23rd March 2016

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,463

WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH, 2016

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Nigerian Tribune

FG to pump N350bn into economy —Pgs2&3

•Money to be paid to contractors •Wants states to cut down political appointees •Bans importation of rice through land borders •NASS set to pass 2016 budget today

N150

CCT: Judge withdraws from Saraki's case over online reports •Saraki petitions DSS over report

ISIS KILLS 34, INJURES SCORES IN BELGIUM AIRPORT, METRO ATTACKS —P3

FG probes sexual assault allegation at Queens College •Why I was framed —Teacher —P11

DSS releases detained Ekiti lawmaker, takes him to hospital —P12

Rivers rerun: NYSC to review pact with INEC

PHOTO COURTESY: DAILY MAIL. STORY ON PAGE 31

•APC plotted to impeach me —Wike •Probe election violence, PDP tells Buhari —Pgs4&11 •Police did not favour APC —IGP •US embassy, British High Commission condemn violence

Iwobi suffers food poisoning at Eagles' camp —BP

2 news FG to pump N350bn into economy •Wants states to cut down political appointees Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Leon Usigbe -Abuja

I

N anticipation of the approval of the 2016 budget, the Federal Government is to inject the sum of N350 billion into the economy in the next few months, in order to stimulate it.

This was part of the resolution reached at the end of the two-day retreat of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the State House Conference Hall, Abuja, on Tuesday.

According to the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, the money would be paid to contractors with a view to getting them to re-engage Nigerians out of jobs.

“From the Federal Ministry of Finance, in anticipation of the approval of the budget, we have virtually lined up about N350 billion which we would be pumping into the Nigerian economy in the forthcoming months.

“We explained our rationale and the processes that we have put in place and safeguards to ensure that this money actually achieves the desired objective which is to stimulate the economy.

“We are already discussing with some of the contractors who will be paid these monies and the objectives from the overall criteria is how many Nigerians would be re-engaged.

“We are specifically looking at contractors who have laid off staff and how many Nigerians are going to be put back to work as a result of this money that we are planning to release and we believe that this would bring significant economic activity.”

Joined by the chairman of Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, she said the retreat also advised state governments to cut down on the number of political appointees, in order to shore up their internal revenue.

According to her, “state governors were encouraged where possible to rationalise numbers of commissioners and general political appointees and, in addition, cost control measures to be identified and implemented on an ongoing basis and there was a sharing of best practices from a number of states that could be applied elsewhere.”

Speaking further, the minister added that “we deliberated extensively on the drop in revenue particularly as to how it affects the state governments and their ability to pay salaries and obligations.

“The general resolve of the house and consensus was that there was the need to

bring in more cost efficiency in their operations.

“In particular, to look at the setting up of the efficiency unit within the state governments, to rationalise expenditure and, of course, to increase IGR. “To that end, there was the need to generate data because data is the basis of any revenue collecting efforts.

“The federal and state inland revenue services col-

laborate to do joint audits to invest in revenue, relevant technology and efforts to improve collection.

“There is the need to develop incentives for both federal and state revenue generating agencies, to ensure that there is an alignment of interest.

“There is a focus at state level on property and consumption taxes to help in improving revenue in a fair

manner.

“Tax payer education must be intensified and to expand the tax base and ensure that there is a buy-in in the revenue collection agencies from the populace.”

Adeosun said the retreat resolved to get legislative approval to change UBEC counterpart funding on the part of state governments, to enable them to access N58 billion.

She said NEC believed that as it is presently, it is putting them further into debt.

She said there was the need to “reduce that requirement from a temporary period to 10 per cent from the current 50 per cent and that will release an estimated N58 billion that is currently un-accessed and it was discussed that with that money, we could possibly address around 1,000 of the

worst classrooms in each of the 36 states and rehabilitate them and of course this would also create jobs and economic activity.”

In his contribution, Yari revealed that the retreat resolved to set up two committees; implementation and monitoring, as well as steering committee to follow up on implementation of the resolution of the retreat.

President Buhari last year.

Others are N1,475,320,000,000 for debt service; N2,648,600,000,000 for recurrent (nondebt) expenditure; N1,845,540,000,000 inclusive of N157,150,000,000 for borrowing and N1.8 trillion for capital expenditure, as against N557 billion it was in 2015.

The Senate, however, adjourned its sitting shortly after the committee chairman, Senator Danjuma Goje, laid the report on the table.

Senate gave indication that the suspension of plenary was in honour of the late member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Musa Baba Onwana, representing Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency of Nasarawa State, who died last week.

It will be recalled that the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, had, last week, promised Nigerians that the budget would be passed this week and would be transmitted to President Buhari for assent.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate received the report of the National Assembly Conference Committee on 2016, 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

The MTEF/FSP conference report was laid by John Enoh.

According to the law, the adoption and approval of the MTEF and FSP should be done to give way for the passge of the appropriation bill But before the Senate suspended plenary, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, laid the audit report from the Auditor General of the Federation, which was released to the public last Monday.

The report, submitted to the National Assembly by the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel UKura, indicted several ministries, departments and agencies, including the National Assembly management.

The report claimed that more than N3.3 trillion was misappropriated by the MDAs and the National Assembly.

In his reaction, chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, assured that the Senate would investigate every bit of the audit report.

Also, the chairman, Senate Committee on Public Account, Senator Andy Uba, said his committee would dig into the report, invite those queried to ask for clarifications before coming to conclusion.

NASS set to pass 2016 budget today As Senate, Reps lay report on table Taiwo Adisa and Ayodele Adesanmi -Abuja THE Senate and the House of Representatives are set to pass the 2016 budget, three months after it was presented by President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Buhari had, on December 22, 2015 submitted the N6.077 trillion budget to the National Assembly at a joint sitting.

The lawmakers had initially fixed February 25 for the passage of the Bill and again changed the date to Match 17, which was again bungled.

The National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO), last week, released a document indicating another set of errors and alleged padding in the budget totaling over N500 billion.

But the Senate Committee on Appropriation and

the House counterpart, on Tuesday, laid the report of the budget on the table.

The report is set to be debated today, after extensive deliberations and passage.

A breakdown of the budget received from the appropriation committees, which is N6.077 trillion and N351.3 billion for statutory transfers also tallied with projections made in the document presented to the National Assembly by

Nigeria Customs bans importation of rice through land borders Oyo/Osun area command seizes rice, used tyres

By Oluwatoyin Malik THE Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), has placed ban on the importation and payment of duty on rice through land borders as from Friday, March 25.

At a review session held with comptrollers of border commands and Federal Operation Units (FOU), held in Abuja, the service noted that dwindling revenue from rice imports through the land borders did not match the volume of rice landed in neigbouring ports.

The report, according to the service, also showed an upsurge in the tempo of rice smuggling.

It said the implementation of the restriction order got off to a smooth start, with a high level of compliance in October 2015, adding, however, that revenue started dwindling from January 2016.

The service said during the five-month period when the importation was allowed, that is, October 2015 to March 20216, a total of 24,992 metric tonnes of rice, valued at N2,335,131,093 was imported through the land borders.

The report said the total revenue generated during the period amounted to N1,685,112,810, which is considerably lower than the revenue projected to be generated, with the removal of

import restrictions.

It said instead of more revenue, what was noticeable was upsurge in the number of seizures reported across the land borders since January, adding that in the first two months of 2016, a total of 9,238 bags were seized, with duty paid value of N64,666,000.

Also, the Oyo/Osun area command of Customs intercepted and made a seizure of 450 50-kilogramme bags of rice, 290 25-litre gallons of vegetable oil, a tokunbo truck and an unspecified number of used tyres from different parts of the command.

Disclosing these to journalists at the area command headquarters in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, the Customs Area Controller, Tolulope Ogunkua, said the decision of the Comptroller General to ban rice importation was premised on the fact that a lot more of bags of rice were being smuggled into Nigeria than the duties being paid.

He, however, said the ban was restricted to land borders, as importation through sea borders would continue, adding that his area command was determined to implement zero tolerance for rice import through the land borders.

Ogunkua enjoined importers who had already paid duties on imported rice in Oyo/Osun area command border entry point to evacuate their goods before the

stipulated date, warning that they stood the risk of seizure of such goods.

On the seizure made, the area controller said 400 bags of rice and 290 gallons of vegetable oil loaded in a DAF 85 truck with registration number LSR 933 XB were intercepted along Osogbo axis, Osun State, on March 7, while 30 bags were intercepted along Igboho/Adafila axis on March 20 and 20 bags along Igbeti axis, Oyo State on March 21.

He disclosed further that a total of 30 detentions and 10 seizures had been made by his command so far, with a duty paid value of seizures made in March put at N19.75 million.

One soldier dies as troops kill 58 Boko Haram terrorists in Borno 9 more hideouts cleared TROOPS of 153 Task Force Brigade, 5 Brigade, on Monday, killed 58 terrorists, in an encounter with them at Musari Village in Borno State.

In the ensuing gun duel, one soldier was killed as the troops recovered 52 motorcycles, two hand grenades and other items.

According to a statement issued by the acting director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, “during the clearance operations, a soldier paid the supreme price, while the troops killed 58 terrorist and recovered 2 hand grenades, 52 motorcycles, several bags of food-

stuffs such as beans, onions, sweet potatoes and guinea corn, as well as cartons of fish.”

In a related development, troops of the 29 Task Force Brigade also cleared additional nine areas where Boko Haram terrorists were hibernating.

The areas were Abukarti, Baradili, Borgozo, Gaijaribul Abukar, kolomi, Marguba, Umarumi, as well as Yasori one and two.

The troops also recovered several items, including one single barrel gun, motorcycles, drums and bags of millet and dead cattle that ran into improvised

explosive device (IED) buried by the Boko Haram terrorists.

According to Colonel Usman, within the last two days, the units under the Brigade had cleared the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists hibernating in the areas.

Similarly, the troops detonated an IED in one of the buildings at Yasori one.

It was equally discovered that prior to the clearance, the terrorists had also been frequenting Borgozo general area which they used as harbour and staging area when conducting their nefarious activities.

3 news Judge withdraws from Saraki’s case over online report Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

From Sunday Ejike and Bola Badmus

J

USTICE Abdulkadir Kafarati of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, declined to give judgment in the case of enforcement of fundamental human rights suit filed before him by the Senate President, Dr Bukola

Saraki.

The judge premised his refusal to deliver the judgment in the case slated for Tuesday on the ground that an online medium had made wild allegation against him in respect of the case.

Justice Kafarati, who fixed Tuesday to deliver his judgment in the suit, told the lawyers in the matter that

Road carnages: NASS to amend FRSC Establishment Act

As corps kicks off Pan Nigerian road safety campaign Clement Idoko and Adetola Bademosi -Abuja WORRIED by the incessant road traffic accidents in Nigeria, the National Assembly has disclosed plans to amend the Federal Road Safety Corps’ (FRSC) Establishment Act as well as initiate more robust policies that will strengthen the capacity of the Corps to deliver on its mandate.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Inter-Governmental Affairs, Alhaji Tijani Kaura, made this known on Tuesday, in Abuja, at the kick-off of the 2016 PAN Nigeria road safety campaign.

He said the lawmakers would provide all the needed support for the FRSC to reduce the menace of road crashes in the country.

Speaking against the back-

drop of the road accident that claimed the life of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr James Ocholi, his wife and a son, Kaura said all hands must be on deck to check the ugly trend.

FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Mr Boboyemi Oyeyemi, explained that the major factors militating against drivers’ education and safety management in Nigeria was lack of enlightenment bill-boards and other motivators.

He, however, disclosed that through collaboration with the Exxon Mobil, enlightenment materials, including 32 billboards, were produced in the first phase of the project, saying this would be strongly energised by the second phase to further entrench Nigerians in road safety.

EFCC slams 2-count charge on Kuku Sunday Ejike -Abuja THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, slammed a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and fraudulent acquisition of property against former Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs and former coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, and one of his aides, before a Federal High Court sitting in Wuse Zone II, Abuja.

However, Kuku and his aide, Lawrence Pepple, who served as a technical assistant, could not be arraigned on Tuesday as earlier slated, owing to the absence of the trial judge and Kuku.

The two-count charge, bordering on criminal conspiracy, false declaration of assets and fraudulent acquisition of property, was filed

by Johnson Ojogbane and Abdullahi Faruk on behalf of the anti-graft agency.

They will, however, be arraigned on April 20.

Kwara to light up Ilorin through PPP Sunday Ejike -Abuja KWARA State government is to deploy streetlights and independent power infrastructure within Ilorin metropolis and other major centers across the 16 local government areas of the state through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

This was contained in a statement issued in Ilorin, on Tuesday, by the State Public-Private Partnership Bureau (KP3).

KP3 said the decision followed an extensive infrastructure asset availability and sufficiency re-

view, which revealed that streetlights and power infrastructure found across the state were not properly meeting the needs of the people.

The statement added that the partner companies would be responsible for the design, finance and maintenance of both the streetlights and independent power infrastructure assets.

Consequently, request for proposals had been issued to the shortlisted companies who are expected to provide their technical and financial submissions for the respective projects.

the online medium had, in its publication, alleged that he was compromised to the tune of N2 billion by the Senate President to give judgment in his favour.

The judge also said the medium quoted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as its source of information and that the EFCC source also confirmed to the medium that the said N2 billion allegedly given to him by Saraki had been found in his bank account.

Justice Kafarati said the online publication was not only condemnable, having been so biased against him, but was also malicious and unwarranted.

“In the instance case, I am

already caught in between two devils, because any attempt to give the judgment in this matter, even though it is ready for today, can be used by the wicked people to justify their malicious publication against my person,” he said.

After withdrawing from the case, he asked that the file be returned to the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for possible re assignment to another judge.

Saraki had filed the suit to seek enforcement of his fundamental human rights to fair hearing and trial on the falsification of assets and criminal charges brought against him by the federal government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Reacting to the development, Saraki has petitioned the Department of State Service (DSS), asking it to conduct a thorough investigation into a report published by the online outfit.

In a petition dated March 17, 2016, and personally signed by him, the Senate President asked the DSS to investigate the allegations contained in the report in relations to his moves to scuttle his ongoing trial at the CCT According to Saraki, the insinuation in the report was to the effect that he was colluding with some officials of the ministry of Justice to sabotage his prosecution by the CCT. In another development, a

group, Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO), has warned the courts not to allow their hallowed chambers to be used by politicians to settle scores but should ensure that justice is done and seen to be done.

This was just as the group, while calling on the CCT handling the alleged false asset declaration case against Saraki to be fair and upright in its adjudication, by not giving in to any form of intimidation, inducement or harassment.

It equally reminded the tribunal of the centrality of judicial precedence in judicial pronouncements, especially in the case involving the former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu.

4 news

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Rivers rerun: NYSC to review pact with INEC

•As FG swears to fish out killers of corps member •INEC boss pays condolence visit on NYSC Adetola Bademosi - Abuja

A

GAINST the backdrop of violence that mostly accompanies the conduct of elections in Nigeria, where corps members are either murdered or injured, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said it will have to review its pact with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. This followed the death of a corps member, Okonta Dumebi Samuel, in the Rivers rerun at the weekend.

Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, stated this in Abuja, on Tuesday, while receiving the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung and the INEC’s chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, at the NYSC headquarters.

He said in an effort to ensure that perpetrators of the dastardly act were brought to book, the scheme had already set up a committee of inquiry to investigate the matter.

According to him, the results of the investigation would determine if the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the INEC would be renewed.

It will be recalled that about 11 serving corps members were, in like manner, killed at the post-election violence that erupted at the April 16 presidential election in Bauchi State.

The corps members were killed at different locations in the state, including Giade, Itas\Gadau, Katagum and Alkaleri local government areas, while participating in the conduct of the presidential election as electoral officials.

Earlier, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, assured that actors behind the death of the corps member would be brought to book.

He also warned that the new administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari, would no longer tolerate the act of impunity from politicians in the country.

The minister, who condemned the killing of the corps member, noted that this had been a trend, where corps members posted to serve their fatherland were maltreated.

He consequently appealed to politicians to abide by the rules of the game, as the quest for position did not worth the life of innocent citizens of the country.

He said: “This is appearing as a recurring decimal each

time we move our young people for such national service, the act of violence during elections is not only condemnable, but it is, indeed, a reflection of what I can refer to as punitive political culture.

“It is punitive for anybody to assume that you must shed blood to be able to access power. Permit me to

appeal to our politicians that we must play this game according to rules. At no point should officials or spectators of our games be made to be casualty of that game.

Power is not worth the life of one single Nigerian.

“As leaders we must conduct ourselves very well, holding life as very sacred.

We want to assure Nigerians that under this administration of CHANGE Impunity will never be celebrated.

“Actors of the wicked act in Rivers must be brought to book and must be punished for whatever they have done,this I want to assure Nigerians that this government will definitely spare no

room for impunity again because it is impunity that has destroyed this country.”

In his condolence message, the INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu expressed sadness over the death of Mr Okonta Samuel.

However, he assured that the commission would fully participate in activities to

honour the sacrifice of the corps member, as well as other corps members, who at the course of election duties sustained injuries.

His words: “I am here to pay the entire NYSC our most sincere condolence on the death of Mr Okonta Samuel, may his soul rest in peace,” he concluded.

...Probe election violence, military role, PDP tells Buhari Says INEC can’t suspend collated results Leon Usigbe, Jacob Segun Olatunji, Kolawole Daniel and Saliu Gbadamosi - Abuja THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a panel to probe circumstances leading to violence during last weekend’s conduct of the Rivers State rerun.

Addressing press conference at the national secretariat of the party, in Abuja, on Tuesday, national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, also said the involvement of the military in the violence, which led to the death of several people should also be investigated.

Modu Sheriff expressed great concern at the turn of events at the rerun state and National Assembly elections and condemned the accompanying violence.

He observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had no right to suspend already collated results, saying the electoral body pandered to the wishes of a highly placed Rivers All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain to take the action.

He said: “Whilst we join well meaning Nigerians to condemn the cases of violence which reportedly characterised the process in some areas, we enjoin the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to immediately constitute a panel to carry out a dispassionate investigation of the circumstances, with a view to unraveling the truth and bringing culprits to book “The PDP also condemns the reported roles played by some officers and members of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said to have in some cases acted beyond their expected role of maintenance of law and order and taken over the responsibility of INEC in the actual conduct

of the rerun.

“The fact that the Armed Forces acted as they did in flagrant disobedience of an order of court to the contrary, is a matter that requires urgent investigation and appropriate sanction.

“Our long-held view, proven over the years by our attitude of accepting declared results of elections, is that the mandate of the Nigerian people is sacred and anybody or party which seeks to govern Nigeria or any part of it must solicit and obtain this mandate freely given in an openly contested election, where democratic norms and ethos are rigidly observed.”

Release rerun results, PDP Reps urge INEC

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately release results of rerun in Rivers.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the caucus, led by the Minority Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, condemned the suspension of the election, saying it was strange to the country’s electoral laws.

According to it, in accordance with section 27 of the Electoral Act, the Constitution and all Supreme Court judgments, elections were concluded and results had been announced at the unit levels.

“In this context, anything contrary to the announcement of the result is a breach of all our electoral laws and evidently a coup against the people of Rivers State,” it said.

The caucus also said that the conduct and actions of INEC did not just show incompetence, but a regression from gains of the reformed electoral system.

Police did not favour APC in Rivers rerun —IGP Inspector-General

of

Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, on Tuesday debunked allegations that they favored the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during last weekend’s rerun in Rivers state.

The IGP, who exonerated the police in the violence that greeted the rerun, maintained that the police discharged its duties professionally.

He spoke to reporters in Abakaliki, during his oneday working visit to Ebonyi State police command.

He said: “It is not the police that ignite violence, it is the political class that ignites violence. All we do is to ensure we secure a conducive environment that can allow law-abiding citizens to cast their votes in any election.

“The situation in Rivers has nothing to do with the police; it has something to do with the political class.

“So, the police was neutral in the rerun and nobody can accuse us of bias, complicity or conniving with politicians or political party to frustrate the election,” he said.

He called on police officers to be thorough in their investigation and make friends with members of the public for effective community policing.

He maintained his stand on dismantling of road blocks and warned policemen to avoid negative acts that can portray the police in bad light.

On the Ebonyi/Benue/ Cross River boundary disputes that have claimed many lives, Arase noted that efforts were being made to restore normalcy in the disputed areas.

Earlier, the Commissioner of Police, Peace Ibekwe Abdallah, said the state had witnessed a reduction in criminal activities since she assumed office in September, last year.

She attributed the development to the overhauling and strengthening of the crime prevention strategies of the command.

US Embassy condemns violence at rerun

The United States (US) Embassy has expressed concern over the reports of violence at the March 19 rerun in Rivers State.

This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja, on Tuesday, by the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy.

The statement condemned the possible targeting of electoral officials, as well as irregularities during the election.

“We condemn the use of violence and disruptions of the democratic process.

“We call upon the leadership of Nigeria’s political parties to urge their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully throughout the electoral process.

“We call on those dissatisfied to pursue a resolution of their grievances peacefully, in accordance with the rule of law,” the statement said.

Cancel Rivers rerun, group pleads with INEC

A coalition of independent media and non-governmental organisations has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel all the results of the recent rerun in Rivers State.

In a statement issued by the coalition in Abuja, on Tuesday, the coalition alleged that the rerun were marred by electoral irregularities.

The coalition called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency to reduce the rate of violence in Rivers State.

Signed by Ambassador Sokari Afiesimama, President, Rescue Nigeria Mandate Mission (RENIM) and Mr Friday Maduka, Coordinator of Rural Empowerment and Peace Advocacy Initiative, the statement expressed concern about the alleged killing of youth

corps members, ad hoc staff and intimidation of local and foreign observers by some unscrupulous elements.

No election until peace is restored —INEC

Meanwhile, INEC has said that it would not hold any election in Rivers until peace is restored.

INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, had also announced recently that INEC would no longer release results due to the irregularities witnessed during the elections.

He said that INEC had earlier cancelled the elections held in eight out of the state’s 23 local government areas.

No fewer than 10 people were said to have died during the elections resulting in trading blame between the APC and the PDP on what was behind the crisis.

British High Commission condemns violence

The British High Commission in Nigeria on Tuesday expressed its disappointment over the violence that erupted in last Saturday’s rerun legislative elections in Rivers State, particularly against officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The commission, according to a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja by Joe Abuku, Press and Public Affairs Officer in the commission, stated that observers from the United Kingdom saw irregularities during the elections.

It added that the observers noted that the low turnout of voters in the elections was for fear of violence.

“The British High Commission in Nigeria is disappointed by reports of violence, in particular against electoral officials (INEC), around the elections in Rivers state on 19 March 2016.

