Sunday observer 20 04 2014

CMYK

The Sunday

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968

ENCOUNTER

• Vol. XI NO.4,044 •

SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 20 14 • N 100.00

NATION

Pg. 7

‘I Became An Instrument Through Which Traditional Medicine Was De-mystified’

Terrorism Where Lies The Destiny Of A Peaceful Nigeria?

Pgs. 12/13

Easter Message

We’ll Overcome All Retrogressive Forces Jonathan Assures Nigerians

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reiterated his unshaken belief in the ability of the nation to overcome all retrogressive and divisive forces.

The president, who stated this in his Easter message to the nation, said that Nigerians have the potential to turn the nation’s unique diversity

into a source of strength in building a strong, united and prosperous country.

Jonathan said that his administration would

continue to work with all interest groups and stakeholders in the country to achieve the peaceful, secure and politically stable

conditions essential for rapid socio-economic development.

“In spite of the evil machinations of

terrorists, criminals and their collaborators, our administration remains ardently focused on efforts to successfully

execute the Federal Government’s Agenda for National Transformation.

“We have already

made notable advances in this regard.

“As a result of our efforts and those of Continues on pg.2

Police Vow To Unmask Killers Of Ikponmwosa

BY ROLAND OSAKUE

THE Police in Benin are making frantic efforts to unravel the killing of one Ikponmwosa, who was allegedly murdered at his friend’s residence in Benin City.

Ikponmwosa, 38, a bricklayer was said to have met his untimely death in the hands of his assailant at No.1,

Idemudia Street, Off Osamwonyi Street, Upper Sokponba Road in the state capital.

According to reports, the deceased had finished his paid job on that penultimate Saturday when he chose to visit his friend where he could unwind for a while, when he met his sudden death.

The SUNDAY OBSERVER gathered

ISSUES

that the scene of crime which hitherto accommodated a high influx of young boys, who were mainly gamblers from within the area became deserted after the dastardly act.

When our correspondent visited the scene, the area was relatively calm, even as the doorpost of the Continues on pg.2 Pg. 8

Intensifying The Campaign Against Oil Theft In Niger Delta

VENERATION: Cross section of Catholic faithful during the veneration of the Cross at Sacred Heart Parish, Gwagwalada in Abuja weekend.

SOCIETY

Parenting Pg. 15

HEALTHY LIVING

Pg. 27

Health Benefits Of Guava

Jonathan Assures Nigerians

Continued from pg.1 previous administrations, the Nigerian economy is now the largest in Africa and the 26th largest in the world,” he said.

The president, however, noted that the nation could not afford to rest on its oars as much remained to be done.

He said government would continue to count on the patriotic support of all Nigerians as it made efforts to achieve more inclusive economic growth, generate more national wealth and create more employment opportunities.

Jonathan commended the leadership and delegates at the ongoing National Conference as well as the vast majority of Nigerians who had shown patriotic commitment to national unity, peace and progress.

“As the conference breaks

into committees to continue its deliberations, it remains our hope and expectation that the end result will be meaningful and enduring contributions toward strengthening national unity and fulfilling our collective desire for a better and greater nation,” he said.

The president used the occasion to once again commiserate with all the families who had lost relatives in recent terrorist attacks.

“Our thoughts and sympathies remain with all those who have suffered injuries from the heinous attacks.

“We pray for their speedy recovery and shall keep on doing everything possible to assist them with required medical services and material support,” he said.

The president assured that the armed forces and

Continued from pg.1 house where the tragedy occurred was now being occupied by a female dog which just had puppies and have apparently prevented people from entering the house.

The sisters of the late Ikponmwosa, Precious and Queen Obamwonyi who led newsmen to the house could not exactly narrate what led to the death of their brother, as they explained that they only got wind of the sad news after the crime had been committed.

They however, appealed

to government and law enforcement agents to track down the killers of their brother.

Meanwhile, the Police Spokesman in Benin, Mr. Moses Eguavoen confirmed the incident and explained that the Command have arrested the said friend of the deceased who is assisting them with useful information.

Eguavoen, however, advised the people to remain calm, as the Command had spread out its dragnets to fish out the perpetrators.

Killers Of Ikponmwosa

Gladys

security agencies would continue to do their best to curb such attacks and restore full security to all parts of the country.

He, however, urged every Nigerian to be more alert and vigilant.

Jonathan also called on them to give the security agencies all possible assistance, support and cooperation they require to achieve more effective protection of lives and property across the country.

“We shall continue to count on your support and prayers for greater peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in Nigeria.

“May God Almighty bless our dear nation and guide us, always,” he said.

The president further extended greetings to the Christian faithful celebrating Easter commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He urged all Nigerians to reflect on the significance of its lessons of piety, obedience to higher authorities and self sacrifice for the good of others.

“I also urge you to reflect on the significance of its lessons of redemption, salvation, deliverance, renewal and the ultimate triumph of good over evil,’’ he said.

He urged them to reflect on the lessons of Easter and other injunctions on brotherly love, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, honesty, humility, justice, equity and fairness to all without discrimination as contained in the gospels.

UGBINEH Community in Oduna ward, Ovia North East Local Government Area will today install Pa. Eniwindomwanto John Osayande, aka Ogionmen as the 15th Odionwere of the ancient and legendary community.

This was disclosed in a press release signed on behalf of the elders’ council of Ugbineh community by Mr. Robinson Osatamwen.

It will be recalled that

John The solemnisation of marriage between former Miss Gladys Iyare (a businesswoman) and Mr. John Osagie (based in Canada) took place on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at the Oredo Local Government Council Marriage Registry in Benin City. Amongst those present were Mr. Starlin Ogbewe, Mr. & Mrs. Moses Iyare (bride’s parents), Mr. Darlington Ehi Ekhovbiye, Hon. Charles Ogbewe, family members, relations, friends and well wishers. Picture shows the couple at the Registry. Congratulations! Photo: SONNIE E.

Ugbineh community in Benin History is significant in the sense that the British soldiers encountered Benin Chiefs at the said community and the relics of that encounter, are still there at Ugbineh till this day.

Similarly the spot in which Oba Ovonranmen stepped

down at Ugbineh on his way to Calabar is also a spot of historical importance.

Meanwhile, sons and daughters of Ugbineh extraction are expected to grace the occasion today, just as many side attractions have been lined up to make the occasion lively.

lives and make them flee their homes. He the Lord is the owner of the world and there is no use killing one another over vanity”.

Apostle Omorodion said God, especially wants, ‘Men of God’, as preachers and

cancel anything that could cause war”.

He said there is nothing too difficult for the Lord and to avert the looming danger, Nigerians should humble themselves and seek the face of the Lord.

AN expert on energy issues, Dr Muhammad Dewu, says nuclear technology is safe and cheaper in addressing the nation’s power challenges.

Speaking with newsmen yesterday in Abuja Dewu said nuclear application could be used in education, water, industrial and health sectors.

“Nuclear application is very safe and cheap in the long run; relatively safe, in fact the safest I will say, a lot of other benefits are also associated with it.

“When you talk about nuclear, there are other applications you can use it for; power generation is just

a small component of it.

“So, if you do not do nuclear you lose out in all these components. “ For example, I can tell you how much actually of Nigeria’s money goes out into the world to be able to get radio isotopes for the treatment of cancer patients. “ By the time you have such plants, such facilities, we should be able to produce our own radio isotopes and you can treat patients in the country,’’ he said.

Dewu, however, admitted that there could be some risks associated with the technology from the generation of radioactive waste.

By RAYMOND OSOGBE

Nigerians Urged To Shun War teachers of his word to, “also for this country in Mongering intercede their respective ministry to

AS the world marks the Easter, Nigerians have been called upon to desist from evil acts such as the shedding of innocent blood capable of leading the country into war and disintegration.

General Overseer, Deliverance Healing Miracle Church of God,Senior Apostle Matthew Omorodion made the call during the Good Friday service in Benin City.

He said the shedding of innocent blood and the cry of Nigerians has reached the ears of God who asked him to, “Tell Nigerians to be careful and repent from their evil ways”.

The preacher said God is aware of, “The plans by these evil perpetrators to block roads and shed innocent blood in this country and he is hereby warning this evil sect to jettison these plans or they shall be destroyed by earthquake”.

“God is warning all Nigerians to desist from acts that are capable of leading to war; that would claim many

Nuclear Technology Safe, Cheaper - Expert

Sophia

Victoria

Weds

Ugbineh Community Installs Odionwere Today

Weds Eddy The solemnisation of marriage between former Miss Victoria Oyemwen Enehizena (a businesswoman) and Mr. Eddy Osagie (a businessman) took place on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at the Oredo Local Government Council Marriage Registry in Benin City. Amongst those present were Mr. Monday Osagie, Mr. Vincent Enehizena, family members, relations, friends and well wishers. Picture shows the couple at the Registry. Congratulations! Photo: SONNIE E.

Weds Grossi The solemnisation of marriage between former Miss Osaro Blessy Sophia and Mr. Fausto Grossi (based in Italy) took place on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at the Oredo Local Government Council Marriage Registry in Benin City. Amongst those present were Mr. Lucky Idemudia, Mr. Osaro Osaguwu Amenaghawon, family members, relations, friends and well wishers. Picture shows the couple at the Registry. Congratulations! Photo: SONNIE E.

NEWS

Easter: Esama Calls For Sober Reflection, Prayers

BY MATTHEW OKAGHA

THE Patriarch of the House of Igbinedion and Esama of Benin Kingdom, His Excellency, Sir Chief Dr. Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion has urged Christians to use the opportunity offered by the

Easter celebration to reflect on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

The Esama in a goodwill message to Nigerians on the auspicious occasion of Easter, said the occasion calls for sober reflections and total submission to the

will of God Almighty who sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to redeem humanity from the consequences of sin and eternal damnation.

Chief Igbinedion noted

that current events across the world and particularly in Nigeria, makes it imperative for Christians to pray for divine intervention in the affairs of men.

The Esama prayed for

the repose of the innocent souls who perished in last Monday’s bomb blast in Abuja, adding that Nigeria and indeed the world, was at a crossroad.

He reminded the perpetrators of he dastardly act that every life is precious in the sight of God and urged them to refrain from evil acts.

The Esama who will clock 80 this year, said he was rededicating his life to the service of God and humanity, and appealed to all who love God to help ensure sanity in their immediate communities by preserving the sanctity of life.

He wishes all a peaceful Easter Celebration.

Paediatrician Advises Parents To Check Children’s Eyes At Birth DR. Kunle Otuneye, a Paediatrician, has advised parents to always have their children’s eyes examined at birth to detect any problem and treat accordingly.

Otuneye, who works with the National Hospital, Abuja, said that early treatment of eye defect such as cataract could prevent complications that might occur in old age.

He said that early eye check was essential as it would assist in detecting structural abnormalities that could result in cataract.

Cataracts are cloudy patches in the lens of the eye that can make vision blurred or misty.

According to him, cataracts most commonly

Traders at the burnt Mile 1 Market for Easter shopping in Port Harcourt weekend.

Boko Haram: Don’t Lose Hope On Nigeria, Analyst Advises

By HAMEED BRIAMAH

NIGERIANS have been advised not to lose hope in the unity and progress of Nigeria following the challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgents and mass corruption in the land.

Rather, according to Mr. Pius Okan, a Public Affairs Analyst, Nigerians should keep faith in the continued existence of the country as one indivisible, and peaceful entity with the potentials of achieving greatness in all facets of the economy.

Speaking with the Sunday OBSERVER exclusively in his office, against the backdrops of renewed bombings in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja and endless killings of innocent

• Pius Okan

Nigerians across the violence stricken North East and North Central States, Mr. Okan called on Nigerians to earnestly pray to God for solution to the country’s challenges.

Besides, Mr. Okan urged the Federal Government to deploy its intelligence agencies to unmasks sponsors of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, insisting that the government must make deliberate efforts to cut off the sources of finances for the insurgents who appear to be unrelenting in their violent operations in the North-east.

He advised the government to re-examine some of the comments credited to some politicians in the north who had threatened to make the country ungovernable should they fail to achieve their political ambitions in the build up to the 2011 Presidential election.

He did not however rule out the possibility of the Boko Haram group getting support from international terror groups and their financials, but urged the Government to find a means of unraveling their local

sponsors as this was the only way the insurgency could be uprooted from the country.

Mr. Okan who is also a petrol dealer called for concerted efforts from Nigerians irrespective of their partisan political affiliations to stamp out this monster called Boko Haram which has given the country negative image in the

international community.

He decried attempts by some politicians to play politics with the lives of innocent Nigerians who had been caught unfortunately in the marauding attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents, and advised such politicians to come up with suggestions that could lead to the elimination of the insurgents from our shores.

On corruption which has become endemic in our national life, Mr. Okan advised public office holders not to see their elevations to power as an opportunity to amass wealth which ultimately they might not even need.

He stressed that positions of authority confers a responsibility on the individual which he must meet to the service and wellbeing of the citizenry and not the other way round.

PDP Urges Nigerians To Pray For The Nation At Easter

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians, irrespective of their religious persuasions to use the occasions of Good Friday and Easter celebrations to pray for the nation.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr. Olisa Metuh, PDP National Publicity Secretary, in Abuja at the weekend.

Metuh also urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves to the values that unite and bind all citizens as one people under one God. Metuh said Nigeria was

blessed with human and natural resources that could be harnessed for the good of all, if the citizens learnt to live together in peace and harmony.

The party spokesman stressed that Nigerians as peace-loving people had shown resilience and determination to live together and succeed as a people.

He expressed the hope that the nation would surely overcome its challenges as exemplified in the triumph of Jesus Christ over death.

Metuh, therefore, urged Nigerians to use this year’s

Easter celebrations to permanently put behind themselves all divisive tendencies and focus only on the good of the nation and the welfare of one another.

“Let us use this Easter to rededicate ourselves to all the things that bind us together. Our continuous peace and unity remain nonnegotiable.

“Let old things be passed away and let all things be new as we join hands together to ensure that the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain,” he said.

develop in adults as a result of ageing, while some children are born with cataracts, or can also develop it while growing.

“Some cataracts are due to congenital problems, while some could be as a result of error in metabolism, maybe there are some things that the baby is eating that are not digested properly.

“Some cataracts can be as a result of growth in the eyes, or it might just be that the child was born with it.

“The possible cause of cataracts can be a genetic fault inherited from the child’s parents that caused the lens to develop abnormally or certain genetic conditions or certain infections picked up by the mother during pregnancy ,’’ he said.

Otuneye said that there were different reasons why a child might be born with cataracts or develop them while he or she was young.

“It is still not possible to determine the exact cause in many cases,’’ he said.

He said that cataracts could affect one or both eyes with the vision increasingly affected.

Otuneye said it could be difficult to spot signs of cataracts, adding, “baby’s eyes will be routinely examined within 72 hours of birth and when they are six to eight weeks old.

“Sometimes cataracts can develop in children after screening tests, causing symptoms such as poor vision, ‘wobbling’ eyes and squinted eyes.

“It is particularly important to spot cataracts in children quickly because early treatment can reduce the risk of long-term vision problems,’’ he said.

Otuneye said that cataract surgery was generally successful with a low risk of serious complications.

“It’s not usually possible to prevent cataracts, particularly those that are inherited,” he said.

NEWS Medical Doctors Advise People Not To Stifle Sneeze Midway TWO medical doctors have advised people not to terminate sneezing, especially violent ones, midway, as this may cause damage to their eyes and eardrums.

The doctors who spoke with our correspondent in separate interviews at the weekend added that sneezing plays a crucial role in the body and stopping it midway could have serious health consequences.

Dr Adedeji Afolayan, a general physician at the Isolo General Hospital, Lagos, said that a sneeze was a protective mechanism that expels irritants that could harm the lungs.

“When the nasal passageways come into contact with dusty particles, it signals the brain to respond by coordinating the muscles to forcefully expel the irritants out of the nasal pathway.

“Sneezing may occur due to the presence of causative substances like dust, chemical allergies, and viral infections.

“So if the sneeze is one with a lot of force, stifling the sneeze by either closing your nasal passage or mouth can damage your eyes or eardrums,’’ he said.

Afolayan added: “when you stop yourself midway in a sneeze, the energy generated by it and the nasal fluids are prevented from leaving your system.

“You force the nasal fluids back into your body system and the pathogens can affect your ears and nose,’’ he said.

Another physician in the

same hospital, Dr Adewunmi Alayaki, said that stifling a sneeze could result to damage occasionally.

“Stopping a sneeze in midway is dangerous because the energy of the sneeze and fluids associated with it are attempting to make a rapid exit out of the nostrils.

“But if it happens to be one of the unlucky cases, it may lead to several unhealthy situations.

“It can cause a rupture in the eardrum or an injury to the inner ear that could even lead to hearing loss.

“It can also weaken a blood vessel in the brain and cause it to rupture, due to the momentary elevation of blood pressure.

“The next time you get the urge to stifle a sneeze, you might want to have a rethink; even when sneezing is unpleasant,’’ he added.

L-R: Deputy Governor, State of Osun, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Chairman, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Prof. Wole Soyinka during the opening ceremony of All-Commers Colloquim tagged: “Fundamental Imperatives of Cohgabitation: Faith and Secularism at the CBCIU Auditorium, Abere, Osogbo, State of Osun.

Don’t Drink and Drive, Lagos Assembly Speaker Warns Motorists

By SURAJU RAJI

THE speaker Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has advised motorists to obey traffic law in order to avoid motor accident.

Ikuforiji gave the advice at Berger Motor Park during the inspection of traffic flow in Lagos State.

The speaker called on drivers to drive according to high way code.

Ikuforiji told drivers not to speed, explaining that life is precious. He pleaded that drivers should make road useful and not to

make it a death trap.

Ikuforiji who was decorated as Special Road Safety Corps examined movement of vehicles at Lagos Ibadan expressway and cautioned the drivers.

Speaking with the Nigerian Observer, the Sector Commander Federal Road Safety Corpse, CB Nkwonta, told the Nigerian Observer that they do discipline their officers through the offices

of provost unit and intelligence. Asked why trailers movements are not constrained to night time of day, the commander said only the National Assembly can make law restricting movement of vehicles to certain time.

However, the leaflet circulated by Federal Road Safety Corps screamed “Stop Bad Habit, Avoid drinking – driving. Alcohol, affects your judgment and vision, it will lead you to 6ft

Cultivate The Spirit Of Sacrifice

By MATTHEW OKAGHA

CHRISTIANS have been enjoined to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice which the

- Prophetess Azeta Urges Christians

Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated on the cross of Calvary by offering

Comfort Obazuwa Passes On THE death of Mrs. Comfort Obazuwa (Nee Izevbizua) of the Ogie Umelu family of Umelu in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State has been announced.

Mrs. Obazuwa whose death occured on Monday the 10th March 2014.

Mrs. Comfort Obazuwa

Until her demise she was a devout christian and a community leader who devoted her time to the services of God and her community.

The statement issued by the family stated that the burial ceremony commences on Thursday 24th April 2014 with a service of songs at her residence at No. 5 Akugbe Street, Off. M.M. Way, Benin City while the body leaves UBTH morgue on Friday 25th, 2014 at 10.am to her residence for lying in state and on Saturday 26th of April, 2014, interment and social dance at St. Mulumba Catholic Church field, M.M. Way, Benin City.

Himself for the propitiation of sin and the redemption of mankind.

The General Overseer of God’s Gift Church of Jesus Christ, Prophetess P. U. Azeta Edoriawhe (JP), gave the admonition while reflecting on the significance and benefit of the Easter celebration.

Prophetess noted that the Easter celebration which is commemoration of the travail of Jesus Christ on the cross and His subsequent victory over death, marked a turning point in man’s redemption.

“Easter is a period of sacrifice, pain, agony and eternal victory over the power of death and principalities, she stated.

The woman of God pointed out that the Easter period is one of sober spiritual reflection, adding that those who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour have made the supreme sacrifice He made on the cross to be in vain.

She said the benefit of Easter is the hope for eternal salvation which those who embrace Christ will receive as promised by the Word of God. She, therefore, urged Nigerians particularly Christians to rededicate their lives to God and be their brothers keeper at all time.

Prophetess Azeta said God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and obey His will.

below”.

The speaker was accompanied by Deputy Speaker Kolawole Taiwo Leader of the house Dr

Ajibayo Adeyeye, Hon Abiodun Tobun, Hon Segun Olulade and other House senior staff and lawmakers.

FAAN Assures On Safety Of Air Travellers THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured airport users of adequate security at the nation’s airports.

The assurance is contained in a statement signed by Mr. Yakubu Dati, the General Manager, Public Affairs of FAAN. Dati said that necessary operational and security measured had been put in place at all the airports.

“The management of FAAN wants to assure members of the public, especially passengers and airline operators, that necessary operational and security measures have been put in place at all our airports.

