Peoples Daily Newspaper, Thursday 01, August, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 11 No. 54

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Ramadan Timings for Abuja MAGRIB

ALFIJR

6.54 p.m.

5.07 a.m.

. . . putting the people first

Ramadan 23, 1434 AH

Alakyo killings: Ombatse, Eggon withdraw from probe panel >> 5

N150

2013 Hajj: FCT issues payment ultimatum >> 17

INEC bows to APC We’re not threatened, says PDP

By Lawrence Olaoye, Ikechukwu Okaforadi and Umar Mohammad-Puma, Abuja, Ayodele Samuel, Lagos and Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finally bowed to the resilience of the three merging political parties as it yesterday formally acquiesced to

their demand to be recognised as All Progressives Congress (APC).

INEC’s decision to issue the APC registration certificate yesterday came after several months of prevarication and exchange of words between it and top officials of the mega opposition party.

The electoral umpire in a statement issued yesterday by its

Secretary, Abdullahi A. Kaugama, affirmed that the merging opposition parties, made up of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), factions of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Democratic People’s Party (DPP), have satisfied all constitutional requirements to Contd. on Page 2

L-R: Managing Director, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company, Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, and Chairman, Technical Committee, National Council on Privatisation, Mr. Atedo Peterside, during the opening of financial bids for the privatisation of Afam Power Plc. and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company Plc., yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

5 teenagers found dead in Jigawa >>Pg 2 Ramadan Message The Prophet (SAW) said: “Whoever feeds a person who is Breaking his Fast with food and drink from that which is lawful, the angels pray for blessings upon him during the hours of the Month of Ramadan and Jibril prays for blessing upon him during the Night of Decree (Laylatul-Qadr) Sponsored by Kano state government

Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Governor, Kano State

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

News CONTENTS

5 teenagers found dead in Jigawa From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

News

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

Stockwatch

23

S/Report

24-25

Earth

26-27

Update

28-29

Analysis

30

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esidents of Gwaram town in Gwaram local government area of Jigawa state were thrown into confusion yesterday when lifeless bodies of five teenagers were discovered by the roadside.

The victims were Buhari Abubakar, 10, Basiru Malam Inusa, 12, Mansur Malam Inusa, 12, Rabi’u Abubakar, 13, and Bashir Inusa 13 years respectively.

An eye witness told our Jigawa correspondent that the residents, as usual, after eating their meals

Int’l

31-34

Strange World

35

Digest

36

Politics

37-38

Newsxtra

39-40

Sports

41-46

Leisure

47

Columnist

48

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something they must have taken (food poisoning) in the night since all of them were almajirai (Islamic school pupils) who were residing in one of the houses at the old Gwaram town”.

Investigations by our reporter revealed that the owner of the house that accommodated the kids, a senior education staff working in Birnin Kudu, had already been arrested by the police.

When contacted, the Jigawa Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abdu Jinjiri, confirmed the incident and confirmed that

the teenagers died of sudden and unnatural causes.

Jinjiri said: “The kids were almajirai who were found by the residents at around 5am by the roadside near some residential houses”.

The police PPRO said already, the lifeless bodies have been taken to the Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano for immediate postmortem that would ascertain the cause of their deaths.

He also confirmed that three persons have been invited by the police for questioning on the matter.

INEC bows to APC Contd. from Front Page be registered as a political party.

Kaugama stated that the Commission had approved the application by the parties to be merged and registered as APC. The INEC scribe said: “On considering the application, the Commission found that the applicant-parties have met all statutory requirements for the merger, and has accordingly granted their request.” he Commission added that it has approved the withdrawal of the individual certificates of the applicant-parties, and has issued in its stead, a single certificate with which they would be recognised as All Progressives Congress.

Reacting to the final registration of the mega opposition party yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in a statement signed by its Acting National Publicity Secretary, Prince Caesar Okeke, said it was not in any way threatened by the registration of the APC. While describing the development as healthy for the nation’s democracy, the PDP said it still retains its preeminent position and enjoys the widest popularity and acceptance among Nigerians across the country.

The ruling party said: “The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) congratulates the leadership of the All Progressives Congress on the successful registration of their new party. This is very healthy for our democracy. We hope that from now the opposition will eschew all forms of bitterness and desperation and desist from politics of propaganda which characterized their former parties.

“We hope to see a vibrant opposition that will constructively engage the PDP on issues of governance in a way that Nigerians will be the utmost beneficiaries instead of overheating the polity by promoting violence and hatred among the people”, the PDP stressed.

Insisting that the APC poses no threat to it, the PDP said it “will continue to maintain its preeminent position in the polity”, adding that it remained “the party with the widest acceptance and popularity among Nigerians across board”.

The PDP said further that Nigerians are not deceived by the change of flag by the opposition.

It said such does not remove their dictatorial tendencies and penchant for deceit and propaganda for which Nigerians have rejected them, irrespective of party name.

Equally reacting, President

T Combating the menace of human trafficking in Nigeria, Page 4

in prepation for the next fasting day, went out for the early morning prayers at 5am yesterday only to be confronted by the sight of the corpses.

A resident of the town called Malam Isa said:”We came out to observe the subh (dawn)prayer and we noticed the obscur manner in which the kids were lying on the floor and attempts were made to wake them up. We were shocked to discover that they were all dead”, he said.

He added that “their death might not be unconnected with

Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Ali Gulak, said: “I have said it before and will say it again and again that the coming together of smaller parties to form a relatively bigger party is a welcome idea.

“We hope the actors will play well to give the party a chance as against the dictatorial tendency of the Tinubus and Buharis”, he added. eanwhile, Lagos Chapter of the PDP has described the jubilation of the registration of APC as only a process met and wonders why such should be over celebrated when the merging parties put together, have never posed any iota of threat to the PDP. The party, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Taofik Gani, however demanded a probe of the process leading to the confirmation of the name for the ‘Tinubus’.

“This is imperative in view of the pending suit on the original ownership of the acronym APC. The suit is still pending and one would expect that actions must be stayed. Why should INEC flout this judicial rule? There is a skeleton in somebody’s wardrobe! This probe must thus start now and if the process of confirmation of the name is found to be tainted, then Professor Attahiru Jega must be sacked and arrested”.

The Lagos PDP reiterated that the APC gives no practical advantage to the opposition, stating that the frustration that led to the re-branding would still manifest as the people are no longer cajoled by name but would look out for the personalities in the parties.

Commenting on the registration, the National Chairman of the defunct CPC, Prince Tony Momoh, commended the courage of INEC to register the party, describing it as part of the efforts by the electoral body’s chairman, Attahiru Jega, being a renowned unionist, to restore his dignity after the outcry that greeted the 2011 general elections.

He however said the registration of the party is not on sympathy but purely administrative, considering the fact that APC had met all the constitutional requirements for registration as a party. ccording to him, “INEC is bound to register APC; but there were speculations that it may or may not, especially as Nigeria is a country where anything can happen. The perception was that Jega was doing the bidding

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of PDP. What happened today has set the stage for change in Nigeria.

Before 2015, PDP will have become opposition.”

While emphasising that in law, INEC has no choice than to register APC, the former CPC chairman explained that after 30 days which expires last midnight, the Constitution empowers the APC to commence operation as a political party.

He however enjoined the politicians in the country to endeavour to play by the rules in 2015 to avoid political violence, disclosing that the new party has mapped out strategies to forestall any form of rigging at the polls, and would not condone any form of rigging by the PDP. Alhaji Buba Galadima, Secretary to the defunct CPC equally commented thus: “It is a welcome development; it is not unexpected.

We have always felt that we fulfilled all conditions and that INEC would have no problem registering the APC. They have not disappointed us. They have raised the hopes of Nigerians that they would always do the right things when faced with difficulties like in this case.

“They (INEC) should not allow themselves to be intimidated by any party when the real electoral activities begin. INEC had done well,” he enthused. he 2011 Presidential candidate of the ACN and the anti corruption czar, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in his reaction expressed happiness over the registration of the APC just as he charged members of the new mega party to work harder to dislodge the ruling PDP by 2015.

Ribadu, in a statement in Abuja, congratulated key players in the merging parties “for shoving their personal interests in order to allow for mutation of a pan-Nigerian party that can provide credible alternative to the ruling party”.

The statement, issued by Ribadu’s media aide, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, said: “Like millions of Nigerians from all over the country, I am immensely delighted over the successful registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent n National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

Also, Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Rep. Suleiman Abdurahman Kawu Sumaila, yesterday commended the INEC for registering the APC. In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, Kawu said, INEC has lived up to expectation by performing its constitutional

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responsibility despite daunting challenges. “With the coming of the APC, the days of the ruling monster, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), are numbered.

“Nigerians can now heave a sigh of relief in the polity since the APC is here to salvage Nigeria and Nigerians come 2015.”

He however cautioned that the leadership of the new mega party should eschew the culture of impunity, lawlessness and disregard for laid down procedures which characterises the PDP is not replicated in the APC. n the same vein, the gubernatorial candidate of the defunct ACN in Kwara state in 2011 general election, Mohammed Dele Belgore(SAN) has described the registration of APC by INEC as a victory to the people of Nigeria.

Belgore, in a statement by his Media Aide, Rafiu Ajakaye noted “ The registration of APC brings a new dawn to Nigeria’s democratic experiment. It is a victory for the people of Nigeria who have long clamoured for the coming together of progressive opposition parties to end the years of disrespect for popular wish, executive lawlessness, corruption and widespread poverty, irrespective of the fact that the country is richly blessed with fertile land and huge human potentials.

“For us in Kwara, it is a dream come true as APC would further strengthen our collective efforts to end the state’s peculiar politics of under-development, poverty and self-aggrandisement. It is a moment of joy for all the progressive elements waiting in the wings to work together as brothers in the selfless bid to build a new Kwara; one that would shed the toga of being a fiefdom and being seen as a place where individual potential blossoms without any let or hindrance.

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has said that the decision of INEC to register APC would boost public confidence in the ability of the Commssion to conduct free and fair elections in 2015.

The National Secretary of the body, Willy Ezeugwu, said with the registration of the party, the earlier public perception that the INEC will do the bidding of the PDP in 2015 has been proved wrong pointing out that victory at the election would be based on popularity of the parties among the electorates.

He therefore charged the leadership of the party to enlist the support of the voters ahead of the next general elections.

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 3

News Ramadan Timing Day 23

L-R: Representative of the Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Mr. Igado Nicolas, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Maman Abu, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Taiye Haruna, during the National Conference on UN Revised Framework for Development of Environment Statistics, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Lagos denies deporting Igbo From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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a g o s state Government yesterday debunked the claim that it deported 67 indigenes of Anambra state, saying “the state didn’t deport anyone.”

The government however said it would commence total enforcement on the section of the 2012 traffic law that banned cart pushers from the state highways.

Briefing press men after the monthly security meeting, chaired by state governor, Babatunde Fashola, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, said that the state government only resettled

the 67 Anambra indigenes.

According to Manko, “What happened was that the state government did rehabilitation and resettlement of the citizens from other states. And these were those who came into the state and turned into destitute.”

“After the state government realized this, it embarked on revive and reformed mission. After that, they indicated that they would be happy to go back to their home town and be resettled.

“That was what happened. There wasn’t any deportation as claimed.