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Students, lecturers’ protests paralyse academic activities at Federal Poly Ede Oluwole Ige - Osogbo ACADEMIC and social activities at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, on Tuesday, were brought to a halt when lecturers protested against the non implementation of CONTISS by the management of the institution.

Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that the lecturers were asking the management of the institution full implementation of new welfare package tagged CONTISS 15, contending that other institutions had paid it to their colleagues.

The lecturers were said to have given the management 14-day ultimatum within which to effect the payment or face the wrath of the workers. The ultimatum lapsed on Monday, prompting them to state the protest.

However, the protest turned violent when the students of the polytechnic hijacked it and took over the entrance of the institution, preventing free flow of traffic.

The students, who commenced their examination were also said to have joined their teachers kicking

against payment of N1,000 for late registration.

When contacted, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the institution, Mr Kazeem

Oyedeji, confirmed the incident, explaining that the management had no financial muzzle to meet the demands of the teachers.

Osun govt sends 250 council staff on compulsory leave THE Osun State government, on Tuesday, ordered 250 senior staff in the state’s 61 Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) to proceed on 30-day compulsory leave.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the order affects only

officials on salary Grade Level 15.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola had on March 8 created 31 LCDAs, in addition to the existng 30 local government areas.

Aregbesola said only Grade Level 14 officers would henceforth head the LCDAs.

Nigerian Tribune

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Lagos

Edited by

Lanre Adewole

olanreade@yahoo.com

0811 695 4647

Task Force demolishes 75 shanties, arrests 15 miscreants

Men of Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences unit (Task Force) led by SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, during demolition of illegal shanties at IyanaIpaja, on Tuesday.

LAGOS State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) on Tuesday demolished a total of 75 illegal shanties and arrested 15 miscreants in an operation tagged, ‘Operation Clear All Shanties in Lagos.’

Spokesperson of the Task Force, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, stated this known in a statement made available to Lagos Metro on Tuesday, saying the operation was led by the new Task Force Chairman, Olayinka Egbeyemi.

According to him, the operation covered Pen-cinema, Iyana-Ipaja and Ikeja, saying that perishable goods impounded during the operation would be taken to Lagos Motherless Babies’ Homes.

He also disclosed that more than 15 private vehicles were apprehended for parking at an obstruction thereby disturbing free flow of traffic around Iyana-Ipaja and Medical Road at Ikeja.

160 shops razed in Naval Base fire

Olalekan Olabulo

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OODS worth millions of naira were on Tuesday destroyed as fire ravaged the ‘Mammy Market” at the Nigerian Navy base in Alakija area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the fire started from one of the shops at the mammy market and spread to nearby shops, affecting no fewer than 160 lock-up shops.

The director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe confirmed the in-

cident to Lagos Metro and added that the agency got information about the fire incident late.

Though the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, officials of the state fire service stated that

the fire outbreak might be due to power surge.

Firemen from the Nigerian Navy base battled with the fire but were unable to put it out as it continued to grow wild.

Officials of the Lagos State Fire Service were later in-

Hausa community in crisis over Seriki title Olalekan Olabulo THE Hausa community in Igando land has been thrown into crisis over who becomes the next Seriki Hausawa.

This is just as seven people have been arrested for allegedly trying to disrupt the coronation of the new Seriki of Hausa community in Igando land.

The suspects have been charged before

...7 arraigned an Ejigbo Lagos State Magistrate’s court by the police, who are on the trail of other members of the gang.

Lagos Metro gathered that two Hausa leaders in Igando, Alhaji Abubakar Geiro and the son of a former Seriki Hausawa in Igando, Alhaji Danjuma Alhassan have locked horns

over who should take control.

The traditional ruler of Igando was reportedly trying to install Geiro as the next Seriki Hausa, when the suspects attempted to disrupt the programme.

The police told the court that the suspects threatened Geiro with knives and other dan-

gerous weapons.

The Geiro faction reportedly has the blessing of the traditional ruler of Igando, while Alhassan has the backing of the leadership of the Hausa community in Lagos. The son of the former Seriki Hausa in Igando reportedly insisted that it was the right of the Hausa leadership in Lagos to install a new leader for any com-

vited and about 160 shops were destroyed by the time the fire was eventually put out. Fadipe told Lagos Metro that officials of the state fire service met the fire “well alive and had to battle with it for long, before it was eventually put out.”

munity.

Geiro on the other hand claimed that the traditional ruler of Igando has the right to choose whoever pleases him as the Seriki Hausawa of his domain.

Efforts to get the reaction of the state police command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos failed as calls to her mobile phone were not answered.

The operation, he said was going to be a continuous exercise and was meant to sanitise Lagos environment and to make both commercial and private drivers comply with the Lagos State

Badmos disciplined Gbenga Olumide THE Lagos State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmos, has been described as a disciplined, dilligent and no-nonsense officer.

This was disclosed at a reception held in her honour by her former classmates at the Federal Polytechnic, AdoEkiti, where she graduated in 2000.

The event, which took place, in Lagos, recently turned out to be a reunion of the year 2000 Accountancy graduates of the institution.

The classmates operating under the banner of Accountancy class of 2000 Alumni said they decided to honour her because of the enviable height she recently attained in her chosen career through her appointment as the PPRO of Lagos Police Command.

The chairman planning committee of the event, Mr Abegunde Awoleye, said it was noteworthy that Badmos could attain the position of a PPRO despite the discrimination against graduates of polytechnics in the country.

“Despite the fact that she did not read English or Mass Communication, the authority still found her worthy of the position meant that she must have been hardworking and diligent in her duty,” Awoleye said.

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Nigerian Tribune

metro Omo Onile assaults Apostolic church pastor over settlement Olalekan Olabulo AN alleged land grabber identified as Jelili Bolaji has been arrested by men of the Lagos State police command for allegedly attacking a pastor, who was trying to erect a church building.

The Rapid Response Squad (RRS), who arrested the suspect after a distress

call by the cleric described the arrest as an “execution

of the state governor’s directive on the menace of

lauded as PPRO Speaking on behalf of the President of the association, a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, who is also a member of the 2000 set, Mr Jeje Abiola said the Badmos was able to attain her new status because she stayed focused on her vision.

In her remarks, Badmos said it was the tough training that they were subjected to by the school that prepared her for the challenges of life, saying the uncompromising nature of most of her lecturers at the school has toughened her all areas of life. “Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti is a school where you have to be serious with your studies. I knew what I went through to make an upper credit in Accountancy,” she said.

land grabbers in the state.”

Jelili has reportedly led a team of six-man gang with the aim of attacking an Apostolic Church located 12, Oladeinde Street, off Oduduwa Street, Aguda, Surulere. The pastor of the church, who had about three years ago paid a group of Omo-Oniles, a huge sum of money for the foundation and roofing of the church called the

state emergency number, which the RRS promptly responded to.

The Pastor, Okeleye Solomon said, “Jelili Bolaji and five others entered the church and requested that they should be settled before embarking on plastering work on the church. I told them, I had no money to give them. They beat the artisans, church workers and ordered them to leave

the premises immediately.

“Bolaji rough handled me, snatched my phone and smaShed it on the floor. He called me different names and told me that I am not worth to be a pastor.”

The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos confirmed the arrest of the suspect and added that he would be charged to court soon.

Lafiaji crisis has nothing to do with my birthday — Jagar A community leader in Lagos Island, Michael Kaizar, popularly known as Jagar, has absolved himself of any involvement in the mayhem that broke out in Lagos Island, over the weekend.

According to him, “let me put the record straight,

Bolaji

Trader drenches neighbour with ‘shit’ over electricity bill Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin A woman has been arrested after her neighbour complained that she allegedly poured faeces on her.

Tope Akinside, 36, a trader, who resides at 14, Unity Street, Oke-Odo, allegedly committed the offence on February 29 at her residence.

According to the police, Akinside unlawfully assaulted her neighbour, Adunenke Okeowo, by beating and bathing her

with faeces.

“The accused allegedly poured excreta on the complainant face and body,’’ the police Prosecutor, George Nwosu said.

He told an Ikeja Magistrate Court that Akinside allegedly beat the complainant’s son for playing in front of her house and the complainant confronted her.

“The complainant went to meet the accused where she was washing excreta from her baby’s napkin to know

A newly constructed Pedestrian bridge at Mile 12 converted to a Mosque, for praying and a home for sleeping.

PHOTO: SYLVESTER OKORUWA

why she beat her son.

“An argument ensued between them and the accused allegedly gave her a slap, lifted her up and threw her on the ground, then she started punching her.

“She went further to carry the faeces she had already separated from her baby’s napkin and allegedly poured it on the complainant.

“The accused was still not satisfied, she broke a bottle and wanted to stab the complainant but for the quick intervention of neighbour’s who came to rescue the complainant,’’ the prosecutor said.

He said that the defendant and the complainant had been having grudges over the defendant’s refusal to pay her electricity and waste bills.

The offences, Nwosu said, contravened Sections 166 and 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, which attract three years jail term on conviction.

Akinside pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The Magistrate, Mr A.A Adesanya, adjourned the case till April 11 for mention.

my birthday party was on March 12, 2016 and was attended by many dignitaries.

Nothing unusual happened on that day. The crisis in Lagos Island happened on March 19, a week after my birthday party.”

Kaizar expressed surprise at the report linking his birthday party with the mayhem on Lagos Island and commended law enforcement agents for rising to the occasion by restoring peace in the area.

Assembly directs institution to release students’ results withheld for 4years Chukwuma Okparaocha-Lagos THE Lagos State House of Assembly has ordered the Provost of the Michael Otedola College of Education to release the results of its students in Ijoria/ Badia Centre that had been withheld since 2011/2012.

In a petition entitled: “Letter of Assistance on Our Long-Time Awaiting Result from Michael Otedola College of Primary Education,” written to the House, the aggrieved students stated that they had not received their statement of results despite having submitted their exams scripts to one Mr Wale, the then co-ordinator of the centre, who had notified them of the readiness of their results.

The students, who said they started their programme in 2008/2009, expressed surprise that despite their calls for the results, they had not received any response from the school.

Tthe Education Committee of the House, which presented a report about the development on floor of the

House on Tuesday, through its Chairman, Honourable Olanrewaju Ogunyemi, said that the Director of the Programme, Dr Olaleye G.O, told the committee that the college ran a centralised system and that the petition submitted by the students was as a result of misinformation and poor orientation.

The committee chairman said that the Provost of the College, Professor Olu Akeusola, told them that the students had a peculiar problem because the former co-ordinator, Otunba Olayomi, embezzled the centre’s school fees and that lack of proper documentation from the centre by the said co-ordinator was another issue, adding that the school was magnanimous in marking, computing and compiling the results without adequate funds from the centre.

The House subsequently directed that the centre’s co-ordinator should liaise with the director of parttime studies for release of results after proper documentation.

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businessnews

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

CBN tightens monetary policy, raises MPR from 11% to 12% Gbola Subair-Abuja

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday, further tightened the monetary policy as it raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 100 basis points from 11.00 per cent to 12.00 per cent; while the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) was raised by 250 basis points from 20.00 to 22.50 per cent.

Also, CBN retained the Liquidity Ratio at 30.00 per cent; even as it narrowed the asymmetric corridor from +200 and -700 basis points to +200 and -500 basis.

The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, speaking after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), meeting in Abuja, said the apex bank arrived at the decision based on its assessment of relevant internal and external indices, which suggested that the balance of risks is tilted against price stability.

He said the committee was also concerned that with headline inflation at 11.38 per cent which had become negative in real terms.

“This development has the potential of keeping both foreign and domestic investments on hold. As part of measures to address the supply constraint in the foreign exchange market, yields on domestic instruments have to be competitive to attract the much needed foreign inflows.

“On the administrative side, this will have to be complemented by a comprehensive reform of the foreign exchange market which is currently being undertaken. For the avoidance of doubt, the Bank would continue to allow domiciliary account holders unfettered access to funds in their accounts.

“In the circumstance, the committee urged the bank to continue to upscale its surveillance of the financial system with the aim of promptly detecting and

managing vulnerabilities to ensure sustained stability.

“Finally, the Committee remains committed to price stability across the range of consumer prices, exchange rate and interest rate, which is fundamental to reviving economic growth and employment generation. In the meantime, the Bank would continue to leverage its development finance policy to support critical sectors of the economy.

“The MPC also stressed the need to sustain, deepen and speed up reforms

designed to ensure focused coordination of monetary and fiscal policies” the governor, said.

Dispelling rumours that the CBN had plans to convert the $20 billion domiciliary account into naira, the governor said those funds are not idle as they are funding certain assets.

“The truth is that we have customers that have about $20 billion dollars in domiciliary account. But I think I need to cease this opportunity to say that those funds are not idle like has been wrongly quoted. One of my colleagues has been

wrongly quoted because those funds are not idle.

“Those funds on the balance sheet are funding certain assets. So, the $20 billion is a liability and it is funding assets at the other side of the balance sheet.

And of course I need to reiterate the fact that there is no intention and there will never be any intention. I advise that this could be taken very seriously. What we are trying as much as possible is to make the market open and not create further tightening situation that will create problem for the economy,” he said.

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Olusegun Awolowo, Professor Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Minister of National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, during the National Economic Council retreat, held in Abuja, on Monday.

MPC’s decision will quarantine N409.7bn from banking system —Afrinvest Chima Nwokoji-lagos

The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) to tighten monetary policy to increase benchmark interest rate known as Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 11per cent to 12per cent to compensate investors for lowered real return and attract foreign private capital

may have quarantined the sum of N409.7billion from the banking system.

Head of Research at Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Mr. Ayodeji Ebo said the decision came against the broad analysts consensus of a that all policy rates will remain unchanged.

Leading other analysts from Afrinvest in explaining the implications of the decisions taken after a two-

day meeting of the committee, Ebo also said the move to hike Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 2.5per cent to 22.5 per cent was in a bid to curb speculative activities in the foreign exchange(FX) market.

The decision according to Afrinvest will also lead to increase in yields in the fixed income market.

However, said Afrinvest, assets repricing of fixed income

Dangote dumps rehabilitation of Lagos port access road Tola Adenubi-Lagos

Indications are rife that the planned rehabilitation of the Lagos port access road by the Dangote Group of companies may have hit the rocks following the refusal of the construction company arm of the Dangote Group, Messrs AG Dangote Construction Company two months after the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) placed an advertorial in national dailies that the construction firm will commence repair of the road.

Commenting on the economy, the governor said: “Overall economic growth slowed significantly in 2015, particularly in Q4. Apparently, the conditions responsible for the slowdown – uncertainty around fiscal policy, adverse external environment, security challenges in some parts of the country affecting production and distribution of agricultural produce, low electricity supply, fuel shortages, and sluggish growth in credit to the private sector – have continued in the first quarter of 2016.

According to findings, despite the directive by the NPA to all firms located or operating along the busy Wharf road to vacate the road ahead of a planned rehabilitation by Messrs AG Dangote Construction Company, the road has remained untouched two months after the directive.

When Nigerian Tribune sought to know why the contractor is yet to mobilise to site, the Spokesman of the Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina told our Correspondent exclusively

that since there are insinuations in some quarters that it is not a wholly Dangote affair, then the other companies involved should come and repair the road.

“Why are you asking if we are yet to rehabilitate the road? Did some people not say we are nit the only one repairing the road? Since there is argument that we are not the only ones repairing the road, the other partners involved should go and repair the road,” Chiejina stated.

It will be recalled that one

of the terminal operators, APM Terminal, in an exclusive chat with Nigerian Tribune had stated that the road repair is not a wholly Dangote Group affair.

According to the Spokesman of APM Terminals, Augustine Fischer, “I don’t know where you got the information from that it is only Dangote Group that is going ahead to repair the port access road. I think it is in conjunction with some other companies operating from that area. It is not only Dangote. It is a combined effort.”

securities and other risk assets, would likely compensate for increase in yields in the fixed income market.

“We retain our estimates on Net Interest Margins for our coverage banks as we monitor the pace of assets reprising. In addition, we do not expect a significant reaction from the equities market, as exchange rate challenges which remain the major concern for investors, most especially the foreign players was left unaddressed by the Committee,” the investment research company. Stated.

In a note to investors, made available to Nigerian Tribune, Afrinvest stated: “We estimate this to quarantine the sum of N409.7billion from the system. However, we are of the view that this reflects the notion that previous decision to reduce CRR by 5per cent was largely premature given that the operating environment remains unattractive for loan growth.

Nigerian Tribune

32% of new 1,000 entrepreneurs for $100m #TEEP2016 are women

By Ruth Olurounbi

Women applicants make 32 per cent of new 1,000 African entrepreneurs selected for the round two of the $100 million Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) for 2016.

Fifteen countries out of 53 which participated in the competition had a higher female-to male ration in the final 1,000 entries, Nigerian Tribune gathered.

The top 15 countries inclued Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.

Countries like Nigeria, Gnana, Cote D’ivoire, Cameroon, Kenya, and Uganda, among others had a higher male-to female ration, while women in South Africa achieved almost parity with their male counterparts.

Data showed that there was 12 per cent of female applicants to 36.14 per cent, compared to 2015’s figures.

Keeping up with the surprises in this year’s applications, over 45,000 entrepreneurs from 54 African countries applied, more than doubling the number of applications received in 2015.

This year, applicants from Libya and joined the race this year, and Ethiopia made an impressive turn out, tripling the previous applications this year.

Elumelu, who announced the selection of the second round of the programme was which occurred on Monday, said: “In TEEP’s first year we spent over $8 million of our $100 million commitment – with $5 million going directly to entrepreneurs as seed capital — and the results have far exceeded our expectations.

“We have funded entrepreneurs, established networks and helped extraordinary people take control of their destinies. The 2016 Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs will become a generation of newly empowered African business owners, who are the clearest evidence yet, that indigenous business growth will drive Africa’s economic and social transformation.”

As was done with the 2015 batch, in the next nine months, the 2016 cohort will receive the intensive online training, networking and mentoring, that provide a tool kit for success and sustainability.

11 news

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

FG probes sexual assault allegation at Queen’s College Why I was framed —Teacher From Clement Idoko and Naza Okoli

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HE Federal Government has commenced investigation into the alleged sexual assault on a Junior Secondary School II (JSS II) female student of Queen’s College, Lagos, by a male teacher.

Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwukah, who said government was disturbed by the alleged reports by the media, set up a panel to unravel the veracity of the allegation being levelled against the teacher.

The investigation panel has two weeks within which to submit its report.

Several reports from the conventional and social media in the past few days have indicated that there was an alleged case of sexual molestation of a JSS II student by a teacher in the same school.

Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goog, in a statement on Tuesday, in Abuja, said the minister charged members of the panel to have a thorough investigation to unravel the truth behind the allegation, as well as make recommendations to the government on how to deal with the situation based on the principles of truth, justice and fairness to all parties.

The statement advised parents, guardians, students and staff of Queen’s College, who may have credible information on this matter to avail same to the committee via telephone number 07034613096 and saniabdu59@yahoo.com.

The minister had, however, assured the general public, particularly parents and guardians, whose wards are in any of the Unity Schools and other Federal Government Colleges that their children are in safe hands.

He said government would continue to do everything possible within the ambit of the law to protect their wards in all government schools across the country, including the Queens College, Lagos.

Meanwhile, the embattled Biology teacher at Queen’s College, Lagos, Mr Olaseni Oshifala, who is being investigated over his alleged role in a sexual harassment case involving a JSS II girl, on Tuesday, said he was framed by people who were envious of his many achievements.

Oshifala spoke with a couple journalists at the State Criminal Investigation De-

partment (SCID) at Panti, Yaba, where he was being interrogated.

“I am not too surprised.

Having won Best Teacher Award seven different times within the 13 years I have worked at Queen’s College, I expect some elements of jealousy. In fact, in 2015, I went home with six out of

the seven available prizes.

The prizes were given by the school, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Education. Apart from these, I have worked with six different principals as their Personal Assistant (PA). And now, being the PA to the current principal, who just arrived, that can make some

people jealous.

“The principal has said that I was recommended to her by numerous principals and even a former principal of King’s College, Lagos.

It’s not me going to them or lobbying for the position, they call me. I was also the maintenance officer of the college. When the former

principal was posted here, some people quickly went to her and persuaded her to make another person maintenance officer and I was removed. But soon, things started missing. Government property was being taken away from the school.

People were caught with raw food, building materi-

Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, leading Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) stakeholders to celebrate rerun victory at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Tuesday.

als, cooking gas. I blew the whistle by reporting it to the then principal and the maintenance officer was removed and I was again appointed maintenance officer,” he said.

Oshifala also alleged that his travails were not unconnected with what he called “a seniority tussle” among members of the school’s Old Girls Association.

Attempts made to speak with the president of the association, Mrs Shirley Okharedia, were unsuccessful.

Normalcy had, however, returned to the college on Tuesday, when Nigerian Tribune visited, as students and teachers were seen carrying on with their normal activities.

SSIII students had on Monday staged a protest to register their support for their Biology teacher.

It was gathered that while the protest was going on, Oshifala was being interrogated at the office of the Commissioner of Police, where he was held until after 7.00 p.m.”

The Federal Ministry of Education, it was also learnt, had set up a team to investigate the allegations.

Rivers rerun: APC plotted to impeach me —Wike Dapo Falade - Port Harcourt RIVERS State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike, has said desperation exhibited by the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the legislative rerun of last Saturday, was because of their plan to impeach him.

This was as he urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release other results of the election, which he said had already been collated.

The governor said this during a breakfast meeting with newsmen in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, adding that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election because it relied on God and the power of the voters.

He said there was a plan to impeach him from office through the state House of Assembly, but noted that the plan had failed, because PDP was firmly on ground in the state.

“Part of the plan was to impeach me. Has the impeachment not died? It has died a natural death. You planned to impeach me if you win all the seats in the House of Assembly,” he

said.

Expressing shock over the delay by INEC releasing the results said to have been collated, he restated that the commission lacked power to cancel results that had been announced at the various local government

collation centres.

Governor Wike also said PDP was able to win the rerun because of its reliance on the voters for victory, unlike the APC leaders, whom he said relied on soldiers and federal might.

He said the party leader-

ship, especially the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, depended on soldiers.

Wike said while he, a sitting governor, had only eight policemen, Amaechi and Dr Dakuku Petetside were moving about the

state with more than 100 soldiers.

The governor also faulted the call by APC for an outright cancellation of the legislative rerun on the ground that the INEC ad hoc staff were not well trained for the election.

Thugs stone Wada at election tribunal It’s barbaric —Ex-gov Sunday Ejike-Abuja THUGS, on Tuesday, hauled stones at vehicle of former governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, at the state governorship election petition tribunal sitting at the Jabi District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The incident occurred at about 1.35 p.m. at the premises of the High Court of the FCT, venue of the tribunal, shortly after it stood down the matter for three hours.