“The measures put in place is to ensure hitch-free passage of passengers and cargo during the forthcoming Easter holidays.

“Members of the Bomb Detection Unit of the Nigeria Police Force have also been deployed at the airports to complement the effort of our aviation security personnel at the security screening points,’’ he said.

Dati said that passenger facilitation at various airports in the country had been enhanced by the installation of more modern and bigger

conveyor belts and metal walk-through detectors.

“The expansion and modernisation of all the airport terminals in the country under the Airport Remodeling projects of the Federal Government now provide better ambience.

“The remodeling and modernisation have also created more space for shops and restaurants at the terminals.

“This helps passengers to relax comfortably while waiting for their flights,’’ the spokesman said.

However, newsmen reported that some of the passengers who missed their flights complaint of slow process of boarding by the airlines operators.

Mrs. Mary Okereke, an intending passenger to Enugu, said that she missed her flight scheduled for 10: 30 a.m. due to the slow process of check-in by the airline.

“I think the airlines are overwhelmed by the number of intending passengers; I got to the airport about two hours before my flight.

“But I could not still travel to Enugu with that flight because I could not make it to the checking counter before my scheduled flight.

WORLD NEWS

Besieged Muslims Face Murder, Starvation In C/Africa Republic

In normal times, the rickety wooden bridges at each end of the red-dirt main street in Boda were gateways to shops and a bustling market in the diamondmining town in Central African Republic.

Today, they mark the fine line between life and death for hundreds of Muslims living under siege, encircled by Christian ‘anti-balaka’ militia fighters bent on chasing out the country’s Islamic population.

“We live in a prison,” said Adou Kone, a tailor.

“Everything is blocked, nothing comes in. It’s very expensive to buy food ... Our life is at a critical stage.”

Boda illustrates the chaos that has gripped Central African Republic since late 2012 when a battle for political power degenerated into clashes between Muslims and Christians that have forced about 1 million people from their homes.

If they stray beyond either bridge, Muslims in Boda say they would be killed, like thousands of other victims of tit-for-tat violence that continues despite the deployment of French and African peacekeepers.

French flags hang from some shacks and a handful of French armoured vehicles sporadically patrol the town, 115 km (70 miles) west of the capital Bangui. In the Muslim neighbourhood, a banner praises French troops recognition that their plight would have been far worse without the deployment.

The crisis abruptly ended a proud history of Muslims living

in harmony alongside the majority Christian population and has prompted warnings of genocide in the former French colony.

“We can wait for 10 years for them to leave - and if they don’t leave, we will still be there, holding our positions,” said Captain Dopani Firmin, the ‘anti-balaka’ chief in Boda, wearing a red Paris St Germain football shirt.

“We cannot accept to live together with Muslims, longterm,” Firmin said. “It’s our right to kill Muslims.”

In a sign of the mounting sectarian violence, fighters from the Muslim Seleka rebels shot dead the priest of the northern town of Paoua, a church official in Bangui said on Friday. The attack came two days after Seleka gunmen briefly kidnapped the bishop of the nearby town of Bossangoa.

Virtually all Muslims have fled Bangui since Seleka, who seized power in March 2013, were forced to step aside in January. The United Nations has since reported a “cleansing” of Muslims from the country’s west.

The United Nations Security Council this month authorised a 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission to be deployed in September, recognition that 6,000 peacekeepers from the African peacekeeping force (MISCA) and France’s 2,000-strong Sangaris force had failed to stamp their authority on the country.

But the operation will take time to roll out and assaults on Muslims in Boda and elsewhere are taking a heavy toll.

“While we await the deployment on September 15, it is essential that we reinforce

Members of the Ex-Seleka rebels pose with theri fake weapons at late Centrafrican emperior JeanBedel Bokassa’s place in Beringo recently.

Captain Of Sunk S/Korean Ferry, 2 Crew Arrested THE captain of the ferry that sank off South Korea, leaving more than 300 missing or dead, was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. Two crew members also were taken into custody, including a mate who a prosecutor said was steering in challenging waters unfamiliar to her when the accident occurred.

Prosecutors said the ferry captain, Lee Joon-seok, 68, was arrested early Saturday along

helmsman Cho Joon-ki, 55, and the ship’s 25-year-old third mate.

Another helmsman, Park Kyung-nam, identified the mate as Park Han-kyul.

Senior prosecutor Yang Jungjin told reporters that the third mate was steering the ship Wednesday morning as it passed through an area with lots of islands clustered close together and fast currents. Investigators said the accident came at a point where the ship had to make a turn, and prosecutor Park Jae-

US Treating Russia As ‘A Guilty Schoolboy’ Over Ukraine THE Kremlin at the weekend described as unacceptable a U.S. threat to impose sanctions if Russia fails to fulfil its side of an international deal on Ukraine, accusing the White House of treating Moscow like a “guilty schoolboy”.

President Barack Obama said Thursday’s deal in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine and Western powers to reduce tensions in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine was promising but that Washington and its allies were prepared to impose more sanctions on Russia if the situation fails to improve.

“Statements like those made at a high level in Washington that the United States will follow in detail how Russia fulfils its obligations ... are unlikely to help

dialogue,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

“You can’t treat Russia like a guilty schoolboy who has to put a cross on a piece of paper to show he has done his homework,” Peskov said in an interview with Russia’s First Channel. “That kind of language is unacceptable.”

Thursday’s deal called among other things for all illegal armed groups to disarm and end occupations of public buildings in Ukraine’s east that Ukrainian authorities say have been orchestrated by Russia’s intelligence services.

But pro-Russian separatists, over whom Moscow says it has no control, dismissed the accord, saying they were not bound by it.

eok said investigators were looking at whether the third mate ordered a turn so sharp that it caused the vessel to list.

Yang said the third mate hadn’t steered in the area before because another mate usually handles those duties, but she took the wheel this time because heavy fog caused a departure delay. Yang said investigators do not know whether the ship was going faster than usual.

So far 29 bodies have been recovered since Wednesday’s disaster off the southern South Korea coast. More than 270 people are still missing, and most are believed to be trapped inside the 6,852-ton vessel.

Divers fighting strong currents and rain have been unable to get inside the ferry. A civilian diver saw three bodies inside the ship Saturday but was unable to break the windows, said Kwon Yong-deok, a coast guard official. Hundreds of rescuers planned dives Saturday.

The captain apologized Saturday morning as he left the Mokpo Branch of Gwangju District Court to be jailed. “I am sorry to the people of South Korea for causing a disturbance and I bow my head in apology to the families of the victims,” Lee told reporters.

“I gave instructions on the route, then briefly went to the bedroom when it (the listing) happened,” he said.

The captain defended his decision to wait before ordering an evacuation.

E. A. ADEBOYE On Sunday

Christ Behind You MEMORISE: “Even so faith, if it hath not Mark 16:17 The awesome events works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17 enumerated above, are Read: Mark 16:15-20 to happen through the Bible in one year: Micah 1 – 4, Psalm 86 believer by the backing THE confidence a man exudes depends on the power backing him up. As a child of God, all that Christ won back from the devil was for you and not for Himself.

Our imagination cannot fathom the scope of His power. The good news is that he has granted you the authority to exercise this power.

Ephesians 1:19-22 perfectly reveals this truth: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but

also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church”.

The power described in the above scripture is what backs up your authority in this life. This is what “Christ behind you” means. It means the power that holds the universe is backing you up. It is not to you that situations and people will but to the power behind you.

The power of Jesus, grants you the authority to do the following: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

of Jesus. Some years ago, there was this man who was loaded with demons. He was brought for prayers to be delivered.

While praying for him, he would get up. When I commanded him to sit down, he then responded, “In whose name”, I said “In Jesus Name”. He said “that is different”, and sat down quietly. That was a manifestation of “Christ behind me”. How many articles of this promise are reality in your life and ministry? For Christ to be behind you, you have to walk before him.

In Genesis 17:1, God told Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect; therefore, if you will enjoy the backing of Jesus, you are to stay in front of Him and be careful to walk on in perfection as He takes interest in watching you.

His grace is sufficient for you.

KEY POINT Evaluate the level of fulfillment of Mark 16: 17-18 in your life and pray to God concerning what part of it is not yet manifesting.

“The power described in the above scripture is what backs up your authority in this life. This is what “Christ behind you” means. It means the power that holds the universe is backing you up. It is not to you that situations and people will but to the power behind you.”

Snake’s Last Meal Comes Back To Bite Her A young viper was found dead with a centipede’s head protruding out of the snake’s body. Reporters report that Ljiljana Tomovic, a Serbian herpetologist, was tagging snakes in Macedonia when she made the eye-catching discovery. According to a scientific correspondence recently published in the journal Ecologica Montenegrina, while shorter in length, the 4.8 gram mass of the prey, Scolopendra cingulate, was actually greater than the 4.2 gram female nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes).

The find was made on May 14, 2013 and the scientist reported, “…we cannot dismiss the possibility that the snake had swallowed the centipede alive, and that, paradoxically, the prey has eaten its way through the snake, almost reaching its freedom.”

Dissection showed that only the snake’s abdominal wall remained, so the centipede caused damage to the snake’s internal organs either chemically or mechanically. When found, the centipede occupied the entire volume of the viper’s body.

The viper and centipede were found on the island of Golem Grad, which is also known as “Snake Island.”

Newsmen reported that she has never known of a centipede biting its way out of a predator, however, “It’s possible that this situation is not so uncommon, just we did not have opportunity to see it until now.” As the title of the report indicates, “Two fangs good, a hundred legs

better.”

There have been other reports of snakes whose eyes are bigger than their

A man has been jailed for cutting off an eight-week-old puppy’s tail and leaving it to suffer “excruciating pain”.

The Jack Russell was left in agony when 24-year-old Walter Doe used a sharp tool to remove its tail two inches from its base.

The RSPCA removed the black and white puppy, called Jack, from Doe’s care last

July following a report of concern for the animal’s welfare.

They found Jack with a bandage around his tail and in obvious pain.

The puppy was taken to a vet who removed the bandage and found a very raw wound, about two inches from the tail base, with the rest of the tail removed.

stomachs. In 2005, one of the largest gut busting snake meals was found in Florida’s Everglades National Park. A

13-foot-long Burmese python was found dead after attempting to digest a 6-footlong American alligator.

Compiled By

LOVETH EKEMOGIE

Man Wants To Open A Bar In His Gun Range GENERALLY speaking, the combination of alcohol and weapons sounds like a bad one.

Jeff Swanson of Oklahoma City doesn’t see it that way, however newsmen reported that the entrepreneur, who is in the process of building an “upscale” gun range in OKC, wants his establishment to offer its patrons a drink after they’re finished shooting.

Newsmen reported that Mr. Swanson will have customers scan their driver’s license before they partake in either firing guns or drinking alcohol. Mr. Swanson told newsmen, “Once you order a drink, your driver’s license is scanned and you are red-flagged and you’re not allowed into any of the shooting

facilities either as a spectator and certainly not as a shooter for the remainder of the day.” What if someone has a drink bought for them? Swanson says they’ll be training the range’s staff in field sobriety and will use cameras to monitor customers.

KOKH spoke with Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission Spokesperson, Captain Brent Fairchild. He said that he’s not aware of any other gun ranges in the state that have a liquor license. Captain Fairchild is skeptical of the idea, telling the station, “I guess you could go back to the old adage

where there’s a will there’s a way, so no matter how many safeguards you do put in place there’s always someone that’s going to try to get around those.”

Oklahoma City’s City Planning Commission allowed the plan to move forward. The Oklahoma City Council will vote on the issue on May 27.

This isn’t a novel concept.

One only needs to look back to January of this year to find a Deadwood, South Dakota businessman pursuing same concept. The Governors Gun Club in Powder Springs, Georgia is an example of a shooting facility that includes a bar.

Portland, Oregon Flushes Water Reservoir After Man Urinates In It PORTLAND, Oregon is flushing 38 million gallons (143 million liters) of drinking water down the drain because a 19years-old man urinated in an open reservoir recently, city water officials said.

Three teens were observed at the reservoir in a Portland park, Portland Water Bureau spokesman David Shaff said, and one of them was filmed urinating through an iron fence into the water.

The other two tried to climb the fence and one got into the secure area around the reservoir, but Shaff said it is not clear what he did then.

The 50-million-gallon (189million-liter) reservoir was taken off line and was tested for possible contamination and the results will be known recently.

But in the meantime, the city has decided to “discard” 38 million gallons of water and clean the reservoir, Shaff said.

“That water goes directly into people’s homes,” David Shaff, Portland Water Bureau administrator said. “There is no way to re-treat it.”

The three teens were cited for trespassing and one for public urination. Additional charges could be filed as the investigation continues.

“We are not in the arid Southwest,” Shaff said, “We have hundreds of millions of gallons available, so that makes it an easy call for me” to discard the water. He estimated the cost of cleaning and replacing the water at several thousand dollars.

The Federal government has mandated that Portland and all other cities cover their water reservoirs, Shaff said, and this group of Portland reservoirs will be finished by December 2015.

Shaff has not seen the police report and could not comment on motive but said alcohol may have been involved.

Man Jailed For Cutting Off Puppy’s Tail With Knife

Woman Is Mugged During On-Camera Interview A woman in Brazil was being interviewed on camera About Crime about the high crime rate in the center of Rio de Janeiro when a young thief snatched her necklace.

Newsmen interviewed the unidentified woman recently and asked her about crimes happening near the city’s center (watch the interview here at 1:20). As the woman voices her concern about the lack of police officers in the area, a bold mugger appears to her left, rips the chain off her neck, and bolts off through traffic. The reporter is seen chasing after the thief but he was unable to catch him. The mugger dropped the now broken necklace, and it was returned to the woman.

The story comes just

Odd News

months before the World Cup in June and July, which will be hosted in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is one of the country’s hostcities and the location of the World Cup Final. As reported by newsmen, city authorities have attempted to control crime before international tourists arrive but it has actually spiked.

Recently, the newsmen reported that 14 ATM machines in Rio’s main international airport were used to duplicate tourists’ debit cards. newsmen also notes that the city has seen a 118% rise in robberies on buses, and a 121% increase in cellphone robberies in the past year.

She added: “The vet said it was a very clean-cut wound and must have been made with a sharp tool.”

Doe, of Campbell Close, Uckfield, East Sussex, was sentenced at Hastings Magistrates’ Court recently to 12 weeks imprisonment for causing unnecessary suffering to the puppy and failing to seek veterinary treatment for his open wound.

He was also banned from keeping all animals for 10 years.

RSPCA Inspector Andrew Kirby said: “The prison sentence reflects how seriously the court took the suffering caused to the puppy.

“We have no proof about what was used to dock Jack’s tail but, whether it was a knife or a pair of scissors, he would have been in agony.

“Cutting through the bone of the tail must have been excruciatingly painful and no attempt at all was made to relieve this pain.

“Tail docking is such a brutal way to treat a young animal in any case.

“As well as the pain it causes, it is just completely unnecessary and deprives the animal of their best means of expression and balance.

“We urge people to remember that is it is against the law for a reason.”

The court also ordered that Jack, who has been living in foster care while the case was ongoing, is taken from Doe on a permanent basis.

Mr Kirby said: “Jack was very quiet and subdued when I found him, which is hardly surprising if you think about what he had gone through.

Every Dog Has Its Day In Court IV, a 5 year-old German Shepherd dog belonging to Barrett Griner IV, is seen in an undated photo in Bridgeton, …

A computer glitch is likely to blame for a summons that called a German Shepherd to report for jury duty, court officials in New Jersey’s Cumberland County said recently.

Barrett Griner IV, of Bridgeton, said he opened a jury summons recently addressed to “IV Griner,” the name of his 5year-old dog.

“It was just funny,” he said. “I got mail for my dog.”

The court did not actually request that a dog serve on a jury, said Mark Sprock, the local trial court administrator. He said a

computer probably misread Griner’s numerical suffix IV as his first name.

It probably picked up that IV, which is usually after his name, from one of the databases and put it into his first name slot in the jury system,” Sprock said.

Typically, someone getting such an erroneous jury summons can call the court offices and the error will be fixed, he said.

Griner, 40, who works as a treatment plant operator at the local water department, said he hasn’t yet made that call.

“I hope that the judge finds it kind of humorous,” he said.

“That’s all I need is to have the local county and judge think I’m making a mockery of his courtroom.”

couple Steals A Car So They Can Make Court Date car was searched, and they

LAST Friday afternoon, a dealership in Redding, California called police because a 2001 Mitsubishi had been stolen from their lot.

A global positioning system (GPS) device on the car indicated that it was parked in front of the Tuolumne County Courthouse. When police arrived at the courthouse they found the car and discovered the license plates had been changed.

They waited and saw 45yeasr-old Teresa Castillo approach the car. When police approached her, she told them that she and her husband, 49-years-old James Manning, had bought the car for $200 earlier in the day so they could make his court

appearance.

The Bee says that when police found Manning, who was in court because of a charge of possession of a controlled substance, he admitted he had stolen the car after initially denying it. The

guess what – they found marijuana inside. Castillo and Manning were booked into Tuolumne County Jail on felony charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.

PROFESSOR T.O. Omon Oleabhiele (JP) is the National President, National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners. He has received titles from the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of African Traditional Medicine. He recently celebrated 70 years and it was pomp and pageantry as those who matter in African Traditional Medicine business, business executives, media men, religious leaders and political leaders were in attendance. SUNDAY OBSERVER interacted with this man widely recognised as the most outstanding advocate of African Traditional Medicine recently in his office. The interview is not only an eye opener but also educative and informative.

EXCEPTS

How does it feel sir, attaining the age of 70 years.

I feel very happy to be 70 years of age. I am particularly glad because I have been able to use my God given talent and gift to help humanity. I have attained the biblical year of 70 years and I am happy over my sojourn on earth.

How would you describe your impact as African Traditional Medicine Practitioner?

While not trying to praise myself, I want to state that I have 6 wives and everyone of them have children for me. All my children especially the ones that can read and write are graduates.

Government has not trained any of my children for me in form of scholarship, but I think that if a traditional doctor has up to 20 graduates trained from his personal resources then he has done well. In my community, my impact has been tremendous.

My mother died on the day I was born. Nobody expected that I will survive but luckily, I survived and I am the first man to build a story building in my village. I brought electricity to my village. By my instrumentality, a tarred road has passed through my community.

What are your comments on African Traditional Medicine today?

Before now, traditional medicine was seen as diabolical and has nothing to do with Christianity. I became the first man to jump into the business. I obtained a licence to practice it in 1971. After obtaining a licence, I started preaching about traditional medicine and that it has nothing to do with fetishism or idol worshipping. I continued preaching about it until I went to Israel, 38 years ago.

I am glad to inform you that after preaching the message of African Traditional Medicine, many Pastors, Bishops and Reverend Fathers are now practitioners of African Traditional Medicine. I became an instrument through which

number of those that they have killed. I am counting the number of those that I have healed. It is instructive to note that I participated in writing the constitution that governs traditional medicine practice in Nigeria. I also moved a motion for the recognition of African Traditional Medicine. In 2006, I became the deputy

I became the President, the association has witnessed several positive events and development. Today, many traditional doctors can now boast in the public and in any forum that they are practitioners of African Traditional Medicine. This is so because a lot of people have tried our medicine and have been permanently

Encounter United States citizens, Chinese, Malaysians, South Africans etc are exhibiting their products through natural plants. Traditional Medicine has become big business in this country because through our sensitization, the world has realised that artificial brewed drugs have failed the world

acceptable in every part of the country. A group has been set up to design curriculum for Traditional Medicine to be studied in at least one university in each geo-political zone.

What is your relationship with the Oba of Benin?

I am the son of the Oba of

I Became An Instrument Through Which Traditional Medicine Was De-mystified -Prof Oleabhiele JP

His Highness Prof. T. O. Omon Oleabhlele (JP) National President NANTMP

traditional medicine was demystified and those practicing it are no longer doomed for hell fire but sure of heaven. Where some persons are boasting of the

president for the Association.

I was appointed chairman to recast the constitution to be in line with its tenets. Today, I am the elected president of this great Association. Since

healed.

What are the events that have characterized the Association since you became the president?

In my time, Indians,

and it is time for humanity to turn to nature. Nature is safe and not hazardous. It heals without side effect. The next step is that hospitals should be using natural medicine listed by NAFDAC. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Africa depends on natural medicine up to 80% and above. If hospitals and chemists sell and use our drugs then the economy will receive a boost and the current unemployment crisis would be addressed.

As a member of National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, what are your duties?

We that are the members of that committee are the ones that test drugs for NAFDAC before they are used.

NAFDAC registers medicine but my committee guides NAFDAC. The setting up of this committee by the President is a pointer to the fact that African Traditional Medicine has now become an institution and part of us as a people in Nigeria.

