11th December 2015

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,390

FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER, 2015

www.tribuneonlineng.com

Nigerian Tribune

Adamu Adamu, Education Minister

Nigerian Tribune

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Nigeria's debt stands at $64bn —P4 —DMO

FG probes UNIABUJA, YABATECH, UNN, 7 others —P3

•Over corruption allegation •Sets up 10 fact-finding committees

@nigeriantribune

Kemi Adeosun, Finance Minister

•Says $250bn needed to tackle infrastructure deficit

EFCC invites Tompolo, opposes Dokpesi's bail

•Says Dokpesi also being probed over N8.4bn 2009 U-17 FIFA contract •As Tukur, Baraje appear before Reps over N1trn rail contracts —P4,5 Kogi Assembly speaker, deputy, —P5 minority leader impeached

FG, Chinese firm sign MoU to create 2,000 jobs —P8

From left, President Muhammadu Buhari, President Muhammodou Issoufou of Republic of Niger, President Boni Yayi of Republic of Benin and President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, paying their last respect to the late General Mathieu Kerekou, former President of Republic of Benin, at Friendship Stadium, Cotonou, Benin Republic, on Thursday.

8 killed in Edo cult clashes —P5

news Bayelsa: Tension as civil servants stay away from ministries 2

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Don’t rig Southern Ijaw election for APC, PDP tells military From Austin Ebipade, Jacob Segun Olatunji and Leon Usigbe, Collins Nnabuife and Victor Ogunyinka

T

HE tension created by the declaration of the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State inconclusive is yet to subside, as uncertainty and uneasy calm pervades the communities and the state capital, Yenagoa.

The situation is such that state ministries are in comatose, with no government’s activities carried out, just as political appointees and civil servants were not seen at work, as they chose to remain at home for fear of being attacked in the office.

Most of the ministries in the state secretariat and other government’s depart-

ment and agencies visited by the Nigerian Tribune were under lock and key, while security presence was still heavy in Yenagoa.

The sound of sirens from combat-ready military armoured vehicles had become a routine, as members of the patrol team continued to ply major roads and streets, while they conducted ‘stop and search.’

This was as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) continued laying claims to having won the election.

Though the PDP applauded the cancellation of Southern Ijaw result, while also demanding that INEC declare their candidate, Governor Seriake Dickson, winner, the APC, on the other hand, called for Dick-

son’s disqualification for visiting the collation centre on Friday and Southern Ijaw on Sunday, where the rescheduled election was conducted.

Reacting to the imbroglio, a group under the aegis of United Governorship Forum For Credible Election, in a briefing in Yenagoa, raised doubts about the conduct of any rescheduled election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

Its chairman, William Oyinkuro Beriezi, who spoke on behalf of 10 others, alleged that some politicians colluded with the security agencies to cause various electoral frauds that took place in Southern Ijaw.

The group expressed fear and worries that should the rerun be conducted by the

same government agencies, the police, army and others, free, fair and credible elections may not be achieved.

Also, a civil rights organisation, Lawyers in Defence of Democracy, asked the Federal Government to investigate the alleged role of security agencies, particularly the military, “in the whole episode of electoral corruption in Southern Ijaw.”

Meanwhile, as controversy continued to trail the conduct of the cancelled election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the leadership of PDP, on Thursday, warned the military against rigging the election in favour of APC candidate.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, on Thursday, the acting national chairman of the

From left, Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and President Muhammadu Buhari, arriving for a presidential dinner for members of the House of Representatives, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday night. PHOTO: NAN.

Senate moves to repeal 40-year-old Traffic Warden Service bill To separate it from the police Taiwo Adisa -Abuja THE Senate, on Thursday, kickstarted moves to repeal the 40-year-old Traffic law, which placed Traffic Wardens as a department of the Nigerian Police.

The bid is sequel to a bill moved on the floor of the Senate by Senator Buhari Abdulfatai.

In the bill, entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Repeal Section 59-69 of the Police Act CAP 359 LFN 2004,” Senator Buhari said the Traffic Wardens Service established in 1974 had been without any form of development, while also failing to function separately as an independent department of the Nigerian Police.

He said when the bill is passed, the Traffic Warden Service would be properly organised to ensure purposeful traffic control in Nigeria.

The senator noted that time was ripe for the repeal of the law, so as to address the traffic chaos on roads around the country.

While presenting his lead debate, Senator Buhari stated that the bill had become imperative because traffic wardens were unjustly relegated to the background and had been suffering neglect over the years.

“Wardens were and or are turned to mere errand boys in the police institution, without recourse to their duties. Traffic wardens are

denied developmental opportunities in the service, including promotion, career development and they have no office accommodation.

“Traffic Warden Service is unknown, unheard of, overshadowed, treated as outcast within the Police, not focused and not recognised in the comity of paramilitary organisations in Nigeria.

“This situation invariably had affected the road traffic control management and vehicular movement in the nation’s metropolitan cities and urban towns,” he said.

Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who presided over the sitting, referred the bill to the Committee on Police Affairs and ordered that

report be brought within four weeks.

Also on Thursday, the Senate condemned the decision of the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, for what it called anti-civil service procedures.

Orhii was chided for promoting a junior civil servant above a senior staff.

The Senate thereafter directed the agency to reinstate Mrs Esther M. Amuta to her position as temporary Head/Deputy Director in charge of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate, pending the appointment of a substantive director to that position.

party, Prince Uche Secondus, urged the military to face its professional calling and desist from alleged involvement in partisan politics.

Secondus disclosed that reports at the party’s disposal indicated that security agents, especially the military, came with armoured vehicles, harassed and intimidated people of Southern Ijaw Local Government.

“We want to appeal to the to army to face the military job and avoid anything that can brew crisis in Nigeria again; we have enough to battle now,” he said.

Bayelsa election costs us our brothers, sisters —Siasia Meanwhile, the state governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Moses Siasia, has mourned the death of Bayelsans who died during the gubernatorial poll in the state, calling on the citizens to let peace reign following the declaration of the governorship election inconclusive.

Siasia reminded other governorship candidates of the peace accord they signed before the election and their various commitments to a non-violent election with the Inspector General of Police and INEC chairman.

He said: “I urge Bayelsans to embrace peace and shun violence. We have lost souls in the course of this election.

We cannot afford to lose our own brothers and sisters because of our ambition.

“The other governorship

candidates must remember the peace pact we all signed before the poll. They must urge their supporters to embrace peace. How do we deliver electoral promises when violence is the order of the day?”

In a related development, the National Democratic Front (NDF) has urged the INEC to resolve all pending issues concerning the Bayelsa State governorship election within 72 hours or face protests from civil rights groups.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the group’s national secretary, Sunnybright Attah, said the group was saddened by the conduct of INEC in all the elections it had conducted so far.

He said the group had observed with disdain the inconclusive nature of elections in recent times, a practice that portended injustice and malpractice.

Attah blamed the commission for the current stalemate in Bayelsa where all political parties that participated in the elections are laying claim to the highest votes cast in the southern Ijaw Local Government.

“It behoves on us as patriotic citizens to defend the constitution irrespective of the actors or how highly placed they are,” he said.

The group also threatened to mobilise other prodemocracy groups all over the country, to take over the INEC headquarters in Abuja if the commission fails to announce the results in 72 hours.

I did not fund Jonathan’s campaign with N700m —ITF DG DIRECTOR-GENERAL, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs Juliet ChukkasOnaeko, has said the allegation that she used the agency’s N700 million to fund the election campaign of former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was untrue.

Speaking at a media roundtable in Abuja, on Thursday, ChukkasOnaeko described the accusation allegedly made by some members of staff of the organisation as “ridiculous and painful.”

She stated that those peddling the “falsehood” should have known that it was impossible for her to sign off such huge amount of money without appropriation.

“I am sure that when they wrote that thing, they expected me to go and commit suicide or for the President to just shoot my head.

“If I were going to steal

money to fund somebody’s campaign, where did they expect me to get it from?

N700 million is not what you just sign off like that.

“The former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, under whom I served, is a professional, not a politician.

“I don’t know of other chief executive officers under him, but nobody ever told me to bring money for campaign; PDP never asked me for any money,” Chukkas-Onaeko said.

She also dismissed the allegation that she transferred N1.2 billion to the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) without due process.

Chukkas-Onaeko also said 37,000 persons were trained in 2014 under its National Industrial Sillks Development Programme (NISDP).

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

FG probes UNIABUJA, YABATECH, UNN, 7 others

•Over corruption allegation Clement Idoko - Abuja

T

HE Federal Government has inaugurated 10 panels to investigate the crises and allegations of corruption levelled against the management of 10 of its tertiary institutions across the country with a view to punishing those involved in wrong doings.

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who inaugurated the adhoc committees on Thursday, in Abuja, named seven universities and three polytechnics that the panels should investigate the activities of their management. The panels had 10 days within which to submit reports to the government for necessary action.

•Sets up 10 fact-finding committees

The seven universities are: University of Abuja; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State; University of Calabar, Cross River State; University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State; Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State; Federal University Kashere, Gombe State and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia

MASSOB disowns reported dialogue with S/South, S/East leaders Jude Ossai - Enugu THE Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB), on Thursday, dissociated itself from what it described as purported dialogue with the South-East and South-South leaders over the ongoing pro-Biafra protest.

In a joint press briefing addressed in Enugu by the Director of MASSOB, Edeson Samuel, the Director of Information, Ugwuoke Ibem Ugwuoke, as well as MASSOB Secretary General, they insisted that nobody had the mandate of either the MASSOB or the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to dialogue with the Federal Government.

They, therefore, maintained that any fruitful dialogue must be led by the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The group said: “there is a new development; We want to react on the socalled dialogue between Nigerian government and some people who claimed they are representing us.

“We were shocked to learn that some Northern leaders and Senator Godswill Akpabio, met and discussed about our agitation.

“These persons that sat in Abuja, even, the people from the South-East, we disown them; we don’t know them; before you discuss, you must first discuss with those on the streets; we don’t know Akpabio, we don’t know Dozie Ikedife, as far as this matter is concerned; Ikedife is not part of what we are doing; he has shown hatred for Nnamdi, so, how can he meet with government to discuss Nnamdi.”

The Biafra group added that We also understand that Ikedife’s Bible Human

Beware of conspiracy of the elite, Agbakoba tells Buhari Bola Badmus - Lagos FORMER president, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has warned President Muhammadu Buhari, about what he tagged, the conspiracy of the elite and its resolve to frustrate the reform agenda of his administration.

Agbakoba, who is a leading human rights lawyer, disclosed this at a press conference he addressed at his residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, disclosing further that this warning had been communicated to the president in a personal letter he wrote to him.

However, Agbakoba, noted that Buhari-led administration was the first ideological based Left-ofthe-Centre government that would emerge in Nigeria after the defunct Western region administration led by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and should, therefore, be applauded.

According to him, just

like the then Western region government, Buhariled administration’s focus has been on social welfare for the poor who, he said, were in the majority, adding that the country stood to benefit more from such approach.

Agbakoba, who gave list of the elite to include people in high positions in churches, traditional institutions, professions and business, among others and represented a small percentage of Nigerians, but exert tremendous influence with a view to state capture, said that they were very dissatisfied about the ideological change of Buhari-led government.

“They see the new agenda as a threat to their privileges,” he said, adding that the elite were the greatest roadblocks to the Federal Government All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration’s economic and political policy agenda,” he said.

Rights Initiative has its own agenda “The MASSOB and other pro-Biafra groups advised Bilie Human Rights Initiative to retract their belief in the Nigerian constitution because this ties our hands to unknown law against our people.

“For the past one month, we have been protesting peacefully over Nnamdi’s release; if the Nigerian government is sincere over dialogue, they must meet with the leaders of MASSOB and the IPOB.”

State.

Other institutions to be probed are: Yaba College of Technology, Lagos; Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State and theFederal Polytechnic Auchi, Edo State.

Adamu, disclosed that government decided to set up the 10 fact-finding committees in response to petitions received from different stakeholders, within and outside the institutions, with various allegations bordering on “financial misappropriation, irregularities in the recruitment and promotion of staff, abuse of due process, power tussle, mismanagement, sexual harassment, fraud and corruption, among others” While stressing that government was not out to witch-hunt anybody, the minister said the investigation would enable government get to the root of the matter and ensure that justice is done, adding that there was the need to verify the authenticity or otherwise of the claims the petitions received.

He added that some of the allegations and counter-claims made against the Governing Councils and management of some of the institutions had created mistrust and hostility and as such, hindered the smooth conduct of academic activities to the detriment of students.

He said: “The current administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is committed to turning around the fortunes of the education sector and laying a solid foundation for proper conduct in our campuses.

“These panels are, therefore, set up in line with this administration’s commitment to promote due process, ensure fairness, entrench accountability and transparency and end impunity in the country and management of public resources and achieve quality governance in our institutions,” he said.

The minister listed some of the terms of reference of the committees to include, investigation of the

SATURDAY, 12 DECEMBER, 2015

application of funds, particularly, the special grants and loans meant for specific projects; investigate the procedure of contracts awards, admission processes as well as appointment and promotion.

Chairman of the ad- hoc committee to University of Calabar, Dr Salihu Abubakar, who spoke on behalf of other members of the committees, said they would not disappoint the government for the confidence reposed on them to carry out the national assignment as part of the process of repositioning tertiary education sector Other members of committee include, Professor Sani Abba, Professor Greg Wajiga, Mr Uba Uche and Mr BC Odum, while Mr Haruna A.B, is to serve as the secretary.

The permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, in her remark, said the current administration came on board with a promise to rekindle good governance, transparency and due process.

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news EFCC invites Tompolo, opposes Dokpesi’s bail 4

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Says Dokpesi also being probed over N8.4bn 2009 U-17 FIFA contract Sunday Ejike -Abuja

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has given former Niger Delta militant leader, Mr Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a. Tompolo, one week to appear before it on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, or risk being declared wanted.

The commission, in a letter inviting the ex-militant leader, said it was investigating him for unclear dealings involving the sale of parcels of land worth about N13 billion to the Federal Government in the last administration.

He is expected to appear at the EFCC training room on Thursday, December 17.

A similar invitation was extended to Tompolo in November by the Head of Operations at the EFCC, Iliasu Kwabai, but he failed to appear and no correspondence was received from him.

This came as Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court in Abuja again ordered that the former chairman of DAAR Communication Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, be remanded in the custody of the EFCC till Monday, when he will decide on his bail application brought before him.

The EFCC also informed

the court that the Federal Government was investigating fresh allegations of N8.4 billion Dokpesi collected in January 27, 2012 with Maitama branch of FirstBank account number 2017679134, for airing the FIFA U-17 championship which Nigeria hosted in 2009.

The judge, who heard argument for and against Dokpesi’s bail, on Thursday, said the ruling could not be immediately delivered because the processes filed by the Federal Government and Dokpesi’s counsel were delivered to him on Thursday, in the open court.

He said he needed time to study the argument can-

vassed for and against in the bail application, so as to arrive at a just conclusion in his ruling.

Kolawole subsequently ordered that the media guru be moved to the EFCC custody and be produced on Monday, when the ruling in his bail application would be decided one way or the other.

Earlier in his argument for Dokpesi’s bail his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome, had told the court that the offence for which Dokpesi was standing trial was ordinarily bailable by law, because it was not a capital offence, adding also that Dokpesi had not, in any way, contrib-

Nigeria’s debt stands at $64bn —DMO •Says debt profile won’t affect development •'$250bn needed to tackle infrastructure deficit' Taiwo Adisa -Abuja DIRECTOR-GENERAL of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, on Thursday, said the total debt profile of the Nigerian federation, the Federal Government and the states stands at $64 billion.

Nwankwo, who stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts, said the debt profile would, however, not affect the economy negatively.

He also explained that the N1.2 trillion domestic borrowing and foreign borrowing plan of N635.88 billion contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 fiscal years was healthy for development.

According to him, 84 per cent of the federation’s total debt was owed locally, while the remaining 16 per cent was the foreign component.

Nwankwo, in his presentation, also said Nigeria needed to spend the sum of $250 billion in the next 10 years to bridge the infrastructure gap, adding that the country must spend $25 billion annually to achieve the dream of reversing the infrastructure deficit.

“Ordinarily, if the implementation of the budget is followed in details, there is no reason why there should be local contractors’ debt, because it is already in the budget.

“We have been sensitising Nigerians that we need to do better because our tax. GDP ratio is very low compared to countries in our debt role.

Their entire GDP ratio is about 18 per cent, whereas

for Nigeria, it is about six per cent which means that we are not being effective in collecting taxes to reflect the size of our economy.

“This has implications for debt service. Certainly there is the need to be careful, though there is space. We need to relate debt service to revenue. The solution is that we have a big gap to fill because when we move upward from the six per cent tax GDP ratio, we will have a lot of money to solve our problems, including servicing our debts.

“For now, our debt servicing GDP ratio is still very low, but we are optimistic, because there is room to collect tax from the existing level of economic activities,” he said.

While commenting on the 2016 MTEF, the DMO boss said “even before the collapse of the oil prices, it has been estimated, more than five years ago, that Nigeria needed a minimum of $25 billion per annum continuously for up to 10 years, to

enable it to close its infrastructure deficit.

“That has been established by all relevant experts and institutions. In addition, the collapse of the oil prices by our own estimate shows that public revenue from oil had dropped by about $16 billion per annum.

“In this type of situation, what a responsive government should do is what our government is doing.

Borrowing is being done to achieve positive impact on the economy. It will lead to growth, creation of employment and build solid capacity for the future which will help us to diversify our economy.

“What the government is planning to do now is to explore, at least, five out of the 34 solid minerals that we have. We will develop, and process them for export.

“From the Debt Management Office perspective, the MTEF/FSP as presented to the National Assembly is perfect for the times and a

good recipe for dealing with the challenges of the collapse of the oil prices and the need to rapidly develop and diversify the economy, build infrastructure,” he added.

The DMO chief also said the proposed borrowing plan and the plan to explore new sources of revenue would provide a strong base for growth in agriculture, solid minerals, petrochemical and other sectors.

He, however, stated that the oil and gas sector would still remain relevant, because the nation could reprocess the products for the manufacturing of products like fertilisers and plastics.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, commended the Federal Government’s initiative aimed at diversifying the economy.

He also canvassed stiffer punishment for individuals or agencies of government that misapplied foreign or local loans.

We need N900bn for road repairs in 2016 —Works Ministry Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel -Abuja PERMANENT Secretary, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Abubakar Magaji, on Thursday, disclosed that the sum of N900 billion is needed to repair some major federal roads linking different states of the federation in 2016.

The permanent secretary, who spoke at an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, chaired by Honourable Toby Okechukwu, named some of

the roads to include Lagos-Ibadan, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, Lokoja-Abuja, Kano-Maiduguri, the second Niger Bridge, among others.

He also disclosed that the ministry currently owed different contractors over N300 billion, noting that most of the road projects were not in appreciable stage due to lack of funds.

In the 2015 budget, he said the sum of N100 billion was allocated for roads projects, while only about N18 billion was released, an amount he said was too small.

However, members of the committee expressed reservations over some road projects such as BidaPategi, Jebba-Mokwa, Sokoto-Kontagora-Makera, among others and inquired to know what the ministry was doing about them.

Responding, the permanent secretary, who was recently posted to the ministry, said although not much was provided for them in the 2015 budget, the ministry intended to pay adequate attention to them in the 2016 budget if the said amount was provided.

uted to any act of insurgency and that he would not jump bail when granted.

Ozekhome also told the court that his client was billed to travel abroad for medical check-up when a telephone call came in, inviting him orally to come to EFCC, adding that, without any hesitation, Dokpesi responded and honoured the invitation as a law abiding citizen.

Besides, Ozekhome also told the court that Dokpesi’s son was about to get married on December 17 and 19, adding that as a father, he had dispatched invitations to highly placed Nigerians and, as such, he would be around at all times to stand trial.

Similarly, the counsel also submitted that Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution presumed his client innocent until proven contrary by the prosecution.

Opposing the bail application, Rotimi Jacobs, who is prosecuting Dokpesi, urged the court to reject the application on the ground that the Federal Government was investigating fresh allegations of N8.4 billion he collected for airing the FIFA U-17 championship in Nigeria.

Jacobs further told the court that the airing right was given to DAAR Communications by FIFA, adding that the Federal Government was not a party to

the contract for which he allegedly collected N8 billion from the government.

It was gathered that the government of the late President Umaru Yar'Adua had refused to pay the money to Dokpesi, but upon persuasion, former President Goodluck Jonathan administration paid it on January, 27, 2012.

On the health condition, Jacobs told Justice Kolawale that Dokpesi failed to disclose the nature of his illness, adding that the letter of appointment with the physicians exhibited by Dokpesi was sent on December 5, when Dokpesi was already in the custody of the EFCC, including the British Airways ticket.

The prosecution counsel said it would be dangerous to admit Dokpesi to bail because under the charge, he risked a jail term of seven years upon conviction and, as such, may decide to flee the country if allowed to go on bail.

Dokpesi, the owner of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower Radio, was being prosecuted by the Federal Government for allegedly laundering the sum of N2.1 billion.

He had pleaded not guilty to the six-count criminal charge which also involved breach of public trust and procurement fraud.

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Nigerian Tribune

Friday, 11 December, 2015

N1 trillion rail contracts scam: I will expose looters —Dogara Tukur, Baraje appear before Reps, say ministry, NRC MD responsible Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel - Abuja

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HE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday, vowed that no Nigerian involved in the contracts scam that ran into billions of US dollars at the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), would be allowed to go unpunished.

Honourable Dogara stated this while declaring open the ongoing investigative hearing by an Ad-hoc Committee set up by the House to probe the Ministry of Transport and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) over the award of contracts for the rehabilitation of rail tracks, maintenance of bridges and procurement/rehabilitation of coaches and locomotives.

According to him, “In line with the anti-corruption stance of the present APC government and the Legislative Agenda of the House, this Ad-hoc Committee must ensure that the billions of US dollars spent on the contracts for rehabilitation and maintenance of rail tracks, construction of standard gauges, bridges, procurement of locomotive wagons and coaches from 2010 - 2014, answers to the value for money expectations of Nigerians.”

“There must be no sacred cows and the Ad-Hoc Committee must not take prisoners by not only calling a spade a spade, but by also exposing corruption in the process and all those who have misappropriated or misapplied railway funds or assets,” he stated.

“In line with our commitment to support the present administration in the ongoing war against corruption, the Ad-Hoc Committee must not fail to utilise its powers under Section 89 (d) of the 1999 Constitution, should any person fail or refuse to respond to its summons,” he declared.

“In such cases, referral should be made to the House to cause a bench warrant to be issued against them so that such person(s) who are still in deep slumber may know that change has come to Nigeria,” he said.

“The constitution empowers us to compel the attendance of any person or authority in Nigeria no matter how highly placed, which is a very potent tool. I assure you this time around that no such person(s) will have a president to run to for a cover or protection from appearing before you to

answer questions regarding allegations of corruption against him or her,” Dogara assured.

The speaker, however, stressed that the hearing was not in any way aimed at rubbishing or witch-hunting any individual, but only to assure Nigerians that their commonwealth was not squandered by those entrusted with its management.

“We must note, however, that this investigation is not a witch-hunt of any person.

Indeed, we have no scores to settle with anybody.

The only scores we have to settle is against corruption, inefficiency or waste in administration of funds belonging to Nigerians. We are only performing our sacred constitutional duties,” he pointed out.

Earlier, the chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Honourable Johnson Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, representing Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency of Edo State, had said, “the probe was not in any-

way designed to rubbish any Nigerian, but primarily to let Nigerians know how their taxes are being spent.”

He stressed that “the contribution of transport to our Gross Domestic Products (GDP) has been on the downward trend due to poor state of our rails thereby resulting to an economic loss to the tune of N450billion annually.”

Earlier, three former chairmen of the Board of NRC, on Thursday, disowned all the various contracts worth over N1 trillion awarded during their tenures for the rehabilitation of the nation’s railway system.

The three former chairmen who denied their physical involvement in the award of the contracts before the Honourable E J Agbonaiyinma-led House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee are Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje and Senator Ladan Shuni.

The trio, however, ad-

vised the committee to beam its searchlight on the supervising Federal Ministry of Transports and the Managing Director, NRC, Engineer Adeseyi Sijuade for facts and figures relating to all the contracts being investigated.

They assured the committee of their readiness to cooperate with it in its determined efforts to unearth the alleged contracts scam in the overall interest of the country.

They all claimed that on assumption of duties, during their tenures, the MD of the NRC in his briefs to them stated that all the contracts had been awarded and were at various stages of completion, adding “the managing director even made it clear in his briefs that the procurement Act excluded the board from contract awards.”

This came just as the Transport Minister, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and the officials of the ministry failed to appear before the committee and without any rep-

resentation.

The chairman of the committee, who frowned at the development, disclosed that the Permanent Secretary of the ministry even called him on phone and promised to be around for the proceeding of the committee.

Defending himself during his submission before the committee, Alhaji Baraje said “the NRC board under me never awarded any contract. The records are there. There was only board meeting and one emergency board meeting under my leadership. “When the MD told me that all the contracts had been awarded and that the board had no role in contract awards, I set various committees for oversight functions for the proper execution of the contracts.

“The former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, sent me to the NRC to ensure and provide a functional rail system in the country, but I was rendered redundant and I have to resign as

8 killed in renewed Edo clashes Banji Aluko - Benin City

NOT less than eight people have been killed in Benin in an orgy of violence that has

ravaged the Edo State capital since Monday.

At least five people were reportedly killed in renewed hostilities between two cult

groups, while a 28-year-old woman identified as Itohan Enagbare and her fouryear-old daughter, Iwinosa, were on Wednesday after-

Kogi assembly speaker, deputy, minority leader impeached I remain speaker —Momoh Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja

THE political crises in Kogi State continued on Thursday as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Momoh Jimoh, has been impeached over allegation of incompetence.

Apart from Jimoh, the legislators also removed his deputy, Ali Akuh and the Minority Leader, Hassan Bello, at their plenary held on the floor of the House.

The members have also elected Osiyi Ojo representing Ogori/Magongo state constituency as the new Speaker, John Abah from Ibaji state constituency, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Orientation, was elected as the new deputy speaker. Linus Eneche was elected as the new Minority Leader.

Immediately after the impeachment, the members converged on the Press Centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lokoja, the state capital and told journalists that the

principal officers had been removed from office.

Abah, who spoke on behalf of the members, said the Speaker was impeached as he had failed to give adequate leadership to the House.

He said the motion for impeachment was moved by Henry Ukubile OchijenuAcharu of Idah constituency and seconded by Umar Iman of Kogi state constituency.

He said members had been tolerating the situation since the coming of the eighth assembly in the state, but had to take the step in order to salvage the legislative arm of government and the entire state.

According to him, 17 members of the assembly agreed to remove Jimoh and others when it was obvious that he lacked the capacity to lead the assembly.

He said, “Today, we 17 members, having considered the activities of the former speaker, discovered that he is not competent, does not meet our expecta-

tions, can’t represent us before the governor and so he stands removed.”

Speaking, the new speaker said his appointment had nothing to do with the results of the last governorship election in the state, saying the former speaker was removed because he was grossly incompetent and could not lead the House.

He said the leadership style of Jimoh had led to agitations among members with some of them resolving to impeach the governor with the belief that it was the governor that was not alive to their plight.

Meanwhile, the impeached Speaker of the House, Honourable Jimoh, said he remained the speaker of the House.

He also said the name and signature of the member representing Lokoja state constituency, Umar Iman, was forged as one of those that supported the impeachment.

Continued on pg 6

noon murdered at their 2, Osaze Street, Off Dumez Road, Benin.

Also on Wednesday night, one man was killed in Lagos Street, located within the popular Oba Square during violence that ensued over revenue collection and ticketing.

There was sporadic shooting as terror was unleashed on traders and passersby at the ever busy spot.

It was gathered that a group, which claimed to have secured the approval of the acting chairman of Oredo Local Government Area, Sweet Ikpomwosa, to collect revenue, tried to take control within the premises of the Oba’s Square while another group resisted the move.

Traders, who displayed their goods in different locations within the Oba’s Square and adjoining streets pay as much as N600 daily to different groups of revenue collectors.

It was also gathered that angry youths in the area chased away traders in order to prevent any of the groups from collecting revenues.

It was the arrival of policemen that eventually brought sanity into the area as they chased away and arrested some suspects, who were involved in the violence.

Spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, DSP Abiodun Osifo, confirmed the killing, adding that a suspect was arrested over the killing.

the Chairman of the Board.

I was a toothless bulldog, I couldn’t cope. They appointed consultants attached to each contract awarded,” he stated.

“The various committees I set up for the supervision of the jobs performed very well. I was at the point of collecting their reports for study and as well interacting with the projects consultants when I resigned my appointment due to frustration,” he lamented.

Speaking in the same vain, Alhaji Tukur said that his board did not award any contract as the MD, in his brief, said all the contracts had been awarded and were being executed while several huge amounts of money had been paid out.

Tukur, who said that four board meetings and one emergency were held during his tenure, urged the committee to go through the minutes of all the meetings and would discover that nowhere was contract issues mentioned, promising to make the minutes of the board meetings under his chairmanship available to the committee on request.

In his own defence, Senator Ladan who washed his hands in the award of contracts during his brief tenure said “I am on oaths, we were not happy about the happenings in the NRC then, but we cannot help the situation.”

Senator Ladan disclosed that he was a member of the board, but only became the chairman when Dr Haliru Bello, the then chairman was appointed minister and that to the best of his knowledge no single contract was awarded.

He pointed out that all the needed clues and information to get to the root of contracts awarded, names of the companies, values, completion stages and the amounts already paid out to the contractors had been provided by the invited former chairmen of the NRC and urged the committee to rely on those information.

The trio provided all enquiries and questions put before them by the members of the committee relating to their tenures and promised to reappear before the committee if the need be.

Commending them, the Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Agbonaiyinma said that the committee was impressed by their presentations and promised that the committee would go through all their submissions to know the next line of action.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

Abacha loot: Arms are not roads, electricity, health, SERAP tells Okonjo-Iweala

S

OCIO-ECONOMIC Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, to “apologise to Nigerians for claiming recently that recovered Abacha loot was transparently spent when she knew that $322million (about N63 billion) recovered Abacha funds were inappropriately released to finance the fight against Boko Haram.”

SERAP’s statement on Thursday followed OkonjoIweala’s confession that she released about $322million to the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, for military operations.

In a statement by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said that “The truth about the spending of Abacha loot is now coming out, and it is clear that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala was wrong to accuse SERAP of bias while she knew that we are simply seeking truth, justice and accountability on the spending of recovered Abacha loot.

“Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s approach of ‘no answers, no apology’ on how Abacha loot was spent is doing her reputation more harm than good. We hope that she will take cue from the World Bank (her former employer) when it defined ‘accountability and probity’ as knowing what task has been set, accepting to do it, and going about it with a sense of probity,” the organisation said.

“We, therefore, urge her to now come out for the sake of millions of Nigerians living in extreme poverty, but also of generations as yet unborn and tell Nigerians the whole story about what exactly happened to recovered Abacha loot, as well as publicly apologise for claiming that Abacha loot was transparently spent. She should be willing to be held to account,”

the organisation added.

The letter, dated January 20, 2015, which was addressed to former President Goodluck Jonathan,

He said although an attempt was made to move an impeachment motion, but it was quickly thwarted and the House adjourned.

Momoh said, “The ill-motivated attempt to hijack the leadership of the Kogi State House of Assembly by some few members which can best be described as most unpatriotic was at variance with legislative practices and principles, the world over.”

He, however, advised the

Security Advise, Sambo Dasuki, for funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition as well as intelligence equipment.

The letter reads: “Please find a request by the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the transfer of $300 million and £5.5

NAFDAC destroys counterfeit drugs worth N250m in Oyo

As NDLEA boss hails life sentence passed on drug convict

By Tunde Ogunesan and Shola Adekola

THE National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Thursday, in Ibadan, destroyed fake and counterfeit drugs seized by its various establishment in the SouthWest worth N250,000,000.

Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, who was represented by the Director of Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, stated this while leading a team of the establishment carrying out the destruction exercise in company of other security agencies at a dumpsite in Moniya, Ibadan.

He said “the products being destroyed are made up of fake, expired and counterfeit drugs seized by various NAFDAC establishments in South-West states of the country.”

Orhii further added that the products were “substandard and expired food products, cosmetics and other regulated products seized from manufacturers, importers, distributors and expired drugs voluntarily handed over by complaint companies, stakeholders, as well as fake drugs seized from hawkers of medicine on the streets.”

He said the exercise had become necessary to prevent the offensive products from making re-entry into the market and to raise public awareness on the dangers of counterfeit products.

His words “The estimated value of the products being destroyed is N250 million.

No doubt, drug faking has become an act of economic sabotage and also terrorism against public health. Since the entrance of the present

Kogi assembly speaker, deputy, minority leader impeached Continued from Page 5

revealed that $322million of Abacha loot was transferred following a January 12, 2015 request by the office of the former National

members to “always put the state first before their inordinate and personal ambitions,” wondering why the people promoted such divisive tendencies at the critical period of transiting from one administration to another.

He urged members of the assembly to remain focussed and be committed to the ideals of the founding fathers of the state.

Momoh thereafter said the assembly had adjourned sitting till February 2, 2016.

management of NAFDAC, the agency has taken a proactive approach towards fighting this menace.

“I am humbled to say that our cutting edge technologies deployed in the fight against counterfeiting is yielding tremendous success. We have continued to aggressively pursue the goals of ensuring that only genuine medicine and wholesome food of the right quality is imported, exported, manufactured and distributed.