Wada was at the tribunal, where he was challenging the return of Alhaji Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the November 21 and December 5 state governorship election.

The thugs, who besieged

his vehicle outside the tribunal, chanting solidarity songs in favour of APC, later went wild and started hauling stones at his vehicle.

His driver, sensing danger, quickly sped off at a neck-breaking speed, even as security operatives were left helpless.

Reacting to the development, Wada described the attack on him as barbaric and act of bestiality and irresponsibility to recourse to act of thuggery.

His Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Jacob Edi, who spoke on the matter, condemned the development in its totality, saying: “To think that this took place in the premises of a court of law is highly condemnable; whoever their paymasters are, for

us, no condition will make us recourse to thuggery.”

Meanwhile, the tribunal has adjourned hearing of the petition between the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Yahaya Bello to April 11 and 12, while the petition by Labour Party (LP) against Yahaya Bello was adjourned to April 6 and 7 In the petition by Wada, proceedings were stalled following the inability of counsel for parties to resolve the issues arising from the schedule of documents to be tendered by the petitioner. Accordingly, the tribunal adjourned till April 13.

Wada’s petition, being handled by Chief Chris Uche, leading two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria,

among other lawyers, had the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Alhaji Bello and the APC as respondents.

It will be recalled that Wada was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the November 21 governorship election declared inconclusive by the INEC. It was later concluded on December 5, after a supplementary election in 91 polling units across the state.

Also, James Abiodun Faleke, the running mate to the APC candidate in the election, late Prince Abubakar Audu, had also filed a petition at the tribunal, challenging the decision of the INEC in declaring the November 21 election inconclusive.

12 news 3 clerics abducted in Kaduna Isaac Shobayo And Adetola Bademosi

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ORRIED by the kidnap of the President of Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nijerriya (TEKAN), Reverend Emmanuel Dziggau and two other clerics on Monday, in Kaduna, members of the religious organisation have called on the Nigerian government and security operatives to rescue the clerics.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the three clerics, Reverend Dziggau of TEKAN, the Vice President of HEKAN, Reverend Iliya Anto and Reverend Yakubu Zarma, and having their denominations’ headquarters in Jos, Plateau State, were in Kaduna, for a religious programme, when they were abducted at gunpoint and taken to unknown destination.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, in Jos, TEKAN GeneralSecretary, Reverend Moses Ebuga, said the entire followership of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, received with shock the sudden kidnap of the TEKAN president and the TEKAN/ECWA bloc leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) Reverend Illiya Anto, HEKAN Vice President and Reverend Yakubu Dzarma (retd) on March 21, 2016 in Kaduna State.

“We are not ignorant of the recent scheming against the Nigerian church regarding the upcoming CAN National election where the leaders have become the subject of attack, particularly the leadership of TEKAN/ECWA bloc in CAN,” he said.

The General-Secretary, Reverend Ebuga called on the government to do everything possible to ensure the safety of the leaders and unearth the whereabouts of the clergymen and to fish out the perpetrators as well.

He called on TEKAN churches and the Nigerian Churches to rise up in prayer against the ugly development that has extended to the church, saying God would

As CAN calls emergency meeting expose the sponsors and perpetrators of this dastardly inhuman act.

Meanwhile, in an effort to unravel the mystery behind the abduction of the President of TEKAN/ECWA, one of its Blocs, Reverend Dr Emmanuel Dziggau, by gunmen in Kaduna, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has summoned an emergency meeting.

The General Secretary of CAN, Dr Musa Asake, said the meeting would take place on Thursday, in Abuja, to ensure that “all hands remain on deck to make sure that those who do not wish the Church well do not succeed.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr Abdullahi Zubairu, could not confirm the incident.

Wife of the abducted

Gov Bello, Faleke trade blame over ex- LG chair’s arrest Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja

KOGI State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21 governorship election in the state, James Faleke, on Tuesday, traded blame over the arrest of a former chairman of Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Funso Olumoko, by security operatives.

Olumoko was said to have been arrested by security operatives in his hometown, Ekirinade in Ijumu Local Government Area, at about 1:30 a.m, following a press conference he held over the visit of the first lady of the state, Rashida Bello.

It was gathered that the heavily armed operatives stormed Olumoko’s residence in Hilux vans, and used a ladder to scale the fence of the building, smashed the doors of the residence, broke into the ceilings and whisked off the former council boss.

DSS releases detained Ekiti lawmaker, takes him to hospital Jacob Segun Olatunji -Abuja

THE detained member of Ekiti State House of Assembly representing Efon constituency, Honourable Afolabi Akanni, on Tuesday, regained his freedom from the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS).

Details of his release was sketchy as of the press time, but the Nigerian Tribune traced the lawmaker to a private hospital in Apo Legislative quarters, Abuja, last night, It was gathered that

cleric, Helen Dziggau, who confirmed the abduction in an interview with journalists from Abuja, however, said no ransom had been demanded.

The Secretary of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja), Yerima Danladi, also told journalists in Abuja, that Dziggau was kidnapped on Monday evening “on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway in Dutse, a few kilometres from Kaduna town, at a site where he was constructing the building of a branch of his church.”

A source in CAN said, “It is believed that the kidnap is not unconnected with subterranean moves being made by some forces in the country to influence the election of the next President of CAN because the incumbent President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, is expected to leave office in July 2016.

Honourable Akanni was brought to the private hospital by some people believed to be operatives of the DSS, but who later reportedly abandoned him there.

A top Ekiti State government official, who did not wanted his name in print, confirmed the development to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja last night, saying that the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, was already aware of the development The lawmaker had been in the custody of the DSS for 18 days.

The former chairman, a brother to Faleke, was said to have spoken on behalf of the community, and urged the first lady to shelve the idea of coming to the town, due to a political crisis that trailed the conduct of the last governorship election in the state.

Olumoko at the press briefing, was said to have condemned the attempt by the Bello -led administration to repaint and rename the primary health centre built in the community by the Federal Government in 2007, as a new project for inauguration by the first lady.

Following the development, the Audu/ Faleke Political Organisation condemned the invasion of the country home and arrest of Olumoko, describing it as crude and high-handed.

In a statement by its director, media and publicity, Duro Meseko, the organisation said “even if the police has a case against him, are there no civilised ways to invite him for questioning rather than resort to this rather crude and shameful method employed?”

Governor Bello, however, said they should not drag him into the issue, as according to him, the allegations of complicity in the arrest of some suspected hoodlums by the police, was baseless.

The governor in a statement by his chief press secretary, Kingsley Fanwo, said he had nothing to do with the arrest as the role of protecting the lives and property was that of security agencies.

“They have the constitutional right to protect the citizens of the country,” he said.

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

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editorial The abduction of female minors

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

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T was a rude shock to many a Nigerian when the news broke out few weeks ago that some adult males had been abducting and marrying off female minors without their parents’ consent. The intensity of the media reports on the ugly incidents had forced the hands of the relevant authorities to reluctantly intervene. Indeed, this patently illegal act is very embarrassing and calls to question the country’s claim to modernity and civilisation.

The case of one Ese Oruru, a girl-child who was abducted in Bayelsa State and taken to Kano State by one Yinusa Dairu helped to open the can of worms. Happily, Ese has been released and re-united with her parents. Three other girlchildren, namely Blessing Gopep,13, abducted by Iliya and Umaru; Linda Christopher, abducted by Mallam Shagari in Tasha Durumi village and Progress Jacob,13, kidnapped by Mallam Musa, all in Bauchi State, have also been reportedly released to their parents.

The circumstances of the kidnap of these girl-children were as curious and weird as their abduction proper. Save for Ese who was whisked away from Yenagoa to Kano, the three others were abducted while in transit; one while returning from church and the two others at motor parks.

The stories of these hapless children may sound like fairy tales of medieval times told in the literature books or movies but they are very real. The really uncomfortable aspect of the whole saga is that the criminal act would appear to enjoy the institutional, cultural, traditional and religious support of a vital segment of Nigeria. The ignoble but separate incidents have thus brought to the fore the profound diversity of Nigerian ethnic groups, not only in terms of religion, culture and tradition but also worldview.

It is noteworthy that in all of these incidents, the commoners were involved on both sides. The abductors, their victims and their families are ordinary Nigerians. The high and mighty became involved as third parties explaining away and legitimizing the criminal act of the abductors. This may explain why the police did nothing for seven months when Ese’s parents reported the kidnap of their daughter to them.

The point should be made that the Nigeria Police Force did not acquit itself creditably in the discharge of its duty of protecting lives and property as far as the travails of the abducted girls were concerned. The seeming helplessness of the police is inexplicable, suspect and intriguing.

For instance, after the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) admitted that he had been apprised of Ese’s case, it took him three days to get the poor girl released. And curiously, to do that, he had to make a recourse to the Kano Emirate Council and Sharia Commission in a manner suggesting

Nigerian Tribune

subservience. This is most unacceptable from the head of a federal agency saddled with the important responsibility of safeguarding lives and property. The IGP probably wished to handle the very sensitive matter in a cautious manner but he has also unwittingly accorded legitimacy to the institutional and traditional support base for abduction of female minors.

The question may be asked as to what the motives are for Northern Muslim young men to abduct Christian female minors. Could it be evangelism and inter-cultural/religious marriage? What usually comes to the public domain as the immediate outcomes of such abduction is forced marriage and conversion of victims to Islam. Evangelism is legitimate to the extent that conversion results from persuasion rather than coercion and brainwashing and no one needs to abduct a potential convert to do that. In the same vein, intercultural/religious marriage is good as it helps to foster the much needed unity in a diverse society but it should be done properly, at the ripe age for the bride, and with the consent of her parents. Any other arrangement is mischievous, evil and condemnable.

It is unconscionable for anyone to perpetrate evil and seek refuge in religion and culture. Under the law, no girlchild under the age of 16 years may be married off without her parents’ consent. Ignorance of the abducted girl’s age cannot be a valid excuse because the abductors know where to confirm their victim’s age if they really want to. And the purported consent of a girl-child is of no effect because she lacks the capacity to give such consent. She could not have given what she did not have. It has also been argued, particularly in Northern Nigeria, that Islam is liberal in respect of the age a girl could be married. If indeed that is the case, then an adult Muslim is better off getting a wife from among fellow Muslims. That way, there will be less hue and cry.

Let it be reiterated that this is no time to be hypocritical or play the ostrich. Ese’s abduction and that of the other three girls is an act of criminality which must be treated as such. The police should investigate the cases thoroughly and prosecute the culprits diligently. The activities of Sharia Commission reputed for receiving abducted girls and changing their names should also be investigated. In addition to advocating the review of obnoxious practices, cultural and religious, that tend to subjugate and demean womanhood, prominent religious and traditional leaders in the North are enjoined to come clean and raise their voice against abduction, coercive religious conversion and forceful marriage of female minors in Nigeria.

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14 LETTERS TO THE

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@tribune.com.ng or by sms to 08053412982.

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

What Buhari needs to focus on

P

RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari should ensure that he records success in the oil, power and jobs sectors, as these are the three areas where Nigerians are feeling the most pain.

First, fuel is now gold in the country; there are filling stations selling a litre of fuel for N120, and this has brought about an increase in transport fares.

Nigerians did not enjoy

the reversal of the price to N86.50k for a month before the current scarcity reared its ugly head. However, one negative thing about fuel in Nigeria is that once it is scarce, it affects other sectors as well.

Secondly, on the power sector, electricity is no longer regular as it used to be when the president just assumed office; some cities now barely have electricity for more than three hours a day.

Developing Ondo’s bitumen BITUMEN is one of the many natural resources in Ondo State; this resource is used in tarring roads, and with the constant road construction and rehabilitation projects across the country, then this resource will always be in high demand. At the moment, private investors are mostly responsible for extracting this resource, and I want to urge the state government, under the leadership of Dr Olusegun Mimiko, to establish a state company that will be in charge of selling the bitumen.

This company should function as an independent business entity, and not one that will be under a

government ministry.

When this happens, it will go a long way in creating jobs for indigenes of the state, as well as providing revenue for the government.

The state government should capitalise on the Federal Government’s decision that states can now harness the natural resources in their domains for their prosperity.

I know Governor Mimiko is a creative person, and when this business is established, he will put in place strategies to make it survive like the Odu’a Investment Company.

•Adigun Olukayode, Akure, Ondo State.

In defence of Minister Ocholi’s driver I am so sad that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has come out to say that the driver of the late Minister of State for Labour, Mr James Ocholi, did not have a valid driver’s license. Even if he did not have a valid license, can we now say that was why the accident occured?

While not supporting drivers who fail to obtain or renew their licenses, I, however, think that the FRSC’s insistence that the driver did not have a license is somehow unfair.

It was said that a burst tyre was responsible for the accident, so the FRSC should be fair in its judgment, as the accident didn’t occur because the

driver had not updated his license. His colleagues had even come to his rescue, saying he had submitted his particulars for the renewal of his license.

Do we now say that all the accidents claiming lives on a daily basis on our roads are because the drivers did not have valid licenses?

I think the FRSC should be fair enough to tell the Federal Government the truth about the terrible condition of our roads, which is the major cause of road accidents in the country.

The FRSC should, therefore, not lay the blame of the accident on the driver.

•Suraj Falope, Ikorodu, Lagos.

Many businesses are already folding up because they are running at a loss.

Running a manufacturing business on diesel eats up profits, and this is not sustainable, as sooner than later, such businesses will fold-up.

The third area I want the president to focus on is the area of unemployment; many have said Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder with a large number of its youths roaming the streets doing nothing.

These are the set of people politicians use for their negative assignments.

We have been hearing about baby factories, armed robberies, kidnappings, among others, and we should realise that these jobless youths are behind them all.

We need to engage our youths so that they can find something positive doing with their time.

Apart from providing them employment, I hope the government can also

charge the banks to lend those who have entrepreneurial ideas soft loans to kick-start their ideas.

The war on corruption is another area the president needs to focus on, and I am happy with how he has been going about this.

Nigeria will never develop when some people in positions of power keep

stealing the money meant for the citizens.

I hope we can strengthen our anti-corruption laws so that those who steal from the country will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison without an option of fine.

These are major areas that need urgent government attention, and I know

that President Buhari will not disappoint Nigerians.

2016 is the year that Nigerians will laugh. I believe all our challenges will end this year.

We just need to persevere for a little more, and things will get better.

•Obodo Charles, Benin, Edo State.

Misunderstanding over ranking: Yoruba obas are one THE misunderstanding between the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, over ranking should not have happened.

We should see ourselves as one in Yorubaland, while our traditional institution should be concerned about promoting unity among the people.

It is a good thing that the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has

brought the two revered rulers together to iron out their differences.

Having said this, I want all obas in Yorubaland to join the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in preaching peace among the people.

We shouldn’t begin to see ourselves as Ibadan, Ijebu or Egba people, rather, we should see ourselves as Yoruba people.

We should be more concerned about how to develop the South West so

as to be the envy of other regions in the country. We should all work together to make our region more prosperous than others.

Our traditional rulers should also strive to ensure that Yoruba people in Kogi and Kwara states are reunited with their kinsmen in the South West.

However, we can only achieve these when we are united.

•Tajudeen Alalade, Ilorin, Kwara State.

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opinion

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

The smell of trivia

By Garba Shehu

A

good number of the reactions to President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement that Nigeria has joined the Islamic Coalition Against Terrorism, show quite clearly that many Nigerians do not fully understand the president’s motives for this decision. With the rise of the Boko Haram Terrorist group of the past few years, Nigeria faces a threat such as no other in its entire history and existence.

Desperate times require desperate, unusual, measures.

The girls in Gwoza who were raped by militants do not care where the help comes from as far as they will eventually be able to move about freely without fear of being kidnapped and used as sex slaves. The mothers in Bama whose sons were slaughtered before their eyes do not worry whether Boko Haram is defeated by a Christian or Muslim coalition. The hundreds of thousands in IDP camps are concerned simply about when they can safely return to their homes and resume their normal lives. For these ones most hard hit by the Boko Haram terrorists, whether the help they so desperately need comes from the United States of America or from Saudi Arabia does not matter.

One of the main thrusts of President Buhari’s campaign was the war on terror. He promised that his administration would bring an end to Boko Haram, and set about doing just that as soon as he was elected, travelling to different countries and meeting with various heads of state to discuss the way forward on the issue. At the time, no Nigerian worried that President Buhari was seeking help from the West. No one worried about the ideology of those willing and able to help our country to defeat terror. Nigerians were simply united with their President in a determination to bring Boko Haram to an end so that our brothers and sisters in the northeast can resume their normal lives.

It is on account of these people and their desperate situation, and on the basis of national interest only, that President Buhari accepted the offer, with both hands, of assistance from G7 countries at the commencement of his administration. Religion was not a consideration then. It is also not a consideration now that he has made the decision to embrace help in fighting terror from the Middle-East. The safety of Nigerians and the total annihilation of Boko Haram is of more importance than the unfounded worries of Nigeria’s so-called Islamisation.

Those efforts by President Buhari led to several gains, including the technical defeat of Boko Haram by the end of 2015 as he had promised during the election campaigns. Once again, our Commander-in-Chief has sought help where he believes our

country will benefit and the religious affiliation or ideology of our benefactors should not be the paramount consideration. It is simply one of those cases where the enemies of our enemy has become our enemy. The enemy of terrorists all around the globe is our friend.

The fears that our country’s membership in this coalition will draw Islamic State, ISIS’s attention to Nigeria are too late.

As the President has repeatedly maintained, it is Boko Haram that proclaimed allegiance to ISIS, thereby dragging us into the global terrorism network. By pledging allegiance to ISIS, the terrorists already drew the international terror group’s attention to this part of the world. ISIS proudly and openly accepted this proclamation of allegiance. They have their sights set on us already.

Terrorism is heathen and knows no religion. It can only be defeated by the unity of entire humanity. Criticism of the membership of this alliance only shows our disarray and a lack of unity against terror and will only make the terrorists happy. The fears of so-called Islamisation are strange and unfounded, and meant only to feed the fear and suspicions existing among Nigerians.

With a precedent as shown above, it will be unkind and uncharitable of anyone to accuse President Buhari of executing deception. In an unusually harsh commentary, this country’s most respected newspaper The Punch on Sunday succeeded in exactly doing this. Read this: “The presidency’s doublespeak on Nigeria’s membership of the Saudi Arabia-led anti-terror Islamic coalition is unfortunate in the extreme. In the beginning, an aide to the president on media and publicity issued a statement to the effect that the president had declined Nigeria’s membership of the coalition and therefore did not attend its meeting while on a diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia.

But barely two weeks after, President Muhammadu Buhari himself confirmed Nigeria’s membership of the coalition in an interview with a foreign television station, Al- Jazeera. Buhari,

who never tabled such a sensitive matter before the National Assembly, said there are terrorists in Nigeria who have claimed to be Muslims. So, according to the him, “We are part of it because we have got terrorists in Nigeria who claim that they are Islamic. So, if there is an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, Nigeria will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terrorism.

“This explanation is simplistic, to say the least and does not do any good to expected political astuteness of President Buhari. In the main, membership of any such coalition is unacceptable for it offends the sensibilities of Nigerians in their diverse inclinations and should be reversed.”

Sensibilities offended? Can anyone face the more than two million unhoused, mostly Muslim refugees displaced by terror now being fed, almost exclusively by Christian charities that it is offensive them, or that it matters to them who, between Christians and Muslims is supplying the next meal? The one who raised a tent over their heads?

Let me say that the presidential aide in question is no other than myself. Although I write statements emanating from the Presidency, I don’t choose what headline writers will use to caption those stories.

To that extent, it is untrue of anyone to say the President had ab initio rejected a membership of the coalition against terror.

What the President said, to paraphrase him, was that “we may not be with you, but we will support you in every possible way we can.” This does not presuppose rejection. Even if it was one, nothing says that a government cannot move or adjust its position based on new, superior facts as we individuals do in our daily lives.

That some of the criticism against the President is coming from opposition Senators is even more absurd, showing a lack of judgement and discrimination- or even worse.

It holds up a mirror to the PDP’s cluelessness and total absence of strategy to defeat Boko Haram terrorism. The party’s projection of itself as better than the APC in this regard is hobbled by their own record of indecision and serial abdication on Chibok girls as disclosed by Ambassador Packock and greed, corruption and a general incapacity to drive the anti terror war.

A set of politicians who failed to confront or attack terrorism while in power have no right to challenge President Buhari’s hounding of them. To global acclaim. Trivia smells. There is a need for a new fragrance in the air.

•Shehu is Senior Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President.

UI crisis: Of facts, fictions and fights

By Sunday Saanu THE current financial crisis rocking the University of Ibadan, in which the management team says it can no longer pay some allowances, after struggling to pay salaries, clearly confirms what has always been suspected: insolvency, if not bankruptcy.

Following the crash of prices of crude oil in the international market, observers had predicted that there would be tough times for the country.

Indeed, tough times are here. Many states across the country are not only impecunious, their workers are as indigent as their dependents who are in the poverty trap as a result of non-payment of salaries. The distress scenario is fast spreading to Federal Government’s agencies and institutions with major shortfall in financial allocation. This is the genesis of the on-going crisis in UI, where workers are giving the new Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka sleepless nights over non-payment of what they called “earned allowance” for the month of February.

This “earned allowance,” which is a fallout of the 2009 agreement between the government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), is being paid in installment through the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), pending when the government will reimburse the university. But when bubble bursts with the shortfall in personnel grant released by the government, the VC cried out that the university would not be able to pay the allowance. The workers, under different unions, including the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), scoffed at the dilemma, insisting that the allowance must be paid. They believe that UI has the wherewithal to pay the money.

Determined to douse the tension, Prof. Olayinka, in a release dated 22 February, explained the financial situation to the workers, citing paucity of funds as his headache. According to him, “In 2015, we received N932,714,026.24 from January up to November, but in December 2015, our allocation on Personnel Cost was drastically reduced to N663,972,634.60. This is a reduction of N268,741,391.64. This shortfall accounted for why deductions for the month of December 2015 could not be paid to all deserving cooperative societies and unions.”

Surprisingly, Prof. Olayinka disclosed that, “we received the sum of N782,346,495.95 as Personnel Cost for the month of January 2016. This sum is a far cry from our expected Personnel Cost. Our budget in 2016 for Personnel Cost is N12,971,458,377 net of National Health Insurance Scheme and Contributory Pensions. We, therefore, expected a monthly allocation of N1,080,954,864.75, instead, we got N782,346,495.95, a reduction of N298,608,369.16. The import of this is that again in January 2016, we were not able to meet up with 100 percent of our commitment on Personnel Cost.”