What is the Federal Government doing about the teaching of African Traditional Medicine in our Universities?

In fairness to the Federal Government, owing to its efforts at promoting African Traditional Medicine, Traditional Medicine is now

“Traditional Medicine has become big business in this country because through our sensitization, the world has realised that artificial brewed drugs have failed the world and it is time for humanity to turn to nature.

Nature is safe and not hazardous.�

Benin. The Oba of Benin stands for me at any time and has been very supportive to me. I pray for the revered monarch that the Almighty God should continue to guide him. Any statement made by the Oba of Benin about African Traditional Medicine is the most authentic and the Oba of Benin has said that traditional hospitals should be built side by side with the usual hospitals.

Tell us something about your experience in Israel?

1 had the opportunity of treating many people in Israel. In the process, I discovered that Americans love African Traditional Medicine. I begged Medical Doctors to treat someone who was sick but they refused. This incident happened in Israel. I used my ultra carbon charcoal medicine mixed with lime to heal the spasmodic stomach trouble in that woman. 6 days later, when we met at the church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus Christ was crucified, I saw the healed woman and other people celebrating. After the mass, I was carried shoulder high and given a lot of dollars. From that day I left the position of poverty and became a man of wealth.

What is your message to Nigerians?

My message is that Traditional Medicine has become a major issue in health matters. Let us all as Africans continue to develop African Traditional Medicine.

African Traditional Medicine is natural and using traditional drugs is going back to nature.

The normal drugs sold in conventional hospitals and chemists have failed many people. African Traditional Medicine exists to rescue us all from the slavish mentality foisted on us by the usual medical institutions.

OVER the years, the Federal Government has been contending with the illegal activities of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region.

President Goodluck Jonathan recently in Geneva, Switzerland, announced a vote of one billion dollars for the fight against crude oil theft.

Before President Jonathan’s pronouncement, government had adopted different measures to curtail this menace.

One of these measures was the granting of amnesty to the armed groups, popularly called militants who were believed to be engaged in pipeline vandalism, operation of illegal refineries and kidnapping.

The government also intensified security patrols in the coastal region and waterways through effective synergy among the various security agencies.

The Joint Task Force (JTF), that commenced operation in Niger Delta region in 2009, was mandated to protect Nigeria’s oil investments as well as crude oil theft in the region.

A report by the “Stakeholder Democracy Network,’’ an international non-governmental organisation, indicates that in 2012 alone, the JTF seized about 638 pumping machines, destroyed 178 illegal fuel dumps and five surface tanks.

Similarly, 133 barges, 1,215 boats, 187 trucks loaded with fuel and 18 vessels were also seized.

In addition, 1,945 suspects were apprehended, 18 of them foreign nationals from Lebanon, India and Ghana in the year under review.

In spite of the presence of the JFT in the Niger Delta region, oil theft is still thriving in the region.

The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta Command, during a mop up operation on March 15, 2014 apprehended five suspects.

The mop up operation was carried out in Oteghele Phase One and Oteghele

illegal under ground refineries by the team led by NNS Delta Commanding Officer, Capt. Musa Gemu.

Addressing newsmen at the scene of the operation, Gemu assured of his command’s readiness to fight crimes in the inland

100,000 metric tonnes of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and several tents of the criminals,’’ he said.

The commanding officer said that two pumping machines, two boats and one small generating set were recovered from the suspects.

Issues enclave.

Like home away from home, the makeshift tents of the operators of illegal refineries in the forest were electrified and powered by

dried fish, household utensils and assorted beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

Used and unused packets of condoms littered the floors of some of the tents,

Intensifying The Campaign Against Oil Theft In Niger Delta

Phase Two forest in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.

The suspects were allegedly involved in the running of underground illegal refineries in the community.

The operation which lasted for over eight hours led to the destruction of over 260

waterways to a standstill.

“It is going to be a continuous exercise until we finally eradicate crude oil theft in my area of responsibilities.

“We apprehended five suspects, three male and two female, destroyed over 260 underground illegal refineries, also burn over

“I assure you that as soon as we conclude our investigation, the suspects would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for prosecution,” Gemu said.

Our correspondent, who monitored the operation, reported that the operators lived comfortably in their

generating set of various sizes.

The tents were also equipped with musical gadgets, various electronics, wooden beds covered with over-used mattresses, among others.

They also had assorted food like rice, yams, beans, wheat, bags of garri, beef,

an indication of the life they lived in the forest.

One of the suspects identified as Mrs. Alice Bozimo, said she was new in the illegal oil business.

“This na the first time I dey do this oil business.

“I wan use the money feed and send my children to school. I no go do am again,’’ the mother of seven said.

Another suspect, Patrick Sevokoro, said that he was in boat business and just ventured into the illegal oil business.

“Na the first time I dey do the business, na boat business I dey do before.

“I don’t know the devil wey push me enter this, make dem help me beg Navy,’’ he pleaded Mrs. Patty Zutu on her part, denied operating illegal refineries.

“Na fish I dey buy and sell in Escravos. I no dey do oil business. I dey inside boat when Navy arrest me say I dey do oil market,’’ she said.

Government should sustain the funding of the JTF, as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them tackle oil theft and vandalism.

The ability of the JTF to deliver on its mandate will be greatly enhanced with improved funding.

“A report by the “Stakeholder Democracy Network,’’ an international nongovernmental organisation, indicates that in 2012 alone, the JTF seized about 638 pumping machines, destroyed 178 illegal fuel dumps and five surface tanks.

Similarly, 133 barges, 1,215 boats, 187 trucks loaded with fuel and 18 vessels were also seized. In addition, 1,945 suspects were apprehended, 18 of them foreign nationals from Lebanon, India and Ghana in the year under review.”

Imo 2015: CHIEF Martin Agbaso has of recent not said anything political-wise without sounding regretful for the now humiliatedassistance he said that he bestowed to Governor Rochas Okorocha, which tremendously saw to the success of the latter on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in the 2011 elections.

In that regard, Agbaso has said that he wants to succeed Governor Rochas Okorocha in 2015. It could be known that, to a certain extent, the name Agbaso rings a bell in Nigeria, but many only came to know about the Agbasos, when Sir Jude Agbaso, the former Deputy Governor of Imo State, was in political skirmishes, over an undefined contract awards, with the authorities of the Imo State Government.

It is believed that it was Chief Martin Agbaso who made the Agbasos to be enunciated and on whose political wizardry, Jude his younger brother emerged as the deputy governor.

The elder Agbaso had contested the gubernatorial elections in the state in 2007, but did not show up in 2011, hence the choice of his younger brother to be the running-mate to Okorocha.

Jude, it was believed, was later set up with the blast of a contract that nearly brought the name of the Agbaso family to wreckages; but for the elder Agbaso who put his head, it was later learned in a well publicized correspondences that Jude

Martin Agbaso And His Regrets

By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

was cleared of all the allegations against him.

Much of the elder Agbaso’s worry today is not about the circumstances that led to the reprehensibly ouster of his brother as deputy governor, but the belief that the present crop of leadership in the state is not doing enough to assuage the fester in road infrastructure, education, health, water and recreation, amongst others.

According to him, it was his profound belief to support Okorocha in the 2011 elections with regards that the distribution formula would elevate in reality the status of teachers, civil and public servants in the state, but he was deceived to be reading such elevations only in the media.

Those who have come in contact with Martin Agbaso know him as a man of high self-esteem and principle, so it was not out of place when the people of Imo State marshaled out en masse to support Okorocha perhaps, because Agbaso was there, which was a decision that Agbaso said was not an easy one for him to take.

His unenthusiastic ordeal in the 2007 elections and the loss to court proceedings to reclaim the mandate he believed that he was robbed of that saw to the emergence of Mr. Ikedi Ohakim as governor,

Agbaso would say that he was not prepared mentally, physically, or financially to contest the 2011 election, therefore he allowed Okorocha to do so in

says that he cannot believe that this is the same man who was pleading to him to allow him to run the Imo guber in 2011 under APGA and would be governor for just four years.

Agbaso says that his conviction to support Okorocha was that since Okorocha was training other people’s children with his (Okorocha’s) own funds when he was not

Politics to lie to his or her people of putting in place development whereas the outcome becomes ruse.

This is also the thought of many Imo people who have said they thought that they knew Okorocha very well and acted upon their ‘little’ conviction of his philanthropic gestures to give him their support; nevertheless it has dawned on them that an insignificant number of Imo people today know

Martin Agbaso

APGA. Regretting what he feels has become of Okorocha today against him, Agbaso

“Some of the observers of the politics of Imo State are of the viewpoint that Agbaso should stop deafening their ears with his regrets of what they believe was a ‘business agreement’ between Okorocha and him that later went sour. As the elections of 2015 are but months away, it is not certain if Agbaso will liberate the state if given the opportunity just as Okorocha was given this rare opportunity.”

governor, he could do a lot more if given the chance to be in a position of authority. However, who told Agbaso that all that glitters are gold?

Agbaso would say that Okorocha is still miles away from keeping to the promise he gave to the people of Imo State during the electioneering campaigns, there is today hardly that promisedindustralised Imo State and the windows of opportunity are farfetched.

Agbaso also believes that it is very shameful for one

who the governor really is and this number is still hyping his name to where it gets.

The regrets of Agbaso which are in piles are that Okorocha gave them a glimmering light before 2011 that he would be succeeding the biblical Moses who led his people to the Promised Land, but the song on the lips of majority of Imo people like Agbaso is that Okorocha is not far from being a shame, a sham and a scam.

One thing that observers

could notice that is working for Okorocha is his sugar mouth, which may not have been adequate with the much hyped-works Nigerians are being fed with that dot the crannies and corners of Imo State.

While Martins Agbaso has shown that he is licking his wounds in the hands of Okorocha, there is a school of thought which suggests that Okorocha should diminish his tales by moonlight in the cause of governance, which invariably has not helped the state to come abreast to the Utopian environment that many Nigerians, have the mindset that Imo State has become under Okorocha.

Conversely, some of the observers of the politics of Imo State are of the viewpoint that Agbaso should stop deafening their ears with his regrets of what they believe was a ‘business agreement’ between Okorocha and him that later went sour.

As the elections of 2015 are but months away, it is not certain if Agbaso will liberate the state if given the opportunity just as Okorocha was given this rare opportunity. Many are regretting today that they did not know Okorocha would later abandon them to their old fate of suffering in high profile dishonesty and politicking.

Whether Agbaso would be the light that Imo people are really in need of owing to their statements in different quarters, Plato once warned mankind that we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Whichever way, Imo people should accept the apology of Agbaso that he did not know that Okorocha would betray him by not living upto his promises. They should despise the rituals of fake friendship, like Agbaso has said that he has suffered in the hands of Okorocha.

After all, Henry Kissinger warns that corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.

BRIO

End-Time Generals’ Meet, Task The Chruch On Nigeria Of The Future (1) “50 years from now, there may be no Christianity in Nigeria.”

Not because the Boko Haram insurgents would have bombed all of us out of existence nor because there is going to be some kind of religious pogrom across Nigeria.

Rather, it is going to be because we Nigerian Christians, “ have failed to teach our children the way. We have not been faithful in passing the baton on to the next generation.”

With this heart – searching and indicting statement, Pastor Wale Adefarasin the General Overseer of Guiding Light Assembly, Ikoyi, Lagos State, introduced his Message on the 14th of March, 2014, during the 2014 World Leadership Conference of End-Time Generals,’ which held at same venue above at the instance of the Rescue Team International.

Speaking within the context of the thematic framework of the international church leadership conference which was RAISING NEW GENERALS FOR END-TIME HARVEST, Pastor Adefarasin, whose message centered an “grooming the Generals of God” warned participants from parading themselves as men who do exploits for God.” …you can’t do exploits for God, but you can humble yourself enough for Him to do exploits, using you as a channel. That way you don’t go around being full of yourself that you are this or that. Only God does exploits.”

Adefarasin said it was imperative for ageing and successful Christian

leaders in Nigeria “to pass on the baton of the Faith.

We are in a situation where we have to fight for the faith of Christ… It takes a generation to reach their own generation, but to reach their generation successfully they need to learn from the preceding generation.” The man of God identified four key factors in successfully raising a new generation of faithful and effective ministers of God in every field of endeavour, to include vision, values, Experience and Encouragement.

He lectured, quoting from Isaiah 40, that “we need vision. No vision, no progress. Fathers need to pass on their visions to their sons. Vision grows, it is dynamic, it’s changing all the time.

Thus, we need to have constant communication of our visions. We need to find ways of effectively communicating our visions to our followers because someday they’d be the ones to carry it on.

“Write it down so you can remember it and communicate it to those following. Make it plain.

Spell out the vision, let them know and understand where you are going. If they don’t know the vision, they will go any way they like. If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for any thing” Pastor Wale Adefarasin lectured.

Speaking further, the man of God asked, “What are your core values?

Most of our, leaders don’t value honesty as much as they value monetary gains.

You must understand the core values of generals… you can’t teach some of these things. You have to

exemplify them.”

Adefarasin encouraged church leaders to always “Share

With Francis Odupute

encourage his sons to reach for the top; must build a platform for his sons to thrive too; should

each other, especially those coming behind you,” Pastor Adefarasin submitted.

The Guiding Light

Wale Adefarasin

your experiences, good and bad ones. You can’t become a general without making mistakes. But you need the humility to admit to others where you have made mistakes,” adding that a father must

not try to overshadow his sons.

“Iron sharpens iron, therefore we need to encourage each other.

Things are not getting any better. Things are getting worse, and we really need to encourage

Assembly Overseer said Christian Church must “go back to discipline the people” as discipleship was greatly missing in the church of today.

“Grow the people in the church. God is looking for relationships.

God is looking for friends. Teach the people to go to God, not to always come to you for advice and prayer. Teach them to build intimacy with God for themselves.

Seek the Word; hunger for the Word of God. Build a relationship, not religion.

“A lot is happening in the church today because of culture change. I am not against culture change as long as it is not against kingdom culture.

God doesn’t need your help. You cannot help God in the first place.

He’d always been working and is still at work… What God is looking for is men and women who have a relationship with Him, not religion.”

On the issue of integrity, transparency, accountability as core values, Pastor Adefarasin asked the Crowd of Ministers “Can we challenge the status quo?

Yes; We need to, but count the cost because there will be counter challenge. If you are not ready to pay the ultimate price, don’t step out. How accountable is the church? Can you post your Sunday Income on the notice board for all to see, or must it be kept secret between you and God? Is it your private business?”, he asked rethorically.

“Write it down so you can remember it and communicate it to those following. Make it plain.

Spell out the vision, let them know and understand where you are going. If they don’t know the vision, they will go any way they like. If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for any thing”

THE Okpekpe Community presents a tough challenge to visitors due to its hilly terrain, accessibility poses a major problem to its inhabitants and visitors.

North Ibie is in Etsako East and is made up of two clans, namely Okpekpe and the three Ibies. The unique thing about them is their hill tops dwelling place . According to legend, the Okpekpe people took refuge on the hilltops to avoid conquest from rampaging enemies. In those days, it was said the hilltop presented a good view of the territory and warded off intruders. Then, the frequent attacks from the Nupes were major threats to other communities. The Nupe invasions of that era recorded successful conquest of some parts of Afenmai land, with their superior fighting prowess and weaponry. They were the dominant group and their aggressive expansionist campaigns particularly in and around Afenmai land, scared their neighbors and made them to adopt various avoidance tactics to protect their territory and people.

What was presumed to be good in those warring days became a hindrance later. Although, the Nupes were unable to conquer Okpekpe after similar feats in other places, the hilltop became a frustrating and nightmarish experience after wars. With time, Okpekpe reached the peak of the inherent disadvantage of’ their location. Accessibility and evacuation of farms produce were some of the major challenges they faced.

Going to work or social events was another problem they faced. They needed extra energy to return to their hilltop homes either from work or outing. The most worrisome was that friends and visitors thought twice before embarking on a trip to Okpekpe. In fact, there was a joke that no matter the love one may develop for Okpekpe or its beautiful damsels, no man wants to encounter its difficult terrain except one reincarnates the legendary Mungo Park.

Access by road into Okpekpe was difficult.

There are two main roads into Okpekpe, either via Apana or Ogbona.

Curiously, none of these roads was motorable, they were bumpy and hazardous;

driving on them was like a ride in hell. The roads were so bad that even trekking on them was a hazardous venture to undertake. The easiest way to access the village was by motor bikes, popularly called Okada, but their charges are exorbitant.

Trust politicians, they

took him serious. It was said that when the governor made that promise to them, they clapped with less enthusiasm. The essence of the promise was lost on its hearers because it is something they have heard several times with no action.

But it was a rude shock

North Ibie people where it mattered most - roads.

Love or hate him, Governor Oshiomhole is the magician darling who has endeared himself to the long suffering North Ibie people.

What Oshiomhole did is unprecedented and commendable.

Development HRH, J.B. Momoh, Hon. Abubakar Momoh, Sports Marketer, Mike Itemuagbor; Rev. Fr. Dunia, and a host of others.

As part of his modest way of marketing his village to the outside world, Mike

Personality Road Race.

But there are winners of race who did not have to partake in the race, who won prizes because of their contribution to the success of the programme. The first winner in this category are

Itemuagbor MD/C.E.O, Padmozi Sports Marketing Organization himself, a prominent son of Okpekpe in conjunction with the Edo State Government recently

the Okpekpe people. The Okpekpe people had for long prayed for a day to see the name and the people of the community in the media for positive things. Okpekpe race brought that glory to them. They can now afford to tell who cares to listen that, they are from Okpekpe, Edo State not via any other town.

The other winner is Okpekpe Traditional Ruler, HRH, Peter Osigbemhe, the highness is a person when before he became the Royal Father, had a dream about a new improved Okpekpe. He is a man who devoted part of his resources and time to uplift Okpekpe. Today as if fate was at work, he is a Traditional Ruler to see those dreams fulfilled.

Another winner is Mr. Mike Itemuagbor who did not looked down on his community the way most people who had attained that height would do. Rather, he used what he knows best, sport marketing, to uplift his community.

Mike Itemuagbor has been able to prove that, you don’t have to be a politician before you can help your community.

The three categories indeed deserved the medals.

The winners of the actual race were shocked when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor jacked up the price money from $10,000 to $20,000 while runners-up from $10,000 to $15,000.

The third place got $10,000 as against the initial promised $5,000. This year ’s event comes up Saturday May 3th, 2014.

As part of this year’s preparation, Glo, the official Telecom Company of the Road Race has installed a Network Mast in the Community for effective communication during and after the event. This is why Okpekpe people are the winners.

Itemuagbor, Onwueweko, Okpekpe People Are Winners

Okpekepe Road Race: cashed in on the situation to catch votes with promises to construct the roads. The vote came but the promises are unfulfilled; then came Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. Okpekpe in fact, the North Ibies had lost

By AHMED AIGBONA to doubters when the State Government, in fulfillment of the promise to open up

Right now, North Ibie is the place to be. The indigenes wear long smiles

Governor Oshiomhole presents cheque to one of the winners last year. hope of ever seeing a tarred road in their area. The elders among them felt such a thing will never happen in their lifetime.

What they, however, failed to note is that the state governor, himself an Etsako indigene, understands their pains.

So, when he made the promise to transform North Ibie and provide them with access and connectivity with their neighbours, not many

North Ibie, engaged the services of construction giant, Setraco, which moved to site on full mobilization.

That is the Oshiomhole magic. Now, an average Imiegba and Okpekpe citizen can drive on smooth road to his/her village without encumbrances.

For them, it is a new dawn. Their unfriendly terrain was wiped by the master stroke of a magician who felt he needed to touch

to show how happy they are.

The hitherto sleepy community has been transformed into a bubbling one with visitors, well wishers, friends and others scrambling to visit North Ibie and behold the eight wonder of the world.

Among key stakeholders who worked behind the scene to actualize the magic were the two Royal Monarchs of North Ibie, HRH, Peter Osigbemeh,

organized a marathon race known as Okpekpe Road Race.

The event attracted major Marathon Athletes, Nollywood actors and other VIPs, including the immediate past Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdulahi, Senator Domingo Obende and of course, the State governor. At the end of the day, winners emerged, cart away the prizes. But the comrade governor won the

“The hitherto sleepy community has been transformed into a bubbling one with visitors, well wishers, friends and others scrambling to visit North Ibie and behold the eight wonder of the world.”

PEACEFUL coexistence, political cohesion, order, Justice, etc, are attributes characteristic of a sovereign and ideal state. When these attributes are threatened or disrupted, human capitals, natural and physical resources which are basic for the development of the society are also manipulated. This in effect might lead to underutilization of these resources. Resultantly, counter-productivity, social insecurity and disorder might also become the order of the day. Of all the anti-social phenomena and events that affect man, terrorism has proven to be the most adverse and detrimental to both human and environmental development.