“We all know that the Lagos state traffic law 2012 outlawed their

service from the high way. We are going to start enforcing that law from today.”

This came barely a year after Governor Fashola signed the 2012 road traffic law which also outlawed the activities of commercial motorcycle pseudonym Okada and Tricycle popularly called Keke from plying the major ways in the state.

He continued “no one is expected to push cart on the highway particularly on the bridge.

“Our officers would be mandated to start arresting the cart pushers.

“And this is information for them to keep off the major roads in Lagos state.”

Islam sanctions marriage on maturity not age - Yarima

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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he embattled Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima has denied backing child marriage, arguing that under Islamic laws, a girl is considered ripe for marriage based on her physical and mental maturity, irrespective of her age.

Speaking yesterday on the controversial child marriage which in the recent times pitched the Senate against Nigerians, Yarima, who represents Zamfara West, condemned the controversy.

He said the insinuations that he supports child marriage were untrue, misleading and the handiwork of mischief-makers, pointing out that the 1999 Constitution doesn’t provide for any specific age when a girl can be married, but only stipulates that any girl aspiring to be

married must attain a full age.

The lawmaker further argued that this constitutional provision is in concord with Islamic law which states that for a girl to be married, she must have attained the stage of maturity and puberty.

“What is the criteria for defining maturity or otherwise of a girl? The Nigerian constitution didn’t say 18 years. There is no definition in the Nigerian Constitution; any woman who is married is of age. You see in Islamic law, once a girl reaches the age of puberty and she is matured, she is of full age and she is ready for marriage.

“And once she is married, she is of full age. And that is why the constitution recognises Islamic law and made that provision. So if you say you are going to remove that provision, you are going against and

counter to Islamic law.

“So under sharia law, any country that practices sharia, age is not a defining factor for marriage”, Yarima said.

Commenting on international conventions that peg the age at which a girl can be married at 18 and to which Nigeria is a signatory, the former governor of Zamfara state said such international conventions are inferior to the constitutional provisions of the affected country and as such, once a convention is in conflict with the constitution of any country, the constitution naturally must prevail.

“Under Sharia law, you have to be physically developed. So, if she (a girl) is not the age of 18, Islam does not accept child marriage as you define it”, he argued.”

Kano blasts: Residents ask govt to fumigate area From Edwin Olofu, Kano

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esidents of New Road in Sabon-Gari area of Kano metropolis have called on the Kano state government to fumigate areas affected by the bomb blasts of Monday to prevent an outbreak of diseases.

According to the residents, as a result of the flow of blood

and mutilated bodies of those killed during the attack which have littered all over the ground and cannot be removed, a foul smell permeated the area days after the incident.

Mr. Ikechuku Emmanuel, a resident of New Road, said it took them several hours to do the little cleanup of the scene Monday to enable them sit outside their houses.

“We are tired and confused about this pathetic and sad development hence the need for us to appeal to the ministry of health to come and fumigate the environment so as to avoid any epidemic”, he said.

They also urged the government to equally assist by flushing away the thick blood that stuck on the gutters in the surrounding.

TOWNS Aba Abakaliki Abeokuta Abuja Akure Argungu Ankpa Auchi Azare Bama Bauchi Benin Bichi Bida Birnin Gwari Birnin Kebbi Biu Calabar Damaturu Daura Dutse Enugu Funtua Gombe Gwoza Gumi Gusau Gwadabawa Hadejia ` Ibadan Ife Ilorin Jalingo Jere Jos Kabba Kafanchan Keffi/Nasarawa Kaduna Kano Katsina Kontagora Lafia Lagos Lokoja Maiduguri Makurdi Malumfashi Minna Port Harcourt Ringim Shagamu Sokoto Warri Yola Zaria Cotonnou-Benin Ndjamena-Chad Niamey-Niger Younde-Cameroun

MAGRIB 6.49 6.47 7.06 6.53 6.58 7.07 6.46 6.54 6.45 6.30 6.44 6.57 6.53 6.58 6.56 7.10 6.33 6.43 6.38 6.54 6.49 6.48 6.57 6.38 6.31 7.05 6.58 7.07 6.47 7.03 7.02 7.03 6.36 6.52 6.47 6.56 6.50 6.53 6.54 6.52 6.58 7.01 6.46 7.04 6.53 6.31 6.46 6.58 6.57 6.48 6.49 7.04 7.07 6.56 6.32 6.53 7.07 7.22 7.20 6.28

ALFIJR 5.08 5.10 5.27 5.08 5.19 5.07 5.09 5.15 4.50 4.37 4.56 5.20 4.57 5.13 5.08 5.13 4.38 5.11 4.43 4.54 4.55 5.11 5.03 4.50 4.39 5.10 5.03 5.07 4.49 5.22 5.21 5.22 4.51 5.04 4.59 5.15 5.03 4.58 5.04 4.57 4.58 5.13 5.03 5.27 5.27 4.38 5.05 4.57 5.10 5.16 4.55 5.25 5.07 5.20 4.47 5.02 5.32 4.31 5.20 5.00

Source: Society for Propagation of Islam Kaduna

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Page 4 Report

Combating menace of human trafficking in Nigeria

By Evelyn Okakwu

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ince the colonial era, there have being drift of resources especially humans from Africa to Europe; then, this was known as slave trade, but was later abolished. But can it be truly said, that human trafficking has been abolished in Nigeria? But whatever the name, it’s the act and its effects that matters more.

Human trafficking is a phenomenon that has generated a lot concern globally, especially in a country like Nigeria, where it is rampant. This involves recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other means of coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person, having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Exploitation could include prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery, removal of organs and more.

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution.

Trafficked Nigerian women and children are recruited from rural areas within the country’s borders − women and girls for involuntary domestic servitude and forced commercial sexual exploitation, and boys for forced labor in street vending, domestic servitude, mining, and begging.

Nigerian women and children are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Nigerian women and girls are taken to Europe, especially to Italy and Russia, and to the Middle East and North Africa, for forced prostitution.

Traffickers sometimes move their victims to Europe by caravan, forcing them to cross the desert on foot, and subjecting them to forced prostitution to repay heavy debts for travel expenses. Poverty is said to be the motivation for human trafficking and major cause for victims’ vulnerability to it.

The victims, most of whom are children in their pre-teen age, teenagers and females, are taken far from homes, and engaged in dehumanizing activities, all for economic benefits. The different approaches and attempts of various governments, especially the Federal Government is an indication that it is aware of this menace in the nation.

The Federal Government

Some innocent girls looking degeceted after being rescurel from human traffickers in Abuja recently

fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. It also continued to undertake strong efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking.

In addition, its National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons and other related offences (NAPTIP) ceased the practice of interrogating trafficking suspects at the same Lagos facility housing its shelter for trafficking victims.

To better ensure victims’ rights are respected, NAPTIP formed a committee, in mid2009, to review victim care policies, aiming to strike a balance between ensuring victims’ safety in shelters and promoting their freedom of movement.

The agency’s head of media and communication, Mr. Arinze Oraque, while speaking on the contributions of the agency, noted that the agency has gone quite far and called on other organs of government, namely

the state and local governments to also make their efforts that would be felt, by way of targeting those causative issues that make trafficking to thrive. “These are issues of poverty, very poor social values, collapse of social infrastructures like schools hospitals, among others”, he stated.

He added that the Executive Secretary has addressed the National Economic Council, chaired by the Vice-President.

He also spoke to all the governors on the need to begin to tackle trafficking in persons and consider it a very big issue, stating that: “There is no gainsaying that it is a major crime which has huge human security implications for Nigeria”.

On how big is the problem of human trafficking, Mr. Oraque says, “It is huge; there is actually no state that you can point a finger and say: ‘this or that state is free from human trafficking’.

Every state in Nigeria is endemic to human trafficking. When

“

we embarked on an evacuation and withdrew 112 Nigerian girls from Mali, we found out that it cuts across every street; so I think it will be foolhardy for the agency, or anybody, to begin to say “Ok, because this one is from my state, and not more than that, then it is minimal’.

“Any child that is taken out of this country is a child lost.

It is only ‘happen stance’ that could bring that child back; if you know what victims go through. There is complicity from the parents the trafficker and the victim, so because of this thing that I have mentioned to you we will give in. but the consent of the victim is immaterial so long as there has been an exploitation; So long as deceit is the plank, they make promises saying that they will find them a job or abusing their place of authority, then subject the child to an oath of secrecy after which they forge papers , take the child out of this country, then exploit the child

The different approaches and attempts of various governments, especially the Federal Government is an indication that it is aware of this menace in the nation.

through sexual trafficking. If you are caught, you are in for it”, he declared.

The head of communication, NAPTIP, who said that the number of schools the organisation has visited is countless, also noted that NAPTIP is also meeting with Icons of the society as well as market people in a bid to spread the gospel against child trafficking adding that NAPTIP has built many Human trafficking clubs in schools just to ensure that the message is sustained. He called on the local and state governments as well as other stakeholders to join in the struggle to make human trafficking a past issue.

“All we ask is that the state local governments and other stakeholders to join in the struggle, because we can’t be everywhere and the best approach is that people should join in because the problem emanates from the people; every victim is a child from a local government and a local community”, he said To that extent, even one child that is taken out of this country is a child too many; there is no number that will constitute a huge risk and there is no number that will be termed as unserious because the implications, if left unchecked, is too dire for our society.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 5

News

Alakyo killings: Ombatse, Eggon communities, others, withdraw from probe panel From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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major party to the ongoing investigations by the judicial commission of inquiry constituted by the Nasarawa state government regarding the murder of scores of security operatives in Alakio, the Ombatse cult group, alleged to have masterminded the carnage that led to the killing of the operatives, has withdrawn from further participation in the proceedings of the commission.

Also pulling out from further participation in the proceedings of the panel are seven other communities, Eggon communities of Kadarko, Keana local government area,

Armed militia kills 5 in Taraba

as well as the Mada community from Bassa in Kokona local government area.

Announcing the withdrawal of these communities to pressmen yesterday in Lafia, counsels representing the various communities, led by Chief Ayas Bako Ayas, alleged breach of procedure by the commission.

They stressed that counsels representing interested parties at the commission have been “whimsically refused the right to cross-examination of presenters of memoranda.”

According to the counsels representing the communities, the action of the commission, in denying them the right to cross-examine presenters of memoranda, goes contrary to chapter 7.1. 7.2. and 7.3 of the rules of the procedure which the commission itself made to guide its conduct of proceedings.

Explaining further, he noted that their grouse with the commission is what he described

as the “mode of trial”, which he said is obviously geared towards crippling justice, citing various cases, including that of Chief Olayiwola vs the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2006), where the Court of Appeal pronounced that “by its very letter, the concept of justice is like lightening and it has no hiding place. Just like a candle stick in darkness, there is also one way at getting at it short of which that which is gotten should be something else but not justice.”

In one of the letters of withdrawal addressed to the secretary of the judicial commission dated 31 July, 2013, Ayiwulu Baba Ayiwulu, counsel representing Eggon communities of Kadarko, Keana local government area, drew the attention of the commission that all formal documents filed on behalf of his clients before the judicial commission, are by the notice of the withdrawal, withdrawn having not been

presented.