With the economic situation in the country, as exemplified in many states, it appears preposterous to controvert the VC. However, the workers believe that there is money in the system

but it is refusing to pay the allowance. Fiction, you may say! But where is the VC going to get the money from? However, since the union leadership appears to know better than the ordinary members, a congress was called recently in which all members of the three unions, excluding Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), were enjoined to converge on the main entrance of the university. As early as 7a.m, staff members had taken over the place, itching to be updated. The gates had been locked as usual. The vehicular movement had been effectively paralysed.

The SSANU chairman, Mr. Wale Akinremi, spoke on behalf of other leaders, psyching up the members in salutation. He then began attacking the personality of the VC. Perhaps it is relevant to ask for Prof. Olayinka’s offence in all of this. Is he the one who caused the economic crisis? Did the VC get more allocation than he has disclosed? The protesters alleged that Prof. Olayinka did not behave as his predecessor, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole! Haba! . No two individuals are ever the same. Not even twins who passed through the same womb.

It is obvious that Prof. Olayinka has been unjustifiably maligned and publicly denigrated. He deserves apologies. Although that is part of the sacrifices he has to make as the VC, he nonetheless deserves respect. His office, as well, commands regard of those who truly cherish intellectualism. Here is a man who has been demonstrating admirable maturity and wisdom since he took over on December 1, 2015, the mindset you associate with humble and confident learner-leader. He remains the leader to be proud of. He is the symbol of our collective academic excellence and achievement. Why then should anybody take joy in disparaging him?

•Saanu is with the Directorate of Public Communication, University of Ibadan.

16

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

tribune cartoons

Adeeko Olusegun adeeko.olusegun@yahoo.com 0811 695 4638

GIANT IN THE TROPIC OF AFRICA

Ozumba Mbadiwe

FUNOLOGY

BORN at Oneh in Orumba, in Orlu division of the present day Imo State, on March 15, 1917.

He was a celebrated Nigerian nationalist, PanAfricanist, politician, feminist advocate, statesman, and a wordsmith known for his flamboyance and political showmanship.

CHURCH BOY

He was one time Minister of Lands, Minister of Trade and Commerce, and Minister of Aviation. He was also appointed as the first and so far, the only “Ambassador Extra-Ordinary and Plenipotentiary” of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

SEGELUULU

He is the father of popular Nigerian Igbo billionaire and auto-freak, Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe, who owns vintage cars, fancy speed boats, and collection of most expensive and trendy hats and wrist-watches.

K i n g s l e y Ozumba Mbadiwe died in 1990.

THERE ARE 10 DIFFERENCES IN THE CARTOONS BELOW. THE DIFFERENCES SHOULD BE MARKED IN B

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

A

B

17

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

by Wale Ojo-Lanre 0803 349 0986 waleojolanre@gmail.com

H

RM Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland, has commended the efforts of Otunba Gani Adams, Chief covener, Olokun Festival Foundation, for his contribution towards revival of the cultural heritage of the Yoruba race. He made this statement at the palace, during the grand finale of the week long activities marking the 30th Anniversary of the Lisabi festival.

“I want to commend Otunba Gani Adams for his immense contribution towards the success of Olumo Festival for two days.

He came there with about 10,000 of his men and organised different activities which added colour to the event. He has been doing this consistently for the past three years. God will continue to bless you,’’ stated the Alake.

The event, which was graced by eminent sons and daughters of Egbaland, also had Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his cabinet members in attendance. During his speech, Governor Amosun said: “I want to specially thank my friend and brother, Otunba Gani Adams, for supporting this festival. You are highly appreciated.”

Prior to the Olumo Festival, the Miss Olumo Beauty pageant was held at the Centenary Hall, Ake, Abeokuta on Friday March 4, 2016. In a keenly contested competition, 19-year-old Miss Nneka Sunday, a 200 level Business Administration student of the Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan, Oyo State, emerged the Miss Olumo 2016. Miss Olumo 2015 majestically handed over after her successful reign.

Miss Kehinde Kujore, a 200-level Economics undergraduate of the National Open University and Miss Mosunmola Omotayo, a 300 level Political Science student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, emerged the first and second runners up respectively.

The star prize, a saloon car, was presented to the queen during the Olumo festival by the Alake of Egbaland. Fuji icon, Shefiu Alao, entertained the distinguished guests while Mc Kirikiri anchored the event. The first and second runners up got N75,000 and N50,000 respectively.

Otunba Adams, in his speech, said the importance of the Olumo festival could never be overemphasised. ‘‘Much as the Egba people and the Yoruba in general recognise the heroic contribution of Lisabi to the development of Abeokuta, the Olumo rock also has a very

Olumo, a blessing to Egbaland —Alake Commends Otunba Gani Adams

Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland speaking at the event. adorable place in the history of the Egba people. ‘‘The annual celebration of the Olumo festival as part of the Lisabi day celebration has provided a very veritable platform for sons and daughters of Egba to come together and project the uniqueness of what mature bequeathed on them. ‘‘My observations since I arrived in Abeokuta and in the last few years have shown that the Egba people really relish the importance of this festival. The continued support of the traditional ruler of this ancient town, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, is a clear indication of the wide acceptance of this celebration. ‘‘Let me, at this point, commend our traditional rulers from different parts of Yoruba land for the newfound love and cordial relationship among them.

I was highly elated with reports of the courtesy visits to different traditional rulers in Yoruba land by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi. The new relationship between our traditional rulers id no doubt a right step in the right direction for the development of the Yoruba land.

“The custodian of our tradition, as the Obas are referred to have

set a path for Yoruba sons and daughters to follow. ‘‘I also want to encourage our governors and other public office holders to learn from our traditional leaders by uniting to form a unified ground for the development of the Yoruba region,’’ he said.

“In the past, especially during the reign of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory, the Yoruba region was the model for development in other regions, he added. Leaders from other regions in Nigeria were copying the developmental stride of Baba Awolowo and Yoruba land was at the centre stage. ‘‘Let us all have it at the back of our minds that the Lisabi and Olumo festivals are not just for

the acrobatic dances. The Olumo festival is not just for us to come and showcase our new hair styles or new clothes. Far from all these. The festival is designed to, first of all, promote the cultural value of the Egba people and that of the Yoruba’s in general. ‘‘We should also note that the essence of this celebration is to foster unity and a common ground for Lisabi Agbongbo Akala. It is expected that the festival will provide an indomitable forum for the different towns in Abeokuta to come together and beunited. The people of Egba should also play a very crucial role in the emancipation of the Yoruba people. ‘‘Lisabi was referred as “Ag-

Much as the people recognise the heroic contribution of Lisabi to the development of Abeokuta, the Olumo rock also has a very adorable place in the history of the Egba people.

bongbo Akala” and he was renowned for his heroic bravery that liberated the Egba people. It is also of concern to me that our language is gradually going into extinction.

“Our organisation, the Olokun festival foundation, has over the last few years, been at the forefront of promoting the Yoruba language.

As parts of our efforts to inculcate the teaching of Yoruba language in our children, we introduced the Yoruba quiz competition as part of the programme in our festivals.

“It is my passionate appeal to our governors, traditional rulers and well – meaning Yoruba sons and daughters to let us unite and find a way to revive the dying Yoruba language. Let us formulate policies that will aid the teaching and learning of Yorruba language. Let us look at ideas and way through which our language can become fascinating and encouraging to students. Until a few years ago, the site of the Olumo rock was, for a long time, neglected by past successive government in Ogun State.

“There is a very strong need for our government and the people of Yoruba land to develop out historical site into world class tourism centre.’’

18

tourism

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Many people expected His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ooni Ojaja 11, one of the richest Monarchs in Nigeria, who is not only cosmopolitan but who has invested so much in the tourism sector and got wedded recently, to charter a luxurious plane and head for an exotic pleasurable romantic Island in the Barbados or Paris, Dubai or at least, check into his resort and spend some time with his beautiful wife. To the utmost surprise of all, the Ooni Ojaja headed for La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, an ecotourism enclave owned by Ambassador Wanle Akinboboye, located in Ikegun Village, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State. Ooni Ojaja, in an interview with Wale Ojo Lanre, explains the reason for his decision.

K

ABIESI, you can afford to observe your honeymoon in seven star hotels in Dubai or five stars hotels in Paris. You can afford to go to US and many other beautiful countries to buffet your honeymoon. Why La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Nigeria?

There is a saying that charity begins at home. It’s very important that we have home gown tourism. I am very passionate about domestic tourism. Why should I go abroad? Why? Does it have any economic meaning? No. It does not and I am an advocate of anything Nigerian; I walk with it, I sleep and wake up with Nigeria, it rings in by brain and I am Nigerian to the core. This is one of the ways to promote Nigeria and encourage the youths.

Kabiesi, why are you a Nigerian to the core?

I have no choice than to be who I am.

Firstly, I am a Nigerian by birth and also by inclination. I am a Nigerian by every measure of it and regardless of my international exposure, I am still a Nigerian. So, I have to act as such. You too should be who you are in acts, deeds and perception. That is the only way we can grow this nation. We have to encourage our youths. Before I became a king I could not lose the grip of my relationship with the youth, I believe in youth empowerment and I am very close to them.

The general saying that do not forget your root, my root are the youths. The stool is dedicated to them and they are over 70 per cent of the entire population. I flew in from Sokoto to La Campagne where I went to launch a project with His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto. Our major discussion was Nigeria and nothing else other than Nigerians how we’ll continue to empower youths and tourism which is an important aspect that can help in that direction.

Why do you think tourism?

Tourism is important. It is one economic sector which Nigeria, as an entity, and Nigerians as a people, have not come to terms with, in relations to its economic indispensability. Tourism is a movement. It deals with movement of the people and its attendant’s economic implications. Since I came here, I met a lot of Nigerians who are aware. I don’t know how a lot of people are aware of my staying here and they have been coming here in droves to visit me and there is no way their visit will not rubbed off on the economy of this area. This is one of the impacts and efforts of tourism. I am a tourism gospel spreader and I cannot or no longer hide myself. So I have to continue to preach the gospel of positivity on things about the country in such a way that it will positively affect the growth of the country.

If we have positive movement in the area of tourism, it will empower a lot of youths.

Look, when I came here, I was very impressed with what I saw. I was welcomed by over 100 youths; the ones that were beating the drums, the ones that displayed traditional dance, (male and female) the ones that were smoking sea foods, over 100 youths being engaged here and being paid for work done in this tourism enclave!

How do you feel about your decision to spend your honeymoon here in this village at this tourism enclave?

I just do what is supposed to be done.

Ambassador Wande Akinboboye, President, La Campagne Tropicana, Beach Resort, watches as Olori Enitan Ogunwusi cuts the honeymoon cake to the admiration of Oba. Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, Ojaja 11 at Ile’rimi, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Ibeju Lekki Lagos.

Why I spent my honeymoon @ La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Lagos —Ooni Ojaja kari Games Reserve. It will not only boost the economy of the sector, it will domesticate our spending and improve the society for better.

Ooni Ojaja 11, his beautiful Olori and others watch with keen interest the Edo dance displayed by Atunda Entertainment to welcome his entourage to La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Lagos.

This is what we should do to encourage local investors in tourism sector and keep our youths employed. Nigerians must learn and embrace the culture of patronising the numerous tourism sites for whatever reasons. My coming here will domesticate my spending for the benefit of the workers and the public in general. If 30 per cent of Nigerians honeymoon spenders patronise

local investors, the domestic tourism will grow, our investors will make money and the workers will be okay. You can imagine if the president of this country goes to Obudu Cattle Ranch, that is a big statement or the Senate President or Vice President goes to Tinapa to just go there to relax with his family or some of the governors go to Yan-

Hope this will not be a once off thing?

It will not be and it is not a once off thing. I will be visiting others sites in other states not just to make a statement about tourism but to showcase my commitment to the germination and grow of domestic tourism. I am not limiting my Nigerian patriotism to only engaging Nigerian Resorts and tourism sites because even my personal effects and accessories are mostly Nigerian. It is not only in La Campagne but all over the country. As far as I am concerned, my purchases, the beads I am wearing is hundred per cent Nigerian.

The gold in it are locally sourced from Osun State. In terms of gold, I can never buy gold outside the country, the beads are made from Osun and Edo States. The Benin Kingdom are known for that, that is part of the things that come out of Nigeria and they link with tourism. I moved from Continued on pg 19

19

tourism Continued from pg 18

Sokoto to La Campagne in Lagos. Think of the financial transaction involved, I mean travelling with over 60 people!

Do you have any regret about this?

I don’t have any regrets. I am happy that the financial aspect of my travel goes and circulates within Nigeria. This is what it should be. I am very happy here. I am very close to nature. I have a resort too but I didn’t go to my resort because I am partnering with the owner of La Campagne and I want to have a feel of his resort, which is very African in concept. I am very excited that I am here. You can imagine if you have a lot of our leaders patronising tourism sites in Nigeria. If you go to the United States of America for instance, there’s Camp David.

Look at what happened in Germany where all the world leaders met at a resort there.

Think of the finance involved. Think of the amount of money injected to the economy of Germany, the resort and the impact of such on the people. This is what I am saying and so I travelled from Sokoto to La Campagne. I would have chosen to move from Sokoto to Paris or United Kingdom or United States of America but I am not going to do it, let us grow our domestic tourism.

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

‘Tourism is the ammunition needed to eliminate poverty’ land belong to the entire Yoruba race and the entire world. If there is no cohesion I wouldn’t have movement so we have to first of all bring together peaceful cohesion, in place for them to know what we have. Tourism cannot thrive in an environment of disorderliness, chaos, violence and disintegration. If we want tourists to be here and to have confidence in Yoru-

You are so concerned about unity, cohesion, and togetherness. Are these tourism related?

Yes, because all the entire section of Ife-

ba land, there should and must be peace. That will enable the tourists, the confidence to traverse Yoruba land without any fear or favour and without any reservation about hospitable attitude. Tourism cannot thrive in an acrimonious environment, and I must do this because we have to encourage intra Yoruba land tourism and interaction, without suspicion.

A scion of the Alaafin of Oyo must be able to feel free in any part of Yoruba land while any Ekiti man should be happy anywhere in any part of Oodua territory. That is how it should be and that is how it will be In terms of tourism assets, where lies Ile-Ife Tourism Zone?

If we are talking about Ife alone, the assets are many and multifarious. Remember Ife is the cradle of mankind. Ife is the source.

It is not only historical, it is ancient. That alone is immeasurable and incomparable asset. That Ife has the Tower of Babel, harbours the Noah’s Ark, the artefacts, historical and spiritual centres, the Ifa Temple, the first stone cobbled road, the Opa Oramiyan and all the ancients groves of creation and the House of all the crowns of all Yoruba Obas. These are just for Ife as a city. But when we are talking of Ile–Ife as a tourism zone, it is about the Yoruba land. It is about any territory which is occupied by the scion of Oduduwa. It is a huge lot; it is another movement which all of us must be part of it to liberate our people from wretchedness and poverty by using the tourism bomb.

Tourism cannot thrive in an acrimonious environment, and I must do this because we have to encourage intra Yoruba land tourism and interaction, without suspicion.

Is that why you declared Ile-Ife as a tourism zone?

Yes, there are too many mysteries in Ife land. We cannot hide it again so you have to look for how to partner with the right people and I haven’t regretted that partnering with Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, the proprietor of La Campagne Tropicana. He has been in this business for the over 30 years. We are not competitors but we share the same vision. He has a resort and I have one resort too, so the best bet is to collaborate. I am very excited being here and I love the setting here. It is rural based. An ideal African setting. An ecotourism enclave.

You started your tenure by employing over two thousand widows and other people to be cleaning Ife, is that part of the tourism agenda?

Well, it’s not just two thousand people.

Right now, we are clocking about 6000.

That number is only for tourism. We are now looking into agriculture. Soon, we are going to unveil our agricultural project for the people. The tourism guards are busy cleaning up Ile–Ife tourism zone. But for tourism, you need to tidy up the entire environment and make it look serene, so when tourists come, they will look at the serene environment and fall in love with the town and tell others to come and visit. This is why we had to employ the over 6000 people which include the widows, most of them victims of Ife-Modakeke war of many years.

We have many widows so I called them, we are all one now and told them the only war we are going to fight is the economic war. I made it clear, as the Ooni of Ife; I will not engage any town in war. The only war which I will fight is economic war. I will raise all ammunition of welfare to fight poverty and wretchedness in Yoruba land. This is a war I will fight with all my might, energy and agility. But to carry weapons against one another is capital NO. But against economic war against poverty and wretchedness, I will do everything positively needed to destroy these two monsters that are reducing the dignity of my people in the eyes of all. And the ammunition for this is tourism. Tourism is the nuclear bomb to eliminate poverty. I will deploy this efficiently, by the special grace of God and support of Nigerians.

Nigerian Tribune

Bands of entertainers for His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Ojaja 11 put up by the managment of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort.

NCPC boss sensitises youths on pilgrimage THE Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), John Kennedy Opara, was the guest speaker at a retreat for church workers organised by the Summit Bible Church, Abuja, recently. The Executive Secretary used the platform to enlighten the youths of the church on the programmes of the commission and the need for every Christian to key into them.

He explained that the commission was established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2007 and came into full operation in 2008. He expansiated that from a single pilgrimage programme in one year, the commission now runs four pilgrimage programmes in one year namely; Easter pilgrimage (March to April), Youth Pilgrimage which commenced last year and was held between June and July, family pilgrimage in August and the main pilgrimage (October- December).

He disclosed that the Senior Pastor of the Church, Pastor Andy Osakwue, would be the Spiritual Leader of this year’s Youth Pilgrimage to Israel. He also revealed that this year’s youth pilgrimage would feature a praise night, to be organised by the commission.

The NCPC boss further hinted that the commission had envisaged that there would come at time when the federal and state governments would begin to withdraw from pilgrimage activities and so the commission had introduced ‘win-a trip-to-Israel’ to make pilgrimage affordable and accessible

to all Nigerians.

He explained that every Christian is expected to buy a ticket at the cost of N500 which qualifies him or her to participate in the raffle draw. According to him, the lucky winners will travel to Israel at no cost to the federal or state government.

He assured that as soon as the ticket is available and on sale, every Christian would get to know about it through the commission’s different communication platforms.

He explained that the beauty of ‘win a trip Israel’ is that the money realised would be used to sponsor winners to Israel on holy pilgrimage.

He also informed them about the skills acquisition programme and leadership training components that had been introduced into the youth pilgrimage as well as the impact the training now has on some pilgrims from Delta State.

He explained that the skill acquisition and leadership training had been expanded into modules to give interested youths the opportunity to acquire knowledge that would equip them for life. According to him, Module One would last for one week which is the basic training. Module Two would last for two weeks while Module Three would last for one month. He mentioned that the skill acquisition programme of the commission has no additional cost to the pilgrimage package.

Opara equally informed the youths of the commission’s Pilgrims’ Saving Scheme (PSS) which enables intending pilgrims to

save instalmentally for pilgrimage at his their her own pace.

He informed that the commission intends to set up a kibutz this year in Nigeria where people own a common land and pool resources and expertise together for the common goal of a shared value system, a system very successful and operational in Israel.

He also stated that the commission had been given approval to develop and build a 15 - storey edifice in the central business district called ‘Mini Israel’ to enable Christians enjoy the Holy Land experience here in Nigeria. He explained that the project will be built on build on Transfer (BOT) arrangement with the private sector.

He affirmed that in 2017, he would ensure that NCPC becomes the best run government agency in Nigeria.

The Senior Pastor of the Church, Pastor Andy Osakwue, at the end of the sensitization talk by the NCPC boss, promised to appoint a representative from the church who would serve as a liaison between the church and NCPC to maximally benefit from the programmes of the Commission.

Members of the management team of NCPC who accompanied the Executive Secretary on the sensitization visit included the Deputy Director, Office of the Executive Secretary, Dr. Ifeoma Unachukwu , Head, Sensitization and Enlightenment Dept, Mr. Christian Udegbunam; Head of Operations Dept; Mr. Sunny Udeh, Head, Media Unit, Mr. Celestine Toruka and Head Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, Mr. Kunle Olesin.

20 with Doyin Adeoye

m:08038000394 e:doyinadeoye@tribuneonlineng.com t:@kreatif_ink

From left, former Senate President and recipient of Novena University’s Honourary Doctorate Degree in Intelligence and Security Studies, Senator David Mark; wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunso Amosun and Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, during the university’s third Convocation/10th year anniversary in Ogume, Delta State.

Environmental sustainability:

Novena University awards Amosun’s wife

eof private universities in Nig st ate gre the of one n bee ria had the in acy achievements of democr un t tha WIFE of the Governor of Og ing not country, while also n, State, Mrs Olufunso Amosu their existence had put govern r the s. toe over the weekend added ano ir the on es siti ver uni ment rfeather to her cap as she was He charged the Nigeria Unive ary our hon an ere adh conferred with to C) (NU sity Commission ing Doctorate of Science Environ strictly to its standard of rais her for the in ment Management degree s tem sys al ion cat edu good ards immense contributions tow country. . nenvironmental sustainability In his remarks, the Vice Cha or fess Receiving the award during Pro , sity ver uni cellor of the ation the t the third combined Convoc tha ed not , for ora Ok Chris years and 10th Anniversary/Award university had in the last 10 y, rsit ive Un a ven d har ceremony of No and nce promoted excelle ored ctu Ogume in Delta State, Mrs Am stru l wel its h work throug nt ing sun reiterated her commitme courses and programmes, add the ing sav s ed duc and support toward pro that the institution had n. con environment from degradatio had t tha ts over 6,000 studen to She said the award was a call g. ldin bui ion nat tributed to ure service and that she would ens He urged the graduating tain sus l nta that the environme dents to keep the light of the stu r prong ability campaign was furthe institution shining by excelli oss ile wh moted among youths and acr s, our eav end re in their futu ourthe world. hon the ting tula gra con also coned Mrs Amosun also called for ary awardees for a well deserv kesta t van rele of certed efforts honour. help mer holders and all Nigerians to Other awardees included for h oug thr nt me iron env the vid tain sus Senate President, Senator Da ng. tree planting and waste recycli bechie, Gener- Mark, Mr Gabriel Og Speaking at the event, the gov (Rtd) and oh Bor eral Paul Tarels nyi nor of Delta State, Senator Ifea s. rigg Chief Lulu-B ence Okowa, said that the emerg

By Doyin Adeoye

WITH the theme: ‘Hotter, Drier, Wetter: Face the Future,’ Meteorologists across the world today are celebrating the World Meteorological Day (WMD), with a goal to contribute to a better understanding of climate variability and climate change, as well as to the development of much needed climate applications to address some of the major challenges of this century.

Since 1961, the WMD have been celebrated every 23 March worldwide by the meteorological community to showcase the contribution of meteorologists to safety, well-being and sustainable development.

