving solidly, visible, seriously, and in a focused manner in these directions?

Let me hasten to add that we have witnessed since 1999 some Islands of performance, good leadership and commitment to democratic institutions and ideals. But like in other distorted, disarticulated, deformed, underdeveloped social formations, such points of progress are often distracted, disregarded, diverted, confused, and rendered impotent by their nonperforming colleagues or structures and by the contradictions within the system. This means that we cannot expect sustainable, people - centred, peoplefocused and people-driven development without dealing with the structural challenges of the entire nation.

The Realities Saying that our country Nigeria is blessed in every respect is saying the obvious.

What is it that we do not have

in this country? Well, we do not have natural disasters that make some nations around the world feel jinxed or cursed. Imagine, and God forbid it, that we experienced the recent disasters in Chile or Haiti? Maybe this is also why we have tended to take things for granted. We just believe that things will be alright if we keep quiet, and don’t rock the boat. It is best to be patient; your time to chop will come. Others have gone as far as drawing up a pseudophilosophical road map to what they call “you chop I chop” Yet, others go to the extent of leaving everything in the hands of God; they bother God with everything, while they sit down and do very little or nothing.

They do not reflect, organise, think, mobilise, or act on anything. They forget that heaven only helps those that help themselves. But you and I know that no country has ever made progress without discipline, focus, responsible and creative leadership, planning, investment, savings, productivity, stability, and good governance. We cannot continue to hail ex-convicts and criminals and hope that the younger generation will take our preachments seriously.

Today, we are all shouting Obama! Obama!! Obama!! We even claim that a black man has taken over the most powerful country in the world. Someone on TV said that visas would now be available to all Nigerians to go to America: what a silly dream. They fail to look at who Obama is, his antecedents, networks, investment in the people and community, fund raising strategy, organisational strategy, courage, vision and the environment in which he operated. If Obama were a Nigerian, would he win a Councillorship seat? How many godfathers did you notice in his election? How many Ghana must go bags full of dollars did you see? How many thugs did you see? How many political clashes did you see? How many policemen did you see going about with Obama during the campaign? Did you see electoral officers announcing results? Can you tell me the equivalent of their INEC in America? Was there a broadcast by the Police Chief warning people on how to behave? The questions are endless... but let us leave that matter for now.

America was not always like this and Nigeria is not America.

But, can we draw lessons? We do not need to reinvent the wheel!

I recognise that we were colonised before and our neocolonial structural

Nigeria’s Democratic Enterprise Sinc

Assessment

arrangements, institutions and relationship are largely responsible for our present predicaments. But there are countries that were equally colonised and less endowed in human and material resources that have done much better than us. Are we fools? Don’t we have eyes to see how they did it? Why do we always seek excuses for our self imposed limitations? Were we the only ones colonised? How long ago did we become politically independent? Why can’t we use political power to restructure the society and become a better society? Is our experience responsible for ethnic and religious massacres? is it responsible for criminal corruption at all levels? It is the cause of violence, election rigging, lack of internal democracy in parties, the neglect of roads and education, inability to fix the power and health sectors, and general disregard for truth, justice and fair play?

Is neo-colonialism responsible for the political rascality amongst the elites, disregard for the constitution, bureaucratic inefficiency, waste, plan indiscipline, the arrogance of power, and the general celebration of corrupt persons in our society?

Is our history responsible for the failure of our refineries, high cost of living, children hawking on the streets, distorted housing policy, millions of our people living in slums, armed robbery, high infant and maternal mortality rates, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and lack of a serious policy on the girl-child? Is neocolonialism the reason why religion has become more of a business and the media finds it impossible to be consistent in their modus operandi? The list of our failings is endless. Even if we inherited certain distortions almost 50 years ago, if by now we have not found viable, consistent and visible ways of dealing with them, then we must declare a failure.

As a teacher, I cannot declare a student that has consistently failed to score even 40%; a good or successful student. We continue to experiment indigenisation, privatisation, stabilisation, structural adjustment, war against indiscipline, operation feed the

nation, new states, new capital, new uniforms for the police, new anthem, new constitution, development plans, rolling plans, reform agenda, new breed politicians, military rule, parliamentary and presidential systems, return to old breed politicians, constitutional reform, and 7-Point Agenda just to name a few. No nation makes it with a left, right, right, left, centre, back, forward, roundabout, sit, stand, run and stop policy almost at the same time!

We deliberately ignored and underdeveloped the Niger Delta while draining its natural resources to feed foreign private bank account and we expected the people to be silent, docile and orderly in their neglect, oppression and poverty. We put our children in the best private schools in and outside the country and ignore public education. We abolished bursaries, loans and scholarships for students while our kids live abroad in luxury with enough money and time to think of terrorist acts. We neglect agriculture and import everything from toothpicks to water. We ignore the broken healthcare system and patronise foreign medical centres even for health check-ups. We even neglect the police and rely on private security outfits, thugs, and juju men! Our best holidays are abroad and we cry tourism tourism to the high heavens. We buy the most expensive cars and don’t care about the roads.

Our ministries are littered with broken down typewriters, computers and air conditioners.

We do not fix. We replace.

Everything is contracts; sometimes inflated to unbelievable levels.

Abandoned projects are everywhere. Were the contracts awarded by spacemen? Who did? When, why and who is monitoring? We don’t care. Just re-award the contract!

No nation can make progress in this way. We do not invest in human capital development or technology. We are still in the manual era and believe that the future will take care of itself.

We believe in government by panels or committees but have no regard for the report from such committees. Their reports are dumped as soon as they are presented. Everything for us is

“Is our history responsible for the failure of our refineries, high cost of living, children hawking on the streets, distorted housing policy, millions of our people living in slums, armed robbery, high infant and maternal mortality rates, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and lack of a serious policy on the girl-child?”

based on quota, religion, ethnicity, cults, cabals, opportunism and nepotism. We look for excuses and scapegoats everywhere. How come many governors are always in Abuja?

Is this no more a federation?

Why are those huge government lodges in Abuja?

Take a moment to think of all the developmental challenges we identified in the study of economics or societal studies in the 1960s and tell me which one we have solved after almost after 50 years of independence, different forms of leadership and governance, massive deployment of public funds, and all sorts of planning methodologies. The truth is that we have not done well. We must tell ourselves the truth.

Why have we failed? Simple.

The leadership at all levels, failed us woefully. Again, that is not to say there have been no good professors, permanent secretaries, commissioners, military officers, policemen, ministers, governors and presidents or party leaders. But they have been few and lonely at the top. We have managed to contaminate and corrupt the souls and visions of our people and today the entire society is one jungle of people desperately trying to understand where they are. I believe that it is not too late to get out of the jungle. How do we do this?

Strengthen the Nigerian State For any nation to move forward, the state must enjoy a relatively high degree of hegemony to control contending forces, build strong structures, promote accumulation, and create an environment for self- sustained growth and development. The Nigerian state does not control the various pockets of power that challenge its power and authority even if it can use violence in the final instant.

Political and other forces, be they politicians, militants, religious extremists, even students and armed robbers are not necessarily afraid of its pronouncements and institutions. Its failure to improve society and the lot of the majority leaves the state at the mercy of political adventurers. Because its hegemony is weak, its custodians cannot enjoy relative autonomy and cannot build discipline or some degree of harmony within and between social classes. So conflicts and competitions go on normlessly.” This condition explains the inconsistency in policy and performance and

By PROF. JULIUS IHO constrains the ability of institutions to function. Few believe the government, an arm of the state when it says “your security is assured, go about your normal business.” Many see the budget reading or presentation as mere ceremony.

Many more believe that all government officials and politicians are nothing but thieves, In short, the Nigerian state has very limited hegemony. This has to be reversed through deliberate growth and nurturing of leadership, purposeful policy making, constitution review,

chase false payin usele chieft from Awar mean peopl nothin of educa dignit consu and a of ser put build

Prof Julius Ihonvbere

constitutionalism, respect for democratic values, promotion of equity, due process, social justice, and the basic needs of the people. This is much better than a nebulous re-branding project that is like climbing a tree from the top. Build the people, build their communities, promote their interests, build confidence in the state and promote state hegemony and democracy will flourish.

Redefine and strengthen leadership at all levels A year of bad leadership can cost the nation ten good years of development. The predicaments of Nigeria are largely the result of bad leadership. Very arrogant and ignorant leadership for that matter. They do not read and are technologically challenged.

They waste so much time talking, meeting, and inventing or pursuing enemies that they have little or no time to build real leadership qualities. They do not prepare successors and any other rising star is an enemy that must be framed, harassed, crippled financially, and eliminated or

the van tele per app sin the and can heg ins hea Ch on and mo new hop new B ign I and con and req the un go min un int

THE NIGERIAN

17

ce 1999:

ONVBERE

ed far away. They build popularity profiles by ng for and receiving ess honorary degrees, taincy titles, and awards useless organisations. rds that have no real ning in the eyes of the le. No award goes for ng. They lack the qualities compassion, vision, ation, capacity, capability, ty, exposure, hard work, ultation, ability to listen, clear and real track record rvice to the people. They up billboards, name dings and roads after

emselves, set up youth nguards, turn the local evision and radio into their rsonal newsletters and point opportunists and praise ngers into positions to recycle e same culture of mediocrity d eye service. Such a leader nnot build relative autonomy, gemony, establish lasting stitutions, and live in the arts of the people for ever. heap popularity, not anchored service, honesty, integrity d performance is a waste of oney and time-We must build w visions, new voices, new pes, news constituencies and w leaderships at all levels.

Build political will, don’t nore humanity f Nigeria is going to grow d our democracy nsolidated, our governments d leaders must build the quired political will to take e nation out of derdevelopment. Some vernors and federal nistries are doing a lot but less these efforts are tegrated within the larger

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Midweek Magazine

Preliminary

developmental environment they will precipitate skewed growth. Hence, when the police in one state receive support and wage an effective war on criminals, they simply move to the next state to cool off. When one state declares a scholarship programme, indigenes from the next state adjust their names and villages to enjoy the benefits. The will to terminate poverty, pursue justice and equity, provide accountable leadership, build bridges of tolerance and accommodation, and ensue respect for the rule of law must guide our individual and collective determination to move Nigeria onto the path of sustainable,

people-centred development.

Tough decisions must be taken but built on consultation, dialogue and a smile does not hurt!

Reform and Reposition Political Parties for Democracy No matter how we look at it or pretend, politics is still war in Nigeria. It is a business in which you or a sponsor invests and look forward to reaping huge returns within a short time. Campaigns are not necessary, platforms or manifestoes are not necessary and you do not need to have the best profile or qualifications.

Just have a godfather, sufficient wild-looking thugs, money- the source is not relevant-, and strategise on how to influence the electoral commission, the police and the media, and pronto you are “elected’ into office. Don’t worry about the election monitors. They will not go beyond their reports, AIT or Channels television and press releases. When did these ever influence the Election

Tribunals, Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court? If your opponent appeals, get some good lawyers, preferably Senior Advocates of Nigeria, and some money. If you cannot win the case out right, you can delay it till you finish your term.

These are realities.

As I once said at another forum, politics in our country “is costly, diabolical, unsteady, uncertain, and announced results hardly ever reflect what took place on election-day.

Only in few cases are the best candidates presented for political office and aspirants are almost bankrupted before they get elected. This in itself lays the foundation for the arrogance of power, executive recklessness and unbridled corruption. Until our political parties become truly and fully reformed Nigeria cannot move forward. Until the parties begin to respect their own rules, Nigeria cannot produce credible, capable, courageous and visionary leaders that will build the political economy and consolidate democratic institutions and practices. The parties must begin to perform some of the basic functions of political parties — identify and train leaders, develop policy platforms, present the best aspirants and candidates for office, regulate office holders, conduct research on party and political development, encourage public discourses, and commit openly to the sustenance of democracy in every regards.”

If you pick an unpopular candidate, you must rig the elections for “victory.” That is just the plain truth. As I have said elsewhere, “Office holders that emerge from a dubious and diabolical process cannot be expected to respect the constitution or liberties. They cannot be expected to distinguish between the public and private treasury. That is why we must never be tire of the struggle for democratic practice and social justice.

Political parties in Nigeria must be bastions of fair-play, justice and freedom. Unless this happens they would be contributing directly to the consolidation and reproduction of poverty, insecurity and under- development in Nigeria.”

Let the Private sector find and define its true mission We must commend the efforts of the private sector thus far.

However, it needs to do much

more. Because it is relatively better organised, it has been able to attract some of our best minds out of the public sector.