Among the reasons he gave for his clients decision to withdraw from participation in the proceedings of the commission, also include allegation of selective approach in determining which counsels could cross examine a particular witness which Ayiwulu described as a complete departure from the adherence to the fundamental principles of fair hearing, freedom from discrimination and exercise of right to represent his clients at the commission.

He equally noted what he described as the inability of the commission to make available to them, as required by law, memoranda presented to the commission by the Nasarawa state government, the Nigerian Police Force and the State Security Service, which he said are at the heart of the commission of inquiry having regard to the terms of reference of the judicial commission, but for which they

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rmed persons suspected to be from the Tarok militia in Plateau state have killed at least five persons in Tapga village of Ibi local government area of Taraba state The attack which reportedly occurred on Tuesday was said to have left many more villagers injured, according to eyewitnesses.

Peoples Daily investigations reveal that while injured victims were moved to various hospitals in Ibi town and neighbouring settlements in Wukari local government area of Taraba state, many of the villagers fled Tagba village and are currently taking refuge in Jibo village of Wukari.

Chairman of Ibi local government council, Malam Adamu Ishaku, while confirming the incident said information available to him showed the attackers had planned a massive onslaught on Sarkin-Kudu village, a commercially town located on the Plateau and Taraba states borders.

The Chairman said the attackers were inhibited from accessing Sarkin-Kudu town because they could not cross a river separating it from Tabga through the route they moved into Taraba from Plateau state.

The difficult terrain especially during the rainy season, has made it near impossible for security agents to move in quickly and intervene at the time of the attack.

Tabga is sandwiched between Dampar and Sarkin-Kudu, and it also shares borders with Wadata, Magama and Dadin Kowa villages of Wase and Langtang South local government areas of Plateau state.

There have been rising cases of violent attacks in some parts of Wase and Langtang South areas of Plateau state, with reports about unprecedented cattle rustling largely blamed on a Tarok militia operating around the neighbourhood.

L-R: Special Envoy from South African President, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, presenting books to President Goodluck Jonathan, during the envoy’s official visit to the president, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

UK visa bond: Nigeria may retaliate

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau

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he Federal Government has insisted on retaliatory action against Britons if their government went ahead with its planned £3, 000 visa bond on visitors from Nigeria and five other Commonwealth countries.

It expressed discontent that the British Government did not deem it necessary to formally communicate to it on the next step of action following the UK’s announcement of November as the policy’s commencement time.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga

Ashiru, had at a meeting with the British High Commissioner, Andrew Pocock, conveyed the desire of Nigeria to retaliate the policy.

It will be recalled that Ashiru, at the meeting with Pocock, warned that the government would retaliate the discriminatory policy.

The spokesperson for the Ministry, Ogbole Ode, said in a statement in Abuja, that the British authorities were already aware of the Federal Government’s position on the matter.

“Media reports in Nigeria

on Monday, July 29, 2013, indicated that the United Kingdom Government will begin to implement from November, 2013, the £3,000 cash bond for first-time visa applicants from Nigeria, and five other Commonwealth countries. The statement read.

“If and when a communication to that effect is received, the Federal Government will take appropriate steps to reflect its national interest.”

The British High Commission Spokesman,Rob Fitzpatrick, said no final decision has been made on the controversial policy.

have been denied access to.

“The situation is akin to that wherein a plaintiff has received the pleadings of a defendant but refuses to submit his pleadings for scrutiny ahead of a hearing.

“It is in the light of the foregoing that we have come to the painful but inevitable conclusion that further participation in the judicial commission of inquiry cannot in good conscience be justified”, he stated.

16 feared killed in fresh Nasarawa violence

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eports indicated yesterday that no fewer than 16 persons in Kuduku community in Keana local government area were feared killed when unknown gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen invaded the community in the early hours of yesterday.

The attackers said to be armed with sophisticated weapons were believed to have invaded the community at about 11 am, shooting at everybody on sight.

It was gathered that apart from the number of casualties recorded in the incident, several houses including valuable materials worth millions of naira belonging to people of Kuduku, Obosidoma and other communities affected by the incident were completely razed by the invaders.

Although it could not be immediately ascertained as to what prompted the attack, our reporter learnt that the incident may not unconnected with alleged recent attack on some Fulani herdsmen by unknown persons around Kuduku community.

Peoples Daily further gathered that some herdsmen numbering about seven had, in trying to relocate with their cattle, allegedly occupied the road linking Kuduku and Giza communities, a development that possibly did not go down well with a motorcyclist who according to reports, told the herdsmen to push their cows to one side of the road to enable him gain passage.

Trouble was said to have started however when the herdsmen allegedly refused to honour the request made by the motorcyclist as he (motorcyclist) was said to have forcefully pushed one of the cows aside, when one of the herdsmen assaulted him, thereby resulting into a clash that left the motorcycle rider severely injured with machete cuts.

The Nasarawa Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Cornelius Ocholi, claimed he was not aware of the incident but pledged to inquire from the Divisional Police Officer, in charge of Keana before commenting.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 6

News

Centenary anniversary: 61% Nigerians agree country has fared better, says poll

By Stanley Onyekwere

L

atest weekly poll results released by NOI Polls Limited have revealed that about six out of 10 Nigerians agree that the country has fared better as a united nation.

The results also indicate that 48 per cent of Nigerians think the planned 100 year celebration of Nigeria in 2014 is justified. These are two key findings from the centenary polls done in the week of February 4th 2013.

According to the report, following the February 5th, 2013 flagging-off of Nigeria’s year-long centenary

celebrations at the Banquet Hall of the State House by President Goodluck Jonathan, NOI Polls, Nigeria’s leading opinion polling organisation, sought to gauge the awareness of Nigerians regarding the country’s Centenary and their opinions on it.

The report states that respondents to the poll were asked five specific questions such as, “Are you aware that Nigeria would be 100 years as nation in 2014?” “Are you aware of the yearlong centenary celebration to mark the amalgamation of Nigeria?” Some of the other questions included, “Do you agree or disagree that 100 years celebration of

theamalgamationofNigeriaisjustified?”

“Do you think Nigeria has achieved the vision of the founding fathers after its first 100 years?” And, “do you agree with the opinion that Nigeria would have fared better if it had remained two separate protectorates?” According to the report, that though most Nigerians (72 per cent) donotthinkthatNigeriahasachievedthe vision of its founding fathers, majority of those polled (61 per cent) are still of the opinion that Nigeria has fared better as one united indivisible nation instead of remaining two separate protectorates.

On the first question sought to establish awareness regarding centenary

celebrations, the results indicate that almost 7 in 10 Nigerians (69 per cent) said they were aware that Nigeria would be 100 years in 2014 while 31 per cent of respondents stated that they were not aware.

On the third question, which sought the opinions of Nigerians regarding the need for the planned centenary celebration, the results indicate that majority (48 per cent) of the respondents agree that the celebration is justified, followed by 31 per cent that disagreed.

Also, 11 per cent of the respondents were neutral, while five per cent each strongly agreed and strongly disagreed.

Detained Majority Leader of Rivers state House of Assembly, Hon. Chidi Lioyd (middle), being assisted to appear in court, yesterday in Port Harcout.

Church gives free drugs to patients From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

T

he Living Faith Church, Metro District in Kaduna State has donated free drugs to 250 patients from Unguwan Maisamari in Malali ward of Kaduna North Local government area.

Speaking during the presentation of the drugs to the patients at the Palace of the Ward Head, the Resident Pastor of the Living Faith

Church Metro District, Pastor Davis Kassam said the drug is the church contribution to the continuation of the Christ healing ministry.

According to him it is not enough to preach the gospel to people but the church should also be concern about their health and welfare.

“In the time of our Lord, we were told that he went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and healing many of their

infirmity.

“Therefore as people of faith we have no option but to follow suit and that is the reason for the free medical treatment and the provision of drugs to the patients who are the less privileged in the community.”

Kassam who lamented the high level of poverty in the country, said some people could not fulfill their religious obligations because of ill

health.

“It is very painful today that people do not know why they are blessed by God because they only gathered wealth and stored it for their family but I want to warned them that the only way to received God blessing on the wealth is by giving out especially the poor if you want to be bless then remember the poor and the Almighty will remember you, “ he said.

UNDAF III to assist FG meet commitments on national priorities – Minister

M

inister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, has said that the major goal of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework III (UNDAF III), was to assist the government meet the commitments made in its First Implementation Plan, the Transformation Agenda and more importantly, to work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The minister stated this in Abuja on Tuesday during the signing ceremony of UNDAF III and the inauguration of the Steering Committee for the framework.

The ministry in a press statement said the agreement was jointly signed by the Minister on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure.

According to Usman, the UNDAF III document is not only closely aligned with the country’s national priorities, but has also assisted greatly in the reduction in the duplication of UN activities in the country, leading to a reduction in transaction costs, for both the Nigeria Government and the UN System.

He added that the framework apart from being crafted as a strategic process for forging higher levels of critical partnerships and promoting public action for achieving key human development goals in the country, it intends to further improve the UN Systems implementation coherence in the country within four key result areas of: good governance, social capital development, sustainable and equitable economic growth, human security and risk management.

“With these structures in place, I am certain that there will be a deepening of the coherence and result oriented implementation regime that became evident during the UNDAF II with life changing impact on the most vulnerable parts of our society,” the minister said.

Vote counting after Zimbabwe knife-edge election

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau, with agency reports

V

ote counting began yesterday after polls closes in Zimbabwe’s keenly contested election.

Zimbabweans voted in large numbers yesterday in a fiercely contested election pitting veteran President Robert Mugabe against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has vowed to push Africa’s oldest leader into

retirement after 33 years in power.

With no reliable opinion polls and amid allegations of voterigging, it is hard to say whether Tsvangirai will succeed in his third attempt to oust 89-yearold Mugabe, who has run the southern African nation since independence from Britain in 1980.

Both sides are forecasting landslide wins but in a country with a history of election violence

the big question is whether the loser will accept the result of a poll dogged by logistical problems and reports of intimidation and irregularities.

Mugabe, who rejects past and present charges from critics of vote-fixing and intimidation by his ZANU-PF party supporters, has said he will concede if defeated.

“I’m sure people will vote freely and fairly,” he told reporters

after casting his ballot in a school in Harare’s Highfields township.

“There’s no pressure being exerted on anyone.”

Polls opened on time at 0500 GMT (1:00 a.m. EDT), with long queues of people braving unseasonably cold weather to stand in line from well before dawn.

In Harare, the epicenter of Tsvangirai support, the mood was excited and upbeat. A large

turnout, especially in cities, is likely to benefit the 61-year-old and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, analysts say.

Casting his vote at a Harare high school, Mugabe’s rival Tsvangirai said he expected to win “quite resoundingly”.

Around 6.4 million people, or half the population, are registered to vote. Results are expected well within a five-day deadline.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 7

News

Akpabio swears-in new SSG

By Mike Etim, Uyo

C

L-R: Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Umar Bindir, Switzerland Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Thans Rudolf Hodel, Managing Director, Nestle Nigeria Plc., Mr. Dharnesh Gordhon, and Manager, Public Affairs, Nestle Nigeria Plc., Dr. Samuel Adenekan, during a press conference on migration partnership between Swiss Embassy and Nestle Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

ASUU strike: ‘Students use kerosene stoves for practicals’

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi, Abuja & Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

T

he Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has painted a gloomy picture of university education in Nigeria, as the union yesterday alleged that science students in the universities use kerosene stoves for practical in place of Bunsen burners.