On this note, most acts of terrorism are treated as national issues, being that it is mostly government targeted for a particular selfcentered desire. This assertion is suggestive of the lexical definition of the concept as the use of violence such as bombing, shooting, or kidnapping to obtain political demands or create an unwarranted awareness. Speaking about terrorism, Ambassador Dickson Akoh, the National Commandant of the Peace Corps of Nigeria, (PCN) said that terrorism had taken the country backward in terms of development and the drive for peaceful co-existence; and that the engine room of this violent crisis are the youths, who due to lack of gainful employment and pre occupation, are being negatively influenced by ethnic warlords and religious bigots to perpetrate violence, leading to unnecessary loss of lives and property. Obviously, terrorism has been a phenomenon of unrest and restiveness which could be religiously or politically motivated. The strands and tides of terrorism all through history mostly have been a violent reaction towards a particular ideology or situation; and it can be as dehumanizing as evil itself because just as it is government targeted, the non- combatant citizens are also leading to loss of many lives.

THE RISING TIDE OF VIOLENCE: A THREAT TO SOCIAL ORDER Many would remember, the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 when the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon of the Unites

States of America were demolished. There was saturation media coverage and it was noted clearly as the worst terrorist outrage anyone could recall since World War II. Thousands of people were already at their desks in both towers for work; even many who worked for firms located in the crash zone were killed instantly. The overall estimated death toll that day

threatened the peaceful tides of the nation. Friday October 1, 2010 saw a daredevil terrorist attack in the country; during Nigeria’s 50th Independence anniversary celebrations in Abuja, terrorists suspected to be sponsored by the Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND, and headed by one of the group leaders of Niger-Delta militants, Mr.

cruelty extended to bombing of the United Nation’s building on Friday, 26 August 2011 in Abuja and thus raising huge attention from the international community.

The same Islamic sect the Boko Haram claimed to have perpetrated the heinous crime. Twenty three (23) were confirmed dead while several more people were maimed, while

Nation and distracting to the new government, affecting virtually every facet of the Nigerian state.

UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT “TERRORISM” By the very nature of the concept “terrorism;’ attempts to unravel its meaning have reduced it to equivocal standpoint. This is on the backdrop that the concepts used in

therefore, it is apposite to make a clear-cut distinction between when the use of such violence is regarded as terrorism and when it is not.

For Hoffman and Graham, when political violence is used in conditions in which no other form of protest is permissible, it would be wrong to call it terrorism.

Miller also argues that “violence may be

Terrorism: Where Lies The

By ONYEGASI ANTHONY U reached 3,030 with 2,337 injured.

Developments after the attack confirmed that this was an event with enormous repercussion and the questions about terrorism were brought into e v e r y b o d y ’ s consciousness.

Henry Okah, bombed the .scene of the celebration few meters away from the Eagle Square Abuja Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the said bombing incident left several people (over 30) dead while several more people were injured. Also, it was bizarre on May 29, 2011 as over fifteen lives were taken,

For instance, the passing of anti- terrorist legislation and the establishment of the internment camp at Guantanamo Bay are suggestive of the problems associated with terrorism. In like manner, Nigeria over the years has faced an armed insurgency in the oilrich Niger-Delta region and is riven with ethnic and religious tension and of the recent faces a more maddriven terrorist attacks under religious sects’ guise but politically motivated.

Indeed, there are myriads of recorded terrorist attacks in the country which have

leaving several people injured in the tri- bomb blast in Maiduguri, Bauchi and Abuja federal capital territory (FCT) few hours after the inauguration of the newly elected president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan amid tight security on May 29, 2011. The blast in Abuja occurred at the Zuba International Market Abuja, injuring 11 persons, including a girl aged one year and two months. Four people were sternly injured in Zaria, with Boko Haram, the fundamentalist Islamic sect, bombing a military patrol vehicle in one attack in Maiduguri. This terrorists’

properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed.

Meanwhile the State Security Service (SSS) operative in Nigeria declared one Mamman Nur wanted in connection with the UN building blomb blast while two other notorious members of the Boko Haram Babagana Ismail Kwaljima, alias Abu Sumayya and Babagana

characterizing terrorism in them have overlapping imports and associated with ambiguities. For instance, some scholars define terrorism as the use of political violence against individuals or the functionaries of the state; but in some cases, it is clear that violence can be used against the state and individuals but cannot be

Mali alias Bulama are being held in a military detention facility. These are few among many accounts of terrorism in the country and it has been so challenging

regarded as terrorism; this some may call civil disobedience or political demonstration. In the light of these ambiguities

permissible in dictatorships and other repressive regimes when it is used to defend human rights, provoke liberal reforms, and achieve other desirable objectives.” For this, he asserts that such violence should not be called terrorism.

However, definitions of terrorism necessarily contain reference to acts of violence, and since violence has negative connotation, terrorism by implication has been given a negative understanding. Indeed, of recent Harmon defined terrorism as “a type of political depravity which unfortunately has become commonplace.”

In his Leviathan, Hobbes emphasized the need to avoid war and establish a commonwealth based on consent; for no covenant can be valid that exposes a person to ‘death, wounds and imprisonment’.’ He is of the view that force or violence negates freedom, and freedom has to be consistent with fear and necessity, but it cannot be reconciled with force. In same vein, Locke argues that only when someone is not underties of common law of reason can force or violence be deployed. Now, the notion of terrorism following these lines of thought becomes possible only when it is seen in the negative terms. Whereas pre modern thought regarded violence as a sign of human empowerment

“Nigeria over the years has faced an armed insurgency in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region and is riven with ethnic and religious tension and of the recent faces a more maddriven terrorist attacks under religious sects’ guise but politically motivated.”

Nation

hence the positive evaluation of the warrior liberalism argues for a world in which market exchanges are defined as activity that has banished violence. Therefore, the praise for terrorism offered

by Sheikh Azzam, the reputed teacher of the late Saudi terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, cannot be squared with the liberal tradition.

The notion however; which is prevalent with some

message generators.”

WHERE LIES THE DESTINY OF A PEACEFUL NIGERIA? Specifically, the current pattern of terrorism in Nigeria is an indication of a clear motive to disrupt the fragile peace in the country.

It is factual that there are political problems in the country and there are pockets of massive corruption and unimaginable social

perfect, terrorism is beginning to take firm roots.

The government of Nigeria is now finding itself in a dilemma. So many things and issues have been neglected since 1960 that it will be impossible for us now to fathom the reasons for these attacks and the nature of things to come.

The anti- democratization which characterizes the governing body of the nation no doubt has a hand

troops line the streets after the evil has been done. This sometimes fans the violence into flames and leads to more deaths. The new found love of terrorism in Nigeria is an additional plague that we will now have to live with. The idea of democracy in the country has become an illusion and the loss of the sense of democracy has warranted violence by unscrupulous

Muslim sects in Nigeria that terrorism is some sort of an obligation in the Muslim religion is not only a dubious reading of Islam but a claim for legitimacy of violence which the liberal tradition cannot accept at least as the criterion of a free Person. However, it is true that Hobbes refers to the force of the state as “terror’ its use is atypical. It is much more common to refer to the use of force by the state, and terror by the enemies of a state who resort to what is seen as illegitimate violence.

Obviously, the historical insurgence and resurgence of terrorism has given diverse definitions to the concept: for instance, after the 1795 “Government intimidation during the Reign of Terror in France,” the first general sense of “systematic use of terror as a policy” was first recorded in English in the year 1798 and in 1987, a definition proposed by Iran at an international Islamic conference on terrorism says that: “Terrorism is an act carried out to achieve an inhuman and corrupt (mufsid) objective, and involving [ threat to security of any kind, and violation of rights acknowledged by religion and mankind.”

Above all, in 1988, a proposed academic consensus definition of terrorism was given as: “an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as

injustices in Nigeria which some groups with selfish ambitions have taken an undue advantage of to penetratejobless extremists and—use them to achieve a sort of

in the propelling of terrorism. Terrorism in the country might have the stimulating or sponsoring agents within or outside Nigeria; the fact remains that they have found cracks in the wall and it is

individuals. It is ideal that democratic structures run on institutions and not individuals. Democracy runs on the rule of law which no one is above. But in Nigeria, several people are above the laws of the land. This has

more peaceful Nigeria, we need to find and operate a genuine democratic process. It is at this juncture that we can meaningfully address the issues relating to the rule of law and the promotion

destabilization that will usher in the final demise of Nigeria. In view of this, one can opine that the goal of these consecutive bomb blasts and terror attacks are disintegrating the country.

The questions many have asked upon this are; how did we get to this point in .,Nigeria? Are these attacks preventable? Are these attacks related to bad government and corruption across all the tiers of government in Nigeria? Are these attacks premeditated to make Nigeria ungovernable for a man from the Niger Delta or the other geo political zones?

Answers to these questions have no simple denominations. Even in the Scandinavian countries where it seems that the government is almost

therefore too easy to penetrate and destabilize the country and the government.

The dilemma which grips the government of Nigeria would linger for some time to come. Many elements and characters that are angry with the system have sworn in their anger to frustrate the system but they end up killing innocent non-combatants.

The Nigerian politicians have ways of protecting themselves end their families. Most of the victims of the attacks in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja are the poor masses and noncombatant citizens. These citizens have no means of protecting themselves and the security provided by the Nigerian government is almost non-existent. Often,

made it possible for impunity to reign supreme. Our political parties have no clear cut goals and objectives. Their only dream is to capture power and loot the treasuries nationwide.

We really need to sit down in this country and think. We cannot continue to bask in

of social justice and state welfare with a stance. Also, since political parties are vehicles of the democratic process, there is an ardent need to form political parties based on ideology and good governance, We need to promote literate participation in politics with

an illusive and oblivious h o p e - c e n t e r e d administration which underneath are numerous cankerworms deteriorating national integration and development.

As a panacea to this problem of terrorism certain measures have to be put in place. To arrive at the domain of the destiny of a

Destiny Of A Peaceful Nigeria?

the attempt to eliminate thuggery and insanity from our politics. The people must know that they have a government and governance that works. The Judiciary must be independent and have the possibility to work with the police to curb corruption once and for all. There is importantly the need to rebuild all public institutions like religion, education, etc physically and mentally; therefore giving Nigeria the ground to tap deep into the cognitivity of its intellectuals with a view to promoting merit over national character There is an urgent need to revive nationalistic movements that will carry everyone along. A massive reorientation along the line of nation building is urgent.

The goal will be to save this sinking nation. The other option is to allow it to continue with the status quo which is contradevelopmental and pretend that all is well while the nation sinks.

Such pretentions will allow terrorism to take a firm root and grip on Nigeria. One day a new group will declare once and for all “to your tent 0’ Israel!” At that point, the prediction of the disintegration of Nigeria would come to pass and the dream of a more peaceful Nigeria would be shattered.

But optimists for a better Nigeria would maintain the possibility of arriving at the domain of a more peaceful and one Nigeria. - For this, President Goodluck Jonathan has ever reechoed the determination of his administration to combat terrorism, saying he would not allow recent violent attacks on the country to define Nigeria. Hence, all leaders and politicians in the country should eschew political differences and work in the interest of the country for the development and proper positioning of Nigeria in global affairs.

“...how did we get to this point in Nigeria? Are these attacks preventable? Are these attacks related to bad government and corruption across all the tiers of government in Nigeria?

Are these attacks premeditated to make Nigeria ungovernable for a man from the Niger Delta or the other geo political zones?”

“Lemon is an oily skin’s best friend. You can squeeze fresh lemon juice into the palm of your hand and apply to your face few minutes prior to shower. The enzymes contained in lemon juice will remove all your dead skin cells so that any cleansing you do after that will effectively remove all impurities, including bacteria, from your pores.”

Using harsh cleansers Oh God Why do I and astringent toners have oily skin? high DO you ask yourself containing this question every percentage of alcohol

find out the best moistening remedies that won’t hurt your purse or clog up your

pores. If you want to exfoliate at the same time, add 1/4 tsp salt for a zingy cleanse.

Beauty Shop With

GLORIA OMORUYI

hydrosol is the distillate produced as part of the steam distillation process to extract an essential oil.

It contains the same properties as the essential oil but in a gentler form that can

again to tone.

be applied neatly to the skin. It is also the best three-in-one product around, acting as an effective makeup remover, toner and cleanser.

Spritz liberally on your face to remove makeup, wipe off to cleanse and spritz

res idue, making it

Best moisturizer For oily skin The best moisturizer for an oily skin is a serum. A serum nourishes and protects without leaving oily

Oily Skin: Get The Best Out Of

time you pick up your compact or look in a mirror? Well, let’s help bring some solace to you, dear ‘oily faced beauty’.

Your challenge lies in the fact that an oily skin produces more sebum than it needs.

Sebum is great for protecting the skin as it contains antiseptic properties and protects the skin from becoming dry. As a result, oily skin tends to be less prone to wrinkles and more prone to acne and blackheads as the pores become easily blocked.

makes the situation worse as the skin produces more sebum in response. So beware of cleansers that give a tingling or prickly sensation when applied. It may feel good at first but in the long run, you will find that all you achieve is getting your sebaceous gland go into hyper drive.

Instead, try out a simple two-step home remedy to get the best out of your skin.

Cleanse and moisturize. Yes, you read right. All skin types need moisture to keep it supple and youthful. Read on to

Your Skin

skin.

Cleanser and toner for oily skin Lemon is an oily skin’s best friend. You can squeeze fresh lemon juice into the palm of your hand and apply to your face few minutes prior to shower. The enzymes contained in lemon juice will remove all your dead skin cells so that any cleansing you do after that will effectively remove all impurities, including bacteria, from your

Hydrosol of Roman C h a m o m i l e , Chamaemeleum nobile, is extremely astringent, and therefore very effective on oily skin types and skins that suffer from acne. A

perfect for oily skin types. You can make a serum easily at home using 3 drops of essential oils that help regulate sebum production combined with 15 ml of carrier oils that are highly absorbent and leave no greasy residue.

PARENTING is a very important issue considering the role parents play in molding the character of children who are the future of the country. The first thing we should look at is the definition of parenting. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

Defines parenting as need for parents to “the process of caring make efforts at for your child or reversing the trend. children.” To help our Parenting starts from focus, I will also want the point of to define a child as a pregnancy. Having in person between ages 0- mind that parenting is 18 years. This definition defined as the process of parenting implies that of caring for your since the father and child or children, mother played equal when a young girl or parts in bringing the woman gets pregnant, child to the world, they both have a responsibility to care for the child.

The kind of parents we have in the society determines the kind of society or community we have. Parenting could be addressed under the following headings: - parenting during pregnancy; parenting a toddler and child up to age seven; parenting a pre-teen, parenting a teenager; parenting a young adult and single parenting.

But in this edition, we will discuss parenting during pregnancy.

As a parent, you must be willing to devote time to your children.

We live in an era that parents are terribly busy and from childhood, children are cared for by nannies and relations, instead of the biological parents.

There is an urgent

she automatically is preparing to become a parent, like wise the man responsible for the pregnancy. At this point, both the expectant father and mother should start praying for the baby in the womb and talking to the fetus while it is still inside the womb. The expectant mother should

eat food rich in protein and iron that will provide the right nutrient for the developing fetus.

Research has shown that while inside the womb, the fetus can understand and respond to advances from those around. A child that is shown love right from the womb

Society grows up to be very loving while a child that is resented from the womb grows up to be a problem to the society unless something happens along the path of the child’s growth to reassure him or her of love. Parenting is a job given to us by God. We

Parenting

By GRACE AKPABIO

should have confidence that with God as our guide, we will succeed.

As parents, we should ask God for wisdom to train our children on the right path so that when they grow up, they will not be a source of sorrow, shame and disgrace to us. It is my earnest desire that this column will be of immense benefit to parents whether at the beginners’ stage or those who are done with parenting their direct children but could use the ideas garnered from here to guide their grand children or other children around them.

As I conclude, I want to leave us with this food for thought from FIB. London Jr. and Neil B Wiseman in FOR KID’S SAKE 2004: “Emotionally scarred, spiritually starved children compel us to ask significant questions about the future of our communities, societies and country.” I want us to know that our children are the most precious treasure we possess and we must be committed to bringing up children who will not he a source of shame and disgrace to us and the society at large.

“A child that is shown love right from the womb grows up to be very loving while a child that is resented from the womb grows up to be a problem to the society unless something happens along the path of the child’s growth to reassure him or her of love.”

transforming Nigeria from being a country of ethnic nationalities with no citizens, from being a country replete with brazen and mass theft of public funds by officials of government, from being a

Politics And

With HAMEED BRAIMA

National Conference: The C

President Goodluck Jonathan

TEMPERS flared and everyone’s adrenaline rose for fear of early break up of the National Conference on Wednesday March 26, 2014 when the delegates could not agree on the voting procedures in resolving matters where no consensus had been reached.

Some delegates had moved to reduce the 75 percent votes of delegates sitting and voting to reach agreement on any matters as contained in the National Conference Rules to 2/3 which they argued is the constitutionally allowed voting standard in passing bills and laws in the nation’s parliament.

The issue became so thorny that the chairman of the National Conference Justice Idris Kutigi had to adjourn proceedings for one week to allow for back stage resolution of the logjam.

To do that, a total of 50 eminent delegates carefully chosen from across the various interests in the land otherwise called Super Delegates were mandated to fashion out an acceptable percentage of votes needed to pass any matter as a decision of the conference.

These 50 egg heads could only succeed in bringing the figure down from 75 percent as prescribed by the rule to 70 percent. This was indeed the middle course between those who wanted 2/3 which is 65 percent and opponents who wanted 75 percent.

Therefore, when the latest position was made public on Monday last week,

Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief. After all, the conference which has rekindled many person’s hope in the possibility of restructuring the country is yet alive and kicking to the disappointment of the pessimists who do not believe anything good can ever come out of the National Conference.

No matter how much one may dislike the pessimists of the ability of the ongoing National Conference to fix Nigeria, one must agree that events that have played out at the confab do not tend to encourage even the die hard supporters of the conference.

The attitude of the average delegate at the conference has not given Nigerians any hope of a possible evolution of a new and better socioeconomic and political order that is capable of

Jerry Gana

place where there is disequilibrium in wealth sharing among its citizens, to such that is founded on the principles of equity, justice and fairness in the true sense of the wordings. Achieving this will be a Herculean task given the faulty governance structure bequeathed by the military to the present ruling class.

The question now is how do we change all this? This is where the problem lies given the contending interests between those who believe they currently enjoy some forms of advantages under the present faulty governance structure and those who feel they had been at the receiving end of the faulty structure and would want it changed.

This is why the furor generated by the simple inhouse issues of adopting voting procedure was expected. It was expected because starting from the president through the governors down to the councilors at the ward level of governance are beneficiaries of the existing faulty governance structure and would not be in a hurry to want it changed.

This is why President Jonathan, the Secretary to the Government of the

National Conference in session

Federation Anyim Pius Anyim and the committee on the modalities for the National Conference in setting the rule raised the ante to a never achievable 75 percent votes to pass any resolution at the conference.

Though, the president action had been reasoned to have been driven by his patriotic zeal to keep Nigeria united in its diversity, we all know that given the deep sittedness of some of the grievances and demands from the many interest groups in the country, the conference can hardly achieve that in deciding on any issue hence the agitation for its downward review by those opposed to the status quo.

It is important at this stage that we point out one of the thorny issue that would definitely be a talking point at the conference, ie the issue of equity in the allocation of local government councils to states. The disequilibrium in the allocation of Local

Government Area among states of relatively equal population has been a source of anger and despondency among citizens of state who feel they have been cheated.

Going by the 2006 census, Lagos and Kano states proved to be the most populous states in Nigeria with each boasting of 10 million people. The big irony is that while Lagos

has twenty local government councils recognized by the constitution, Kano has over forty. Delegates from Lagos and other states like Bayelsa which has two local government short of the constitutionally guaranteed ten local government a state must have may wish to use the conference’s platform to draw attention to the

anom them adop that alloc to e coun T of c the f form LGA to r

“Many have suggested that the s at the conference should be how t economy. How to utilize the huge sectors of the economy like agricu sector which were left to rot awa resources which though generate for oil producing nations but employment due to the high tech are hardly available in our shore

d Issues

AH

financial burden it might place on the government at the centre since funds are allocated from the Federation Accounts to states and local governments.

States with higher number

room left for pragmatic approach to problem solving.

This is why the quality of deliberations at the conference has been rated below average despite the caliber of persons there in.

Contending Interests

malies with a view to getting m sorted out through the ption of a fool proof system would ensure equity in the cation of local governments ach of the 36 states of the ntry.