Yet, it has become more or less stagnant. The recent revelations about the corruption and squander mania in the banking sector are, to say the least, embarrassing. It has also played a major role in corrupting and contaminating the public sector and debasing all known economic rules and regulations.

No wonder it has “resorted to all Sons of quack opportunistic, emergency, underhand, superficial and down right fraudulent ways of making profits. These include cooking up the books to jack up profits and give a false impression of assets, capacity, and position at the echelon of industry.” In this context, the overall national economy suffers. Hence we see the importation of sub-standard products at the expense of local producers and safety of consumers as well as the culture of charging customers all sorts of fees and levies at times for unsolicited services as many banks tend to do. Many in the private sector, do everything possible to penetrate the government just to have an opportunity at the national cake irrespective of the consequences. Until recently, some private sector executives were more visible in the newspapers and on television than state governors The private sector needs to be more creative in its approach, invest in technology, news ideas and the development of human capital.

The emphasis should shift to production as against distribution and they must help in strengthening the economic foundations of politics and our democratic enterprise. This sector must define its interest and position in our political economy. Does it want to be a spoiler, a parasite or partner with other stakeholders to promote development and a democratic context for progress.

Oppose Defederalisation, support Refederalisation The debates on fiscal federalism, true federalism, constitutional amendment, state police, revenue sharing formula, resource control, women in politics, electoral reforms, political appointments, the location of local infrastructure, corruption, state and local government creation, and infrastructural rehabilitation are endless. It is

good that such debates take place so we can have a better understanding of national priorities.

As is typical, the debates are at times very narrowly focused; often looking at Nigeria with little or no comparative perspectives. But in Nigeria, the debates are informed more by narrow primordial interests that often contradict or undermine national interests and the collective good. Just like the diabolical and sometimes pedestrian debates on the health of President Yar’Adua. At the end of the day, the national and local interests are compromised and contained if not totally undermined.

People cannot be insisting on absolutes and we must all work hard to return Nigerian to federalism. The Governors in particular must recognise that they were elected by their people and not by Abuja and they must see their states as federating units. Unless we return to true federal arrangements, our governance will remain distorted; we will continue to dissipate energy and resources on managing the symptoms of a unitary-federalism that will not produce people-centred results. We must unite to oppose every effort to defederalise Nigeria by the forces of reaction and oppression.

Review the Constitution: Build it on the people The time wasted thus far in fighting over the chairmanship and timetable of the constitution review committee and process by the National Assembly is sufficient to have concluded the exercise, That both seats of legislative authority could not agree on the process is disappointing and makes one to wonder whose interests they truly represent on this issue. Past constitutional reviews have cost the nation billions of naira with very little to show. We have lost opportunities to give the people a living document that could be deployed in the defence of individual and collective liberties.

If we must be sincere for once, the constitutional review is “not one man’s show and it must not be an ego trip. It is not senators versus the representatives. It is not the National Assembly versus the rest of the nation. Rather, it is one more golden chance to give ourselves a living document, a true peoples covenant, a road map to show us how to organise and deploy power in the collective interests of our people. It is an opportunity to correct historical injustices against women, the youth, the poor, microminorities and minorities, It is an opportunity to stop oil theft, kidnapping, illegal-bunkering, arson, assassinations, money laundering, hostage taking and other forms of violence in the much neglected and exploited Niger Delta, It is an opportunity to produce the document that will engender peace, stability, dialogue, tolerance, diversity, unity, democracy and

progress in Nigeria.

This will not happen if the process is opportunistic, elitist and complicated. We must draw lessons from Uganda, South Africa. Eritrea, Ghana and other parts of the world by adopting a truly open. consultative, transparent, accountable, process-driven and people-led approach to constitution-making. This is the only way to produce a constitution that we can all understand and all own and defend with our jives. This is the way to build the architecture to deepen, widen, promote, sustain and reproduce democracy and democratization. The process of refederalisation will be possible and much more viable with a true constitutional consultation and process that brings our people together and restructures our political compact. It is also the only way to build a culture of constitutionalism, through a process publicizes the constitution as our document, mobilises the people, and wins buy-in from the people. If we do not get the politics of constitution-making right, we can never get our development right. Political uncertainty, contradictions, distrust, violence and instability will continue to challenge wellintentioned programmes and policies and thus reproduce underdevelopment.

Conclusion Allow me to conclude here.

I have said nothing about corruption, because there is nothing to say. If we do the things recommended above, the environment and institutions to question and correct the widespread corruption in our society will be possible. Civil society has a major role to play and once again, we are already witnessing their rejuvenation due to the arrogance, intolerance and insensitivity of the power elite. Civil society must continue to refine, redirect, reposition and reorganise itself to face contemporary challenges.

The old generation must admit their failures, reform or give way. If they continue in their old ways that have mortgaged our present and squandered our future, the people, in their organisations, communities and constituencies will force them to change or give way. In today’s world, a word is more than enough for the foolish not to talk of the wise. I don talk my own!

“The debates on fiscal federalism, true federalism, constitutional amendment, state police, revenue sharing formula, resource control, women in politics, electoral reforms, political appointments, the location of local infrastructure, corruption, state and local government creation, and infrastructural rehabilitation are endless.”

THE NIGERIAN

18

AVAILABLE statistics by the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) shows that road traffic accidents have had a high toll on human lives and property in the country. The data also shows that majority of the crashes involved commuter buses.

The commission’s data also shows that 1,397 buses were involved in road crashes between January and June, 2013, leading to loss of 1,437 lives and injuries to 6,831 persons.

The rising incidence of road crashes, observers say, is against the combined effort of the commission and other stakeholders to sensitise Nigerians on safe motoring.

Analysts are also quick to note that besides the public awareness campaigns on safe motoring; the deplorable nature of most Nigerian highways had contributed to high carnage on highways.

However, they are also quick to caution that as the federal and state governments embark on road construction and rehabilitation works, greater effort should be made to limit the rate of road crashes and their resultant fatalities.

For the FRSC, most road crashes are due to excessive speed, bad tyres, drunk driving, intolerance of other road users, and disregard for road sign and regulations.

Against the backdrop of human imperfection as a causative factor of most road accidents, the FRSC is contemplating the introduction of a device, “speed limiter’’, as a tool to reducing incidences of road accidents.

The commission

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

acknowledges that since most Nigerians travel by road in commuter buses, introducing speed limit devices on buses would go a long way to save lives in the event of accidents.

It says that the device, speed limiter, limits the speed of vehicles to controllable and moderate 100 kilometres per hour.

Expectedly, the FRSC has embarked on a series of nationwide public enlightenment campaigns to sensitise Nigerians to the efficacy of the device and its indispensability.

Analysts have said that the measure is absolutely imperative if Nigerians want a drastic reduction in loss of lives and property due to many road crashes.

Speaking recently in Sokoto, Mr Osita Chidoka, Corps Marshal and FRSC Chief Executive Officer, noted the necessity of the device.

Chidoka believes that there is need for the commission to increase its sensitisation campaigns to create public awareness, especially on the implications of speed violations and the need for drivers to install the device in their vehicles.

“This is in furtherance of our safer roads, fuller lives campaign which is being pursued in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in road safety with a view to restoring sanity on our roads.’’

“The aggressiveness of the campaign, he says, “arose out of our discovery from records of road traffic crashes within the last seven months of the year in Nigeria.’’

According to him, speed violations accounted for about 65 per cent of the causative factors of road crashes and fatalities in the country.

Opinion Speed Limit Device As Tool For Reducing Road Crashes “From extensive investigations and analysis of commuter vehicles carried out by the FRSC over a six-year period (2007-2012), it was found out that the frequency of crashes involving Toyota Hiace buses was a total 1,844 crashes.

“While it is important to note that Toyota Hiace

brand is the dominant brand in the commuter bus category, we still hold the view that the crash record is not acceptable,’’ Chidoka said.

The data, he maintains, revealed that there was an average yearly increase of 126 road traffic crashes involving Toyota Hiace buses, representing 48 per cent of total buses involved in crashes.

“Over 31 per cent of all the buses involved resulted

By BASHIR MANI

in fire incidents,’’ he said.

According to him, in 1990 the Japanese manufacturers recalled the Toyota Hiace YH3 model in Australia due to defects that caused fire incidences.

The recall, he says, closed on August 26,

defects, as well as recommend that drivers and owners of Toyota Hiace buses to install speed limit devices in their vehicles.

“The current situation calls for urgent steps to deal with the menace of road traffic crashes,’’ he

efficacious in many countries including “Kenya where it is now yielding very positive results’’.

Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, Vice Chancellor, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, agrees on the introduction of the device.

“The gesture is a commendable one. Its use

2010, adding that the model may have installation defects.

“From the analysis, it is clear to the corps that Toyota Hiace buses are constantly resulting in extra fire incidence when they are involved in road traffic crashes,’’ Chidoka said.

According to him, the commission has written to the manufacturers to draw their attention to the

said, adding: “It is a call to duty for us to say no to speed violation and appreciate the need to embrace measures that can tackle the challenge.’’

“The use of speed limiting devices presents us this opportunity as it makes it impossible for drivers to go beyond the regulated speed, so long as the device is installed in the vehicle,” Chidoka said.

The FRSC believes that the device has multiple advantages including fuel economy, and prolonged vehicle life span.

Lending weight to the campaign, the Sokoto State FRSC Sector Commander, Dr Aliyu Gummi, says the device has proved to be

must be enforced at all levels, and for all motorists.

‘Even if the government cannot provide it free, the price of the device can be highly subsidised,’’ Shehu said.

Analysts have noted the need for increased highway patrol by the FRSC against reckless driving by most motorists.

They view the proposed introduction of the speed limit device as a proactive measure and answer to the commission’s inability to effectively conduct patrols against excessive speed and reckless driving on highways. This measure, they say, will help reduce accidents and their resultant fatalities.

“The data, he maintains, revealed that there was an average yearly increase of 126 road traffic crashes involving Toyota Hiace buses, representing 48 per cent of total buses involved in crashes.”

THE NIGERIAN

19

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Natural Medicine

With

Dr. MAO

08030717341

Reducing Cancer Risk (2)

THE liver plays a critical role in cancer risk reduction. The organ is the Chief detoxifier of the body. In other words, it leads the way for the elimination of toxins (poisonous substances) from the body. When these toxins accumulate in the body they may trigger the onset of cancer.

Furthermore, studies have established that when the liver is functioning only suboptimally, the pituitary gland often over stimulate the ovaries. What happens is the over production by the ovaries of estradtol, estrione or estrogen which begin to irritate the breast tissues resulting in breast cancer.

Invariably, if you want to reduce your cancer risk, you must ensure that your liver is healthy. In passing, it should be understood that not only women that have breast cancer, men also develop it although this is rare.

This brings me to the issue of detoxification. It is not the liver alone that carries out this function in the body. In fact, the body itself produces three major enzymes that promote detoxification.

Namely, they are catalase, gluthatione and super-oxide dismutase.

When you eat right, the body is able to produce these enzymes that carry out daily detoxification of the body without your knowledge.

Well, be informed that when you fall sick you also need such a cleansing process of detoxification

before you can get well.

It is not enough to only take medication and thereafter expect to fully recover from your illhealth as some orthodox doctors believe. In fact, what you need sometimes when you become sick is proper, natural detoxification of the body.

Immediately, you do so, the toxins clogging up your body are eliminated.

Thus, the body is restored to an optimal state of health that is able to activate its self-healing power known as Vis Medicatrix Naturae. Of course, cancer has no place in the body under this condition. It cannot develop.

Disease only attacks an unhealthy, weak body.

Therefore, the rule book teaches: To reduce cancer risk, keep toxins out of your body by eating right.

Additionally, to complement the detoxification process of the body, there are detox formulas available in natural medicine shops which we can use. Also, some experts have developed successfully methodologies for detoxifying the body. For instance, we have a man called Dr. Stanley Burough who has been able to patent the Lemonade Diet for detoxifying the body. Lest I forget, let me say here too that constipation is one of the ways we accumulate toxins in the body. Death begins in a dirty colon!!

The message, therefore, is if you want to reduce your

cancer risk or the risk of degenerative illness ensure your colon is clean. You must visit the toilet atleast once a day. The habit of not going to the toilet twice or thrice a week is a warning sign that a deadly ailment is waiting ahead to strike you. It could be that it is already inside you!!

Free radicals!! These are reactive substances ingested into the body via food, taken in through

breathing in of air from dirty environment and produced during the normal run of metabolism.