The Kano Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Rabi’u Nasir, who made the disclosure while addressing newsmen in Katsina, noted that the absence of laboratory equipment had forced these universities to be conducting ‘practical in theory’.

*FG appeals to parents Nasir similarly painted a bad picture of the dilapidated nature of structures in Nigerian universities, saying it has forced students of some of the universities to device short put method in the disposal of their feaces, by putting it in a polythene bag and throwing it through the window.

“In some of these universities students conduct classes under the trees, in some places, 12 students were crammed in one room.

In this situation how can the lecturers and students be comfortable to teach and study”, he que-

ried.

The coordinator noted that the public should understand that the union has made efforts and exhausted all possible avenue in trying to resolve the issue amicably,adding “we have written more than 200 letters as reminder for the government to see reason and honour the agreement”.

In a similar development, the federal government has appealed to parents and students to exercise restraint over the ongoing nationwide strike action by ASUU, saying it is working round

the clock to end the impasse.

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who stated this yesterday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), also stressed that government is very worried by the development which has disrupted school calendar.

He said government has been negotiating with ASUU, through the Ministries of Labour and Education, saying “we expect that it will not be protracted and agreement will be reached soon. We don’t want school calendars to be disrupted. We appeal to parents and students to bear with us and show more understanding.”

Court declares Lead City University Law course invalid From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

T

he Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday ruled that the Law Course being offered at the Lead City University remains invalid until accredited by the National University Commission (NUC).

The Justices set aside the judgment of the lower court which ruled against the NUC’s alleged invalidation of the law degree of the private university.

A graduate of Law of the university who made first class, Segun Alli, had dragged NUC to court for

alleged invalidating the law degree of the school whichprevented him from proceeding to law school after it had granted approval to the university to run a law faculty.

In her lead judgment which was unanimously adopted by two other justices; Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa upheld the appeal of the National Universities Commission declaring the operation of law in the university without accreditation as an illegality.

The judgment which lasted over three hours saw the courtroom wearing sober mood by students of the university and their

parents who are currently studying law.

According to Justice Uwa, the students do not have a locus standi to have dragged the NUC to court as the matter under contention was between NUC and the university over compliance with directives to set up a valid law faculty.

Explaining further, Uwa said the appeal of NUC was upheld due to the failure of the university to obtain and meet the requirements of the NUC and National Council of Legal Education before graduating students for the same course.

According to her, Lead City

University had admitted students to study law in the university on 22nd of May 2005, whereas the University got a license to operate on 9th June, 2005.

“There was no accreditation, there was no validation, it was invalid and so I set aside the judgment of the lower court and upholds the appeal’, she said.

Uwa who said the NUC approved the setting up of a law faculty at the university in 2008, while the University graduated their first law students in 2009, therefore described the exercise as totally illegal.

onfusion over the alleged sack of former Secretary to the Government of Akwa Ibom State was finally laid to rest yesterday as a new Secretary to the State Government, Udom Emmanuel, was sworn in by the Akwa Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio.

The ceremony was witnessed by a large crowd of people who came to see the climax of the intrigue which forced out the former SSG, Umana Umana, who was equally present at the swearing-in occasion.

The Governor thanked the immediate past SSG for his unwavering support and meritorious service to the state, urging the people to accept changes for the growth and transformation of the state.

“We must accept changes now and then in the growth towards total transformation.

So, today as we witness the oath taking for office of the Secretary to the Government of Akwa Ibom State, we must remember that change is a part of life to sustain the momentum of what we are doing” the Governor stated.

Akpabio said Umana would go down in history since 1960 as the longest serving permanent secretary in that area.

He said the government and the people of Akwa Ibom acknowledged with gratitude, his dedication to service throughout the period he served the state at different capacities.

He thanked Umana for his services and wished him well in his future endeavours.

Akpabio said reminded the new SSG that the office requires sacrifices and that he must sacrifice his time and comfort for the benefit of the people of the state.

He warned him against ethnicity, adding that the office of the SSG is a transparent one.

“The office of the governor requires sacrifices, you have to sacrifice your sleep so that the good people of this state can sleep in comfort; it is also an office that is different from the one that you knew; it is an office that is full of blackmail; character assassination; an office that people come with confusion from their pocket they come with request from their mouths and drop the request on your desk”, he said.

Ramadan: Namadi, Tambuwal, Sanusi, others for Uthman Affan’s Tafsir closing

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

T

he management of Uthman Bin Affan Juma’at Mosque Abuja, has announced tomorrow, Friday, 2nd of August, which is equivalent to Islamic calendar 24th

of Ramadan, 1434, after the Hijra as the closing day of its Ramadan Tafsir.

A statement by the Management Committee of the mosque said the event, which will start at 4pm, will have the Vice President, Moham-

med Namadi Sambo as Special Guest of Honour while the Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, will be the Chairman.

Some other distinguished guests include the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri

Tambuwal, senators, members of the House of Representatives and members of the Federal Executive Council with FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed as Chief Host.

This year’s Tafsir conducted by

Ustaz Hussaini Zakariya who has been conducting the Ramadan and weekly Tafsir at Uthman Bin Affan (Banex) mosque for over 16 years, will also host the National Chairman of JIBWIS, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau as the Guest Speaker.

PAGE 8

Photo Splash

Secretary, Linguistic Association of Nigeria, Professor Andrew Haruna (right), presenting Award of Meritorious Services to Nigerian Languages (Hausa Language and Literature) to Dr. Bukar Usman (left), during the 50th Anniversary of West African Languages Congress, on Tuesday in Ibadan. With them is Chairman, Governing Council, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Professor Emeritus Ayo Bamgbose (middle).

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Kano state Governor, Engineer Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso (2nd left) inspecting installation of street lights on Malam Aminu Kano Way, recently in Kano.

L-R: Chairman, Nigerian National Polio plus Committee of Rotary International, Dr Abduirahman Tunji Funsho, President, Rotary International 2014-15, Mr. Gary Huang, Foundation Circle member, Rotary Foundation, Rotary International, Sir Emeka Offor, and District Governor, Rotary International District 1925-Nigeria, Mr. Felix Aninze, during the “End Polio Now” world press conference by Rotary International, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

R-L: Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, President, National Youth Council (NYC), Dr. Yakubu Shendam, and Secretary General, NYC, Mr. Ibukun Oluwa Oluwole, during a visit by NYC officials to NOA DG, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

L-R: Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, Minister of State for Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike, and Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 11

Money Sense

Make a profit selling your unwanted junk!

T

hrough the Power of Online, Your Junk Can Now Become Cash in Your Hand!

Looking for extra cash? Turn

what’s old into gold. Why hang on to all the stuff that’s collecting dust in your store, your backyard or your basement?

Nowadays, it’s easier than ever

to sell your unwanted items. There are two ways that work better than others. The first is selling your stuff on the World Wide Web (www), and the second is simply using

print advertising. Even though you may think that you couldn’t give some of your stuff away, because you no longer want it, you would be surprised just how

SEO, setting up internet stores, and getting more hits on eHow, hubpages, and Squidoo. Since I have never bought the books that some of the “get your money making opportunities here”

types sell, I cannot recommend them. Maybe they work but since I don’t know that from my own experience, I cannot say. What you are looking for is the same thing I ran across. Different places to post your content.

As other revealers of inner, hidden secrets have related, one of the tips that can make you money is cross posting.

If you post an article here on eHow, you can also post it on Bukisa and if you are careful about the copyrighting settings: Associated Content. Associated Content is not rocket science, just be careful to admit that you have posted the content first elsewhere.

You can make slide shows of your artistic content. I make jpegs of my abstract art and I combine them together to make little movies or slide shows. I make jpegs by using C# and VB.Net directly in Visual Studio 2008 but if you are not a programmer then I would suggest you stick with things like Adobe, Microsoft, Flash and the like to make your movies. I will put links to my work in the resources so you can get a look at what the finished product looks like.

Squidoo is a different breed of cat. You need to begin with written comment and then use your art to illustrate the words.

Hubpages has a similar outlook on life but I am not aware of how to make money just from clicks on Hubpages so I am not recommending Hubpages as a way to directly make money from clicks.

They tell me you can make money from putting affiliate links on your pages but I haven’t had much luck there either. In so far as I can tell, it doesn’t hurt to affiliate; maybe you will have

some luck with it.

Yes there are art sites that you can use to display your wares and online shops that will help you show case and sell what you have wrought but I have never made any money in those places. Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness check out DeviantArt, LuLu, RedBubble,ebsqart,Zazzle, and CafePress. Don’t forget to blog about your art and to create web pages based on it. You can have the most freedom on your own web page of course.

How do you get anyone to look at it? If you go with the right blogger you can have some control and can keep the graffiti types from selling too much porn and viagra on your site.

Hey some junk is going to leak through to your blog comment pages if you don’t think so you haven’t taken the porn and viagra industries seriously. Like they say in horror movies, those dudes are relentless and they never sleep...

Warnings: • Always use the links and resources in eHow and Associated Content.

• On sites like Squidoo and hubpages, don’t forget to provide links to your books or content. If you have something on Amazon or Ebay, they have ready-made ways for you to offer up your wares • Be careful when cross posting. If you claim that are only posting written content on the one site, remember that they may search the web and find you out.

• Content is king, first have something interesting to show, display or say. Only after you entertain the masses is it time to sell them something.

• If you are boring, they will never click on you again.

How to make money from your art

I

have made money by posting my art on article cites such as Associated Content and Bukisa. I recommend that you seek out every article on how to make money, sell items,

true the saying. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” really is.

If you’re really questioning whether you’re to be able to sell your “junk”, simply go online and search for whatever it is that you’re looking to get rid of.

There are plenty of sites that you can sell your unwanted items on, such as Amazon.com for things like used books or of course eBay. com, which you can pretty much buy or sell anything you, can think of under the sun.

In fact, not only can you sell what you thought you couldn’t even give away, you might be surprised to find out how much some people are really willing to pay. What has actually no value to you anymore might be worth a small fortune to someone else.

That’s the reason you can pretty much sell anything you can think of, simply by putting it for sale somewhere that a lot of people go to.

This really couldn’t be any simpler to make a few extra cash, maybe even a few hundred or a few thousand naira depending on what kind of unwanted goodies you have tucked away hiding in your house. Just dedicate a day to rummage through all your belongings to find the stuff that’s no longer of use to you, and go online and see what it’s selling for, then just list it online and wait for a buyer.

One last great source for selling your unwanted items is Craigslist.org. Craigslist.org is a huge free online classifieds site that is more popular than you’d probably ever guess. Most importantly, like I said, it’s FREE! While you can of course place an advert in year local newspaper, I would highly suggest that you look into using online as a medium to move your unwanted items first.

Specifically, I would recommend starting with Craigslist, and then moving on to eBay, Amazon.com, or some other similar sites. Since you will have to pay some sort of a selling fee or a listing fee with sites such as eBay, why not try to avoid that first.

So schedule a day and take some time to do this, and not only might you turn quite a profit, you also have the added bonus of freeing up that clutter from your life, combined with the somewhat neater house.