This issue has been a source conflict between states and federal government with the mer creating additional As and the latter declining ecognize them as validly

created centres of administration. The failure of the Federal Government to recognize the additional 47 local government councils created by the Ahmed Tinubu administration in Lagos State has been seen in many quarters as a clever way by the Federal Authorities to stop other states from following the Lagos example owing to the huge

ole business of the delegates to make Nigeria a productive e petrol dollars to grow other ulture and the manufacturing y in the advent of petroleum e enormous and easy wealth scarcely generate enough hnology requirements which es.”

of LGAs have always gained more from the centre.

Delegates from states with more local governments would wish the status quo remained for them to get more money from the centre while those who have been feeling short changed in the allocation of LGAs are calling for the restructuring of the local government system, doing away with the present structure that was created by military fiat in patronage of a few individuals and group and replace it with such that would take into account the qualifying demographic statistics.

Analysts believe that the delegates might be able to achieve little in meeting the expectations of Nigerians given the fixated minds of most of the delegates on how to solve the nation’s problems. The nomination of arch promoters of sectional interest as delegates to the conference where issues of core value to the progress of Nigeria and its people are expected to be ex-rayed and tackled tend to call to question the actual motive of the conference. Many have asked why the likes of chief E K Clark, Jerry Gana, Bode George, Jubril Aminu etc all of whom had contributed to the woes of Nigeria are at the conference. The question they will need to answer is what solution they intend to proffer to the faulty Nigerian governance structure from which they all benefited.

This is where the argument against the over 60 percent representation of persons aged between 70 and above at the conference; tend to make some sense to the average follower of political trends in Nigeria.

The general consensus has been that these senior citizens besides having contributed in one way or the other to the problems we are now trying to solve, they also have fixed ideas of how to solve the problems with no

This probably is why threats of pulling out of the conference when probably pushed to the wall by representatives from a section of the country is what we hear from the conference including demand for allowances for hurriedly recruited personal assistants not provided for in the remuneration package for the delegates.

The delegates must realize as they settle down for the business that brought them to Abuja that all shades of opinion no matter how ‘stupid’ or brilliant must be taken into account and dealt with in a most pragmatic way for purposes of consensus building.

Since every section of the country has got one complain or another it is bringing to the fore, therefore it must be said that all contending interests must agree on the principle of give and take.

It is a fact that some people want to secede from Nigeria; some want to control their resources; some want federal system of government, others want confederation or unitary system of government. Others believe

E. K. Clark

Idris Kutigi

that all the problems of Nigeria stemmed from corruption and inequality and discrimination which if tackled headlong by the government would put the nation on the fast lane of socio-economic development. When put in the basket and carefully analyzed, what is considered best for the citizens of Nigeria, should be adopted and used as a working tool to turn things around.

Many have suggested that the sole business of the delegates at the conference should be how to make Nigeria a productive economy. How to utilize the huge petrol dollars to grow

other sectors of the economy like agriculture and the manufacturing sector which were left to rot away in the advent of petroleum resources which though generate enormous and easy wealth for oil producing nations but scarcely generate enough employment due to the high technology requirements which are hardly available in our shores. Though, the country makes money from crude oil sale, its citizens are not employed because owners of the oil mining technology would not encourage backward integration through the promotion of local content in terms of technology transfer. As a consequence, there is what we have come to refer to as capital flight and jobs export which are responsible for the mass poverty in the land despite the nation’s riches from petroleum sales.

The delegates should of necessity concentrate on issues that would put an end to the present gulf existing between the few class of elites and the mass of Nigeria people. They must strive to fashion ways to bring down the cost of governance in the country and promote the culture of value for money in government contracting. This is a golden opportunity. We have to make it happen because we might not have a second chance in the face of current strife’s threatening the very foundation upon which the country is built.

Our Relationship With Famil (3) GOD’S intention through the Love of a Husband for a wife is to reveal to the World God’s love for each and everyone of them in the reality of a lost and dying world.

“And the glory which you gave me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23)

Our union with Christ, our union with the Body of Christ and our union in marriage is to be so saturated in the spirit of divine love that a loveless world senses God’s sovereign love for them.

God’s love is pouring out of His Holy presence in the faith, fellowship, and following with another person, regardless of how unloved that person may have felt.

God’s intention

through marriage is certainly procreation but also prince of peace precept instilled by “Professor – Priests” “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

Ephesians 6:4.

“Hear, O Israel – the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength. And these

S

unday Diet

With ERNEST IKHUREIGBE

MAN is a tool in the hands of God, He could decide to promote, demote or even destroy him at His own will for a purpose 1 Samuel 2:8 states.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung hill, to set them among princess, and to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s and hath set the world upon them.”

Verse 6 says: The Lord killeth and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up”.

Man on earth has definite purpose and mission to fulfill. The greatest of it all is to c o n t i n u a l l y acknowledge God at all times and his breath in you. Gen.2:7. He expects you to serve Him by being Humble to people created by Him to achieve a purpose in life.

God loves His own but there are certain

words which He command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Deuteronomy 6: 4-7.

When Jesus told the disciple that His words were spirit and life unto them, that was our clue as fathers, who are the “professor – priests”.

That it is our responsibility to instill the love of God’s Word in our children. When we magnify the life – giving importance of His word to our children, there is a supernatural dimension at work in a creative redemptive

fashion in the minds and hearts of our sons and daughters. It is living, powerful and sharper than any two – edged sword.

God’s intention through marriage, parenting, family living and interaction is like faith. “I am telling you once and for all that unless you return to God,

R

eflections

With MOSES EVBUOMWAN

you are not even going to get a look at the Kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and demented again, like this child will rank high in Gods Kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the child like on my account it’s the same as receiving

Me.” Matthew 18:3-5.

Families reveal not only how God relates to us in the loving authority, strength provision, and guidance of the parents, but also how we are to relate to him in the helpless, happy dependence that little children have toward their parents.

“God’s intention through marriage, parenting, family living and interaction is like faith. “I am telling you once and for all that unless you return to God, you are not even going to get a look at the Kingdom, let alone get in.”

When God Decides To Act vices being exhibited by man by virtue of the positions they occupy.

Proverbs 6: 16-19 admonishes us to flee from these as they will lead man to be forsaken

by God and at the end bring calamity that would have been avoided if we heed to His admonition.

“These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him. A proud look, a lying tongue and hand that shed innocent blood.

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running lies and he that

“Beloved when God decides to act as some feels that he is slow to anger, He does it without looking back to whom that is affected.”

soweth discord among brother.” These are the things that could truncate man’s cherished destiny.

Beloved when God decides to act as some feels that he is slow to anger, He does it without looking back to whom that is affected.

In the book of Esther was a man highly regarded by King Ahasuerus.

His name was Haman; He was always with the King at all time to confer and advise the king on whatever should be done. The King did not at any time considered his advice and loyalty faulty. He promoted him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him”.

Esther 3:1.

This advancement earned great respect, he became proud. He decided on what should be done to every subject in the Kingdom.

Beloved, Hamman forgot to know that the King is a subject of the Lord, appointed by Him and He could decide to dethrone Him. If the Lord could make the heart of Pharaoh of Egypt to be harden, to be impervious to reasons for him to be destroyed, he could as well provoke any one to favour whom He had restricted to bless.

As Hamman was planning to decimate Mordecai and his entire race, the Lord caused the King sleeplessness for Mordecai’s sake. He provoked the King to reciprocate Mordecai for the good he did to the King at the same time.

Esther 6:1 says the King could not sleep and he ordered the book of records to be sought for the purpose of one person who God has destined could not be destroyed.

Lam 3:37 says: who is he that saith and it cometh to pass, when the Lord

commandeth it not?

Haman became a victim of death in the gallows he dug for Mordecai and his entire race.

Beloved, no matter, the gods and incantations, recanted sorceries consulted to perpetrate evil act that are at variance with God’s laid down instructions; you are bound to fail when God can no long tolerate itwhen you become unrepentant.

No one can be greater than the one who have sent one on an errand.

Whenever you start thinking that you are the Apha, and Omega, you have started derailing and failing and in no time God will step in.

The course of life is a tortuous one, but whoever fails to know and ask himself some pertinent questions will lose in no time. Phil 4: Remain blessed.

RELATIONSHIP

Ladies Give Love To Get Favours, Men Give Favours To Get Love MOST ladies in hookups or quickies claim they do it only for men.

It’s hard to understand ladies in bed without orgasm. So when ladies say they are grateful to God but not to the godsend, ruffled men hail ingrate. Favour can be exchanged for sex.

Relationship, sexual or platonic takes more than ingrates. Both sexes expect the partner rendering favours to be readily there when needed. But if either chose just sex, don’t be so disappointed.

Misunderstandings stem from confusing the difference between the love and obligation of the parents to their children, expecting same in return.

Yet favours to friends may blossom into deeper attachments or partnerships may break even before they start.

Good numbers of people do favours without expecting anything in return. Let us be clear, only so many. Otherwise the word ingrate would have been extinct between partners.

If a Good Samaritan expects nothing back in kind or cash, still, do not rob St. Peter to pay Paul.

Heaven helps those that help themselves, not those that expect rioters from godsend without being useful, at least passing it along. Even if anybody could have been godsend, do not burn your bridges. while you did not choose your parents, you chose partners that could have met others or useful to those more in need.

Parents are often disappointed that after all they denied themselves to provide for their children’s development; their grown children might abandon them. The same is true with ladies and men. After all the favours, partners may be disappointed that others are reaping the fruit

By FAROUK MARTINS ARESA

of their favors. A lady may invest all she has on her boyfriend only to be abandoned for a fresh-lady in college or another guy might snatch a guy’s only

in a hookup or quickie.

They do not have to be sex addicts or prostitutes to pose preferably.

ladies ungrateful to men after getting favours and sexual satisfaction that women do not get after

may have a hard time explaining hookups amongst young people in colleges or at work. Even when men may be more satisfied with quickie or

Hope.

One study came out that only about twenty five percent of ladies actually enjoy orgasm during hook-ups, the rest do it to please the men. A guy you just met cannot be asked to stimulate you where you appreciate most out of shyness. But the same study reveals that more women get orgasm with partners they know longer and can share favourite erogenous zones with. Culturally Africans may query this study about selfless ladies doing it only for men. Many are not used to oral sex until lately.

Some ladies insist on giving it to them. There should be something in it for the ladies. Even in a quickie, some ladies try the dominant position on top until they are satisfied.

So some women find their way to getting the pleasure

Some ladies complain that most men always want something back after favors: sex and/ or a bond.

If they get either for a while, they still need to be satisfied so they move on.

But if a man ditches a lady that took good care of him, she can be mentally scorned. It may have more to do with biology since ladies have limited time to groom another partner.

Since most men are satisfied and only 25% of ladies reach orgasm the question individuals need to ask is if they are doing favours so that those favours could be returned in future or they are passing goodwill around so that recipients can pass it on to others. Can generous sex giver generate good will to others?

We have to be careful about the link between

those favours. The survey revealed that young women would go into brief sexual encounter knowing that is not gratifying, without expecting favor from strangers or casual acquaintances.

This analysis may have missed the instant rush partners get, fatal attraction or captured daydreams.

What prolong most relationship, is the sincere partnership, not the sexual gratification. If it is about sexual gratification, we

oral sex than ladies since orgasm takes longer for them to reach, there must be a desire. There must be something in it for women than the study suggests.

If that is the case, sexual encounter has something for each partner even when women expect to be compensated or at least appreciated for it, since they know that hook-ups only satisfies men and not most women. Some ladies prefer oral sex, some anal sex while some prefer to

simulate sex. Bisexual women claim they enjoy better sex with their female friends getting multiple orgasms they cannot get from men. If men treat sex as casual encounter just for them to come and not for ladies to get orgasm, men should not be resentful when women became ingrates for their kindness. Some men think a female orgasm, is a tougher nut to crack, compared to how easy it is for women to get men aroused. Women confess to one another that they have to fake orgasm even in a stable loving relationship sometimes.

By the time we get to procreation, which is the biological reason for sex, some women may just want to get it over with, since they need not have an orgasm to produce an egg for fertilization.

Imagine what it would be like if women have to, the world would be under populated with children.

So as far as biology is concern, only men need to release.

Therefore, if a lady asked you, what favour have you done for her lately? Please rationalize it. She may have developed a short memory, try and understand.

Today, women brag that they do not have to depend on any man. The fact is we need one another in different ways. If you are not providing the favour they need, someone else is, that may be why some, not all, do not appreciate godsend.

“Some ladies complain that most men always want something back after favors: sex and/ or a bond. If they get either for a while, they still need to be satisfied so they move on.”

s h o W b i z

Society to Encourage Production Of Good Musical Iyrics-Banjo THE Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) at the weekend in Abuja said it was building the capacity of musicians in the country to ensure the production of good musical lyrics in the industry.

The Chief Executive Officer of the society, Mr. Gboyega Banjo, told reporters that the society had embarked on training of musicians to address the shortage of good music lines.

“We do this by training people to become better musicians, whether it is classical music, they are playing or highlife or any type of music.

“By training people,

Naeto C, Wife Expecting Second Child IT is good news for the family of Naetochukwu Chikwe, popularly known as Naeto C, as the Nigerian rapper and his wife, Nicole Chikwe are expecting their second child.

Also, the couple, who welcomed their first child, a boy in March 2013, will be joining the list of Nigerian celebrities to welcome new babies to their homes , as a reliable source close to the family has confirmed the news saying, ”they are really excited. It is something you can’t hide”, the source said.

who know what the theory of music is, and who are trained in the best way of performing music, any type of music.

“We think, we are making that sort of contribution, not just to being able to generate good lyrics, but generally to perform better music in whatever genre,’ he said.

Banjo expressed worry over the decreasing rate of good music lyrics in the industry.

He said the various training organised by the society on different music genres was addressing the unwholesome music lyrics, which featured in some of the music produced in the industry.

He said the society had been able to produce new generation of musicians in the country, with decent music lyrics in their productions.

He said musicians who passed through its training schemes were taught on the theory of music.

‘We don’t just train, we teach people to understand the philosophy behind music, that they are guided to produce good lyrics.

“Lyrics that educate, lyrics that edify, instruct

and appeal to the mind and soul’, Banjo said.

He said the society would continue to work toward the growth of the industry, noting that every Nigerian deserve to have access to good music, as music is part of our cultural heritage.

He said Nigerian musicians had been able to impact the world through music, noting that efforts needed to be intensified to promote classical music.

I Don’t Have Any Woman In My Life -Harrysong SINGER and songwriter, Harrysong recently granted an interview to Vanguard in which the fast rising singer tells us about his musical career, love life, and relationship with Kcee.

When he was asked about his love life, Harrysong says he has no woman in his life: “I believe in a good relationship and I believe in love because I know

it’s a beautiful thing. But what I’m up to now is my music and my career.

Also, I love my fans because I know they are the ones who made me what I am today.

Presently, I don’t have any woman in my life and I look forward to the day I will find the right woman.”

On his relationship with KCee, Harrysong says: “Kcee is my brother

actress, Mediawise, when contacted on the matter. ‘Yes, Monalisa and Lanre have ended their relationship,’ the publicist told reporters.

From what we

gathered, Monalisa and Lanre decided to call it quit with their romantic and business relationships.

The estranged lovers floated a news publication, ‘Monalisa Magazine’ some months ago and even went to launch the same magazine in Ghana.

Monalisa and Lanre had returned to each other’s arms in 2013, and were spotted together at the Ghana launch of their magazine after their first break-up.

Monalisa Chinda, Lanre Nzeribe THE break-up Break-Up Again between Monalisa Chinda and her boyfriend, Lanre Nzeribe, have been confirmed.

This was confirmed to newsmen over the phone by the publicist of the

and my friend, and we’ve been together for like seven to eight years now.

Like I said earlier, I met him at O’jez in Surulere, when he came to watch me perform at the club .

So that day, after watching me performed, they (KCPresh), sprayed money on me and encouraged me. I was a nobody before he met me. He and his friends used to come there to watch me perform .So one day, I decided to approach them and they put me through and that is how we became very close.”

He also cleared the allegations that he is trying to take Presh’s place: “Yes, I’ve had questions like that, but I’ve been ‘Harrysong’ all this while. That I’m trying to take the place of Presh is not true, because Presh and Harrysong are two different people. By being different, I mean in terms of my music, sound, the kind of message I preach and so on. I preach love, life and unity, even my name is different, so it will never happen.’

• Monalisa Chinda and Nzeribe

Nadia Buari Striptease On Jim Iyke THE new season of Nollywood actor Jim Iyke’s reality show, ‘Jim Iyke Unscripted’ has been a sensation for viewers and lovers of the show. The new season had actress Nadia Buari, who is in a relationship with the actor, giving him all the happiness he deserves.

The pictures of the Ghanaian actress giving the Nollywood actor a hot lap dance was taken from the preview of Jim Iyke’s ‘Unscripted and Uncensored’ reality series, which quite shows the lovers are having the best moments of their lives.

In another scene, the

couple took part in a Photo shoot with a private Jet and a Rolls Royce serving as props.

Not too long ago, it was carried all round blogosphere that the two got supposedly engaged, however, Nadia denied the engagement saying, it was all a publicity stunt.

• HarrySong

Afro Candy Says She’s Been Bewitched

• Nadia Buari and Jim Iyke

THINGS beyond human comprehension are beginning to happen to adult actress, Afro Candy.

First it’s her taking to her social network to ask for assistance for her daughter’s university school fees.

Now, the actress says she needs your prayers.

According to her recent tweet, Candy says she suspects witches and enemies of progress are after

her.

As she revealed that she has booked for four photoshoot sessions but hasn’t been able to attend any because her stomach gets swollen any time she prepares to go for the shoot.

“My people pray 4 me o. witch dey worry me. I packed bag 4 Photoshoot since two months but anytime I book appointment my Belle go swell up.

Wetin?”, she tweeted.

PSquare On The Verge Of Breaking Up? SPECULATIONS going round has it that the PSquare duo, might be on the verge of breaking up if an understanding is not reached.

The question now is what could be the cause of their misunderstanding?

Could it be an after marriage problem?

Because if we look back, the twin brothers have been together for over 10 years in their entertainment without fighting themselves. So why now that they are married?

Although, there is no official statement to this effect, but from what the birds whispered, it was learnt that the duo fought during a rehearsal and they had to be separated by their dancers.

• PSquare

Their elder brother Jude Okoye could not bear it as he took to the social media to set agenda for his fans by writing; “After over 10yrs of hard work, it’s over. Am done.”

It would be recalled that in a certain interview, the PSquare brothers had said that it was only their mother that can make them separate. Well, we hope they set their camp right.

Frank Edoho Welcomes New Child Turns Step Father POPULAR TV star and host of MTN Who Wants to a Millionaire, Frank Edoho has welcomed his 4th child.

His second wife, Sandra Onyenaucheya gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on April 2, 2014 in America.

Recall that Mr. Edoho has already gotten three children from his first wife and OAP/TV host, Katherine.

He is also playing the role of an adoptive father to Sandra’s daughter that she got from her former relationship.

Congrats to them.

The Day I Had To Slap My Dad -Actor secret. So people IN a recent chat Femi Adebayo should wait for that with a journalist, Jayne Augoye, popular Yoruba actor Femi Adebayo talked about his career and family!.

Adebayo, who is also a trained lawyer who also bagged a Masters degree in Law, succumbed to the trappings of superstardom to pursue a career in the Nigerian movie industry.

But not withstanding Adebayo still nurses a silent ambition to practice law later.

“Litigation is going nowhere. I see my time in entertainment as God’s calling, so I have to heed to the

• Nollywood

call. I would definitely go back to law at the end of the day,” he noted.

So, what happens when a script requires him to either slap or beat up his father?

“Work is different from family. On the field, we are totally different. We drop being family when we are at work. This is because I see him as a senior colleague (My oga at the top), and whatever we are supposed to do on set, we do it, and that’s theatre. I once had scenes that I acted as an armed robber and went

to rob my father, and I had to slap him and also had to do it well without any inhibitions,” he says, laughing.

Adebayo says his dad would scold him if he fails to interpret the role accordingly.

“If I don’t play the role well, he (my father) will get upset and tell me to slap him well, saying, ‘It is your work’. Acting came naturally to me. And I am grateful to God for that, and that story is not true at all. I am yet to announce whether or not I am going into politics. If I decide to go it will not be a

time – though I believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

•

Mr. Edoho and wife

I Am The King Of R & B In Nigeria

AWARD winning artiste — Darey Art Alade crowned himself king in a recent interview with Encomium magazine.

When asked if he feels any competition between himself and Banky W knowing that they are both called Nigeria’s king of RnB, Darey replied; “There is only one king of RnB. I have never heard anybody being called king of RnB except me. I have never heard anybody call him (Banky W) king of RnB except if you think he is one. But the truth is, there is only one king, and you know who the king is. If you doubt it, my new material will settle the scores.

Although it has taken sometime, I am very happy the work is coming out soon” he told the magazine.

Darey also spoke on the increased rate of artiste/management face off and revealed plans of acquiring a radio station.