Free radicals degrade the body’s ability to combat illness and are one of the factors responsible for early or painful aging. Put simply, free radicals contributed to the genesis of cancer. This is why natural medicine practitioners also

prescribe anti-oxidants for patients whenever they are diagnosed to be suffering from an organic disease in addition to the specific medicine recommended for it if the medicine has no anti-oxidants in it. Such anti-oxidants includes Vitamins A,C and E; Blessed Seeds; Alpha Lipoic acid; Co-enzyme Q: 10, selenium; Zinc; N – Acetyl Cysteine; Magnesium among others.

immune cells before it becomes cancerous.

Alternatively, the abnormal cell commits suicide through a process known as apoptosis.

To reduce the risk of cancer therefore, you must eat nourishing antioxidants food, also, you should have food supplements handy.

Remember, it is not always humanly possible to have access to as well as afford

too, to prevent cancer.

Do you smoke and/or consume alcohol? Then watch it. Your chances of having cancer will increase. Such habits are not natural lifestyles that contribute to good health.

Firstly, smoking pollutes the body with carbon monoxide and a thousand other toxic chemical substances. Secondly, alcohol harms the liver, stomach, throat and heart.

All of these anti-oxidants in one way or the other help to reduce the risk of cancer.

Beyond acting as agents that fight free radicals, anti-oxidants also contribute to boosting the immune system. When it is strong, your body is enhanced in keeping cancer at bay. This is because an abnormal cell is nipped in the bud by

balanced meals that supplies the body with immune system builders.

One nutritional factor you must not forget to have is zinc, a trace element. An adult needs it because the T-Immune Cells become impoverished as we grow old.

What causes this is that the thymus gland, which is responsible for their production and maturation, shrinks in size as one gets old. This compromises the gland’s ability to produce healthy, normal immune cells.

However, two weeks of zinc supplementation has been discovered to normalize as well as rejuvenate the thymus gland. So don’t be surprised when you are told that you need zinc,

Given this, we should give up the habit or eliminate smoking entirely while you minimize your alcohol intake. Either this or you will end up increasing your risk of cancer.

Similarly, you stand the chance of high cancer risk when you don’t have adequate healing rest and sleep. All work and no rest can expose you to cancer.

In the same vein, poor sleep routine opens the wide door to cancer since your unrested body is tired, broken and has suboptimal functioning immune system.

Finally, avoid inhaling toxic fumes from fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, cars, toilets and refuse dumps. The fumes are carcinogenic.

“Disease only attacks an unhealthy, weak body.

Therefore, the rule book teaches: To reduce cancer risk, keep toxins out of your body by eating right.

Additionally, to complement the detoxification process of the body, there are detox formulas available in natural medicine shops which we can use.”

THE NIGERIAN

20

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

New Horizon

WHO are you? Are you your body? Or your mind? Or are you something else? Do you know who you are? Or do you merely think you know? And does it really matter. Our materialistic society with its enlightened leadership has made it virtually taboo to inquire into our real higher self. Instead we use our valuable time maintaining, decorating and pampering the body for its own sake. Might there be an alternative? The very important Krishna consciousness movement is meant to save human society from spiritual death. At present, human society is being misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the missing point. The Krishna consciousness movement is trying to enlighten human society in this important matter.

According to Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one’s relationship with Krishna, or God. In the Bagavad-Gita, which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the basis of Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts of the body are meant for serving the whole body, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcel of God are duty-bound to serve him.

Actually our position is that we are always rendering service to someone, either to our fami1y, country, or society. If we have no one to serve, sometimes we keep a pet cat or dog and render service to it. All these factors prove that we are constitutionally meant to render service, yet in spite of serving to the best of our ability, we are not satisfied.

Nor is the person we are rendering the service

satisfied. On the material platform, every one is frustrated. The reason for this is that the service being rendered is not properly directed. For example, if we want to render service to a tree, we must water the root, if we pour water on the branches, leaves and twigs, there is little benefit. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is served, all other parts and parcels will be automatically satisfied.

Consequently all welfare activities as well as service to society, family, and nation are realized by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the duty of every human being to understand his constitutional position with God and to act accordingly. If this is possible, then our lives become successful. Sometimes, however, we feel challenging and say, “There is no God,” or “1 am God” or even, “1 don’t care for God.” But in actuality, this challenging spirit will not save us. God is there, and we can see Him at every moment. If we refuse to see God in our life, then He will be present before us as cruel death. If we do not choose to see him in our feature, we will see Him in another. There are different features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is the original root of the entire cosmic manifestation. In one sense, it is not possible for us to escape Him. This Krishna conscious movement is not blind religious fanaticism, nor is it a revolt by some recent upstart, rather it is an authorized, scientific approach, to the matter of our eternal necessity in relationship with Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is the Supreme Enjoyer.

Krishna consciousness simple deals with our eternal relationship with Him and the process of discharging our relative duties to Him. Thus, Krishna consciousness enables us to achieve the highest perfection of life attainable in the present human form of existence. We must always remember that

With VICTOR ANIUKWU

Understanding Who You Are

this particular form of human life is attained after an evolution of many millions of years in the cycle of transmigration of the spirit soul. In this particular form of life, the economic question is more easily solved than in the lower animal forms. There are swines, dogs, camels, asses, and so on, whose economic questions of these animals and

duties than animals, who are always busy with filling their hungry stomachs. But by the laws of nature, the modern animalistic standard of civilization has only increased the problems of filling the stomach. When we approach

others are solved under primitive conditions, whereas the human being is given all the facilities for leading a comfortable life by the laws of nature. Why is a man given a better chance to live than swine or other animals”. Why is a highly posted government officer given better facilities for a comfortable life than an ordinary clerk? The answer is very simple. The important officer has to discharge duties of a more responsible nature than those of an ordinary clerk. Similarly, the human being has to discharge higher

some of these polished animals for spiritual life, they say that they only work for the satisfaction of their stomachs and that there is no necessity of inquiring about Godhead.

Yet despite their eagerness to work hard, there is always the question of unemployment and so many other impediments incurred by the laws of nature. Despite this, they still denounce the necessity of acknowledging the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We are given this human form of life not just to work hard like the swine or

“Actually our position is that we are always rendering service to someone, either to our fami1y, country, or society. If we have no one to serve, sometimes we keep a pet cat or dog and render service to it.”

dog, but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not want that perfection, then we will have to work very hard and also be forced by the Laws of nature. Note that in the closing days of this age (this present age) men will have to work hard like asses

for only a scrap of bread. This process has already begun, and every year the necessity for harder work for lesser wages will increase. Yet human beings are not meant to work hard like animals, and if a man fails to work hard like animals, and if a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being, he is forced to transmigrate to lower species of life by the laws of nature.

The Bagavad Gita very vividly describes how a spirit soul, by the laws of nature, takes his birth and gets suitable body and sense organs for enjoying all kinds of matter in this material world, knowingly and unknowingly. In the BagavadGita, it is also stated that those who attempt but do not complete the path of approaching God in other words, these who have failed to achieve complete success

in their bid to Krishna consciousness - are given the chance to appear in the families of the spiritually advanced or financially wellto-do mercantile families. If the unsuccessful aspirants are offered such chances of noble parentage, what of those who have actually attained the required success? Therefore an attempt to go back to

Godhead, even if half finished, guarantees a good birth in the next life. Both the spiritual and the well-to-do families are beneficial for spiritual progress because in both such families, one can get a good chance to make further progress from the point where he stopped in his previous birth, in spiritual realization the atmosphere generated by a good family is favourable for the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. The Bagavad-Gita reminds such well-born persons that their good fortune is due to their past devotional activities.

Unfortunately, the children of these families do not consult the Bagavad-Gita and thereby misguided by illusion. Birth in a well to do family solves the problem of having to find sufficient food from the Continues on page 24

THE NIGERIAN

21

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Place Of Prayer The Ingredients Of Intimacy (6) IN this concluding part of the series, The Ingredients of Intimacy, we discuss the last four Ingredients of intimacy which are: Petition, inquiry, Listen and Journaling.

PETITION At this stage in the Closet Intimacy process, you make your personal requests known to God. Matthew 7:7-11- Ask, and it shall be given you; Seek, and ye shall find knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

INQUIRY This is the stage in Closet Intimacy where you deliberately ask God some significant questions about the fulfillment of purpose. When you specifically ask God questions consistently over area you want to know His mind, He will always tell you what to do. Prov.

3:6 admonishes us to acknowledge God in all our ways and then He will direct our path.

LISTENING This is a time we keep quiet, deliberately waiting in expectation to hear from God, what He has to say about the things we asked Him. When you are listening, be sensitive to spontaneous thoughts that lights upon your mind. This leads to the next item which is journaling.

JOURNALING Write down those thoughts that light upon your mind when you are silently listening to God, after you have asked God questions. This journal should be vetted at the end of your closet intimacy to see whether God speaks like that or whether it agrees with the scripture.

Delete the ones that are controversial and prayerfully implement those without controversy.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE SENSITIVITY OF YOUR HEARING The attitude of hearing involves inclining an ear to always hear, it means having the mindset that God can speak at anytime. Improving your sensitivity in the place of Intimacy Is activated when you begin to do certain things in your day today activities in your normal daily routine outside Intimacy.

There are about eight suggested activities you should involve in to improve your sensitivity to the voice of God. Deliberately stopping with an intention to observe if God is saying something.

This means withdrawing your

mind from being actively involved in thinking of other thing to see if there is a statement from God’s spirit in your heart which you need to hear. Proverbs 3:6 tells us to acknowledge God in all our ways, and then He will direct our paths. For you to get revelation from God, you need to acknowledge Him all the time.

Behave like you know that He a around by giving Him attention.

In every activity you are involved in, occasionally stop and look inward. The voice of the Spirit does not come from outside, it comes from inside you because that us where the Holy Ghost dwells, The voice the Spirit you hear within Is always right and all genuine children of God hear this voice. You must always acknowledge God for the purpose of hearing from Him just in case He has something to tell you. This is similar to Samuel’s response when God was about to speak to him in 1Samuel 3.

He said, Speak Lord, for your servant heareth, Even Moses had to step aside to see the mystery of the burning bush before he was able to hear Gods voice speaking to him.

As you keep on stepping aside from your day routine to took inward just like the Prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:1, your sensitivity to the voice at God during intimacy will improve tremendously.

II. Obeying noncontroversial promptings of the Spirit promptly.

There are issues that can be termed non-controversial as far as Christianity is concerned.

Praying, studying the bible and other such activities cannot be termed controversial issues for instance because they are normal Christian Practices. whenever you get promptings from the Holy Spirit to get involved in issues that are non-controversial, just go ahead and obey instance you get a prompting to pray, just go ahead and pray. If you don’t know what about, then pray in tongues or begin by worshipping God. As you keep on obeying promptings, you encourage Holy Ghost to keep speaking to you and your spirit man becomes sensitized to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost more audibly.

You may be hurrying out in the morning and suddenly hear the inner voice reminding you have not done your devotion.

That is anon-controversial prompting and is certainly not from the devil, you will do well to obey the voice of the spirit and carry out the devotion keep responding to such promptings, your spirit man will be trained to hear God more often and very clearly before, during and outside the intimacy. When you disobey such prompting quench the voice of the Spirit, and will not be able to hear Him speak when you now want Him to speak.

You may want to pray and then you hear an inner voice

With Pastor Samuel O. Osaghae SMS Only 08030809339

reminding you that you still hold a grudge in your heart against a person that offended you. Do not suppress that voice; forgive the person before you go on with your prayers. Your obedience to such promptings prove to God that you are a willing servant and will make Him speak more often to you because He is sure that you will obey Him. As you practice responding to the Holy Ghost over non, controversial issues, He is encouraged to speak on issues that are difficult to discern, It is a process but consistency will take you there.

Some people hear the voice of the Spirit and do not obey and then when something terrible happens, they begin to say, “My mind told me”. It was not your mind telling you, but the voice of the Spirit.

III. Maintaining a clear conscience There are four things you must deal with to maintain a clear conscience: 1. Bitterness/unforgivenss 2Kings 3:14-15, Heb. 12:15: To be sensitive, you must first clear away bitterness and unforgiveness from your heart.

Elisha could not hear God in the above scripture because he was bitter against the king of Israel.

2. Guilt: When you feel guilt over an act, ask God to forgive you and then believe that He has forgiven you, whether the sign is there or not. Even if the consequence of the sin follows thereafter, it does not mean that God has not forgiven you because consequence always follow sin. If your spirit man is poisoned with guilt, then you cannot hear from God

had never heard this instruction before, but as they began to worship, God spoke and thank God they had an inner readiness in their heart to hear God, so they heard. In 2Chronicles 2, there is another interesting story that shows that God will always speak when genuine worship has risen to the heavens.