Money Tip Traditional community jobs, how you can make money using your hands Kitchen Duty - baking cookies/cakes, canning homemade preserves or a home-based catering service has always been lucrative for Mom, Papa, Grandma and just about everyone else as well. Let the working neighbors know their home-made dinner can be ready as soon as they arrive home from work. And be sure to have a “portfolio” of what you have done with your hands.

Quote It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business.

-Mahatma Gandhi

PAGE 12

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

EDITORIAL

t is good, most of our 1,200 troops who form 20% of the United Nations African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) are returning home. The mission is there to stop rebels based in the north of that country from overrunning it after a military coup sacked the central government in December 2012. UN Resolution 2085 authorized the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS to intervene militarily to save Mali from dissolving in chaos. But in truth, it was to push their hands in a task that they shamefully left to an outside power, France, to undertake in January when the al Qaeda-backed rebels began their southward advance.

By February, this year, Nigeria had completed the deployment of its 1200-strong force in Mali, with an operational base in Niamey, Niger, our northern neighbour. That was after the Senate reluctantly gave its approval.

Reluctantly because the Boko Haram insurgency at home was at its zenith and public opinion, though muted, was clearly against Nigeria trying to put out a fire in a neighbour’s house while its own was burning too. But the Jonathan Presidency was in an awkward situation – torn between shouldering its responsibility as a regional leader and holding back to tackle the security challenges at home. As it turned out, pride triumphed over commonsense, at huge costs too.

The costs include a huge budget of $34 million (N5.1 billion) initially and a further $5 million (N724 million) commitment later. Even so,

Borno and Yobe. Two months later, a dawn attack on a secondary school in Yobe state killed some 40 students and their teacher. That provided the context in which President Goodluck Jonathan wrote a letter to the Chairman of the regional economic bloc, ECOWAS, Mr. Alassane Ouattara, the President of the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), intimating him of his desire to recall a bulk of Nigerian troops from Mali. The letter was read at an emergency summit of heads of member states held early last month in Abuja. President Jonathan told his Yes, the troop withdrawal... colleagues that the troops were needed to shore up the counter-insurgency would make us lose face in campaign at home.

ECOWAS. Maybe this is the Defence Headquarters spokesman, price we must pay today to be Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade, confirmed the troop withdrawal in a stronger position to lead recently in Abuja, saying those being recalled “are tomorrow. mainly those not accommodated in the newly formed United Nations’ mission in Mali”. According to him, “they are this year at Okene in Kogi state, involving to join the ongoing internal security soldiers picked to be deployed in Mali. operations.” That was the bitter home They were supposed to have been flown truth. Besides the heavy human toll of the in a Nigerian Air Force plane but when campaign, troop morale was suffering. that was not available they had to make Some soldiers complained publicly that the journey on a bad road and at Okene they had been away from home for far too they were ambushed by Ansaru fighters long. Drop in morale, naturally, would and two soldiers were killed. In May, a lead to unprofessional conduct by some NAF jet crashed on take-off from Niamey, soldiers. This is an often made complaint apparently for action in Mali, killing its two- by locals. man crew of very senior officers.

Yes, the troop withdrawal which began Meanwhile, the insurgency at home was officially yesterday, according to General tasking the Jonathan administration’s wits Olukolade, would make us lose face in and resources. In May, it had to impose ECOWAS. Maybe this is the price we must emergency rule in the three states that form pay today to be in a stronger position to the epicenter of the insurgency – Adamawa, lead tomorrow. the deployment got off to a shaky start, denting our credibility as a regional power.

According to reports, the first set of 160 soldiers sent to Mali in January suffered from privations: they had no transport and food was short. Even here at home, moving troops to their training base at Kachia, Kaduna state, was a big problem. That was underscored by an incident on January 19,

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I

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 13

Opinion Al-Mustapha: Waiting for the ‘accidental military politician’

By Chidi Oguamanam

S

ince Al-Mustapha’s release, the ‘media sphere’ has turned into a beehive of speculation.

Some have suggested or insinuated that political intervention from the highest quarters and a sense of political expediency as reasons for his release. Others have even waxed spiritual and have given Pastor T.B. Joshua some unusual ‘positive press’ and credit for Mustapha’s freedom. I believe in the rule of law. I am not at ease with the death penalty because violence begets voice in an unending chain.

When the hangman is debriefed, it calls for a relief than when he is commissioned. The justice system all over the world is not a popularity contest. The court is not necessarily in the business of playing to the gallery of the public opinion and sentiments.

But the present context in which Al-Mustapha’s release is being portrayed outside the traditional constitutional channel of state intervention is an ill-wind that does no good to anyone interested in our democratic experiment. Political interference, real or speculative in the release of Al-Mustapha, does not hold well for the government or for

Al-Mustapha himself. Not only would it set a wrong precedent and further erode the independence of the judiciary, such a possibility would undermine any claim of innocence or unjust incarceration/ conviction by Al-Mustapha. For all involved in the circumstances of Al-Mustapha’s nearly 15-year encounter with the criminal justice system, it would delay the healing and the much-needed closure which Al-Mustapha’s release could bring. But no one should blame Al-Mustapha for his release. And he has every reason to savour his freedom because he appealed his conviction and the court agreed with him and gave him back his life. I do not know of anybody who

“

was waiting for the hangman but instead heard the toll of a freedom bell that would not be happy.

But how best could AlMustapha make his freedom count? Not many that walked Al-Mustapha’s kind of ‘long walk to freedom’ get an opportunity for redemption that is now his pleasure and his burden. He was a prominent figure in Nigeria’s political transition from Ibrahim Babangida to the second coming of Obasanjo. That point in our political history where he became a visible actor was one of the most critical to our national survival.

Al-Mustapha co-presided (even if in a de facto form) over one of the darkest periods in Nigeria’s

political history. He has a lot to share. He knows all the actors at a time when Nigeria was on the edge of the precipice. He can make his freedom count by assisting us to unravel what actually happened to M.K.O. and to shed light on all the post June 12 political engineering and manipulations.

He could assist us to truly understand the anatomy and the overall psychology of the Abacha administration and the Abacha enigma. Al-Mustapha could help put in context all the actors that bestrode Nigeria’s political firmament during the Abacha days. If he feels a personal burden to make a case for his

But the present context in which Al-Mustapha’s release is being portrayed outside the traditional constitutional channel of state intervention is an ill-wind that does no good to anyone interested in our democratic experiment. Political interference, real or speculative in the release of Al-Mustapha, does not hold well for the government or for Al-Mustapha himself. Not only would it set a wrong precedent and further erode the independence of the judiciary, such a possibility would undermine any claim of innocence or unjust incarceration/ conviction by Al-Mustapha.

innocence before the Nigerian people, he surely has the chance.

Truly his countrymen would like to hear from him now that he has the chance. Could it be possible that he had all along been misunderstood as he often insinuates? If only he could shun all the evident political pressures following his release. Before he gets things all mangled by the crooked ways of politics to which his is being dragged, Al-Mustapha should write us a treatise that would help illuminate the darkest tunnels of our political journey.

As Achebe said, if we do not know where and when the rain started falling on us, it is hard to realise where and when and it stopped.

Al-Mustapha, please write for us: “The Accidental Military Politician” with as much courage if not more than El Rufai’s The Accidental Public Servant.

You can make a difference. By so doing you contribute to the growth of our democracy, cultivate the rule of law, help heal wounds and bring closure to many and contribute to nation-building.

These are the kinds of stuff patriots do. For you, they could be redemptive.

Follow Chidi Oguamnam on twitter: @chidi_

The gathering storm since subsidy mass protests

By Jaye Gaskia

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hat I describe as the complex and historic revenue crisis facing the Nigerian state and the Nigerian ruling class is rooted squarely within this global crises. Of course, in our own case, the impact of the global crises is compounded by the unsustainable public treasury theft rate amounting to about N2.5tn annually or N220bn monthly in recent years! It is a combination of fluctuating international prices for our main commodity, and the intensive looting of the public treasury that has produced the spectacle of an endemic systemic revenue crisis for the Nigerian state. And it is the response to this crisis that is fueling the subsidy removal drive, and which eventually triggered the January Uprising of 2012.

The experience of the January Uprising against fuel price increase has and continues to create a new wave of activists and active citizens picking up causes to fight for, at different junctures, in our history since the uprising. It is important to see and draw strength from the continuity between the January Uprising and all the protest, resistance, and governance influencing movements that it has since spawned. And we can list these; the various anti-corruption campaigns that have emerged; the campaigns and popular struggles to protect the livelihoods of the poor and defend their homes [the movements in support Okada riders, mini bus operators; the movements to stop demolition of suburbs where the poor and powerless live]; the waves of workers strikes in different sectors

of the economy; the emergent youth movements in particular their proactive engagement with the constitution reform, resource allocation and budget transparency processes; etc.

Each of these waves of popular struggles and resistance since the January Uprising have their individual significance not only in galvanizing popular responses to particular issues, and helping to place popular checks on particular excesses of the ruling elites; It has also helped in sustaining the momentum initiated by the January Uprising, while building the self confidence of the subordinate classes and their movements not only in the desirability of change, but also in the possibility of change in our time!

Politically, this new momentum of resistance to injustice and failed governance, this new and rising level of collective popular confidence, is manifested in the renewed wave of activities with respect to formation of expressly political and proto party platforms,

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on our side, on the side of the subordinate classes. Here we refer to the number of emergent new party formations. On their side too, on the side of the treacherous, treasury looting ruling elites and class, there is also political commotion, manifested in the intense internal antagonistic struggles within the parties [PDP, APGA etc ] as well as in the self serving power grab drive of some opposition parties towards merger [APC – ACN, CPC, ANPP].

Within this broad spectrum of revival of active popular struggles, the emergent Child Not Bride campaign holds a special significance on the road to 2015. If the January Uprising unleashed the momentum, pointed the way, and engendered confidence; the Child Not Bride campaign, has served to confirm that rising confidence, and presents us with a projection of our capacity to effect change, and ensure a fundamentally different outcome in 2015 from the past!These urgent lessons of this latest campaign needs to be identified immediately, and

integrated into the emergent political processes towards national liberation and social emancipation of our country and her peoples.

What are the lessons that must be learnt? First, a new generation radicalized by the January Uprising has shown that it can recognize and seize historical moments; that it can organise on its own, autonomously of established movements and personalities; and that we can overcome a lot of the challenges posed to popular organising and mobilising by combining effective use of the new social media, with active real life and on the ground community mobilisation to build a movement that can go viral with respect to its influence and its potential.

This effective use of the social media to reach out; to undertake mass enlightenment; to put out and push a message; to call for action; to ginger popular conscience and consciousness; to identify volunteers; and to coordinate the actions of these volunteers in organising and mobilising people in their various localities; were lessons

What are the lessons that must be learnt? First, a new generation radicalized by the January Uprising has shown that it can recognize and seize historical moments; that it can organise on its own, autonomously of established movements and personalities; and that we can overcome a lot of the challenges posed to popular organising and mobilising by combining effective use of the new social media, with active real life and on the ground community mobilisation to build a movement that can go viral with respect to its influence and its potential.

learnt during the January Uprising, and reinforced in a magnified way in the Child Not Bride campaign.