“We have also embrace collaboration which entails synergy between the regulatory agency and our stakeholders. Surveillance and enforcement operations in our ports, borders and identified routes used by smugglers have been intensified; which has led to increased seizures of fake regulated products smuggled through our land borders.

“Local pharmaceutical companies are being encouraged by NAFDAC to work towards attaining WHO

prequalification” saying such “will facilitate access to medicines that meet unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Acting Chairman/Chief Executive, Mrs Roli Bode-George, has commended the judiciary over the life sentence and 25 years imprisonment passed on two drug convicts by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia in Lagos on Wednesday.

million of the recovered Abacha funds to an ONSA (Office of the National Security Adviser) operations account. The NSA has explained that this is to enable the purchase of ammunition, security, and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them fully confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.

His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on the use of recovered funds where the decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 5050 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development need (including a portion for the Future Generations window of the Sovereign Wealth Fund).”

Products seized by the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in the South-West zone, being destroyed in Ibadan, on Thursday. PHOTO: NAN.

Tension in Osun as govt shut 6 schools over cultists’ attacks Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

AGAINST the backdrop of violence, occasioned by cult attacks, Osun State government has shut down six schools, within Osogbo metropolis, with a view to checkmate growing level of chaos in the affected public schools.

Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that the violence, which erupted in Anglican High Schools 1 to 5 last week snowballed into full scale attacks early this week when suspected cultists invaded the school premises with dangerous weapons.

According to credible sources, “some suspected cultists attacked the schools namely; Anglican High Schools 1 to 5 and Adenle Middle School, all located in the same compound at Testing Ground area of the town, three times last week, forcing teachers and students to scamper to safety.

At the heat of the attack

on Tuesday, a member of Peace Corps was axed on the head.”

Sources in the affected schools informed Nigerian Tribune that trouble ensued last week Wednesday when a student, identified as Toheeb Oluaye strangely ordered a female Home Economics teacher out of class.

One of the sources hinted that “Toheeb had been coming to school with a dane gun, because of insinuations that members of Peace Corps were being returned to schools to instil discipline in students.”

But, when the Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) got wind of the development, their operatives stormed the premises of Anglican High School last Friday, where Toheeb was eventually arrested.

However, some people believed to be members of Toheeb’s cult group, allegedly invaded the school and attacked both the police and

students.

The source further hinted “when the police arrived, some people, who were not in school uniform, mobilised and launched attack on them. Two teachers, one female and male were injured during the melee.

“Again, on Monday, some policemen were seen in the school and students and people in mufti mobilised against them. But some of them were arrested. This forced the closure of the schools indefinitely,” a teacher, who pleaded anonymity disclosed.

Meanwhile, another eyewitness said some students might be causing unrest in the schools as part of ploy to frustrate the conduct of qualifying examination to select those that will not pay for next year Senior Secondary Schools Examination.

“Many of these troublemakers are sure they will not pass the qualifying examination and thus they don’t want it to hold at all,”

another student revealed.

When contacted over the development, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Lawrence Oyeniran, declined to comment on it.

He said: “It is a subject I don’t want to talk about.

Maybe you can see the deputy governor.”

Speaking on the incident, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Osun State chapter, Mr Amuda Wakili, said when he heard about the development, he ordered teachers to stop going to school.

But, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Osun State Police Command, DSP Folasade Odoro, confirmed the development, explaining that seven persons have been arrested in connection with the violence.

As of the time of filing this report, Hilux patrol vans of the Police and anti-riot policemen were still stationed within the school premises.

news Appeal Court upholds Lam-Adesina, Akanbi’s elections 7

ByYejideGbenga-Ogundare

T

he three-man panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, on Thursday, gave a unanimous judgment, affirming the decision of the National and House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal that sat in Ibadan and upheld the election of the Honourable representing Ibadan North East and South East Federal Constituency, at the House of Representatives, Dapo Lam-Adesina and the

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi.

The panel led by Justice M.L. Shuaib, held that the appeal of Olugbenga Ayinde Adewusi and Olufemi Lanlehin of Accord Party, was devoid of any merit and dismissed the appeal without making any order in relation to cost.

“The appeal is devoid of any merit and the October 14, 2015 judgment of the lower tribunal is hereby affirmed. The appeal is dismissed and I make no order to cost,” Justice Sh-

uaib said.

The Appellate Court resolved all three issues that were raised by Adewusi in favour of Lam-Adesina and also resolved the six issues raised by Lanlehin in favour of Akanbi. Adewusi had contended that Lam-Adesina did not score majority of votes and the election was marred with irregularities and did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

He also raised the issue of the use of ballot papers for another local govern-

ment used for election in his local government, asking the court to hold that the tribunal was guilty of injustice in the manner it considered his petition.

The tribunal, while giving judgment on the matter, stated that witnesses called were cross examined and the ballot paper in contention was used by the petitioner to vote without complaint while all results were collated and agents of all parties, including Accord and necessary individuals signed to certify results.

FG owes N42m from fertiliser importation —Ogbeh Jacob Segun Olatunji and Kolawole Daniel- Abuja

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Thursday, disclosed that the Federal Government was owing N42 million which were debts incurred by the government on the importation of fertilizers for utilisation by local farmers in the agricultural value

chain of the country’s economy.

Chief Ogbeh, who stated this on Thursday, in Abuja, during an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, disclosed that the ministry was working on modalities to ensure that people go back to agriculture.

The minister reassured of

I’m set for rerun —Mark JohnsonBabajide-Makurdi FORMER Senate President, Senator David Mark, has stated that not minding the provocative judgment of the Appeal Court, he is set for the re-run election.

Mark stated this when he paid a visit to the traditional ruler of Idomaland, Elias Ikoyi Ibekpa, in his palace, on Thursday, stating that as harbinger of peace, he asked his people not to forment trouble when the judgment was

delivered two weeks ago.

While stating that he would continue to maintain peace and preach peace in the land, Mark expressed assurance that his people would surely maintain their support for him.

He, however, warned that Idoma nation by tradition, does not entertain external forces to foist leaders on them, insisting that ‘never will Idoma people allow external forces to impose leaders on us’.

According to him, ‘as long as I live, no stranger will

EKSU plans HND conversion course Sam Nwaoko - Ado-Ekiti The Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti has concluded plans to begin a two-year programme that would lead to the conversion of Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate to degree.

The vice chancellor of EKSU, Professor Oye Bandele, said on Thursday, that the university would also convoke a summit on internally generated revenue (IGR) with intention to make every faculty a viable revenue generating sources to make up for the dwindling funds accruing to the institution.

Speaking about the poor attitude of students to the payment of school fees, Bandele, who resumed on December 1, following the expiration of his predecessor’s tenure, Professor Oladipo Aina, said the nonchalant attitude to payment could frustrate his efforts in the provision of

infrastructures and welfare packages.

He said the university is compiling data of students owing the university and that appropriate steps would be taken from December 20 against those that are indebted to the university.

the ministry’s readiness to re-position agricultural sector in Nigeria and ensure adequate food supply for the citizenry.

He, however, decried the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders, saying that only last week, rice importers smuggled about 300 metric tonnes of rice through the porous Seme and Benin borders-two major land boders in Nigeria.

penetrate Idoma nation and impose leader on us,’ stressing that what Idoma people need is to consolidate on the achievements already recorded.

He told the traditional ruler that he decided to pay homage and seek his blessing as he steps into the ring, once again.

In his response, the traditional ruler noted that as a royal father, his duty was to bless his subjects, who venture into politics and charged politicians to play the game devoid of violence.

He, however, charged the people to look and support those who can bring development to the land.

According to him: “Federal Government’s export earning is very low due to the fall in crude oil prices globally and the reason why there are no much gains from livestock farming and agriculture is due to poor funding and government’s policy summersalt” Speaking earlier ,the Chairman of the House Committee, Adebutu Oladipupo, said the committee was willing to partner the ministry to ensure that adequate funds were appropriated for improvement of the nation’s agricultural productivity.

The tribunal further held that the contentious election paper was used in only seven polling units while 554 polling units used the correct materials, adding that Adewusi failed to show that the materials used in the seven polling units in any way affected the overall result of the election.

The court stated that while voting was ongoing, neither party or voters were misled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and each vote was counted as testified by witnesses before the tribunal and consequently, resolved the three issues in favour of Lam-Adesina.

Before giving judgment in Lanlehin’s appeal, the court first dismissed a preliminary objection raised

by Akanbi stating that the record of appeal should be signed by the tribunal secretary, holding that since it was certified by the Assistant Secretary, it is admissible in law. Justice Shuaib held that the court is meant to give justice and not embrace technicality and therefore, overruled the objection as being bereft of merit. Lanlehin also filed a preliminary objection that was overruled by the court.

In resolving the six grounds raised by Lanlehin in his appeal, the court held that the tribunal was right not to engage in an exercise of futility, adding that it was right to expunge parts of his petition as he cannot in law introduce new facts after the case had commenced. It also held that Exhibit P153 is not admissible since it was compiled by Lanlehin to be used to prove his case after he had filed his petition.

The court finally held that the tribunal was right to hold that Lanlehin did not prove his case that there were irregularities in the election and the election did not comply with electoral laws especially since the witnesses he relied on were electoral officers that were not at polling units but relied on reports signed by agents that were not called to testify.

It was the decision of the court that since all agents called testified that there were elections and it was conducted peacefully, the use of another local government’s ballot papers in seven units is not enough to make allegations of irregularity or that the election was not held in compliance with electoral laws.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

Restoration of normalcy, cardinal priority of my administration —Buhari SundayEjike-AbujaWithAgency Reports

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has on Thursday said his administration is committed to restoring normalcy to all regions affected by insurgency.

Buhari made this known at the celebration of International Human Rights Day and commemoration of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)’s 20th Anniversary in Abuja, on Thursday.

The President, represented by the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, noted that Nigeria, like several other countries of the world, was afflicted with grave humanitarian crises.

While reiterating the commitment of his administration to respect human rights at all times, the President said the counter-terrorism war against Boko Haram insurgents would carefully be carried out without violating anybody’s rights.

“This administration has

made the restoration of normalcy in the affected regions a cardinal priority because of the belief

that no Nigerian must be made to suffer the denial of his fundamental human rights.

“I re-assert my administration’s determination to ensure that all institutions and agencies of govern-

ment will continue to be guided by human rights norms and values in carrying out their statutory

From left, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Communication, Mr Adebayo Shittu and the Minister of Labour, Mr Chris Ngige, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Ict for Change Empowerment Programme between the Federal Government and Huawei Technologies CO. Nigeria Limited, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday. With them are the Deputy Managing Director of Huawei Technologies, Mr Lanre Odekunle and Vice President of Huawei, Mr Cao Aijun (standing behind).

We will create ICT hubs across Nigeria—Osinbajo •As FG, Chinese firm sign MoU to create 2,000 jobs LeonUsigbe-AbujaWithAgency Reports

THE Federal Government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading Chinese technology firm, Huawei to provide 2000 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) trainee jobs to young Nigerians next year under the “Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo noted that creating an enabling environment for businesses to flourish was one of the key priorities of the Buhari administration meant to spur the growth of the economy and create opportunities for gainful employment.

According to the Vice President, who was joined by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige and Communications Minister, Mr Adebayo Shittu, “ICT is one of the quickest ways people can get decent jobs, so we think this is absolutely important.”

He added: “In the change agenda, how to

grow the economy is important, and we want to create ICT hubs and support existing ones. We thank Huawei for this initiative of advancing technology in Nigeria, apart from the job creation itself.”

Noting the current poor rating of Nigeria in the global rankings of business environments, Osinbajo disclosed that the president has already given the Trade, Industry and Investment Minister the task of addressing the challenges of doing busi-

ness in the country.

At an event also attended by the Chinese Ambassador Mr Gu Xiaojie, the Vice President said the relationship between Nigeria and China is a strategic one, and urged Chinese investors and business leaders to consider Nigeria for manufacturing plants.

He advised the Chinese investors to encourage not just the selling, but also the manufacturing of products in Nigeria as it would lead to the mutual prosperity for both countries.

In his remark, the Chinese envoy, said China was in partnership with the Buhari presidency in the “change” agenda, listing the nation’s plans to be involved in such areas like Agricultural modernisation, industrialisation, infrastructure, trade and investment, poverty alleviation, and peace and security among others.

Ministers for Labour and Communications, whose ministries would select the 2000 trainees, signed the MOU on behalf of the Federal Govern-

Lagos indigene must be LASU VC this time —Eko Foundation

By Moses Alao

A non-profit organisation, Eko Foundation, has called on the Lagos State government and other stakeholders to ensure that an indigene of the state emerges the next Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), noting that the indigenes of Lagos State “expect the emergence of a qualified, competent and experienced indigene of the state as the Vice Chancellor.”

The Foundation, in a statement signed by its chairman and general sec-

retary, Professor Imran Oluwole Smith and Mr Kunle Uthman, respectively, said it is aware that there “are true indigenes” in the race for the office, noting that since LASU’s establishment over 30 years ago, only three of its seven past vice chancellors were Lagosians, a development which the Foundation called on the governor and other stakeholders to correct this time.

It will be recalled that the Governing Council of the institution and Senate Selection Committee, led by its Pro-Chancellor,

Professor Adebayo Ninalowo, had earlier this week, shortlisted the trio of Professors Lanre Fagbohun; Olatunji Bello and Hamidu Sanni, from which the state governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode is expected to pick one for the top job.

“It is on this well-justified ground that the indigenes of this state feel strongly that a vice chancellor for LASU should necessarily be a qualified competent and experienced indigene of Lagos State. And there are many such people in the system,” the Foundation said.

ment, while Mr Richard Cao, the Vice President of Huawei West Africa signed for the Chinese Information Communication and technology firm.

Also speaking, Ngige remarked that China has blazed the trail with the job creation MOU with the Buhari presidency.

In his remark, Cao explained that Huawei has long been committed to developing Nigeria’s ICT sector, and was working hard to build a “Better Connected Nigeria” at the same time as delivering cuttingedge ICT technologies and services to Nigeria.

While noting that the company was committed to fostering a skilled local ICT workforce, he added: “As a leading global supplier of ICT products and solutions, Huawei will continue to share its global experience in the development of the ICT industry with the Nigeria government.

“We hope to become a strategic partner to the Nigeria government in the future ICT planning and development, and will continue to expand our contributions and training programs in Nigeria.”

responsibility.

“The respect for human rights is not negotiable; it underlies our status as a democratic country; therefore, we have made tremendous progress in restoring normalcy in the affected regions.”

Buhari gave the assurance that the return of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their original homes was a matter of priority and would soon be completed.

The President commended the (NHRC) for maintaining its credibility and visibility as a foremost national institution and independent extrajudicial mechanism for the enhancement of human rights by citizens and residents of Nigeria.

The President also called on the United Nation to continue to provide, “a platform for the common resolution of problems which today cause so much misery around the world and deny millions of people their basic rights to life and meaningful existence.”

The occasion, which was chaired by Joe KyariGadzama and drew other senior lawyers, diplomats and various civil society organisations together was co-organised by the NHRC and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

China volunteers to join fight against B/Haram Chris Agbambu-Abuja

The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie on Thursday assured the Nigerian Armed Forces of the Chinese government’s readiness to partner in the current fight against insurgency.

He gave the assurance when he paid a visit to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin in his office at the Defence headquarters, Abuja.

The envoy expressed his government’s confidence on the Nigerian Armed Forces in the fight against insurgency, most especially, at restoring peace and security to every troubled area in the nation.

He also solicited for stronger ties in the exchanges between the two Armed Forces in intelligence gathering and sharing as well as training.

Responding, the CDS expressed appreciation to the Chinese government for the hands of fellowship extended to Nigerian military at this crucial time.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Supreme court decides Reverend King’s fate Feb 26

From left, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki; Dean, Lagos Business School, Dr Enase Okonedo and the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, Mr Bismarck Rewane, during the Lagos Business School Breakfast Club end of the year dinner, in Lagos.

7-month-old baby, two houses burnt in Lagos

By Olalekan Olabulo

T

ragedy struck on Thursday at Ikota Housing Estate around Ajah area of Lagos State as a seven - month - old baby died in a fire incident.

Two houses were also on Thursday razed by fire in Egbeda and Ojota areas of the state.

The director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe confirmed the incident to the Nigerian Tribune and added that operatives of the agency responded swiftly to the distress call.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the baby was locked up in the room by the mother, who went out.

It was further gathered that neighbours of the woman noticed the fire and quickly made attempts to put out the fire.

Fadipe, while speaking with Nigerian Tribune, stated that operatives of the state fire service recovered the charred body of the baby from the building.

The Lagos State Fire Service boss also added that operatives of the state fire agency were as at Thursday evening responding to a fire call at a storey-building at

32, Oduwole Street in Egbeda, adding that a building, situated on Amoo Street in Ojota area of the

state also went up in flames on Thursday afternoon .

He added that though the cause of the fire was

yet to be ascertained as at Thursday evening, fire fighters were still trying to put out the fire.

The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday fixed February 26, 2016 for judgment in the appeal filed by the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Reverend Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King challenging the judgement of a Lagos High Court sentencing him to death by hanging.

The apex court presided over by Justice Walter Onoghen adjourned for judgment after entertaining arguments from counsel to prosecution and defence in the matter.

Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, who appeared before the Supreme Court alongside Mrs Idowu Alakija, the Director of Public Prosecution and other Senior Counsel in the State, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower courts.

Ezeugo was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six -count charge of attempted murder and murder.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegation but was sentenced to death by the then Justice Joseph Oyewole of Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007 for the murder of one of his church members, Ann Uzoh.

Justice Oyewole is now a

judge of Appeal Court sitting in the Calabar division.

The Lagos State Government had said that the convict poured petrol on the deceased and five other persons and that Uzoh died on August 2, 2006; 11 days after the act was perpetrated on her.

Specifically, Ezeugo was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder and death by hanging for the offence of murder.

Dissatisfied, Ezeugo challenged the verdict before the Court of Appeal in Lagos, but the appeal was thrown out. ’’I hereby rule that the prosecution effectively discharged the burden of proof on it. This appeal is devoid of any basis and accordingly fails.

“The judgment of the High Court is hereby affirmed, and the conviction imposed on the appellant, (which is death by hanging) is also affirmed,” Justice Fatimo Akinbami who read the judgement held. The two other members of the panel of Justices, Amina Augie and Ibrahim Saulawa concurred with the lead judgement.

“Again, Ezeugo not being satisfied with the verdict, approached the Supreme Court, and urged that the judgment be upturned.”

The apex court has now reserved judgment.

that you have to compel somebody to do something, especially in a country like Nigeria where 99 percent of us are law breakers, you have a great task in your hand. Therefore, I do not envy your job. ‘‘I was a policeman for 27 years of my service in the Military; so, I know what it is to investigate and really arrive at a conclusion where you can indict some-

body and send him or her before our judges of today and prove that the person has committed the alleged offence. So it is a great task.’’

Ali, who was accompanied by top management staff of the service, also pledged his support for the commission, adding that it was important to have a common platform, where both bodies could be interacting on a regular basis.

EFCC pivot of Nigeria’s anti-corruption war — Ali Comptroller-GenThe eral of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd.), has described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the pivot on which the fight against corruption in Nigeria rests.

He said that the leadership of the service had also realised that having a mutual relationship with the Commission was a necessity.

According to him, “We have realised that the pivot or nucleus of fighting corruption in this country is this organisation. Also, we have realised that we, on our own, cannot function effectively, if we do not get a common platform with a lot of organisations.

“On resumption of the (new) leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service, after taking stock of what we have been doing and what we need to do, we discovered that creating synergies and relationships with agencies such as yours is a necessity and not an option. It is a must because we want to succeed; and

to achieve this, we need a common platform.”

Ali speaking during a visit to the acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, in his office in Abuja on Thursday, said the visit was primarily to pay respect to the Commission and commend it for all that it had been doing to rid the country of corruption.

He further explained that the visit was aimed at un-

derscoring the synergy that had been in existence between the two bodies, while also seeking a way to strengthening the relationship.

Ali, who described the business of law enforcement in Nigeria as a thankless job, however, commended the EFCC boss. ‘‘Nobody looks at you and says thank you for what you are doing. This is because at any given time

Neuropsychiatric hospital CMD advocates adequate funding of health sector OlayinkaOlukoya-Abeokuta The Provost and Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Dr Akinwande Akinhanmi, on Wednesday, called for improved funding towards revamping the nation’s health sector.

The CMD made this call during the finals of the 2015 Aro Sports festivals organised for members of staff of the hospital in Nigeria.

Akinhami admitted that

though the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, is capable of turning the sector around, better funding would aid the performances of government-owned health institutions.

He acknowledged that the sector had not witnessed its optimal output in recent years, adding that there was need for training and re-training of health personnel in the country.

“We appeal to the new minister to do what he is able to do to increase fund-

ing in health institutions.

Not just that, funding should be made for in-service training. Members of staff need further training.

“They can’t just continue practising using the knowledge they had acquired as students. There is need for further education as they go on,” he posited.

Dr Akinhanmi also pleaded with the minister to intervene in the unhealthy rivalry that had existed among professionals in the sector.

The committee chairman

of the Aro 2015 Sports Festival, Dr Edward Shomoye, said that the festival was organised to increase interdisciplinary and interpersonal cooperation within the hospital.

He added that the idea was also to keep members of staff as healthy as possible and reduce the stresses of work like hypertension and diabetes.

Football, track and field events, board games and others were among the games that were contested for during the festival.

10

news

Friday, 11 December, 2015

WAEC gets new HNO

Oodua groups name TB Joshua Man of the Year 2015

Naza Okoli-Lagos

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appointed Mr Olutise Isaac Adenipekun, as the new Head of the Nigeria National Office, a statement issued by the council on Thursday, has said.

Adenipekun, who assumed office on Wednesday, December 9, succeeds Mr Charles Eguridu, who has retired from the services of the council.

Born on March 5, 1960, Mr Adenipekun hails from Ere-Ijesa, Ilesa, Osun State. He attended St Stephen Primary School, EreIjesa and Ijebu-Jesa Grammar School, Ijebu-Jesa. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) with a B.Sc (Hons) in Political Science.

He also obtained an M.Sc degree in International Relations from the same university in 1987. In 2012, he received a Master’s in Public Administration (M.P.A) in Management of Educational Institutions from the Lagos State University, Ojo. Mr Adenipekun is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria (FCAI) and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (MNIM).

Adenipekun joined the services of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), on October 3, 1989 as an Assistant Registrar II. He rose to the rank of Senior Assistant Registrar in 2000 and a Principal Assistant Registrar in 2005. He became Deputy Registrar in 2011.

Brewery Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Ibadan, Mr Goke Adeyemi, being presented with an appreciation plaque by M r Adebayo, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, on behalf of the Oyo State chapter when NB, Ibadan hosted the end of the year meeting of the NIPR, Oyo State Chapter. With them on the left is Mr Henry Adegbuyi, chairman of the chapter and Mr Tayo Adelaja (right), Public Affairs Manager West/

Soyinka to Buhari: Military pestilence should stop

By Ronke Sanya

P

rofessor Wole Soyinka on Thursday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “stop military pestilence” by curbing military brutality, assault and man-handling of innocent civilians.

Soyinka made this known in his keynote address at the 10th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting held at Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

Condemning the increase of military men assaulting civilians, he said, “Military pestilence should stop.

Brutality of military men to citizens of Lagos and Nige-

ria in general must cease,” he added that “Those acting like Boko Haram, ravaging all over the place, assaulting innocent citizens, in other words, terrorising civilians” should be checked.

“I therefore call on President Buhari to put an end to brutality towards civilians by military men.”

Professor Wole Soyinka, noting the importance of investigative reporting, also urged journalists to do more investigative reporting. “I have become convinced that one crucial service that an investigative arm can render to its overall organisation is one of its main function to society, let me hasten to add,

but as a duty to the totality of which one is a part, in order to sustain credibility, trust, and integrity.”

In his address, he appreciated the awardees for investigative reports, “especially reporting that of the political dispensation that we are in, that is neither military nor civilian.”

Winners at the award ceremony included Premium Times’ Emmanuel Ogala, who won the online category and was declared the overall winner; Adekunle Yusuf of The Nation who won in the print category; Sumner Sambo of Television Continental (TVC) who won the Broadcast category; Daily Trust’s Ikechukwu

Ekiti bans street trading, criminalises hawking by school age girls Sam Nwaoko-Ado Ekiti

Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has again warned against street trading and urged traders displaying their wares on major streets of the state capital to relocate to Awedele and Agric Olope markets.

The governor also appealed to traders displaced by the reconstruction of the Erekesan Market in Ado-Ekiti, to move to alternative sites provided by the state government.

In a statement on Thursday, by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, the governor said street trading and blocking roads with wares would no longer be tolerated.

The governor, who visited areas such as Bisi Market, Ojaba and Atikankan areas of Ado-Ekiti,

frowned at the recalcitrant attitude of some traders who refused to move to authorised places for trading.

Meanwhile, it is now a crime in Ekiti State for parents to engage their girl-child in hawking during the school hours.

According to the statement, signed in Ado Ekiti yesterday, by the Special Assistant (Media) to the wife of the governor, Mr Gbenga Ariyibi, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose made the disclosure in Ado Ekiti, during a programme marking the International Day of the Girl-Child.

Mrs Fayose, who along with some women leaders participated in a live programme on Ekiti Television (EKT), urged people in the state not to hesitate to arrest any erring parent.

Also contributing, the Per-

manent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Princess Adekunbi Obaisi, said the state government has pro-

mulgated a law prohibiting hawking by school age child between the hours of 8a.m. and 2p.m.

Ibe (Photography) and Business Day’s Asukwo Bassey, Editorial Cartoon.

Other runners up and those whose works were commended by the organisers of the award ceremony, Wole Soyinka Centre of Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) include: Fisayo Soyombo of The Cable; Chukwuemeka Emenike of The New Telegraph; Adedayo Odusanya of The Punch; Ayodele Ojo of The Sun and Kikelomo Abosede Ifekoya of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Professor of Political Science, Attahiru Jega, was honoured with the anticorruption defender award due to his outstanding role in the success of the 2015 elections. Veteran broadcaster Bimbo Oloyede was honoured with the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence.

Pensioners demand payment of 42 months arrears ...Want problem on biometric exercise addressed Soji-Eze Fagbemi-Abuja

AS the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) celebrates the Pensioners Day, on Friday, the union has demanded for payment of the 42 months pension arrears without further delay.

In a communiqué released after its National Delegates’ Conference in Abuja, on Thursday, the NUP also called on the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), to quickly address the problems being encountered by pensioners

in the ongoing biometric/ verification exercise.

The pensioners appealed to the office of the Accountant General, Budget Office of the Federation and PTAD to work together towards ensuring that their pensions were paid as at when due.

“We demand that the arrears of 42 months of 33 per cent pension increase should be paid without further delay. We also demand for the balance of 20.4 per cent that is overdue,” the communiqué, signed by the National

President of NUP, Dr Abel Afolayan and the General Secretary, Elder Actor Zal said.

The union commended PTAD for the commencement of the biometric/ verification exercise for pensioners, and urged the directorate to sustain and complete the exercise in good time.

The NUP also lamented the lingering disparities in pensions between the old and new pensioners and solicited for immediate harmonisation of the old pensions.

The founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Pastor Temitope Balogun Joshua has been announced as the 2015 winner of the Yoruba Person of the Year Award 2015.

The distinguished honour was bestowed on him by the Egbe Omo Oodua Parapo, a coalition of 35 PanYoruba groups drawn from across the world. The announcement was made this week in the United States (US) where the group held its annual conference.

“We give this award to Pastor Joshua out of over 500 nominees screened by the planning committee of the association. We recognise his untiring support for the poor, his promotion of positive images about Yoruba people and more importantly his commitment to lifting millions of poor people from a state of stupor,’ Dr Akinwale Adewunmi, the chairman of the award committee said in the statement.

According to the group, Pastor Joshua remains a golden example of how an individual can impact on the greater society without exploiting them.

NTDC boss, Mbanefo, Nollywood acts, mobilise for Ondo Mare festival The Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Sally Mbanefo and Nollywood acts have pledged their active involvement and full support for the 2015 edition of the annual Ondo State organised Mare Festival, which holds in Idanre on the 18 and 19 of this month.

Briefing newsmen on preparations towards the successful hosting of the event in Akure, on Wednesday, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said the NTDC boss, among other dignitaries would not only be on hand to be part of this year’s cultural festival, but will as well share in the Idanre hills experience.

He said tourists to this year’s edition of the festival would have a different experience from what they used to have, as the hills environment, which now has an improved golf course and habitat to accommodate tourists among other innovations, has become of world standard where tourists all over the world have been thronging to have a new experience.

businessnews CBN seeks banks’ support to create over 1 million jobs for young graduates 11

Friday, 11 December, 2015

•As Lagos mulls N25bn Trust Fund SMEs

By Chima Nwokoji

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has solicited the support of all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, to create at least one million employment opportunities for young graduates in 2016.

This is even as the Lagos state governor, Akiwunmi Ambode has revealed that the state’s House of Assembly will soon complete the legislative process of inaugurating Employment Trust Fund through which entrepreneurs will get start up funds.

The job creation initiative according to the apex bank, will be in form of support from both CBN, the Nigerian banks and development institutions in terms giving out cheap and concessionary loans to companies that are in the Micro-Small and Medium scale Enterprises

(MSMSE).

At the opening ceremony of a two-day Bankers’ Committee retreat holing in Lagos on Thursday, the CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele urged managing Directors of banks and Directors of various departments to design appropriate ways to accomplish this and to stop believing that young graduates will take loans and will not pay back.

“We need to develop a skill that will work for these young people, where they will take a loan and pay back,” Emefiele stated.

He said the Bank of In-

dustry has already designed a commendable scheme whereby original university and NYSC certificates as well as their biometric data of young graduate in place of collateral.

“There are no more jobs out there. Let’s give them a chance. I believe that we can do this,” he urged.

However, if the banks refuses to support,the CBN Governor warned that it might get to a point where the Central Bank will begin to cease the money that should have been released to them through the reduced Cash Reserve Re-

quirement, in order to lend to young graduates.

He noted that no one has monopoly of knowledge and urges all hands to be on deck to help Nigerian economy.

“We need to diversify this economy away from oil,” he emphasized.

According to Emefiele, the Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) represent 99.5 per cent of companies in Germany, employs 68 per cent of the labour force and contribute 37 per cent of corporate turnover in that country today.

He regretted that Nigeria with 37 million Micro-Small

and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMSE) did not have 99.5 per cent of companies coming from the SME sector.

Similarly, Ambode called for partnership with the private sector,”as we frontally mitigate the negative effects of our bulging youth population.”

As a government Ambode noted, “we are committing N25billion in the next three years to this employment trust fund. Ours is an intervention fund of which we believe will not attract more than three per cent interest rate,” he stated.

Ezekwesili, others bag Havard leadership award THE Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria (HBSAN) has honoured Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, a senior economic advisor with Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI) in the Social Impact category, Mitchell Elegbe; Founder and GMD, Interswitch Limited in the General Management category, and Bukky George; Founder & CEO of HealthPlus Limited and CasaBella Int’l Limited, in the Entrepreneurship category, for their exceptional leadership and impactful contributions to society.

Elegbe received the general management award for his exemplary leadership abilities that has seen Interswitch revolutionise the electronic payment industry in Nigeria, and Africa as a whole.

The leadership award for social impact was awarded to Ezekwesili for her relentless and passionate pursuit of a not for profit enterprise; committed to the advancement of others, while George, received the leadership award for entrepreneurship for her outstanding entrepreneurial qualities in growing and developing her business.

The HBSAN award is an annual event that recognises excellence, inspiring others to leave a mark in the evolution and development of Nigeria’s economic and social landscape.

Nigerian Tribune

‘NIMASA committed to fight against waterways criminal activities’ Tola Adenubi - Lagos THE Acting Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Haruna Jauro, has reiterated the commitment of the agency towards stamping out the illegal activities disrupting its operations.

Speaking as a special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI) media workshop in Lagos, Jauro said NIMASA had committed itself to ensuring the success of the working agreements with the Nigerian military in order to keep the Nigerian maritime environment safe from criminal activities.

He commended the Nigerian military for its dogged war against insurgency, explaining that he had a first-hand experience of the security challenges of the northeast region being an indigene of Yobe State who had lived in the Maiduguri/ Damaturu axis since 1985 until 2012 when he took up the NIMASA assignment.

We”ll continue to improve on our services — IBEDC Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta

From left: MD/CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Bola Adesola; Governor, Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; and Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, at a retreat of the bankers’ committee in Lagos, on Thursday.

Stock market lull: Operators task FG on proper

implementation of 2016 budget SOME capital market operators on Thursday predicted that the Nigerian stock market would witness a rebound with proper implementation of the proposed 2016 budget by the Federal Government.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that market growth and development would be tied to the budget and government’s commitment to diversifying the economy.

Malam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd, urged government to pursue economic and monetary policies that would bring back both foreign and local investors to the market.

Kurfi said that government should look for other sources of revenue, noting that the market had lost over N2 trillion so far because of the country’s mono product with oil as the major source of revenue. ``We are optimistic that

market will experience improved performance in 2016 and government should be the first driver by ensuring proper implementation of the budget.” ``Most of the companies are trading below their fair value currently because of uncertainties in the economy,” Kurfi said.

He said that government

should show more commitment to the market through the introduction of friendly policies and tax incentives to boost investors’ confidence and woo in more investors.

On the sectors that would drive the equities market, Kurfi predicted that with government’s determination to curb insurgency in

the North East, the building materials sector would witness increased activity.

He said that there would be a high demand of building materials with a lot of construction work expected in the north-east.