Jehoshaphat gathered all the people of Judah to cry unto God for help because a great army had risen against them. As they worshipped God, His Spirit came upon Jahaziel and he prophesied in favour of God’s

speaks to you, Speaking in tongues is therefore one Way to improve the sensitivity of your hearing.

IVI. Fasting Acts 13:2-3 Fasting silences the voice of the flesh. It makes the voice of the spirit louder than that of the flesh. How ever fasting must he accompanied with spiritual activities like studying the bible and praying; as you do this your spirit man is set at alert and will easily hear when God begins to speak.

VII. Meditating on the word of God

There is no one that does not hear the voice of God; it is the dimensions of our hearing that Varies. If you begin to obey the smaller promptings then the bigger ones will come, for he that is faithful over little will be faithful overmuch.

A man of God was in a hotel room and suddenly heard the word “Flee”. Although he was a bold man of God, he was sure that the voice was that one of the Holy Spirit. He promptly obeyed and escaped from the room through the toilet window. A few minutes later, armed robbers came into the room and blew it up. If the man of God had not obeyed the voice of the Spirit he would have died in that room.

In Acts 8: 29-40, the Spirit instructed Philip to go and speak to a man he had never seen before.

His obedience to that first prompting is what led to the conversion of the man, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 tells us not to quench the Spirit; your prompt response to the first prompting is what qualifies you for the second hearing.

3. ROOT AWAY SORROW FROM YOUR HEART Prov.

15:14, 2 Cor. 7:10 Isaiah 12:3 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. As long as a man remains in sorrow, he can not hear God speaking to him because his heart is out of tune with the spirit.

4) Fear- 2Timothy 1:7: Anyone that is fearful does not hear the voice of the Spirit because fear upsets you and places you on edge. Even when Gods speaking, you will not hear because your spirit man is clouded by fear. The Spirit of God operates in an atmosphere of faith.

IV. Worship Whenever genuine worship rises up to the throne of grace, heaven responds; genuine worship always provokes an utterance from God. As you worship God, create an inner readiness in your heart to hear.

In Acts 13:2.3, we see that as certain disciples worshipped God, they heard an instruction to separate Barnabas and Paul for a special assignment. They

people. Also in 2Kings 3:15-18, we see that the Prophet Elisha could not hear from God because he had bitterness in his heart against the king of Israel, however as he began to worship God, he heard God’s voice. All these illustrations point to the fact that worshipping God regularly is a tool that will certainly improve the sensitivity of your hearing. As you worship God from today, let your heart be open to hear from Him; have a dual posture: Speak with a listening heart.

V. Praying in Tongues Jude 20 tells us to build up ourselves in our most holy faith by praying consistently in the Holy Ghost. As you begin to speak in tongues regularly, your spirit becomes aligned with God’s Spirit and you become very sensitive to God’s voice.

Praying in tongues is actually allowing Gods Spirit make intercession for you. As you pray in tongues, you pray according to Gods will for you The more in tune you are with God purpose for your life, the easier it will be for you to hear Him when He

Pondering on what you have studied from scriptures will give you information on the personality of God, who you are in Christ, an instruction you must obey, and a rhema that will improve your life. The attitude of hearing involves you inclining

an ear to always hear; have the mindset that God can speak at any time.

VIII. Specific Inquiry When you specifically ask God questions consistently over areas you want to know His mind, He will always tell you what to do. Prov. 3:6 admonishes us to acknowledge God in all our ways and then He will direct our path. You must how ever create a neutral mindset, there must be no bias in your mind over the issue! trust God’s recommendation completely. God will not speak to you if you condition Him to giving you a response that suits your own selfish interest; He is not an author of confusion. lSam.23:1-57, 10-14;2Sam. 21: 1;2 Sam 5:17-19,22-25.

THE NIGERIAN

22

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

23

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

International News Kenyan Archbishop Urges Christians

Make Peace With All:

NAIROBI - The Anglican Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev. Eliud Wabukala, has called on Christians all over the world to live in peace amid the ongoing global war on terror.

Speaking at a joint news conference on Monday in Nairobi at the opening of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), Wabukala said that terrorism was an international phenomenon not limited to a particular place.

The primate, who was asked to comment on the Church’s position on the war against terror, said it was in line with Jesus Christ’s teachings to live at peace with all men.

Reports say that Wabukala comments came on a day Kenyans

held a memorial service for the 76 people killed in a terror attack at the Nairobi Westgate mall, a month ago.

Wabukala said: “What the bible says is very clear, our Lord Jesus taught us to be peaceful people.

“The bible really goes more than talking about peace to making peace at all cost and, therefore, all Christians all over the world would want to teach that we make peace and live at peace with each other.

“That’s the basic but you

PUBLIC NOTICE

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS/ CERTIFICATE I, Imasuen Usunobun Gabriel of No. 1, Success Way, Off Uyi Ekpen Avenue, Ekosodin Quarters, Benin City, the Bonafide Owner of the underlisted documents/ Certificate wish to bring for the information of the general public that they have been declared missing since 15th November, 2011.

THE ITEMS ARE: 1. My General Certificate of Examination (G.C.E ADVANCE LEVEL) November 1979.

2. NYSC Exemption Certificate 2004.

3. Transfer Document of Plot 18, measuring 100 x 100 (One hundred feet by One Hundred Feet) Situate at Ogegbe Street, Eguaveon Community, Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State.

4. That all efforts made to trace the said documents proved abortive, concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

Signed: IMASUEN .U. GABRIEL PUBLIC NOTICE AGU SUNDAY FOUNDATION

can get into various texts of the bible that will support your stand and practice toward maintaining peace.

“The bible is very clear particularly as we look at the life and practice of our Lord Jesus Christ.’’

Also speaking on the war on terrorism, the Anglican Primate of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, told reporters that the problem of Boko Haram had become very difficult to manage in Nigeria.

“This is a body that does not support education and they are ready to kill people and ready to fight.

“The government is trying to control them by asking security agencies to fight or handle them in their own way.

“For us as a church, our first reaction is to look for security from government to make us worship in peace,” he said.

Okoh said that both Muslim and Christian leaders in Nigeria were concerned about the activities of the insurgents and were working together to proffer solutions to the problem.

He, however, expressed regret that the insurgents had shunned all entreaties by government to dialogue under a presidential committee established to look into their grievances.

PUBLIC NOTICE

CAVEAT EMPTOR

The general public is hereby informed that the parcel of land measuring approximately 2155.112 square metres same being lying and situate at along old Bode Road, beside the village market, Ibienafe, South-Ibie in Etsako West LGA of Edo State and covered by Registered Survey and deed of assignment duly executed between Mr. Amedu Momoh and Mr. Oni David Alenoghena and Mr. Oni David Alenoghena, having legally acquired the aforementioned parcel of land from Mr. Amedu Momoh further assigned the said parcel of land to Archer Engineering Company Limited who are the owner and holders of Statutory Right of Occupancy of the said land till date and hence any persons who intends to transact any business on this property does so at his or her own risk/peril.

You are warned!

Signed: K.O. Oni Esq For Mr. Oni David Alenoghena & Archer Engineering Company Limited

Student Opens Fire, Kills Teacher And Himself

On his school website, Landsberry posted a picture of a brown bear and took on a toughlove tone, telling students, “I have one classroom rule and it is very simple: ‘Thou Shall Not Annoy Mr. L.’” “The kids loved him,” his sister-in-law Chanda Landsberry said.

She added his life could be summed up by his love of his family, his students and his country.

“To hear that he was trying to stop that is not surprising by any means,” she said.

Police said 150 to 200 officers responded to the shooting, including some from as far as 60 miles away. Students from the middle school and neighboring elementary school were evacuated to the nearby high school, and classes were canceled. The middle school will remain closed for the week.

“As you can imagine, the best description is chaos,” Robinson said. “It’s too early to say whether he was targeting people or going on an indiscriminate shooting spree.”

At the evacuation center, parents comforted their children.

“We came flying down here to get our kids,” said Mike Fiorica, whose nephew attends the school. “You can imagine how parents are feeling. You don’t know if your kid’s OK.” The shooting happened on the school’s campus and ended outside the school building, according to police.happen to you,” Martini said.

Africans Leap Daunting Barrier To European Dreams

MELILLA (SPAIN) - Growing numbers of Africans are taking a daunting test to enter Europe: leaping a towering, triple-layer The general public is hereby notified that the above named security fence and trying to race across before rapid-deployment foundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission police guards can catch them. which is lit up along its entire for registration under the Companies and Allied Matters Act A vast security operation has length to help spot migrants.

No.1 of 1990. failed to deter the would-be On the other side, plunged in BOARD OF TRUSTEES migrants attempting to reach the darkness, stands Mount Gurugu 1. Mr. Agu Sunday Chairman Spanish territories of Ceuta and where hundreds of African 2. Mrs. Agu Orobosa Rita Secretary Melilla, cities that lie on the migrants lie in wait for the right 3. Mr. Agu Clement Member northern coast of Morocco and moment to make a dash for 4. Engr. Agu Uchenna Member offer the only land border between European soil.

Africa and Europe.

“Every day for the past few AIMS & OBJECTIVES At dawn in Melilla, Spanish months we have seen groups 1. To Promote education and social standard of living among Guardia Civil police peer through approach. There are quite a few of the youths, orphans and vulnerable children. powerful night-vision binoculars them and they don’t all manage to Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the at the 11-kilometre (seven-mile) get up to the fence but there are Registrar- General, Corporate Affairs Commission plot 420 long, seven-metre (23-foot) high attempts almost every day,” said Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja fence that loops around the city Non Commissioned Officer Javier within 28 days of this publication. until it reaches the Mediterranean Martinez. coast.

“They go barefoot to climb the Surveillance cameras watch first fence, then they clear the SIGNED: Agu Sunday (Chairman) over the three layers of fencing, second, then the third.”

Night assault Tibetans Protest At UN Against China Rights Abuses On September 17, Spanish security forces were taken by GENEVA - Tibetan activists scene. surprise by a night-time assault by down to the middle of the scaled scaffolding on the UN “The protest went really about 300 migrants in the Barrio facade using climbing headquarters in Geneva great,” Pema Yoko, the deputy Chino (Chinese District), one of ropes. yesterday and unfurled a director of Students for a Free the most vulnerable areas because They then unfurled a small buildings near the fence banner demanding the world Tibet, told AFP. provide hiding places for the massive banner reading: address Chinese rights abuses, It was important to draw migrants.

“China human rights, UN as diplomats began gathering “The strength of the assault, the attention to Tibet’s plight, she stand up for Tibet,” and to examine China’s human insisted, stressing that “we large number of people over such shouted: “Free Tibet!” a short distance, with so much rights record. expect China to blatantly lie force, so much violence... it was UN security acted swiftly At dawn, four protesters about their rights record in impossible to contain,” said to cut down the banner and from the groups “Students for Lieutenant Juan Antonio Martin Tibet.” arrest the protesters, but a Free Tibet” and the “Tibetan At least 122 Tibetans have set Rivera, spokesman for the also to grab journalists’ Guardia Civil in Melilla.

Youth Association in Europe” themselves alight since Since 2005, the semicircular press accreditation and climbed up scaffolding on the February 2009 in protests frontier that encircles this 12usher them away from the UN building, currently under against what they see as square-kilometre (five-square-

renovation, before jumping

SPARKS (USA) - A student at a Nevada middle school opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun on campus just before the starting bell wounding two 12-year-old boys and killing a math teacher who was trying to protect children from their classmate.

The unidentified shooter killed himself with the gun after a rampage that occurred in front of 20 to 30 horrified students who had just returned to school from a weeklong fall break.

Authorities did not provide a motive for the shooting, and it’s unknown where the student got the gun.

Teacher Michael Landsberry was being hailed for his actions during the shooting outside Sparks Middle School.

“In my estimation, he is a hero. ... We do know he was trying to intervene,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said.

Both wounded students were listed in stable condition. One was shot in the shoulder, and the other was hit in the abdomen.

The violence erupted nearly a year after a gunman shocked the nation by opening fire in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., leaving 26 dead. The Dec. 14 shooting ignited debate over how best to protect the nation’s schools and whether armed teachers should be part of that equation.

Landsberry, 45, was a military veteran and leaves behind a wife and two stepdaughters. Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said Landsberry served two tours in Afghanistan with the Nevada National Guard.

“He proudly served his country and was proudly defending the students at his school,” Martini said.

Chinese oppression, Yoko said.

mile) city of 80,000 people has been continually upgraded: it has now been strengthened with a raised, third fence equipped with 48 cameras, highly sensitive sensors, and tighter “anti-climb” fence links.

Not going to be stopped by a fence The exterior fence, the highest at seven metres, leans outwards at its top to stop anyone clambering over.