Over the years, many lives have been saved around the world by improved weather forecasting, early-warning systems and disaster readiness. Meteorologists’ information on climate reduces disaster risk, promotes food and water security, and safeguards

By Doyin Adeoye TO mitigate the effects of climate change on the environment as already being felt in Nigeria, public advocacy about the environment should be intensified among the populace so as to be more aware of the need to adjust their lifestyle to reduce

— Ross Perot, richest man to ever have run for the United States presidency

57.7 million Nigerians still without access to clean water

By Doyin Adeoye DESIGNATED as the World Water Day, every 22 March since 1993, has remained an opportunity to promote water management, learn more about water related issues and take actions that make a difference.

Annually, the global community on this day celebrate water, create awareness on the significance of fresh water and also come up with ways in which water can be better managed in the future.

With the theme: ‘Water and Jobs,’ the 2016 edition provides an important opportunity to highlight the relationship between water and work in the quest for sustainable development, as well as show how enough quantity and quality of water can change workers’ lives and livelihoods.

To mark this day, WaterAid in Nigeria has called on the government to take action to reach the estimated 57.7 million people in Nigeria still without access to clean water.

In its new briefing, ‘Water: At What

Cost? The State of the World’s Water,’ released on the occasion of this year’s World Water Day, the organisation examines the most difficult places in the world for people to get clean water and reveals how the world’s poorest often pay far more of their income for water than those in the developed world.

Country Representative, WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Michael Ojo said that: “It is shocking to realise that a life essential such as water, can cost a poor person in the developing world as much as half of their income, for an amount that is about one-third of average daily use in the developed world.

“Clean drinking water is a right, yet an estimated 31 per cent of people in Nigeria are still living without

Deforestation: A major cause of global warming

By Doyin Adeoye

T

REES are been felled at an alarming rate. And the effects of deforestation are adversely impacting biodiversity, the climate, and human life.

While forests are disappearing as a result of both natural and man-made activities, the vital role of forests in the carbon cycle is gradually being affected. Forests don’t just serve as home to millions of species, they also protect soil from erosion, produce oxygen, store carbon dioxide and help control climate.

The single act of cutting down a tree is a contributory factor to global warming, because when forests are cut down, not only does carbon absorption cease, but also the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, especially if such wood is burned.

Deforestation accounts for 12 to 20 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, according

to the United Nations. Likewise, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report revealed that Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate.

To further create more awareness on the adverse effects of deforestation, stakeholders across the world on Monday, 21 March, celebrated the International Day of Forests, which is aimed at promoting the importance of forests and trees in our lives, as well as raising an alarm on the adverse effects of deforestation.

Speaking with Ecoscope, Dr Shola Adepoju, the Executive Director, Forestry Research Institute of

public health.

This year’s theme, ‘Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future,’ was chosen to illustrate the reality of climate change as it highlights that without urgent action to cut emissions, the trend of increasing temperatures and the frequency and intensity of extreme events will accelerate.

Speaking in a recent interview, Dr Anthony Anuforom, Director General/ CEO of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), noted that all

Nigeria (FRIN), revealed that forests play a vital role in human existence.

“There is no way one would talk about climate change mitigation

with a nongovernmental organisation, Connected Development (CODE).

During the event which was marked with the symbolic one-hour of darkness, between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., and observed across over 170 countries according to time zones, Karunwi said there was need for

social and political will to intensify campaign against the rise in global temperatures and its ripple effect on the environment because many Nigerians are still unaware of the benefits of building a clean energy economy and the risks of not doing it.

According to him, this accounts for the reason the NCF is willing to sup-

without taking about forests. The removal of vegetative cover leads to climate change.

Also, forests play an important role in achieving sustainability development.

“Poverty, ignorance and lack of authoritative source of livelihood remain major factors in deforestation. Once those are addressed and people are properly sensitised, there will be an improvement,” he said.

With the theme: ‘Forests and Water,’ the 2016 edition focused on the fact that food security depends on water security, while water security depends on forests.

Forests cover about one third of the world’s land mass and in fact, roughly 1.6 billion

By Doyin Adeoye ACCORDING to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), nearly 350 reported disasters; over 22,000 deaths; 98.6 million people affected, and $66.5 billion in economic damage, was the devastating toll of disasters worldwide in 2015.

In a recent interview with the United Nations News Centre, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and head, UNISDR, Robert Glasser, discussed the need for integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation efforts, particularly given that 90 per cent of disasters are

port every effort of the government geared towards achieving low carbon development pathway, as President Muhammadu Buhari, has also declared a commitment to 20 per cent emission reduction of greenhouse gases for the country.

“As a follow-up to the realisation of the Nigeria’s Nationally Determined

people, including more than 2000 indigenous cultures, depend on forests for their livelihood.

People often cut down trees for various reasons, some of which include agriculture, where farmers clear the forest to create more land to plant their crops and for livestock to graze on.

Trees are also cut down to provide wood for paper productions and as firewood and charcoal for cooking, in the absence of the necessary cooking facilities.

The development in the industrial domain is at the cost of clearing away forest and thereby reducing the vegetation.

It is therefore important for us all to be concerned, because if the rate at which deforestation occurs persists, then in 100 years, there could be no more rainforests.

access to clean water. Increased competition for water resources and climate change are only exacerbating the crisis, which along with lack of sanitation is responsible for the deaths of more than 68,000 children under five each year in the country,” he said.

The United Nations Agenda 2030 for sustainable development has its goal 6 set on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This is highly essential as every year, millions of people, mostly children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

Although about 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources since 1990, at least 1.8 billion people globally still use a source of drinking water that is fecally contaminated and about 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.

In this vein, WaterAid is therefore reminded governments that the promises of the UN Global Goals on Sustainable Development, especially goal 6 to reach everyone, everywhere with clean water and access to safe, private toilets by 2030 is achievable, but will take a serious political shift and financing to get there.

The briefing, which is WaterAid’s first ever ‘State of the World’s Water’ report revealed that while Nigeria features 17 in the list of the top 20 most improved countries for water access over the past 15 years, the African giant is also one of the worst in the world for household water access and features third in the world on a list of the top 10 countries with the greatest numbers of people living without access to safe water.

‘90% of disasters now climate-related’

hands must be on deck to address the weather conditions.

“We are advocating that the information we are putting forward should be used by stakeholders in planning and execution of programmes. When we make prediction it is expected that all hands should be on deck,” he said.

Speaking further on rainfall prediction, Dr Anuforom noted that the fact that we are going to have lower than normal rainfall does not rule out sporadic flooding.

Climate Change: Improved environmental education essential —NCF carbon emission which poses a threat to human existence.

This assertion was made recently by the Director General, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Mr Adeniyi Karunwi, at the foundation’s headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, during an event to commemorate the Earth Hour 2016, organised in partnership

The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river

ecoscope

World Meteorological Day: Preparing for a better future

By Doyin Adeoye

21

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Contribution, NCF will support the relevant Government ministry to drive the process of achieving a low carbon development pathway. In view of this, the Foundation has intensified its effort in public advocacy to align with the national deliverable towards the Paris Climate Agreement,” he said.

now climate-related, while also noting that disaster risk reduction is fundamental in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

“Disaster risk reduction is fundamental both to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in achieving the objectives of the Paris climate change agreement that was reached last year.

Disaster risk is costing countries over $300 billion a year and that is an initial estimate.

The actual costs are far greater than we can actually quantify.

“For developing countries, if disasters strike, they can wipe out 20 per cent of the GDP or more. So if we want to address sustainable development; if we want that to

State of Palestine joins UNFCCC as it now totals 197 parties THE UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) now has 197 members following the formal entry of the State of Palestine.

This is in accordance with its article 23 (2) which reads as follows: “For each State or regional economic inte-

gration organisation that ratifies, accepts or approves the Convention or accedes thereto after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date

of deposit by such State or regional economic integration organisation of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.”

The State of Palestine deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention on 18 December, 2015.

work, then disaster risk has to be incorporated in development planning and we have a long way to go to do that,” he said.

According to him, climate change is probably the single biggest disaster risk moving forward and the most significant treatment to reduce disaster risk is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we don’t get a handle on climate change, then all of the other efforts to reduce disaster risk are going to be extremely difficult to realise,” he said.

22

tribunebusiness

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Group Business Editor Sulaimon Olanrewaju

m:08055001708 e:lanresulaimon@yahoo.com t:@lanresulaimon

energy

By Olatunde Dodondawa with Agency Reports - Lagos

T

he decision by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote to establish 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery and petro-chemical plants may have rekindled the hopes of private refiners in Nigeria who have lost hope of building their own refineries after about 22 were licensed in 2000.

Holders of private refinery licences have decried continued deregulation of the downstream sector, a position they claimed is de-incentives to private refining business in Nigeria. Infact, one of them told Nigerian Tribune sometimes ago that “the government cannot tell me how much I sell my products (refined petroleum products) having built my refinery with my money without subsidy.”

However, Dangote Group said in a statement that “After receiving a private licence to build a refinery, we have commenced the building of a 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) petroleum refinery, which will be the single largest in the world. The refinery would have a larger capacity than all of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refineries put together.”

When the Conglomerate took some journalists on a tour of the refinery site, it was disclosed that it will not rely wholly on crude from Nigeria but from other competitive crude exporter.

This negates the mind-set of other private refinery licensees who were requesting for crude supply guarantee from the Federal Government as one of the conditions to commence construction of refineries.

However, it was expected when the Federal Government announced a cumulative refining target of 1,429, 000 barrels per day production from private refineries in Nigeria.

The Federal Government, through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), maintained that 25 private refinery licences have been granted to companies with 21 in the Licence to Establish (LTE) category, while 4 in the Approval to Construct (ATC) category.

Stating that it had not revoke the license of previous private refinery, government said it was in alignment with its aspiration of improving Nigeria’s refining capacity by strengthening its regulatory oversight function of the petroleum sector in Nigeria.

In a statement by the DPR titled, Status of Private Refineries in Nigeria, the regulator stated that “in line with our commitment to entrench transparency in oil and gas regulatory function, we wish to make the following observations about private refineries in Nigeria: There are three stages of licencing for establishment of private refineries in Nigeria namely; Licence to Establish (LTE), Approval to Construct (ATC) and Licence to Operate (LTO).”

DPR, according to the statement, granted LTE to 21 companies with a validity period of 18 months in 2002.

“In 2004, 17 out of the earlier granted LTE were granted ATC for a 24 month validity period.”

In 2007, the DPR reviewed the existing guidelines and a new guiding document, “Guidelines for the Establishment of Hydrocarbon Processing Plants in Nigeria” was introduced to ensure that only committed investors were licenced. ”Based on this reviewed guidelines, there are currently 25 private refinery licences granted to companies with 21 in the Licence to Establish (LTE) category, while 4 in the Approval to Construct (ATC) category. Furthermore, three of the 25 licenced companies are billed to construct conventional stick-build plants while 22 will construct modular units with a proposed combined refining capacity of 1,429,000 bpd.”

“The public and all stakeholders are hereby assured that DPR has not withdrawn the licence of any private refinery. Rather, the Department is in alignment with government’s aspiration of improving Nigeria’s refining capacity by strengthening its regulatory oversight function of the petroleum sector in Nigeria,” the agency said.

This is to complement the Greenfield refineries initiatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and to ensure that Nigeria is let off the hook of the incessant scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol.

The Greenfield Refinery Projects Division (GRPD),

anchor Tunde Dodondawa

m:08029370304 e:mrdodondawa@yahoo.com

Dangote raises hope of more private refineries

according to NNPC, came into existence late 2005 as a strategic response to a lack of visible progress on the 18 Licenses issued by Government for Private Refineries in 2002 and also, the negative consequences of massive importation of petroleum products against the backdrop of low capacity utilization in the existing three refineries of 445000 bpd capacity.

In view of urgent need for increasing in-country crude oil refining capacity and the inability of private investors to perform due to lack of project development capabilities and credible foreign financiers/technical partners, it has become apparent that NNPC would have to lead the promotion of new private refineries.

It is an understatement to state that Nigeria lacks the much needed domestic refining capacity for it teeming population, and thereby it is currently deficient in the supply of white petroleum products, most of which are currently imported into the country.

Current consumption of gasoline or Premium Motor

Spirit (PMS) is estimated at 40 million litres per day while that of kerosene is 10million litres per day. These two petroleum products are currently being regulated in Nigeria.

And in order to meet the deficit in supply, Nigeria currently spends between $12 billion and $15 billion annually and it is the desire of government to stem the flood of imports by investing in additional refining capacity along with interested equity participants.

Recent studies by stakeholders in the industry have revealed that a new refining capacity of at least 420000 bpd would be required to meet the existing refining gap.

If this gap is projected to 2016 at the growth rates of between three per cent and five per cent per annum, the estimated refining gap in Nigeria by 2016 would be 500560,000 bpd.

This forms the basis of the current effort to establish at least three new refineries of approximately 400,000550,000 bpd capacity in Lagos, Bayelsa and Kogi states.

23

energy

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigerian Tribune

Oil price rises due to shortage in supply from OPEC members

By Olatunde Dodondawa with Agency Reports - Lagos

M

uch of the current oil price rally, up about 50 per cent in less than two months, is due to the growing optimism in the markets. That is, the price surge is driven by speculative movements, bets that oil prices will rise.

However, the speculators are not entirely off base. While the underlying fundamentals still look pretty grim, there are some tangible impacts taking place in the world of oil supply and demand that are contributing to that bullish sentiment.

Apart from the data from U.S. shale, which

is posting steady declines each week, supply outages hit OPEC’s output in February. A major pipeline in Nigeria, Trans Forcados pipeline was bombed, forcing the pipeline’s operator, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation to declare force majeure. The damaged pipeline has led to the loss of 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day of Nigerian oil.

This translates to a loss of between $10-$12 million daily to the government and its JV partners.

Recent data showed unexpected supply outages from several OPEC members, disruptions that have trimmed the group’s collective output by nearly 200,000 barrels per day.

Iraq lost somewhere between 260,000 and 320,000 barrels per day in February, according to OPEC data. The IEA estimated that Iraqi oil production fell by a more modest 210,000 barrels per day in February compared to a month earlier. To be sure, Iraq hit an all-time high in January at 4.43 million barrels per day (mb/d), and still is producing nearly 900,000 barrels per day more than a year ago.

A pipeline outage in Kurdistan temporarily knocked off 600,000 barrels per day beginning on February 17, a pipeline that runs from Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey. The outage put Kurdistan in a serious bind. The semi-autonomous region

From left; MrGaniyu Azeez, Head, LPG, Oando Marketing PLC; Winner of O-Gas Regional Teens Can Cook Competition, Miss Ebo Obiamaka Emmanuella, Student, Queens College, Yaba, Mr Dayo Adeshina, President Liquefied Petroleum Association, and Mrs Obialor Amaechi Nma, Head Vocational, Queens College, representing the School’s Principal during gift presentation at the recently held Lagos edition of the 2016 O-Gas Regional Cooking Competition.

Fuel scarcity is caused by govt’s policies —Ayirimi Chief Ayirimi Emami is a Warri-based oil and gas business mogul. The Itsekiri-born Akulagba of Warri kingdom in this interview with EBENEZER ADUROKIYA, bares his mind on the lingering fuel crisis and how the Federal Government can permanently arrest the situation.

We understand that you have dropped a lot of workers on your payroll in recent times. What’s wrong?

You can understand what’s going on about the oil price. It affects a lot of people; even the oil multinationals have dropped workers and mine would not be different because we are all in the same business.

I can’t be paying people from my hardearned money when they are not working.

I’m into trading, not manufacturing and if you can look at my recent statement where I said I’m going into modular refinery, that comes into play. We shall employ when we are through with that.

Is it true you are having challenges in getting licensed for the running of your tank farms?

No, I don’t have such. I’ve been running my tank farm for the past two years.

But you know we are being owed subsidy money before this government came up and start paying us our subsidy.

Our challenge right now is that there is no dollar anywhere to import fuel. I think the government is deliberately doing that to stop importation of fuel. You know the price of dollar is now N322 (as of March 18) and if you import a product, you can-

not sell above the government’s approved price and that’s why we are saying they should deregulate the oil and gas industry, then take up this subsidy issue so that we can import on our own.” I think that’s our problem. It’s not that our licenses are not there. A situation where you throw in about N2 billion to import fuel and they will now be telling you not to sell above that price, it’s better we stay off.

Are you saying government is responsible for the scarcity of fuel in the country?

To some extent, government policies are responsible and equally too, the activities of pipeline vandals, communities hosting oil exploration - all of us are responsible.

For instance, if your refineries are working and we are refining and through pipelines you can send products from Warri to Benin depot, from Benin to Ore depot and so on, there would be no fuel crisis. Truck-

Prada

ing fuel from one point to another with our bad roads will always lead to fuel crisis and as you can see, only NNPC cannot sustain the entire country in fuel supply.

Is there a policy that says only NNPC can import fuel to the country now?

There is no policy of such right now, but technically because of the dollar issue and its regulation, all marketers have withdrawn. You don’t expect one to go and import fuel when we don’t have dollars. So, CBN will not even give you dollars. I have about 32 million USD to liquidate as we speak, but I cannot.

What is the way out of the lingering crude oil theft, oil bunkering, illegal refineries and their variants?

Like I used to say, it’s not just fighting the menace per se; there must be an alternative. We must create infrastructure; we must create jobs; people must be seen doing something because they say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. For instance, there has always been scarcity of fuel in the riverine areas. The man living at Escravos buys a liter of fuel at N250 and he has been living with that irrespective of government’s approved price or not. So, this affects the people where they do oil exploration. So, measures should be put in place: communities’ shores washed away should be restored, good, habitable classrooms should be put in place; clinic and hospitals should be built and equipped for the people; portable water should be provided; streets should be lit up with electricity; fuel mega stations should also be provided in strategic places in the creeks for the people to buy fuel at official price.

These will end illegal oil refineries, oil bunkering and others.

in Northern Iraq depends on oil exports for the bulk of its revenue. The Turkish government reportedly sent $200 million to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to tide it over during the outage. The pipeline resumed operations on March 11.

Supply outages are not just occurring on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq. The Iraqi central government halted some oil flows through the pipeline to put pressure on the KRG, a move related to its political standoff with Baghdad. The KRG previously agreed to export oil under the auspices of the Iraqi central government in exchange for national revenue sharing. The deal broke down in acrimony, however, with both sides blaming the other.

Reuters reported that the Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company held back 150,000 barrels per day as of March 14, a decision apparently made to gain leverage over the KRG. Between Iraq and Nigeria, the markets saw 850,000 barrels per day temporarily knocked offline between January and February. The losses were partially offset by the ongoing ramp up in oil production in Iran, which added nearly 200,000 barrels per day in February, bringing its total to about 3.2 mb/d.

But with global markets oversupplied by between 1.5 and 1.9 mb/d, the supply outages took a bite out of the glut again, perhaps only temporarily.

Shell/NNPC JV donates research centre to UI The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its Joint Venture (JV) partners, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), donated an ultra-modern subsurface research center to the University of Ibadan (U.I) which would boost the development of top rate manpower for the nation’s oil and gas industry.

The research center has 15-fully-networked workstations, a high-end server complete with internet facilities and a standby 45-Kva generator among other facilities.

“The SPDC JV’s intervention to turn around the subsurface centre of the university is a careful choice to support the institution to deliver the next generation of technologies and skills that will help Nigeria to unlock more oil reserves. With all the modern facilities and promise of uninterrupted power supply, the centre has the capacity to showcase the potentials of oil and gas sector while attracting bright minds and our hope is that students will make the best use of it,” said Igo Weli, SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations at the handover ceremony in Ibadan.

The Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Abel Olayinka said: “We appreciate the contributions of the SPDC JV to education, to the geosciences and to University of Ibadan in particular. The facility will help the efforts of the university to recreate itself as a centre of excellence in geosciences training.”

The subsurface centre is expected to usher in new levels of learning at the University of Ibadan and other institutions in southwestern Nigeria. Students and researchers can access real-time information and connect with other learning centres anywhere in the world from their keyboards.

A dearth of world class research institutions and limited access to technology is a key challenge in enabling Nigerians and Nigerian companies to play a greater role in the oil and gas value chain. SPDC JV therefore focuses on building capacity in key technical skills, for example donating equipment to universities to develop capability in the production of drilling mud.

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016 Taiwo Adisa - 08072000046 Group Politics Editor taiadis@yahoo.com

As NASS takes over Kogi assembly

Imam

Gbajabiamila

The National Assembly is presently pitched against a faction of the Kogi State House of Assembly over the leadership crisis rocking the house. YINKA OLADOYINBO writes on the development and the implications for the state.

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EMBERS of the Kogi State House of Assembly have, in the last few weeks, been at loggerheads with one another over the leadership tussle that led to the ‘removal’ of the Speaker, Momohjimoh Lawal, by five out of the then 20 members of the assembly. He was immediately replaced with Umar Imam from Lokoja state Constituency 1. The action of the lawmakers was, however, greeted with condemnation, while a few people gave them a pat in the back.

This however polarised the assembly. There is the group of five lawmakers who is in support of the impeachment and another group of 15 that is behind the embattled Speaker. Immediately the impeachment plan was hatched, the G-15 moved their base to Abuja and reported the development to the National Assembly. They filed a petition at the House of Representatives, where various allegations were brought against the other group and the governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

The G-15 presented the petition to the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, and prayed the lower chamber to act on it. The petition was titled, “Act of impunity by governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and five members of Kogi state House of Assembly: Call for investigation on the illegal act of five members of the Kogi State House of Assembly led

by Honourable Umar Imam, in the unlawful announcement of the purported impeachment and removal of principal officers of the Kogi State House of Assembly on 16th February 2016.”

In the petition, 10 lawmakers alleged that their signatures were forged to carry out the purported impeachment exercise on February 16 under the protection of Governor

Bello. The group maintained that there was no plenary sitting on the day of the purported impeachment, adding that the Iman-led group illegally announced the impeachment of the Speaker. Following the development, the House of Representatives constituted an ad-hoc committee led by Honourable Pally Iriase, to look into the crisis and report to it. The committee, in its bid to get to the root of the crisis, embarked on a fact-finding visit to Lokoja, the state capital. But a day to the coming of the committee, the G5 approached the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja for an injunction restraining the House of Representatives or any of its arms/agents from dabbling into the issue of the Kogi assembly. The court thereafter granted the injunction.