Kurfi added that expectations of fuel subsidy removal would boost activities in the oil and gas sector.

UBA Foundation rewards quiz winners with N2.25m Olatunde Dodondawa - Lagos UBA Foundation has rewarded three finalists with a total sum of N2.25million as educational grant for their university education in any African University.

At the grand finale of the fifth edition of the UBA Foundation National Essay Competition for Secondary Schools in Nigeria at the bank’s head office in Lagos, Emediong Uduak Uko, a 15-year-old student of British Nigerian Academy,

Abuja, won the first prize of N1 million education grant.

Emediong emerged the winner from over 3,326 entries received across the country.

Also, Starish Ugie-OritseEte Enonuya of the Lagoon School, Lagos and Eze Ugochinyere Golden of Living Word Academy School, Abia, emerged first and second runner ups, winning N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants respectively.

The MD/CEO, UBA Foundation, Ijeoma Aso, com-

mended the participants and expressed delight at the increase level of participation recorded this year.

She said, “compared to the last edition, we had an increase of almost 100 per cent in the number of entries received, and this shows that there is a growing level of awareness amongst the youth.”

She added that the impact of UBA Foundation is being felt by many educational institutions and communities in Nigeria.

THE Head of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Security and Revenue Taskforce, Olugbenga Ajagbe, has promised that the company will continue to work on better services to its customers.

Ajagbe said this when the management and staff members of the company paid the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, a congratulatory visit on his 10th coronation anniversary at his palace in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Thursday.

He revealed that IBEDC only distributes whatever it gets from the national grid, maintaining that servicing its customers optimally had been its main focus.

“Our company is doing everything within its power to improve service,but one thing we should always understand that we are just like every filling station out there in the oil sector. It is what they have that they will sell.

“It is the light that they give us that we give to our people. We can’t put it in our pocket. We are just one arm in the chain of electricity to get to the people,” he said.

businessnews Access Bank, Ambode woo foreign investors 12

By Chima Nwokoji

A

ccess Bank Nigeria Plc has provided a platform for exchange of technological and business ideas that will encourage investment inflow into Nigeria.

At the 2015 Access world leadership conference held in Lagos Thursday. Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe said that innovation which has changed the face of banking in Nigeria has come from distributive technology.

Also, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhued president of the Nigeria Stock exchange (NSE) and former Managing Director and Chief Executive of Access Bank, said Nigeria needs to embrace disruptive technology to address challenges in various sectors of the economy.

Specifically he advocated that banks should allow telecommunication companies to hold deposit taking licenses. “We should not be scared of giving one to two telcos deposit taking license,” he suggested.

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Aig-Imoukhuede who spoke at the Biannual Access conference said the net benefit of allowing digital technology to thrive activities far outweigh the risk.

Also speaking at the conference, the governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode said the challenge of any government is to create an enabling environment that will enable innovators with entrepreneurial spirit to thrive; adding that Lagos State is a good place to invest.

While commending Access Bank for having the influence to assemble great global leaders in the state,Ambode noted that the theme of the conference was apt. He added that the quest for transformation resonates with the present reality of human existence urging participants to continue to undertake mean-

ingful innovations to transform their environment.

“Indeed, we live in interesting times. We live in an era where our ability to influence the society depends very much on how we are able to bring innovative ideas to bear on our responsibilities”, the governor said.

He further disclosed plans by his administration to establish a viable platform which will identify young entrepreneurs for the purpose of supporting and promoting their enterprise.

He said the initiative tagged, ‘Pitch@Lagos’ has already received support from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Access Bank by way of sponsorship.

“It is no longer in doubt that Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs)

hold the key to realizing our full potentials for growth and development”.

“The history of the Asian Tigers is well known. It is also a fact that while most big business corporations started as Small Medium Enterprises, developing economies still pay special attention to the survival of Small Medium Enterprises in various sectors of their economies”, he said.

Jose Maria Figueres former president of Costa Rica, Steve Woznaik , co-founder of Apple, spoke on epitomizing the twin power of aspiration and desire. He shared ideas with the former Costa Rica president how a far reaching vision can become a compelling catalyst for innovation.

Figueres suggested increased focus on innovation in the county, whereby universities should focus on

broad education of students not focusing on just mathematics; stressing that innovative minds need only to be able to think logically. Other panelists including Nnamdi Okei, co-founder Yudala, Nigeria, Mariana Mazzucato, prifessor of economics of innovation, university of Sussex, Narayana Murthy, founder, infosys technologies, India, and Ted Sounder, head of industry and retail, Google Inc, USA, spoke on the essential attributes of innovation.

During the panel discussion, they made clarification on the strategies, organizational and behavioral factors that separates successful innovators from the rest, challenging governments on tax incentives for young entrepreneurs specifically in the area of research and development.

Franchise, key to MSME’s survival

‘NIMASA committed to fight against waterways criminal activities’ Tola Adenubi - Lagos The Acting Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Haruna Jauro, has reiterated the commitment of the agency towards stamping out the illegal activities disrupting its operations.

Speaking as a special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI) media workshop in Lagos, Jauro said NIMASA had committed itself to ensuring the success of the working agreements with the Nigerian military in order to keep the Nigerian maritime environment safe from criminal activities.

He commended the Nigerian military for its dogged war against insurgency, explaining that he had a first-hand experience of the security challenges of the northeast region being an indigene of Yobe State who had lived in the Maiduguri/ Damaturu axis since 1985 until 2012 when he took up the NIMASA assignment.

Harmattan Haze: NCAA cautions pilots, airlines against violation of flight rules

KehindeAkinseinde-JayeobaLagos Franchise has been attached to the growth and survival of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) being major driver in the economy of the country.

Speakers at the recently concluded SME and Franchising Nigeria Conference at the Eko Hotels, highlighted the roles franchise could play in promoting MSMEs, while noting that a large percentage of SMEs do not survive the first two years.

It was revealed that out of 37 million Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in the country, only 400,000 were registered, while 120,000 of the business entities pay tax, thereby making access to funds a major problem faced by business owners as most do not have the major requirements needed to procure loans.

Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprise (NASME), Ladi Jemi-Alade, while speaking on ‘Franchising as a tool for MSME development in the country’, explained that the challenges faced by MSMEs owner in the country made it difficult for business to thrive as there are no distinguished policies for SMEs.

Nigerian Tribune

Shola Adekola - Lagos

From left: Chairman, Access Bank Plc, Mosun Bello-Olusoga; President, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Former Chairman, Access Bank Plc, Gbenga Oyebode; Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Dr Herbert Wigwe, at the 2015 Access Bank Plc Conference held at Eko Hotel on Thursday in Lagos. Photo: Sylvester Okoruwa.

CBN cautions Nigerians on illicit financial houses Isaac Shobayo - Jos The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned Nigerians on fraudulent finance houses offering large returns on little investments.

The Director of Finance and Department, Tope Omage, who disclosed this at the opening of two days sensitisation fair held in Jos, charged Nigerians to verify such offers by prospective finance houses before parting with their money.

She added that while dealing with institutions, Nigerians should visit the CBN’s website or any branch of the bank for confirmation.

In his address, the CBN branch controller in Jos, Jatau Satu, said Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund are engine of growth because they are major sources of output growth, employment gener-

ation and innovation.

He pointed out that the CBN, in collaboration with stakeholders, has initiated various financing programme targeted at agriculture, infrastructure and MSME aimed at consolidating government efforts to-

wards ensuring sustainable economic growth and development.

“Equally important are other policies and programme initiated to upscale the capacity of MSMEs to thrive. Noticeable among these are the establish-

ment by the CBN of six Entrepreneurship Development Centre ( IDCs) under the purview of the small and medium enterprises development agencies (SMEDAN),” he said.

Nestlé bags IoD award Nestlé Nigeria, a leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company has won Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) Nigeria Corporate Governance Award.

The award was bestowed on the Company during the 2015 Annual Directors Dinner held at Eko Hotel and Suites.

Speaking at the event, the President and Chairman of the Governing Council of IoD, Samuel Akinyemi Akeju, lauded Nestlé for

leadership in responsible business performance and demonstrating a high level of effectiveness across the four pillars of corporate governance: accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibility.

The company was particularly commended for completely integrating governance structures into its day-to-day business operations, social responsibility policies and procedures, stakeholder

outreach and communication, regulatory compliance operations, anti-fraud procedures and an understanding of the rights and needs of all stakeholders.

The IoD Corporate Governance Award was given in partnership with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Nestlé emerged winner out of 10 quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange that were Corporate Governance compliant.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) has issued warning to all pilots flying in the country with airline operators to adhere strictly to weather minimal standard guiding flight operations as harmattan bites harder.

The regulatory body in a circular personally signed by the director general, Captain Muhtar Usman and sent to all airlines yesterday, attributed the warning to an earlier forecast issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) about the occurrence of moderate to severe outbreaks of dust in the country during this harmattan period put between November 2015 and March 2016.

According to the NCAA, severe outbreaks of dusts can reduce atmospheric visibility significantly and thus impact negatively on flight operations.

“Based on the above, this circular is hereby issued to all Airline Operators and Pilots to comply with the following, to ensure that adequate departure, en route and destination weather information are obtained from NIMET prior to flight operations.

13

Friday, 11 December, 2015

eyesof islam

Saheed Salawu yinkadejavu@yahoo.com 0811 695 4643

Moral teachings of Islam: Compassion

A

CCORDING to the Qur’an, mercy or compassion as a divine attribute is one of the most notable and highly emphasised of the divine attributes. It suffices to say that when one opens the Qur’an, the first line before any of the chapters even begin says, “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” This same phrase is found in the beginning of all Surhas save one. Also this same phrase is repeated by Muslims before any act (work, study or any other activity).

In Arabic, the phrase is Bismi Allah Arahman Araheem, which is translated to, “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” Both words Arahman and Araheem come from the same Arabic root, which is rahman, which means compassion. Araheem means the kind, merciful and the compassionate. This trait can apply to any human being. Arahman, however, doesn’t really have a word equivalent in English, as it means the absolute source of mercy. Thus, it is erroneous to describe a person as being rahman.

We can, however, say that a person is raheem, which means he is kind, merciful and compassionate but not the source of these attributes. The Qur’an (7:156) says “My mercy extends to all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right, and practice regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs.” The Qur’an also mentions compassion as a divine attribute when it talks about the angels’ prayers on behalf of the believers in (40:7). It says, “Our Lord! Thy Reach is over all things, in Mercy and Knowledge.

Forgive, then, those who turn in repentance, and follow Thy path; and preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire!”

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) described this divine attribute in moving way. According to Bukhari, the Prophet said that he saw a woman in captivity who was looking among the people till she found a little infant whom she took in and started compassionately nursing him. He turned to his companions and asked “Would that mother deliberately throw her infant in the fire?” The companions replied “No!” He then replied “You should know that God is more compassionate towards you than that mother is towards her infant.” This is a divine attribute that has been emphasised in the Qur’an unlike what some may believe.

The mercy and compassion of God are there for the taking. There are two basic conditions in order to deserve and receive mercy. One is the correct belief in God and to accept to be a servant of God. Second is to do good deeds in one’s way of life. Doing good deeds can be implemented in one’s way of life in aspects of family, social, political and economic life.

When a human being becomes so puffed up with pride, becoming arrogant and haughty to the point that they refuse to believe in God, then the person is just being unfair to himself. In many places in the Qur’an, it describes many acts which deviate from the truth and it says that the person who does them is being unfair to himself.

Of course, none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes. But if a person sincerely believes and tries their best to implement the will of God in their life, when they do make a mistake, the door of repentance will always be open.

In Bukhari, Prophet Muhammd (PBUH) was quoted to have said “All of my followers will enter Paradise except for those who refuse.” People wondered if anyone would refuse to go to Paradise and he replied “Whoever obeys me (in following the teachings

revealed by God) will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys me refuses to go to Paradise.” The question is not reconciling justice with mercy but rather that we are being unfair to ourselves when we reject God and the right path.

As a human trait, mercy is basically sensitivity towards others. This sensitivity is not only for their pain and suffering but also sensitivity for a person’s own spiritual wellbeing. It is not just the physical suffering but also the psychological suffering of those who have been misguided from the path of God that we should have sensitivity towards. The Qur’an indicates that compassion in its broader sense is the very essence of the message of all prophets throughout history. The Qur’an describes Prophet Muhammad’s message in (21:107): “We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.”

This mercy partly operates by guiding people to the right path and taking them away from false man-made doctrines. It is also a mercy because it relieves the suffering of the oppressed and those who are neglected in society. It is a mercy because it stops human tyranny and exploitation of the rich and powerful.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) made a clear connection between belief in God and compassion. In a saying of the Prophet, narrated in Al Tabarani, he said “You won’t be true believers unless you have compassion.”

When people heard him say this, they said, “Oh Prophet, we are all merciful.” He replied, “I am not referring to the mercy that one of you would have towards his companion or close friend but I am referring to mercy or compassion to all.”

In another saying, narrated in Al Turmithi, the Prophet said that “The farthest people from God are the people who are cruel in their hearts.” Cruelty takes a person farther away from God. The Prophet even said that we should be merciful even with our enemies. An example of this is found in the collection of Muslim which narrates that some people came to the Prophet (PBUH) who were complaining about persecution of the unbelievers and were asking the Prophet to invoke God’s curse against the unbelievers.

The Prophet answered, “I was sent as mercy and not as a curser.”

The farthest people from God are the people who are cruel in their hearts.

Since people should show compassion to all, there is no contradiction in showing extra compassion to certain categories of people. There are eight categories that are emphasised in the Qur’an. The first category includes compassion towards parents. For example, Qur’an 17:23-2 says, “Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.” We notice in this verse that kindness to parents was mentioned after the decree to worship God alone, which shows its significance and importance.

The second category is compassion towards children. One time, the Prophet (PBUH) was sitting with some people and he kissed one of his grandchildren (Hassan or Hussein). One of the people sitting with him said, “Do you kiss your children?

I have 10 of them and I never kissed anyone of them.” The Prophet (PBUH) responded, “He who doesn’t show mercy shall not receive mercy.” And in another version of this saying, he told him, “What can I do if God has taken mercy out of your heart.” This shows that we should be kind and merciful towards children.

The third category is compassion towards one’s spouse. In Al Tirmithi, the Prophet (PBUH) was reported to have said, “The most perfect believers are those who are best in their character and the best of you are the best to their families.” He particularly referred to being kind to one’s wife.

This doesn’t mean that the wife is exempted

from showing kindness and compassion to her husband.

The fourth category would be compassion towards relatives. There is a saying of the Prophet (PBUH) as narrated in Al Tirmithi where he says that blood relation is a network of connections which are granted and a blessing from the most Compassionate.

Whoever tries to keep this network intact, God will keep his connection with him and whoever tries to break it, God will disassociate Himself from them. One has to perform his duty towards relatives even if they are not believers.

Another category would be compassion towards the orphans. Qur’an 93:9 says, “Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness.” On several occasions, the Prophet (PBUH) indicated that the best of actions is to put one’s hand kindly on the head of an orphan child. In the collection of Bukhari, the Prophet (PBUH) said “Whoever looks after an orphan will be like this (he was referring to two of his fingers held out side by side) with me in Paradise.

The sixth category would be compassion to those who are sick and suffering. There are several Hadiths that God regards a person’s visit to a sick person like visiting God himself. On one occasion, the Prophet (PBUH) showed that this mercy should be shown towards people who are serving or helping one. Once, the Prophet (PBUH) passed by a person who was beating his servant. He said, “No, Abu Masud. No, Abu Masud” till the man turned his face. “know that God is able to punish you more than your ability to punish that little boy (who was a slave at the time).” Abu Masud said, “I bear witness that he is free for the sake of God.” The Prophet responded, “If you had not freed this slave by way of atonement, the hellfire would have devoured you!” In another situation, the Prophet was asked “How many times should I forgive my servant?” He replied, “Seventy times a day.”

The Qur’an also indicates that kindness is required to those who are not close to a person. Qur’an 4:36 says, “Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loves not the arrogant, the vainglorious.”

In the collection of Hadith in Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that a woman was destined to go to hellfire because of a cat. The reason is that she imprisoned the cat without feeding it or allowing it to go out and search for food. So, the reason she was going to hellfire was her cruelty towards the cat. The Prophet (PBUH) indicated that kindness to animals or pets is one of the ways that one can gain forgiveness for his sins. In the collection by Muslim, he said that one time, a man was walking who was very thirsty. The man found a well and went down into the well to get a drink. After he quenched his thirst, he saw a dog chewing mud out of thirst. He told himself that the dog must be in the same pain he was in before he drank some water. So, he went down the well again, put water in his shoes and gave the dog a drink. The Prophet said that because of this, God forgave his sins.

Excerpted from an interview with Dr Jamal Badawi, an Egyptian-born Muslim Canadian and renowned author, preacher and speaker on Islam.

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islamicnews

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Don’t crash Nigeria with small issues —Oloyede

From left, President, University of Lagos Muslim Alumni (UMA), Alhaji Akeeb Oladokun; Mrs Funmi Banire; the honoree, Dr Muiz Banire (SAN); chairman on the occasion, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN); guest speaker, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, Secretary-General Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Alhaja Lateefah Okunnu, during a prayer/reception in honour of Dr Banire on his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, organised by the UMA, in Lagos.

Imams petition FG over WAEC, NECO, NABTEB timetables Adelowo Oladipo -Minna

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HE Niger State Forum of Juma’at Mosques Imams has appealed to examination bodies in the country to redress the manner Muslim candidates are being denied the opportunity of observing prayers during examinations.

The forum made the appeal in a letter of complaint captioned “Complaint against fixing of WAEC, NECO and NABTEB examinations at prayer times/ Sallah days,” addressed to the Minister of Education.

The letter, signed by the forum’s chairman, Sheikh Ibrahim Isah Fari and secretary, Dr Umar Farooq Abdullahi, copies of which

were made available to journalists in Minna, on Thursday, urged the minister to obtain copies of the timetables of the said examination bodies at different times and see how they were in conflict with Muslims’ prayer times.

The forum said it had received several complaints and expressions of grievances from the Ummah

NATAIS makes case for religious studies in schools THE Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS) has called for the inclusion of Islamic and Christian Religious Studies as compulsory subjects in the Senior Secondary education Curriculum.

The president of the association, Professor Murtada Aremu, made the call at the 40th anniversary and 33rd national conference of the association, held at the University of Ibadan.

He said urgent corrections should be made in the teaching and learning of religion studies at the senior secondary education curriculum structure.

“In order not to undermine religion in our national life, these two subjects should be listed along with English, General Mathematics, Civic Education, Trade/Entrepreneurship Studies,” he said.

According to him, Arabic Language should not be made to alternate with “The West African Examination Council (WAEC) admitted that the examination of candidates in Arabic and Islamic Studies is as old as the organisation itself.

It should, therefore, be made compulsory and important,” he said.

He expressed concern on the new curriculum by

the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), saying it relegates Islamic and Christian Religious Studies.

“Making the subject optional at the senior school level will continue to deprive young Nigerians of their rights to receive full and mandatory religious education from primary to secondary school,” he said.

He said that the association was planning to organise a three-day refresher programme once a year for teachers of Arabic and Islamic studies in primary and secondary schools.

“This is in view of the fact that the majority of the NATAIS members are not professionally trained, Professor Aremu said.

In a keynote address, a professor of Arabic at the University of Ilorin, Razak Abubakre, said that Nigeria’s successive governments see improving educational access and quality as essential to national economic and political development.

“Over the years, significant achievements were made in promoting literacy rate among the populace,” he said.

He, however, said that NATAIS’s 40th anniversary was an endeavour towards

unlocking the scholarly, social-religious and political past of the great men that had left their marks in the sands of time.

In a remark, the vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Idowu Olayinka, lauded the association for growing into a formidable body of scholars.

Olayinka, who said that religion was critical in the attainment of national unity, added that the association was very relevant.

He said that the University was set to collaborate with the Oyo state government in the training of senior secondary school students especially in the five compulsory subjects.

and, therefore, called for a change.

It noted that NECO’s 2015 November/December examinations commenced on Monday, 26 October and ended on Friday, 4 December, while NABTEB had also scheduled its examinations for the same prayer period as well as on Sallah day.

The forum described the situation as unfair to Muslims because examination, it said, are never written on Sundays or Christmas Day. The forum prayed in its letter that Fridays, especially the hours between 12 noon and 4.00 p.m., Eid-el Fitri, Eid-el Kabir and three days from Eid-el Kabir and Eid-el Maulud day be considered examination-free days.

The forum promised to continue to ensure that Imams and scholars preach harmonious coexistence in the society in their sermons and lectures.

The letter was copied to President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the National Assembly, Northern Governors’ Forum, Niger State governor, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), traditional rulers and other relevant quarters.

Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, has called on Nigerians not to crash the country with negative comments.

Oloyede gave the warning, in Lagos, in a lecture entitled “Opportunities, Talent, Hard work and Success,” at a prayer/reception organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni (UMA) in honour of Dr Muiz Banire on his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

“In order for our country Nigeria not to fail, we must address and avoid the accumulation of minor difficulties and trivial malfunctions.

“We are bashing this country a lot. Please, do not allow small issues to crash us.

Hatred, suppression, anger, error in team work or lack of communication kill a country more than economic meltdown,” he warned.

“We have fought civil war and are overcoming some of the challenges thrown at us as a result of Boko Haram.

We need to use the opportunity and our abilities to make this country great,” the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin said.

Oloyede advised politicians to be more reflective on terminologies and slogans employed to register political narratives.

“It is registered that deputy governors are ‘spare tyres’ needed only when the principals are incapacitated.

This is not likely to be the intention of the framers of the constitution. The effect of the political joke has been overwhelming.

“This is never a good idea because we are allowing our governors to become demons and the deputies are suspicious of the actions of the governors.

“This brings hatred to the table not only between a governor and the deputy, but among the aides and family members.

“From what we have seen in this country, when accident or change in government happens and the deputy becomes the subject,

then the aides and family members find it difficult to work together as a result of the hatred already established,” the NSCIA chief added.

He said in some cases, the deputy governors are afraid to correct their governors when they make mistakes.

He, therefore, urged the media to create awareness and propagate the appropriate imagery that deputies are co-pilot.

The Islamic leader said the relationship between the governors and their deputies need to change to that between a pilot and the co-pilot in an aircraft in order to make the country a better one.

Quoting many portions of the Qur’an, he said studies had shown that there was no correlation between intellect and achievements.

“Talents without opportunities would turn into wasted talents and opportunities without talents usually turn into squandered opportunities.

“This is why we find out that a lot of talents or opportunities are not converted into success. No matter what we dream or aim to become as a result of our talents, if there is no platform to exhibit those talents, then they are wasted.

“However, a combination of these elements with Allah’s blessings can turn into success. We are not only celebrating Muiz Banire but all those who contributed in converting his talent into success,” Oloyede said.

Speaking earlier, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described Banire as a dedicated and courageous young man who created time for scholarship, politics and legal practice.

In a remark, Dr Banire thanked UMA and promised to remain resolute on the path of truth and be a good ambassador of Islam.

Others in attendance were Professor Lateef Okunnu and wife, Alhaja Lateefah Okunnu, Malam Yusuf Ali (SAN), Senator Ganiyu Solomon, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), Alhaji Garba Akinola and Chief Imam of Lagos.

Olagoke harps on govt/parents collaboration to boost education The founder and spiritual head of Shafaudeen in Islam Worldwide, Professor Sabit Ariyo Olagoke, has said that only sincere collaboration of governments with parents will bring about the revival of the nation’s educational sector.

Professor Olagoke, who is the Dean, School of Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, said this in Ibadan at the 2015 prize-giving ceremony of the annual Olagoke Education Compe-

tition.

The scholar, while highlighting the banes of educational development, stated that poor funding on the part of the government remained the greatest obstacle facing the sector.

He, however, called on the government to meet the required 27 percent spending on education from the annual budget, as stipulated by the United Nations.

Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary,

Oyo State Ministry of Education Mrs. A. O. Makanjuola, represented by Mr Oyekanmi Kolawole, commended the initiator of the competition, Professor Olagoke, stating that the state government was taking measures to raise the standard of education in the state.

She called for the collaboration of all the stakeholders to uplift education at all levels.

“It requires the efforts of all and sundry to uplift

the standard of education and we should allow education to be paramount in the hearts of our youths,” Makanjuola said.

Professor Olagoke, who identified lack of good teachers as a factor responsible for high failure rate of students, however, urged the government to not only recruit qualified teachers but also subject them to regular training and re-training so as to boost the standard of education.

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news

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Appeal court upholds Saraki’s election Biola Azeez - Ilorin

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HE Court of Appeal in Ilorin, has upheld the election of the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as the winner of the March 28, 2015 Kwara Central senatorial district election.

The Presiding Judge, Justice J.S. Ikyegh, while reading the judgment, said there was no basis for the appeal as the appellant did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the election, Alhaji Abdulrahman AbdulRasaq, had challenged Saraki’s election at the Election petitions tribunal but lost out as the tribunal affirmed Saraki’s election.

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the tribunal, AbdulRasaq took his case to the appellate court.

The chairman of the election tribunal, Justice Josiah Majebi, had earlier dismissed the petition of the PDP’s candidate for lack of merit, competence and substance, adding that the case was filed out of time.

He also said that the petitioner failed to establish any basic fact that there were electoral malpractices in some wards of Ilorin South, Ilorin East and Asa local government councils of the senatorial district, adding that the demand for the cancellation of the results of the election in the affected local government councils was not tenable.

Reacting to the ruling, Saraki posted a message on his face book account, saying, “Delighted to hear Court of Appeal upheld my election as Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District. Thank you for all your support and prayers. Rest assured that I’m committed to making sure the eighth Senate is people oriented.”

Also, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has described the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, which upheld the election of the Senate President as a judicial affirmation of the love Kwara people, over the years, have for the Senate President.

Governor Ahmed, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, said the Appeal Court judgement was a testimony that the judiciary remained the fair and just arbiter as well as the hope of all citizens.

The governor noted that the judiciary has, through such fair and just judgements since the present democratic experience started in 1999, sustained democratic values in the country.

“It is noteworthy that Senator Saraki, while the election case lasted, never got distracted in his onerous duty as the senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District and the President of

the eighth Senate,” he said.

Governor Ahmed added that the people of Senator Saraki’s Senatorial District and the people of Kwara State never had apprehension as a result of the litigation because

they were convinced that Senator Saraki was popularly elected in the last national assembly elections.

“Now that the litigation has been laid to rest, I urge Kwarans to once again re-

main united and committed to the common good of all, rather than egocentrism and politics of hatred which are antithetical to collective progress and development,” Governor Ahmed advised.

BPE DG seeks regulatory body for schools Gbola Subair - Abuja

DIRECTOR General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Benjamin Ezra Dikki, has called for the urgent reform of education in Nigeria to ensure enforcement of standards at the primary and secondary levels.

Dikki noted that though there are regulatory institutions for tertiary education like the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), among others, to ensure the enforcement of standards, this was lacking at the primary and secondary levels.

Receiving a team from the World Bank, led by Guillemette Jaffrin, that paid a courtesy call on him on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, the DG said the lack of regulation at these levels has resulted in falling standards at the foundation level of education in the country.

He attributed the incidence of crime and other anti-social behaviours plaguing the country to the falling standards of education at the primary secondary levels.”It is disheartening that students finish second-

ary schools and cannot read or write properly,” he stated.

Dikki said the Bureau is hamstrung to undertake reforms initiatives at the primary and secondary level because of constitutional provisions. ”What at present obtains is that the Federal Government controls only the tertiary institutions in the country while the states and local government areas control secondary and primary education. And until we bring the primary and secondary levels under a regulatory regime that enforces uniform standards across the nation, the decline in standards will continue. Schools that do not meet the standards and waste the formative years of our youth should be closed,” he stated.

He also informed the World Bank team that the Bureau also plans to reform the health sector in the country to check quackery and the high medical pilgrimage abroad by Nigerians.

The DG said already the Federal Ministry of Health and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have commenced a joint preliminary review of the sector legislations to reform the

Information minister seeks religious leaders’ assistance on N/East de-radicalisation THE Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, appealed to religious leaders to assist in de-radicalising the North-east and ensuring that peace returned there.

He made the appeal while declaring open a Peace Conversation with religious leaders, organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in Abuja and said that since all religions preach peace and good neighbourliness, religious leaders must intervene in the effort to enthrone peace in the country.

The minister noted that the recent tour of the areas that have been liberated by the military in Borno State convinced him, more than ever, that the perpetrators are not adherents of any religion.

Mohammed informed those who have been agitating in some parts of the country that their interests have not been well catered

for in the federation over the years, to understand that while they have the right to ventilate their discontent, there is need to do so, using only the appropriate and established channels, while allowing the government time to address the issues they have raised without constituting themselves as a threat to the nation’s peace.

He said, “You, our revered religious leaders, have a great role to play in this respect. Top on the list of these roles is the need to de-radicalise those who have been exposed to extremist and violent view of religion, especially in the North-east. ‘’It is important for you, our religious leaders, to highlight the pristine and unadulterated version of the two dominant religious faiths, Christianity and Islam, to remind all the adherents of both faiths that nowhere did any of them preach hatred and violence.

sector.

Dikki further informed his audience that government was also working on reforming the Sports, Hospitality &Tourism, River Basins, Housing and Road sectors.

He added that five Bills in the Transport Sector were presented to the seventh National Assembly for enactment but unfortunately the five Bills with three others were not passed before the expiration of the seventh National Assembly. He expressed the hope that the eighth National Assembly would expeditiously pass the Bills when re-presented by the executive arm.

According to him, once the Bills are passed, other new regulatory agencies would be set up or existing ones restructured. The passage of the Bills will facilitate private sector investment in infrastructure like railways, roads and inland waters ways. “This will relieve the Federal Government from

investing in these sectors and free resources for the change Nigerians yearn for,” he added.

On the Sports Sector, the DG said that given the huge population of 160 million Nigerian sports enthusiasts, a lot of potentials abound in the sector which if well harnessed, would be a veritable income earner for the country as is the case in Britain and other countries.

Dikki regretted the nonpassage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which has locked out investments in the sector that would grow the economy and create jobs.

The DG thanked the World Bank for the sustained support and funding of the Federal Government reform initiatives.

Leader of the World Bank team, Guillemette Jaffrin said the Bank was concluding the review of its activities in Nigeria within the week and decided to visit the Bureau to have its inputs.

UBEC begins implementation of 5-yr road map for basic education in 2016 THE Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) says it will begin implementing a new road map in 2016 with a view to improve basic education in the country.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Suleiman Dikko, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja, on Thursday.

He said that the development of the five-year map was part of UBEC’s efforts at discharging its mandate.

“The roadmap for basic education, which we call the five-year road map is aimed at achieving a positive result in basic education, that is, improving access, quality, quantity, transition; that is the road map will help us mobilise the children into the school.

“And it is developed in such a way that we can check the teachers input and the quality of learning in the schools.

“The most important thing that is put in the road map is evaluation - strict supervision and evaluation - and that’s what is lacking in our basic education today.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

PHOTOS: SYLVESTER OKORUWA

Association of Consulting Engineering of Nigeria (ACEN) honoured Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan, a Veteran Engineer with Eminent Icon Award, at Julius Berger Hall, University of Lagos and NSPRI Guest House , Onike, in Lagos.

Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan ( middle) and his two younger brothers, Sir Gbolahan Folayan (right) and Mr Bisi Folayan.

Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan (middle) with his Relations.

Engineer Folayan (middle) with Dr Sola, cousin to the awardee and his wife, Pharmacist Mrs. Abiola Adedayo.

Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan (middle) , founder and Chief Executive Officer, Progress Engineers, with his Staff.

From left, Engineer Bunmi Folayan (son), Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan and Mr Bisi Folayan.

From left, Mr Bunmi Ajayi, Mr Tunde Oyeleye, Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan, Mr Femi Adesuyi and Engineer Akuba Gbolahan.

Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan receiving Association of Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) Eminent Icon Award from former Federal Secretary for Health, Prince Adeluyi Adelusi.

Staff of Hallifield Schools with the awardee and Director, Hallifield Schools, Engineer Joseph Ibikunle Folayan (middle) .

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

W

HAT I present to Nigerians today is not a book review. It is never about the life and times of a Nigerian who has been a very close friend of mine for over forty years. It is about a man, whose writings have shown him to be a Nigerian who is keen to make a mark in the history of his dear country Nigeria. Though the books are religious in nature and content, they will tremendously change the lives of those who will come into contact with them (the books) and who will never want their social, political and economic lives to be based on mundane considerations of life.

Fellow countrymen and women, I write today about a friend, Bode Sowunmi who has put his hands on paper to produce in recent times, two volumes of a book that will be reference points for many Nigerians for a long time to come.

The title of the two Volumes written by Bode Sowunmi is “MY PONTIFICATION ON THE MAIN PURPOSE OF MAN’S EARTHLY LIFE”. Written in two volumes, the Bode Sowunmi books are heavily philosophical. You will need very sensitive and inquisitive minds to understand these books that are written in abstract terms by a Nigerian who is never a politician like me and who believes that in religious perspective of life, is definitely justice.

I met Bode Sowunmi forty-five years ago. While Bode went to the University of Ibadan, I was an undergraduate at the University of Lagos. Our paths crossed in 1970 when we both became constant visitors to the 11 Ameen Street residence of our friends, Dr. (Alhaji) Martins Odutola Kuye and the late Kayode Aluko Olokun aka “OLOYINBO COMMERCIAL”.

As young Nigerians at that time, our lives were indeed adventurous. In one of our adventurous pursuits, Bode Sowunmi, Martins Kuye, Kayode Aluko Olokun, and myself decided to drive to Cotonou (the capital of Republic of Benin) to satisfy our adventurous spirits of visiting a French territory.