“Even so, they manage to climb it,” said the Guardia Civil spokesman.

“This is a brake. But someone who has crossed the whole of Africa, who has travelled for months to get here, isn’t going to be stopped by a fence.”

The Guardia Civil has deployed 600 men at Melilla to confront the migrants.

“Our reaction time is in the order of one-and-a-half to two minutes,” the officer said.

“But often a strong, agile young person needs just a few seconds to get over the triple fencing, which looks impenetrable,” he said.

Omar Kamara is one of the hundred or so migrants who managed to cross the fencing on September 17 and get to the other side.

At 19, the young Malian left Bamako 15 months earlier “because of the poverty” and, after travelling through Algeria, came to Mount Gurugu.

“On September 17, we left Gurugu. We walked for four

hours,” he recalled. “If you succeed you get through, if you don’t succeed you go back to the mountain. On September 17, God gave us this chance.”

It was a Tuesday when Kamara crossed the border into Melilla.

“I stayed hidden until Wednesday. Then I met a Spaniard. He gave me something to drink,” Kamara said. Then the Melilla resident showed him the way to Ceti, the Spanish government centre for migrants where Kamara is still living.

There are now some 860 migrants crammed into the 480place centre, which has transformed two large communal halls into dormitories of 100 beds each.

“The migratory pressure has grown over the past two years,” says Carlos Montero Diaz, the centre’s director, evoking the conflict in Mali and unrest sparked by the Arab Spring revolts.

“They are young, about 22.

Their aim is to reach any country in Europe. They leave their families in their countries, hoping to be able to send them money,” he said.

“They used to arrive only at certain times of the year when the weather was good. That’s no longer the case.”

Melilla and Ceuta have been under Spanish rule for centuries but are a stress point in relations with Morocco, which demands Spain cede its sovereignty over the territories.

THE NIGERIAN

24

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

New Horizon

Continued from page 20

beginning of life, and later a comparatively easier and more comfortable way of life can be led. Being so situated, one has a good chance to make progress in spiritual realization, but as ill luck would have it, due to the inIuence of the present age which is full of machines and mechanical people, the sons of the wealthy are misguided for sense enjoyment, and so they forget the good chance they have for spiritual enlightenment. Therefore, nature by her laws, is setting fires in these golden homes.

There was the Golden city of Sri-lanka under the regime of the demonic ruler called Ravana. That city was burnt to ashes. That is the law of nature. The Bagavad-Gita is the preliminary study of the transcendental science of Krishna consciousness, and it is the duty of responsible heads of state to chalk out their economic and other programs by referring to the BagavadGita. We are not meant to solve economic questions of life by balancing them on a tottering platform, rather we are meant to solve the ultimate problems of life which arise due to the laws of nature.

Civilization is static unless there is spiritual movement.

The soul moves the body, and the living body moves the world. We are concerned about the body, but we have no knowledge of the spirit that is moving the body. Without the spirit, the body is motionless, or death. The human body is an excellent vehicle by which we can reach eternal life. It is a rare and very important boat for crossing over the ocean of nescience which is material existence.

On this boat, there is the service of an expert boatman, who is the spiritual master. By the Divine mercy of the Lord, the boat plies the water in a favourable wind. With all these auspicious factors, who would not have the opportunity to cross the ocean of nescience? If one neglects this good chance, it should be that he is simply committing suicide directly or indirectly.

There is certainly a great deal

of comfort in the first class coach of a train, but if the train does not move towards its destination, what is the benefit of an air-conditioned compartment? Contemporary civilization is much too concerned with making the material body comfortable.

No one has information of the real destination of life, which is to go and how to go back to Godhead. We must not just remain seated in a comfortable compartment, we see whether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real destination. There is no ultimate benefit in making the material body comfortable at the expense of forgetting the prime necessity of life, which is to regain our lost spiritual identity. The boat of human life is constructed in such a way that it must move towards a spiritual direction.

Unfortunately this body is anchored to mundane consciousness by five strong chains, which are: 1. Attachment to the material body due to ignorance of spiritual facts.

2. Attachment to Kinsmen due to bodily relations.

3. Attachment to the land of birth and material possessions such as houses, furniture’s, estates, properties, etc.

4. Attachment to material science, which always remains mysterious for want of spiritual insight and 5. Attachment to religions forms and holy rituals without knowing the personality of Godhead or His devotees who make them holy.

These attachments, which anchor the boat of human body, are explained in detail in the fifteen chapter of the BagavadGita. There they are compared to a deeply rooted banyan tree which is ever increasing its hold on the earth surface. It is very difficult to uproot such a strong banyan tree, but the Supreme Lord recommends the following process.” The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is: But with determination, one must cut down this tree with the

... Who You Are weapon of detachment. By so doing, one must seek that place from which having gone, one never returns, and thereby surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial (Bg. 15.3 - 4). Neither the scientists nor speculative philosophers have yet arrived

propose some laws, like the law of gravity, but actually they cannot put this law to practical use. For want of actual knowledge of the truth, everyone is anxious to promote his own theory to gain certain fame, but the actual fact is that this material world is full of miseries and that no one can overcome them simply by promoting some theories about any subject. The Personality of

inertia is the negative side of material action, but spiritual activity is not only the negation of material action but the activation of our real life. We must be anxious to search out eternal life, or spiritual existence in Brahman, the Absolute. The eternal Kingdom of Brahman (God) is described in the Bagavad-Gita as that eternal country from which no one returns. That is

unto the Supreme Person, attains that eternal Kingdom of God.” Moreso one who is convinced of his spiritual identity and is freed from illusion and is transcendental to the modes of material nature, who constantly engages in understanding spiritual knowledge and who has completely severed himself from sense enjoyment, can go back to

at any conclusion concerning the cosmic situation. All they have done is posit different theories about it. Some of them say that the material world is real, others say it is a dream, and yet others say that it is ever existing. In this way, different views are held by mundane scholars, but the fact is that no mundane scientist or speculative philosopher has ever discovered the beginning of the cosmos nor its limitations. No one can say when it began or how it floats in space. They theoretically

Godhead, who is cognizant of everything in His creation, informs us that it is in our best interest that we desire to get out of this misenazble existence. We must detach ourselves from materialism. To make the best use of a bad bargain, our material existence must be one hundred percent spiritua1ised Note that iron is not fire, but it can be turned into fire by constant association with fire. Similarly detachment from material activities can be effected by spiritual activities, not by material inertia. Material

the eternal kingdom of God in the topmost spiritual realm.

The beginning of our present material life cannot be traced, nor is it necessary for us to know how we became conditioned in material existence. We have to be satisfied with the understanding that somehow or other this material life has been going on since time immemorial and now our constitutional duty is to surrender unto the Supreme Lord, who is the original cause of all causes. The preliminary qualification for going back to Godhead is giving in BagavadGita, 15.5 as: “One who is free from illusion, false prestige and false association, who understnads the eternal, who is done with material lust and is free from material duality of happiness and distress, and who knows how to surrender

Godhead - such a person is called Amudha as distinguished from mudha, or the foolish and ignorant, for he is freed from the duality of happiness and distress. And what is the nature of the eternal kingdom of God? It is described in the Bagavad-Gita, 15:6 as follows: “That abode of mine is not illumined by the Sun or Moon, nor by electricity.

One, who reaches it, never returns to this material world.” Lastly, this material world is full of glittering and “all that glitters is not gold”.

Moreso, this material world is compared to the desert where we see mirage as water but never produces water to quench our dry taste.

We should be prepared to think HIGHER for better realization of our present and future higher existence.

“Contemporary civilization is much too concerned with making the material body comfortable. No one has information of the real destination of life, which is to go and how to go back to Godhead. We must not just remain seated in a comfortable compartment, we see whether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real destination.”

THE NIGERIAN

25

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

View Point

Abia:

A Land Of Agberos?

THOSE who have not been to Abia State would swallow all that they read in the media from the government of Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, line, hook and sinker, oblivious that they are glaring lies painted by the government’s propagandists to be taken as truths by onlookers.

The good people of Abia State, however, knew that the politics that have come to stay in the present state government is what many observers regard as “Politics of relocation to acquire”.

We have read or heard about the different relocations of peoples in Abia State that mainly comprise traders from one point to another. But what we were not told was how many of the traders could not get accommodations in the places where we were acquainted they were transferred to.

The dust of relocations of traders in Abia State from one place to another can never settle down till the government tells the general public who the real occupants of the stalls in the markets are and how much they were asked to pay before they gained entrance.

It is imperative to say that Abia State, especially, the city of Aba is now worse than Governor Orji met it. He would not tell us that Aba has become a place where residents are packing their property and are relocating to other states like Akwa Ibom State, because there is no

By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

presence of good governance in Abia State.

Wait till the Akwa Ibom State Government completes its ever built ultra-modern market, and Abia State would be empty.

Mark this statement!

It is a crying shame that this government continues to sell lies to the public that things are normal in Abia State, when everything has gone shamble, except the presence of marked-faces security operatives, who have taken occupation in intimidating people and, who knows where they want our people to relocate their shops, vehicles and co to. Do they now see anybody in our state as Osisikankwu that must be hounded?

Especially, the fear of one Awa, who was fingered to be in charge of ‘loading buses and cars’ in the state, has become the beginning of wisdom, as his agberos now work legitimately and illegitimately.

In Aba for instance, the state government wants all the vehicles to be loading in the parks. Just two parks in a place like Aba: ‘Mivaton’ Park and Osisioma Park.

If we have to accept that vehicles must load in the parks, it behooves the government to provide the people with infrastructure, but there is rarely any one functional in the state. There is hardly any smooth and motorable road in the

state to the Parks.

The Parks themselves are glorified Hades. You want somebody, say, at Ngwa road to come to the park and enter vehicle, when there is no access from there to the park. So, vehicles no longer stop beside the road and pick passengers? Not even bus stops are built to help the drivers; just for the lucre

the state and contractors given most of the internal revenue projects being uncivil to our people, so that they could meet up with the demand of cash from Umuahia.

While expansion is part of development, we have to ask of what exactly is this government expanding.

In earnest, instead of

asked to purchase before the day runs off. The annoying thing is that the sellers of these tickets have no routine hours they operate.

As early as 5am and as late as 10pm, they are on the roads collecting money for tickets from Keke riders, likewise those channeled to man vehicles in Abia State.

The latter ’s habit of collecting money for the tickets is by force and fire, and needs to be

Gov Theodore Orji of Abia State

of governance, anywhere drivers pack their vehicles that is not park, they have failed law and must pay sums of money that are not below N20, 000 and N25, 000. Odikwa egwu o!

But Gov. Orji’s propagandists would lie to those they can deceive that Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, has become a utopian capital, when what we could see are mainly whitewash projects that dot

good governance being expanded in all the nooks and crannies of the state, what we could see are expansion of agberos and security personnel intimidating our peoples, already battered-by-bad governance.

This government should stop making Keke riders to cry, due to the many tickets they are ‘intimidatingly’

curtailed, but only by the help of a spiritualist, because they invariably have the full support of the Abia State Government for their shameless conducts.

Their habits show that we do not have a government in Abia State that regulates its operations, but one that enjoys the presence of ‘anything can go’, as far as the money that would

not be used to develop our state continues to ‘enter’.

It is only in this state that wheelbarrow pushers are pressurised to purchase plate numbers.

Agberos in the state are plenty. You laugh with anger, about the presence of cops on patrol, usually two persons on a motorcycle, parading the dilapidated city of Aba and making preys of the citizens. As far as good governance is concerned, majority of our people are yet to see people-oriented reforms. It is not reform when residents are asked not to drop refuse where they drop them before, because you do not want new comers’ comments, whereas the state already smells of government’s incapacitations.

This Gov. T.A Orji government should be told that a performing government is not equated by the number of peoples it has displaced, but by the number of peoples that have been enlivened in its performance, but, sadly, Abia State under him has become a home of agberos and displaced and displeased persons.

Gov. T.A Orji has to buy his conscience back and put things in place that are at present wishing our people death and some have perhaps died of poor management. He should know that the only empowerment that he was able to give to our youths is to provide Kekes and Taxis for them to drive, and at the same time fill the city with agberos, who were said are contractors to the state government.

Odimegwu Onwumere writes from Port Harcourt

“Agberos in the state are plenty. You laugh with anger, about the presence of cops on patrol, usually two persons on a motorcycle, parading the dilapidated city of Aba and making preys of the citizens. As far as good governance is concerned, majority of our people are yet to see people-oriented reforms.”