However, on February 25, the 10-man committee, led by its chairman, stormed Lokoja for an interface with the major stakeholders and groups to the crisis. The state governor was the first to be met by the committee at the Presidential Lodge of the Lugard House. After about three hours’ meeting, the committee members and the governor emerged from the chambers beaming with smiles, which suggested that all was well. Speaking after the meeting, Bello, who pledged to cooperate with the committee for a lasting solution to the issue, however reiterated that he had no hand in the crisis as being insinuated. He said, “There was a seeming misunderstanding in the House of Assembly and they came to me as the governor of the state to find out if I knew the root cause and if I had hand in it. Surely, like everybody knows, I have no hand in it. I am of the executive and they are of the legislature.

“There had been problems between them before I was even sworn in and they have decided to continue with their trouble. But I and other stakeholders are looking at how we

Momohjimoh can intervene so that they can go back to work. I will call the two groups that are having misunderstanding, I have always been reaching out to them and I will continue to reach out to them to maintain peace and order. After all, house leadership is just a nomenclature; they are all equal, though one is chosen to lead them.”

Bello, who commended the efforts of the National Assembly in intervening in the crisis, said it was a welcome development which would help the state to move forward.

He said the amicable resolution of the crisis in the assembly would go a long way in restoring the confidence, hope and unity required for the rapid growth of the state. The governor also gave an assurance to meet with the embattled lawmakers so as to rub minds with them on the need for the executive and the legislative arms of government to work together in the interest of peace and fulfilment of the mandate given them to serve the people of the state.

Also speaking, the leader of the delegation said the team was a fact-finding one saddled with the responsibility of identifying the major causes of the crisis rocking the assembly. Iraise said, “Our mission as stated before the governor is fact-finding. We want to find out what has happened, we want to take what we know side by side with the constitution and we want to insist on what we know when all the facts are out.”

When told that the G-5 had secured an injunction from the court restraining the committee from dabbling into the crisis, the committee leader said, “Can I have the papers on the injunction? I don’t pick injunctions from the television screen, where is the injunction? Anyone can stand before the building of the court and say he has just served the papers or that he has gotten an injunction. Do you have it?”

He however said his committee would meet with all the stakeholders, adding that he did not know about factions.

Apart from the politicians, the committee also met with security agencies, including the Police and the Department Continues on page 25

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politics&policy

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Who blinks first?

Continued from page 24

of State Security (DSS) with a view to further obtaining detailed information on the crisis. However, when it was time to meet with members of the house who are the one in the eye of the storm, the G-5 stayed away and only MomohJimoh and his group presented their case before the committee. As contained in the petition before the lower chamber, the G-15 again explained that five could not be higher than 15 and that the process of the impeachment was against the constitution of the country.

Iriase however said it was unfortunate that the five members that carried out the purported impeachment did not honour the invitation for the meeting. The leader of the House of Representatives team said the G-5 chose to ignore the opportunity provided for them to present their own side of the story, adding that it was wrong to hide under a court process to truncate a move meant to amicably resolve the crisis. He said, “Whatever we find out will be for the consumption of the house, but what we can take away is that we have been able to gather information. We are now better informed about what is going in the Kogi State House of Assembly.

“The absence of the group of five is an unfortunate development; unfortunate in the sense that you don’t go on air and say you are in court and that is why you will not make yourself available for a process that started before you went to court. It does not speak well in a democratic setting; we are taking our leverage from the constitution which empowers us to do what we are doing. It is unfortunate that they have decided not to avail themselves of this harmless mission to gather information about what is going on. Even in their absence, we have got enough documentary and oral evidence that will enable us know what is truly going on.”

At the end of the investigation, the committee submitted its report to the house and after deliberating on it, it resolved to take over the functions of the house with reference to Section 11(4) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The news of the taking over was however received with mixed feelings, as the G5 described the development as unacceptable, while the G15 saw it as the right move in the right direction, saying the lower chamber had taken the right step to save the assembly from “oppressors”. Imam, who is the Speaker of the G5 faction, said the section of the 1999 relied upon by the House of Representatives for its action did not apply to the assembly, as there was no crisis in the state that could have warranted the taking over. He also said that, before the action could be taken, there was the need for the Senate to concur with the decision of the House of Representatives.

The factional Speaker said, “Whatever they have said, whatever they have passed as resolution in the House of Representatives is not having any force on Kogi the State House of Assembly because the constitution is very clear about it, Section 11 (4)(5) limits the areas where they can necessarily intervene. Yes, there is wrangling in the assembly, but their resolution sealing off the assembly is illegal. Secondly, there is also a court order restraining them from doing anything from the day they were served with the hearing notice. They were served the hearing notice and yet they went ahead to do what they did. That clearly showed that there are some interests that are pushing for this. They want to destabilise the state.”

In furtherance of the rejection of the House of Representatives’ decision on the assembly, the faction vowed to sit on the day following the pronouncement.Three newly elected members from the rerun election had since joined the group, while two others also joined from the G15 and this has increased the group’s number to 10. Imam stated, “The only place where you can transact the business of the assembly is the chamber and we have been carrying out our functions from the chamber effectively. You cannot sit without the instruments of authority, part of which is the mace and the Clerk of the assembly must be present at plenary. All those are with us. So, when you talk of the authenticity of any group, we are 10 and the house is now a 23-member house, so we form a quorum effectively and we can transact our business. If the assembly is sealed off, we can always sit since we have the instruments that can make the sitting legal.”

Many had expected that the police would adhere to the instruction of the House to seal off the assembly complex in order to avoid a breakdown of law and order. But that was not to be, as the gates of the complex were widely opened, with some police officers on hand to provide security cover for the members that came to sit despite the order of the House. Indeed, an Armoured Personnel Carrier

Bello was strategically placed at the entrance of the road leading to the complex.

At the sitting, the members took turns to condemn the decision of the House of Representatives and resolved to sue the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, Iriase and other committee members for contempt of court. The majority leader of the faction, Friday Sani, moved the motion under matters of urgent public importance, saying that the “legal representatives of the leaders of the House be mandated to file a contempt of court against the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman and secretary of the purported ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives”.

Apart from this, he moved that the house should set up a committee to further investigate the sponsors of the crisis and the members of the assembly that were involved in the alleged permanent incitement to promote disharmony in the assembly. He also moved that “the house do reject in its entirety, the decision of the House of Representatives considering the provision of Section 11(5) of the constitution”.

The absence of the group of five is an unfortunate development; unfortunate in the sense that you don’t go on air and say you are in court and that is why you will not make yourself available for a process that started before you went to court.

Solomon Arase, IGP The lawmaker said the lower chamber of the National Assembly was wrong to have relied on a part of the constitution for its action, saying “for the pupose of Subsection 4, a House of Assembly shall not be deemed to be unable to perform its function so long as the House of Assembly can hold meetings and transact the assembly’s business.

This is in addition to the matter filed by the leadership of this House at the Federal High Court, Lokoja with suit no FHC/LKJ/CS/16/16 and for which notice was granted by the court dated 1st March 2015--6th April.”

However, a new twist was introduced into the crisis last Thursday when the Senate considered the report of the House and resolved to support the decision to take over the functions. The upper chamber unanimously voted in support of the move, condemning the removal of the speaker by only five members of the assembly. The red chambers also went ahead to blame the police for their role in the crisis, accusing them of taking sides instead of being neutral.

But the resolution of the Senate notwithstanding, the Imam faction of the house has vowed to continue to sit and perform the functions of the house, describing the step as null and void. Imam said he did not recognise the action of the Senate, saying it was a contravention of a court order.

Insisting that there was an injunction restraining the National Assembly over the Kogi assembly crisis, he said the Senate took the decision because it was ill informed. The faction however said its sitting would go ahead as scheduled.

Now that the National Assembly has taken a position on the Kogi crisis and the faction that was adjudged to have been found guilty has also stuck to its stand, observers are watching what becomes of the crisis. The people of the state and beyond are wondering what the resolution of the National Assembly on the matter will become. On the other hand, how will the G5 or G10, as it stands now, maintain its ground and go ahead to legislate for the state, particularly now that the 2016 appropriation bill is pending before the house?

There is crisis in Kogi State with the executive arm, and now the legislative arm is deeply enmeshed in its own, relying on an order from the judiciary. It is yet uncertain what the future holds for the Confluence State.

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fortherecord

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Issues and challenges of governance in Nigeria

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Continued from yesterday

he Legislature thus elects its own Prime Minister and Ministers but these are formally approved by the President who also has the responsibility of formally dissolving the Legislature whenever its term expires.

The Semi-Presidential system which is similar to what obtains in France and some 40 other countries has certain advantages that makes it more suitable for the Nigeria political situation than the American-type Presidential system. .By preserving the system of a President elected nation-wide, the semi-presidential systems meets the challenge of the Nigerian situation. By removing the position of Vice President, it has done away with one of the causes of unnecessary tensions and conflicts in the administration of the country. By emphasizing the choice of Prime Minister and Ministers from among the elected representatives of the party in power, it enhances the process of political and policy education among politicians and removes the “awuff” temptation in the process of passing the annual appropriation bill as a surreptitious factor of corruption in governance. More than this, the capacity of political parties to choose from among their member-legislators both serving and shadow Ministers fosters greater party discipline and ensures greater loyalty, attention and commitment of party members to the implementation of the party manifesto and programmes.It also facilitates wide-ranging consultations among legislative members of the party in power and ensures their alignment behind critical policies of their government such as the withdrawal of petroleum subsidy.

The semi-presidential system also enables up-and-coming legislators to fill in positions such as advisers and special assistants and even if some of these are needed from outside the legislature, the number can be pegged down significantly. It certainly obviates the corruption that is fostered in the interface of transactions between unelected Ministers and elected legislators and, more importantly, it drastically reduces the cost of governance in the country.

For Nigeria, a system that makes recurrent expenditure more than 70 per cent of the annual budget can hardly be said to be in the best interest of the need for the rapid economic development of the country. More than that, a system that has no in-built structure for the political education and reward for increasing competence among politicians cannot be good for a country in the early stages of democratic consolidation. Furthermore, a system that does not enhance the capacity of a government to have an executive and a legislative majority aligned in promoting the election-winning manifesto and programmes of its parties cannot foster the growth of a disciplined multi-party democracy in the country.

Issues and Challenges of Governance: (b) At the state Level The Petroleum Act of 1969 began the process of changing the relationship between the regions and the Federal Government. Up to that time, although mining and minerals were on the exclusive Federal Legislative list, the Federal Government did not claim any exclusive rights to those resources. Indeed, as already indicated, it allowed the regions where such resources were found to keep 50 per cent of the royalties and rent whilst 30 per cent went to the distributable pool to be shared among the regions whilst only 20 per cent accrued to the Federal Government. The 1979 Constitution concretized this new relationship with the creation of a “Federation Account” into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the Federation.

It went on to state that “any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments, and the local government councils in each State, on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly. Please note the difference between the “Distributable Pool Account” to which the Regions all contributed 30 per cent of their claims from royalties and rent so as to assist in evening out development across the country and this new “Federation Account” which swallows all revenues from the States and leaves them able only to have their share as determined by a body known as the Revenue Mobilization and Allocation Fiscal Commission set up by the National Assembly.

This constitutional amendment, in a sense, not only undermined the fiscal independence of States and made their sustainable development a function of how prudent they

Akin Mabogunde manage their allocation from the Federation Account. It also discouraged States from striving for novel and innovative ways of raising new revenue. More than this, it made it possible for the Federal Government to begin to give away States and Local Governments on an “awuff” basis. Whilst it can be claimed that the first set of 12 states created in 1967 was exigent as a means of keeping the Federation as one, all subsequent creations of States and Local Governments cannot be justified on any other basis than that some of the agitators for those States knew someone at the highest level of the Federal Government. Most of these states were thus created without asking the fundamental question as to their long-term viability or ability to provide their citizens with needed services. Because these questions were not asked at their inception, most State governments became lay-back as far as raising the necessary resources for good governance.

They would rather troop out to Abuja on a monthly basis to get their share in the monthly distribution of the Federation Account which, because it is “awuff” can easily be misappropriated to personal and other uses. The challenge of seriously seeking and exploiting innovative and more robust and enduring ways of generating resources for the good governance of their States was hardly contemplated by many State Governments. The manner in which a number of State Governors ended up in the clutch of the EFCC at the end of their term in office underscores how deleterious against good governance has been the institution and role of the Federation Account in the development of Nigeria.

But perhaps more serious is the impact of this “awuff” money on the economy not just of Nigeria as a whole but of its states. A well recognized syndrome in such circumstances is what has come to be known as “the Dutch disease”.

This is described as “the negative impact on an economy of anything that gives rise to a sharp inflow of foreign currency such as the discovery of large oil reserves.” The currency

Most of these states were thus created without asking the fundamental question as to their long-term viability or ability to provide their citizens with needed services.

inflows lead to currency appreciation, making the country’s other products less price competitive on the export market.

It also leads to higher levels of cheap imports and can lead to de-industrialization as industries, apart from resource exploitation, are moved away to cheaper locations outside the country. The syndrome has militated against most State governments paying attention to the development of the more authentic bases of their economies, revenue from which could have bolstered their overall revenue position.

As against this situation, it has been argued that Lagos State in particular has thrived economically very strongly in spite of these circumstances owing to its special location as a port city, an industrial centre and the former capital of the country. While these cannot been gainsaid, it is also true that Lagos State has been one of the few which had paid critical attention to its other basic resources in land and property administration. It was this that could allow it to resist the buffeting of the Federal Government when it refused to release to it funds due to its local governments. The positive situation in Lagos, of course, derives very much from the municipal property registration of the colonial Government which was extended to cover a large part of the State under the civilian Governorship of Chief Lateef Jakande, who had embarked on the project of providing Lagos with a monorail and needed to indicate to prospective private investors a viable source of revenue, independent of the Federation Account.

The end of the era of the “awuff” syndrome is patent in the present situation where with the dramatic fall in the global price of petroleum a majority of “free gift” states in Nigeria have been unable to pay the salaries of their civil servants for many months, an item that should be the very first on the list of annual appropriation and expenditure. For the first time in the history of the country, voices are being raised as to the viability of many of these states. It has been suggested that the country may be well advised to use the SIX geopolitical zones as the basis for a new set of regions so as to reduce the high level of recurrent cost of governance and release needed funds for infrastructural development all over the country.

The jury, in respect of the viability of a number of the present 36 states is probably still out. Indeed, it can be argued that the first step on the future of the State structure of the country is to establish a system in which internally generated revenue of States must be adequate to cover recurrent expenditure and any subvention from the Federation Account should be to enhance infrastructural development in the State. A protocol should then be developed to enable states that cannot meet this viability criterion to be prepared to merge with a neighbouring State.

Issues and Challenges of Governance: (c) at the Local Government Level It is, however, at the local government level that the “awuff” syndrome did the greatest damage to governance and, more seriously, undermined the prospect of consolidating a virile and robust democratic culture in the country. It was Alexis de Tocqueville (1980: 54) who noted during his visit to the United States in the 19th century, that the strength of their democracy, indeed, of any democracy, is based on the institution of local governments. According to him: “…local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty.”

Yet, when the military decided to reform our local government system they were totally indifferent to the existing “local assemblies of citizens” or the importance of their “town meetings”. Instead, in other to be able to give them “awuff” money, they created “artificial local governments” based on a demographic criterion. This sought to create local governments in Nigeria on the demographic principle that “no local government should have a population of less than 150,000 and not more than 800,000”. (FRN, 1976; Adamolekun & Rowland, 1979 ) On this basis, the country was divided into 299 local government areas.

Continues tomorrow`

Being text of the Guest Lecture delivered by Professor Mabogunje, on the occasion of the launching of the endowment fund for the Oba Sikiru Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance, Department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos on Thursday, March 10, 2016).

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016 Editor: Kehinde Oyetimi featuresdesk@yahoo.com 081 118 450 48

features

Abdulazeez Rasak Bees being reared

Venom as medicine:

The busy bee’s therapy At the buzz of a bee, men take cover for its sting is most dreaded; but interred in a bee’s sting is a compound that works phenomenal miracles in alternative medicine. VERA ONANA writes about apitherapy, which makes use of bee venom and other bee products in curing an array of diseases.

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HE sun was yet to become extremely scorching for some reason at the Bola Ige International Market area of Gbagi, Ibadan, Nigeria. Carefully, the middle aged woman clad in a black ‘Jelabia’ walked towards the office space where three men, members and executives of the Association of Nigeria Bee Therapists and a young woman were seated. A reminiscent smile lined her lips as she was encouraged by the men to share her story with the lady in the group. She beamed with delight on realising that Nigeria was about to hear of her triumph over stroke as the lady in the group, reports for a national newspaper.

Adeola Olaide, in December 2015, was suddenly struck by a stroke that led to the paralysis of her left side. She was hospitalised for months but her situation grew only from bad to worse and she became bedridden. She was being fed and carried around. “I have been undergoing treatment at this centre for about a month now. The first day I came here, I was carried in here because I had become bedridden. I couldn’t even move a finger. I went from one hospital to the other, spent a lot of money on treatment to no avail. Three weeks after I started apitherapy, I was able to sit and later stand.”

Speaking on the treatment, she said. “Initially I didn’t believe I could be helped with apitherapy but after three weeks, I saw changes.

I could move my fingers, then my hand; then I sat up on the bed and later walked out of my room without any assistance. I couldn’t even fold my hands or lift my arm; my mouth was bent to one side. I got the venom shot thrice and my mouth returned to the normal position.”

As its popular epithet implies, ‘the busy bee’ is a producer of several very important products that have been found to be significant in

alternative health and medicine.

Exploring these products is a branch of alternative medicine called apitherapy or “bee therapy” which is the medicinal use of products made by honeybees which includes bee venom, honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and beeswax.

Ayodele Salako, an apiculturist (beekeeper) and apitherapist, explained that apitherapy was the treatment of different ailments with bee products. “Aside from honey, which everyone is familiar with, bees produce a variety of other substances that are extremely useful for health. There is propolis, wax, pollen and others.

“Apitheraphy has proven effective in tackling some dreaded diseases and positive results have been recorded.”

Salako, who is also a founding member of the Association of Nigeria Bee Therapists, said “ailments that are treated using apitherapy include brain diseases like seizures, epilepsy, high blood pressure, eye problems, insomnia, stomach ulcer and other stomach disorders, infectious diseases in men and women, STDs, HIV, infertility, diseases associated with old age like arthritis, obesity and skin infections.”

He added: “I have been an apitherapist for over 15 years. Initially, I was a bee keeper but I wanted to advance so I started to read and I was so interested in apitherapy. I learnt apitherapy by correspondence. There was an old Romanian, a very good apitherapist that I understudied. He sent me several materials on the uses of bee products which I read coupled with our indigenous ways of treating illnesses, all of which I practicalised.”

Joseph Adetona, an elderly man who suffered from arthritis and back pain for years, said “though the sting hurts, the relief it brings is inexplicable. I could barely walk and bending was a no go area for me but today after about three months of being stung by a bee, I feel no pains at all. Not in my joints or in my bones. I am healthy, I can walk without screaming.

Victoria Afolabi, a middle aged tailor, said “I come here for treatment for high blood pressure. I have used all sorts of BP drugs to no avail. In fact, I began suffering from insomnia as well. For two months, I couldn’t sleep and my blood pressure kept shooting up. I was palpitating badly until I was asked to try apitherapy. That was when I met Mr Ayodele Salako

I have treated over six stroke victims since January, 2016 and about three of them, who were initially bedridden, are walking now. These people were paralysed on one or both sides. Though the treatment is gradual, phenomenal success has been recorded.

and two weeks after I began the treatment, I have been sleeping like a baby and my blood pressure is normal as I check regularly.

As an apitherapist, Salako spoke on the treatment regimen administered at the association’s temporal treatment center. “Before we commence any treatment, we encourage our patients to do a thorough test at a good hospital so as to ascertain the diagnosis. Since we are not doctors, we advise that they get the test done in the hospital. It is after the hospital diagnosis that we proceed into treating them with apitheraphy.”

He compares apitherapy with acupuncture based on the treatment patterns saying, “There is a similarity. They are both natural processes but acupuncture is incorporated in apitherapy because we use acupuncture points. If I want to treat an eye disease I don’t put the venom in the eye, I put it in the pituitary gland which is an acupuncture point. There are several acupuncture points in the body. The entire body is like a network and there is a point for each organ. The beginning of apitherapy is learning the body anatomy and acupuncture points.”

He discussed the success rate of treatment saying “I have treated over six stroke victims since January, 2016 and about three of them, who were initially bedridden, are walking now. These people were paralysed on one or both sides. Though the treatment is gradual, phenomenal success has been recorded.”

Speaking on the efficacy of apitherapy, Abdulazeez Rasak, National President, Association of Nigeria Bee Therapists, said, “The association was registered in 2013 but it was no easy feat. In fact, people advised us to give up.

We have so many members and the meetings are done monthly. Members have to undergo training in apitherapy. We have branches at Oyo, Osun, Lagos and Kwara States and we are hoping to expand. Apitherapy is something that should gain national recognition.”

Apitherapy could cause anaphylaxis – Dr Oyetunji, FMC Katsina Speaking on the possible side effects of apitherapy, Dr Oyetunji Olajide of the Federal Medical Centre, Kastina, said, “Some people display hypersensitivity reaction called anaphylaxis to bee venom that is used in apitheraphy.

“As a matter of fact, some drugs evoke the same reaction and that is why sometimes, medical doctors tend to have issues with alternative medicine. The thing about alternative medicine is that most of the natural therapies used have not been extensively researched upon to understand the long term side effects they may have on patients.”

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features

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigeria can survive on an agro-based economy

—Akem, SARD-SC boss

Dr Chrysantus Akem is the project coordinator, Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC), funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). He speaks on the project’s achievements since 2013, how SARD-SC is working towards ensuring food security in Nigeria, what Nigeria must put in place to become an ‘agro-dollar’economy, among other issues. KEHINDE OYETIMI provides excerpts.

S

What is the SARD-SC project about?

ARD-SC is a multi Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) project funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The strategic crops we focus on are four – cassava, maize, wheat and rice – and were selected

by African heads of state, among six crops.

The other two are millet and sorghum.

We work at present in twenty African countries, which we refer to as Regional Membership Countries. These are the countries that expressed interest in being involved in the project. The budget is about $63 million. In actual terms, it is up to $86 million, because the $63 million is generously provided as a grant by the AfDB and the twenty countries involved are supposed to contribute $20 million in kind, in terms of services and personnel they make available to the project. It is five-year project which started effectively in 2013 and will run till 2017.

How would you assess the economic potential of these mandate crops to develop Africa?

The mandate crops are handled by three institutions. IITA is handling cassava and maize, AfricaRice is handling rice and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is handling wheat. Basically, there are two areas in which we are trying to promote economic potential of the four mandate crops. One is to increase the yield of the mandate crops. The modest target is to increase yield by 20 per cent. To take the example of wheat, the focus is to come up with new high yielding varieties. So far, they have identified three or more varieties just for Nigeria alone that yields four to six tonnes per hectare, compared to the old variety that yields one to two tonnes per hectare. This has made a significant change in productivity. For maize, the focus is on agronomic practices to increase the yields of the current varieties.