We had reached Otta Town (on the way to Abeokuta) when our car developed mechanical problem. The four of us decided to use the opportunity of the engine problem to engage a local musician at Otta to help us absorb the shock of the development.

The musician started beating his drums eulogizing us as “Awon Martinee Agom, Gom, awon Abudi Boden. Awon Ebino Tompsen ati Oloyinbo Commercial”. We were very well entertained by this native musical genius of Otta that we easily forgot the predicament we were in.

Eventually, the journey to Cotonou was cancelled as our revolting car never permitted a repair. We went back to our Ameen Street residence in Abule-Oja Lagos and from there, we all dispersed to the journey of life. Today, we are now old Nigerian citizens with some of us having to give up further adventures in life. I remember that Remi Bolarinwa equally an old University of Ibadan graduate later joined us at Ameen Street and he kept his Ekiti upbringing until he reached the top of his civil service career.

I never knew that our friend Bode Sowunmi had become a powerful writer and a religious fellow until he sent me an invitation card about two months ago. He had invited me to the Jogor Centre near Liberty Stadium Ibadan for the launch of his two books “MY PONTIFICATION VOLUME 1&2”. My health did not permit me to attend the book launch but Bode Sowunmi was kind enough to send the two volumes of his book to me immediately after the ceremony.

I now humbly present what Dr. Bode Sowunmi has written on the Dedication and Prologue presentations of his two volumes. The two sections present wholly the thoughts and ideas of the Christian revolutionary life of this powerful Nigerian whose book (as I have remarked earlier) will influence the lives of many.

I wish you a happy reading:•My late Father, Chief Charles Othniel Olabode Sowunmi.

A one-time President of Native Courts in Ota, Iju, Akute and Lambe in the then Egba National Government. He was the Adeponrewa II and the Baloye of Igbore Land in Abeokuta.

His grand wishes for me (as often gleefully repeated to me by my mother in our not-too-infrequent mind rubbings) were abruptly terminated on a Hospital Operation Table in Ogbomosho (even before a knife was placed on him; and more painfully before I was born).

•My late Mother: Maami Victoria EbunOluwa Ayinke. A unique, highly focused and wonderfully principled personality, towards whom I have been adjudged of propagating highly emotionally-toned ideas. This kind of Freud’s Oedipus complex is believed to arise from affections for mother and is usually accompanied by an ambivalent attitude towards father.

This is not strictly true in this situation and I am therefore unable to agree with this criticism, not simply because she was my mother, but rather because she was the principal soul that sincerely loved and motivated my life. She single-handedly brought up her three children (Bode, Bimbola and Tayo).

She was very loving but, at the same time, a high disciplinarian. She hardly allowed any lapse to go uncorrected and, I am sure my two sisters will agree with me that, whenever anyone was out of order (and outsiders were around) her silence was deafening and her benign stares, accompanied by a dry laugh ending in eeesh, did all the correction. Otherwise, woe betide that erring child afterwards! How I wish she were a man! It is from my mother that I imbibed the principle of sacrificial giv-

With

Ebenezer Babatope

0805-500-1735 (SMS ONLY PLEASE)

DrBodeSowunmispeakstotheworld

•Dr Bode Sowunmi

ing in pursuing the education of my children. It is, however, to my eternal regret that I was not able to do enough for her before she died.

•My late uncle, Pa Emmanuel Francis Akinsola Ibare-Jones, my father’s elder first cousin. He was a peculiarly largehearted and spiritually well-endowed lover of humanity. He played quality roles at all the critical junctions of my life: - I was born under his roof.

- I got the opportunity of coming out of a seeming village setting to receive quality urban primary school education.

- I received a post-secondary school interregnum that powered me into university education.

In all these, he was wonderfully selfless. May Jehovah bless his children and children’s children. Amen.

•To my wife, Theresa Olabisi Atinuke who has had to willingly and willy-nilly go with me through the innumerable ordeals and challenges of life and who has had to forgo personal pursuits to ensure that we did not raise latchkey children.

May she live long to enjoy the goodness of this life. Amen.

•To my Children, Olabode (III), Adunola, Oladipo, Olufemi, Olubukola and Olufisayo, their spouses and my grandchildren: Oluwatooke, Emmanuella, TiJesunimi, Ololade; Oyinkansola; Shalom; Emmanuel; Olusegun; Olufemi; Modadeola; David; Olabode (IV); Victoria; Temitayo; Feyisayo; EbunOluwa; and IfeOluwakiitan; Ethan. It is the initial continuous pressure, direct or subtle, from some of them that triggered off an attempt at writing this book; although the contributions of several more other people can never be adequately valued. The principled confidence of my children in me has always been the needed fillip to my frequently sagging courage in life. It is to God, through them, that I give glory that my unwavering avoidance of cross-grain parenting has been value. They had enjoyed and made optimum use of the guided freedom given them when taking important decisions in their lives. They have always made me proud. They have blotted out the jeers of people who confuse God’s grace with human prowess. They have enabled me to sit alone, uncomplaining and also to keep silent (in hope) having realised that whatever I had considered a yoke which God had laid upon me was all for my benefit and to the glory of His Holy Name. Their lives have made me know that God is good to those who wait for Him and expect Him to be good to them.

• To all who have stepped into this life on unsure, unsteady and miry ground.

• And finally, all glory, adoration and thanksgiving go to the Sovereign, Immortal, Invisible, Invincible God who, (in the words of King Nebuchadnezzar) regards “All the peoples of the earth… as nothing….and does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth… (Whom) no one can hold back His Hand or say to Him What have You done? ..(Dan. 4:35). This is the fearsome God Who, in spite of the unfathomably numerous things He does every

second, has chosen unworthy and insignificant me to demonstrate His loving kindness, redemptive benevolence and abiding concern for the sinful man. It is this same awesome God, Who has been pleased to lift “…me out of slimy pit, out of life’s mud and mire,…. Set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand…. (Who also has)… put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise… (so that) many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord” (Ps. 40:23). Father, unto You I pour out these confessions in due acknowledgement of Your great and wonderful Excellency and perfections. Accept them, Jehovah, with a return of your peace to me and mine, because I bring them to you with thanksgiving, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. (The above dedication comments show my friend Bode as an affectionate and passionate family man.)

•The Supreme Court of the United States of America took a decision on Friday, 25th June, 2015 guided by the Constitution of their country having debated the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. A hot national debate ensued and after being pestered to give his view on the issue, the 58-year old fiery American Pastor, Bishop T. D. Jakes during a service on Sunday, June 28, 2015 said, inter alia, that rather than pick issues with the decision of the Supreme Court, Christians should vigorously pursue winning souls and also stop isolating themselves from people who do not share their Christian beliefs. He reminded his audience that this practice runs contrary to Christ’s commandment that they reach out and preach the gospel to all humans in His Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20). The Bishop reminded his congregation that Jehovah continues to be in charge of all happenings in the world and warned that though the Supreme Court has taken a decision after debating the constitutionality of samesex marriage, God, the Supreme and Ultimate Judge of all things, is not going to judge man by any Constitution but by His Word. The sermon was quite striking as it took effects on many Christians in the country.

•At about the same time, an interesting incident occurred at the opening Session of the Senate of USA in Kansas. When one of the Senators, a Church Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the Session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual formal prayers but what they heard thus: “Heavenly father, we come to you today to ask for forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know your word say, “woe to those who call evil good”, but this is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative life-style. We have exploited the poor and called it lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn babies and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have embezzled public funds and called it essential expenses. We have institutionalized bribery and called it sweats of office. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profaned and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!”

•You can imagine what the response was like. Quite a number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest and called it the Minister’s pontifications on debatable religious issues. What is your own take on this episode?

Nigerians will certainly learn lessons from the above!

Thanks Dr. Bode Sowunmi!!

NEXT WEEK: On Sunday 6, December (barely a week ago), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a one time Governor of Kaduna State gave a published interview with the Sunday Sun newspaper. In the interview, Balarabe Musa murdered history by claiming that I (Ebenezer Babatope) did not support the Presidential bid of Papa Obafemi Awolowo for the 1983 elections.

Next Week, I will be replying Alhaji Balarabe Musa in what I have titled “BALARABE MUSA AND HIS HALLUCINATIONS. (BOOK YOUR COPY IN ADVANCE)

18 LETTERS TO THE

Friday, 11 December, 2015

editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to letterstribune@yahoo.com or by sms to 08055001747 or 08054005323.

It MUST be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.

Abandoned projects, bane of Nigeria’s development

T

HE alarming proliferation in the number of abandoned projects in Nigeria today has become a great source of concern to many well-meaning citizens who always see the need for such projects to be completed by the various tiers of government that initiated them. Abandoned projects have remained a conduit pipe through which Nigerian resources are being haemorrhaged without benefiting the people.

It is quite unfortunate and indeed absurd to see myriad of life transforming projects abandoned here and there, essentially due to pervasive lack of continuation in policies and corruption. The hapless practice in Nigeria is that once new people are in office, laudable policies and projects of the former administration are jettisoned. This persistent unwillingness on the part of the incoming administration to ensure project continuity is the main cause of corruption, impunity and nepotism. New policy makers or leaders often re-award

FG, rehabilitate Ijebu-Ode/ Ibadan Road The Ijebu-Ode/Ibadan Road needs rehabilitation and expansion. No one can really give the exact year the road was constructed, but it is definitely due for rehabilitation.

When the road was built, vehicles were not many, and it is so narrow, but today, there is need for the road to be expanded, or turned into an expressway.

With the narrow road, accidents are a common sight, but if it is fixed, this will be a thing of the past.

I, therefore, hope that the Federal Government can fix the road.

•Omobolanle Buruji, Dept of Mass Comm, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

such contracts to cronies and family members at inflated prices, and the worst part of it is that most of the contractors handling these projects collect mobilisation fee and abandon the projects. Too bad! It is quite sad that our leaders are so conscious of material and personal aggrandisement to the detriment of the teeming masses. If the focus of the government is on genuine development and service to the people, why should government officials insist on approval for new projects when the uncompleted ones don’t enjoy adequate funding and sound project management?

Worthy projects that would have greatly benefited the people have been dumped. For instance, the abandonment of the Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASCO) by the federal government after spending about seven billion

dollars on the project. It is regrettable that past regimes have denigrated the numerous huge benefits drivable from having a sound and robust steel sector. By extension, Ajaokuta Steel Project, if completed has the capacity to engage over two million people directly or indirectly. What a great disservice to Nigeria!

Another example, is the second Niger Bridge, this bridge, if completed, will tremendously improve the commercial activities in the South East and South West. Thus, such abandoned projects essentially lead to huge financial loss, property value decline and development control problems.

The Buhari administration should endeavour to comply strictly with the provisions of the public procurement Act. The government of the day must curb the temptations or pressures to embark

on new projects when so many remain unfinished.

Sensitive and applaudable projects must be completed regardless of whichever administration or regime conceived the projects.

This is an urgent and sa-

lient call to the present administration to break this jinx of abandoning projects, and understand that building on the success of the previous administration is one of the attributes of genuine service to the

people. Hence, abandoning these unique projects will amount to playing needless politics with the development of Nigeria.

•Senator Suleiman Nazif, Abuja.

Caring for vulnerable children Allow me be the voice of the “Homeless but not hopeless” children as they were called by Sola Owonibi in his poem, who you had probably come across on the street as they begged you for cash, or displayed their wares, many will clean up your car’s windscreen in return for compensation, others will just stare at you through their hope filled eyes expecting your benevolent assistance.

You neglect them taking them as peasants forgetting that they are the future generations and

they needed care because they are “cash-poor but time-rich” and how they spend their time depends on all of us.

It is advised that we should always note that nothing makes us special compared to these “poor by luck citizens” as we are all even, which is why I had always been a great fan of the communist belief of “from man according to his ability, to man according to his needs” as it helped the society to maintain equity and reduce the tendencies of having bourgeoisies

and proletariats as we do now.

It should also be noted that these children who the society had pushed to the wall possess many amazing talents and it shouldn’t be surprising when I say some of them are smarter, gifted and far more intelligent than we are because what is inside of them is far more valuable than what we see and they shouldn’t be seen as hopeless because even a dead clock is right twice a day. More so, all of us need to ask ourselves when last we did charity in favour of these kids as we preferred wasting our wealth on questionable adventures and instead of assisting them we prefer to take advantage of their conditions and engage them in many forms of abuses such as trafficking, rape, slavery and even kidnapping which should all be curbed.

Apart from blaming the society the parents of these kids should also share their part of the blame as they brought these kids to the world to face hardships, as many of them are victims of illiteracy, ignorance and juvenile pregnancies.

Therefore these kids need to be engaged and cared for so that they wouldn’t repeat their parents’ mistakes and their amazing gifts need to be channelled in favour of the society rather than them using these talents negatively which will increase crime rate and jeopardise the security of our society and according to the adage an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.

•Ojejimi Oluwadamilola, Department of Mass Comm, The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

19

editorial

O

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

The Magistrate Ajanaku example

N the evening of 16 June, 2015, Mrs Yetunde Ajanaku, a Chief Magistrate in the Ondo State judiciary, was driving along Odi-Olowo Street in Akure, the state capital when, all of a sudden, she heard a loud sound. Thinking at first that she had inadvertently run into a pothole, she went on driving. But as she continued to hear the sound, she decided to pull up, only to discover that the sound was from the persistent assault on her automobile delivered by 24-year-old Benjamin Akinyemi.

Alighting from her vehicle, the magistrate boldly confronted Akinyemi, notorious in the vicinity for his hooliganism. But Akinyemi would not back down. He would not apologise either. Instead, in the words of Mrs Ajanaku, “When I cautioned him, he threatened to beat me while the residents told me to ignore him, but he kept on hitting my car with the object.”

For his criminal obduracy, Akinyemi would soon find himself face to face with the law, charged with unlawful assault on the Chief Magistrate. He had been apprehended by law enforcement officers to whom Mrs Ajanaku had promptly reported the incident. It was one of those open and shut cases, and Akinyemi was facing a rigorous spell in prison as a guest of the state for an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 351 of the Criminal Code.

It was at this point that something totally unexpected happened. The presiding judge had ordered that Akinyemi be remanded in Olokuta Prison pending the final determination of the case. But just before the judge pulled the trigger, it was Justice Ajanaku who did. What she did and the rationale for it are best heard directly from the horse’s mouth: “I travelled the following day (after the arrest),” she said. “…it was reported in the media that I was beaten. When the boy was arraigned in court, the presiding Judge ordered him to be remanded in the prison. I came back to withdraw the case against him and decided to rehabilitate him because I believed God had destined that I would meet him through this way.”

She continued: “If I send him to jail as my colleagues suggested, he will spend one year in prison and will be useless to himself and to society. I decided to take him to my church. Since then, he has been regular in the church and well behaved. I want him to be useful to himself, his family, and to society. Since

the rehabilitation began, he has been behaving well.

He has turned over a new leaf. It is also a way of decongesting the prison and courts.”

Mrs Ajanaku had no incentive to intervene on behalf of Mr. Akinyemi — and, just so we are clear, she needn’t have. What the accused did was beyond the pale, and a proper penalty would not have been out of turn. Justice Ajanaku knew all of this. But as a Chief Magistrate, she also knows something about the regime in Nigerian prisons, and their capacity to turn ordinarily decent individuals into hardened criminals. Instead, in a unique act of kindness that balances an understanding of the law with the reality of the prison system, not to mention the travails of everyday life for young people across the country, she chose to temper justice with mercy.

We applaud Mrs Ajanaku and commend her example to the Nigerian judiciary as a whole. It is impossible to count the number of cases in which justice has been drained of all mercy, and in which the law has been virtually indistinguishable from raw vengeance.

There are literally thousands of cases in which individuals, often minors who were first offenders at the time of the alleged crime, have received unduly long sentences. Yet, puzzlingly, highly placed people who have committed more serious offences have got away with the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist.

But for the Chief Magistrate’s quick intervention and decision to withdraw the case, Akinyemi’s could have ended up as one of those cases in which punishment outweighs offence.

The moral from Justice Ajanaku’s example is not that emotions should hold sway over the law. On the contrary, it is that in its deepest meaning, law is more than the sum total of rules and precepts scribbled in a book.

As Donald, the unfortunate victim of rough justice in that Western classic, The Ox-Bow Incident, memorably said, law is “the very conscience of humanity,” and “there can’t be any such thing as civilisation unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience?”

Mrs Ajanaku’s conscience, enriched by her similarly profound understanding of the law, is why we find her example so worthy and exemplary.

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opinion OAU and the suspension of student unionism 20

Friday, 11 December, 2015

By Olalekan Adigun

I

students movement have found itself, we need to do a bit of historicity. Many people tend to forget that the first Nigerian students’ organisation, formed in 1956, was the National Union of Nigeria Students (NUNS). The Union operated when the Nigerian students were accorded enough respect by the authorities. This explains why, in 1962-in conjunction with opposition groups- students could lay ambush on the federal parliamentarians in Lagos to force an abrogation of the unpopular Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact without negative consequences on the part of the students.

Trouble started-in April 1978- when the military administration unanimously announced through the then Federal Commissioner for Education, Col Ahmadu Ali (rtd) increment of over 50 kobo on students’ daily meals. The response of NUNS, then led by Comrade Segun Okeowo, was unequivocal- “Ali Must Go”. After this, things will never be the same again for Nigerian students. The military administration’s response was to treat the students as “enemies” that must be crushed. The NUNS was banned; students’ leaders were arrested and illegally detained; others like Akintunde Ojo of the University of Lagos, were not so lucky as the bullets were too strong for their feeble flesh. The fact that it was an ex-NUNS Secretary General, Col. Ali that

T usually surprises many people that, on their arrival at the Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, one of the first structures out of all the beautiful buildings on the campus, one comes across is the Great Ife Students’ Union Building, also known as Ken Saro-Wiwa Building. The location of this monument itself is deliberate to remind the freshman that, unlike other institutions, he or she has a vibrant and progressive students’ body that will defend him or her not only within, but also without the campus. This building also means different things to many people. While to some, it is a place that has produced heroes and legends; to others, it is the bedrock of students’ militancy. To others still, it is a house for rascals, outlaws or ‘rogue’ students. Whatever it may mean to anyone is a matter of interpretation or political orientations. For those, like me, who have served the union in any capacity at one time or the other it is a centre for political consciousness, analyses and education which some of us always love to cherish.

The excitement that this edifice represents can only be left to imaginations of those who haven’t experienced it. In front of that building once stood a newspaper stand, called Abe Igi where different people come to read the papers (usually for free) and in turn analyse, discuss and argue about topical issues making the news for long hours such that one begins to wonder if these people ever attend lectures. I can guarantee you will learn more politics at this point than studying for a degree in Political Science in the university. This building is presently under the iron curtail of the university management!

Only recently did the the university Registrar, Mr. D.A Awoyemi, sign a release dated 3rd December, 2015 which reads in part: “This is to inform the generality of the students of the university and the university community that the activities of the Students’ Union are hereby SUSPENDED by the University Authority until further notice.” (Italics mine).

Need we remind the university management or whoever signed this unfortunate release that the students, whose union it suspended, are but adults? Are we to educate those who should know better, but deliberately chose to be ignorant, that these students have the constitutional right to freedom of association? What are union members from the prestigious Faculty of Law doing about the suspension?

In order to fully understand the present predicament the

practically authorised the clamp down of the lads, makes it not only a betrayal but also disastrous!

With the return of democracy in 1979, the agitation for the “unbanning” of NUNS increased. The request of Nigerian students for their beloved Union was granted by the Shehu Shagari government. But this time, it will not come back as NUNS, but now as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as it is now known. This is how it became a right for the State and by extension, their campus agents-the Management- to “ban”, “proscribe”, “suspend” and in some cases, “abolish” the unions at the slightest provocations. It appears to me that some people- even over 15 years since we return to civil rule- are yet to be “civil”.

Let us come back to Ife. Though, I graduated from the University about 4 years ago, it is baffling that the same issues we fought tooth and nail that led to the management proscribing the Union, are still the same issues under contention. “The issues are clear” as a former Speaker of the University’s Students’ Representatives Council (SRC), Comrade Sunday Adodo Destiny, will always say. The issues are still clear- Welfare!

Welfare!! Welfare!!! This has been the noble cry of the Ife University Students’ Union since 1976. The Union holds it as sacred, to fight for the welfare of all, including Management staff, within or without the campus. The greatness of Ife, for those who know, is not due to its architectural edifice, but the strength of its Students Union. Few people are amazed that despite its size in terms of landmass, the campus is a hot bed for outlaws, cultists, drug addicts and other neo-Fascist elements. This has nothing to do with the “security” or the cowards- known as “crackers” a group that sprang up as a result of the Ife/Modakeke crises- employed by the management as part of the University’s commitment to maintain people in its environment. Apart from molesting harmless students and running after cheap ladies, what else do these elements do?

There are surprisingly those-many of them students- who believe that the Union has no value hence should be abolished altogether. To these ultraconservative elements, I have just one reply: If the union has produced legends too numerous to mention for time and space, then I conclude that the union is a formidable platform to train future leaders. Destroying this important platform is to weaken an important agent of political socialisation.

•Adigun, a former student politician, sent in this article via adgorwell@gmail.com

Towards diversifying the Nigerian economy The need for diversification of the nation’s economy has never been more imperative than now, especially with the dwindling oil prices in the international market. Unless urgent steps are taken to diversify the nation’s economy, there is a great economic danger ahead of us.

Just about few months ago, many state governors were unable to pay workers’ salaries and meet other recurrent expenditure due to a sharp fall in oil revenue. A situation where states had to borrow to pay salaries is the worst case scenario of how bad an economy can be.

As a way of preventing the re-occurrence of the embarrassing situation above, I propose the following ways through which the country’s economy can be diversified.

Among these various ways is agriculture. Agriculture is one of the ways or means by which the government of any country that is serious about feeding its populace and raking in foreign exchange can use to improve the living standard of its people, as well as generate revenue for infrastructural development. Nigeria can improve her economy by showing interest in agriculture through formulation and implementation of good agricultural policies, thereby turning around the economy.

Agriculture, if given the needed attention, is capable of creating about 70 per cent of jobs for the unemployed youth. Unemployment today is one of the greatest challenges of this country, and the Muhammadu Buhari led administration can tap into it to reduce the high youth unemployment rate. Therefore, agriculture, being a sector that requires a large labour force, can help create employment for the large unemployed able-bodied men and women in the country.

Government partnership with private investors in agriculture, which stands at about N1.23 billion now, can grow in four-fold to N4.9 billion between this year and 2019 if this administra-

tion’s agricultural policies do not threaten the investments already in the sector. With this, many foreign and local investors will invest more in this sector of the economy if the policies are right.

The entertainment sector is also a very viable sector for the diversification of our mono-economy. The Nollywood, for instance, employs a large chunk of unemployed Nigerians and also generates significant revenue for government. The music industry as a component of the entertainment industry is also not left out of this, as the industry players have been portraying the nation’s image in positive light both within and outside the country. Therefore, to fully utilise the potentials of this sector, there is need for government support through creation of the necessary enabling environment for the industry and stakeholders in the industry to thrive. The government must make

and enforce laws to eradicate, or reduce high level of piracy in this sector. This will help maximise the benefits in this sector to the country vis-à-vis our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A manufacturing country stands the chance of benefitting from devaluation of currency as it reduces the prices of the exporting country, but a situation where you don’t export your goods to other countries, it can be very dangerous to the economy. The manufacturing sector is another very important sector that can rake in a lot of revenue for the government and provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youth. Instead of depending on oil, whose price is not determined by the country but the international market, it is better we look inward into the manufacturing sector to fully maximise the benefits of that sector of our economy. There are, however, several challenges confronting this important sector, ranging from multiple charges by government agencies, to sourcing for foreign exchange from the parallel market. This has, as a result, made raw materials more expensive and in turn, resulted in the increase in production cost.

Basically, the manufacturing sector is heavily dependent on energy. Power supply has been erratic and insufficient gas is bought with foreign exchange; this makes the prices of locallymade goods exhorbitant.

Granting tax holiday and waiver to infant industries and provision of good road network, electricity, healthcare facilities, among others, will help boost this sector and grow the nation’s economy.

The less we depend on oil, the better for us as a nation; a situation where about 90 per cent of the country’s revenue comes from the oil sector portends great economic danger for the economy and, therefore, the situation must not continue, hence diversification options offer a way out.

•Ileonikhena lives in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.

,

By Umoru Abdulkadir Ileonikhena

21

fridaytreat

How love for photography changed my life — Jeri Muchura, top female glamour expert

Olamide set to headline MTV Base white Xmas party at Ikeja City Mall Goldberg visits Ooni of Ife, receives royal blessings

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Rotimi Ige rotimiige@yahoo.com 0811 695 4636

fridaytreat

22

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

MUSIC BUSINESS 101

Aligning personality and artiste brand character for music business success

By Toyin Adeniji

T

HERE is a newfound craze with the concept of brand, branding and the misconceptions associated with its meaning among Nigerian artistes/ musicians. A brand is more than just the cliché or the ‘hype’ word that it has been reduced to within entertainment circles. A brand is not a logo; a brand is more than having good looks and wearing expensive clothing.

Just the same way a brand can grow and appreciate in value; it can also quickly diminish in value. In fact, while it takes a longer time for a brand to grow in value; it can lose its value within a very short time. I discussed in the previous edition of this column, that a brand at the basic level is simply the way the public or consumers perceive a product, service or personality. Branding is about perception building. A brand can be an animate or inanimate object; it can be a product or a person. Where a person is the brand, as it is in the case with artistes/musicians in the music and entertainment industries, a lot of care must be taken to ensure that the personality behind the brand lives in consonance and harmony with the essence of what the brand represents.

The character of the personality behind a brand must be consistent with the perceived character of the brand itself or what the people perceive the brand to be. So, in order to build a responsible artiste brand, the artiste must imbibe the values of a responsible lifestyle that is acceptable especially within the social environment. Illegal actions, negative statements and corruption can quickly damage and diminish the brand value of the personality if caught acting irresponsibly for instance. Being a brand comes with both opportunities and threats. It comes with a huge responsibility for the branded personality as every move and action is lived out under the close scrutiny of the public.

The personality behind a brand is as important as the brand itself. The credibility ascribed to an artiste’s brand derives from the character and credibility of the personality behind the brand. The behaviour of the brand’s per-

sonality influences the public’s perception of the brand. So, in the process of deciding what kind of brand personality an artiste wants to have, it is important to build a brand essence that is in sync with the desired image. The essence of a brand is the brand’s reason for being. In the quest to build a successful artiste brand, it is important to realise that the character that forms the personality of an artiste cannot be separated or divested from the public’s ultimate perception of the brand. Why do you exist as an artiste/musician?

What is your ultimate purpose and goal of performing music? Are you only interested in making and selling music to make millions and be rich at the expense of your fans and consumers? Are you in tune with the social developments and needs within the environment in which your fans and consumers live?

I have observed certain artistes and entertainment personalities trying unsuccessfully to place themselves in leadership positions within the political sphere. Some are struggling to become opinion/thought leaders but find it hard to convince the public to buy into their ambition. The public can see through these personalities that the qualities of their character is at variance with their brand essence, hence they see or perceive them as untrustworthy of their votes and support. A brand must live in consonance with the character of the personality behind it and vice versa. Recently, the National Film &Video Censors Board (NFVCB) released a list of NTBB (Not To Be Broadcast) categorised music and musical videos. The materials were considered variously as explicit, promoting vices such as drug peddling, trading in abusive substances, and promoting prostitution with their contents etc. Artistes as role models in the society influence the public with their music, lyrics and video content and must therefore understand that they are accountable for their actions and the choices they make. All artistes/musicians have a choice to be socially sensitive and responsible or not, through the actions they take via their musical contents. Artistes have a choice to be a force for positive development and nation building with their music by being socially aware and responsible.

In an era when consumers demand for more social responsibility from brands, artistes/musicians must show signs of being socially responsible in their conducts and with their music because of the role music play in moulding and influencing the perspectives of the society. The trend of displaying wealth mindlessly on social media without any cogent purpose attached by some artistes/musicians does little to build social respect and credibility for their brand as artistes. At a time when Nigeria and the world at large is going through all sorts of humanitarian crisis, society expects and demand that artistes with their celebrity status should become voices representing the interests and plights of the victims of these humanitarian crisis. Being insensitive to social issues and challenges portray artistes especially those with huge followership as socially irresponsible and opportunistic, interested in only amassing wealth at the expense of the society that made them popular.

It is important for artistes/musicians regardless of the stage in their music career lifecycle to learn to align their personality and brand character traits. It is a dependable way of building and reinforcing their social credibility and respect. Sir Bob Geldof and Bono of the rock group U2 are two examples of globally renowned artistes whom the world listens to whenever they speak out on any social issue. They are commercially successful and command a great deal of influence because they are socially aware and responsible. You cannot be genuinely concerned about the plights of your fans, consumers and humanity in general and not earn the respect of the people. You cannot have the respect of the masses and not be successful commercially.

You cannot win or earn the trust of the public when the character traits of your personality and artiste brand are at conflict with each other. At the end of the day, the truly successful artiste brands are those who are genuinely connected with their fans and consumers and concerned about their well-being. They are the kind of artistes whose brands are well accepted by the people because their personality brand and artiste brand are authentic and complementary.

Goldberg visits Ooni of Ife, receives royal blessings

10 dancers battle for 7 grand finale slots in Glo Dance with Peter

AS part of its commitment to celebrate the culture and tradition of its valued consumers through consumer engagement, interaction and association, Goldberg Lager Beer from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc. has become the first lager brand to visit the newly crowned Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwunsi.

The visit which held ahead of his royal majesty’s coronation ceremony in Ile-Ife, Osun State, came as a mark of respect and facilitation with the Arole Odua Ojaja 11, and had in attendance the Business Manager for Ibadan Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr Joseph Bodunrin; Public Affairs Manager West/Mid-West, Mr Tayo

By Rotimi Ige THE seven finalists that will engage in the last battle for places in the grand finale of the Globacom-sponsored Dance with Peter reality TV show will emerge this weekend.

In contention for the final slots are G-Xtreme, Tee Jay, T-Rubber, Amazing Amy, C-Fly, Julius Fakta, Kelvin, Miracle, Da Octopus and Mali Hot Boy. After last week’s performance, Contemporary African Dance will take the centre stage in this week’s edition and three of the 10 remaining dancers will exit the competition, with the remaining seven slugging it out for the final five that would contest for the grand prizes offered by the next generation network, Globacom.

Kevin, Teejay, Julius Faktah, T-Rubber and Miracle were put on probation in the last edition.

Which of them will survive and which three will go home?

Praise summit holds in Ikire today PROPHETESS Toyin Adepoju-Ilori, popularly known as ‘Akoko-Mi-To,’ is set to hold the last edition of her monthly interdenominational prophetic praises and prayer summit in 2015.

The programme which is in conjunction with ‘AkokoMi-To’ Music (AMT) Int’l, Ikotun, Lagos, will also

feature the formal inauguration of ‘Akoko-Mi-To’ Prayer Mountain, to the glory of God and humanity.

Tagged: ‘A day with God,’ it is billed to hold at Christ Praise Cathedral, a.k.a ‘Akoko-Mi-To’ Prayer Mountain, along Ikire High Court, Courage Area, Ikire, Osun State.

Prophetess Ilori would be joined by other ministers of God and speakers, alongside gospel artistes like Evangelists Olujoke Adeyemo, King Oluwashina Osuba Joy, Ruth Nwolum, Olabode Adeniyi Abraham of Melodious Singer and Yemi Adeniyi, also known as ‘Ibi Giga’ among others.

The singers would bring down the glory of God with undiluted gospel music.

Prophetess Ilori also assured that God had spoken that with the formal inauguration of ‘Akoko-Mi-To’ Prayer Mountain, He (God) would break yokes, lift burdens and lift destinies for good.

Adelaja; Brand Manager Goldberg, Mr Mfon Bassey, and other officials, who were there t0 demonstrate the brand’s core values of respect for traditional values of the people.

Speaking during visit, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who welcomed the Goldberg team said the visit could not have come at a better time than this, especially from a brand that aligns itself with the tradition and culture of its consumers.

“This is something commendable as it will be a partnership that will extend beyond coronation period.”

He added that, Nigerian Breweries Plc. as a company is known for brewing quality products for over 69 years and its stride in building human, economic and social development in Nigeria is highly commendable.

He also called for continued partnership between the organisation and the traditional setup, as well as the nation at large, and urged Nigerian Breweries and other companies, operating in the country to be more involved in corporate social responsibility to endear their product to the people.

23

society

Friday, 11 December, 2015

...celebrating the people

Nigerian Tribune

For Booking, contact Alaba Igbaroola alabaadewale01@gmail.com 08155975474

Glitz @ wedding ceremony between Oludamilola and Owanari Graham Douglas

The couple

From left, Olori Idowu Aromolaran; Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran; Olori Olanike Aromolaran and Olori Omolola Aromolaran.

From left, the Bride Parents, Otunba Babatunde Obada and former Osun State Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada; Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga and Mrs Bola Obasanjo.

From left, former Minister of State Solid Minerals, Chief (Mrs) Bekky Ketebu; former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Barrister Emeka Wogu and former Governor of Imo State, Mr Ikedia Ohakim.

Chief (Mrs) Olufunke Agagu and Mrs Kemi Adewumi.

From left, Oloja of Ibodi, Oba Adeloye Ajibike; Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Saliu Mohmoh, his Olori Folashade and Owa of Ogbagi, Oba Victor Adetona.

From left, Chief Jide Jaiyeoba; Chief Olu Isijola and Chief Tunde Aluko.