THE NIGERIAN

26

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

EVERY WEDNESDAY, WEEK 14, 2013 LUCKY 1.2. X SELECTIONS 5 INTERNATIONAL NOS. HOT PAIRS 7 13 13

29 31 38 39

BANKERS

20

29

} }

20 21 23 29 30 31

1. BRISTOL R

31 XXB

2. CARLISLE

20 XXB

3. WIMBLEDON

30 2XB

4. WALSALL

29 505

5. BOLTON

11 USE

READING

16

NEW PORT CO.

36

CARLISLE

} } }

20

XOX

XOX

6. READING

16

7. NEWPORT CO.

36

8. SCUNTHORPE

38 CBK

9. YEOVIL

38 CBK

WALSALL

29

10. LEYTON ORIENT

22 XXX

BRISTOR R.

31

11. PORT VALE

25 X0

12. CARLISLE

20 X1

13. COLCHESTER

21 XXX

14. NOTTS CO.

23 TIP

15. CHARLTON

13 NP

CARLISLE

20

ACB

16. PARTICK

45 XO

WALSALL

29

BCK

17. DUNDEE UTD

42 XOX

WIMBLEDON

30

CBK

18. ST. JOHNSTONE

46 XX

BRISTOL R.

31

DEP

19. OLDHAM

24 NN

20. TORQUAY

39 ??

NORWICH

5

}

X

PORT VALE

25

CCB CCB TIP TIP

BIG BELLS

EAT

By SAM EHEBHA GSM:08056626091

SATURDAY RITUALS

5 7 20 21 23

GOSSIP NAP

20 29 38

}

NAP

39 OUTLOOK

N 20

31 39

PAIR

IF NOT NOW WHEN?

5

A 31 P 38

16

THE NIGERIAN

27

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

EVERY WEDNESDAY, WEEK 15 2013 WATSON WEST 1.2.X FORECAST

By SAM EHEBHA GSM:08056626091

Your Star

EDITOR’S NAP

RICHWELL NAP

NAP 20 XX 20 XX 20 NAP 42 XX 42 XX 42 PAIR 5 Vs 18 PAIR 5 OR 39 GOODLUCK LET IT BE

PAIR 20 OR 25 WATCH OUT

PAKER NAP

NAP 38 XX 38 XX 38 PAIR 23 OR 21 BE A WINNER

NAP 16 XX 16XX 16 PAIR 20 OR 23 FOR SURE

PAUL NAP

ODION NAP

OKUNS NAP NAP 39 XX 39 XX 39

PAIR 17 OR 22 THERE IS HOPE

NAP 29 XX 29 XX 29 PAIR 7 OR 30 EXECUTIVE

J. B. NAP

SUNNY NAP NAP 13 XX 13 XX 13

MURPHY NAP

NAP 23 XX 23 XX 23 NAP 30 XX 30 XX 30 PAIR 31 OR 38 PAIR 45 0R 46 BE MY GUEST DRAW IS DRAW

GUESSING GAMES

46

7

42 8

@

13

SMOKING GUN BEWARE

3 4 6 8 9 13*

12 14* 18 23* 24 33 47 FOR THREE DRAWS?

THE NIGERIAN

28

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Ferguson Book Promises Explosive Revelations The football world is bracing itself for some typically brutal observations when Sir Alex Ferguson’s biography is released.

Ferguson’s view of Keane will be significant, with an expectant public really wanting to know the content of that infamous MUTV interview in 2005 which got pulled from the schedules because of the damning criticisms of so many young team-mates and eventually led to the Irishman’s abrupt exit.

And then there is Beckham, the most recognisable face of English football, scarred by a boot Ferguson sent flying across the Old Trafford dressing room,

While the contents have been kept a closely guarded secret, few expect Ferguson’s view of life since Manchester United’s historic 1999 Treble triumph to be bland.

Indeed, there is so much ground to be covered that barely a page will be turned without some fascinating insight from the man whose managerial career ended in May with a record 13th Premier League title.

With an afternoon press conference to follow, Ferguson will again capture attention in a way successor David Moyes can only dream of.

In an article on Saturday, journalist Paul Hayward, who was responsible for committing Ferguson’s words to print, stated: “Ferguson decided several years ago to revisit the upheavals of the past decade, and to examine how he maintained control in the face of changes in United’s ownership, the rise of player power and the new threats posed by Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea and the Middle-Eastern wealth of Manchester City.”

Hayward also stated Ferguson “recalls the great players he has managed”, listing Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, and “shares his thoughts on Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez”.

The last name itself gives an idea of what to expect.

In both public and private, Ferguson rarely had a good word to say about Benitez. He once described the Spaniard as “a baby” and will doubtless find many reasons to undermine Benitez, currently boss at Napoli, not least the failed attempt to prise Gabriel Heinze out of Old Trafford.

That is just one of a number of reasons to anticipate the book getting a frosty reception at Liverpool.

The fall-out from the racism row that ended with Luis Suarez getting an eight-match ban for abusing Patrice Evra should be covered, and that will not reflect well on Kenny Dalglish, with

whom Ferguson had previous history anyway.

Although his relations with Wenger eased considerably during the latter days of his Old Trafford reign, it will be interesting to see whether Ferguson touches on Arsenal’s failure to secure any silverware since the Gunners beat United in the 2005 FA Cup final, or the ‘Pizzagate’ row from 2004.

MANCHESTER City will aim to recover from their home defeat to Bayern Munich when they travel to Russia to face CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men are in need of putting away a sobering home defeat to the defending champions Bayern Munich when they make their

first trip to Russian soil.

The 3-1 defeat to the Bavarians split the group wide open and it now means the Citizens may have to compete with Leonid Slutski’s men for second place in Group D. The two outfits sit level on three points apiece, having both beaten Viktoria Plzen but falling

JOSE Mourinho believes Samuel Eto’o will continue improving after the Cameroonian opened his Chelsea account against Cardiff City.

The 32-year-old scored the

second goal as the Blues came back from a goal down to beat Cardiff 4-1 on Saturday and Mourinho believes this will improve his confidence.

Eto’o on target as Chelsea thrash Cardiff.

“Cardiff was good for him (Eto’o), not just for the goal but for his contribution,” said Mourinho.

“His movement was very good; in the first half when Cardiff was compact and closed he was the one in attacking positions with better movement and participation.

“It’s the goal that gives him the confidence, the extra motivation he needs, so normally now he is happier. He’s a very good player.

“He needs time, because in his career he played in Spain and Italy, a little bit in Russia, countries and championships different from the Premier League.

“Since the first day, he made an impact with the players. Everybody sees the fantastic quality he has in a little bit of time.”

Last season Eto’o scored 10 goals in 25 league appearances for Anzhi Makhachkala.

Evra Hints At United Departure indication as to what his next move will be, but it appears that his future past the end of 2013/14 lies outside of England.

Asked by Telefoot in France if he is concerned about his expiring contract at United, he said: “No, not at all.

“It is a personal thing. It is not that Manchester United do not want me to sign a new contract.

“Manchester United would like me to finish my career there, but this is something personal.”

Patrice Evra

Ramsey Confident Of Arsenal’s Title Chance Sir Alex Ferguson.

City Aim To Bounce Back In Moscow

Mourinho Backs Eto’o To Shine

Samuel Eto’o

and his relationship and subsequent marriage to a member of the Spice Girls.

Peter Kenyon’s part in failing to secure the services of Ronaldinho in 2003, the Football Association and referees are all fertile ground, and then there is Wayne Rooney.

Had Ferguson remained at Old Trafford, Rooney would surely have been shown the exit door. As it is Ferguson will need to tiptoe round the matter carefully so as not to cause Moyes any problems.

PATRICE Evra has hinted that he may leave Manchester United at the end of his current contract.

The French full-back’s current deal is due to expire at the end of the season.

United are reluctant to part with Evra’s considerable experience, with the 32year-old having spent the last seven years at Old Trafford - during which time he has helped to land five Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League crown.

David Moyes was, however, heavily linked with a couple of high-profile left-backs over the summer, with Everton’s Leighton Baines and Real Madrid’s Fabio Coentrao on his transfer radar.

He may be forced to step up that hunt in January, with Evra revealing that he is yet to agree fresh terms.

Speculation has suggested for some time that he could be tempted to return to France before hanging up his boots - with former employers Monaco and bigspending Paris St Germain reported to be keen.

Evra has offered no

short to Pep Guardiola’s Munich side.

Pellegrini’s cause hasn’t been aided in the absence of Vincent Kompany, who’ll once again be forced to stay at Platt Lane due to injury, while Fernandinho voiced his concern over the state of the pitch.

Heavy rainfall left the surface unplayable for three weeks and the Brazilians has admitted that he fears the field will affect their shortpassing game.

“I am worried about the pitch because our team try to play with the ball on the deck and if you don’t have a good pitch it could be very hard for us,” he told the Daily Mirror.

AARON Ramsey insists Arsenal are determined to try and build on their blistering start to claim their first Premier League title since 2004.

The Gunners sit top of the table having won six of their first eight matches, and defeated Norwich 4-1 on Saturday to go two points clear of London rivals Chelsea. And Ramsey, who scored his fifth league goal of the season in that win, admits life at the top brings a different kind of pressure than the Gunners are used to.

“The only way we can deal with being at the top is by taking every game as it comes,” said Ramsey.

“We need to make sure we give everything in every game and not hold back and

think any match is going to be easy.

“There’s an opportunity in every game to pick up points and we’re just concentrating on our own games at the moment and that’s proven in the start that we’re having.

“Other teams have struggled so far and teams are going to take points off each other so it’s important to keep focused on our own game.”

Aaron Ramsey

Januzaj Will Be A Utd Great -Jones

PHIL Jones has tipped Adnan Januzaj for Manchester United greatness after signing a new five-year contract.

The 18-year-old winger put pen to paper on a new deal at the weekend before producing an impressive performance in the 1-1 home draw with Southampton.

Januzaj had previously underlined his huge potential by scoring twice in the 2-1 win at

Sunderland earlier this month.

Jones, who started both games alongside Januzaj, told United’s official website: “He’s a terrific talent and it’s an old cliche but as long as he keeps his head down, he can do great things for the club.

“There’s massive pressure on him and he’s only a young kid but it’s testament

to him that he’s come in and done a great job.

“He threaded a brilliant ball for our goal against Southampton.

He was sharp, he has nimble feet and he’ll do great things for this club if he keeps working hard.

“He goes about his business quietly and if he keeps producing performances like that, he’ll be a real star.”

THE NIGERIAN

29

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Guardiola Visits Vilanova In Barcelona

PEP Guardiola paid a flying visit to Barcelona on Monday where he spoke with his friend and former Blaugrana colleague Tito Vilanova.

The pair first met as teenage youth players at Barca’s La Masia academy and went on to work successfully together with Guardiola manager and Vilanova his assistant during four trophy-laden seasons until Pep stepped down in summer 2011.

However their relationship was said to have cooled after Vilanova took over as Barca

boss, with some reports suggesting Tito had expected more support from his friend when he had to leave the job due to illness. The situation was also complicated by internal ‘feuding’ between camps associated with current Blaugrana president Sandro Rosell and his predecessor Joan Laporta.

According to Mundo Deportivo the current Bayern Munich coach flew into Barcelona via private jet on Monday morning to deal with

Four Serie A Sides Punished For Chants

AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Torino have all been handed suspended stadium bans as a result of discriminatory chanting.

Fans of the four clubs were deemed guilty of offensive chanting during the weekend, and three of the clubs — Milan, Inter and Roma — have been handed 50,000 euro fines. The sentences have all been suspended for one year.

Torino’s 3-3 draw with Inter had nearly been suspended as

visiting fans put the strict rules on discrimination to the test.

Milan, meanwhile, beat Udinese 1-0 at the San Siro in a match that had been due to be played behind closed doors due to previous incidents of discriminatory chanting until the Rossoneri fought to overturn the ruling.

Fans attending Roma’s 2-0 victory at home to Napoli were also deemed to have contravened the rules on chanting.

some personal matters, and then met with Vilanova for over three hours in the afternoon.

No details of their private conversation emerged — however the Catalan paper claimed they may have been clearing the air and letting bygones be bygones.

Mundo Deportivo also say that Barcelona’s board have decided to pay tribute to Vilanova via the usual fans ‘mosaic’ at the Camp Nou before Saturday’s La Liga Clasico against Real Madrid.

90,000 supporters are to hold up sheets of paper which together will read ‘Força Tito’ in a coordinated message of support.

Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova during their time together at Barcelona.

Paris Giants To Tackle Anderlecht

UNDISPUTED leaders of Group C in the UEFA Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain travel to Anderlecht on Wednesday in matchday three (Kick-off will be at 20h45 CAT).