What are the implications of these lessons? The implications seem to be clear; First that we can organise, and need to organise politically autonomously of the political platforms and parties of the ruling elites; Second That we can organise and mobilise independently of ‘Godfathers’ within the treasury looting political elite; Third that we can build and mobilise a nationwide movement capable of responding to the issues of our peoples, and capturing popular imagination; and Fourth, that if we put these lessons to use, we can build a political movement or party that can represent not only an effective challenge, but also a viable alternative to the parties of the thieving ruling elites towards 2015 and beyond.

There is no reason why in the context of Nigeria, against the backdrop of the global revolutionary situation, and within the context of the momentum generated by the January Uprising and accentuated by the ChildNotBride campaign, we cannot achieve similar feats or even go beyond, and transcend the limited, but significant successes in the examples above.

It is thus in this light that we need to welcome and actively participate in all the processes towards the formation of new and fundamentally different parties; and why we all need to work towards the Convergence of all these proto party efforts at most by the first quarter of 2014.

Follow Jaiye Gaskia on twitter: @ jayegaskia&protesttopower

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Opinion

Corruption in Anti-Corruption Watch

By Danladi Ndayebo

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he world over, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are there to open up the liberal political space, engender equalization of opportunities; improve the circumstances of disadvantaged peoples and institutions and hold governments to account. However, any keen observer of the events that have shaped the nation’s politics in the last few months will discern the unwieldy tendency of political actors to use these “change-agents” to foster acrimony and disunity in our dear nation. A case in point is an unknown organisation that goes by the name Anti-Corruption Watch and its recent activities.

Existing only on newspaper advertorial pages, it has made it a business to teach independent government agencies their modus operandi only to please their paymasters.

Currently, the amorphous NGO played the devil’s advocates by inciting the public and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to beam searchlight on Niger State over some spurious allegation that first sprouted in 2009 at the height of the political shenanigans orchestrated to filibuster the job of the Chief Servant, Dr. Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu. Being a whistle blower, the Anti Corruption Watch can only be applauded if the job that it has elected to do is anchored on truth. But the present exercise

filled the void is a failed attempt of the same by mischief to put devastated spanner in the state that work that has been Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, had been internationally text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written abandoned acknowledged as in a state of exemplary. contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters helplessness.

But the climate - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your Because of has gone sully name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be the yawning again because of addressed to: developmental 2015. Now, time is ripe for political gap left do-gooders to dig between what The Editor, into things known was and what Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, and unknown to is now, it has convince their not been easy 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. paymasters for these lilyEmail: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com that the Mu’azu livered rumour SMS: 08134607052 Babangida Aliyu’s mongers administration to come to does not justify the rating that has when the Aliyu administration set terms with the giants stride being put Niger as a frontline state in out to develop all the sectors of made to make the State one of the terms of poverty reduction and socio-economic life of the people. It three most developed states in the great developmental strides. The is understandable that the mouths country by 2020, a major plank of same State that is currently rated as of detractors who had failed the MBA’s transformation agenda the least poverty-stricken State is woefully to wrestle power by hook code-named 3: 2020. now being tarred by those without or crook should be filled with sour It is no wonder that as a way empirical basis as corruptiongrapes .Now in collaboration with of trying to pull the wool over the riddled and enmeshed in sharp people who feel the governor has an eyes of the people, these shameless practices. Had they known that the eye on the top or would not brook detractors who obviously do not allegations of wrong-doings have the idea of leaving the top seat as have the interest of the masses of been investigated and dispensed an exclusive preserve of the present Niger State and by extension, most with by the agencies accused occupants, they have gone back to Northerners and indeed Nigerians of ineptitude, they would have their feces to rake up maggots. The in mind have resorted to various covered their faces in shame. real and behind-the-scene motives arm-twisting tactics to sow the seed Taking money from gullible for the unrelenting mischief of discord in every venture that promoters to pitch the masses making by well-known detractors Aliyu supports. It will be recalled against the administration of the current administration in that the Anti-Corruption Watch only exhibit the limitations of Niger state should be obvious to is aping what an article written the paymasters and their hack all thinking people. No one who in 2009 under the pseudonym men. This was the same route of visited Niger state before and Engineer Yahaya Mahmood perdition that ended grievously and after Aliyu came to power will fail spawned through a ridiculous many of them had to eat their word to attest to the fact that he has petition, sent to the Niger State

WRITE TO US

Less of propaganda and lying

By Chiechefulam Ikebuiro

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was one of the first to commend the Federal government when it declared a state of emergency in three states to tackle this Boko Haram monster head on. There was no need negotiating with terrorists as they will not even accept to negotiate in the first place. Three months on and we are getting fed up with the lies from the federal government representatives. This is definitely not how we will nip this monster in the bud. This is a very delicate matter that should not be joked with. I think we have had enough of this deception. Almost three months on and one is yet to get a proper feedback as regards the state of emergency.

Recently, the Federal Government had announced the signing of a ceasefire agreement with the Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, made the announcement in a radio interview.

He said Boko Haram had agreed to lay down their arms. Hear him, “We have sat down and agreed that the Boko Haram will lay down their arms as part of the agreement so as to end the insurgency. Government agreed with the ceasefire and will look into ways to ensure that the troops relax their activities till the final take off of the ceasefire.”

A supposedly Boko Haram representative also told us they have agreed to a cease fire.

He claims they were seeking forgiveness from the people over the number of people they have killed all over the country. This came to me as a surprise, and I became suspicious because I have never seen terrorist groups come out to beg and apologise.

The best they can do is to deny any attack. Boko Haram however confirmed my suspicion that this was another lie with the killings of twenty (or more) students and a teacher in Yobe. Abubakar Shekau while endorsing the killings denied ever entering into a cease fire whatsoever with the Federal Government.

On 29th of July 2013, at around 11pm, I saw the news that there had been a blast at a bar at New road/ Enugu road at Sabon Gari Kano .In panic I called up my cousins and Uncle to confirm the news as well as

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find out that they are safe. It was true and thank God they are safe. The initial report was that close to eleven people died in the blast. My cousin however debunked this. Eleven how? He asked. According to him, he had gone there to see for himself and the death toll was way higher than what was reported. It was like the fourth time it was happening in Sabon Gari and they keep playing it down. We are not safe here anymore he continued. He was bitter. I was happy he and my other cousins were alive but saddened because of the lost lives. I even understand the militants were shooting people who tried to escape from the blast.

I have been to Sabon Gari Kano and know how the environment is like (especially at night). It feels like Lagos outside Lagos.

With this recent bombing one is wont to ask what the situation is

What is in the state of emergency that was declared? Are we sure we are getting any closer to capturing the leadership of the Boko Haram? Me think if we were, the killings in Yobe by the Boko Hram would not have happened .There is a state of emergency declared in the state for crying out loud. It is quite unbelievable.

with tackling this menace. What is the Turaki Committee all about?

Why will the committee be bold enough to feed us with lies? Is there a hidden agenda? That obviously looked like a ploy to get us all(including our troops)relaxed so Boko Haram could get a breather.

I sincerely hope not. Why was the committee even set up in the first place. What is the committee’s job?

Is this not another way to waste our resourcesbecause it obviously is not going to yield any result.

What is in the state of emergency that was declared? Are we sure we are getting any closer to capturing the leadership of the Boko Haram? Me think if we were, the killings in Yobe by the Boko Hram would not have happened .There is a state of emergency declared in the state for crying out loud. It is quite unbelievable. Are our military forces well equipped to fight Boko Haram? What’s the casualty rate? Are there more civilian deaths? We watched an interview on Aljazeera, where one of the soldiers who did not want his face shown claimed that more civilians are being killed. I did not want to believe it as I thought it was propaganda, but we need to know the truth. The truth for once! How true is the claim?

Where is Shekau? Is it true he has been rounded up or is it another lie? Does the federal government have a plan B? Boko Haram is very much still with us as the recent bombings in Kano

House of Assembly, leveling all manner of tendentious allegations against the Aliyu administration.

Needless to state that from the mediocrity of the presentation of the ‘facts’ in the silly petition, it was obvious that the so-called engineer who allegedly authored the report lives in the gutters and was just desirous of dragging everybody else into his natural habitat. The only aim of the allegations is to distract and divert the attention of the Executive and Legislative arm of the government from their busy schedule of work for the people. The writer of the petition knew that there was no chance of them coming before the State Assembly to substantiate their wild allegations as the petitioners are mere ghost writers. How does Anti-Corruption Watch corroborate the allegations or they simply want the taxpayers’ monies spent on spurious allegations, simply because they hate the guts of the Chief Servant. For the records, it is obvious that the idle gossips cannot justify the developmental strides of this administration in terms of health care delivery, sanitation, agriculture, education and road construction and rehabilitation.

Stealing from the poor state will only be satanic and it is a venture a God-fearing servant of the people like Governor Aliyu will not condone. There is however no doubt that attempts to erect such red-herrings would collapse. It is advised that people who live in glass house should not throw stone.

Danladi Ndayebo is the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Niger state have shown and we need more than lies and propaganda to keep them away. Minister of Power, Chinedum Nebo, I think should have spared us another lie by just sticking with his appeal to vandals while speaking at a ministerial platform in Abuja. While appealing to vandals to desist from their acts as their activities causes set back in the improvement of power supply, he claimed that power supply in the country has improved to 16 hours per day. Haba minister! This I found insulting to Nigerians.

This is throwing mud at our faces.

Mr. Nebo’s Nigeria is obviously not the one you and I the ordinary Nigerians live in. The amount of money one spends on fuel for generator to run ones power supply over the years, if put together will put up a business.

An estimated 60 million or more Nigerians now use generators of varying sizes as their source of power supply, spending 1. 56 trillion Naira to fuel them annually and Mr. Nebo is ‘washing’ us? Prof Sam Amadi, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission Chairman even came out to confirm the fact that power supply here is not improving and that we must pay higher for what we are not getting.

Why then should Minister Nebo lie to us? Nigerians will not complain if we had 16 hours of electricity out of 24hours considering what we have seen over the years. It is nothing to be proud of considering where Nigeria is supposed to be as well as how far some of our neighbours have gone as regards power supply, but that is our lot.

Chiechefulam Ikebuiro via thalynxis@yahoo.ca

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 15

Comment Avoiding the doomsday

By Francis Arthur Nzeribe

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igerians may recall that in 2005, a conference report titled ‘Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa’s Future’ by a group of experts assembled by the United States National Intelligence Council predicted the possibility of ‘outright collapse of Nigeria’. The report, among others, stated as follows: “While currently Nigeria’s leaders are locked in a bad marriage that all dislike but dare not leave, there are possibilities that could disrupt the precarious equilibrium in Abuja. The most important would be a junior officer coup that could destabilize the country to the extent that war (may) break out in many places in a sustained manner. “If Nigeria were to become a failed state, it could drag down a large part of the West African region. Even state failure in small countries, such as Liberia, has the effect of destabilizing entire neighborhoods.

If millions were to flee a collapsed Nigeria, the surrounding countries, up to and including Ghana, would be destabilized. Further, a failed Nigeria probably could not be reconstituted for many years-if ever-and not without massive international assistance”. A juxtaposition of this report with the current security situation in Nigeria, calls for serious sober reflection by all.