Continue below: On artiste/ management face off, Darey said: “The truth of the matter is everybody has a role to play and they have a portion of the blame. The label invests

something, I don’t want to say much. For every investment you want to make a return. This is where the artiste doesn’t understand. In the beginning, they gave you a house, a car, and you think you are talented, and come to think of it, you don’t even have anything in the market. Whatever they gave you was based on potential, the initial agreement that if I give you this, you will give me that in return. Some artistes don’t have agreement, everything is sealed at a bar. As you drink, you signed without realizing what you are signing. Some of them are illiterates, some pretend to know what the business is all about, but they don’t. Some of them get carried away by the glitz and glamour of it, signed without knowing what the agreement stipulates.

When they default, they start blaming the label, saying all sorts of things.

But most of us don’t find out what was the agreement before going to the press and write.

On the other side, the label may have been obligated to do certain things but they did not do it and the artiste will complain. These are the

-Darey Art Alade

issues” he said On how to resolve these issues, Darey said: “I think both sides should have respect for agreement.

There shouldn’t be issues if both sides respect agreement they made.

For instance, when I left Questionmark, nobody heard that I fought anybody till tomorrow.

Yes we had disagreement, it wasn’t a rosy ending but till date they are still my friends, we work together. So maturity is needed to handle such situation”.

Darey also spoke on

• Terry G

his plans to own a radio station “I will love to own a radio station. I have already started making inquiries and plans on that feasibility. I am a radio person, I have worked on radio, and it was really fun. Since then I felt it is good if I can achieve this by running a radio station.

After all, it will provide jobs for people, encourage creativity and improve entertainment. I don’t know the format of the station yet but let me get the license first” he said.

ON Monday April 14, 2014, many people got up from bed very early in the morning, prayed, had breakfast and prepared for work. They proceeded to begin their various business of the day. They did not want to go late to work so they were at the Nyanya park early enough to catch a bus to their different places of work. Some drove in their private cars without a clue that they will never again see their offices and places of work. They would have been beaming with hope, one could imagine!

of the Monday, April 14, 2014. Now that the killers have moved to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, with different planks marked, “Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5” discovered at the scene of the bomb blast in Nyanya, what next will the Elders State Men and Women do to stop them from executing the remaining days?

Women came out to protest against those who planted and detonated the bombs. The tears of these women like drizzling rain could not be

Perhaps they expected good news for the day. For Christians, the day before was Palm Sunday, so they were filled with joyful anticipation of the Holy Week, which marks the beginning of the Easter celebrations after celebrating the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday singing, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven” (Matthew 21, 9)! All these innocent souls did not know that after the Palm Sunday of 13th April 2014, they would not sing that song on earth again.

They did not know that while they were singing “Hosanna”, those who have refused the light and chosen darkness had concluded their plans to send them to the life beyond akin to that of those who shouted “crucify him, away with him” in the trial of Jesus of Nazareth. They celebrated the Good Friday on a Monday with their blood! May Christ receive them into his Kingdom!

I watched the Palm Sunday events from different Churches on the television.

At intervals the media also reported the words of encouragements from the Sultan of Sokoto and the Vice President of Nigeria. The Sultan confidently told Nigerians that those who say that there is an attempt to Islamize Nigeria are enemies of Nigeria. The Vice President announced that the criminals who are using religion to terrorise Nigeria and Nigerians would soon be brought to book. I wonder how they would be feeling now about the ugly tragedy

stopped, not even by the visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Who will replenish the tear glands that have been exhausted with weeping over the death of these innocent Nigerians?

Each time there is explosion, the people hear from the Government, what has become the mantra: “we are on top of the situation!” Then the terrorists respond with another worse terrorist act.

When shall we get down “from the top of the situation” to the bottom and put a final stop to the scourge and carnage of these terrorist acts? Where do we go from here?

Perhaps our government needs to let the people know.

If something is stolen in a room where five people are living, each person in that room remain a suspect until the real thief is found. Until the day Nigerians will know who these terrorists and their sponsors are, accusing fingers will continue to point at different persons and institutions. Until we know the real terrorists, the argument that “Boko Haram” has killed more Muslims, Christians, Pagans or atheists would remain a verbose gibberish. One of the commentators on the Nyanya bomb blast of Monday April 14, 2014 in AIT and NTA said, “It has become normal to see figures of dead people in the front pages of our newspapers during terrorist attacks, no body talks about the personalities anymore”.

The identity of the innocent human beings who are being killed in the name of a “god” of “terrorists” matters no more. This blood sucking “god” is very wicked and

must be stopped.

I remember what my uncle used to say to us when we were growing up. “Should any of you turn a criminal, he should stop using the family name! It is better you die than to spoil the good name of our family!” Later in life, that the Church excommunicates heretics who would not return to the true teaching of the Church would make sense to me. People are really tired of the definition of the religious identity of these terrorist. A Muslim told me sometime ago that he was in a place with a group of people; he

the terrorists claimed to be Muslims who are fighting a jihad whereas what they are doing is far from the teaching of Islam. He felt very sad, but with a kind of optimism that there is a lot the good and orthodox Muslims can do to save the name of Islam from “these bad Muslims”. We must work together as concerned Nigerians to stop this carnage. How are we even sure that these Nyanya terrorists are the real Boko Haram?

The attack on holy places at holy seasons appears to be a trade mark for the terrorists.

Focus and died on the cross on Good Friday; and on Easter Sunday we celebrate the victory over death as we witness and proclaim, “Jesus is risen indeed, alleluia”! This is our faith, the faith of every Christian. Without the passion, death and resurrection, there is no Christianity. May the fact that death is the lot of all and eternal life for those who have faith in God be a consolation to all who mourn their loved ones in this Holy

the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1, 18).

In 1979, Pope John Paul II published a book, (Carol Wotyla, Sign of Contradiction, Seabury Press, 1979) to show the mystery of Jesus Christ who died to save us. The cross looks like a contradiction but it is the way that leads to true peace. The life and message of Jesus Christ shows the

power of God that is demonstrated in the resurrection (Romans 1, 20).

Jesus came that we might have abundant life (John 10, 10). He raised Lazarus (John11, 1-43) and the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7, 11-16)

to show that he has the answer to every life situation.

Do these reflections mean that we should continue to be slaughtered on a daily basis?

Where do we go from here?

The point for all believers, especially Christians in this Holy Week is that we should not allow these enemies of human life to prevent us from celebrating the resurrection.

This is our Easter! Let nothing separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8, 36). Happy Easter!

Where Do We Go From Here?

By FR. CORRELIUS AFEBU OMONOKHUA

discovered all of a sudden that every body left him.

Perhaps they were afraid of him because he wore a long beard. He continued, “I am just thinking that the Muslim community should

The Holy Week is the most sacred week for Christians. It is a period when all the Christians pray to God. Jesus Christ reveals God as love, merciful and full of

season. Even in our tears we believe the words of Jesus our Saviour: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5, 4).

Consoling another who is bereaved May be easy but

really take action against these terrorists before they spoil the name of Islam. We say they are not Muslims, yet they insist that they are. It is time for us to have a retrospect and see if we can identify where and when we got it wrong.” He was troubled and wondered why

compassion. The Holy Week is a period Christians celebrate the God of Mercy.

What makes the Holy Week sacred? The Holy Week is Sacred because the passion of the Redeemer is re-enacted.

Jesus was scourged, crowned with thorns, bore the weight of the heavy cross, crucified

when we are bereaved, the pain of the cross becomes obvious. However, we should remember that the Cross is not an end in itself. Every cross that is accepted in faith leads to glory even though the cross does not make sense to some people. St. Paul told the Corinthians, “The message of

“Each time there is explosion, the people hear from the Government, what has become the mantra: “we are on top of the situation!” Then the terrorists respond with another worse terrorist act. When shall we get down “from the top of the situation” to the bottom and put a final stop to the scourge and carnage of these terrorist acts? Where do we go from here? Perhaps our government needs to let the people know.”

Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja and Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican C i t y comonokhua@hotmail.com

“The first step to putting the mess at bay is getting more organized, take stock of what is in your kitchen, purge it of unnecessary items and arrange what is kept in a decent manner, bearing accessibility in mind.”

Homes to your kitchen.

Introduce See Through Storages Eliminate clutter in open shelves by stashing items in airy baskets instead of placing them directly.

Find Help In A Lazy Susan

10 Tips To Organising Your Kitchen KITCHENS in most contemporary homes can be a real clutter magnet considering the beehive of activities it plays host to on a regular basis. The first step to putting the mess at bay is getting more organized, take stock of what is in your kitchen, purge it of unnecessary items and arrange what is kept in a decent manner, bearing accessibility in mind. Find practical tips to getting this done.

Clear Your Counter Top You probably think having almost everything on the counter affords you a high level of accessibility, but seriously, have you considered it might be one of the reasons your kitchen has that untidy look? Make the space in your cabinet work for you by grouping object, by purpose and assigning them to specific parts of the cabinet. Doing this, frees valuable counter space leaving your countertop a tidy look.

Micro-organise Shelves And Drawers Locating an item in a drawer or shelf can easily become a nightmare, if it is not properly organized. Introduce order and maximize space in your drawers/shelves by: • Introducing drawer organizers to keep cutlery neatly separated.

• Filing plastic containers and their covers in a drawer.

• Installing shelve organizers for easy access to frequently used items.

Designate A Cooking Zone Creating a section around your cooker to make all the mess during cooking. You don’t have to mess up the whole space if you can help it. It makes tiding up after cooking less tedious. Store your pots and pans very close

to this section for quicker access during cooking.

Stow Cooking Tools Efficiently Like your pots and pans, stow frequently used kitchen tools like your egg whisk, spatula and so on, as close to the cooking area as possibly, so you never have to rummage around when you need them.

Show Off Pretty Wares Don’t keep those attractive glass cups, pans, antiques bowls of china, and so on locked up where it serves no use at all. By all means, show case them to add a more appealing look

“Make the space in your cabinet work for you by grouping object, by purpose and assigning them to specific parts of the cabinet. Doing this, frees valuable counter space leaving your countertop a tidy look.”

Contain messes in your shelves/drawers by housing food items that can spill or stick on an easy-to-clean lazy Susan.

Categorise Food Your pantry shelf should have each category of food in a separate section. Use labeled jars, containers and baskets to keep pantry items well organized with a descent appeal.

Install A Retractable Bookstand

With this, you don’t have cookery books lingering the whole place or getting soiled in the process of using them. Keep a recipe at eye level while you are cooking and fold it under the cabinet when you are done.

Clean As You Go Failure to do this, would absolutely put all the above efforts to ruin. Make a routine of clearing and wiping your countertop, cleaning the cooks and poultry used items back in their appropriate place after cooking. It becomes less of a chore as you get used to it and make your efforts at having an organized kitchen more visible.

A lovely kitchen is a well organized one. So go on have that spotless and inviting kitchen you have always wanted…It’s just ten steps away!

AFTER the man had eaten, he got up and said goodbye to the father. He looked around him before he left, as if he was trying

Story Time

into position. Inside the cave, it was pitch back, but the girl felt safe and she slept well that first night.

The next day, the girl’s

The Girl Who Lived In A Cave (2)

to remember what they owned. Then he walked off and was soon obscured by the tall grass that grew in that part.

The girl went to stand by her father’s side.

“That guy was a very wicked man,” said the father. “I am very sorry that he visited this place”.

“He was going some where else when I met him the father shook his head sadly.

“Now that he is here, “he said. We shall have to leave. I shall tell your brother to collect his sleeping mat and get ready for us to go to some other place”.

The girl could not believe that the family would be leaving the place where they had lived for so long and she was fond of.

She tried to persuade her father to stay, but he was convinced that they were in great danger by staying where they were.

“It is better to move now, “he said, “than to regret it later”.

The girl wept, but her tears were ignored by her father. Soon he had all the family’s possessions loaded on his back and was calling out the other to follow him on the path.

“I shall not come with you,” the girl said defiantly. “I have been JONATHAN met with the Queen of England.

He asked her, ‘How do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me? I want to help Nigeria”.

“Well,” said the Queen, “the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people”.

Jonathan frowned, and then asked, “But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?” the Queen replied, “Oh, that’s easy, you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle” the Queen pushed A button on her intercom “ please send David Cameron in here, would you?”

David Cameron walked into the room and said “, yes, your majesty?”

The Queen smiled and said, “ Answer this riddle.

David, your mother and father have a child, it is not

By ADELA BROOKS

C

hildren’s World

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Jokes

Children Speak

happy in this place and see no reason to move”. The girls, mother pleaded with her to go, but the girl refused.

Eventually the father became impatient. “If you must stay”, he said , “then you should at least go and live in a cave in the hillside. There is a place there where there is a large rock behind you and don’t let nobody into the cave”.

The girl agreed to this, as she knew the nearby cave. It was comfortable and cool, and she thought she would be happy there.

As the rest of the family disappeared down the path that led to their new place, she took her mat and her pots to the cave and set them on a ledge at the back. Then, since it was beginning to get dark, she rolled the rock in the front

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Jokes It’s Me

your brother and it is not your sister who is it?”

Without pausing for a minute David Cameron answered, “ that would be me” Yes, very good,” said the Queen.

Jonathan went back home to ask his vice president Sambo.

JONATHAN : Your mother and your father have a child, its not your brother and it’s not your sister, who is it?

SAMBO: “ I’ m not sure, let me get back to you”.

He asked all his staff in the office but none could give him an answer.

Finally, one day Sambo,

ran into Dora Akunyili Sambo asked, Dora, SAMBO: you mother and father have a child and it’s not your brother or sister, who is it?”

Dora answer sharply, “that easy, Its me!’ Sambo smiled, and said “thanks!”

Then he went back to speak with president Jonathan.

SAMBO : Sir I have the answer to that riddle, it’s DORA Akunyili,?

Jonathan got angry, he said to Sambo “No wonder Nigeria isn’t moving forward, I am surrounded

by Dummies!

The answer is David

brother paid her a visit to see how she was doing, she told him of how comfortable she had been in the cave and of how well she had slept.

“I am safe there,” she explained. “The rock blocks the mouth of the cave and I shall open it to nobody. If you come, though, you should sing this song and I shall know that it is you”.

Ifi “ Where will you celebrate your Easter?

My parents promised to carry me to Ogba Zoo if I passed well in my exams.

Jerry “ I will be going to Mr. Biggs after Sunday service with my friends as usual to catch some fun.

Mercy “ I will be going to my sister’s place to celebrate the Easter, then on Monday I will come back home to attend my friends’s birthday.

Beauty “ I will eat rice and chicken on Easter day and then go to musuem to snap picture with my friends Choma “ I will celebrate my Easter in the church after closing I will eat and sleep.

O.Z “ I will so eat that day and sleep because God has carried my sins away, I am a free man now.

Isaac “ I will go to my grandma’s house in Aduwawa to celebrate my Easter.

Cameron!”

WHO IS A MUSLIM HERE? A man entered a mosque carrying a brand new smooth machete and asked “who is a muslim here?” the whole mosque went silent as a grave yard. The man asked again, “How can a full mosque have no muslim ?” No one replied.

The man then grabs the nearby young man and goes out with him and tells him, “son come how do you do it”.

After the young man had slaughtered the goat he tells the man that he doesn’t know how to skin it and that the man would have to go back to the mosque and get someone else to help him on that.

The man returns to the mosque with a machete dripping with blood.

When the Imam saw this, he immediatdy shouts “praise

Miss Miracle Ikoko is 10 years old today. Happy Birthday!

STEPHEN was the first martyr among the seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. There arose certain people in synagogue, disputing with

the Jews said he was teaching against the law of the people, that he was polluting the holy place.

They drew Paul out of the temple and shut the doors.

He was imprisoned, beaten with rods and stoned. As they were about to kill Paul, the captain of the

Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke, and then they summoned men, who said they have heard him say blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the elders and scribes, came upon Stephen, caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses against him. When the people heard all the things said against him, they were cut on the heart, and gnashed on him with their teeth. But Stephen, being full of Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. When he told the people that he saw, the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of God, they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, ran upon him, with one accord, and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him. Then Stephen knelt down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Acts 6;7:54-60;8:1.

Paul was imprisoned, beaten with rods and stoned because he was preaching the message of Jesus Christ. Paul was in the temple preaching and

band immediately took soldiers and centurions to stop them. Paul was bound with two chains and they demanded who he was, and what he had done. Some people said one thing; some said another thing against Paul. The multitude shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live”. After Paul was given a chance to speak, the multitude became divided between the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees said there was no resurrection, whether angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confessed both. The Pharisees said they have found no evil in him, but if a spirit or an angel had spoken to him, they should not fight against God. And when the captain saw the great dissension, he ordered Paul to be brought into the castle. That night, the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou has testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

Acts 23:6-11. Paul lived in his own hired house at Rome and received everybody that came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence,

no man forbidding him.

Acts 27:1-44; 28:1-31.

The examples of human steadfastness among the prophets are a living testimony to the faithfulness of God’s promises, of His abiding presence and• sustaining grace. They testify to the

parents will disown them.

There was a pastor whose parents were Muslims but the man refused to follow his parents to become Muslim. The father chained the man at home so he could not go to church. When the mother cooks, she will serve other

In Exile For The Faith (4)

By PRINCE BAYO OKUO

power of faith to withstand the powers of the world. It is the work of faith to rest in God in the darkest hour, to feel however sorely tried and tempest-tossed,

that our father is at the helm of affairs. The eye of faith alone can look beyond the things of time to estimate aright the worth of the eternal riches. There are some Christians, because they refuse to join their Muslim parents and become Muslim, their

“Paul was bound with two chains and they demanded who he was, and what he had done.

Some people said one thing; some said another thing against Paul. The multitude shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live”. After Paul was given a chance to speak, the multitude became divided between the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

children and refuse to serve him. Any slight opportunity, the man will go to church. The father disowned him. Today, the Pastor’s church is one of

the biggest Ministries in the town. The father has converted to become a Christian but the mother is still a Muslim. This thing is still happening today in the North and some parts of the South. When they find a person going to worship God in the church, they will stone the person.

This was not the doctrine preached by Prophet Mohammed in the Holy Koran.

Prophet Mohammed preached that Muslims faithful should love their neighbours as themselves. In the process of loving your neighbour as yourself, you will not love yourself more than your neighbour. The Koran has equivalent names for all Christian names in the Bible. Jesus is called Isa,

Religion David is called Dauda, Joseph is called Yakubu e.t.c. But the freedom that Christians enjoy in preaching the gospel in the South, Muslims in the North who like the gospel and want to preach it do not have such freedom.

This is why you find that when some Muslims come to the South, they refuse to go back to the North. In the South, people feel free to worship God where they like either in church or mosque. But in the North, it is not so. There is a story of a Muslem girl who had

a Christian male friend.

She called the boyfriend to tell him that if there is anything he can do to come and take her away from where she is, she will happily marry him. She is tired of the way she is living her life. There is also the story of a Muslim in the North who was inside the house and heard some Christian women discussing about God knowledgeably and singing praises to Isa (Jesus) outside. The man saw the truth in what they were saying and he approached his Islamic Teacher (Chief Imam) about this. The Chief Imam shared about the Prophets in the Bible with him, and told him that Isa

(Jesus) was the Saviour of all humanity, and the judge of mankind. The Chief Imam told the man that he was allowed to read a little Bible in Hausa secretly and he must not read it outside.

He was also cautioned about the danger of renouncing Islam and become Christian. The consequence is death. The reason Boko Haram said they are fighting Western Education is because they are afraid that if their fellow Muslim faithfuls see the light of Education, they will not think of any evil plan against the Christians because Western Education teaches good moral values.

You should help to solve problems and not add to problem. If you don’t help the person, you become a problem to that person.

Boko Haram has brought evil into this country to the extent that America has decided that no more lottery for Nigeria citizens to come and nationalize in U.S.A. The road has been blocked.

When you want to help somebody, help him from the beginning to the end, so you will get blessing for it.

Gal 6:1-5. Don’t be a problem giver but problem solver. If you help somebody to solve his problem, another person will help you to solve your own. When you add to somebody’s problem, another person will add to your own. When you see somebody who needs help, you don’t wait for the person to tell you to help him before helping the person. A rich man will help a rich man because of what he is expecting from the rich man. To say that the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer is a thing of tradition. Pharisees are problem givers, not problem solvers. As a woman, don’t be a problem to your husband. When he is coming home from work, he is coming with a lot of office problem on his head. Help him to carry away the problem from his head, not adding to it. Let him settle down; give him food that you know he likes before telling him any complain.

Why Do People Want Immediate Gratification?

THE problem with many people especially the young ones today is that they want i m m e d i a t e gratification, they want God to answer their prayers urgently, unknowingly to them, that God is not a mergician. In life, every

thing has its own time, once your time comes nobody can change it.