The Parisians have recorded scoring seven goals for only two convincing wins against one conceded.

Olympiakos and Benfica, Meanwhile, the Belgium

David Villa Backed To Find Scoring Touch DIEGO Simeone has backed Atletico Madrid striker David Villa to end his current barren run soon.

Summer signing Villa began his Atletico career with a superb goal against his former side Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa in August, and soon netted against Real Sociedad and Almeria in La Liga, however Spain’s record goalscorer has now gone seven games without scoring.

Speaking ahead of Atletico’s Champions League group visit to Austria Vienna on Wednesday evening, the Argentine coach said he was not concerned about the situation as Villa’s class would soon show itself.

“He has spent his whole life scoring goals,” Simeone said.

“I am sure they will appear when they are most needed.

It is only a matter of time and he’s got my full backing.”

El Cholo admitted that Villa’s strike-partner Diego Costa may miss the game at the Ernst Happel Stadion with an ankle problem.

“He is with the group,” Simeone said. “Everyone except Leo [Baptistao] has come. We will evaluate the game from here. It is difficult for him to play, but there is still time before the game. He had some swelling and we will see how he responds.”

Simeone said he recognised Atletico’s own style in that of

Vienna, who are coached by former Albacete and Real Betis midfielder Nenad Bjelica.

“We have seen a very organised team, with some tactics and tools we use ourselves,” he said. “They make a very good collective effort. They have a strong spine and some tall players. It will be a difficult game. We hope to sort it out.”

Atletico come into the game with their unbeaten start to the season having unexpectedly ended with a 1-0 La Liga defeat at Espanyol last weekend.

That game was decided by an unfortunate own-goal from Colchoneros goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who said he and his teammates had already put the loss behind them.

“We go from game-togame,” Courtois said. “This is the next final for us. We want to win here too. What happened at Cornella can happen. But we are all feeling good to play this game.”

The on-loan Chelsea keeper said he expected the Austrian champions to be well drilled and provide a stiff test for Atletico.

“They are a very organised team and it is not easy to create chances against them,” Courtois said. “We must be focused because it will not be easy to beat them.”

David Villa

side have not collected a single point nor scored a single goal in the group stage so far.

New leaders of the French Ligue 1 following their 4-0 win over Bastia and Monaco’s setback on the ground of Sochaux, Laurent Blanc’s men are bursting with confidence and will go into this encounter as big favourites.

“We feel good, we play well. We have to keep it up in order to achieve our goals. We have regained momentum, the one we showed just before the break. The first game after an international break is always a little bit tricky. But we managed to deliver and we are in a positive trend for this European rendezvous against Anderlecht,” assured the Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Rock-bottom of their Group

C of the continental showpiece and not doing much better domestically, where they are only ranked fifth in the Jupiler Pro League standings, Anderlecht are also expecting a very tough game against the French giant.

“On paper we cannot compete with that club. PSG are a war machine. But we will play our heart out and try to cast doubt on the Parisians from the start,” declared Anderlecht’s Senegalese centre-back Cheikhou Kouyaté.

The Belgians will be without their first choice goalkeeper Silvio Proto, who is injured and will be replaced by Thomas Kaminsk, while Paris SaintGermain will travel without Christophe Jallet, Javier Pastore and Thiago Silva.

team and to do the Real Madrid shirt proud every

minute that they’re on the field.”

Pepe Urges Respect For Juventus REAL Madrid defender Pepe says they can’t afford to single out any players ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Juventus.

The Bianconeri will be looking for their first win in the competition having started their campaign with draws against FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

Antonio Conte’s side also gave up a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 to Fiorentina in the Serie A this past weekend but the Portuguese defender believes they have too much quality in their squad.

“We have to respect all of their players,” Pepe told

reporters.

“They have key players like Buffon and Pirlo, but I think the most important thing about them is the team as a whole.

“I hope that we are strong.

Juve are one of Europe’s and Italy’s big teams. They have two Champions League titles and great footballers. I hope it is a good match and that the fans enjoy it.

“The game could go either way because we are two great teams. I hope it’s a good match, that the fans enjoy it and that as players we also can enjoy it out on the field.

“The key to winning is to keep fighting, playing as a

Kleper Pepe

THE NIGERIAN

30

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Serena Williams Aims To End 2013 On High In Instanbul

ISTANBUL Serena Williams’ verdict that she is “a bit disappointed” with her 2013 season indicates her urgency to overtake the 18 Grand Slam titles of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert and to get on with chasing Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22. longest US Open women’s singles final in 30 years last Whether the 32-year-old possibilities.” still has time to achieve that Retaining the title this week month. “Serena’s still not may be suggested by her will be a great momentum done.”

The Belarusian also performances at the season- builder for her off-season ending climax, the WTA work — increasingly suggested that the American Championships which starts important as Williams gets now focuses more intensely, on Tuesday. older — just as it was, she and raises her level more It was an extraordinarily says, when she regained the critical self-judgement by title at the 2012 WTA Williams on a season in which Championships. she has won another two Williams is probably a Grand Slam titles and taken stronger favourite now than her total to 17 — perhaps then, partly because of the caused by a fear that time is absence of Maria Sharapova, short. who is rehabilitating her More than that, Williams vulnerable shoulder. has lost only four matches, The player most capable of taken her career earnings past upsetting her is Victoria $50 million, and become the Azarenka who has no doubt oldest woman to hold the over where the American world number one ranking. stands in the history of the She claims not to be mindful sport. of such records, but “She can be the greatest of nevertheless volunteered that: all time,” Azarenka reckoned “I’m excited about the after losing to Williams in the

dangerously when it really matters.

Judging from the Grand Slam wins in Paris and New York, that level is sometimes higher than ever. On the evidence of setbacks at Melbourne and Wimbledon it

can also be variable.

Williams has lost twice to Azarenka this year — in Doha in February the day after having regained the number one ranking from her rival — and in Cincinnati in August after leading for most of the match.

Mazembe Trio Passport Case Quashed ZAMBIA’S home affairs minister has cleared Rainford, Kalaba, Stopilla Sunzu and Nathan Sinkala and returned their passports.

Home affairs minister Edger Lungu on October 22 ordered that there was a lack of evidence that Kalaba, Sinkala and Sunzu entered DR Congo illegally on October 12.

This is after the trio allegedly sneaked out of Zambia after a botched attempt to secure their release by FAZ for Chipolopolo’s October 15 friendly against Brazil in Beijing.

“A report was done by the Immigration Department and found that there was no evidence that the players had crossed the border into the

Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Home Affairs spokesperson Moses Suwali.

“If our officers had wanted they could have gone to DRC to verify but there was no evidence to warrant that action.

“Arising from that report, the minister this morning ordered the release of the players’ passports and that they return to their club and continue enjoying their careers.”

Mazembe refused to release the trio for the friendly stating that Sunzu was injured while Kalaba and Sinkala had Malaria.

The trio has been holed up in Zambia since October 18 after immigration officials detained them briefly in Ndola when they were warned and cautioned before the state withdrew the player’s passports.

Nathan Sinkala, Rainford Kalaba and Stopilla Sunzu

Serena Williams

Azarenka, at her best, has a chance of repeating these successes, because she has a big game and the boldness to try to impose it.

“Against her you have to take risks,” Azarenka says, “because she will (do that), and she will do that really well.”

But Azarenka will need to recover from a disappointing build-up to the WTA Championships. The world number two lost in the second round in Tokyo, where she had been feeling unwell, and in the first round in Beijing, where she served 15 double faults.

The other six qualifiers in an eight-player field are Agnieszka Radwanska, the former Wimbledon finalist from Poland, Li Na, the Chinese pioneer who reached her third Grand Slam final in Melbourne this year and Petra Kvitova, the 2011 WTA Championships winner.

The field is made up of Sara Errani, the Italian who also tops the world rankings in doubles, Jelena Jankovic, the former world number one from Serbia, and Angelique Kerber, the German who won her first title of the year immediately after becoming the last player to qualify.

Goal-Line Tech Not Good Enough - DFL THE German Football League (DFL) has ruled out the introduction of goal-line technology in the wake of Bayer Leverkusen’s ‘ghost goal’ due to the standard of the available systems.

Leverkusen claimed a 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim at the weekend as a result of Stefan Kiessling’s 70th-minute goal, which came after his header had missed the target but crept through the side netting.

Hoffenheim have called for the game to be replayed, but the

German FA (DFB) has said it will abide by FIFA rules, which state that the referee’s decision is final once play has restarted.

The matter has led to renewed discussion over the introduction of goal-line technology, with the German broadsheet Sueddeutsche Zeitung proposing the use of either Hawk-Eye — now used in England’s Premier League as well as sports such as tennis and cricket — or GoalControl, which FIFA tested successfully during the Confederations Cup and will use during next summer’s World Cup. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said at a news conference on Monday: “If I was working in the German Bundesliga — and you are one of the European countries that is not in economical problems — I don’t understand why you don’t spend a few million to bring technology on the line.

“If it was the Portuguese or the Greek league, I would say no chance, but with the German one, I don’t know why you don’t do it.”

However, DFL general manager Andreas Rettig has told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that, as things stand, the options remain inadequate.

“We are not against technological progress, but we are talking about a highly complex system here, which might still be failure-prone,” he said. “The 3cm margin of error allowed by FIFA is not acceptable for us.”

Rettig cited the example of Ukraine’s Marko Devic, who had not been awarded a goal against England at Euro 2012 despite his shot bouncing 2.6cm over the line, adding: “Imagine the uproar if the goal-line technology had not signalled a goal.”

Kiessling, meanwhile, has told Leverkusen’s official website that the criticism he has faced has been “pretty hard”.

The striker appeared to realise he had missed but, according to reports, failed to tell the referee when questioned on the matter.

He has faced abuse on social media and his behaviour has been the subject of scrutiny in the

media.

“Everyone takes it for granted that I should have seen and admitted it,” Kiessling said. “I don’t know how the ball got into the goal. I was also pretty surprised.”

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, have announced that they will auction the ‘ghost goal’ netting for charity.

“The netting has cause a lot of controversy and anger. Doing something for a good cause is a good way of compensating for the damage,” Hoffenheim general manager Peter Rettig — no relation to the DFL’s Andreas Rettig — told Bild.

SENEGAL’S 2002 World Cup stars Aliou Cisse and El Hadji Diouf have paid tribute to late exTeranga Lions coach Bruno Metsu.

Metsu, 59 died on October 14 in France after battle with Cancer and was put to rest in Dakar, Senegal on October 21.

The Frenchman led Senegal to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals in their debut appearance at the tournament.

“Coach, we are very proud to have been part of who made you discover Senegal, the Teranga country that you have loved so much. Coach, I am very proud to have been the captain of our great team that you understood so well,” Cisse said in his tribute to his former boss.

“On behalf of all my team mates of the 2002 generation, the Senegalese people are grieving

you as they did for Mansour Wade, Jules François Bocandé, Demba Sagna and so many others.

“I have always called you coach with a lot of respect and trust, I would simply like to say: Thank you coach.”

And two-time African Footballer of the Year, Diouf, said Metsu will forever remain a legend as his late former Senegal assistant coach Jules Bocandé who died in 2012.

“Bruno is not just a friend. He is a brother and a father to me.

He managed to unveil my potential,” Diouf said.

“He made me so everybody took notice of me. His passing away is a tragedy for France, for Senegal.”

Diouf, Cisse Salute Metsu

THE NIGERIAN

31

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

Relegated 3SC To Sack Coach

Eguma Happy With Dolphins STANLEY Eguma, the Head Coach of Dolphins FC on Monday said he felt relieved at the conclusion of the 2012/2013 league season, in spite of his club’s average performance.

Eguma however told newsmen in Lagos that the club would work extra hard during the off-season period.

“This is to ensure a better performance in the forthcoming 2013/2014 season,’’ he said.

Dolphins finished the 2012/ 2013 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season in the ninth position with 52 points from 38 games played.

The coach said it was an average performance from the team as they did not accomplish all they set out to achieve.

“We wanted to win the league and grab a continental ticket, but things happened differently. We started well, but we were not consistent enough.

“But I’m grateful we are still in the league and we will definitely get back to work on bettering the team for next season,’’ Eguma said.

In his assessment of the performance of the League Management Company (LMC), he told newsmen the body made some significant improvements, and added that there was still room for improvement.

“I give kudos to the LMC for the efforts they have put in. They made some good adjustments to the league as a whole and that is impressive.

“In the aspect of organisation and sanity in the league, they did well as there was no room for compromise and selling of matches,’’ Eguma said.

The coach however said there were certain aspects of the competition which the LMC should endeavor to address in the forthcoming season.