The expedient declaration of state of emergency in the three Northeastern part of Nigeria badly hit by the Islamic insurgent attacks since President Goodluck Jonathan took over the rein of power in Nigeria; has become necessary, and obviously the only reasonable option left to dissuade the doomsday

prophets of Nigeria’s disintegration from having a field day. What is needed now is for all stakeholders in Nigeria project to give maximum support to Mr. President in his effort at bringing to an end, the activities of the insurgents. The critical stakeholders in the affected areas should on their part, corporate maximally with the President to achieve the goal of the emergency rule.

Although, the current emergency order is a sharp departure from the conventional one, but viewed from the position of inclusiveness in finding lasting solution to the vexed issue of insurgency, one can begin to appreciate President Jonathan’s brand of emergency rule. In effect, what is obtainable in the affected areas right now is “Diarchy”; which is a system of government whereby the Civilian and the Military share power. It was propounded by Late Right Honourable Nnamdi Azikiwe. The beauty of the current emergency rule is that both the civilian and military authorities in the affected states are expected to cooperate to find lasting solution to the problem.

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However, government must know that as a stop gap measure, emergency must not lead to heavy civilian casualties. To this extent, the military personnel should be properly trained on counterinsurgency which should centre mainly on intelligence gathering after proper analysis of the issue on ground. A situation whereby the Government says members of Boko Haram sect are ghosts on one hand, and committee was set-up for granting of amnesty to the same ghosts, portrays those advising the President on the issue as confused and disorganized. It is a classical case of somersault.

Intelligence gathering must involve knowing in details if the insurgents are Nigerians or foreigners or mixture of both. A situation where issue surrounding Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria is subjected to varying interpretations will not do the fight against it any good.

On the other hand, political elite in government must stop praising themselves on winning the war against terror because it needs no advertisement. Nigeria Press is also advised to be nationalistic in their reportage. Sensational reporting

should be discountenanced.

The Philippines faced the problem of insurgency Nigeria is currently facing in early 1950s. The then President, Ramon Magsaysay had to invite an American, Major General Edward Lansdale, an expert in counterinsurgency, to help his country find a solution to the Huk Guerrilla Movement’s activities. General Lansdale told the Philippines government that use of arm would not stamp out the Huk guerrillas, but rather, it will embolden them. He advised President Magsaysay to bring his government nearer to the people by eradicating corruption in high political places. Though, some people may argue that corruption did not start today in Nigeria, why must the problem of insurgency start now? Well, my take on this is: Because of the fact that the grace of God abounds, does it mean we should continue to swim in sin?

The greatest cause of instability in Nigeria today is “structural corruption”, and it must be urgently addressed. Statistics have shown that most of the states where local government elections have not been conducted are most

The Philippines faced the problem of insurgency Nigeria is currently facing in early 1950s. The then President, Ramon Magsaysay had to invite an American, Major General Edward Lansdale, an expert in counterinsurgency, to help his country find a solution to the Huk Guerrilla Movement’s activities. General Lansdale told the Philippines government that use of arm would not stamp out the Huk guerrillas, but rather, it will embolden them.

Death and resurrection of FAAN

By Gboyega Adeoye

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he Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), had played feast to all sorts of government in the past. It is a ready agency for compensation to loyalists, cronies and lackeys of government who saw the entity as sea, that never run dry. Little wonder, therefore, that between 1999 and 2007, during the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, FAAN played host to no less than five Managing Directors, each coming with varying agenda, skewed to get a fair share of the juicy parts of the strangled parastatal.

To make the deal easy, the government of that time came up with a brilliant idea to refocus the aviation agency to concern itself with aeronautical revenue generation while the nonaeronautical aspect were given out on concession to private hands in the drive towards Public Private Partnership, PPP. But rather than growing the FAAN through the PPP agenda, the once gigantic agency was humbled from its lofty height to the dusty carpet of insignificance.

Contractors handling projects

on behalf of the agency turned to pests. Those at the helms of affairs from the ministry down to the agency connived with contractors to milk FAAN dry. When the milk dried, they continued to suck blood from the sagging breast of the once fledgling agency in an attempt to snuff life out of it permanently.

In an attempt to restore sanity into the sector, AIC Nigeria Limited, owned by politician and business mogul, Harry Akande, Fagbemi’s Maevis Nigeria Ltd, Bi-Courtney, owned by Wale Babalakin, a senior advocate of Nigeria and Pan Express Limited, owned by Peter Pan Okezie had the agreement they entered with government at various points altered or out rightly revoked as the case may be. Of the four concessioners, Pan Express seems to be the only one that its case may receive the attention of government after a review of the earlier terms as no strong accusation of sharp practices has been established against it by authorities in FAAN. Investigation into the terms of some of the contracts reveals that while some of the concession agreements were palpably

designed to rob Nigerians of their heritage; other conditions in some of the deal are tailored in such a way that it would muzzle development as well as put the commonwealth destiny under the control of some privileged few. According to Datti who said FAAN has over 300 concessioners manning revenue points for the agency in the twenty one airports scattered across Nigeria; “the fact that we have issues to clear with about four of them doesn’t count.”

Stressing the financial hiccups being experienced by the agency before the management decided to arrest the situation, not minding whose ox is gored, the FAAN spokesman said, “we found ourselves in a situation where we cannot expand any longer simply because lands that has been earmarked for the expansion of airports have been taken over by some individuals. If we can’t expand, for instance, the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMA), in the next two years, the airport is dead as a result of the tremendous growth in passenger traffic…”

Commenting on the implication of the anomalies if allowed to continue, he has this

to say: “The situation became so terrible because the companies in question have people in government at various times of signing the contract. But if people should continue to behave the way they have done, there will be no legacy to leave behind for the incoming generation.

“There are some former ministers who are parading themselves today that are supposed to be in jail because it was under their tutelage that some of these agreements were entered into. In fact there was a court seating where those who claimed to represent FAAN were not even from FAAN. And they sat down and entered into agreement on its behalf. It was based on situations like this that they got some of their rulings in the past. What we are saying now is that those judgments were faulty because the papers presented in court that were claimed to have been signed by FAAN were faked.”

Things appear to be looking up for the once crippled agency.

The monster FAAN is gradually donning a human face. In the drive to catch up with the rest of the world in the forward match to bringing comfort and security

prone to violent crime. Nigeria political system is designed to make governance accessible to all. A situation where local government administration is almost nonexistent is a clear indictment of the affected State Governors, and they should be substantially held responsible for violent crimes and general insecurity in Nigeria.

It is an undisputed fact that the young men and women that are recruited for nefarious activities across the country are mostly those that would have been manning the administration of local government establishments as Chairmen, Councilors, Supervisory Councilors, Special Assistants’, Personal Assistants’ etc. If these young men and women are actively involved in governance in their localities, will the incidence of crime remain as high as it is today? Herein is the major problem confronting Nigeria.

We should not delude ourselves that Nigeria as a whole is not in emergency already, no thanks to Structural Corruption being perpetrated by most of our elected Governors. The solution to this problem of Structural Corruption now rest squarely on the shoulders of the National Assembly [NASS] and Judiciary. NASS should not wait until it amends the Constitution to stop the ongoing looting of LGAs funds by the Governors. A resolution backed by 2/3 majority of members in both houses of assembly requesting the conduct of elections in the affected Local Government Areas, will do the magic. Should they [Governors] fail in allowing elections to hold, NASS should request the President to release only the monies meant for the payment of workers in the affected areas, and withhold other funds.

Francis Arthur Nzeribe, a former senator, resides at Apo Legislative Qtrs, Apo, Abuja.

into the nation gateways, FAAN is leaving no stone unturned.

This can be seen through the remodeling work going on in the nation’s major airports coupled with the recent improvement on passengers’ right by the fledgling sector.

Before this time, it was gathered that workers in FAAN used to have their salaries unpaid for months while passengers undergo untold hardship whenever there is flight cancellations most of which are not fault of theirs.

To Saliu Abdul Buba who flew on Ethiopia Airline on February 2012, hope had lost on the amount he paid for oxygen which he eventually did not use on the trip.

Reprieve however came recently as a refund of One hundred and twenty nine thousand naira (N129,000.00), was awarded him under the incumbent management of FAAN. And according to Datti, “operators have to sit up since the move we make shall cut across both domestic and foreign airlines.

The protection of passengers’ rights is very important and we are bringing in the operators to ensuring this. We have already hit the ground running. We have to evolve laws that will keep us at par with what is obtainable in developed world,” he stressed.

Gboyega Adeoye wrote in from Lagos.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 16

COE Deans hold 1st conference in Abuja

By Usman Shuaibu he Committee of Deans of Students Affairs of Colleges of Education (CODSACOE) has held its 1st National Conference with the theme: “Improving Students Welfare through Partnerships” which took place at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) College of Education Zuba.

The three days conference was attended by the Deans of Students Affairs across the country.

Declaring the conference open, the Provost of the FCT College of Education Zuba, Prof. TijjaniIsmai’l, thanked the leadership of CODSACOE for choosing the FCT College of Education Zuba to host the conference.

He explained that CODSACOE was a non-profit organization as well as nonpolitical geared towards building a long term sustainable welfare packages for the students across the colleges of education in the country.

His words: “The present educational standard in Nigeria demands the efforts of all facets of our society which I do believe CODSACOE has reflected in its theme.”

The Provost,who used the occasion to inform the gathering that the college had attained accreditation of all the NCE courses offered by the institution, noted that the college has about five schools, consisting of 31 Heads of Department.

In her welcome speech, the National President of the Committee, Mrs. Zainabu Mohammed Abbas, who is also the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCT College of Education Zuba, disclosed was formed to proffer solutions faced by the institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.

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She added: “The challenges confronting the Students Affairs Directorate of our colleges of education are enormous. The present insecurity situation in

our country, high rate of juvenile delinquencies and other social vices to mention a few are bare before our eyes on a daily basis”.

Abbas therefore urged the

stakeholders to continue to put smiles on the faces of the students at their disposal, noted that the students affairs unit was an engine house of any institution.

While urging parents to monitor the activities of their children at all times, she however advised students to be committed to whatever they do in life.

L-R: Minister of Youth Development, Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir, Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, walking into the Council Chamber before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Mpape killing: Court discharges three banks from garnishee proceeding J

By Stanley onyekwere ustice A. U. Inyang of the FCT High court sitting at Apo, yesterday discharged three out of the seven banks involved in a garnishee nisi proceedings, seeking to enforce the May 4th, 2012 landmark judgment it delivered in a civil suit filed against the police by the family of late Doris Okere.

According to the court, the three discharged garnishee banks: Zenith bank of Nigeria Plc, Diamond bank plc and Access bank plc, were all discharged based on their affidavit filed to show course as the 1st, 6th and 7th garnishees

respondents respectively.

Recall Peoples Daily had reported that the court on the 22nd April, 2013 issued a garnishee order against the United bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Police Micro-Finance bank, First bank of Nigeria Plc and the three discharged banks.

However, at the resumed sitting, Inyang discharged the 1st garnishee (Zenith bank) from the garnishee order of the court dated 22nd April, 2013 and proceedings based on its affidavit to show course dated 8th May, 2013.

Similarly, both the 6th garnishee (Diamond bank) and 7th (Access bank) were also discharged from the said garnishee order of the court and proceedings based on each affidavit to show course dated 8th and 24th May, 2013, respectively.

Peoples Daily reports that all the garnishees except the 4th garnishee respondent (Nigeria Police MicroFinance bank) filled affidavit to show course in the matter.