Deputy Governor Ogun State, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga and wife of former president, Mrs Bola Obasanjo.

24

Jeri Muchura is a Kenyan model turned glamour portrait photographer, and has become one of the most sought after women in the business of photography, as her shots have won her laurels in her country.

Now set for continental and global domination, ROTIMI IGE caught up with her in Cairo recently and presents the excerpts of their interaction.

with other photographers. I believe that this is what is attracting more clients to me and inevitably carving out a niche for my style of photography.

How do you balance work and family time?

To be honest, this is so hard and I am still trying to learn how to balance both. I believe in giving my best in whatever I do, which means that when I have a shoot to edit, all my energy and devotion goes into it and unfortunately my family takes a hit.

But I have such a supportive and hands-on husband who covers for me with the kids so that they don’t feel abandoned.

My faith also plays a huge role in creating that balance because as the Word says, there is a time for everything.

I

What makes a good photograph?

I believe that as a portrait photographer, great connection is what makes a great picture. You can have perfect lighting, framing, background, props, model, clothes and even make-up, but if you, as the photographer, cannot connect with the person being photographed, you would have taken a perfect picture without soul, without life.

Memories of early life...

I have been playing with cameras and film for as long as I can remember. My father was, and still is a photography hobbyist. He was forever tinkling with his camera and more often than not, I was his favourite test subject.

I have albums upon albums of photographic evidence of his experiments.

Growing up, we had loads of laughter and food in our house, because children in the neighbourhood would always come around to to play. I would like to think that I was popular in the neighbourhood, but I think it was because of the tasty treats my mother always handed whenever the kids came over.

Your mentors?

Internationally, it has to be Sue Bryce, one of the leading glamour portrait photographers of our time. She believes in empowering the everyday women by photographing them in a glamour/magazine style, showing them that they too can look like the models in the magazines.

Locally, I look up to photographers like Mutua Matheka and Victor Peace; wedding photographers like Ben Kiruthi, Emmanuel Jambo and Terilyne Lemarie and beauty photographers like Thandiwe Muriu.

Being a lady photographer in Kenya, where the job description is dominated by men, coupled with the fact that you are also married with children, how have you being able to surmount these odds to make a brand out of your craft?

It is hard, I won’t lie, because I have to put in a 100 per cent for my family and my work. But when you love what you do, you just have to make it work.

I work from a point of giving women an opportunity to fall in love with themselves, and not just about chasing money or competing

Rotimi Ige rotimiige@yahoo.com 0811 695 4636 twitter: @rotifizzle twitter: @fridaytreat

fridaytreat

Tell us a bit about yourself... am the first-born in my family; we are two girls and one boy. I am also married to Mark-Albert Muchura, who is an incredible creative designer. I am a mother of two girls: Tuviyah Kadessa who is six years old and Yisraella who is four.

At what point did you discover your love for photography?

I guess my father’s love for photography inevitably rubbed off on me. After being a professional model for five years, I rediscovered photography when my children were born and I started documenting their milestones using my cell phone. My mother-in-law loved those pictures so much that she gave me my first DSLR camera and as they say, the rest is history.

25

Friday, 11 December, 2015

How love for photography changed my life — Jeri Muchura, top female glamour expert

The saying goes, “What a man can do, a woman can do better”...As a top photographer in Kenya, can you say that the quote is true after all and why?

In photography, I can say this quote is surprisingly true. We are receiving more requests for female photographers as opposed to male especially when it comes to maternity, family, glamour and boudoir photography.

I think this is because where men are technically correct, women go with what ‘feels right.’ We are softer and more intuitive than our male counterparts, meaning more women are more comfortable and open to

My father was, and still is a photography hobbyist. He was forever tinkling with his camera and more often than not, I was his favourite test subject.

having a female photographer.

What influences your choice of pictures?

As a portrait and lifestyle photographer, I am drawn to beauty. Not just the overt, but the subtle nuances hidden in a soft smile, a reflective tilt of the head, the bashful lowering of the eyes, the secret looks shared by lovers, the gentle touch of a mother’s hand, the cheekiness in a child’s face and other things like that.

What projects are you involved in?

Apart from glamour photography, I am a photojournalist linked to one of the dailies in Nairobi. I do a lot of documentary work and travel pieces upon request.

In addition, I do a lot of motivational speaking and mentorship, especially for girls and young women as a Christian and female photographer. I also co-host a political satire TV show and I am currently working on launching my YouTube channel.

Burna boy to embark on UK tour

RIDING high on the release of his sophomore album, ‘On A Spaceship,’ Nigerian Pop star, Burna Boy, called in to the AfroHits show on London’s Bang Radio this past Thursday to chat with Adesope, MC Timmy X and DJ Yung Milli for what has been billed as his first exclusive UK radio interview.

The foursome discussed Burna Boy’s new album ‘On A Spaceship’ and what to expect from the record, why he worked with a lot of South African artistes on the new album, as well as politics in the Nigerian music industry.

Burna Boy also confirmed on the show that he would be embarking on his first ever UK tour in 2016.

He went on to talk about his dancehall influences, his London upbringing in Brixton, his own brand of Afrofusion music and the artists he is currently feeling including Kiss Daniel, Wande Coal and Wizkid, before signing off with one of the favourite songs on the new album ‘Soke.’

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years, I’d like to move from just taking pictures and start holding photography workshops and trainings. I would like to see more women earning money as professional photographers and not just as hobbyists.

Would you encourage more women, especially seeing that you rose to prominence in a country and profession dominated by men, to pursue their dreams?

Yes I would. There’s this notion that following your dream is foolish because of the amount of time it takes for the dream to start paying you. This is why women are afraid of stepping out and doing what they are passionate about.

The pursuit of dreams is not just for men, I’d love to see more women bold enough to step out and follow their artsy dreams. All you need is to believe in yourself, have a really thick skin and an unbreakable spirit and you can conquer the world.

In terms of fashion, what are you comfortable in?

I love simple yet classy styles; you’ll find me in jeans, vests, African print jackets, doll shoes with African jewellery or scarves.

Most valued bodily asset?

Hmmm.....I think it has to be my new curves. I have been super skinny for the last 15 years, but over the last six months, I have filled out where it counts and I just love my new body.

Favourite fashion accessories and how many do you own?

I love African jewellery and scarves; and I have so many that my husband had to make a special box for me to store them because I had started storing them in his side of the closet.

Olamide set to headline mtv Base white Xmas party at Ikeja City Mall TO celebrate the Christmas Season and reward music lovers for their support throughout the year, MTV Base has announced that it will be hosting fans to a free Christmas party tagged: ‘MTV Base presents the White Christmas Party.’’

The event, which is in partnership with Ikeja City Mall, will feature performances from Nigerian top acts including Reminisce, Phyno, Kiss Daniel, Orezi and Jagaban hitmaker, YCee on Friday, 18 December, at the Ikeja City Mall grounds.

Other performers include Lil Kesh, Niniola, May D, CDQ and many others to be announced later.

Speaking on the concert, Head of Marketing and Events, Colette Otusheso commented: “This year has been a memorable one for all of us at MTV Base and we will like to end the year celebrating with our viewers who have shown us support.

“This is also our tenth year anniversary and what better way to end the year than reward our fans with the biggest Christmas party ever. And it is totally free. We have such an amazing line up and I’m sure our viewers will have the time of their lives.”

26

Friday, 11 December, 2015

travelpulse&m.i.c.e

’Wale Olapade 08161235359 wale11g3@gmail.com Winner, NMMA, Tourism Reporter Of The Year

Governor of Cross Rivers State Professor Ben Ayade (third left); Mrs Stella Obinwa, the Regional Director, Africa International Operations, Dubai Tourism (fourth left); Organiser, Akwaaba, Mr Ikechi Uko (right) and delegates from Dubai Tourism at 2015 Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos resently

Akwaaba 2015: New take-off platform for travel business in Africa

By ’Wale Olapade

S

ETTING a new stage for African business to fly, is one of the aims of the 2015 edition of the Akwaaba African Travel Market (AfTM), which opened a new vista of opportunities for stakeholders and resource persons, brand and allied products and services in the tourism and travel sector to reach more target audiences.

The 11th edition came with plethora of newer ideas and products to compliment the deluge of foreign exhibitors, experts and buyers from different parts of Africa and beyond at the Eko Hotels and Suite, Lagos from November 22 to 24.

Building practical sessions for industry experts to meet with investors and allied stakeholders in the tourism, travel, aviation and hospitality sectors, the three days expo was a rebirth of commitment to broaden the horizon of players in the tourism sector, and also to connect them with target audience in the chain of business activities.

Knowing that no business can thrive without other complimentary activities, Akwaaba created different sessions to manage and proffer solutions to every emerging problem that has stood as clogs to the seamless operation stakeholders have been battling with for decades.

The sessions which include aviation, hospitality, wedding and other Africa countries days did not only highlight the way out of some pressing travel issues, but also opened stakeholders consciousness to creating niche for relevance in the global market.

Speaking during the opening ceremony Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu expressed optimism on the richness and advantages of investing, developing and promoting tourism in Nigeria.

Ojukwu who gave kudos to the organiser for creating a sustainable platform to grow and position the tourism content of Africa said it is high time Nigeria and by extension Africa told their beautiful stories to the world.

According to her, the number of local and foreign exhibitors at the event in spite of security challenges is a sign of good things to come from Nigeria’s tourism industry.

“The travel expo will stimulate tourism and cultural integration and bilateral ties between Nigeria and other foreign countries.”

She said that the country could generate a lot of revenue from tourism, especially now that its economy would be diversified.

Ojukwu urged the government to use tourism to generate revenue, create employment and increase foreign exchange earnings for economic growth.

Aviation day of open skies National carrier, open skies and connectivity in Africa were serious highlights at the session where the likes of Funke Adeyemi of IATA, Mr Esayas Woldemariam Hailu of Ethiopian Airlines and Alhaji Aminu Agoha, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies spoke extensively on solution to travel business in Africa.

According to the trio, if African countries successfully implement the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) which states that African skies be liberalised and allow for unrestricted flight operations within African skies, Nigeria can earn additional $128 million into its coffers annually.

Adefunke Adeyemi, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Regional Head, External Relations, Africa and Middle, challenged African countries to take a bold step at fully implementing the YD, adding that the continent was losing its traffic massively to European carriers by not cooperating.

She said Africa as a whole can earn about $1.3 billion additional intercontinental GDP from the sector when full liberalisation takes effect, adding that it could even create millions of jobs apart from generating additional five million passengers.

As for overall impact on Nigeria, Adeyemi said over 17, 500 more jobs would be created, advising also that ‘creative partnership among the airlines can support liberalisation’.

“African traffic is carried by European carriers, if nothing is done about it, there may not be Africa aviation soon.

Bottlenecks such as visa rules and restrictions should also be addressed urgently in order to get things working, the airlines need to be ready too, there should also be good infrastructure to support the initiative”, she said.

Also speaking, Ado Sanusi, deputy executive managing director of Arik Air, who spoke on National carrier and BASA, said the problem of aviation in Nigeria is not really the presence or absence of national carrier, but that of necessary infrastructure and conducive operating environment.

Wedding and spa A new segment in the programme line up of the 2015 Akwaaba was one of the trending products that is attracting people to different destination globally.

Akwaaba was on point to educate and showcase varieties of products and offerings associating with the sector through a presentation by a wedding and spa expert, Mrs

Samsung representative presenting a gift to a winner of Smart TV

from left, President National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Alhaji Aminu; Nigeria Ambassador to Spain, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu; Mr Uko; Mrs Obinwa and others during the ‘walk the talk’ at the event.

Seyi Olusanya who spoke on the topic, planning a destination wedding.

The session which kick off the travel expo had Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu as the special guest of honour.

Dubai massive display Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one of the trendiest and all purpose travel destinations made a debut at the 11th edition of the Akwaaba Travel Expo with an intimidating and colourful outing.

The stride was to reach out to different segments of tourism market in Nigeria to varieties of products, services and investment activities at the Arab enclave.

The debut of Dubai Tourism at this year’s edition of Akwaaba did not only excite the audience at the event, but also created a B2B session for trade buyers and destination marketers to strike and seal favourable deals.

In its usual grand outing, the Dubai Tourism pavilion was the cynosure of all eyes as they displayed range of exquisite products and services with different addictive attractions that do not only give a firsthand information of Dubai offerings, but also a 3D visual presentation of palm jumeriah and marine properties.

Samsung paints up Akwaaba with gifts For Samsung Electronics an allied hospitality service, with its power to keep customers in tune to informative and entertainment news and features in hotels, stormed the 2015 edition with different surprise packages that kept attendees smiling home with varieties of products won through lucky dip rounds.

Samsung Electronics showcased its latest television set designed to boost entertainment zones of hospitality business, which compliment service delivery.

Mr Anu-Rotimi Agboola, the head of the company in West-Africa, displayed this at the completion of 2015 Akwaaba Travel Expo in Lagos.

He said that the company’s smart signage television set was designed to assist both the small scale businesses and the hospitality industry.

27

Friday, 11 December, 2015 Group Politics Editor Taiwo Adisa - 08072000046 tai_adis@yahoo.com

el-Rufai

MUHAMMAD SABIU gives an insight into the crisis that has led to formation of a splinter group called True All Progressives congress from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State.

T

HEY had teamed up like a true family to pursue a common cause.

Their collective efforts paid when their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) snatched victory from the hitherto Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State. But the euphoria of victory had hardly evaporated when the stalwarts fell apart. That is the current predicament of APC members in Kaduna State.

To some pundits, the emergence of two camps was long expected. The crack among the APC leaders came barely two weeks after the state governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai took over the mantle of leadership. The crisis worsened when he began to announce new appointments. His first set of appointments did not go down with many of the party’s stalwarts, who felt that the governor literally sidelined them when making such appointments. This was in spite of what they regarded as their immense contributions to his victory at the poll last April.

Sani

APC elders vs el-Rufai: Who blinks first?

But some individuals strongly came in his defence, claiming the appointees were his personal aides. They had worked with him when he was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. One of the aggrieved APC leaders, who pleaded to remain anonymous, had said: “The action (appointments), to say the least, amounted to the governor playing on our sensibilities.

Why should you bring ‘outsiders’ to assist you in running the government? Are you

saying that we don’t have competent hands in Kaduna?” Another APC stalwart said he and many other party leaders would not allow such action go unchallenged because of the implications for the party in the state.

There were other APC top shots like Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, who were prepared to publicly express strong indignation over leadership style of the governor. The sena-

Why should you bring ‘outsiders’ to assist you in running the government? Are you saying that we don’t have competent hands in Kaduna?”

tor, who remains one of the major critics of el-Rufai criticized one of the early actions of the governor, especially the land recovery exercise of the el-Rufai administration.

He said the demolition of houses, particularly those belonging to the weak and vulnerable members of the public was sad and condemnable. He also criticized the resolve of the governor to ban street begging and hawking. He queried: “How can you ban this set of vulnerable Nigerians without providing them with another source of livelihood?”

Since then, many of the party leaders had drawn the battle line with the governor. It took another dimension when some prominent members decided to address a press conference over perceived ‘sins’ of the governor. The elders included: Hakeem Baba Ahmed, who is the former interim state chairman of the party, former Commissioner for Education in the state, continues pg28

28 politics&policy

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Issues behind the crisis continued from pg27

Mataimaki Tom Maiyashi: APC state Woman Leader, Hajiya Hafsat Baba; former member of the House of Representatives; Nasiru Ahmed; Kabir Umar Lawal Maiturare, and Murtala Abubakar, who is Senator Sani’s Special Assistant on Strategy. They used the occasion to announce the formation of a new APC christened, “True All Progressives Congress.” According to them, the formation of the bloc brought to an end months of the cat-and-mouse game between them and the governor. The formation of the group topped the agenda of the meeting of the leaders. Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the group accused the governor of hijacking party apparatus and pursuing anti-masses agenda, which to them, was at the detriment of the million people of the state who voted for the party. Their spokesman, Alhaji Murtala Abubakar, said the actions of the governor so far in office were completely antithetical to APC manifesto and constitution. According to Abubakar, the elders could no longer continue to be part of a system that had no regard for people, who gave the party the mandate to govern them for the next four years. He said: “We campaigned across the length and breadth of the state canvassing for change. To be honest, this is not what we envisaged. We have made spirited efforts to see the governor and discuss with him some of these things but we couldn’t get access to him. Some of us have not met with him since he was declared the governor-elect.” He said the elders were not alone in the current crusade, as it was based on consultation with other stakeholders in the APOc in the state.

However, barely 24 hours after the formation of the group, the state chapter of the APC passed a vote of confidence on the governor. Addressing newsmen, the acting publicity secretary, Alhaji Salisu Wusono remarked that the policies of Governor elRufai were in line with the party’s manifesto and constitution. He said the new group was only trying to blackmail the governor because they thought that it was going to be business as usual. He advised members of the group to stop being deceived by opposition PDP, who were bent on distracting the good work of the governor.

“APC as a party has a manifesto as well as a constitution, and we are working in line with the constitution of our party. We have only one APC in Kaduna State. The party in Kaduna has leadership and structure.

“We are running the affairs of the party according to the manifestos, constitution and ideology of APC. It is laughable if somebody in Kaduna State said APC is not functioning; the party has a governor in Kaduna, 90 per cent of the members in the state and National Assembly. So if anybody comes out to say APC in the state is in disarray, that person is a joker.

“As far as we are concerned, we worked together with Governor Nasir el-Rufai to make APC alive in Kaduna, as well as to remove the PDP from power in the state.

Any party member that is questioning the policies and leadership of the governor is either ignorant or doing so as a deliberate act to spite him. That person may also be working with external forces in the PDP. Is it free education policy; is it 255 primary health centres that will be built and equipped with modern facilities? Is that what somebody will call anti-people’s poli-

Buhari

Odigie-Oyegun

Any party member that is questioning the policies and leadership of the governor is either ignorant or doing so as a deliberate act to spite him. That person may also be working with external forces in the PDP. cies in the state? Is it verification of workers that is designed to have accurate data and fish out ghost workers created by PDP that is an anti people’s policy? Any party member, who is talking about our governor’s policies in a negative way, is the person running anti people’s advocacy in the state to deprive the masses of good things.

Go through the 2016 budget presented to the state House of Assembly by the governor and you will see all the good things lined up for the citizens of the state.

“It is also laughable for anybody, who claims to be a true APC member, to tell the party’s national leadership and the Presidency to disregard the governor of Kaduna State. el-Rufai is a founding member of the APC; he was very active in the merger committee and is a signatory to the merger document, which formed the basis that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued the certificate of registration to the APC,” the state APC said.

Meanwhile, findings by our correspondents showed that the simmering crisis in the party might have to do the 2019 gubernatorial race. A source said some forces in the party have commence have started mobilizing in earnest, because of their belief that the governor has strategically put his

men and loyalists in positions that might give him an advantage to secure a second term ticket. Rival camps were said to be putting up structures apparently to put their principals in good stead to contest in 2019. For instance, some have even said the body language of Senator Sani so far has shown clearly his possible direction in 2019. An ally of Alhaji Isa Ashiru, who was a gubernatorial aspirant under the APC in the 2015 gubernatorial race, alleged that his principal might again take a short at the APC ticket come 2019, adding “His political structure is very much intact.

Investigations also revealed that some elders in the state appear to favour Hakeem Baba Ahmed taking a short at the governorship seat based on what they believe is his experience and composure to take the state to the next level. His intimacy with President Muhammadu Buhari is considered as a plus for him if he decides to throw his hat in the ring.

But some APC members are seriously worried about the negative effect of the current crisis in APC on its structure, if not tackled addressed quickly. They noted that while their party was battling with the crisis, the PDP was rebranding towards regaining power in the state in 2019. They

cited at the PDP conference held in the state to buttress the point. The latter’s national organising secretary, Alhaji Mustapha Abubakar while commending the organisers of the PDP conference, promised that the party would bounce back in 2019 because, in his words, “We are still very strong and people have not lost hope in the party.”

In the mean time, there is a growing concern by party faithful about the lingering crisis in the state APC. Some of them have pleaded with the warring factions to swallow their pride and embrace peace in the interest of the party. One of the leaders warned: “If we don’t put our acts together, the PDP might capitalise on the current crisis to spring a surprise.”

It was against this background that some concerned APC members have been pleading with the leaders to bury the hatchet and work together for the interest of the party.

One of them declared: “The whole issue is about sharing of offices. Of course, concessions have to be made, and sacrifice too to move the state forward. Everyone is happy about the change of baton in the state. The governor has started well. For instance, school enrolment in primary school has jumped from 1.1million to 1.8 million in just six months. We have started seeing investors coming into the state to assess the potentials in the state so far we were told that not less than 50 investors were in the state in recent times.

“In addition, the governor has visited some textiles that had closed in the state and has promised to assist some, especially the Arewa Textiles which has indicated their willingness to start production. He has discussed with other factories on how his government will assist them. To me, all these are good news but then a house divided will never stand. That is why, unity is paramount,” he stressed.

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politics&policy

Al-Hassan

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Gov. Ishaku

The anxiety over Taraba gov’s seat Sylvanus Viashima - Jalingo

T

HE Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, recently, nullified the election of Architect Darius Ishaku of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and ordered the reinstatement of Senator Aisha Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress APC, as the duly elected governor of the state. The judgment sparked off an unprecedented chain of reactions from both legal luminaries and other individuals and groups in the society.

The main substance of the judgment is that Ishaku was not qualified to contest the election ab initio, since he did not emerge from a proper party primaries as prescribed by the law. The court however did not grant the other prayer of the petitioner to nullify the election of Ishaku on the grounds of sufficient non compliance, thus, leaving the APC and Alhassan with a fragile trail to hang onto, and Ishaku and the PDP with a ray of hope.

The governor and the PDP have already filed an appeal in Abuja challenging the decision of the tribunal to nullify his election on the basis of a party primary election that is an “internal affair,” as it is popularly said. He has variously described the judgment of the tribunal as a “rape of democracy and disgraceful.

In his appeal, the governor posited that he was a validly elected candidate of his party and that the party primary election was moved from Jalingo to Abuja for the same reasons the tribunal also was moved to Abuja -insecurity. This is in addition to the prayer of his counsel that party primaries are pre-election matters that should

be allowed to be by the party internally.

In the legal battle for the senatorial seats for Kogi, all three APC senators who were declared winners of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) had been dragged to the tribunal on the common ground that the party did not conduct primaries prior to the 2015 general election as against the grains of the law. While the case against Senator Dino Melaye, Kogi West was dismissed at the lower tribunal, the duo of Mohammed Ohiare and Abdulrahman Abubakar had suffered defeats at the lower tribunal.

With the December 2 judgments, the election that produced Senator Abdulrahman (Railway) of Kogi East was finally nullified and another election was ordered by the Appeal Court within 90 days. Remarkably, APC was disqualified from contesting the bye election as its candidate ab initio was improperly nominated. The same judgment was delivered between Senator Ohiare of the APC and Honourable Ogembe of the PDP. In Taraba, the hurdle is that the others

persons who supposedly participated in the primaries may not be on the same page with the PDP in the state at the moment.

Chief David Sabo Kente abandoned the party immediately after the return from Abuja alledging that there was no primaries, while Alhaji Garba Umar UTC has chosen to remain mute except via the social media through his spokesperson.

The governor and the PDP however have a formidable legal team led by Joseph Boderin Dauda (SAN) they believe the tribunal erred in law by nullifying the election Ishaku and declaring Senator Alhassan of the APC as winner.

It is however crystal clear that the PDP camp is not the only one dissatisfied with the judgement of the tribunal. Senator Alhassan and the APC also filed a cross appeal, challenging the decision of the tribunal not to have established that the election that brought Ishaku to power was marred by irregularities and substantial non-compliance with relevant provisions.

According to the state commissioner of

Since the creation of Taraba in 1991, the state has been ruled almost exclusively by the predominant Christians, with the exception of the former governor last three years following the predicament of Pharmacist Danbaba Danfulani Suntai.

Justice Bar. Yusufu Akirikwen, “the move by the APC candidate and the party is a clear indication that they know the issue of party primaries will not hold waters at the appeal court and so they need to have something to fall back to,” a plan B. The Taraba governorship is particularly interesting because of the intrigues and the stakes, informing the obvious uneasy calm that now prevail in the state ahead of the ruling of the appeal court. It has both religious and sectional coloration. Egos are at stake, while impressionable statements are waiting to be aired, none of these the least to be ignored.

Since the creation of the Taraba in 1991, the state has been governor almost exclusively by the predominant Christians, with the exception of the last three years following the predicament of former Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, which made way for Alhaji Garba Umar and Senator Sani Danladi to govern in acting capacities.

The Muslim minority now feels it is time for them to have a shot at the number one seat in the state in the person of Senator Aisha Alhassan. The Christians majority also feel that since democracy is a game of numbers, they have the right to rule for the time being.

Beyond the religious undertone, the Central Senatorial Zone, where Senator Alhassan comes from, produced the first and longest serving governor of the state so far in the person of Reverend Jolly Nyame. The Northern zone also produced the immediate past Governor Suntai. It is considered by some locals that it is the turn of the Southern Taraba to produce the governor, thus Ishaku.

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politics&policy

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RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been engaged in a number of foreign travels in recent times, drawing the ire of vocal critics some of whom have branded him “junketer-in-chief.”

This criticism is something that resonated the rhyme sung against former President Goodluck Jonathan by the All Progressive Congress (APC) elements alongside many of those who shared its sentiments while in opposition and campaigning for a reduction of government expenses.

Even though as a presidential aspirant, Buhari advocated a leaner government and less travels for government officials, he did not join the popular refrain of curbing presidential foreign trips. I remember when he concurred with the campaigners, he did concede that only the president may travel at will because of the nature of his office and responsibilities. He was right then as he is right even now. The president has to travel to meet up with his international obligations as Nigeria’s leader.

While it does make perfect sense to cut down on the cost of governance especially in these times of unprecedented downtown in the economy, while the president’s cumulative travel expenses over a period may even achieve one or two things if channelled differently, turning his back on foreign travels is too negligible an action to engender any significant stabilization of, or cause more harm to the wobbling state of the country’s economy.

Cynics who want him to put an end to foreign travels hardly offer themselves the chance to weigh the benefits of the trips he has made; the needs and expectations of Nigeria as the most important black nation in the world. The government is still in its

Friday, 11 December, 2015

inside

aso rock witH leoN Usigbe

08078891838 leonusigbe@ yahoo. co.uk

What Buhari should do about his foreign trips s infancy, it needs the world’s goodwill. The government is battling with insurgency.

Therefore, besides seeking foreign military assistance, it should share experiences with other countries in the throes of terrorism.

The economy is struggling with decaying infrastructure in the midst of thinning resources. The journeys he has undertaken must be seen in the context of trying to put Nigeria in the consciousness of those who can help. The president cannot not just sit back in Abuja and hope that solutions will drop from the sky to the numerous challenges. He must reach out and mobilize foreign support and assistance for the good of the country. Sending lower level officials to represent him is out of question because no minister has the clout of a president in any meeting of world leaders.

In deference to criticisms of his predecessor and conscious of his promised change, Buhari reduced the population of his entourage from day one. Apart from this, he makes deliberate efforts to minimize the number of days he stays out of the country

aso rock

on any given foreign trip as if this will stop floor with countries’ names upon which the his critics from talking. All this is fraught leaders should stand to be captured. Some08078891838 witH with drawbacks as some staff essential toleoN body from the Nigerian leonusigbe@ yahoo. co.uk delegation ought the smooth implementation of such assign- to have gone ahead of the president to pin ments are often excluded and puts undue point his spot and simply lead him there pressure on the president. It is therefore not when it was time for photographs. Nobody uncommon to see aspects of the president’s did that and the president was left to search foreign engagements bungled. by himself and ended up not appearing in When you hear that Buhari missed one the pictures.

The organisers of the conference had important meeting or the other in the United Nations, it may be because there made only five tags available which granted was no relevant official to do the necessary access to the inner rooms of the meetings. ground work as his delegation becomes too Those that were given to Nigeria ended up in the hands of some people who had no imstretched to take care of all responsibilities.

The Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21) mediate business in the meetings, cutting on climate change in Paris, France suffered off even personnel that would have made several mishaps as a result of this. In the very Buhari’s assignments easier. This sort of atopening event which was the photo oppor- titude cannot advance the president’s desire tunity for all the participating leaders, the to make his foreign engagements producpresident could not adequately participate. tive. It is good to constructively downsize his Even though he was there, it was a Hercu- delegation but since it is results that matter, lean task locating the portion earmarked rather than trimming the entourage to the for him on the platform to stand with other barest minimum and forcing out useful perworld leaders. Since there were about 150 sonnel, priority should be on what the counof them, the organizers carefully tagged the try can gain from the journeys.

The burden of Al-Makura Ademola Adegbite- Nasarawa MANY see Nasarawa State as one of the states with rich investment climate and potential for economic development, which had hitherto begged to be tapped into by well-meaning entrepreneurs, especially for economically viable and technically feasible industrial and agricultural development projects.

The state is endowed with various solid minerals and cash and food crops. All these areas appear to have continued to engage the attention of the state administration under incumbent Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who is described by some observers as a silent worker, who believes his work speaks for him.

With quite a number of major projects spread across the length and breadth of the state, he has been able to touch the lives of many citizens. So, those giant strides formed the fulcrum of his re-election message during the last governorship election.

His supporters said the success of his administration informed the remark made recently by the Taiwan Trade Mission in Nigeria through the country’s Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Morgan Cha. The trade mission said its aim was to work towards building a great alliance between Nasarawa and Taiwan as a nation in order to open the door for educational, economic and professional exchanges between their country and the state.

In effect, the interest of Taiwan is due largely to the advancement of the state governor in areas like agriculture, education, youth empowerment, among others. Thus, he was dubbed the King of Development during his first term.

A few months into his second term, however, the popularity is on descent as he is now an object of stones, sticks, clubs and other dangerous weapons. Sign that the governor may face some tough challenges in his second term was seen at Awe

Local Government Area Council where some youths unleashed their anger on him. He was in the council to inspect an on-going project when the youths, who had earlier gathered, struck. But he escaped from the scene even though some

One of the reasons behind the governor’s challenges is his alleged failure to maintain his close tie with the people who facilitated his rise to power.

of his aides were not that lucky. Nigeria Tribune gathered that a similar incident was repeated, at the weekend, at the Emir’s palace in Keffi, during the final internment of the late Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Mohammadu Chindo Yamusa II. A group of youths invaded the palace, threw stone and other objects at the governor’s direction but again he escaped with the protection his security details provided for him. Governor Al-Makura was hurriedly taken out of the scene after the security team released some shots in the air and dispersed the youths.

Analysts contend that one of the reasons behind the governor’s challenges is his alleged failure to maintain his close tie with the people who facilitated his rise to power. Besides, non-payment of workers salary and unemployment of the youth is also said to be responsible.

Meanwhile, the state Police Command has arrested eight persons for allegedly attack on the governor’s convoy. The state Police Command Public Relation Officer, Ismaila Umar-Numan, who confirmed the arrest, warned the youths from taking laws into their hands. He assured: “The Police will continue to maintain law and order in the state considering the importance of peace to the socio-economic development of the state and the country at large.”

In the meantime, the government and the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state has chosen to handle the matter with maturity because of “what the top hierarchy of our party sees as the lack of understanding and appreciation of the great strides of the Al-Makura’s administration in the last four and half years.”

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

hers

Editor: Yemisi Aofolaju yemiaofolaju@yahoo.com 08055001741

Should a lady assist her spouse in paying

her bride price?

Traditionally, in Nigeria it is the right of every man to pay the bride price. What if the man cannot afford to pay the price should the lady assist him in paying the bride price? IDOWU FAJI and BLESSING ATOLAGBE interviewed a cross section of Nigerians what they would do in such situations. Excerpts: Olaifa Olumide

Ige Blessing Oluwatomi Kayode t is wrong for a lady to help in paying her bride price because it is the responsibility of the man. Paying bride price is something you have to do to have authority over your wife, it means paying to say yes, I am capable as a man.

Biblically, culturally a man should pay the bride price; he is the one taking the wife not the order way round. The wife can assist the husband in all other petty things, but not the bride price.

I

Ogunlana Kayode It is not good for a lady to assist her spouse in paying her bride price no matter the situation. If he cannot afford the money, instead of the lady adding to it, she should go back to her family and beg them to reduce the price and as soon as it is reduced he should look for it or meet his family to assist him. Personally, I think it is wrong for the lady to assist a guy in paying her bride. She can assist in other things, but definitely not bride price.

Aremu Ayodeji My point is that, there is no big deal in a lady assisting her spouse in paying her pride price. If the guy is not financially okay, then she can assist him if truly they love each other.

Olaifa Olumide I don’t think there should be any help from the lady in paying her bride price because paying the dowry should be the responsibility of the guy and it shows that the guy is capable of taking care of the lady, so if there is a helping hand from the lady, then there is no problem.

Ayodeji

IgeBlessing In every relationship, we are meant to help each other. If the guy is not financially okay, then the lady can help, nobody will know as they will both keep it a secret.

Chioma Uzor It is very wrong for a lady to assist her spouse in paying her bride price. Even if it is five naira, he should pay it without assistance from the lady. He can get assistance from his family members, but not the lady.

If the guy cannot pay the bride price that means he is not capable, responsible, and ready to get married.

Omotoyose Odeyale It is not good for a woman to help a man in paying her bride price, it is against our culture but it is better the bride price be reduced so as to make it affordable for the man.

Janet Atigbero I don’t think that is good. You know men of nowadays may not value such a woman since he spent little or no money on her bride price.

SamueAkinkuowo I wouldn’t allow my lady to assist in paying her bride price so as to earn respect and her family members. Moreover, the man is the one getting married to the woman it is not the other way round, so, he should be ready to pay the price.