According to a Redeemed Pastor, pastor Emmanuel. He said God is ever ready.

He is not sleeping or never too late he is ever ready to answer your prayers. God is not

By UMUKORO A. EMMANUEL

sleeping waiting for the right time, he wants you to put your life in his hand.

Galatian 4.4 says but when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son. Made of a woman, made under the law, 2 Peter.

“But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Many people in the world today want their miracle immediately, they don’t wart to wait for God to speak to them. Nobody is willing to wait for his or her time to come.”

IF you’re like me, and you’re tired of hearing about and talking about the economy, even it things are improving which I think they are, it’s still a scary world for a lot of people right now.

If you are one of those fearful of losing your job or if you have already joined the unemployment league, l urge you to maintain a positive attitude, worrying won’t help and in fact, may create even more problems.

Consider this: What if losing your job was your chance to finally clarify your career direction and define what you really want in your career?.

This should not be the end of the road, rather it should be a new beginning for better things to come.

Having been through the experience of not having a

But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Many people in the world today want their miracle immediately, they don’t wart to wait for God to speak to them. Nobody is willing to wait for his or her time to come. Isaiah 55:8. says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the lord vs 9, for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your thoughts. You

Opinion can’t just plant a seed today and expect that seed to bring forth fruit immediately Isaiah 55"10. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater vs 11 so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that I please and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it. No matter what you are passing through your time is your time, nobody can change it.

What can we say concerning the story of the children of Israel when they were in captivity in the land of

What To Do If You Lose Your Job

By GLORY IGBOKWE

job, I’d like to offer some tips to help you through this unsettling time.

Don’t panic: Fear and anxley are natural, but if you allow these emotions to control your thinking you won’t be able to make good decisions, about what you’re going to do next.

Surround yourself with optimistic supportive people: Misery may attract company, fron loved ones but this is not the time to commiserate, you need to remain focused, positive and

inspired.

Create a job hunting schedule: This is an extremely important step because it will keep your mind focused so you don’t get depressed immediately.

Start looking into career building prospects or monster courage to get an overview of what’s out there.

Next do some targeted searches specific to your industry on sites that cater for your area of expertise.

Start networking:

“This should not be the end of the road, rather it should be a new beginning for better things to come. Having been through the experience of not having a job, I’d like to offer some tips to help you through this unsettling time.”

Networking is still the best way to get a job, spread the word that you are in job search mode among your friends, family, former coworkers – anyone that you

know who could help with your job search. Dig up names from internships or summer jobs and reach out to those people, join networking groups.

Egypt but when the time God wanted them to live the bondage which they were, nothing could stop them not to go. Even pharaoh himself could not hold them back, that is the word of God for you, once your time has come nobody can stop you, stop being in haste because these are the reasons why there are so many unprofessionals all over the world “quack” doctors, journalists, teachers, lawyers, pastors. All just because they want to make it as fast as possible nobody is willing to learn, nobody is willing to wait for his or her time to come because, they want immediate gratification. That’s the problem with young people today.

Consider an interim job: It will get you out of the house, boost your morale and offer some temporary financial assistance temporary agencies often have positions that can lead to permanent employment.

Look at your situation as an opportunity: If you have ever felt unsatisfied or unfulfilled in your work, this could be the opportunity nudging you to find the job you love.

Health Benefits Of Guava GUAVA is another tropical fruit rich in nutrition with its unique flavour, taste, fits in the new functional food category often called “super-fruits.”

It is an evergreen, tropical shrub or lowgrowing small tree probably originated in middle Americas.

Guava actually thrive in both humid and dry climates and can tolerate brief periods of cold spells, but can survive only a few degrees of frost.

The fruit belongs to the family of myrtaceae of the genus psidium and its scientific name is Psidium guajava. The fruit is soft when ripe with sweet musky aroma and creamy in texture. And the following are the health benefits of guava fruit.

It Helps To Lower Cancer Risk Guava contains one of the highest vitamin C

content among produce, four times more than oranges, this is because vitamin C is known as one of the potent antioxidants which helps protect cells from free radical damage. And also the high levels of oxidants in the body can damage cell membranes and may contribute to the development of heart disease and cancer.

It Helps To Reduce The Risk Of Diabetes According to research, guava is a rich source of fiber which helps to prevent diabetes by slowing down the absorption of sugar in the body.

It Promotes Good Eyesight According to research, Guava are very good source of vitamin A, which is best known for preserving and improving eye sight.

It Supports Fertility According to Havard

By IFANYI CHUKWU FRED

University, it has been shown that munching on guava supplies a good amount of folate in the body. This is because folate is a must have nutrient for a healthy pregnancy.

It Stabilizes Blood Pressure Levels According to food nutritionist, one cup of guava is packed with almost the same potassium as bananas.

This is because potassium works as an

important factor in regulating blood pressure by reversing the role of sodium in unbalancing normal blood pressure.

It Maintains Thyroid Health According to research, Guavas are good sources of copper, a trace mineral which plays a role in thyroid metabolism especially in hormone production and absorption.

It Helps the Body to

Healthy Living Make Use of Key Nutrients (Manganese) Guavas are good sources of manganese which serves as enzyme activator that are responsible for the utilization of some key nutrients such as biotin, thiamine and ascorbic acid e.t.c.

It Helps To Relaxe Nerves and Muscles Magnesium According to research, it has been understandable that taking guavas can help to relax the nerves and muscles through its

good amount of magnesium content.

It Helps Make The Brain Healthy (Vitamin B6 – 9%DV).

According to research, the vitamins in guava plays a vital role in brain function and also promotes blood flow.

It serves as a good source for the skin that regular guava consumption can also do the skin good through its vitamin content which helps to maintain healthy skin through its antioxidant properties.

“According to research, the vitamins in guava plays a vital role in brain function and also promotes blood flow. It serves as a good source for the skin that regular guava consumption can also do the skin good through its vitamin content which helps to maintain healthy skin through its antioxidant properties.”

ONE issue that keeps bordering my mind as an Isoko indigene is the bothersome organization called “Isoko Development Union” (IDU) formed over sixty years ago and yet to defend the interest of Isoko division. The purpose of creating Isoko Development Union which was formerly known as Isoko Union has been utterly defeated and commandeered by those that never wished Isoko people well. Isoko division was created in 1963 through our amiable and dogged fighter and Isoko Doyen of politics, late Chief James Ekpre Augustine Otobo of Uzere kingdom, who saw the Isoko political vision beyond ethnic mission, and succeeded in seeing Isoko division separated from Urhobo East and remained a united one to fight for the common front. The name Isoko Development Union does not represent the interest of Isoko nation but its objectives focus on sociocultural organization and nothing else.

Few weeks ago, I received a call from one of the Isoko students in Delta State University, Abraka, writing his project on Isoko political development using IDU as a case study where he enquired from me whether IDU has made any Isoko person to hold any political office in Nigeria since its creation? as a student of Department of history, I told him straight that IDU is not a recognized organization in Nigeria because the name does not represent Isoko entity than some voracious persons that want to bring Isoko nation down at all means. After putting several calls to me on his scientific researches on Isoko nation, specifically on IDU from the internet, he discovered that IDU is not the veritable voice of Isoko nation, hence some key Isoko people in the union should be projecting a new ethnical name that would represent the interest of Isoko people before 2015. One great Isoko Archbishop granted an interview in one of the Isoko community newspapers recently, where he said that IDU many a time had invited him to see how the union can move forward but unity is the bane of progress since then.

Even when some Isoko group of intellectuals agitated for the late Chief Abel Ubeku to be nominated

as Isoko political father after the demise of Chief Otobo, some desperate Isoko people rebutted that ideal due to leadership inferiority complex in the land. Isoko is blessed with agricultural produces like cassava, yam, palm oil and others. IDU has not addressed the bordering issues on unemployment of Isoko youths, one united front, mechanized Agricultural system, political recognition, infrastructural developments, cottage industries, education, oil marginalization and excesses of over-used politicians in Isoko. I doubt if Governor Uduaghan nominated anybody from Isoko to represent the state, at the ongoing National Confab which Urhobo and Itsekeri people were excluded initially, and they fought immediately to see they were in the list of delegates to the confab. But IDU is only interested on political consulting than fighting for their rights.

In 2011 precisely the former President- General IDU, Elder Peter Ovie Erebi called on a mini-conference on the need to put the union in order only for some disgruntled elements wanting to disrupt the meeting. To God be the glory, handful members of the union that believed on the oneness of Isoko nation attended the conference to chart a new course for development. Elder Peter Ovie Erebi meant well for Isoko people, to make IDU one common front that would fight for Isoko cause.

It is very sad that IDU that started its operation for over sixty years ago does not have an ultra-modern civic hall for their meetings than using a public hall for their regular meetings and elections which indicated that IDU still operating on community leadership system than Isoko ethnicity.

If unity can take a centre stage of the Union, then IDU will remain a formidable socio-cultural organization in Nigeria. Though IDU is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but not politically organized.

That is why some learned Lagos Isokobased indigenes are fronting for Isoko nation to join Urhobo but that is unconstitutional rather. If Isoko Ethnic Nationality (IEN) replaces Isoko Development Union

(IDU), then the interest of Isoko will be projected nationally and internationally. You hardly see IDU granting press conferences than patronizing local newspapers and the Vanguard newspaper alone and sometimes the Guardian newspaper. No Isoko man wants to spend money on press to project the interest of the land than attending local parities for display of crisp of

Today, Isoko nation has not gotten a political father since the demise of Chief Ekpre Otobo because everybody in Isoko wants to be a political father due to their political positions in the land. Everybody wants to be a leader without a mentorial father. The former IDU President- General, Chief Oke Akpojene was kidnapped sometimes in 2012 when his kidnappers took N7million naira as his

Searchlight hall for its meetings over the years. The acclaimed Timber and Caliber of men and women in IDU cannot bring out their money to sponsor IDU leadership. Six months from now, Isoko nation will be marking 51st anniversary, yet IDU cannot even celebrate Isoko nation at 50 last year. Even the IDU branches across Nigeria and

IDU: Matters Arising

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta State Governor

naira notes in the public and nothing else. Both IDU men and women wings are not protecting the interests of Isoko people than exhibiting their retired attires and expensive automobiles for every IDU programmes. IDU should be scrapped from Isoko political history because its operation is narrow-minded and embacing sycophantic system of leadership and nothing else. IDU is good in writing official letters to both the state and federal governments knowing fully well that its operation does not represent one voice of Isoko people. Those Isoko people in Ndokwa east are yet to join IDU to see how the union can progress. It has been alleged that IDU does not include Isoko people that joined the Ndokwa local government and Bayelsa state over the years.

“Today, Isoko nation has not gotten a political father since the demise of Chief Ekpre Otobo because everybody in Isoko wants to be a political father due to their political positions in the land. Everybody wants to be a leader without a mentorial father.”

freedom bail in the name of IDU leadership. My grouse with IDU is that they are interested in electing old people to pilot the affairs of the union over the years. One of the former leaders once alleged that the young ones in the union wanted to direct him what to do and he preferred to relinquish his leadership. The new youths of Isoko nation today, are well-acquainted with technological knowledge in all ramifications which needed their inclusiveness in the union than relegating them to the background in leadership positions.

Since the creation of IDU, no President-General has been able to build a hall for IDU till date. Even Elder Peter Ovie Erebi made several attempts but was alleged of impropriate of the union funds. How much does IDU gets in a month or year?

That somebody will embezzle if not for political ignorance of leadership in Isoko. If some powerful persons, which are connected with various governments, can influence funds to the union, then, IDU will remain a visible union in Nigeria.

How can the union be funded? IDU is not the poorest union in Nigeria but lack community unity. IDU is surrounded with highly placed intellectuals, technocrats, business moguls, leaders of thought and others but cannot build an edifice

Abroad are not politically, socially, culturally and economically performing because all instructions come from the unstable apex leadership of the union. IDU is surrounded with highly placed professionals, yet Isoko nation is still at the quagmire. The reason for the present SSG, Delta State, Comrade Macaulay Ovuozourie to set up Isoko Advancement Network (IAN) is to project the interest of Isoko nation against the backdrop of leadership in the region. How long can Isoko people play second fiddle in politics? Though IAN is now a dead vision in Isoko. Even when the Delta State PDP chairman, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi faulted the comment made by Delta State SSG on national newspapers, nobody in IDU or IAN could counter the political moves of the chairman. If Isoko Ethnic Nationality is fully accepted

by Isoko people, then its leadership must embrace youthful vision that helps to ameliorate the sufferings, v i c t i m i z a t i o n , marginalization, harassment and political inequality in Isokoland. Isoko Ethnic Nationality must look into Isoko leadership by inviting all interested political aspirants, Isoko stakeholders and those already in political leadership to put Isoko people in their minds while in political or public offices.

IDU is the eye of all mothers of community leadership and organizations in Isoko. Anybody that will be elected into the office of President-General of IAN must have his own refined office in Oleh and possess a first degree or any other qualifications that is relevant to leadership in Nigeria. As far you are a member of Isoko Ethnic Nationality, you must be an active member of your community or a financial contribution that shows your commitment to community leadership. With the crops of personalities in IDU, the union ought to represent the yearnings of Isoko people. How many of the past IDU PresidentGenerals can boast of any single project influenced in Isoko.

IDU has not addressed the multiple issues of entrepreneurial skills for its youth and others. IDU is a mirage. In one of the interviews granted in Isoko mirror of March edition, page 5, 2014, the present President-General of IDU, Major-General Paul Ufuoma Omu(Rtd) said litigations are the bane of IDU’s growth which indicated that union has many waters to cross to success. IDU has been commandeered by certain persons who want to silence the voice of Isoko people.

Who will bail Isoko people from this leadership tussle?

IDU cannot organize Isoko nation at 50 last year because of lack of internal leadership democracy in the union.

Every top member of IDU is addressed as chief, but nobody is ready to take IDU leadership to the next level.

Most of these ageing IDU leaders should serve as advisory board members while allowing the younger generations to pilot the affairs of the union. IDU leadership should not be given to halfbaked or mediocre that sees IDU as a means to run credible Isoko people down.

Now that one of the products of IDU, Dr.Ogaga Ifowodo of Oleh kingdom wants to run for House of Representatives in 2015 under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), then, IDU must use this opportunity to showcase the best in them. I welcome the boldness of Dr. Ogaga to contest against the unstoppable PDP candidate, Hon. Leo Okuweh Ogor who sees National Assembly as his personal property.

Finally, IDU should be scrapped to allow Isoko Ethnic Nationality to take over the leadership of Isoko.

Everybody in Isoko should be blamed on the failure of IDU leadership over the years. It is time to say no to IDU and replaced it with Isoko Ethnic Nationality for national recognition.

By GODDAY ODIDI

Akwa Ibom State is made up of about 5 million people mainly lbibio, Annang, Oron, Ibeno, and Eket. Uyo, their major City is 95km to Calabar the Administrative headquarters of Nigeria before Lagos. These are very decent people known in Lagos for neatness, pride

area where most of the income is generated for the Country. Moreover, their means of primary livelihood as fishermen were destroyed and turned into environmental disaster. Well, look at precedent.

Watch the acts of officers needed to lead the armed

leader of their countries someday. Needless to say, our leaderships were also taken over by Christian and Muslim radicals. Some attended guerilla training camps in Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan. Many of them fighting for opposite causes or political parties even met one

Opinion

rest of Nigerians or to the point of arming themselves against their Country. But any state producing oil belongs to Ijaw.

We must enlighten those that do not understand why any state governor in a country would send their youths to Sanhurst or guerrilla training camps

how to turn these raw materials into the finished products that can be valuable to the world. You would think that since Africa was blessed with so much rich natural resources, after many

because they want to take over the national government.

Natural resources like oil, gold, diamond and uranium are very important to the world but not as much in their raw state to Africans. The reason is our hedonist leaders create civil wars over dwindling raw material from the ground but careless over brain abilities.

Our brains are what enable us to think about

centuries of old civilization, we would have used our brains to develop most of them. Laziness and easy income take over our spirits many times. We do not philosophies, write, or adapt education to what our ancient scientists and artists left us.

Indeed, we wait for people outside our Continent to rediscover our legacy so that they can re interpret and sell it back to us. But when it is civil

wars, chicanery to dispossess one another, take one another as slaves, smuggle and kidnap babies and women for foreigners to make easy money and live temporarily in opulence we did not create,

Akwa Ibom Must Produce The Next president

By FAROUK MARTINS ARESA

and hard work. Once you taste the lbibio Afang or Efik Edikang-Ikong soup especially with pounded yam, you are sold.

If you eat it as a bachelor, forget your worries, you just got yourself the most beautiful lady.

How Akwa Ibom becomes the leading oil producing state is secondary, what they could have done with it as others did is the point here.

However, culture of greed and insatiable pursuit of power by any means necessary have not gripped their conscience like some ethnic groups destroying their so called mother and fatherland. It is not the same as portraying them as holy saints that see no evil or do no evil. We have those in the best of us wherever you are.

If Akwa Ibom people have anything to learn or were less than polite, friendly and easy to get along with; they will be agitating for their own Country or might have raised militants to take over their Country. In case you are wondering why power grab is what our Country has become. Everybody wants power for no other reason than to be in charge of the treasury and loot it dry. It used to be the best way to power and gain treasury was by population, inflated or not.

Since Akwa Ibom State is now the highest oil producing area, it is only fair that they should be in the fore front agitating for the highest office in the land. There is no doubt that Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan got a clean shot at the presidency because he comes from oil producing

robbers to power. Contracts and payments to their cronies were taking too long in the bureaucratic process. So, officers as masked saviours took over, ordering the Governor of Central Bank to deliver foreign cash from the vault with immediate effect.

Once military took charge, they occupied most of the avenues for generating incomes according to power of officers, regardless of where the oil comes from.

Ijaw elders armed and instigated the youths until they lost control while the rest of the Country and international countries sympathized with them. It was these same international countries in search of black gold, whose corporations destroyed their environment.

Compensation apart from few schools and clinics were little or token local high level employees for public relations.

Since arms and ammunitions were advertised worldwide in the open markets; it took armed robbery to take power and there were open guerrilla training camps just as there was Army training in Royal Military Academy Sandhurst England or American Military academies; youths learned fast. America and British require home governments’ approval before the students are accepted but Guerrilla, Christian and Muslim extremist fundamental camps take all corners.

Therefore, it was easy for those contemplating the takeover of governments to go to Sandhurst to earn their stripes only to become the

another at these camps.

We do not know at this moment if the people of Akwa Ibom are thinking of shedding amicable culture and hard work for which they were known and are now planning to send their youths to some of these guerrilla camps or military academies. In fairness to their leaders, we have not heard complain of marginalization or any grievances greater than the

“The people of Akwa Ibom are not desperadoes waiting in the dark to hijack their own Country. Their hospitality to strangers at home and their respect to their outside hosts in communities they reside are the examples other Nigerians must emulate.”

some of us are not found wanting.

Gods knows only a few of us engage in these unsightly activities. But the sins of a few infect and influence so many and corrupt our youths following their leaders.

Africans love power too much as individuals, breaking spirit of team work. Without teams, it’s hard to nurture cities and states.

The people of Akwa Ibom are not desperadoes waiting in the dark to hijack their own Country.

Their hospitality to strangers at home and their respect to their outside hosts in communities they reside are the examples other Nigerians must emulate. They travel far and wide in Africa and foreign countries, yet they have not made notorious name for themselves in large mass.

EASTER: Clergy Task Nigerians To Pray For Peace

CHRISTIAN faithful in Nigeria joined their counterpart worldwide to celebrate the passion and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.

Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary.

In Lagos, some clergy in their messages urged the leaders at all levels of government to imbibe the spirit of selflessness as demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

They said Good Friday was a day of deep penitence for Christians to reflect on the life and death of Christ who paid the supreme price for human redemption.

Most Rev. Adebola Ademowo, Bishop Emeritus, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), said that good leadership would be best demonstrated by selfless and sacrificial living.

Ademowo urged leaders at all levels of government to reflect on the lessons of humility and selflessness from the life of Christ.

The cleric called on delegates at the ongoing national conference and the entire participant to use the opportunity to seek the common good instead of individual interest and comfort.

“They should be sacrificial in their services to our great country.

“We should begin to equip

ourselves with the right education, orientation and skills that will make us competitive and capable to take the reins of power and lead Nigerians,” he said.

Ademowo also called on Nigerians to shun mediocrity and imbibe the culture of excellence.

He said with the supreme price of Jesus, there was no sacrifice one could make to secure the future and the growth of generations unborn that would be reckoned with time.

“Let us determine in our hearts to promote the ideals of development and transformation and have faith in God to move the country forward.

He predicted the emergence of a beautiful plan of God for Nigeria, and urged citizens to humble themselves and think positively.

Also, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, urged Christians to embrace peace in all aspects of their lives.