What are some of your major achievements since 2013?

We are in the fourth year of implementation at the moment and we had a mid-term review last year, which was held after two and half years of implementation. There are a lot of them but I’ll highlight one for each commodity.

For cassava, many countries knew just one way to consume cassava. For

example, in Congo, it is consumed as fufu.

Through the project, we have introduced more than twenty ways in which cassava can be prepared and consumed. This was made possible by the setting up of cassava processing centres across all the countries in which we are working on cassava. For wheat, we can say this project brought wheat to sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally, we know that wheat is produced in Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia, but through this project, it has been extended to sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of rice, which is a traditional crop in Asia where they are involved in a lot of mechanisation, through the project, we brought in a number of prototypes, especially as regarding mechanisation and we train local artisans to manufacture in Africa and at the moment, we are working on multiplying this to make them available to some of the large scale rice farmers to help enhance rice productivity. In terms of maize, which is a bit of a tricky crop, we’re trying to promote hybrid maize production. To do that, seed productivity is a challenge because farmers have to buy new seeds each year. So, what we’re trying to do is to set up a viable seed industry to enable farmers have ready access to seeds to increase productivity, which will also ensure price stability. These are some of our achievements.

Nigeria is said to be the highest producer of cassava in the world.

How can SARD-SC utilise cassava to diversify the economy?

As a matter of fact, IITA has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s position as the highest producer of cassava in the world.

Incidentally, within the project, the plan is to use Nigeria as a focal point for other countries, that is, for other countries to learn from the Nigerian experience. So, other countries are depending on Nigeria for the processing equipment they need to diversify the use of cassava. There are a lot of industries set up in Nigeria that are developing the cassava processing equipment. So, what we’re doing is to use Nigeria as a link to help teach other countries and Nigeria has been very helpful in that regard.

With the fall in oil price, does Nigeria have what it takes to sustain and survive on an agric-based economy?

Nigeria has, in terms of land area, natural resources such as water and dams, and even the working population. The Minister of Agriculture, during his first press briefing after he was appointed, stated that it is time Nigeria turned from what he called a ‘petro-dollar’ economy to an ‘agro-dollar’ economy. That means a lot. The reality is that the future is agriculture and it is time the government starts focusing on agriculture as the basis of the economy. The focus should be not just for survival but to see how we can

The reality is that the future is agriculture and it is time the government starts focusing on agriculture as the basis of the economy. The focus should be not just for survival but to see how we can substitute oil export with agricultural export.

substitute oil export with agricultural export.

How has the project disseminated technology to farmers to ensure productivity, profitability and food security?

One of the ways the project has disseminated technology is through the use of Innovation Platforms (IPs), which brings all the stakeholders together. This concept has been successfully used in a number of countries in some projects so we decided that is the best approach to use.

In cassava for example, we are focusing on a value chain approach for all the commodities. So, we bring the producers, researchers, policy makers, marketers, transporters and all that have a role to play in the value of that commodity and work towards ensuring productivity and profitability for the stakeholders involved.

It also ensures sustainability after the project is concluded. For food security, which simply means ensuring that there is enough not just for self sustenance but that can be sold to increase income, we provide technology that basically doubles the income of farmers. We have many technology-based products which we provide to farmers.

How have governments benefitted from the SARD-SC project?

There are a lot of ways governments keyed into the project. Any technology developed from the project is free to every country, whether the country is a regional membership country or not because we refer to them as Regional Public Goods.

Many countries who were not part of the project at the beginning are now expressing serious interest. Even those who are already involved are asking for more. We are already looking into phase two of the project and are working on engaging more countries.

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south-westnews

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Oyo Assembly approves N173.8bn as 2016 budget

By Wale Akinselure

T

HE Oyo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed the 2016 appropriation bill of N 173,769,404,444 into law.

The 2016 budget, which is an upward review of 5.2% from the initial sum of N165,097,845,486 presented by Governor Abiola Ajimobi on December 22, 2015, covers a recurrent expenditure of N100,651,599,183 and capital expenditure of N73,117,805,261.

This followed the assembly’s consideration of the report presented by Chairman, Committee on Public Accounts, Finance and Appropriation, Honourable Bolanle Agbaje.

Agbaje said the increase in appropriation was to make adequate provision for pension payment, sports and sustainable development.

The approved sum shows that the state governor’s office was allocated N16,274,933,761 which covers a recurrent expenditure of N8,325,673,761

SUBEB funds: My explanation in my handover notes —Fayemi Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti

FOLLOWING a summon by the Ekiti State House of Assembly that the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Kayode Fayemi, should appear before the House on March 22, to explain alleged discrepancies in the state’s SUBEB fund, Fayemi has told the house that his explanations on the fund are in his handover notes.

Fayemi, who is the current Minister of Solid Minerals Development, on Tuesday, wrote a letter to the assembly over the N800 million SUBEB fund, in reaction to his summon.

The letter written by his personal assistant, Mr Tolulope Ibitola, said: “The minister has however asked that I draw your attention to the fact that all matters relating to his stewardship of public office in his previous role as governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria, between October 16, 2010 and October 15, 2014, are well documented in his handover notes, which was duly submitted to the government of Ekiti State, Nigeria at the expiration of his tenure on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, as statutorily required. A copy of the said report was also shared with honourable house for the records.”

and capital expenditure of N7,949,260,000.

The legislature was allocated a total sum of N2,484,154,460 with N1,660,154,460 for recurrent expenditure and N824,000,000 for capital expenditure.

A sum of N420,000,000 as recurrent expenditure was approved for the Ministry of Justice, while N90,000,000 was set aside for Solid minerals.

It will be recalled that Governor Ajimobi, while presenting the budget, had said that government will give special attention to agriculture, education and human capital develop-

ment, infrastructural development, peace and security.

In this light, a sum of N11,784,000,000 was approved for the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources with N595,000,000 committed to recurrent expenditure and N11,189,000,000 for capital expenditure.

Approved for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology was N4,730,000,000.

The sum of N3,795,000,000 was approved for the Ministry of health segmented into a capital expenditure of N3,225,000,000 and a

recurrent expenditure of N570,000,000.

Towards the promised local government election scheduled for July, the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission was appropriated N325,000,000 with N125,000,000 as recurrent expenditure and N200,000,000 as capital expenditure.

Oyo State Pension’s Board received N7,249,105,000 while the state local government pension board received N7,240,000,000.

The state’s football clubs also got their budgets approved. The sum of N200,000,000 was approved for Shooting

Stars Sports Club and N150,000,000 for Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso.

Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS received N15,000,000 while the YESSO World Assisted Programme was allotted N80,000,000.

The Assembly approved N23,153,515,000 for the Ministry of Finance and Budget.

The sum of N30,500,000 was approved for the Bureau of Public Procurement while N1,650,000,000 was set aside for activities of the Bureau of Investment, Promotion and Public Private Partnership.

World Water Day: Ekiti to come up with law on water rates As Ondo spends N8.5bn on water project

By Sam Nwaoko and Hakeem Gbadamosi

THE Ekiti State government has announced that citizens of the state are henceforth to pay for water supply and services in a bid to improve the services and make it sustainable.

The state’s Commissioner of Public Utilities, Mr Deji Adesua, announced this on Tuesday in his speech at the celebration of World Water Day in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

Mr Adesua also told the participants at the ceremony that a law was already being put in place to that effect and to also make the initiative sustainable.

He said: “It is true people say water is free, but the truth of the matter is that the type of water that is free is rain or well water.

“When it comes to the issue of pipe borne water, it is definitely not free because the cost of processing it is enormous, hence the need for residents, especially those with water meters in their premises to see reason and partner with government in this regard. What they will pay for is just the services not the water itself.”

In a related development, the Ondo State government, on Tuesday, stated that about N8billion has been spent on rehabilitation and construction of water project scheme in the state since the present administration came on board in 2009.

The state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, who disclosed this in Akure, the state capital, during the 2016 World Water Day, tagged ‘Water and Jobs’, said his government is committed to the provision of potable water.

Mimiko who was represented by his Chief of Staff,

Dr Kola Ademujinmi, explained that about N3billion was used to rehabilitate the water scheme, and the ongoing water project scheme which will supply water to the people of Ilaje communities gulped N4.3 billion, while another N1.2 billion was spent on

sinking of water boreholes since the administration came on board in 2009.

He said necessary machineries have been set in motion to see to the reticulation of the Owena Dam which will supply water to Akure and neighbouring communities.

Speaking during a special lecture, a consultant from the Agence Francaise Development, Mr Cees Vulto, described the World Water Day as a day to celebrate water, how to preserve it, noting that over 1.5billion across the globe work in the water sector.

2 brothers arrested for half-burying 2 boys in Ondo Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure

ONDO State Police Command has arrested two brothers in Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of the state for half-burying two suspected thieves who were alleged of stealing their mother’s money.

The two accused, Omoniyi Alaleran and Oluwaseun Enikuomehin were informed by their mother that Igbekele Orisabinole and Ogbaro Erinbo stole a sum of N150,000 from her.

It was gathered that the

two brothers invited the young boys who denied the allegation. They were allegedly tortured before the accused took them to a bush.

The source said the two accused, however dug a hole and ordered the two boys to enter it and covered them with sand up to their heads, threatening to kill them if they failed to confess to the stealing.

The two young boys pleaded to be released but all the appeal fell on the deaf ears of the two accused who pledged not to release them until they promised to re-

fund the money.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Femi Joseph, said the incident happened at Omonira Street, Igbokoda, on March 12, and that the two suspects have been arrested.

The PPRO explained that the matter had been transferred to the Special Investigative Bureau at the headquarters of the command in Akure, the state capital.

He said: “We are almost concluding investigation on the matter. The suspects will be charged to court very soon.”

Middle-aged man electrocuted in Osun Oluwole Ige - Osogbo

TRAGEDY struck on Sunday in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, when a middle-aged man identified as Ismaheel Dauda was electrocuted while attempting to reconnect a disconnected line.

The latest sad development brought to three, the number of lives lost to electrocution within Osogbo metropolis only due to unauthorised access to public electric installations.

Credible sources around Odeyemi compound, Kolawole Area, Osogbo, informed the Nigerian Tribune that Dauda, a radio repairer in the area, was contacted by his friend

whose house was disconnected by IBEDC officials to help carry out reconnection.

Dauda, who was survived by aged mother, wife and a son had initially refused to help his friend, but later agreed and rented a metal ladder for the job.

According to an eyewitness “few minutes after climbing the pole, he got electrocuted but unfortunately, those around did not know. Some men drinking at a joint near the scene saw that the man was no longer moving and raised the alarm.

“They started shaking the pole and the man later fell on a container before crash-

ing his head on the ground.

It was a very sad development that sent the entire area into panic,” he added.

Reacting over the development on Tuesday, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Osun region Branding and Communication Officer, Miss Kikelomo Owoeye, expressed concern over the incessant loss of lives through electrocution in the state.

She stated: “It is quite unfortunate that a young man would lose his life in such circumstance, be that as it may, IBEDC has been educating our customers and general public on the dangers of tampering with any of our installations.”

Nigerian Tribune

Alao-Akala clarifies statement on 2015 guber election FORMER governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo AlaoAkala, has clarified the statement to the effect that he was happy not winning 2015 gubernatorial election which he made while speaking with journalists after meeting with the top echelons of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, recently.

According to him, the clarification is important in view of the misinterpretation and erroneous insinuation drawn by some commentators including Senator Ben Bruce on the social media.

Alao-Akala, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Mr Abraham Ojo, said: “My being happy not winning the election as quoted by some section of the media stem from the fact that as a welfarist and a compassionate person, I cannot imagine how I would feel when civil servants are not being paid and electoral promises are not fulfilled.

“I will be greatly traumatised and experience sleepless nights as I would exert and overstress myself beyond limit.”

Alao-Akala noted that as much as it is important for salaries to be paid as and when due and electoral promises fulfilled, it is the availability of funds that could make these achievable.

Ondo begins mobile teaching in secondary schools THE Ondo State government has commenced a special mobile teaching scheme to complement efforts of permanent teachers in secondary schools across the state.

Briefing newsmen in Akure, on Monday, on the success recorded at the take-off of the scheme, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said the exercise was specifically designed to give quality practical teaching in Mathematics and science subjects to students in remote areas of the state, for the purpose of improving their academic performance.

The commissioner, who was in company of his education counterpart, Jide Adejuyigbe and representatives of the mobile teachers, said they were currently operating in Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.

Giving details of the initiative, Adejuyigbe said the scheme had been tested in about eight local government areas.

30

news

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Benue govt dares David Mark, denies him occasion venue We will try it in court —Mark Johnson Babajide - Makurdi

B

ENUE State government, on Tuesday, dared the former senate president, Senator David Mark, as it prevented traditional rulers in Igede ethnic group of Benue South senatorial district from hosting the senator on his ‘thank you visit’ tour to the area.

The state also prevented the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the two local governments; Oju and Obi from allowing the local sta-

Lamido flays APC govt in Jigawa

dium used for gathering as the venue of the ‘thank you visit’.

At Oju town on Tuesday, to get the nod of the local government chairman, who was approached for the release of the venue ahead of the event, Senator Mark, his entourage and the large people of Oju, who turned out to receive him, eventually converged on Juila Resort owned by Andy Olema, who is a member of PDP. Nigerian Tribune also gathered that the ruling government is also on the verge of suspending traditional rulers who recieved

Senator Mark during his tour, particularly that of Ohimini Local Government Area, Chief John Ochai, who conferred on him the title of Ogomola K’Ohimini, meaning, the defender of the people.

Mark, while addressing the people, decried what he described as ‘undemocratic’ action of the APC-led government, for denying him the venue, stressing, “this is not democracy, we’ll try it in court.”

He thanked the people for their support, which culminated in large votes for him in spite of intimidation from the government of the day,

which never gave them a chance.

The state chairman of PDP, Dr Agbo Emmanuel, also thanked the people for standing in defence of Senator Mark against the wish of the government.

Also speaking, Chief Daniel Ulegede, noted that the nullification and subsequent re-election of Mark, has added more feathers to his political prowess as it has made him to be the only Nigerian to have been elected and inaugurated six times into the national assembly.

Earlier, in Utonkon, Ado

Local Government Area, where he visited the previous day, Senator Mark promised to work and die for Idoma people.

Senator Mark, who announced the donation of a transformer for the people of Igumale Ward 1, said he was working hard to amicably resolve the problem of Agatu people, who are currently displaced, so that they can return home.

He said his victory in the rerun has demystified those who had given the impression that they are the ones that determine victory during elections.

Adamu Amadu - Dutse FORMER Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has condemned the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the state for dragging it backward The former governor said this while addressing newsmen shortly after he honoured some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, who resisted alleged APC intimidation in the state.

Lamido said that it is unfortunate that after the state became a reference point in ideological politics, fair play, physical and human development, it is moving backward “Today, Jigawa State is governed by the people who lacked political will and administrative strategies, they do not even know the manifesto of their party and blueprint to move the state forward,” “It is very bad that many local government chairmen are denied the right to official vehicles because they were voted in under PDP, many people are persecuted in different forms, simply because they belong to opposition party, freedom and core value of democratic principles are under threat in Jigawa State.”

The former governor vowed to unite with the people of the state to ensure Jigawa people enjoy constitutional rights, political freedom as well as liberate the state from bad governance He commended the 11former local government chairmen whose tenure ended last February for not succumbing to APC intimidation and stand firmly behind PDP under which they were voted into office.

From left, former Chairman, Board of Trustee (BoT), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mr Patrick Ogbu; wife of the former Senate president, Mrs Helen Mark and her husband, Senator David Mark, during Mark’s ‘Thank you visit’ to Ado Local Government Area of Benue State, on Tuesday. PHOTO: NAN

6 die, 10 injured in Lokoja-Abuja accident Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja NO fewer than six people died on Tuesday, in a motor accident that occurred along Abuja-Lokoja Expressway.

Also, 10 people were injured while four others escaped unhurt in the accident which occurred at about 4.00 a.m. at Ohono

Village, Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The accident involved an articulated vehicle belonging to Dangote Cement Company, loaded with cement and a Peugeot J5 bus with passengers.

It was gathered that the accident occurred at a sharp bend on the ever busy road, leading to loss

of lives.

The Kogi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr Ogochukwu Ugboma, while confirming the accident, said it might not be unconnected with the hazy weather condition.

He said that traffic control is ongoing at the bend

to avoid disruption of traffic flow, saying that four other persons escaped unhurt in the accident .

Ugboma, however, added that the injured had been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, for treatment, while the corpses were also deposited in the morgue of the hospital.

Group uncovers plan to frustrate FG’s reform agenda

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Coalition of Lawyers Against Corruption in Nigeria, said it has uncovered plan by “some dismissed directorsgeneral, in collaboration with some serving political functionaries appointed by the last administration, to blackmail the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) as a ploy to frustrate the reforms being currently undertaken by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to sanitise the public service.”

In a release jointly signed by the executive director, Mr Segun Bamgbose and the Director of Media of the coalition, Mr Bamidele Salam, the organisation said “the desperation of the affected officers is being demonstrated in a series of false and malicious stories as well as articles in some national dailies and online media against the person of the SGF, Mr David Babachir and other key functionaries of the Buhari-led administration.

The group believed that in the execution of a holis-

tic war against corruption in any society, “there are bound to be causalities in the leadership of the political and bureaucratic structure because they are the ones who manage public resources and have a responsibility to account for how such resources are used for the common good of the public.

“Even though, we are not unmindful of the fact that when corruption fights back, it is usually dirty and vicious, we are of the view that resorting to crude tactics as being done by these elements, is an indication

that the war against corruption in Nigeria is hitting its desired targets.”

While restating its total and unequivocal support for the administration of President Buhari in the war against embezzlement of public funds, graft and other corrupt practices in government, the coalition urged security agencies to swing into action and bring all those responsible for the orchestrated campaign of calumny against key officials of the administration to book in accordance with the laws of the land.

FG cautions against incessant strike in health sector

By Sade Oguntola THE Federal Government has called on health professionals to desist from incessant industrial action, which has now become a usual occurrence in the health sector, adding that labour dispute are better resolved through dialogue rather than strike and violence.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, in a circular on March15, 2016, with reference number MH/HRM/138/1/58, addressed to the chief executive officers of University Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres and other Tertiary Health Institutions under the Federal Ministry of Health, signed by the Director, Human Resources, Mr Danjuma Kurau, said that incessant labour disputes have been ravaging health sector, despite effort made by the current administration to revive the healthcare system.

“Health sector is one of the essential services that are prohibited by law from embarking on strike action. However, the Federal Ministry of Health, has been subjected to so much ridicule and embarrassment as a result of frequent strikes by different professionals that make up its work-force,” he said.

Fidau

MADAM Musiliat Odunola Aduke Oyekanmi is dead.

She was aged 74. She died at her residence, Adesola-Oniyere, Aperin along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on Wednesday, March 16.

She was a devout Muslim and had been buried according to Islamic rites at her residence. She was survived by her husband, Alhaji Fatai Olatunbosun Oyekanmi and children, among whom is Dr Abiola Oyekanmi, grandchildren and great grand children.

The 8th day Fidau will take place at her residence today, (Wednesday) at 10.00am, while final burial ceremony will take place on May 14, at her residence, Olorunsogo/Adesola area at the back of Celestial Church of Christ, beside Mallo Petrol Filling Station on Lagos-Ibadan Express way, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Madam Aduke Oyekanmi

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

foreig naffairs with seyi gesinde

08116954632 foreignnewseditor@gmail.com

ISIS kills 34, injures scores in Brussels airport, metro attacks

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E S T E R N Europe was on high alert on Tuesday after attackers launched twin assaults in Belgium’s capital Brussels with bombs ripping through the airport and the underground metro line. At least, 34 people were killed and hundreds wounded - many in critical condition.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attacks, while Belgian police authorities are hunting a suspect who fled the air terminal.

Belgian’s federal prosecutor told state media one of the explosions at Zaventem airport was “probably” a suicide attack.

Police were going door-todoor throughout Brussels

searching for suspects or others planning attacks.

The interior minister said 600 additional police were deployed.

“This is an attack against our values, our freedom, and our democracy,” Brussels Mayor Ivan Mayeur said at a press conference. “We won’t let anyone attack our values in a cowardly way.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The interior ministry raised the country’s terrorism alert to the highest level after the blasts and Brussels’ crisis centre told people: “Stay where you are”.

Dr Marc Decramer, head of the Gasthuisberg Leuven university hospital, told local media that some people suffered wounds

from flying nails.

“At this moment we are treating 11 victims, most of them are severely injured. We are treating them for fractures, burns and deep lacerations.

These lacerations are the result of glass shards from the explosions, and nails placed inside the bombs,” Decramer said.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called for unity as details were still emerging about the attacks.

“We are facing a difficult, challenging time and we should face up to this challenge by being united,” he said. “What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks.”

Early reports from witnesses said they heard gunshots fired at the airport.

Belgian’s federal prosecutor confirmed a Kalashnikov assault rifle was found there.

The country had been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last November’s Paris attacks that left 130 people dead.

The coordinated assault triggered security alerts across Europe and drew global expressions of support, four days after Brussels police had captured the prime surviving suspect in Islamic State’s attacks on Paris last November.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Monday the country was aware of the risk of a possible revenge attack following the capture of the 26-year-old.

Governments in Europe and beyond quickly responded to the Brussels attacks, calling emergency national security meetings and stepping up controls at airports and other sensitive

sites.

Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte said his country would increase border patrols at the Dutch-Belgian borders and boost security.

France also announced

increased security measures.

President Francois Hollande said: “We are faced with a global threat ...

The war against terrorism must be conducted across Europe.”

A man lies injured in the terminal

ISIS goes global: 75 attacks in 20 countries have killed 1,280 people SINCE declaring its caliphate in June 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State has conducted or inspired nearly 75 terrorist attacks in 20 countries other than Iraq and Syria, where its carnage has taken a much deadlier toll; those attacks outside Iraq and Syria have killed at least 1,280 people and injured more than 1,770

Bereaved people are treated by the emergency response team. PHOTOS: DAILYMAIL.

others.

But it can be difficult to divine the precise role that international terrorists play in this or that attack, CNN said.

The person who killed four United States Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2015, for example, was “motivated by foreign terrorist organisation propaganda,”

FBI Director James Comey said, though he added that it’s hard to say which terrorist group motivated the killer.