Bunmi Olawenwaju It is not appropriate, because men of this generation will see it as an avenue to take the woman for granted and may later abandon her since he or his family members did not pay anything on her as a bride.

Omolara Ayodele If a woman assist a man in paying her bride pride, it definitely means she married herself. It has since been in practice that a man should pay the bride price, it is not part of our culture, though people do it nowadays, but it is wrong.

should be paid by the husband, but it is better for the family to subsidise what to be paid.

Jennifer Ijei No, even if the bride price is much, the parents of the bride should try to reduce it instead of the bride to assist him but if the bride parents insist he must pay it to proof his love for the lady.

Sunday Otokola The lady can assist, but it will be a secret between her and her spouse, it can strengthen the relationship between the man and the woman because such a man if reasonable will value the woman, you can assist him so as not to ridicule him before the lady’s family.

Adenike Sanni According to our culture it is not good, so also religion wise. At any wedding ceremony the bride price is compulsory, therefore bride price

Omolara

If a woman assist a man in paying her bride pride it definitely means she married herself...

Adenike

Aremu Ayodeji

32 hersay

T

HERE are many ways to teach children. Placing an importance on school is only one of the ways. Reading to your children and encouraging them to read is another. I always made sure my kids had plenty of books and every night before bed, read something together.

I am personally worried about this and the next generation We are in an age where people don't read; we focus on visuals only, but we still have to read; readers are leaders if you want people to read, you must also read. If we build a reading habit with our kids, 25 years later, they can still quote passages from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a great icon and a legend. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day because they loved it and had it read to them so much.

Sadly, not nearly enough emphasis is placed on reading.

The plauge in our nation and in the world is a plauge of ignorance! Have you listened to people in public offices speak? You just tell your self, “power miss road “I am sure you have had money miss road before “it takes understanding to be outstanding, if you don't know better, you cannot live better.

Here are a few statistics that back up. In United States there are records and statistics. You know it is the opposite in own country its so difficult to keep records and give accurate statistics. So, let us make use of the one we have.

58 per cent of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 per cent of US families did not buy or read a book last year. Thinking of our great country Nigeria Hmmmmm Four million UK adults never read books for pleasure.

Survey reveals that a quarter of British adults seldom pick up a book for their own enjoyment, citing lack of time for reading.

The UK figures, however, compare favourably with recent statistics from the US. The reality is that most people just don’t spend much time with books in their laps. I believe most of this is because they were not read to as children and then they didn’t learn how to read well in school..... Please keep ringing this in the heart of your children, readers are leaders!!!

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Parenting

The host of Straight Talk!

With Olufunke Adetuberu cryonmenow@yahoo.com 08023242389

Teaching your children the importance of reading It is what the bird eats that make the bird to fly !

Exposing your children to speakers, their cds and dvd I have always believed in exposing children to great speakers, teachers, lecturers and writers. My own life has been shaped by listening to speakers, I say this to my men that if I die today hunt for any of my assets, hunt for my library, my greatest assets are my books I said they will survive any storms of life. I believe it is important to give kids a chance to learn from these folks. As my own boys were growing up, I got them books cds, videos that provoked them to think we all have small minds one way or the other we can rub our small mind with great minds and our minds become great also.

Teach your children travel and socialisation

Again, kids will do better in all situations if they know better what is expected of them.

These two are also critical teaching experiences in the life of your child, drag your kids to museums, old buildings, churches, to see the giant ball of twine, the World’s Largest Free Outdoor Municipal Concrete Swimming Pool and more. Take them for vacations, watch movies. I believe in taking your kids to places help them to see life from another perspective. We didn’t always have a lot of money, but usually we didn’t take them places that cost a lot of money.

You can take them to places we could easily drive to and pack a lunch and be back in our beds the same night. I’ll bet you, there are dozens of things you could show your kids that are cheap and don’t require overnight travel where you could spend time and learn something, too. Do an Internet search and find them. “Those travel experiences shape the way your children will view the world. It will help them to relate better to people from other countries and other cultures. They will appreciate other foods and customs. And they know things they would never have learned otherwise. Kids also need to be socialised.

Take them to church if you are so inclined and teach them how to behave in that environment. Take them to the movies and teach them how to behave by sitting quietly and not talking during the show so everyone can enjoy the movie. Point out to them the inappropriate behaviour of the other people in the theatre and use the experience to teach a valuable lesson.

Teach your kids how to behave in restaurants. I used to say then that I would rather eat at a fine restaurant with my little boys than I would with most adults because my boys had better manners. This came by taking them to restaurants, explaining ahead of time what was expected of them and then rewarding or punishing the behaviour they exhibited. After only a few restaurant visits, they were better behaved than most adults. Allow your children to attend dinner parties at your house, at least long enough to greet the people at the door with a smile, an introduction and a handshake .

Then, you can send them to their rooms or hire a baby-sitter, so they won’t be bored to death by your boring adult guests! The key is to expose your kids to situations in which they will learn how to act and behave.

Again, kids will do better in all situations if they know better what is expected of them.

Beauty tips for the harmattan

By Monica Taiwo Like it or not, Harmattan is here again. Harmattan is the period of the year usually between end of November and middle of March characterised by cold, dry and dust-laden wind with wide fluctuations in the ambient temperatures of day and night.

Harmattan does not do much good for our skin and hair, so, it is important to take some extra beauty measures to help combat the harsh effects of the weather.

In light of this, here are some tips on how to maintain your body in the best possible shape all through this season.

Hair * Reduce washing of hair to once or twice a week as washing strips hair of its natural oils and further dries it out. Preferably use a hydrating shampoo and moisturising conditioner. * Don’t completely dry your hair to retain a bit of moisture. * Ensure you oil your hair everyday with a moisturising hair cream mixed with natural oils such as coconut oil, olive oil and shea butter to prevent flaking and split ends. * Wear your hair in protective styles to protect your ends from dry-

ing and breaking off. * Avoid use of hair gels, spritz and strong hair hold. Hair sprays and styling mousse may be used instead. * Scarves, hats and other hair accessories are your hair’s best friend this season. They offer protection for your hair and are very fashionable too.

Skin * To preserve your body oil, use mild moisturising soaps or body bath creams.

You can also add a few drops of oil to your bathing water. * Do not towel your body completely dry after bathing. Applying cream/oil on damp skin helps to retain about 10 per cent moisture and your skin will definitely thank you for this. Also remember to use hand cream during the day and before going to bed at night. * You might want to keep your alcohol or astringent-containing facial cleansers and toners away for now. Instead, make use of mild cleansers with a neutral pH of Don’t forget to always moisturise after cleansing. * Invest in a good lip balm, lip salve or lip gloss. Dry, cracked lips are never attractive. Give your matte lippies a break and opt for moisturising lipsticks instead.

Or simply apply lip balm/gloss before or after your lipstick. Also, ensure you moisturise your lips at night before sleeping.

33

Friday, 11 December, 2015

With Yemisi Aofolaju yemiaofolaju@yahoo.com 08055001741

thekitchen

DO-It-Yourself

Give your powerhouse a facelift

A

s 2015 winds down in style, the year has witnessed so many melts down in all ramifications. Considering the economic hardship the year has visited on many households, one need not spend a fortune on changing the looks of your powerhouse.

In case the unit has worn the same look for more than 10 years, there is the need to give it a new look even if you are not thinking of changing your apartment. Doing this will not only be a toast of all, but a good investment in case you are moving to a bigger edifice for your preferred tenant.

According to homebuilders, there are only three steps plan that will take 10 years off your kitchen without depleting your proposed

spending as it has been found to be inexpensive but best investments you can make in your home.

These three steps are: Renewing cabinets, upgrading countertops and replacing faucet.

In carrying out these three it requires doing your homework before beginning. Ensure you choose the right colours, styles, and materials for your home and your lifestyle to give successful results. Most of this project is do-it-yourself friendly and can probably be accomplished easily over the next two weekends since children will be on yuletide holiday.

Renewing cabinets There are two ways to get great looking cabinets without completely replacing them.

One is simply ordering replacement doors, which can completely change the look of cabinets and still provide a tremendous savings. An even more affordable choice, however, would be to simply refinish the existing doors.

To refinish stained or natural wood cabinets, start by cleaning them thoroughly to remove any grease. Next, lightly sanding down cabinet boxes, drawers, and doors.

Use a similar colour stain to touch up any defects in the existing stain. Finally, apply several coats of polyurethane or other clear finish. You will be amazed at the way your cabinet doors come back to life.

If you prefer a painted look or are starting with a painted surface, use a liquid deglosser to dull the existing finish, or sand the surface until it is smooth. Next, apply a coat of primer followed by two coats of high quality latex or oil based enamel paint. Again, you will surprise yourself at the ease with which your cabinets can be transformed.

If you cannot do it yourself, consult with your painter to get the list of the brands of paint to buy.

You also might want to try your hand at a process currently growing in popularity called glazing. It is very simple and involves taking a can of clear finish and having a tint added to it. The glaze is then applied sparingly to the newly painted cabinets to give a unique finish.

Smoothie Prepare this smoothie, drink it regularly and burn more calories than before.

This tasty drink will satisfy all your body needs for essential nutrients and will help you in the process of losing extra weight and burning excess fat while keep your muscles.

Ingredients: • 1/2 cup pineapple • 1/2 cup mango • 1/2 banana • 1/3 almond milk • 1 tbs. fresh orange juice • 1 tsp. flax seeds • 1 tbsp. crushed almonds Instructions: Put the listed ingredients in a blender and prepare this incredibly delicious smoothie. Enjoy its taste!

Kitchen Hack

To be continued

What about yellow colour foods?

Have you ever thought of the benefits of yellow colour foods? Findings have shown that yellow colour foods are perfect choice for healthy fat loss that shapes your body the way you have always imagined. It was discovered that they are rich in fibre, an important compound needed to lose pounds, burning fat and maintenance of healthy weight. They are also said to be potent source of antioxidants that additionally provide support that gives fast weight loss results in short period.

Pineapple and mango are not just delicious fruits, they are also beneficial in so many ways. These yellowish fruits are loaded with fibres which is an amazing weight and fat loss agent

thus improve metabolism, prevent constipation and keeps one feel full for longer which goes to say that their regular consumption prevents overeating and weight gain.

As a nutrient-dense and fat-free food, bananas are a perfect choice for dieters. Bananas provide both energy and nutrition without fat, making them a great weightloss food. Their calories are nearly fat-free calories. They boost metabolism, regulate appetite, curb sugar cravings and keep hunger attacks under control.

Almonds-flax seeds are great combination which improves digestion, flushes out

toxins accumulated in the body and cleanses liver.

Consume this drink whenever you feel hungry. The best results are achieved if you drink it instead of taking a meal, and make sure you don’t eat anything else after that as you will stop the weight loss process. If you follow the given advice this drink will help you blow away the excess stomach fat quite successfully.

Grill your fish on a bed of lemons.

It will infuse the flavor and prevent your fish from sticking.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

Monica Taiwo monicataiwo@yahoo.com 08055001724 (sms only) @taiwomonica

heartcopy

I have a burden to help her because of my background Continued from last week

O

Picture: Google.com

Can I abort my daughter’s pregnancy?

Dear Taiwo, I am at crossroad and totally handicapped, I cannot take a decision and I need your sincere counsel. I am a mother of three girls and you know what that means in our society, when you cannot give your husband the desired heir.

It has taken a lot of prayers and patience to keep my home till now. My first born is 19, a 300level student in a private university. Her immediate younger sister is 17; she recently gained admission into the same private university to study nursing.

Recently, they both came home when my first daughter called my attention to the fact that her younger sister is pregnant. When I asked her, instead of answering, she only cried.

I was later able to confirm she was pregnant. I don’t know how to tell my husband because he could threaten to stop her education. He had warned me several times about her friends and the type of crowd she moves with.

I never kept quiet or pampered her. She is very brilliant and her school will not allow her to stay on with the pregnancy once they find out. The worst is that the boy she claimed impregnated her denied, even though his parents were receptive.

I am considering abortion as an option, please, help me.

I don’t want my husband to know and I must do something before the school authority finds out.

Anonymous.

ne night, he came home, drunk as ever. He summoned me into his room; he told me that from that day, I would take my mother’s place. I didn’t understand him immediately, until he asked me to strip my clothes. I didn’t want to; he tore my night gown and raped me. I would never forget that day, which marked the beginning of my horrific experience in my father’s hands.

When he was through with me, he brought out a small animal horn covered with a red cloth; he showed me and said if I told anyone what happened between us, I would die vomiting blood. I was scared and that started the pattern, every night for two years. Twice, I became pregnant and he gave me drugs to abort. The third time I got pregnant and he gave me the same drug; I bled and almost lost my life.

By this time, I had stopped going to school because he couldn’t pay my fees.

Several times, I tried seeing my mother but I couldn’t get pass the gate of her house. I called her phone, no response and my text messages were never replied.

After the third pregnancy, I ran away from home; I was bleeding nonstop. I took refuge in an uncompleted building and didn’t realise that I fainted. I woke up in a hospital and later learnt that the owner of the uncompleted building, a woman, who came to inspect the site early in the morning, saw me and took me to the hospital.

When I recovered, I told her my story, but couldn’t expatiate on my father’s deeds because I was afraid I

share a

would die. She asked to see one of my relatives and I took her to see my mother’s sister who confirmed my story. This woman asked if I could stay with her and my aunty gave her consent. She later sought out my father and he told her a lot of lies and negative things about me.

God used ‘mummy’, as I call her, for me. She had no children of her own. She sent me to the best school and to England for my university education. When I came back, we had a family thanksgiving. We attend a spiritual church and during the service, one of the prophets asked me to talk about my hidden past, get deliverance and forgive both parents.

I had no choice but to confess in the presence of my mummy and the Shepherd of the church, but not before I told them that my father said I would die if I told anyone.

I had series of deliverance session and to the glory of God, I am okay today. Although, it is difficult, I have forgiven my mother. She made me go through hell, I am not gloating at her situation, I only pity her because she never found joy with the man who made her abandon me. And funny enough, I remain her only surviving child. My father didn’t run mad, but he would have been better dead, with the situation he is in now; I am begging God for the grace to be able to forgive him.

I am okay; by His grace, I have a good job, a good husband and two beautiful children. I will never abandon my children for any reason. Mothers, please, think twice when you have to make a choice.

Please, can anyone advise me? Kindly leave your contribution with the editor of the page. Thank you.

Anonymous.

burden WM

ith onica Taiwo

08055001724 (sms only) monicataiwo@yahoo.com

Dear Anonymous, Permit me to say I am disappointed in you. I can’t think of any reason why you would give abortion a thought. What if your husband knows about your plan to have this pregnancy terminated?

Have you thought of the after effect of what you want to do? You should know that you won’t be helping her if you went ahead and abort the pregnancy. This could sound harsh, but she has made a mistake, the best thing is for you to allow her face the music and learn from her mistake.

What if something goes wrong in the abortion process? What explanation would you give your husband?

Please, do not destroy her life the more, do not expose her to the abortion option, she would see an option and way out to unwanted pregnancy and do it again. It could be difficult getting your husband to come to terms with the situation on ground, you must brace up and if need be, employ the help of respected family members or even your spiritual leader to that speak with your husband.

He has a right to be angry, more so because you stated that he had called your attention to your daughter’s way of life before now. Please,

Picture: Google.com be sensible in your decision.

You should also notify the appropriate school authority, this will enable her return to school after she must have given birth to the baby. Do not throw the baby out with the bath water, I believe you understand me. She needs you at a time like this; scold her if need be, she needs your support now more than ever. I am sure all will be well if things are properly handled. You must also be very prayerful. It is well with you.

35

Friday, 11 December, 2015

arewa

Femi Olukunle Co-ordinating Editor 08158610216

Modu Gujja telling his story to the IRC president.

James Bwala-Maiduguri

I

nternally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State have told former UK’s foreign minister and the President, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mr Davis Miliband that they would love to go back to their homes if peace can return to their villages.

The IDPs, who shared their experiences with the IRC President, also explained why they were not comfortable living in the camps.

Mr Davis Miliband, who was in Maiduguri, on Monday, to see the situation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno and the effort his organisation was making at bringing succour to the people, told the IDPs that he felt their pains and sufferings and shared their feelings, grieves and desires for a return of peace to their communities.

He spoke with several IDPs, who attentively listened to him and answered several questions bordering on their situation and what they hoped to see from concerned individuals and organisations such as the International Rescue Committee, coming to build bridges in a resolve to put smiles on the faces of IDPs in the Northeastern states.

Modu Gujja, an IDP from Guzamala Local Government Area of Gudumbali, who is taking refuge at the Bakassi IDP camp, told the IRC how he was able to escape with his family and parents when their village came under attack by the Boko Haram insurgents.

He told Mr Davis that he trekked over 200 kilometres to reach Maiduguri. According to him, the attackers were not selecting as experienced in some villages, but were at loose and killing at will when they came to attack his village. “There is nobody living in the villages for now from the reports we have been receiving”, he said.

Gujja explained that only aged people, who could not escape and were spared by the Boko Haram, are currently living in their villages. He said sometimes, they got to hear reports from people living in Monguno, who are also barely living in peace, stressing that they too usually ran from

We want to go back home, IDPs tell Int’l Rescue Committee their villages whenever there was threat from the Boko Haram sect and returned to their homes when they felt secure to return.

He said: “We all want to return home. I was a trader, but lost everything to Boko Haram. I am now doing nothing, but living at the mercy of goodwill from individuals and governments that provide space for us in this camp. We trekked for days, but that is not the issue. Our concern is for

peace to return to our area because even as we speak, there are reports of attacks here and there, and you do not need anyone to tell you that there is no peace in the area.”

Falmata Hussaini, a widow, told Arewa during the visit to the Bakassi camp that they were being given food twice a day.

“We take breakfast at 12 noon and dinner at 10pm. That is why very early in the morning, some of us go out to beg. We are not saying that the government is not trying, no, they have been trying, but the

food usually does not go round.”

On medical care, she said they had no problem accessing care, but that hunger remained an issue which government needed to look into.

According to Falmata, she arrived the camp 11 months ago when they were asked to leave their Salamri village in Monguno Local Government Area by the Boko Haram insurgents after a siege of the town for over six months.

She explained that her husband, who could not feed well during the siege, developed ulcer, which later took his life when they arrived Maiduguri. “Often, he would only take a hand and said, the children and I should eat and that was all he would take for days even as we too sometimes stayed for two and sometimes three days without food during the raid and subsequent siege to our town by Boko Haram sect.”

Crew

Sabiu Mohammed - 08067698878 mohsabiu@yahoo.com Isaac Shobayo - Jos 08037032359 shobayo.isaac@gmail.com

Mr Davis Miliband, listening to the interpreter while speaking with Modu Gujja at Bakassi IDPs camp in Maiduguri.

Behold, local hunter leading 100 hunters to fight Boko Haram —Pg.36

Biola Azeez – Kwara State 08034276889 biolababes@gmail.com

Boy, 22, commits suicide in Kaduna —Pg.36

James Bwala – Borno / Yobe 08069596659 jamesbwala97@gmail.com Adamu Amadu - Dutse

Safiya Adamu, one of the IDPs.

Kola Oyelere - Kano

36 arewa

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Local hunter leads 100 others to fight Boko Haram Muhammad Sabiu - Gusau

S

hehu Musa Al-jan is one of the prominent local hunters in the North.

He told Arewa that his biological parents were born in the southern part of Kaduna State, but that they eventually moved to Bauchi State and settled there.

“My siblings and I were born in Toro and we grew up in Bauchi State. However, I am presently living in Kaduna. I am a hunter and have been in this trade for over three decades.

“I like what I am doing because it has brought me fortune and recognition. I feel fulfilled whenever my efforts in assisting and complementing government’s efforts in tackling armed robberies, Boko Haram insurgency,kidnapping and other related crimes are being appreciated. The crime buster attributed the increasing rate of crimes in the country to the penchant desire of our youths to get rich quick.

Al-jan also said he didn’t like to be com-

pared to Ali Kwara, saying, “though we are both from Bauchi state, we are entirely different people. I am playing my part and he is playing his.

‘We are both involved in rendering selfless service to the people and the nation at large, I say that he has done his part and I am doing my part know. Everybody has his time. I think this is my time.

The hunter said if there was any hunter that he would accord respect, it was the Sarkin Baka Gumbi in Adamawa State who, he said, was the leader of all the hunters in the region. “We respect him as a father and leader. In fact, whatever one becomes is attributable to God first and then Sarkin Baka.

He told Arewa that even though he didn’t like making a noise about what he was, but he was shocked when some state governments invited him to help them in getting rid of criminals in their states.

He disclosed that recently, he was in-

vited by Kaduna State governor, Nasiru el-rufai to come and help fish out cattle rustlers at Kumuku forest at Birnin Gwari.

Al-jan told Arewa that he and his men raided the forest and recovered over 200 cows and five AK 47 rifles from the hoodlums as well as undisclosed amont of money which he handed to the authorities. Similarly, he revealed that he single-handedly dispersed a gang of armed robbers that had been terrorising Abuja and its environs.

“We arrested many of the armed bandits and handed them over to the Abuja police.

The commissioner of police and even the Inspector General of Police commended me. ‘Abuja is safe from the activities of criminals now and I am happy to be part

of this achievement.”

But he told Arewa that his greatest challenge was the insurgency going on in the North East.

He said as a famous hunter, he was ashamed of himself that he and other hunters could not help the military in the fight against the insurgents, adding that about 100 local hunters from Kaduna were battle ready to fight the insurgents in Maiduguri to a standstill.

Give traditional institutions higher responsibilities, Emir tells govt Biola Azeez-Ilorin The longest serving Emir in Kwara State, Alhaji Sa’adu Kawu Haliru, the 13th Emir of Lafiagi in Edu Local Government Area of the state, has called on government to give traditional institutions higher responsibilities.

Speaking at the Lafiagi Township Stadium on the celebration of his 40th year anniversary on the throne as Emir of Lafiagi, and the conferment of a chieftaincy title on some distinguished personalities, the traditional ruler said they were the custodian of tradition and culture of people at the grassroot, adding that they worked hard to ensure people cooperated with the government and programmes.

Among personalities conferred with honours were former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Magayakin Kasar Lafiagi; the Senate president, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Dallatun Kasar Lafiagi; the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, Durbin Kasar Lafiagi; Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal, Garkuwan Kasar Lafiagi; Alhaji Abdulsamad Isiaka Rabiu, Zannah Kasar Lafiagi and Senator Zaynab Abdulkadir Kure, Sarauniyan Kasar Lafiagi.

The Emir also used the occasion to call on those agitating for Biafra State to desist from re-awakening something that had been crashed.

He said those behind the agitation had bad intention, just as he charged President

Muhammadu Buhari to continue with his anti-corruption crusade and implored all the good people of Nigeria to support him to succeed because he had come to overhaul the system in Nigeria.

Also present at the occasion were traditional rulers from Kwara State, Nupe Kingdom in Niger State and politicians from various parts of the country.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Board of Trustee, Nupe Foundation, who is also the chairman of the occasion, Major Gen. Idris Garba (rtd), said Lafiagi was very important in Nupe Kingdom because of its strategic location.

He then called on all Nupe-speaking communities to form a united voice on issues that affected the kingdom generally, adding that Lafiagi would continue to make the kingdom proud as the only Nupe extraction to have produced the first democratically elected governor in person of Senator Muhammed Shaba Lafiagi.

The chairman of the occasion also appealed to the Federal Government to make the establishment of Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC ) a reality, saying that the realisation of much needed social economic gains from this area could only be achieved through the take off of the commission.

He called on the affected states like Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Kebbi and Benue to rise up to the challenges of making the commission a reality.

Some of the recovered AK47 riffles by Alhaji Al-jan’s team.

Alhaji Musa Al-jan

Man, 22, commits suicide in Kaduna Muhammad Sabiu-Kaduna A 22-year-old boy, Reuben James, who had a quarrel with his father, committed suicide by hanging himself.

The incident occurred at Ungwan Boro area of Sabon-Tasha in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The deceased was the son of an Air Force officer residing in Air Force Base, Kaduna and had half sisters (maternal side) who were living in Ungwan Boro.

Findings gathered that James came to his sisters few days ago and told them that he had a serious quarrel with his father and that the father drove him out of the house.

According to him, he said his father also seized his clothes and threatened to hand him over to the police.

His did not tell his sisters why his father asked him to pack out of the house, but they (his sisters) promised to take him back to Air Force base in few days time to

settle whatever problem he had with his father.

One of his sisters, Deborah Iyaha, said their mother died in 2005, but James continued to live with his father because they were married and living in two rooms each with their husbands and children.

“James came here on Sunday evening and told us that he had a problem with his father and that we should go and talk to him.

“I told him that because of the nature of my job I couldn’t go with him during the week, but that on Saturday, we would go to his father with my younger sister to find out what actually happened.

He didn’t tell us what the exact problem was, but went ahead to hang himself in front of one of the unoccupied shops few meters away from our homes.

Group wants state, FG to accelerate integration of IDPs Isaac Shobayo - Jos Stefanos Foundation, based in Jos, is one of the leading non-government organisations that cater for the need and rehabilitation of displaced people from the North East who ran to Plateau for solace as a result of the raging Boko Haram insurgency. The Foundation recently celebrated its one year of humanitarian service and x-rays the challenges confronting those in such endeavors.

Participants were drawn from all walks of lives to brainstorm on the issues and a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Beni Lar, representing Langang North and South, said issue

of displaced people from the North East had become a serious challenge to the government at all levels across the country, adding that it needed to be given a holistic approach in addition to the efforts of the military to arrest the situation.

She pointed out that her colleagues in the lower chamber were not relenting in a bid to ensure better living for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country and their full reintegration them back into the society.

Lar, who spoke with Arewa at the week end on the sideline of one year anniversary of Stefanos Foundation IDP Camp at Zang Commercial College in Jos, decried the activities of the insurgents, saying that

the House was doing all it could to arrest the situation as well as alleviate the sufferings of the displaced people.

She said: “As lawmakers, we are really concerned about the plights of the IDPs. Just recently for the first time, the House inaugurated a committee on IDPs. We realised that the mandate of NEMA, which is to intervene in emergency situation, is not enough because after one or two months, nobody remembers them again.

So, the House is planning and has already requested members to submit names of affected and displaced persons including reports to the Committee so that starting from this Christmas and onward, the IDPs would be fully catered for by the government.”

The lifeless body of Reuben James dangling.

37

news

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Anti-social media bill repressive attempt by Senate —NetRightsNG •We’ll resist it – NUJ •IPI lauds Buhari, tasks Reps Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare and Alphonsus Agborh

A

body of civil rights coalition, NetRightsNG, has described the recent Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith by the Nigeria Senate as another attempt at limiting freedom of expression, especially on a platform that has allowed citizens to connect with others who also need to do the same in order to take appropriate joint action A release signed by Boye Adegoke, Programme Manager (ICT Policy) at Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), on behalf of NetRightsNG, made this assertion on Thursday. It stated that: “This further reinforces the trend of repressive-only legislation in the online space in Nigeria.

The body noted that Cybercrime Bill which was passed into law by the Seventh National Assembly is yet to be used to convict a single cyber-criminal in the last six months since it was passed. It stated further that “within the same space of time, relying on same legislation, there had been arrests and detention of at least three bloggers for writing what was deemed offensive to the ‘powerful.”

“We read with total dismay, the attempt by the Nigeria Senate to limit the right to free speech, a fundamental and inalienable rights of Nigerian citizens through “The Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith (SB.143)” (A.K.A “Social Media Bill”) sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’ Allah from Kebbi South.

“We consider this bill as unnecessary because the Cybercrime act 2015 (Section 24) Which in itself should be amended, already has tougher provisions.

Also, Nigeria has laws that cover libel and slander.”

According to NetRightsNG, the said bill in Section 3 (3), attacks free speech offline.

It states that a person shall be liable for imprisonment of two years or four million Naira for publishing an allegation, a petition or a statement with a “malicious intent to discredit or set the public (“public” written as “published” in the said bill) against any person or group of persons, institutions of government in newspapers, radio or any other medium whatsoever.”

Section 3 (4) of the same bill, it said, attacks free speech online, stating a twoyear jail term or two million Naira or both as punishment for sharing messages that are classified vaguely as

on any “abusive”, social media platform.”

Also condemning the bill, Chude Jideonwo, Managing Partner of The Future Project stated that, “this helps to show the true intent of the promoters of such legislation. With internet penetration rapidly growing in Nigeria and more people engaging the online space with issues of accountability in government, we must defend the integrity and viability of this new-found platform as there are forces who are bent on suppressing the voice of citizens.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has asked the National Assembly to drop the passage of the anti-social media bill that is before it, so as to avert a situation that would make Nigerians to troop to the streets.

Speaking at the Delta State

NUJ Press Week in Asaba, on Wednesday, the National President of the union, Comarde Waheed Odusile said Nigerians were ready to fight against the bill, just as the union would continue to be on the front burner to resist it.

However, Comrade Odusile said the union took exception against blackmail through the media, as those who engaged in the unwholesome acts are not journalists.

According to him, the union was ready to partner with groups and anybody, especially the top echelon of the society, being the target of blackmail, to rid the journalism profession of quacks.

The president expressed sadness over the nonpayment of salaries to workers of four notable media houses owned by people from

Delta State.

Saying that it was inhuman to engage media men without paying them as stipulated by labour law, Odusile urged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who declared the week open, to prevail on the businessmen to pay their workers.

In his reponse, Governor Okowa said: “As far as I am concerned, if a reporter publishes the truth, it is for the good of the society, as long as the principles of fairness, equity, observance of professional ethics and balance are followed.”

Also in a related development, the Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI) noted with concern the raging controversy over the Senate’s bill to criminalise social media practice. It observed that the bill, deceptively tagged “Frivolous Petitions Bill”

is actually targetted at muzzling free speech, adding that it has no intrinsic value whatsover.

It also applauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s swift anticipatory veto on this bill, saying it is instructive that the president and his government have lately been at the receiving end of the critical social media. It stated further that Buhari had resisted the temptation to go after his critics, adding that he had also rebuffed the senate’s bid to lure him into an unwholesome anti- media dragnet.

Given the president’s patrotic footsteps, IPI therefore urged the Federal House of Representatives to ignore the bill if it ever gets to its hallowed chamber.

It noted that already, the presidential pronouncement had rendered passage of the bill an exercise in futility.

Nigerian Tribune

Police nab 4 kidnappers in Delta Alphonsus Agborh – Asaba

Providence saved a notable politician and publisher in Delta State, Dr George Idodo Umeh, when four hoodlums that kidnapped him on his way to church service in Olomoro in Isoko axis of the state, got involved in double motor accidents.

The elder statesman, according to the police in the state, was kidnapped by the gang that operated with a Vento Volkswagen car with registration number LEH 339 LS, on November 29.

Fortunately for the victim, it was learnt, the suspects had an accident with the Vento car, and thereafter snatched another Kia Jeep with registration number LEH 339SL from Vincent Onwo which equally had another accident at Iyede Isoko, where they abandoned the vehicle. The divine act enabled the victim to escape from the vehicle and scampared home.

CMD boss reads riot act to illegal management trainers

From left, member, Iwude Ijesa Planning Committee, the Loruniyi of Ijesaland, Chief Ayo Agbede; chairman, the Loofosan Ifosan of Ijesa, Chief Olu Falomo and Chief (Mrs) Adewale Bolarinwa, during the 2015 Iwude Ijesa Festival press briefing, in Lagos, on Thursday. Photo: Sylvester Okoruwa.

Indefinite strike looms in NAFDAC Bola Badmus- Lagos

emerged Indication on Thursday, that workers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will embark on an indefinite strike if the Federal Government failed

to intervene in the crisis rocking the agency.

Chairman, Federal Area Council, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Comrade Ibrahim Attai Isah, made this known at a press briefing in Lagos, as workers picket the complex of the agency

in Oshodi, carrying placards with various inscriptions, demanding the removal of a Director of Administration.

Some of inscriptions read: “Say no to nepotism in NAFDAC”, “President Buhari save NAFDAC”, “Enough is enough”.

Isah said the workers

Ogun Assembly calls for prudent management

By Gbenga Olumide

Ogun State Assembly has called for a more creative approach to revenue generation and prudent management of resources as way out of the prevailing economic realities confronting the country.

The Speaker, Honourable Suraju Adekunbi, made the call while declaring open the commencement of the 2016 Budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), at the assembly’s complex,

Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Tuesday.

Adekunbi, who was represented by his deputy, Honourable Olakunle Oluomo, described budget defence as one of the vital stages in the passage of appropriation bill by the legislature.

He noted that the exercise was meant to allow all MDAs of government to justify the proposed expenditure, as well as giving opportunity to the non-government

organisations to observe and make their inputs into the bill.

Honourable Adekunbi, in a release signed by the assembly Head of Information, Mr Jamiu Lawal, added that the 2016 budget christened: “Budget of optimisation” would focus on the advancement and completion of the infrastructural and socioeconomic programme embarked upon by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun administration.

embarked on the exercise because they learnt that the director wanted to visit Lagos office for official assignment.

The MHWUN boss accused the director (name withheld) of running the agency like a sole administrator with impunity and, therefore, needed to be called to order before things went out of hand.

Isa disclosed that the union had already tabled their grievances to the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Folorunsho Adewole, following the last warning strike which the agency embarked upon, but lamented that nothing had been done.

“We are now sounding a note of warning that any attempt to sweep the issue of NAFDAC under the carpet, we cannot guarantee industrial peace,” the union warned.

Director-General of the Centre for Management Development (CMD), Dr Kabir Usman Kabo, has warned unaccredited management training institutions and uncertified management consultants to close shop in their own interest or face the wrath of the law.