Osu enjoined Christians to praying for the repose of the souls of Nigerians who lost their lives in bomb blasts, kidnapping and ritual murders across the country.

He urged all Christians to use the Easter celebration as a time for promoting peace and understanding among

Zamfara Spends N130m On Fumigation THE Zamfara Government said it spent N130 million to fumigate the state as part of its efforts to tackle malaria in the state.

The Director-General, State Environmental Sanitation Agency (ZESA), Alhaji Shehu Na’Allah, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Gusau.

Na’Allah said the government decided to fumigate 14 local government areas following increased mosquito bites and the effect on pregnant

women and children.

He said that the state government awarded the contracts and the agency collaborated with the contractor to carry out the exercise.

“We fumigated all the local government areas across the state starting from Gusau and ended at Kaura Namoda,’’ he said.

He, therefore, called on the people of the state to ensure effective sanitation of their environment in order to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

THE Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Namibia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI).

Dr. John Isemede, Director General of NACCIMA, told newsmen in Lagos that the

MoU was aimed at promoting business cooperation between the two countries.

He said the MoU was signed at the NigeriaNamibia Business and Trade Forum held in Windhoek, Namibia.

He expressed optimism that the MoU would consolidate business deals that would be beneficial to both countries.

themselves and also to pray for Nigeria.

On the significance of the season, he explained that “On Good Friday, we re-enact the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

“It is a day when we are expected to fix our eyes on the Cross at Calvary. On this day, no Mass is said in the strict sense of the word.

“Rather, we undertake a special service called the Mass of the Pre-sanctified

because Communion which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people,” he added.

In Nsukka, Enugu State, the Overseer of Christ Victory Church, Pastor Edwin Urama, said what Nigerians needed to restore peace and unity was to rededicate themselves to God in prayer.

“The insurgency facing the country is the handiwork of the devil to tear the country

apart.

“We must seek God’s intervention so as to end the present senseless killings and destruction of property

by Boko Haram.

“With prayer and absolute trust in God, the present insurgency will be a thing of the past,’’ Urama said.

He urged Nigerians to celebrate Easter by loving and forgiving one another as Jesus Christ did for us.

“For us to be good Christians we should forgive and pray for those who persecute us,’’ he said In Ibadan, Pastor Isaac

Bamisaye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Blessed Parish Agbokojo, Ibadan, said the situation in Nigeria could only be solved by prayer and God. “We need to humble ourselves and cry to God because only prayer and God’s intervention will bring serenity in Nigeria,” Bamisaye said.

He said that Easter should be celebrated by showing love to one another because Jesus died and resurrected for the salvation of the whole world.

Traffic jam on Zuba-Abuja outer Northern Expressway weekend.

Labour Party Scribe Urges Support For also killed scores Security Agencies people.

THE Deputy National Secretary, Labour Party (LP), Mr. Tunde Ayelabola has said that security challenges in the country were too enormous to be left in the hands of security agents alone.

Ayelabola said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

According to him series of attacks in the country can only be surmounted through resistance of insurgency by all Nigerians and not leaving it to security agents alone.

“Insurgents attack at the

NACCIMA Signs MoU On Investment With Namibia

According to him, the peculiar challenges of Nigerian business and investment environment as well as that of Namibia have tremendously improved.

He said that there were numerous opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, oil and gas, tourism, electricity and telecommunication.

least expected areas, defying human feelings for the most vulnerable people like school children.

So every responsible person should join hands with the security agents to repel and foil attacks.

“Vigilante members in Maiduguri are worthy of emulating because they are joining the security agents in the search of abducted secondary school girls in the state,” he said.

The party chieftain also suggested the need for military training to be integrated into the National Youth Service Corps in the country.

This according to him will increase strong resistance against terrorism and other crimes in the country.

Ayelabola condemned the recent bomb blast at Nyanya motor park, Abuja and the abduction of secondary school girls in

Chibok, Borno, respectively on Monday.

He commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the quick recovery of the injured people in the blast which

of

He also urged the security agencies and the vigilante groups not to give up in the search for the abducted girls saying their bravery was most appreciated.

Security: Archbishop Martins urges Nigerians to seek God’s intervention The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Martins, has urged Nigerians to intensify their prayers for God’s intervention in the nation’s security challenges.

Martins said this in Lagos on Saturday in a statement made available to newsmen while reacting to Monday’s bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja.

Reports state that about 75 persons were killed and several others injured in the incident.

The cleric called on Nigerians to intensify prayer so that God would soften the hearts of those responsible for the senseless killings of innocent Nigerians.

“We must continue to pray for the security of lives and property. As we go to Mass this Easter season, let us remember all the bereaved and those who have lost their lives that their souls may rest

in peace,” Martins said.

The archbishop appealed to government at all levels to rise up to their responsibilities of protecting lives and property of people.

The cleric condemned the callous manner at which the ‘Boko Haram’ sect had been killing and kidnapping innocent Nigerians, thereby causing the affected families grief.

The archbishop also condemned the reported kidnap of over 100 students by the sect members, describing the incident as “most unfortunate and uncalled for’’.

“I feel very sad at the high level of insecurity in our nation. I feel particularly pained that the lives of innocent humans are being cut short by hoodlums in the guise of religion.

Yaya Toure Sees Bias In Recognition MANCHESTER City midfielder Yaya Toure feels he does not get the respect he deserves because he is from Africa.

The Ivory Coast international has won league titles in England, Spain and Greece as well as his homeland, is a key figure in City’s push for more silverware and is on the six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers’ Association’s player of the

Yaya Toure

season award.

And the 30-year-old echoed club colleague Samir Nasri’s claim that only his birthplace has blocked him from being hailed as one of the best midfielders in the world.

“I think what Samir was saying was definitely true,” Toure told BBC Sport.

“To be honest, proper recognition has only come from the fans. I don’t want to be hard and I don’t want to be negative, but I want to be honest.”

Compatriot Didier Drogba and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o have also reached the top level of European football and Toure said: “Those players are more than legends for me and Africa.

“I am very proud to be African, I want to defend African people and I want to show to the world that African players can be as good as the Europeans and South Americans.”

Toure also said that while a star like Lionel Messi is

Gerrard ‘Best In Europe’ In His Position BRENDAN Rodgers has hailed Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard as the best holding midfielder in Europe and insists he wouldn’t swap him for any other player.

Gerrard, 33, has been instrumental in Liverpool’s surge towards a first title in 24 years, adapting to a new deep-lying midfield role handed to him by Rodgers in January and scoring 14 goals.

Following Liverpool’s 3-2 win over title rivals Manchester City at Anifled last weekend, Gerrard called his team-mates into a huddle and demanded they “go again” at Norwich on Sunday.

Now Rodgers feels Gerrard has never been more influential on the pitch. He said: “I think his form sometimes gets lost a wee bit with Steven because his leadership quality in the team is there for all to see.

“We mustn’t forget that he’s arguably the best in European football in a controlling role at this moment in time.

“There’s not many players who can do what he can do - be one of the best attacking midfield

players in Europe and then switch to be arguably the best controlling player.

“You look at the holding players in European football now at the top teams, I wouldn’t swap him for any of them, because of what he can give the team.

“He’s a playmaker but he’s unique in that he can also defend.

I think what he probably doesn’t get enough credit for as well is his reading of the game.

“For as long as I knew Steven Gerrard before I came in here, people would ask ‘Was he a player that just couldn’t fit in a team structure?’ He was the number 10 who needed to roam because he was so good, he needed to do that. He could lift the team and carry the team from whatever position he played.

“But the feature now is about the team and he’s in a structure he’s happy with. He’s got some top talents around him that can exploit his qualities and along with his intelligence and reading of the game, his physical condition in the role is very good as well. I could see him playing in there because of those playmaking skills. He can orchestrate the game.”

recognised worldwide as a top player, those from Africa are not.

“If you go to any part of Africa now, people will say, ‘Yes, we know (Messi)’, but when you come to Europe and say ‘Yaya Toure’ people will say, ‘Who is that?’” Toure said. “Some will say they know my name but not know my face. But they will know Messi’s face.”

Luis Suarez is a widespread odds-on favourite for the PFA award as the top player in English football, with Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard also ahead of Toure in betting odds.

But the City star said he would “definitely” be unhappy to miss out, adding: “As a champion, as a winner, I always want to win.”

Dylan Tombides

West Ham Youngster Dies Of Cancer

YOUNG West Ham striker Dylan Tombides has died following a three-year battle with testicular cancer.

The 20-year-old Australian, who made his Hammers firstteam debut two years ago, passed away on Friday with his family at his bedside.

West Ham confirmed the news of Tombides’ death in a statement on their website.

Tombides was first diagnosed with cancer while representing Australia during the 2011 Under17 World Cup in Mexico.

“West Ham United announce the sad news that forward Dylan Tombides has passed away at the age of 20 following his brave battle with cancer,” the club statement read.

“Dylan passed away on Friday morning with his family by his side having courageously fought the disease for three years after initially being diagnosed with testicular cancer in summer 2011.”

Perth-born Tombides was regarded as one of the most exciting young players to come out of Australia after signing with West Ham as a 14-year-old.

After being diagnosed he battled back to make his firstteam debut off the substitutes’ bench in a League Cup match against Wigan in 2012.

His death will be marked by a minute’s applause before West Ham’s home match against Crystal Palace this weekend.

West Ham youngster George Moncur paid tribute to his late friend by having his name tattooed on his arm just hours after his passing.

Moncur’s tribute to best pal West Ham added in the club statement: “Dylan’s amazing resilience and positivity saw him through months of surgery and chemotherapy, while his outstanding talent saw him make his first-team debut in a League Cup tie with Wigan Athletic at the Boleyn Ground in September 2012.

“Away from the pitch, Dylan did a huge amount of work to raise awareness of male cancer, supporting the One for the Boys campaign at a number of highprofile events alongside the likes of Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson, snooker star Jimmy White and fellow Australian Peter Andre.

“Dylan was respected by everyone who knew him for his intelligent views on the game and his larger than life character.

He was a loving son, amazing

Sunday Pools Guide Week 41 Carlisle; Exeter For “X”

SAYS DR. J. K. POOLS A critical x-ray of the 49 programmed fixtures of this week 41 matches to be played on 26th/27th April 2014, I have soft spot for an inevitable “X” from the above captioned Headline games.

The games are CARLISLE VS OLDHAM at NO 25 and Exeter vs Scuntrope at No 39 both from Division one and two respectively.

In the same vein, QPR vs MILLWALL at No 20, Charton vs Blackburn at 15 and Wigan vs Blackpool at 22 for at least two draws.

In summary Nos 15-20-22-25 and 39 for at least three draws.

Scanning through the whole fixture with a visit to the premiership, Westbrom vs Westham looks as a potential banker draw of the week in that Division.

A visit to English Division one, the best controversial pair of the week is Bradford c vs Crawley at 23 and Bristol c vs Crewe at 24.

In the same Division Colchester vs Brentford at 26 and Stevenage vs Walshall at 24 for an “X” come rain or sun at the weekend.

A visit to English Division two AFC Wimbledom vs Morecambe

at 35, Burton A vs Chesterfield at 36, Dagenham vs Northpton at 38, Exeter vs Scuntrope at 39 and Wycombe vs Bristol R at 45 for at least three draw on Saturday.

In the Scottish Division, the best form draw is the clash at No. 48.

This is a naked draw of the week.

8 Treble Chance 1. Dumbarton vs Hamilton 2. Alloa vs Dundee 3. Bradford C vs Crawdley 4. Bristol vs Crewe 5. Stevenage vs Walshall 6. Colchester vs Brentford 7. Exeter vs Scientrope 8. Carlisle vs Oldham

0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3

– – – – – – – –

0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3

3 HOT PAIRS (A) 25 – 39 (B) 23-24 (C) 47 -48. Good luck says DR J.K. Pools Box 34 Irrua or opposite Police Station Irrua Edo State.

brother and well-respected member of the West Ham squad.

He will be hugely missed by everyone who had the honour of knowing him.

“His passing will be marked by a minute’s applause ahead of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League fixture with Crystal

Palace at the Boleyn Ground.

The Hammers’ players will also wear black armbands in his memory.

“The thoughts of everyone associated with the club are with his parents Tracylee and Jim, brother Taylor, his family and friends at this sad time.

“The club request that their privacy is now respected and they are allowed to grieve their much loved son and brother in peace.”

Moyes Wants Respect From Everton Fans It’s about two teams, both of MANCHESTER United manager David Moyes believes he deserves respect from Everton fans as he prepares for his Goodison Park return. Moyes, who left the Merseyside club at the end of last season, was booed by the supporters who once adored him when the teams met in December. The 50year-old Scot played down the significance of his return to Everton on Sunday, but feels he deserves more respect from his former club’s fans. “They had their own reasons for it [in December],” Moyes said. “There were a few problems with us trying to sign a couple of their players, but overall I was just doing my job for Manchester United. “We sourced a big majority of the players at Everton and put them towards the team. I think we did everything in our power at Everton to make sure we got the best team we could.

“This game isn’t about me.

whom are still in need of winning the game. “The focus of attention shouldn’t be on me, it should be on the players, but I go there and I understand the Everton supporters have to get right behind their team.” Moyes bought midfielder Marouane Fellaini from Everton to Old Trafford for £27.5 million on the final day of the transfer window and has also targeted left-back Leighton Baines.

“Maybe people don’t believe how it [signing with United] happened, but it happened two weeks before the end of the season and you’d have to say it couldn’t have been done much better,” he added.

“I think there was also animosity because of the players. We’d like to have brought a couple of them here. “But lots of United players go to Everton - so there is a reverse. “Hopefully in time everyone will look at it and say it was a really good period in Everton’s history.”

New Deals For Terry, Cole, CHELSEA hope to conclude Lampard new deals with John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole over the next few weeks, Blues assistant Steve Holland has revealed.

Holland also denied that there is any dispute between the club and Terry, despite reports that Chelsea had offered the captain a new contract but on half his current salary.

“John has had an outstanding season; we have the best defensive record in the Premier Samirand Nasri League he’s played in almost all of that and been a major part

of it all,” Holland said.

“I know that John wants to stay at Chelsea, and Chelsea want John to stay, so hopefully that situation can be concluded amicably over the next few weeks.

“It’s the same situation [with Lampard and Cole], we’re dealing with not just normal players, but magnificent servants for this club over a long period.

So full respect will be given for those players.”

NEWS Be More Committed To God Clergy Enjoins Nigerians

Vice President Namadi Sambo with the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji (Dr.) Shehu Idris, during the turbaning ceremony of Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Muktar Ramalan Yero as the Dallatun Zazzau at the Emir’s palace in Zaria yesterday.

THE Parish Priest of Saint Paul’s Catholic Church, the very Rev. Father Bessong Paul Enow has charged Nigerians to be more committed to God despite the moral decadence in the country.

He stated this in a chat with SUNDAY OBSERVER at the weekend. Father Enow noted that many are taking God for granted, doing whatever they feel like because He is slow to anger and merciful. He enjoined those who are perpetrating evil on their fellow human being to desist and imbibe the virtues of Christ.

He said they should take a cue from Apostle Paul who was converted from being a persecutor to being a Christian and he was able to say that “it is no longer I who

Easter: Mark Canvssses Peaceful

By JOSES SEDE

PRESIDENT of the Senate Senator David Mark has sent a message of Felicitation to Nigerians as they joined the rest of the World to celebrate this year’s Easter.

He prayed that the peace, joy and forgiveness which the season of Easter brings through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ heal the nation now and beyond.

Senator Mark in the goodwill message to

commemorate the season thanked Nigerians for their perseverance and resolute to remain one peaceful and united, nation in spite of the challenges.

He however called for sober reflection on the

NSCIA reiterates need for peaceful co-existence THE Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), has reiterated the need to sustain the peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria.

In its goodwill message to Christians in the country, sent to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Islamic body felicitated with them for witnessing another Easter.

The message, signed by Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Secretary-General of the Council, also reassured the Christian community in Nigeria, of sincere collaboration of Muslims.

“The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its PresidentGeneral, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, mni, CFR, the Sultan of Sokoto, conveys, by this letter, its message

of felicitations and goodwill, through Your Grace, to the entire Christians in Nigeria, on the occasions of the Good Friday and Easter.

“The Council also seizes these occasions to reiterate its commitment to sincere collaboration with Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in ensuring peaceful co-existence among all Nigerians of faith.

“We urge that the occasions be spent in preaching, praying and working towards a peaceful prosperous and united Nigeria.

“We wish the entire Christendom happy celebrations of the historic events being marked by the occasions.

“Please accept the assurances of the highest regards from the entire Muslims Community in Nigeria,” stated NSCIA in the letter.

Safe Nigeria

Nigerian state against the backdrop of the unabating security threats in the land, but pointed out that “there is an answer to the security problems in our coming together as a team to tackle the menace headlong.

“There is a great wisdom in all of us both the government and the governed uniting against the forces of evil in the land. There is no mountain we cannot pull if we work together.

The perpetrators of the evil acts can be brought to their kneels if we work harmoniously and honestly with a common purpose”.

Senator Mark cautioned against politicking with the security problems ravaging parts of Nigeria, stressing that the issue is beyond ethnic, religious or political

affiliations “because every one is now a victim.

“It would therefore be uncharitable, unfair and a

disservice to the Nigerian people to play politics with the attacks and killings of our defenceless country men and women.

“When these criminals attack, they do not isolate men from women or party A

operation, including counterterrorism sweeps, detailed overt and covert surveillance, and intelligence-driven raids, to ensure crime-free Easter celebration.

The operation will also involve arms mop-up and special stop and search exercise.

This is contained in a statement issued by CSP Frank Mba, the Force Public Relation Officer at the

weekend in Abuja.

According to the statement, personnel involved in the exercise would be drawn from the Bomb Disposal Squad and CounterTerrorism Units.

Personnel would also be drawn from the Police Mobile Force and Joint Border Patrol Units, Force Intelligence Bureau, Police Dog Section and conventional police teams.

“They are expected to pay

War Against Terrorism Police Begin Nationwide Special attention to motor THE Police has begun a Operation special parks, airports, seaports, nationwide special security

Bomb Blast: Omobude Declares Easter Sunday As Day Of Prayers For Victims

By VICTOR IMADE The National President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Rev. Dr. Felix Omobude has charged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that the abducted school girls at the Federal Government College Chibok are released without further delay and un hurt The PFN President in a statement issued in Benin City and made available to SUNDAY OBSERVER condemned in its totality the constant and consistent abduction of school girls in the North Eastern part of Nigeria by the social

lives but Christ who lives in me,” because he has taken God’s message and made it his own, hence he was able to reflect Christ in whatever he did, and that is what Christians individually and collectively should be doing to reflect Christ in their lives.

He enjoined Nigerian not to lose hope despite the atrocities in the land that unlike Sodom and Gomorah, there are still few good people in the land who are living a good life and that is the hope.

He also tasked spiritual leaders not to only dwell on the messages of miracles and prosperity but also the message of salvation because the Christian message was born on the cross of Calvary.

According to him “when we are talking of miracles, prosperity and others, you have to look a the cross, without the cross, there would have been no resurrection. He said the Christian race is like a beautiful rose flower that has thorns on it. So we humans have to make some sacrifices for the faith to be anything worthwhile.

renegades called Boko Haram and called on the Federal Government to ensure that all the girls are rescued without delay and without hurt to anyone of them.

The PFN boss who also condemned last Monday bomb blast at the Nyanya Motor Park Abuja, declared this Year’s Easter Sunday as a day of special prayers for the families of the victims of the Nyanya bomb blast.

“We mourn the loss of our fallen compatriots in Abuja, many of whom were felled in their prime. We pray for comfort and solace for the

grieving families, friends of the departed and the generality of Nigerians. We also wish the survivors who are receiving treatment speedy recovery, while praying God to restore all that they have lost. We encourage all Nigerians to come together to fight this evil.”

He urged Nigerians to soberly reflect on the importance of the Easter Season which has peace as its centre point and come together strongly as a people to fight the common enemy.

“Now is time for non-partisan approach to Boko Haram War,” he said.

Border points, recreation parks, major markets and shopping malls, among others.

“The Inspector General of Police has ordered AIGs in all the Zones and Commissioners of Police in charge of states, to effectively deploy men and resources throughout the period of the exercise.

“In addition, these Commanding Officers have been directed to remain on ground and personally supervise the special operation throughout the Easter holiday and beyond,’’ the statement read.

It advised owners of unregistered vehicles to withdraw them from the highways immediately.

Owners of uncompleted buildings were also advised to keep them clear of undesirable elements and to report unauthorised persons inhabiting them to the police.

“Persons and companies operating vehicles painted in police colours or bearing police insignia are also advised to withdraw them from public roads forthwith.”

Field operatives were directed to arrest and bring to book all violators, it said.

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