Regardless, it is clear the deadly tentacles of ISIS have spread quickly, from the terrorist group’s epicenter in Iraq and Syria to points around the globe, CNN reported.

other NEWS S/Sudan to stop paying hotel bills for rebel advance team SOUTH Sudan’s government said at the end of this week it will stop paying the hotel bills of about 600 rebel advance team members who have been living in Juba since last December to work out the modalities for the implementation of last year’s August peace agreement. The advance team has also been

preparing for the coming to Juba of rebel leader Riek Machar.

South Sudan Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin says the government began paying the bills after the troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway) and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation

Commission (JMEC) which had been paying stopped, VOA reported.

“The people responsible for their accommodation when they were coming in were the troika, and they were paying for them at the hotel.

But troika suddenly stopped and said they were no long going to pay for them. So the

government volunteered to pay for them for some time.

The government has been paying for them for the last two months,” he said.

Benjamin said the government can no longer afford to pay.

In addition, he said the Juba government expected rebel leader Machar to be in Juba Riek Machar. PHOTO: AP

Food resources strained for refugees in Malawi

A Malawian man transports food aid distributed by the United Nations World Food Progamme (WFP) through maize fields in Mzumazi village near the capital Lilongwe, PHOTO: REUTERS.

RECENT funding shortfalls have forced the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to reduce rations and even suspend some food distribution at Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp, home to 25,000 refugees from around the region. Officials say the food shortages are leading

to sexual exploitation and violence.

It’s 8 o’clock in the morning at Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi.

Their situation is precarious, but they say one thing is certain the food will not last for a month.

The refugees used to receive

seven different types of food items. Now it is down to three: maize, beans and cooking oil.

And the U.N. had to cut the total amount of rations per person in half in the past year due to funding shortfalls.

The camp takes in refugees from around the region including Democratic

Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia.

One Congolese refugee said the lack of food pushed her husband to leave the camp.

She said she is unable to do anything that can earn money. She relies on food donation for survival.

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

35

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

36 CHANGE OF NAME

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I, Amahwe-Jeffery Okwendo am the same person bearing Omohwo Kevwe. Now, I wish to be addressed as AMAHWEJEFFERY OKWENDO. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

That Gbemisola Issa Ajibola was erroneously written as Issa was written instead of Yisa. I wish to be known and addressed as YISA AJIBOLA GBEMISOLA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

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37 CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly Okoye Blessing Veronica now OKOYE BLESSING NGOZI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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Wednesday, 23 March, 2016 CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly Sunday John Micheal now SUNDAY MICHEAL ONIMISI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

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I, formerly Mrs Rasaq Alimat Olanrewaju now MRS OLADOTUN ALIMAT OLANREWAJU. All former documents remain valid.

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I, Ayodele Oluwasegun S. that I am the same person bearing Ayodele Oluwasegun Sunday.

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Omofoye Micheal Adekeye am the same person as Omofoye Micheal Adeleke. Now, I wish to be known and addressed as OMOFOYE TIMOTHY ADEKEYE. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Adebisi Dasola Ibilola Aliyat am the same person bearing Adebisi Dasola Aliyat. Now, I wish to be known and addressed as ADEBISI DASOLA IBILOLA ALIYAT. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

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I, formerly Adeboyejo Victoria Bosede now ADEBOYEJO VICTORIA BOLANLE. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public take note.

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TESCOM, Oyo State and general public take note.

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Wema Bank Plc, GTBank Plc and general public take note.

I, Kenneth Chukwuemeka Ike am the same person as Kenneth Chukwuemeka Ikebunwa. Henceforth, I want to be known and addressed as KENNETH CHUKWUEMEKA IKEBUNWA. All documents bearing these names remain valid. General public take note.

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I, formerly Adedoyin Ebunoluwa Atinuke now ADEJUWON EBUNOLUWA ADEDOYIN. All former documents remain valid.

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CHANGE OF NAME

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GTBank Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Azeez Aina Ganiyat that my name was wrongly written as Azeez Aina Ganiyu. Now, I want to be known and addressed as AZEEZ AINA GANIYAT. All documents bearing these names remain valid. First Bank Plc, UBA Plc and general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

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38

news

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

Nigeria has systemic problem —Bishop Oyedepo Biola Azeez-Ilorin

T

HE Chancellor of Landmark University, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Bishop David Oyedepo, has described the socioeconomic challenges in the nation as those borne out of systemic failure.

Speaking with journalists in Omu Aran at the fifth founder’s day celebration of the private university, Bishop Oyedepo, who is also the founder of Living Faith Church, said there

was no point blaming political party or individuals for Nigeria’s challenges.

“Our problem is a systemic problem, not political party or individual problem and we must find solution to it. There’s socio-economic problem, but Nigeria will not go down the drain. We must proffer solution to it,” he said.

Bishop Oyedepo, who called on the present government to be more sensitive to issues that affect ordinary people, said that

things have not been working well.

“Where we are today is not where we should be.

The effect of the forex has a lot to do with small scale industries and that is where the bulk of Nigeria employment is.

“Anybody can make mistakes but if people in the authority are not sensitive to the cry of the people, we would keep making more mistakes. My understanding is that it is never late to be right. If a decision is

made and we discovered it is not right we should do an informed review.

“What I’m saying is that things have not been working and we are all aware of it. There is no point pointing accusing finger. Individuals in the country also have a lot to do to recover the dignity of our nation.

“The challenges have been with us for many years, it didn’t just happen now. Government should be sensitive on the issue that affects everybody.”

“We have been fighting over the issue of power for many decades now.

Government should have its priority. They should itemise the fundamentals that can move Nigeria forward and be committed to them,” he said.

Bishop Oyedepo, who lamented on the present fuel scarcity in various parts of the country, called on the federal government to find quick solution to the challenges in the oil sector because of reverberating effect on the masses.

Ex-NHIS boss, Thomas, raises the alarm over threat to life Bola Badmus-Lagos

FORMER Executive Secretary/CEO of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr Femi Thomas, on Monday, in Lagos, raised the alarm that his life was not safe anymore as his personal security aide was allegedly shot dead in cold blood in his very presence by agents of the state in a bid to arrest him, despite the fact that he did not resist arrest till date.

This was just as he dismissed reports that he was involved in including ghost enrolees in the NHIS, leading to a fraud of N327million.

Thomas raised this alarm at a press conference, but maintained that he remained undaunted, describing himself as a man of destiny who could not be compromised.

The former NHIS boss was reacting to a recent report carried by some national dailies credited to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) where he was alleged to have been involved in the “systematic creation and manifestation of ghost enrolees in the scheme at a staggering cost of N327 million.”

According to Thomas, the alleged enrolment of ghost enrolees happened well before he assumed office, saying the fresh allegation was a clear evidence of the desperation of his enemies to pull him down.

Thomas, who described the incessant negative media campaign against him as unhealthy, explained that this had led to trial via the media.

He decried a situation whereby a national anticorruption agency first engaged in a massive media campaign preparatory to charging him to court, saying that in effect amounted to denting his image even before any charges had been made.

From left, POWA president, Mrs Agharese Arase; wife of the vice-president, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo, who represented Hajia Aisha Buhari; DIG Finance and Administration, Dan Azuma Doma and the Executive Secretary, National University Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie, at the second Nigeria Police Force quiz competition for secondary schools, to mark Police Week 2016, in Abuja, on Tuesday. PHOTO: SUNDAY OSUNRAYI

10,000 out-of-school children worrisome —NUC •Make refusal to educate children a crime, NUC boss urges FG Clement Idoko-Abuja

THE Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie, has called on the Federal Government to make it a criminal act for parents who refuse to let their children go to school.

He described as worrisome and unacceptable, the recent report that over 10 million Nigerian children are out of school.

Okojie, spoke on Tuesday, in Abuja, in his remark as the chairman of the occasion at the second Nigeria Police Force Quiz Competition for Secondary Schools as part of the programmes marking the 2016 Police Week.

NUC boss, while also calling for reintroduction of boarding school system across the country, attributed the decline in reading culture among school children to the current

dominant day-school system where students do not have adequate time for studies and team work.

Okojie also called on parents and teachers to take the care of children seriously, saying childcare is a very important aspect of child’s development.

He disclosed that the Federal Government had set aside N1billion selfbenefitting fund-in-trust domiciled with UNESCO to

N35bn fraud: Tompolo absent as EFCC arraigns Akpobolokemi, others Ayomide Owonibi OdekanyiLagos

REGARDLESS of the inability of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to produce wanted ex-Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo also known as Tompolo, the anti-graft agency, on Tuesday, arraigned the former boss of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and eight others over alleged N35 billion fraud.

At the last adjourned date, Festus Keyamo, counsel to the EFCC, had requested an adjournment to enable him separate the charges leaving out Mr Ekpemupolo, who would face a separate charge when arrested.

In the new charge, Mr Akpobolokemi, Global West Vessel Ltd, Odimiri Electrical Ltd, Kime Engozu, Boloboere Property and Estate Ltd, Rex Elem, Destre Consult Ltd, Gregory Mbonu, and Captain Warredi Enisuoh, were accused of conspiracy to

commit the fraud between 2012 and 2015.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty.

The defendants’ lawyers prayed the court to grant their clients bail in the most liberal terms.

Mr Keyamo however did not oppose the bail applications.

“Because the accused persons are already on bail in another charge before this court, I pray my Lord to grant them bail in a condition good enough to enable them attend this trial,” Mr Keyamo said.

revitalise adult and youth literacy in the country.

He said: “We are told that in the South of the Sahara, there are over 150 million children that are out of school. And today 10 million of these out-of-school children are from Nigeria.

This is worrisome, especially in a country where primary education is made free.”

Wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, also called on parents and teachers to inculcate discipline and obedience in youth in order to encourage them to be hard working as well as build positive value of obedience to law, moral rectitude and patriotic zeal for the country.

She was represented by the wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo.

Hajia Buhari, further said: “The critical message being passed on this occasion is that it is important to teach the Nigerian children to be aware of the law of the land in order to know which action constitute a crime and to stay away from it.”

Election violence: God is angry with Buhari —Fayose Leon Usigbe -Abuja

EKITI State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has alleged that there are increasing cases of election violence leading to loss of lives in the country because God is angry with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking to reporters is Abuja, on Tuesday, he accused the president of being repressive towards his opponents and, therefore, drawing the wrath of God. “Power doesn’t come from anywhere, God rules in the affairs of men. Oppression, bringing and cutting people down, dropping people, taking their blood on the ground, God is angry.

“The way this government is taking people down, God is angry. God isn’t happy.

“Go to Rivers, they kill people. Go to Akwa Ibom, they kill people. Go to Baylesa, they kill people.

They incarcerate innocent people. God is angry with Buhari. You can’t continue to take the blood of the innocent,” he said., He said as a governor who had served under three separate presidents, he was not afraid to speak out, saying that nobody could tell where he would end up tomorrow.

“Look at my predictions for the year 2016 for Nigeria, everything has come to pass. This is a different ball game. He that will take me, he that will go against me must first of all defeat God,” said.

“We have seen so many things in this country and I am the longest serving Nigerian governor. I served in Obasanjo’s administration. I served in Jonathan’s era and I am serving in Buhari’s administration now.

“You want to try me with impeachment? They have done it before. You want to try me with state of emergency? They have done it before. You want to trap someone in the building?

They have done it before.

“I am an experienced man, I am fearless. The reason is that great is He that is in me than he that is in them. And let me remind you, if they have another person that they will join with Buhari to get more forces, they will bow to this force here. I am telling you the truth,” he said.

39

Wednesday, 23 March, 2016

corporatesport

With Niyi Alebiosu adeniyi70@yahoo.com 08116954642

WGB/Lagos FA cup: Defending champion crashes out

I From left, A board member; Nigeria Basketball federation; Mustapha Suliman, Managing Director, Multichoice Nigeria; John Ugbe and president, NBBF Tyani Umar during the cheque presentation to the federation for the sponsorship of the DSTV Basketball.

Emirates showcases its sponsorship of AC Milan at 30,000ft, and across the globe EMIRATES and AC Milan are celebrating their partnership with the unveiling of a bespoke decal which depicts the club’s football players in action on an A380 aircraft that operated on the Dubai - MilanNew York JFK route.

The first flight of the “AC Milan A380”, A6EET operated as EK0205, and touched down at Malpensa International Airport in Milan on Wednesday 9th of March.

The decal, spanning over 500 square metres of the world’s largest passenger aircraft, shows AC Milan players, Riccardo Montolivo, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Bacca, Keisuke Honda, Alessio Romagnoli, and Mattia De Sciglio.

“As a global brand connecting people with their passions, we are constantly looking at ways to bring people closer to their favourite sports teams.

Emirates has been a proud sponsor of AC Milan for almost a decade and we are excited to showcase our sponsorship with the club around the world. We hope that the AC Milan branded A380 excites both football and aviation fans alike,” said Boutros Boutros, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand.

“The sponsorship between AC Milan and Emirates con-

tinues. They are two international brands with millions of fans and customers around the world. They have built their relationship on common values such as style, elegance and innovation. The personalization of the Emirates A380 livery with the image of our players will create a growing link between Milan and its fans and between the airline and its passengers. I’m proud and I thank Emirates

for being once again on our side,” said Barbara Berlusconi, Executive Vice President and CEO of AC Milan.

From Milan, the “AC Milan A380” continued onwards to New York JFK on the nonstop service from Italy’s commercial capital.

The aircraft will continue to operate to the 37 destinations currently served by the Emirates A380 around the world.

T took only a 14 - second strike by Ibrahim Gbadamosi of Goodland Rangers FC to send the 2014/2015 champions, Christ Ambassadors FC out of this year’s edition of the Winners Golden Bet powered Lagos State FA Cup. The much anticipated match played at the Agege Stadium, Agege saw the Ajuma Ottache tortured side, Goodland Rangers FC scored with their first kick when Ibrahim Gbadamosi scored the only goal of the match after just 14 seconds to take his side to the Round of 16.

Another former champions, AS Racines Fc also crashed out of the Championship when they lost through penalties shoot out to Gbagada FC. Ibrahim Gbadamosi who won the Most Valuable Player award after their match, noted that the match is not easy and that they have to dig deep for

Coach Ogunnaike presenting MVP cash award of fifteen thousand naira to Goodland Rangers’ Ibrahim Gbadamosi.

them to win the match.

He however gave thanks to God for the award, adding that his job as a striker is to score goals and scoring the winning goal against the defending champions is a thing of joy

HUAWEI names Messi Global brand ambassador HUAWEI announces Lionel Messi’s appointment as the latest Global brand ambassador for its consumer business group.

The affiliation shows the commitment of the brand to aligning with people that demonstrate and strive towards its shared value of connecting greatness.

Challenges test our desire to achieve what we want and love. To connect with greatness, we have to value the growth, learning, experiences and struggles as part of our story that brought us where we are now. Those who understand that are always pursuing not success but challenges, to be better.

According to the Country Manager, Huawei Consumer Business Group Nigeria, Mr. Leo Jiang, “Football is a passionate sport with lots of passionate fans, especially

here in Nigeria. We are of course absolutely excited to be associated with the

world’s top football Legend, Lionel Messi. This will help our brand encourage peo-

ple to focus, persevere, and make breakthroughs to connect with greatness”.

From left; Captain, Ibadan Golf Club (IGC), Mr Akin Funmilayo, General Manager, Finance and Admin, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr Kayode Adigun, Winner of the tournament, Monday Edet; Head, Corporate Communication and Brand Management, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr Segun Bankole; and IGC lady captain, Mrs Temitope Alonge during the presentation to the winner of the 4th edition of the Sovereign Trust Insurance Golf competition held at IGC recently. PHOTO: OLAWALE OLANIYAN.

to him.

In other matches played on Monday in the round of 32 at the ongoing WGB sponsored Lagos State FA Cup, C.O.D United defeated FC Robo Warriors by 2 goals to nothing, Also Messiah football club beat Oceaniag football club by another 2 goals to nothing to move to the next round.

Future Stars football club will confront G Innovation football club at Agege Stadium, today while Anointed Stars football club will take on Bridge football club in the second match of the day.

It will be the turn of LSDPC football club with First Bank football club for a place in the round of 16, while Teslim Thunder Balogun football club play ODIC football club in the last of the day.

Dotun Coker, Chairman of Technical committee of Lagos State FA also expressed satisfaction with the standard of the championship so far, saying almost, all the clubs participating showed some level of improvement, hence the reason for the close results. Adding that they also showed high level of discipline in the games.

SIDELINES no 16,463

n150

Wednesday, 23 MARCH, 2016

The Federal Government recently assured federal civil servants that it has no plans to retrench workers. Pray, what is the use of job security without regular pay? And while still debating that point about “removing ghost workers from the public system,” can someone please check all synonyms for “retrenchment?”

Why Iwobi missed training —Siasia

NIGERIA VS EGYPT

Kaduna weather, not an excuse for Eagles —Musa

The Nigeria Football Federation has cleared the air on why Arsenal striker, Alex Iwobi missed the first day training session on Tuesday ahead of the AFCON Qualifier against Egypt on Friday.

It was earlier speculated that the youngster who is making his competitive debut for Nigeria missed the training due to pressure from the British FA who Tribunesport gathered has been making frantic effort to draft him to England national team Nigeria coach Samson Siasia however confirmed the news on Tuesday in a press conference He said: “[Iwobi] suffered from food poisoning, so he was not part of training, but his condition is stable.”

The 19-year-old, though, is expected to return to training with his team-mates in the capital city, Abuja, on Tues-

Saliu Gbadamosi - Abuja SUPER Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, on Tuesday insisted that playing at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Friday in a Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against the Pharaohs of Egypt is not any problem to the Nigerian players, even as he declared that the weather in the North-Western state should not be an excuse for the team not to perform.

Speaking with Tribunesport in Abuja before the team departed for Kaduna, the CSKA Moscow forward stated that the AFCON match against the Egyptians was very important for Nigeria, saying only a win would be good enough for the Eagles.

According to the captain, the Eagles would adjust to the Kaduna weather, saying that what was left was for the fans to come out en mass to support the team to victory.

“For me, I have no problem with Kaduna, neither do we have problem with the weather because we are all Nigerians and should not use the weather as an excuse. We will adjust.

“I want the fans in Kaduna to support us and pray for us. But I can assure you that we are going to win, even if it is half goal.

“They should keep supporting us and by the grace of God, we are going to make them happy,” Musa said.

Meanwhile, the former Kano Pillars player insisted that his major concern was to give his all for the Eagles to win on Friday, declaring that he was not bothered about the team’s captaincy.

He noted that missing the last edition of AFCON was painful to the players and they could not afford to miss out of the next edition as some of them might not have the opportunity to wait for 2019 edition.

“Captain or no captain, it is not my business. I am here to play for my country, Nigeria. I will give my all to ensure we qualify for the Nations Cup,” Musa said.

My son belongs to Nigeria, not England —Iwobi’s father

F

ather of Arsenal youngster Alex, Chuka Iwobi says his son’s allegiance is to Nigeria and not England.

The rising star is being targeted to play for England having come through the country’s junior ranks.

But his father, who was a former Vasco and Femo Scorpion player in a quick reaction to the speculations told theCable: “In terms of where he is now, he has allegiance to Nigeria.

“I am not in a position to say England has come for him or not. I cannot confirm, I cannot deny. He has come to Nigeria, to play for Nigeria.

“He is, according to FIFA registration, a Nigerian player. So, it is not even a question. He is here to play for Nigeria, according to FIFA records, he

is with Nigeria.”

Iwobi also spoke on his expectations from his son’s international career.

“I am praying for it to be the beginning of a long journey for him playing for Nigeria and getting to that pinnacle of playing for Nigeria as well,” the lawyer said.

“Maybe, God’s willing, who knows?

We don’t know where the journey will take him to. Hopefully with hard work, dedication and respect, doing well for Nigeria, he could go the way of his uncle; Jay Jay Okocha who captained the Super Eagles.

“What a better feeling it would be for me as a father to see him play for Nigeria and becoming a captain in the future, though that’s a long way down the line.”

Eagles must control game —Mikel

By Olawale Olaniyan Chelsea and Nigeria International midfielder, John Mikel Obi has urged his colleagues to be cautious and tactical when they face the Pharaohs of Egypt in the qualifying race for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Super Eagles will host Egypt on Friday at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna and play the return leg four days later at the Borg El Arab Stadium

in Alexandria.

Speaking after their first training session on Tuesday in Abuja, Mikel noted that they must be in good form to stop the Egyptians.

Mikel said “I want us to win and progress because we are aiming for good game on Friday and in Egypt.

But the truth is, we also have to do well in those games,” he said.

While admitting he doesn’t know much about the visiting team but

acknowledged that they are a good side.

“I really don’t know much about them, I probably know only (Mohammed) Salah because we played together at Chelsea but from what I have heard, they are a very good side.

“I understand they are a team that plays good football and very fast and we have to be cautious and tactical and try to control the game at every point,” he added.

day ahead of this week’s vital African Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt.

Nigeria’s media officer Toyin Ibitoye told Goal: “Alex Iwobi is doing better, he had a bit of diarrhoea due to a change of food and environment, but he should train with the squad [on Tuesday] evening at 17.00.”

Iwobi, who started at Camp Nou against Barcelona last week and then scored his first Premier League goal in the win over Everton at the weekend, has previously played two friendly matches for Nigeria.

However, as he’s yet to play in a competitive match, he’s still technically allowed to switch his allegiance back to England.

But if he takes part in the game against Egypt on Friday, as expected, that option will be taken away from him.

We must be clear in our mind —Moses Victor Moses says the Nigerian national side must decode what is at stake ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt on Friday.

The 25-year old makes a return to the Super Eagles after over a year out and speaking exclusively to fcnaija, he said: “These games are important and the focus should be on getting maximum points from them. Yeah, sure, it is not going to be easy because I understand the Egyptians are also quite good so we have to respect them.

“But at the same time we must be clear in our minds what we want and the objectives we have set for ourselves,” he stated further.

Speaking on his return, the West Ham winger said “I’ve

been out for a while due to injuries and at a point I needed to recover my form but I am just happy to be back amongst the lads,” Moses was one of the 13 overseas-based players who trained in the morning at the Abuja National Stadium before their departure yesterday evening.

Moses

Match officials arrive today Officials for Friday’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria and Egypt in Kaduna are scheduled to arrive in the country today.

Referee Janny Sikazwe, Assistant Referee two, Romeo Kasengele and Reserve Referee Wisdom Chewe are all expected to arrive in Abuja aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa, alongside the match commissioner, Abbasi Ssendyowa from Uganda.

Assistant referee one, Ar-

senio Chadreque Marengula, from Mozambique, will come into town tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has appealed to spectators coming to the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna on Friday to ensure they do not have any weapon of any kind on them.

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, made the appeal in Abuja as the NFF continued the countdown to the big match.

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. 23/3/2016.