A press statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Abdulkadir Ahmed Ibrahim, said Kabo sounded the warning in Kaduna while on an accreditation visit to management consultants and management training institutions in the state.

He said the Nigerian Council for Management Development Act assigns the council a regulatory role by providing it the right to sanction and/or prohibit any management consultant and/or training institution from commencing, undertaking, carrying on or mounting training programmes in the country without accreditation by the council. The CMD which is a parastatal under the National Planning Commission is the operational arm of the council.

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I, formerly Mr Emmanuel Oseni now MR OSENI EMMANUEL OLUGBENGA SALISU. All former documents remain valid.

Diamond Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adenijo Adenike Olajumoke now MRS JINADU ADENIKE OLAJUMOKE. All former documents remain valid.

EcoBank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Adegboyega Wasiu Adisa now WASIU KOLA ADISA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Babatunde Omobolade Olubukola now MRS. AWERE OMOBOLADE OLUBUKOLA MARYAM. All former documents remain valid. general Public Note.

I, formerly Miss Awolana Oluwabunmi Aderonke now MRS. EDUN OLUWABUNMI ADERONKE. All former documents remain valid. general Public Note.

I, formerly Miss Ogundana Oluwatoyin Titilayo now MRS. KUSIMO OLUWATOYIN TITILAYO. All former documents remain valid.

Ogun State Civil Service and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Mokunolu Aderonke Illiat now MRS. COKER ADERONKE ILLIAT. All former documents remain valid. IBEDC and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ojo Racheal Foluwake now MRS. ADESANYA RACHEAL FOLUWAKE. All former documents remain valid.

IBEDC and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adeyinka Rashidat Oluwakemi now MRS. SOYOMBO RACHEAL OLUWAKEMI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Inaolaji Abiola Mariam now OGUNMODEDE ABIOLA MARIAM. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mustapha Iyabo Fatimoh now MABINUORI IYABO FATIMOH. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Kudirat Adenike Lawal now MRS KUDIRAT ADENIKE ASAMU. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Temitope Florence Braimah now MRS TEMITOPE FLORENCE ADEGBOLA. All former documents remain valid.

Splash F.M. 105.5 and general Public Note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Awobajo Risikat Titilayo now MRS AGBABIAKA RISIKAT TITILAYO. All former documents remain valid.

Emmanuel Alayande College of Education and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Benedicta Nkechi Anoruo now MRS BENEDICTA NKECHI MKPO OBODOZIE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Philomena Olatokewa Olayinka Giwa am the same person as Philomena O. Giwa now wish to be known and addressed as PHILOMENA OLATOKEWA OLAYINKA GIWA. All documents bearing these names remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Esther Taiwo Adewuyi now MRS ESTHER TAIWO SASERE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Moshood Lateefat Adenike now MRS GASALI LATEEFAT ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid.

Oyo SUBEB, Kajola LGUBEB and general public take note.

I, formerly Amanchukwu Onyinye A. now MICHAEL ONYINYE A. All former documents remain valid.

Fidelity Bank, FBN, Access Bank and general public take note.

I, formerly Olaniyi Kudus Olanrewaju now OYENIYI KUDUS OLANREWAJU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to inform the general public that I, AROGUNDADE ADUKE OMOWUNMI am the same person as MRS AROGUNDADE ABIODUN ABOSEDE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Adegbowo Tosin Adebayo now ADEGBOWO OLUWATOSIN JOSIAH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Akande Elizabeth Jenyo now OLATUNJI ELIZABETH JENYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Ogbu Uzoamaka Nneka am the same person as Ogbu Uzoh. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as OGBU UZOAMAKA NNEKA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, OSAGIE MOSES ENOCH am the same person as OSAGIE MOSES UYI . All documents bearing these names remain valid. FBN and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Adewole Blessing now MRS AWODELE BLESSING . All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Babatunde Janet Yemi now SOLOMON JANET. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Olafisoye Elizabeth Bosede now MRS OLURIMISI ELIZABETH BOSEDE. All former documents remain valid.

Ondo State Local Government and general public take note.

I, formerly Mercy Omoye Ebhohon now MERCILINA OMOYE ISIDAHOMEN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Olupona Samuel Babatunde am the same person as Olupona Emmanuel Olatunde. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as OLUPONA SAMUEL BABATUNDE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. SUBEB, Ondo State and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Olorunjuwon Orofin now OROFIN JUWON TONY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, OLAPADE SABAINAH (with date of birth 12/6/1969 in my voters card and 21/4/1950 in my BVN) am the same person as ADERELE SEKANDE GRACE (as written on my BVN) All documents bearing these names remain valid. UBA and general public take note.

I, AMBODE OLUWADOYINSOLA IFEOLUWAPO (with date of birth 21/2/1992 in my Access Bank Account) am the same person as AMBODE DOYINSOLA VIVIAN (with date of birth 21/2/ 1996 in my Zenith Bank Account).

All documents bearing these names remain valid. Access Bank, Zenith Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Jeremiah Ayomipe Johnbull now MR JEREMIAH IKIOTIEMOH JOHNBULL. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adenike Oluwaseun Micheal now MRS AKINYOOYE ADENIKE OLUWASEUN. All former documents remain valid. UBA, EcoBank and general public take note.

I, Mosan Moyin Femi am the same person as Mosan Oluwafemi, Mosanlehinwon Moyin and Mosanlehinwon Moyin Oluwafemi.

Now wish to be known and addressed as MOSAN MOYIN FEMI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

39 CHANGE OF NAME

Friday, 11 December, 2015 CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ijeoma Anita Ikeadighim now MRS. EDMOND ANITA IJEOMA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Asis Kasimu now MR. AZEEZ QOZIM AFOLABI. All former documents remain valid.

Wema Bank, Access Bank, EcoBank and general public take note.

I, formerly Ogundare Olamide Precious now SANNI OLAMIDE PRECIOUS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Opeyemi Kolawole Oladipupo now ABDULGAFARI OLADIPUPO. All former documents remain valid.

Wema Bank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Nwosu Anthony C. now LUKE CHISOM IHEUKWU. All former documents remain valid.

Access Bank Plc., and general public take note.

I, formerly Nwogu Casmir Eze now NWAIWU CASMIR ONYEDIKA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, Adekanbi Oladipupo Amoo hereby declare that, the name called and addressed as ADEKANBI OLADIPUPO AMOO and ADEKANBI, ROBERT are still the same person, mine, correct and remain valid. General public take note.

I, Oluyemisi Ayoni Adeyemi am the same person as Oluyemisi Adeyemi. Henceforth, I wish to be known and called OLUYEMISI ADEYEMI. All documents bearing these names remain valid.

GTBank, UBA Bank and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Fashina Temitope Dorcas now MRS. OLABAMIJI TEMITOPE DORCAS. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Odigbo Oluchi Clara now ODIGBO CHINYEAKA LOVETH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Ibekwe Tyna Chinyere now IWUCHUKWU TYNA CHINYERE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Fawole Kehinde now WASIU KEHINDE and I was born on 3rd November, 1980. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Rahamat Omolara Afolabi now MRS. RAHAMAT OMOLARA AZEEZ. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Hospital Management Board and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Oyindamola Ayotomiwa Kehinde now MRS. OYINDAMOLA AYOTOMIWA OLAJIDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Badiru Fausat Tayo now MRS. OJO FAUSAT TAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ekpenyong Ima-Obong Alice now MRS. ADEWALE IMA-OBONG ALICE and I was born on 24th October, 1969. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Bakare Oluwabunmi Temitayo now OLUWABUNMI TEMITAYO YUSUF. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mrs. Okesola Olubunmi Adebimpe now MISS ADEGOKE OLUBUNMI ADEBIMPE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Joseph Charity Ozioma now MISS ONYEJI CHARITY OZIOMA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Sangodokun Abigeal Opeolu now MRS. OLALERE ABIGEAL OPEOLU. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Hospital Management Board and general public take note.

I, formerly Ogundeji Olasunkanmi now OLUWADEJI OLASUNKANMI DAVID. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Akinola Tosin Deborah now MRS. FAYEMI TOSIN DEBORAH. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adewale Adenike Aderemi now MRS. ODEYEMI ADENIKE ADEREMI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adameh Esther Oreoluwa now MRS. AYODELE ESTHER ELEOJO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Agbeyo Oyebola Victoria now MRS TASIU OYEBOLA VICTORIA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, Mrs Babatunde Adejoke am the same person as Mrs Oladokun Joke. Now, I wish to be known and called MRS BABATUNDE ADEJOKE. All documents bearing these names remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Mr. Jimoh Oluwole Gbadamosi now MR. JIMOH OLUWOLE GBADAMOSI FAKOLUJO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Alebiosu Rafiat Bolanle now MRS BALOGUN RAFIAT BOLANLE. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc and general public take note.

I, formerly Biniboi Emmanuel Chukwudi now ADAGBON EMMANUEL CHUKWUDI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adebisi Adenike Modinat now MRS MUSTAPHA ADENIKE MODINAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ogunsoto Esther Aina now MRS. AYOOLA ESTHER AINA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Tijani Ramota Morenikeji now MRS RAJI RAMOTA MORENIKEJI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mr Olawuwo Oyebamiji now MR OYEBAMIJI GBOLAHAN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Aladegbola Motunrayo now OLALEKAN MOTUNRAYO. All former documents remain valid.

ABUAD, Ido Ekiti and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Aderonke Gloria now MRS ODUEKO ADERONKE GLORIA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Moyinoluwa Mojisola now KOLAWOLE ABIKE RONKE. All former documents remain valid.

ABUAD, Ido Ekiti and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Rasidi Bayonle Azeez now DAVID BAYO FOLORUNSO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Femi Anthony Eranmosel now IZEMELEN JONAH FEMI. All former documents remain valid.

Zenith Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly David Friday Oladele now ENEMALI DAVID FRIDAY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr. Oshinaike Michael Mukail now MR. OSHINAIKE MICHAEL MAYOWA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Sanya Adetutu Oluwayomibo now MRS ADEYEYE ADETUTU OLUWAYOMIBO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Afolabi Lukman now AFOLABI ADEBAYO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Godwin Kate Angela now GODWIN CATHERINE ANGELA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Enogieru Vivian Ayo now MRS ODUGBESAN VIVIAN AYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Abe Blessing (Ibukun) Angela now MRS. OLARENWAJU BLESSING HELEN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mrs. Adeyemo Kehinde Mojisola am the same person bearing Mrs. Tijani Kehinde Mojisola. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as MRS. ADEYEMO KEHINDE MOJISOLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. GTBank Plc., and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Akinnawonu Olalekan Olakunle am the same person bearing Akinnawonu Olalekan Olakunle, Akinnawo Olalekan Olaolu and Olalekan Akinnawonu.

Now I wish to be known and addressed as AKINNAWONU OLALEKAN OLAKUNLE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Yale Foods Limited and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Adejoke Grace now MRS. OGUNLEKE ADEJOKE GRACE. All former documents remain valid.

Keystone Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Samuel Idowu Olayinka now SAMUEL TAIWO YINKA. All former documents remain valid.

Guaranty Trust Bank and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Mr. Gbadamosi Lukuman am the same person as Mr. Badmus Oluwatoyin Lukeman. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as MR. BADMUS TONY LUKEMAN. All documents bearing these names remain valid. SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Mojisola Olanike Ogunsola now MRS. MOJISOLA OLANIKE ADEYEMO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sulaman Lamidi Wale now SULEMAN HAMMED. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Patience Patrick now MRS ODUTUGA PATIENCE BAMIDELE. All former documents remain valid. De Young Comprehensive and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Giwa Samuel now IMODU SAMUEL BEN. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, Fidelity Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oyebamiji Latifa Abimbola now MRS OLUSOLA LATIFA ABIMBOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeleke Anatu Omolara now MRS ADEYEMO ANATU OMOLARA. All former documents remain valid. Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Miss Adesoye Adebayo am the same person as Miss Adesoye Adebayo Remi. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as MRS. ALADEJAYAN ADESOYE OLUSOLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. SUBEB and general public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

My full and correct name is: MR. OGUNLEKE ADEWUMI, and not Mr. Ogunleke Adewumi Joshua.

All former documents remain valid. GTBank, and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Olaniyan Oluwafemi Alabi now AFOLABI LAWRENCE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Olowokere Seun Elizabeth now MRS. FADIPE SEUN ELIZABETH. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Osijirin Maryam Oluwatobi now MRS. ADEBESIN MARYAM OLUWATOBI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Olujide Arinola Muslimat now MRS. DARE ARINOLA MUSLIMAT. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sani Olaniyi Dauda now QUADRI OLANIYI DAUDA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ofoegbu Christian Nze now CLIFFORD CHRISTIAN NZE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Alarape Sadia now SALAWUDEEN ALIMAT. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Kareem Yidiat now MRS. KAREEM YIDIAT OLABAMIKE. All former documents remain valid.

Lagelu Education Authority and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Eniock Adekanbi now FAMORIYO ADEKANMI OWOFOL. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Yetunde Olufayode Adefalujo now MRS. YETUNDE OLUFAYODE DIPO-TAIWO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Akinsanmi Olayinka Abiodun now MRS. HARUNA OLAYINKA BLESSING. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Abdulwahab Mallam Abdulrasheed now ADEYEMO ABDULRASHEED ADEKUNLE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adelabu Christiana Omoniyi now MRS. BABALOLA OMONIYI OMOWUMI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Bolatito Adeolu Adesina now MRS. BOLATITO ADEOLU IYAOGEH. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oladapo Samuel Olaniyan now OLADAPO SAMUEL OMISORE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Oyewale Salam Tajudeen now TAJUDEEN NIYI OYEWALE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc., UBA and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Agbolade Olawumi Bola now MRS OSUNDINA OLAWUMI OYEBOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Ajiferuke Rasheedat Taiwo now MRS OWOLOLA RASHEEDAT TAIWO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Oguntomiloye Paulinah Olufunke now MRS ISRAEL PAULINE FUNKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, Badmus Kerimot Adenike am the same and one person bearing Kerimot Adenike Badmus, Badmus Omolola and Badmus Kerimot Adenike. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as BADMUS KERIMOT ADENIKE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ogundeji-VictoriaOluranti now AJEWOLE VICTORIA OLURANTI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mrs Ogunniyi Selmot Adetoun now MRS AGBOGUNLERI SELMOT ADETOUN. All former documents remain valid. Central Bank of Nigeria, Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Madiu Rabiu now MADIU MUHAMMADU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Omogoriola Florence Ojuolape now MRS OLABIYI FLORENCE OJUOLAPE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank, Wema Bank, Babcock University and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Adeniran Abidemi Fatimo now MUDASHIRU FOLASHADE ADENIRAN ABIDEMI. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Eludipo Temitayo Olajumoke now MRS EBIEMI TEMITAYO OLAJUMOKE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

40 CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Jennifer Chinonye Ezeaghaukwu now MRS JENNIFER CHINONYE EZE. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Osaro Idowu Kingsley, base on my religious reasons. Now wish to be known and addressed as BRODRICK IDOWU KINGSLEY. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Babatunde Oluwatoyin now MRS KUTI OLUWATOYIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Amos Nse Bosede now MRS ADEOLA NSE BOSEDE. All former documents remain valid.

Oyo State TESCOM and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Alaluburida Saliu Ayansina now ALALIBUDA SOLIU ADESINA . All former documents remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Tijani Olanrewaju Abdullahi now TIJANI ABDULLAHI JAFAR. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ogunsola Segun Micheal now OLUWASANJO SEGUN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Fagbohun Veronica Oluwaranti now MRS TAIWO VERONICA OLUWARANTI. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mr Igbang Monday Michael now MR JOHN MONDAY MICHAEL. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Tijani Nafiu Titilope now TIJANI NAFIU OLAYIWOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Abdulazeez Abiola Abdulmajeed now ABDULAZEEZ MAJEED. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ifaloseyi Ifadare now OJOAWO IFADARE IDOWU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Makinde Obedat Ayoni now SALAHUDEEN OBEDAT AYONI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Adeyemi Risikat Omolara now MRS MURITALA RISIKAT OMOLARA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

Friday, 11 December, 2015 CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, formerly Oluwamuyiwa Emmanuel am the same person as Martins Muyiwa Emmanuel now wish to be known and addressed as MARTINS OLUWAMUYIWA EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid.

First Bank, G.T.B., N.I.S., University of Ibadan and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Agoh Maritha Chioma now MRS NWAODU MARITHA CHIOMA. All former documents remain valid. ARCSSTE-E, NASRDA and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Faibo Sherifat Omolara now MRS WALE-AJAYI SHERIFAT OMOLARA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Dauda Hussaina Naomi now MISS HUSSAINA DIVISION. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Yusuf Abdulwasiu Bukola now WASIU ODUKOJO YUSUF. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Amaka Ken now PASCAL ORJI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Omoboye Micheal now AJOYO ABEL ORIOLA. All former documents remain valid.

FCMB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mr Lawal Temitope now MR LAWAL SEGUN AUSTIN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ajani Maria Oyebola now ADARAMOLA MARIA OYEBOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Tijani Rodiat Oluwakemi now MRS OMOTOSHO RODIAT OLUWAKEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Iliasu Salau now SALAUDEEN ILIAS ADIGUN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to inform the general public that in some of my documents, my name appears as MRS OYEYEMI OLABISI OMOBONIKE while some other documents, it was written as MRS OYEYEMI OLABISI TENIOLA. Any documents with any of the above names refers to the same person and remain valid.

First Bank, Union Bank, UBA, GTB Bank nd general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Orayoka Agbepajo now FAKAYODE OPEYEMI DARE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mrs Raifu Rashidat Olubisi now MRS AFOLABI RACHEAL OLUBISI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Falade Racheal Orire now MRS OGUNDIPE RACHEAL ORIRE. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Police Force and general public take note.

I, Filani Kikelomo Deborah am the same person as Filani Deborah and Fulani Kikelomo now wish to be known and addressed as FILANI KIKELOMO DEBORAH. All documents bearing these names remain valid. UBA, Skye Bank, Nigerian Immigration Service Commission and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Adebayo Adebusola Modupeola now MRS OKE ADEBUSOLA MODUPEOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss SogoAgboola Aminat Biodun now MRS JAIYEADE AMINAT BIODUN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Alhassan Mohammed now MR HASSAN MOHAMMED. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Alabi Elizabeth Oluwatoyin now MRS BANKOLE ELIZABETH OLUWATOYIN. All former documents remain valid. Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Oyewale Mark Oyemomi now MARK OYEWALE OLUWAMOMI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Musedik Ogunleye now MUSE OGUNLEYE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Adeleke Elizabeth Mojirayo now MRS FASS ELIZABETH MOJIRAYO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Salako Adenike Wonuola now MRS OYEDELE ADENIKE WONUOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Danjuma Abbas now ABBAS SALISU. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Azeez Mumuni now MR OMONIYI AZEEZ MUMUNI. All former documents remain valid. First Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mikael Waliyat Adebimpe now MUKAILA WALIYAT ADEBIMPE . All former documents remain valid. GTBank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Raifu Wasiu Arisekola now AKANBI WASIU BANKOLE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Alasi Nafisat Tunrayo now MRS ANIMASAHUN NAFISAT TUNRAYO. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Fapohunda Temilola Julianah now MRS OKON TEMILOLA JULIANAH. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Odedele Opeyemi Funmilayo now ADETOLA OPEYEMI FUNMILAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Aisida Olalekan Olayinka now BALOGUN SIKIRU ADEKUNLE OLALEKAN. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Olaegbe Abideen now OLASUPO ARISEKOLA OLAITAN. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Olanrele Morolake Olayemi now MRS ALABI MOROLAKE OLAYEMI. All former documents remain valid.

TETFUND and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Olaniyi Nike now ADEOLA ARIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Babafemi Oluwaseyi now IKUMMUYITE BABALOLA OLUFEMI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ibrahim Maminetu Ileigo now Goodness Aruwa. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mufutau Olayinka Odumosu now ADEMOLA FASASI. All former documents remain valid. UBA and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Chibueze Chidimma Eunice now MRS NNABUIHE CHIDIMMA EUNICE. All former documents remain valid. Imo State University and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Ajoke Abosede Olasiyan now MRS EGBEBODE AJOKE ABOSEDE. All former documents remain valid.

SUBEB, Osun State and and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Ojuade Misitura Ajibike now MRS AWORELE GRACE AJIBIKE. All former documents remain valid. Ife East Local Government, Oke-Ogbo, Ile-Ife and general public take note.

I, formerly Miss Durojaye Amudat Oluwaseun now MRS OLAKUNMBI SADE AMUDAT. All former documents remain valid.

Access Bank and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Mr Lamidi Yinusa now MR ADEYEMO YUNUS HAMMED. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ajibola Azeez now YUSUF AZEEZ ARISEKOLA. All former documents remain valid.

First Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Fadola Salome Tolulope Abiola now ADEFISOYE SALOME TOLULOPE ABIOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Okunlade Elizabeth now BALOGUN ELIZABETH ABEKE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Otitoola Blessing Olamide now MRS ADEOTIOTITOOLA BLESSING OLAMIDE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Mr Malachy Peter Umo now MR MALACHY UDOH UDOH. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Ajiboye Sherif now NURENI SHERIF. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Awujoola Monsurat Bukola now ADEJARE MONSURAT BUKOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Jubril Abibat Adedunni now SHITTU ABIBAT ADEDUNNI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly Miss Kamorudeen Sekinat Adeola now MRS OLAGBENRO SEKINAT ADEOLA. All former documents remain valid. Oyo SUBEB and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Oyeleye Mujidat Bisi now MRS FEHINTOLA MUJIDAT BISI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Yusuf Kudirat Nike now MRS ABDULFATAI KUDIRAT NIKE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Adewale Sherif Akinkunmi now ASIMIYU SHERIFDEEN AKINKUNMI. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Funmilayo Fausat Oduwole now MRS FUNMILAYO FAUSAT OLORUNTOLA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

I, formerly Morkah Nkemdilim Jude now NKEMDILIM JUDE PRINCE. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Omobulejo Olamide Damilola am the same person as Omobulejo Faith Damilola Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as OMOBULEJO OLAMIDE DAMILOLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Lateef Bose Ayobami am the same person as Lateef Abosede Rofiat.

Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as LATEEF BOSE AYOBAMI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Ajayi Grace Adenike now MRS OLADOJA GRACE ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Azeez Ashiat Iyabo am the same person as Azeez Moradeyo Iyabo now MRS ADELEKE MORADEYO IYABO. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Mr Kathy Johnson now MR AFOLABI MOSHOOD OLALEKAN . All former documents remain valid. Access Bank Plc and general public take note.

CORRECTION OF DATE OF BIRTH

I, Akintunde Olufemi Rufus hereby stated that my correct date of birth is 6th day of June 1971 and not 6th day of June 1978. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, Komolafe Oluwafemi Umar-Farouk am the same person as Komolafe Umar Farook. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as KOMOLAFE OLUWAFEMI UMAR-FAROUK. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Fakunle Opeyemi Ololade, am the same person as Miss Salau Ololade Hamdalat.

Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as MISS SALAU OLOLADE HAMDALAT. All documents bearing these names remain valid. UBA and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Miss Oderinde Sarah Olayinka now MRS ILUPEJU SARAH OLAYINKA. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Oluwatoyin Olurike Odugbesan now MRS OLUWATOYIN OLURIKE OLANREWAJU. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Samuel Stephen Olorunfemi am the same person as Sule Idowu Taofeek and Sule Idowu Stephen. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as SAMUEL STEPHEN OLORUNFEMI. All documents bearing these names remain valid. Crown Polytechnic, AdoEkiti and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Ismaila Olayide Emmanuel now OLADOJA OLAYIDE EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Miss Olayiwola Oyindamola Odunola now MRS EGUNLETI OYINDAMOLA ODUNOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

41

Friday, 11 December, 2015

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Muhammad Ali moves against Trump’s anti-Muslim campaign

Activists of the Awami Ittihad party get into a scuffle with Indian policemen during a protest to mark International Human Rights Day in Srinagar, India, on Thursday. PHOTO: AP.

One of the most well-known Muslims in the United States, Muhammad Ali appears to have joined the rising chorus of criticism of United States Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, over his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

In a short statement entitled “Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States,” the VOA said former heavyweight boxing champion, Ali, urged his fellow Muslims to push back against “those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda.”

Trump has been under fire since unveiling his proposal earlier this week in a written

Human Rights Day: Challenges

threaten world peace, UN says

A

s the world observes International Human Rights Day on Thursday, the top United Nations human rights official is warning that “many challenges remain” to ensure freedom, justice and peace across the world.

International Human Rights Day is a commemoration of the date in 1948 when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, a milestone document outlining basic international rights norms, VOA said.

The declaration and subsequent human rights treaties “have played an important role in securing better respect and recognition (of rights) during the past five at times turbulent decades,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

“Of course, many challenges remain,” he added

in the video statement. “But respect for freedom continues to be the foundation for peace, security, and development for all.”

U.N. officials are using this year’s commemoration to draw attention to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which were adopted in 1966.

“The two Covenants, together with the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, form the International Bill of Human Rights, setting out the civil, political, cultural, economic, and social rights that are the birth right of all human beings,” the U.N. said in a statement.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added: “On Human Rights Day, let us recommit to guaranteeing the fundamental freedoms and protecting the human rights of all.”

Climate Change: Politics, money cloud hopes for climate deal With less than 48 hours to go before a Friday deadline, delegates of 196 countries meeting in a Paris suburb are in a race to reach a wide-reaching climate agreement, but hurdles over money and targets remain large.

The VOA reported that a 29-page draft of the agreement released on Wednesday shows differences remain substantial, especially on key questions involving the responsibility of richer nations to fund climatechange programs for poorer countries.

Core areas of dispute also include the demand by developing nations for an agreement and corresponding commitments to prevent global temperatures from rising a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels.

Industrialised nations

that still depend largely on coal and other fossil fuels are arguing for a goal of 1.5 degrees.

The less ambitious target would enable them to ease dependence on fossil fuels more gradually and lessen the trauma to their economies.

French President Francois Hollande called these last few hours “a decisive moment.”

France’s President Francois Hollande (centre), holds a box containing an international petition to support the climate talks as he poses with religious figures for a group photo at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on Thursday. PHOTO: AP.

statement and a campaign rally in South Carolina, in response to a shooting rampage at a government center in San Bernardino, California that left 14 people dead.

The attack was carried out by a husband-and-wife Muslim couple investigators say had been “radicalised.”

Although he didn’t mention the leading Republican candidate by name, the 73-year-old Ali said political leaders who have openly denounced his religion “have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.”

Originally born Cassius

Clay in 1942, Ali joined the Nation of Islam in 1964 and changed his name shortly after winning the first of his three heavyweight titles. He was stripped of his title after he was convicted on draft evasion charges for refusing to be drafted in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

Muhammad Ali

otherNEWS

Trump postpones Israel trip, says he’ll meet Netanyahu as US president United States Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, said he is postponing a trip to Israel, saying he will reschedule talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he becomes president.

Trump made the remark on Twitter amid protests by Israeli lawmakers, both left and right wing, over his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

News reports this week had said a meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in Israel was scheduled to take place December 28.

At least 37 Israeli legislators, most from the opposition, who make up almost a third of the 120-seat Knesset, signed a letter to Netanyahu calling on him to cancel the meeting unless Trump withdraws his comments.

Obama signs sweeping education reform bill

US gives Cameroon equipment to fight Boko Haram

Students at a summer reading academy at Buchanan elementary school work in the computer lab at the school in Oklahoma City. PHOTO: AP.

The United States has offered tactical war equipment to support Cameroon in its fight against Boko Haram.

The equipment, according to VOA, was received late Wednesday, two months after the United States deployed troops to Cameroon to help the central African nation fight the Islamist militant group.

Michael Hoza, United States ambassador to Cam-

President Barack Obama signed sweeping education reforms into law on Thursday, giving states and local communities new authority to set standards for students and teachers and limiting the scope of benchmark testing, VOA reported.

“After more than 10 years, members of Congress from both parties have come together to revise our national education law,” Obama said.

eroon, said the tactical war equipment, high technology combat vehicles and high power generators are a gift from the American people to help Cameroon crush the terrorist group Boko Haram.

“They provide water, electricity, maneuverability etc.

They follow the delivery of armored vehicles that actually engage in combat with the enemy, but it is just equipment,” Hoza said.

U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon Michael HozaU.S. Ambassador to Cameroon Michael Hoza.

“The real fight is done by the courage of Cameroonian military forces. We are very proud to partner with them. We will not only deliver equipment but we will continue delivering information, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and we will provide assistance in training,” Hoza said.

“This law focuses on a national goal of ensuring that all of our students graduate prepared for college and future careers.”

The law will still require states to administer reading math exams in the third through eighth grades of elementary schools in the U.S. and once in high school, but otherwise diminishes the federal government’s role in setting educational standards.

42

communitynews

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Bagii: Kingmakers seek Gov Ajimobi’s approval of candidate by tunde ogunesan

T

he eight kingmakers of Bagii Chieftaincy Council of Saki, in Oyo State have insisted on the selection of Prince Adegoke Abdur-Rasheed as the new Bagii-elect of Saki, calling on the governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to approve his selection.

The kingmakers stated this in a letter they jointly signed and made available to journalists in Ibadan at the weekend. The letter is sequel to a purported directive by the state. government through a letter dated November 23 with reference number C.B 141/25/442 that the selection process, which had been concluded, be reopened.

Those who signed the letter are Chief Shittu Olayiwola Apeeki of Saki; Chief Samson Atanda, Agoro Bagii; Chief Ganiyu Adebayo, Sobaloju; Chief Yekeen Salami, Baale Ibata; Chief Kareem Abokede, Baale Ayetoro. Others are Chief

Benjamin Olulande, Ikolaba Bagii; Chief Yekeen Oyedokun, Baba Bagii

and Chief Falohun, Baale Soloko.

It will be recalled that

Abdur-Rasheed was selected by the kingmakers in an election between him

and Prince Yusuff Olabode, who were presented by the Kujeniya ruling house.

From right, Pastor incharge of Province 33, Pastor Dele Jaiyeoba; Deputy Director of Education, Inspectorate Services & Teachers Secondary Dept, Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, Mrs. B.B. Makinde, representing the Ogun State Commissioner for Education; Zonal Education Officer, Sagamu, Mrs. O. M. Oloko and representative of the Baale of Ogijo, Chief Sunday Lawal, at the inauguration of block of classrooms in Ogijo Community Senior High School by The Redeemed Christian Church of God.

RCCG inaugurates block of classrooms in Ogun The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has commissioned a block of classrooms built and donated by the church to Ogijo Community High School, Ogijo in Ogun State.

Inaugurating the block on Tuesday, Pastor incharge of Province 33, Pastor Dele Jaiyeoba, said that the church “saw a need that we can meet and agreed with the school authorities to provide the block of classrooms.”

According to him, the school has classrooms, but they are not enough to cater for the teeming population of pupils, some of whom take their classes in the open air.

He said this moved the authorities of the church “to build the block of classrooms which are properly furnished and fitted with fans, set of tables and chairs to make learning conducive for our children.”

Pastor Jaiyeoba said that he is “trusting God that some of the pupils that will be taught in these classrooms will grow up to become leaders in Nigeria, doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants and other professionals and people of national and international renoun.”

He recalled that “RCCG has spent about N1 billion to meet the needs of people both in Nigeria and other parts of the 138 nations of

the world where we have our presence.”

Some of these needs, he said, include the provision of boreholes, street lights, school supplies, as well as grading of roads and medical outreach.

In her remarks at the commissioning ceremony, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs.

Modupe Modeta, represented by the Director of Secondary Education in the ministry, Mrs. Abosede Ogunleye said the gesture was “unique as it constitutes another clear testimony of the relentless effort of the church in assisting government to uplift the education standard of the state.”

She noted that since

“education is the most viable tool and catalyst for an all-round development, it is, therefore, highly imperative for all stakeholders to contribute their own meaningful quota.”

Welcoming guests to the ceremony, the principal of the school, Mr. T.A. Adekoya, thanked the RCCG for the gesture and appeal to Pastor E.A. Adeboye to

further intervene in other areas of the school’s need.

The Baale of Ogijo, who was represented by Chief Sunday Lawal, expressed his profound gratitude to Pastor Adeboye for “the spirit of love,” and prayed that “RCCG will continue to wax stronger.”

However, he wants Pastor Adeboye to “please bring a big church to Ogijo.”

BEDC set to restore power to Ondo communities Hakeem Gbadamosi-Akure

The people and residents of communities in the Southern Senatorial District of Ondo State are beginning to heave a sigh of relief as the management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company begins the process of restoring light to the area after two years of blackout.

The communities which include Odigbo, Irele, Okitipupa, Ilaje, Ese Odo, Iju Odo, Igbokoda, Igbotako, among others will be lightened up soon through the intervention of the state government.

This was disclosed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola, during an onthe-spot assessment of power infrastructure in the area.

Adelola, who appealed to the people of the communities to exercise more

patience, urged them to embrace community policing in order to improve security in the area.

While commending youths in the area for not taking the law into their hands during the period of blackout, the SSG assured that government would monitor the process of power restoration

to the area.

He reiterated the need to provide a conducive working environment for officials of the electricity company in order to accelerate the process.

Speaking on behalf of the communities, the Chairman of Odigbo Local Government Area, Mr Bitire Solomon, com-

mended the state government for being sensitive to the plight of the people.

He lauded the state government for taking steps to put an end to the perennial electricity problem in the area, assuring the people that government was always ready to execute developmental projects in the area.

The selection of a new Bagii came up after the demise of the immediate past occupant of the stool, Late Chief Muritala Oladepo.