“They need to work on their decision-making processes. All the laid-down rules and regulations should be followed and the officiating should be more transparent.

“Although they (LMC) tried on the television rights issue, there should be equity. That is, it should be extended to every club in the league so that many matches can be televised.

“Security at match venues should also be a priority for the LMC. They should endeavour to approve only venues which can ensure good football flow and adequate security,’’ Eguma said.

He also commended the LMC for ending the league in a credible manner which has portrayed the league as competitive.

“They made it possible for the league to end in an appropriate way, and all the winners and the teams relegated teams were known on the final day. This shows the competitiveness of the league.

“But I look forward to a better packaged league in the upcoming season,’’ the Dolphins coach added.

Nigeria’s Ex-International, Victor Igbinoba of Zuid Sports International (right) presenting a tournament logo plaque to Hon. Morris Okunrobo Ovia, Executive Chairman, Ovia South-West LGA and Chairman LOC, Edo State 2013 Local Government Football Tournament.

Zuid Sports Int’l To Host Local Football Tourney

THE management of Zuid Sports International, organizers of 2013 Edo Local Government Football Tournament have pledged their determination to partner with government at all levels to enhance sports development in Edo State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

Mr. Victor Igbinoba, Nigeria’s Okunrobo commended their Ex-International made this known effort aimed at restoring Edo when led other officials of Zuid state as the “Sports Mecca” of Sports International on a courtesy the nation.

He noted that the Edo State visit to the Executive Chairman of Ovia South-West Local Local Government Football Government Council, Hon. Tournament has the potential to Morris Okunrobo Ovia, who is stimulate sports development at also the chairman of the Local the grassroots, in view of the Organising Committee (LOC) of calibre of persons involved in promoting the idea. the tournament.

He subsequently pledged the Receiving the organisers in his office at Iguobazuwa, Hon. support of the 18 local

government councils in the state, just as he stressed the importance of making the tournament the best ever in the country and also as an annual championship.

Responding on behalf of Zuid Sports International, Mr. Victor Igbinoba, an ex-international and a member of the all-conquering 1985 Golden Eaglets, promised to use the tournament in changing the face of football in Edo state.

Igbinoba also disclosed that all players taking part in the tournament will have a comprehensive insurance policy and proper welfare.

He said the football tournament

The team’s Head Coach, Peter Dedevbo, was quoted in the statement as saying that the team was ready to go, after two weeks of intense training.

“Surely, we are ready for the Sierra Leoneans; I have the girls to do the job and I can assure Nigerians that we will make the nation proud,” Dedevbo was quoted as saying.

It will be recalled that the Falconets’ best outing at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup include a runner-up position at the 2010 finals in Germany as well as a semi-final place in Japan last year.

The team had also reached quarter final berths in 2004, 2006 and 2008 championships.

Meanwhile, CAF has appointed Kenyan referee Damaris Kimani, to take charge of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and South Sudan.

A statement from CAF said the encounter, whose first leg would take place in Juba would also have Kenya’s Jane Cherono and Mary Njoroge as assistant referees one and two.

It said that Agneta Napangor also from Kenya would serve as the reserve referee, while Ugandan Aisha Natule would be the Match Commissioner.

The statement said further that South Sudan would host the first leg on the weekend of Nov. 1 to 3 with the Flamingos hosting the return leg in Abuja on November.

23.

which is billed to hold in November, 2013 will have the 18 local government area football teams chase the coveted prizes of N1 million for 1 st place, N500,000 for 2 nd place, N300,000 for 3rd place winners and lots of other individual prizes and awards.

The tournament will climax with a Gala/Award Night in Benin City.

RELEGATED Shooting Stars are set to fire coach Hakeem Busari as they embark on “a massive reorganisation” for an instant return to the top flight.

Shooting Stars finished bottom of the Nigeria league on Sunday and management board member Tunde Kelani told MTNFootball.com that they plan a massive reorganisation of the famous club to ensure they return immediately to the top league.

“We have already begun a massive reorganisation of the club because we do not belong in the second division and we need to start getting results,” said Kelani.

“We we need at this time is everyone’s support and not sabotage. There is strength in unity and commitment.

“We hope we can return to the premier league after one season in the lower division.”

MTNFootball.com gathered that Busari, who was confirmed head coach in the course of the season, will be shown the exit door along with his assistants led by Tunde Odubola aka Coach Zico.

Shooting Stars spent two seasons in the second division when they were relegated in 2006.

Falconets, Flamingoes Set For W/Cup Qualifying Matches

THE U-20 Women National team, the Falconets will on October. 26 in Abuja play their Sierra Leone counterparts in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying match.

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals are scheduled to hold next year’s in Canada, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 25.

According to a statement issued

by Ademola Olajire, the Media Officer of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Nigeria will face Sierra Leone, following the withdrawal of Burkina Faso from the qualifiers.

The statement said that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had appointed Ross Leopoldina Dayves from Guinea Bissau as referee for the match, scheduled for the National Stadium, Abuja.

Biague Deolinda Amancio and Mariza Antonio Gomes also from Guinea Bissau had also been appointed as assistant referees one and two, respectively.

“Fadouma Dia from Senegal will be the reserve referee while Helena Williams from Ghana will serve as Match Commissioner,’’ the statement said.

Hakeem Busari

16 States For Para-Soccer Competition

THE Para-soccer Federation of Nigeria (PFN) on Monday said that I6 states would participate in the forthcoming maiden edition of the International Polio Para-Soccer competition slated to hold in Abuja.

The competition would hold from October. 23 to October. 29.

Femi Afolanyan, the PFN’s National Coach, told NAN in Lagos that the aim of the competition was to create more awareness for the sport in the country.

Afolanyan added that the competition would also help to

serve as a campaign for the eradication of the dreaded polio scourge in the country.

“Preparation for the competition is in top gear. 16 states in the country will partake in the maiden edition of the tournament.

“What we want to achieve with this competition is to create awareness about polio and to also promote para-soccer in the country,’’ he said.

On the proposed para-soccer league, the coach told NAN that the logistics were still being worked out for its eventual takeoff in 2014.

He said that the commencement would boost the profile of the sport in the country.

The coach also appealed for support from both government and private organisations, to popularise the sport in the country.

THE NIGERIAN

32

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013 CMYK

End ASUU Strike

If you are a student and you are sitting in front of your father’s television set in the dark instead of being in front of a lecturer getting a degree, you are a fool.

But foolishness is curable.If you are willing to take your fate in your hands, here is my foolproof five-day plan for getting your life back.

There is no shedding of blood or destruction of property, but you will rise from being a spectator in your own sport and put on the jersey to play in it.

There are a few assumptions: that you are outraged at the games that are being played with your life and want to return to school; that you worship nobody who has a last name; and that you are in touch with at least one other student who also wants to live, not die.

To begin with, there are two people in Abuja who are answering your name. The first answers the title of Senator; the other, Representative, powerful titles in your name.

In your name, as you probably know, they earn the fattest salaries of their kind in the world. In your name, they earn the fattest allowances, live in the best homes, and drive the most luxurious official cars.

They do all of this, and more, because they represent you, your family and your larger community. Most of them lie about this, of course, because in Abuja the dog in the hunt hunts for the dog.The time has come to call in the debt.

In the Upper House, there are 109Senators.

Most are expired and discredited ex-this and ex-that who smuggled themselves into the premises somehow.

They are there because the law recognizes them as the legitimate representative of a certain chunk of the Nigerian population. One of those chunks is yours.

And then there is the House, which is made up of 360 men and women, each representing

another defined chunk of Nigeria known as a constituency. You are in one of them, and are known as a constituent.

Under this plan, you can change your own life in a few days by changing the

numbers. That is an insulting thing for a federal legislator to do, because it suggests he is in Abuja for himself and that he works for himself. Again, he works for his constituency or district. He works for

concerned student in Abuja and have them drop copies off at the National Assembly.

Day Two: Write to the Dynamic Duo again. Ask what has been done in response to your distress

President Goodluck Jonathan lives of these powerful men and women. They work for you, remember that, so make them earn it.

I have one more assumption: that you know the website of the National Assembly.

It is: www.nassnigeria.org. You will find mug shots of your Senator and Representative there.

They address themselves as HonourableThisPerson or ThatPerson, myths that are often very powerful when unchallenged by citizens who lack get-upand-go.

If you take a moment to study that website, you will notice that the Senators and Representatives are effectively hiding in the open.They have meaningless email a d d r e s s e s (senatecontact@nass.gov.ng o r repscontact@nass.gov.ng).

To use them is to put a message into a bottle and throw it into the Atlantic.

What is worse is that they do not list their telephone

you, and now you have a good reason to remind him.

Day One: Write two letters, one to each of them. Identify yourself as a student from his constituency who needs his help to return to school within the week by ensuring that the government resolves the ASUU strike immediately.

Tell him that you are asking for urgent and substantive involvement, not platitudes.

If you have writing or technology skills, use the Internet. Publish a blog.

Use whatever email address you can find for them, including the general one I have listed here. Drop a copy off at his homes in the area. Send a copy to your favourite newspaper and website.

You will be ignored.

Chances are that your mail will not be read at all, but give the Senator and Representative the benefit of the doubt and send the letter anyway. Find a friend, relative, or

complaint.

Remind them that they work for you. Tell them that you are not asking for a favour; you are simply demanding that they do their work, which is to present your best interests as a constituent at the seat of power. Stress that you simply want to return to school.

Tell them you expect them to work with their colleagues as a House, or as the institution known as the National Assembly, to intercede with the executive to resolve the ASUU impasse right away, and that this is your instruction as your representative. They work for you, but if you do not remind them, they forget, conveniently.

Day Three: Write an open letter to both constituencies. If you are in touch with other students in the area, you can pen a joint letter. Complain to other constituents about the situation and that you simply desire to return to

school with no further delay. Ask for their help to put pressure on the Senator and Representative. They, too, can write to the Senator or call him. Many of them know his family. They can inform his wife his homestead is in tumult.

Use text messages and social media to broadcast your complaint and request that people forward to others.

Crank it up: Publish the Senator’s phone number; he is a public servant.

Publish the Representative’s phone number; he is a public servant.

It is no excuse that they have not listed their numbers; these distinguished servants of the people ought to have publicly-listed phones. In any case, within your constituency, you are creative enough to find it.

Encourage the public to call him, especially between 6p.m. and 6a.m.Sleep deprivation is a legitimate weapon of conflict.

If you can find their phone numbers, you can probably also find their private email addresses. Publish them as well and encourage everyone with Internet access to write to write or forward their messages to them several times a day.

The mailbox will probably fill up and be rendered useless. Damage is also a legitimate weapon of conflict.

Day Four: Write to the distinguished Senator and Representative again. Tell them about your efforts to reach them for help, but you must demonstrate this.

You know their homes, don’t you? If not, all you have to do is ask within the area.

So crank it up a little more: List all the glittering new fortresses where you have left letters for him or are planning to leave letters for him. In order to ensure he believes you, state the address and location of each mansion, and list all the cars you can see parked in them.

By Day Five, your Senator and your Representative would certainly have changed their phones.

But remember, if your friends have also been busy, nationwide, there will be millions of people, 469 of them federal legislators, who will be grasping the meaning of democracy for the first time.

Your school may not magically have reopened, but you would have reinvented the entire political terrain, a lesson that will be available at future elections, and inbetween.

They work for you.

• sonala.olumhense@gmail.com • T w i t t e r : @SonalaOlumhense

TOMORROW ON THIS PAGE

“

On the debit side, Chief Anenih has a kinsman who is disorganizing everything in the opposite direction. To this kinsman, every season is harvesting season. He eats the tuber and the seed yams, oblivious of the coming of any planting season. Give him N100 to organise. He would eat N99 and organise with N1.

To him, immediate personal gratification rather than organizational group success is the name of the game.

In local parlance, such is called “Tako-tako”.

”

-Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan

Printed and published by Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, 24, Airport Road, P.M.B. 1334 Benin City. Telephone; Lagos: 01 4930929, Benin: 052 257492, 257531 Editor: BARR. SOLOMON IMONHIOSEN (07030699646), Deputy General Manager- Marketing (08023457566), Assistant General Manager- Advertisement (08023808856) Lagos Office: 3/4 Amode Close, Kudirat Abiola Way, By Olusosun Bus Stop, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. Abuja Office: Floor 1, Edo House, 75 Ralph Shodeinde Street, Central Business District, Abuja. Tel/Fax: 09-5237631.

All correspondence to: 24 Airport Road, Benin City. E-mail: nigerianobserver@yahoo.com (ISSN 0331-2674)