The kingmakers stated that the management of Saki West Local Government Area had on September 29, wrote the Kujeniya ruling house of Bagii, whose turn it was to produce the next Bagii of Saki.

It stated stated that the ruling house had at its meeting of October 6 nominated Abdur-Rasheed and Olabode and forwarded their names to the kingmakers.

They said that the letter dated 0ctober 7 was meant to inform the management of Saki West Local Government Area, the heads of Kujeniya ruling house and the candidates about the selection meeting scheduled for October 8 at the Apeeki palace, Oke-Odo in Otun area of Saki.

The kingmakers stated that all the invited stakeholders and security agencies witnessed the selection, which produced AbdurRasheed.

They said they unanimously selected for AbdurRasheed, having observed all customary rites and oath of allegiance as required by the tradition that governs the selection for the chieftaincy stool.

According to the letter addressed to Governor Ajimobi: “The pattern of our votes was a product of not only physical consultation but spiritual and divine guidance,’’stating that they followed the Bagii Chieftaincy Declaration of 1958, which was approved and registered, as the Chiefs Law of Oyo State.

“Our respective titles and roles as kingmakers of Bagii of Saki is traditional and inherited from our forebears, from which we have not departed from. There has never been a situation where kingmakers sit to reconduct a selection process that had been concluded. It is a sacrilege,’’ they stated.

They called on the governor to approve the appointment of Abdur-Rasheed and allow any aggrieved member to seek legal redress.

Delta lawmakers lament bad roads Alphonsus Agborh-Asaba

The Delta State House of Assembly has expressed concern over the bad condition of roads across the three senatorial districts of the state.

It has, therefore, directed the Direct Labour Agency in the state to intervene in line with the law establishing it.

The Chairman, House Committee on Works,

Honourable Efe Ofobruku, who expressed the concern at the committee’s maiden meeting with the management of Direct Labour Agency in Asaba, appealed to the agency to embark on aggressive rehabilitation of roads without delay.

The lawmaker, while naming some of the roads, said although many of the roads were

federal roads, there was the need for their massive repairs as those plying thems are mostly deltans who suffer the effect.

Honourable Ofobruku, who represents Uvwie constituency, acknowledged the past good works of the agency, particularly during its early days, promising that the committee would collaborate

with the agency towards restoring its lost glory.

The Director-General of the agency, Honourable Franc Enekorogha, told the committee that of the 517 roads in the state, only two per cent are in good shape shape, while 17 per cent required minor.

He said the remaining 81 per cent were not qualified to be called roads.

43

commentary

Friday, 11 December, 2015

Mimiko: A template for healthcare delivery

Commencement of the Abiye Safe Motherhood programme in Ondo State.

By Gbenga Ogunremi

F

or Governor ‘Segun Mimiko of Ondo State, providing quality leadership and good governance is habitual. Leading the charge in providing such exemplary leadership is even a time-honored virtue.

This distinctive attribute is quite evident in the governor’s steadfast and strong resolve in the last six years to transform Ondo State into a centre of excellence in health service delivery, training and research.

The governor’s ambitious vision has since travelled far, its actualisation total and uncompromising. In fact, a globally acclaimed health revolution agenda whose initiatives and programs have been benchmarked for Africa and the rest of the third world was something perceived or imagined by many as a future possibility not just in Ondo State, but in the whole of Nigeria.

But today however, this feat is a reality in Ondo State, thanks to Mimiko’s drive, passion, ingenuity and commitment to excellence.

However, way back at the inception of the Mimiko administration in February 2009, the situation on ground in the health sector was a sad and deplorable state of affairs. Governor Mimiko corroborated this at a recent forum where he said that on assumption of office, he was confronted by “a poorly funded, inadequately equipped health infrastructure manned by an illmotivated and understaffed professional workforce.”

The governor went further, “It did not help matters that the 2008 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey(NDHS) put Ondo State as having the worst maternal and child health indices in the south west. In addition, Ondo had the unenviable reputation of being the only south western state and one of the few nationwide without a state-run teaching hospital for both under and postgraduate training at that time.”

In kick-starting the agenda implementa-

tion, the governor put at the front burner, the restructuring of the health sector in favour of the most vulnerable in the society, that is, pregnant women, children and the aged. He chose to give them top priority of medical attention.

This gave birth to the wonder initiative, The Abiye (Safe Motherhood) Program, whereby all pregnant women must be tracked from conception to delivery.

The Abiye program and its referral component, The Mother and Child Hospital, a well-structured and functional referral system were therefore part of a homegrown initiative put together six years ago to redress the frightening child and maternal mortality rate as earlier indicated in this article.

Six years down the line, this home-grown Abiye (Safe Motherhood) initiative, arguably one of the most successful healthcare initiatives in the developing world and a reference point locally and internationally, profoundly ensured in definitive terms that pregnancy was no longer a death sentence in Ondo State.

The statistics are there for everybody to see. Maternal mortality ratio in Ondo has reduced by over 70%, from a baseline of 545 per 100,000 births (NDHS 2008) to a verifiable 157 per 100,000 (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Ondo State Using Verbal Autopsies, 2015).

Findings also indicate that a facilitybased 5-year audit of maternal morbidity ratio at the Mother and Child Hospital, Akure, generally regarded as the busiest maternity centre in Nigeria with over 30,000 births, showed another 70% morbidity ratio reduction from 708 per 100,000 in 2010 to 208 per 100,000 in 2014.

With the hindsight that the highest percentage of maternal mortality is recorded from Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and Mission Homes Attendants (MHAs), and also in furtherance of its avowed commitment to achieving zero maternal deaths in the state, the Ondo State government recently launched the “Agbebiye” initiative, another component of the “Abi-

Maternal mortality ratio in Ondo has reduced by over 70%, from a baseline of 545 per 100,000 births (NDHS 2008) to a verifiable 157 per 100,000 (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Ondo State Using Verbal Autopsies, 2015) ye” Safe Motherhood Program.

To date, 5,712 pregnant women have been referred from various TBAs and HMAs to health facilities across the state, which according to reports have resulted in successful deliveries that included eleven twins, seven triplets and one quadruplet.

The first of its kind Medical Village in Nigeria, a center of medical excellence on Laje Road, Ondo town, which comprises of world-class facilities such as the Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic Centre, the Kidney Care Centre, the Trauma and Surgical Centre and the Mother and Child Hospital, has continued to promote medical tourism and provide world-class healthcare delivery at very affordable cost.

For instance, the governor’s vision of establishing a world class Trauma and Surgical Centre as part of an Emergency Medical System (EMS) was borne out of the need to check not only the state but the whole country’s high morbidity and mortality rates arising from all forms of trauma related injuries, particularly road traffic accidents.

Furthermore, as part of government’s Emergency Medical System (EMS), five base stations have been constructed at

flash points on major highways across the state, with ambulances and trained medical personnel on ground to cater for accident victims. To date, reports have it that 59 road crashes had been handled and 99 lives saved in the process.

It is also apposite to mention at this point that due to the world class quality of the facilities and medical personnel, the Trauma Centre and the Ondo Mother and Child Hospital have been fully accredited for Post Graduate Training in General Surgery, Orthopedics and Obstetrics & Gynecology respectively.

With this formal accreditation, Ondo State is now a proud owner of a Teaching Hospital, something that was lacking in the state for 40 years of her existence.

This indeed is another medical first by the Mimiko administration worthy of note.

The establishment of the State University of Medical Sciences, another in a series of medical firsts by the intuitive Governor Mimiko, was therefore to build on the already established enviable healthcare platforms.

Lastly, what I also consider to be a very profound area of impact in the health sector in the last six years would be the administration’s serious commitment to human capital development.

For example, from just five Consultants in 2009, Ondo State now boasts of 75, an increase of about 1000 per cent, coupled with a fantastic remuneration package.

This is a feat yet to be equaled by any other state in Nigeria.

These signature achievements enumerated above, and so many others that could not be highlighted here for want of space, have indeed put the state on the world map as several of government’s initiatives have not only received global accolades and awards, but have been benchmarked for Africa.

Ondo State under Governor Mimiko’s watch is indeed fast becoming established as a reference point in medical tourism in Nigeria and beyond.

Ogunremi is a public affairs commentator.

44

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Trump’s anti-Muslim demand sparks sharp backlash

F

rom the White House, the Pentagon, world leaders and Muslim advocacy groups there has come a barrage of criticism for billionaire Donald Trump after the leading United States Republican presidential candidate called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.

White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, called Trump’s rhetoric “offensive and toxic,” saying his plan “disqualifies him from serving as president” because he would be violating the U.S. Constitution if he implemented it, should he win the country’s 2016 presidential contest.

At the Pentagon, VOA said spokesman Peter Cook highlighted the military’s partnerships with Muslim nations as well as its own Muslim troops, and noted the security implications of anything that boosts Islamic State

Donald Trump

claims that the U.S. is at war with Islam.

“Anything that bolsters ISIL’s narrative and pits the United States against the Muslim faith is certainly not only contrary to our values, but contrary to our national

security,” he said, using an acronym for the militant group.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Trump’s proposal to bar Muslims until U.S. leaders can “figure out what is going on” about possible

new terror attacks is not what the Republican party or the country stand for.

“Freedom of religion is a fundamental constitutional principle. It’s a founding principle of this country,” Ryan said Tuesday.

Angela Merkel named Time’s Person of the Year

Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named Time’s Person of the Year, praised on Wednesday by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis.

Time also cited Merkel’s strong response to “Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine” and on its cover called her “Chancellor of the Free World.”

“Not once or twice but three times there has been reason to wonder this year whether Europe could continue to exist, not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft.

“You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow. For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is TIME’s Person of the Year,” Time editor, Nancy Gibbs, wrote.

The Associated Press said Merkel, 61, is just the fourth woman since 1927 to be chosen and the first since opposition leader Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines in 1986.

She is the first German since Willy Brandt, the West German chancellor named in 1970 for “seeking to bring about a fresh relationship between East and West” during the Cold War. In 1999, Time picked the German-born Albert Einstein as Person of the Century.

Wednesday’s news came in as Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, was leading a government press conference in the German capital, while Merkel herself was at an event in Leipzig. When asked about it by The Associated Press, Seibert said he had only just received word on his phone himself.

otherNEWS

US moves to tighten controls on visa-free travel

John Kerry

The United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would bar people who have visited Syria, Iraq or any “country or area of concern” in the past five years from a programme that allows visa-free entry to the United States.

VOA reported that the legislation is part of a bipartisan push to amend the Visa Waiver Programme that currently allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for stays of 90 days and less without first obtaining a visa from an embassy or consulate.

The bill, which passed 407-19

late Tuesday, would institute a series of changes, including requiring participating countries to check travellers against Interpol databases to determine whether they are wanted by law enforcement agencies based on ties to terrorism or criminal activity.

To prevent falsification of passports, the measure would require all 38 countries to issue what it calls “epassports” containing biometric information. The bill would require countries to be able to confirm that such documents are legitimate when they are scanned.

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says ruling party risks split over succession Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told his ruling ZANU-PF party on Wednesday it was in danger of splitting and accused rival factions of stoking division as they positioned themselves to eventually succeed him.

Mugabe, 91, and looking increasingly frail, has ruled the Southern African nation since independence from Britain in 1980 but has not named a successor or said if he plans to retire.

Last year in December, Mugabe fired his deputy

of 10 years Joice Mujuru, who was seen as very likely to succeed him. He accused her of fanning factionalism in ZANU-PF and plotting to remove him from power. Mujuru has denied the charges, Reuters said.

Without naming anyone, Mugabe told the ZANU-PF central committee that there were groups in the party that were openly and secretly manoeuvring to secure influential positions, which he said was disturbing the efficiency of the party.

30 per cent of Russian airstrikes target Islamic State, US says A United States official added to the criticism of Russia’s military campaign in Syria, saying on Wednesday only 30 per cent of Russian airstrikes have targeted Islamic State militants.

Western nations have accused Russia of focusing its strikes on Syrian opposition fighters in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, a charge Russian offi-

cials have denied.

U.S. envoy Brett McGurk, who met with U.S. and Iraqi military leaders in Baghdad on Wednesday, said the other 70 percent of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have hit opposition groups.

The Pentagon noted last month that Russian airstrikes had appeared more focused on Islamic State targets, after definitively

linking the extremist group to the bombing of a Russian jetliner in late October.

Meanwhile, Russia said Tuesday for the first time it used missiles fired from a submarine in the Mediterranean to strike Islamic State targets in northern Syria.

In a televised meeting, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Pres-

US soldiers attend to a wounded colleague in Kabul, Afghanistan. PHOTO: REUTERS.

A wounded military veteran is slated to be the first United States recipient of a penis transplant, according to doctors at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

If successful, the patient could have urinary and sexual function restored, VOA said.

Last year, South African doctors performed the first penis trans-

plant on a patient who had received a botched circumcision. Several months after the surgery, the patient was reportedly able to have an erection, allowing him to eventually father a child.

The transplant penis will come from a young deceased male, doctors said.

“It’s nice to be able to say this is finally becoming a reality,” Dr.

ident Vladimir Putin that cruise missiles targeted two positions near the extremist-controlled Syrian city of Raqqa.

“We can say with complete confidence that fairly serious damage was done to weapons stores and a factory for preparing [land] mines,” Shoigu said, adding that oil infrastructure near the Turkish border was damaged as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin

Wounded US veteran to receive penis transplant

Richard Redett, one of the eight Hopkins surgeons on the team, told the Baltimore Sun newspaper. For the U.S. surgery, a team of 25 to 30 will be involved in the tricky 12-hour procedure that will require the careful stitching of blood vessels and nerves.

As is the case with other transplant surgeries, there is a risk of rejection and infection. Some

anti-rejection drugs can cause serious side effects.

Johns Hopkins doctors say they eventually plan to provide penis transplants to 60 injured veterans as part of a trial. According to the BBC, research indicates that up to seven percent of combat veterans suffer genital injuries, many from blasts from improvised explosive devices.

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features

Friday, 11 December, 2015

You cannot have a good nation without good schools —Ajayi Dr Benedictus Ajayi is the national president of Loyola Old Boys Association of which the newly installed Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, is a member. In this interview by KEHINDE OYETIMI, he speaks about the association, among other issues. Excerpts:

Our education system is suffering and all hands must be on deck to bring back the glorious days. We have no other way to fix our nation.

This is the only way. We just must do it.

W

hat fond memories do you have of Loyola College?

Wonderful memories of relationships between different people from all walks of life! We lived together, worked together and studied together. We faced the future together. I recall my first day in Loyola. I felt so much at home. I never once looked back that I wished that I was somewhere else. There was that feeling of camaraderie that made people just want to be Loyolans in those days. The boarding house was very conducive, orderly and disciplined. We wake up when we were expected t o do so. We had play time. Everything was done as expected.

We took out studies seriously. Every Sunday, the school’s rules were repeatedly read to us after lunch. We referred to the twelve rules of the school as the twelve commandments. The senior prefect read them to us. I recall that the last one was going out without permission was expulsion. The school enforced it. If you went out without permission, that was the end, no matter whose child you were. It was a way of life with us there. Today, we are happy that such lifestyle of discipline and dedication to one’s priorities were placed in us. It is evident that we are the better for it. Many of us are doing very well in our various fields of professions. Our parents are happy and we are still very grateful to our parents and teachers. They counted nothing too precious in molding us. Life was indeed very good.

Do you find these things in our education system today?

They are totally lacking. Discipline is lacking. Parents have no time for their children at home and the teachers have no time for their students at school. The problem we are facing can be largely attributed to the loss of the boarding school.

We imbibed discipline in school. This is what is missing in our society. When we about corruption, it lies in indiscipline of the mind. Buhari has been called upon to fight corruption. Why should it be a former soldier? The reason is simple. He wants a disciplined society and I am amazed that people cannot understand that he stands out because he was a soldier and stayed a soldier. He has always been disciplined.

That is what we should try to inculcate in our youths. It is a troubling terrain for our young ones today. So many things are lacking; our values have been eroded.

Nothing appears to be sacrosanct to us as a nation and as a people. There is so much to be done and we believe that these things must be done. These are indeed challenging days to us. Our education system is suffering and all hands must be on deck to bring back the glorious days. We have no

sad because various governments have not looked at the implications of these new schools. Many of them are built without playgrounds. Playgrounds are where pupils are expected to develop team spirit and discipline. Schools which do not have playgrounds for their students are not good enough. You don’t go to school to learn to read and write alone. I can’t remember all I learnt in school but I can remember the teachers who were well behaved; I remember the values and other good things that we were taught outside the books. The teachers who taught us were honest, hardworking. I can’t forget any of them.

Dr Ajayi other way to fix our nation. This is the only way. We just must do it.

As a nation, we must take a cue from developed countries and ask ourselves very important questions. How do we come out of all of these? It is a quagmire and we must ensure that we do all in our power to come out of it. We are daily referred to as the giant of Africa. How much have we done to continually deserve such appellation? The bedrock upon which any nation can thrive and grow is education. There is no other way. We must be ready to put the issue of technological advancement seriously.

What has been the driving force in your association?

There are two major things that an alumni association should foster. The first is the feeling of been together and ensuring that nobody is isolated. The worst thing that can happen to anybody is to lose their history. When you can’t trace your roots,

it means you are lost. That is why people spend millions of naira to come back to Africa to trace their roots. To say that somebody went to school and it is better today than it was then is a credit to that person. But if you went to a school and you are afraid to say that’s my school then it means that things are not the way they should be.

Do you find it pleasant that some people are clamoring for the merger of schools, especially the very popular ones with history?

It is very sad because people who don’t learn from history will perpetually continue to fail; we need to be proud of our history. In those days, we were very proud of our schools and the pride we have created healthy rivalry among us. I remember the days when we went for football matches with other schools. Our uniforms were white all day. You cannot have a good nation without good schools. I am

The newly installed Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, is a member of your association. He is a former student of Loyola College. What is your charge to him?

My message is that he should never forget the values given to him when he was a student at Loyola College. The task before him should be the motto of the school: trust. The second is that he should shun corruption. I expect him to keep the flag flying. There are many expectations from the people of Ife and the people of Yoruba land. But importantly, he should know that there are many challenges that would be in front of him. The whole of humanity is looking up to him. We are confident that he would be perform credibly well.

As president of this association, what are your goals and objectives?

We look forward to returning Loyola College back to its former state of glory.

A few years ago when I visited the college, it showed signs of deterioration. This was because the government took over the college. We want renovation carried out in the school.

We must remember that today’s youths are tomorrow’s future. We have plenty of lands in this country. We have to pay attention to our young ones by making their school environments conducive to learning. We are hoping that the government should hand over these schools to their owners in order to maintain and return them back to their former glories.

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Friday, 11 December, 2015

occasions

featuresdesk@yahoo.com 081 118 450 48

Ilobu, Osogbo agog as Kumuyi rounds off crusade

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he city of Ilobu and the entire township of Osogbo was ecstatic, as the General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, visited Ilobu on Saturday, 28th November, 2015, and Pastor Moboluwaji Amonsa, the Region Overseer of Irepodun, was on ground to welcome him to the crusade.

At the crusade themed “Total Liberation,” Pastor Kumuyi, in his sermon, cited the example of Bartimaeus, noting that “He was determined, and as such, if you don’t take decision, the society will want to control your destiny.”

Among the many miracles recorded, Bolanle Oluyemi from Erin-Osun was delivered from stroke and partial paralysis; Modupe Olarinde from Ilobu was healed of arthritis; Asana Lekan from Erin Osun was healed of partial blindness, among others.

At Osogbo City Stadium, after the Osun State Overseer of DLBC, Pastor Biola Adeniran, welcomed all present, the Osun State DLBC mass choir performed “Arise and Believe in the name of Jesus,” after which Pastor Kumuyi was invited to the podium for ministration of the word of God and prayers.

In his message taken from Psalms 103:1, Pastor Kumuyi prophesied that deliverance, salvation and healing would be bestowed upon all, stating that “All you need to do is to turn away from sins, and because Jesus is alive you will receive your healing and deliverance.”

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1. The Region Overseer of Irepodun, Pastor Moboluwaji Amansa, discussing with the General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church Worldwide, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, at Ilobu after the crusade on Saturday, 28th November, 2015.

2. Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose, addressing the congregation during the combined service, held on Sunday, 29th November, 2015, at the Osogbo City Stadium.

There were testimonies from Adedeji Simeon from Osogbo who was healed of partial paralysis of 5 years; Okesina Oluwatoyosi from Halleluhyah Miracle District was healed of rheumatism in her left leg; Abigail Ojo from BCJ was delivered from fibroid; Victoria Ugwu from Igbonna was healed of mouth ulcer of 3 years, among others.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, who was at the event, appreciated Pastor Kumuyi, on behalf of the people of Osun, for holding the crusade in Osogbo, and stated that the crusade has brought financial liberation to the state.

The wife of the General Superintendent of DLBC Worldwide, Sis Esther Kumuyi, who

spoke at the combined service held on Sunday, 29th November, 2015, asserted that “The purpose of the GS going to regions is to see souls saved and he has vowed to preach till his last breath,” just as she noted that “it is the prayer of the church that has been sustaining him.”

In the same vein, a special guest of honour at the crusade, the wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose, relayed the greeting of her husband, Governor Ayo Fayose, and Ekiti people to Pastor Kumuyi, noting that Christians need to pray for the nation and, especially, Nigeria’s leaders.

Other dignitaries present include, Mrs Janet Olusola, wife of the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State; Mrs Tola Fasherota; Pas-

tor (Dr) Seyi Olusola, the Chaplain, Ekiti Government House Chapel and Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious Matters; Mrs Yemisi Afolabi; Mrs Olubunmi Oluwadayomi, Commissioner for Women Affairs; Mrs Funmilayo Ogunwale, Special Adviser on Widows Matters; Mrs Faseluka Adesola, wife of the Head of Service; Alhaja Gbenle Al Hassan, PDP Ekiti State Women Leader; Mr Makinde; Justice Olamide Folaranmi Oloyede; Pastor Segun Akinwusi, former head of service, Osun State; Mr & Mrs Bamidele Salam; CAN Chairman, Osun State, Reverend Elisha Ogundiya; PFN Chairman Osun State, Reverend Sumobo Ige; Lady Evangelist Bola Are, among others.

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Agbetuyi leads new ICAN Ijebu Ode and District Society exco It was celebration galore recently at the inauguration of the new executive committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Ijebu Ode and District Society.

The newly elected exco is led by the new chairman, Prince Adebisi Agbetuyi. In his acceptance speech Prince

Agbetuyi thanked the founding fathers of the District for laying a good foundation, adding that the District, noted for its ‘’Catch them young’’ programmes for Business and Commerce students of secondary schools will further encourage the students in their career path and also add value to the image of the District.

1. Prince Adebisi Agbetuyi 2. The new chairman, Prince Agbetuyi being decorated.

3. From left, Otunba Owoyemi, Mrs Oluseyi Williams, Prince and Princess Agbetuyi, Mrs Eyitayo and Mr Famade.

1 4

4. The new exco members

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tribunesport

Friday, 11 December, 2015

France ban Benzema

R

EAL Madrid striker, Karim Benzema has been suspended indefinitely from the French national team because of the blackmail case he is embroiled in, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Thursday.

Benzema was put under formal investigation by a French judge last month in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail international team mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex video.

“I have decided, it’s a decision from the president of the FFF and not from the executive committee or the ethics committee, that Karim Benzema cannot play for France until the situation evolves,” Noel Le Graet told a news conference.

Le Graet was not specific but his ruling could mean the player cannot be called up by the national team until he is convicted or cleared of the alleged offence.

Similar cases in France have dragged on for months and there is no guarantee this investigation will be completed before the country hosts Euro 2016 in June.

“As long as the judicial system has not decided that everything that has been published on Benzema is excessive, the federation will not change its mind,” Le Graet said.

“I urge the judicial system to speed up the process so those two boys can be together in front of the judge, and also at the French federation, so the sanction can be final.”

Benzema has denied any wrongdoing although he

has been banned from contacting anyone linked to the investigation including Olympique Lyonnais forward Valbuena.

Le Graet hinted if that sanction was lifted Benzema could possibly be called up again.

“It would be an interesting development,” he said. “If there is a new element, the

Benzema

situation will be analysed by the ethics committee.”

The scandal has been in the public domain since details of the investigation, as well as the transcript of Benzema’s hearing with a judge, were leaked by the French media.

“The French Football Federation cannot turn a blind eye to the wire taps that

THE second edition of the Seyi Akinwunmi Charity soccer mini tournament kicks off tomorrow at the Onikan Stadium Lagos.

The competition is being sponsored by Barrister Seyi Akinwummi, who is the first vice president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

and chairman, Lagos FA. This year’s tourney will run for three weekends with eight teams already drawn into two groups for semifinalists to emerge.

Team E-600 takes on Team MTN at 9am in the opening game billed for the Onikan Stadium to be

No Nigerian player makes semis seemed to be a day of upsets as some of the seeded players failed to advance in the competition.

Number two seed in the men’s singles, Spain’s Pere Riba could not finish his match against number five seed, Sadio Doumbia as he retired in the second set of their game which ended 6-2, 2-0. Zimbabwe’s Takanyi Garanganga, who is number five seed stopped Antal Van Der Duim of The Netherlands in two straight sets of 6-4, 6-0.

In the women’s singles,

have been published,” said Le Graet.

The FFF became a plaintiff in the case after Valbuena said in an interview with Le Monde that he was disappointed with his team mate.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said last week that Benzema should not play for France before he is cleared.

2015 Seyi Akinwunmi charity soccer tourney kicks off

Lagos Gov’s Tennis Cup: NO Nigerian player will feature in the semi-finals of the ongoing 15th Lagos Tennis Governor’s Cup Futures Three which hold today at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.

This follows the defeat of Christian Paul in the quarer-final of the men’s singles.

Paul who had defeated last year’s finalist, Ugandan Duncan Mugabe in the second round, on Thursday lost 6-1, 6-0 loss to South African Lloyd Harris, who is seeded number four.

Meanwhile, Thursday

Ogun will continue to boost sports development

tournament number one seed, Sherazad Reix of France could not complete the first set of her game against Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri. The match was called off at 4-0 with Eikeri leading.

Number eight seed, Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France upset Bulgarian Julia Terziyska, number three seed 6-1, 4-1 retired.

Conny Perrin of Switzerland dumped Prarthana Thombare 7-5, 6-2.

Number one seed in the men’s singles, Bosnia’s Aldin Setkic won his game

against Benin Republic’s Alexis Klegou 6-0, 6-3.

The semi final of the first leg holds today with Setkic meeting Harris, while Garangaga faces Doumbia.

In the women’s singles, Eikeri will face Andrianjafitrimo, while Perrin confronts Majeric.

The finals of Futures Three will hold tomorrow with prize money and trophies presented to the winners in the singles and doubles events, while the second leg (Futures 4) starts immediately with the qualifying matches.

followed by the game between 36 Lion Investments and BURUJ Academy, while Team LCM and Team WOZA will clash at 1pm, as Team ICOBA and Team TRINITY House clash in the last game of the day at 3pm.

On Sunday, all the teams will however, converge on the Campos Mini Stadium for the second round of matches.

A member of the LOC for the tournament who doubles as the president of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), Alhaji Tade Azeez revealed that the final will hold on Sunday, December 27 at the Campos Mini Stadium Lagos.

Azeez stated that the final would be preceded by an exhibition game between the two Lagos-based newlypromoted Glo Premier League sides, MFM FC and Ikorodu United FC. “This is to show Lagosians what the new Glo Premier League season has got in store for football loving Lagosians who have been clamouring for top flight football in Lagos for years now,” he said.

—Afuape

Olayinka Olukoya -Abeokuta

THE Ogun State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Afolabi Afuape has said that the Senator Ibikunle Amosunled government will not relent in developing sporting activities as a way of reducing unemployment in the state.

Afuape made the remarks while speaking at the interhouse sport competition of St. Joseph’s RCM Primary School held at the Rev. Kuti Memorial Grammar School, Isabo, Abeokuta.

He noted that sports development would reduce social ills among the youths if properly harnessed.

Afuape who was represented by Mr Afolabi Ogundimu appreciated the effort of the school management for organising the competition to discover hidden talents, adding that sporting competitions amongst schools in the state would always be supported by government.

In her remarks, the headmistress of St. Joseph’s RCM, Mrs Sukurat Bakenne, noted that sports personalities in the state such as Faliat Ogunkoya, Tajudeen Disu and Segun Toriola, among others were products of school sports, hence the need for the school to revive the school’s inter-house sports competition this year.

Bakenne stated that sport is a unifying factor apart from being a platform for the development of physical and mental wellbeing.

SIDELINES

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FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER, 2015

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A man in China, Xiao Gong who won $900 after swallowing a five-inch nail and saw blade has landed in hospital. Gong said he entered the contest in order to pay his rent. Perhaps, with unpaid rent and additional 600 dollars hospital bill hanging after his surgery, won’t Gong go for another contest?

Keshi (left) with his late wife, Kate, during the wedding ceremony of their daughters, Ifeyinwa, held recently in Benin-City, Edo State.

Sports ministry rescues Dream Team

Keshi loses wife

NIGERIA’S sports ministry has come to the rescue of the Dream Team VI who has not been paid at the time it booked a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympics and also qualified for the final of the ongoing African U-23 Nations Cup in Senegal.

“I can tell you on good authority that the team will now receive their cash right there in Senegal,” a top official disclosed.

The Samson Siasia boys defied the non-payment of their allowances and bonuses to reach the championship final against Algeria tomorrow in Dakar.

Dream Team VI trained for 10 days in The Gambia before they headed for the champion-

ship in Senegal and they have not received a kobo since they departed Nigeria.

“We have not been paid a kobo yet,” lamented a player of the team.

“We will continue to fly Nigeria’s flag in Senegal but God is watching us all.”

Coach Siasia was generous to give each player $100 from his pocket after they qualified for the semi-final of the competition.

The team was also not paid a bonus for holding Congo Brazzaville in Pointe Noire to qualify for the U-23 AFCON proper.

It will be recalled that Siasia was also queried for making public that he has not been paid for several months.

Says she was a sister to me

Saliu Gbadamosi - Abuja

F

ORMER Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, has lost his wife, Kate.

This was confirmed in a statement signed on behalf of the family by Emmanuel Ado and made available to Tribunesport in Abuja on Thursday.

“With gratitude to God the family of Mr Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (CON) announces the death of our dear wife, mother, daughter, sister Mrs Kate Keshi, nee Abureme.

“She died in the United States of America. She has in the last three years battled with cancer. She gave a good fight until she finally succumbed yesterday.

“She is survived by her husband of 33 years, four children, her mother, brother and sisters and numerous relatives,” the statement read.

Keshi is still in a state of shock following the development.

“She was ill for a while now and I’m still in shock of this great loss.

“She is more like a sister to me and was the rock behind me and everything I do. My love for her was at first sight,” Keshi said.

The former coach of Mali and Togo revealed that the burial arrangements will be made public in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has sent a condolence message to the former national team handler.

The NFF president, Mr Amaju Pinnick, spoke at length with Keshi by phone on Thursday afternoon after the sad incident.

“This is devastating. To lose a spouse is the equivalent of a tragedy.

I pray that Almighty God will give you and the children the fortitude to bear this huge loss.

“Keshi is a Nigerian hero and we mourn deeply with him at this time. This has come like a big blow,

but we pray that he receives divine strength to cope with the situation, and we also pray that the Almighty God will grant the departed eternal rest,” Pinnick added.

Meanwhile, former former Super Eagles team coordinator, Emmanuel Attah, has also commiserated with the former Nigeria captain.

Attah wrote on his Facebook wall: “A very sad day for me. Received early this morning the news of the death in far away USA, of the woman I fondly called my mummy.

The wife of the coach I so love and worked with in the Super Eagles, the Big Boss Stephen Keshi, Simply unbelievable, it’s like a dream.

“But who are we mortals to question God’s will, for he alone lives forever. Rest in Peace mummy.

My big Boss, it’s a big loss to us, be consoled and take heart. She was so passionate about the national team and always praying for us to succeed.”

Siasia’s technical savvy gave us Olympics ticket —Awoniyi NIGERIA U-23 team forward, Taiwo Awoniyi has praised the hardwork and technical nous that secured the Dream Team a ticket to the 2016 Olympics after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat of Senegal.

Oghenekaro Etebo’s strike from the penalty spot was all the Samson Siasia-piloted team needed to earn victory over the hosts, Senegal at the Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium in Dakar.

Nigeria last appeared at the Olympics in 2008, where Siasia led the team to a silver medal finish.

Despite not featuring in the match due to injury, Awoniyi expressed delight at being

part of the success story at the tournament, just as he hailed Nigerians for their support.

“I’m very happy. We as a team are super delighted at making this happen for our country,” Awoniyi told Goal.

“I’m personally feeling great being part of the team achieving this amazing feet. It’s God and the great coaching we got from our technical crew led by coach Samson Siasia.

“Once again, I’m greatful to God for the opportunity and must appreciate Nigerians for their support and prayers.

“I must also thank the coach for the opportunity to be part of the achievement and I promise Nigerians that we will come out

stronger in the final,” the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner said.

The Dream Team will face Algeria, who defeated South Africa 2-0, in the final tomorrow at the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor Stadium, Dakar.

Nigeria joins hosts Brazil, Algeria, Honduras, Mexico, Argentina, Fiji, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Sweden to complete the 11 countries that have qualified for the 16-team event of the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Meanwhile, the winner between South Africa and hosts Senegal in the third place match of Senegal 2015 will also earn a ticket to the Olympics.

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: editornigeriantribune@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR: DEBO ABDULAI. All Correspondence to P.O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 11/12/2015.

Awoniyi