This, according to the judge: “For failure to file its affidavit to show course in the matter, as demanded by said the order of the court, the garnishee nisi of the 4th

garnishee is hereby made absolute.”

“The remaining 2nd, 3rd and 5 garnishees did not satisfy the court that the three judgement debtors have no traces of balances in their respective accounts, to pay the judgement debt in the substantive suit; which accordingly, in the appropriate time this court shall move against them.”

Sequel to the yesterday sitting, the Nigerian Police had succeeded in halting the commencement of hearing on the said proceedings through a motion it filed on 31st May, arguing among other things that the court has no jurisdiction over the matter and that the

court should vacate the order Nisi issued against the 2nd judgment debtor (Nigeria Police Force) to the substantive suit.

However, the police counsel Simon Lough, reminded the court about the said interlocutory application on whether 2nd judgment debtor (Nigeria Police Force) to the substantive suit should be a party to garnishee proceedings.

Following the matter raised by the counsel to the Police, the matter was adjourned to November 7, to enable the court hear the said motion by the police accordingly.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 17

Metro

Cleric tasks churches on medical evangelism

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he resident Pastor David Taruva, of the Living Faith Church in Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has advised churches in the FCT to always embark on medical evangelism, saying that it can help to promote healthcare service delivery and draw people closer to God. The clergy stated this while speaking with journalists on the move by the church to impart positively on the lives of people in the council.

According to him, the programme was organized as part of activities marking the church’s community health outreach programme in the area, adding that apart from just preaching the gospel of salvation to people, churches should think of active ways to make lives meaningful to people they are preaching to.

He said that medical evangelism is the only way that they can reach out to people in the society.

In his words : “there are people who cannot afford recommended drugs required for treatment when sick, because they do not have money which is the reason why they have embarked on medical evangelism.

“This is the first time we are doing this; it is our own way of contributing to community development and support government efforts towards providing health care services to the citizenry,” he said.

He recalled that the church had earlier carried out road maintenance through the filling of potholes within major roads located in the council area, thereby advising Nigerians to always pray for their leaders, to achieve meaningful development in the society.

Also, the leader of the medical outreach evangelism team, Dr. Omede Ogun, said that the programme would afford the community residents the opportunity to know their health status, saying that the main reason for the medical exercise is to draw people closer to God, through community outreach services.

Catholic faithful during their confirmation ceremony by the Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja Archdiocese, Most Rev. Anselm Umoren, recently at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Gwagwalada, in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

FCT Fadama assures support for sub-project expansion Stories by Adeola Tukuru he National Office of Fadama 111 project in the FCT has assured support for expansion of sub-projects in communities through advisory services to further empower community associations of the project.

Fadama 111, National Project Coordinator, Mr Tayo Adewumi, stated this in Bukpe village near Kwali area council during tour of projects executed by FCT Fadama 111 coordination office.

Adewumi said call by beneficiaries of the project for expansion in some communities was an indication that the goal of the project to increase the income of rural communities on sustainable bases was being

T

realized.

He expressed satisfaction with the level of achievement recorded by the FCT office of the project adding that the expansion of some of the sub-projects would be realized through capacity building and advisory services. ``What we are looking at now to ensure the suitability of the project is beyond external funding; the World Bank and the Federal Government will not continue to give money to the beneficiaries. ``The target of the project is to empower the communities to be able to own their developmental projects and what we have seen here is that we have succeeded in empowering women in this community.

``So, the first thing they need to do is to imbibe the culture of savings through the Fadama Equity Fund Account and ones that is done, we will include them among the groups that will benefit from the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture credit,” he said.

He said the Community Development Driven approach of Fadama 111 project had been embraced by beneficiaries in Bukpe community.

Adewumi said group dynamism, sustainability and cohesion among members and their believe in the spirit of togetherness would enhance sustainability of the project. ``With what I have seen here, there is a complete value chain in

2013 Hajj: FCT issues 14-day ultimatum

By Maryam Garba Hassan

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he Federal Capital Territory Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Board (MPWB) has said intending Pilgrims from the Territory,who scaled through the balloting exercise conducted by the board recently, for this year’s hajj,have up to Wednesday 14th of August, 2013 to balance their fare or lose the seat.

This is just as it announced that Pilgrims in the minimum fare category will pay six hundred and forty seven thousand, nine

hundred and ninety seven Naira, ninety eight Kobo (N647,997.98) only.

This was disclosed yesterday when the board released its approved hajj fare for this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the board, Muhammad LawalAliyu, also the FCT intending pilgrims in the maximum seats category are to pay seven hundred and sixty two thousand four hundred and ninety seven naira, ninety eight kobo (N762,497.98).

It also stated thatthe medium seat goes for six hundred and eighty four thousand, four hundred and ninety seven naira, ninety eight Kobo (N684, 497.98) only.

The spokesperson said: “Intending Pilgrims,who scaled through the balloting exercise conducted by the board recently, have up to Wednesday 14th of August, 2013 to balance their fare or lose the seat.

“The measure has become necessary as the process of acquiring visa would soon

cassava production, processing and packaging and this is the entire idea of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.

Some of the project beneficiaries who spoke to our correspondent in the community had commended FCT Fadama 111 Coordination Office for enhancing their means of livelihoods.

Mrs Deborah Baba said the borehole project executed in the community by the project had addressed the acute water problems in the community.

She pledged the commitment of beneficiaries in the community to sustainability of the project adding that the income realized from the project was being used to support their various families.

Ups minimum fare to N647,997.98 commence and there is need to remit the balance of the fare to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria on schedule.”

He added that the board has already secured uniforms, bags and other materials and would commence the distribution as soon as the intending pilgrims complete their payment.

The spokesperson of the board further explained that the board would this year transport 2,460 pilgrims to the holy land.

Meanwhile, the board has fixed Saturday, 17th of August for its final Enlightenment and Orientation exercise at area councils’ level for its intending pilgrims.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Metro

INSIDE FCT COURTS Driver docked for alleged house breaking, theft

O

ne Sunday Okechukwu,a driver 32, was arraigned before an Abuja Senior Magistrates Court for allegedly breaking into a home and stealing property worth N444,755.

Okechukwu, who resides at Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, is standing trial before Senior Magistrate, AbdullahiIlelah, on a three count -charge of house breaking, theft and causing hurt.

The Prosecutor, MrSalihu Mohammed, told the court that, the complainant, Mrs Faith Eze, who resides at Sahara Estate, Gwarinpa, Abuja, reported the matter to the Life Camp police station on May 16.

Mohammed said the accused broke into the complainant’s house and stole a phone, one video camera, a DVD player, some shoes, ATM cards and the sum of N7,000.

The prosecutor said that after stealing the items, all valued at N444,755, Okechukwu ran to an unknown destination.

He, however, said that the accused was arrested on July 18 after he tried to resist arrest, and even assaulted a police officer, Cpl. Hassan Uteno of Gwarinpa police station by biting him on the arm.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the offences levelled against him.

The senior magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 and two reasonable sureties in like sum.

IIelah ordered that the sureties must have means of livelihood and should be living within the jurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case to Aug 15, 2013for further hearing.

(NAN)

Magistrate reprimands police for asking case be struck out A

Senior Magistrate, Mr. Chukwuemeka Ubani on Tuesday said a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) had no legal right to ask that a matter before the court be struck out.

Ubani said this after the Police Prosecutor, Constable David Udeh applied that the matter of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation filed against one Nnamdi Ijele be struck out.

Udeh had told the court that one HajiaRakiya of Garki, Abuja reported the accused to the Wuse Police Station on April 18.

He said that in Dec. 2012, the complainant entrusted her Mercedes Benz V-Boot valued at N500, 000 to the accused to sell

and remit the money to her.

He said that the accused sold the vehicle and converted the sum to his own use.

“The complainant also gave her plasma television valued at N250, 000 to the accused to help her repair and he fraudulently sold it without her consent,’’ Udeh said.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened sections 312 and 309 of the Penal Code.

If convicted under these sections of the code, the convict could be imprisoned for a maximum of nine years or fined or be punished with both.

Ijele pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor said the DPO sent the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) to bring the accused back to the station and prayed that the matter be struck out.

The DPO based his application on Section 130 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The magistrate however objected to his application, noting that Section 130 of the Criminal Procedure Code deals with cases filed before the police and not the court.

He granted bail to the accused in the sum of N200, 000 with a surety in like sum who must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

He adjourned the case till Aug. 8, 2013 for hearing. (NAN)

Court grants bail to man who allegedly received stolen property

A

n Abuja Grade 2 Area Court sitting in Kado on Wednesday granted bail to Eze Ifeanyi, 42, of Suit BO 57 Eda Plaza, Jabi, Abuja, for allegedly receiving stolen property.

Ifeanyi pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The defence counsel, Eze Ude, told the court that the accused was presumed to be innocent and urged the court to uphold the presumption of innocence and grant him bail.

Presiding Judge Ahmed Ado granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum, and directed that the surety must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.

The judge adjourned the case to Sept. 17 for further hearing.

The police prosecutor, Sgt. Simon Ibrahim, had earlier

told the court that Mr Innocent Okwonko of Plot 295, EbituOke Street, Utako, Abuja, reported the matter at the Utako police station on July 11.

He said that the accused bought 129 drums of Omega paints of different sizes valued at N1.2 million from one AnayoOkafor.

He said during police investigation, 88 drums were recovered from the accused and 41 were missing.

He said that the offence contravened Sections 317 of the Penal Code.

Section 317 states that whoever dishonestly receives any stolen property shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 14 years or with fine or with both. (NAN)

Man bags 4 weeks imprisonment for driving without particulars

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n Abuja Magistrates Court on Tuesday sentenced a 33-year-old man, Umar Iliyasu of Jabi, Abuja, for driving without particulars and operating with an unregistered vehicle.

The Magistrate, Aliyu Shafa, handed down the sentence after Iliyasu pleaded guilty to the charges.

Shafa, sentenced Iliyasu to two weeks imprisonment for the offence of driving without particulars and another two weeks for driving an unregistered vehicle.

The magistrate, however, gave Iliyasu an option to pay a fine of N10, 000.

He also ordered the convict to attend a compulsory course at the VIO office.

“At the end of the course, you must return to court to show your certificate of attendance before your impounded car will be released to you,’’ he ordered.

He also warned the convict to be of good character and ensure that he always ensured that he had all his vehicle particulars as required by the law at all times.

Earlier, the police prosecutor, Sgt. Monday Akor, told the court that on July 25, the convict was arrested by a team of police men on patrol at Utako, driving a Nissan Primera car without particulars.

Akor said that the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 18 CAP 548 and 40 CAP 548 of the Road Traffic Act. (NAN)

A young man pushing his truck loaded with cage and other items, yesterday in Mararaba, Nasarawa state.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Four persons in court for alleged theft, criminal intimidation

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he police on Tuesday arraigned four persons in a Gudu Upper Area Court in Abuja for alleged joint act, criminal trespass, intimidation, theft and mischief.

They are RemigiusIgwe, 42, of Benrick Nigeria Ltd., Clara Igwegbe, 32, Princess Nwokeocha, 36, all of same address and Udeolisa Cletus, 53, of Kaura Modern Market, Abuja.

The Prosecutor, MrIsrealNongo, told the court that one ChikezieEnwereji of

Block D28, Games Village, Abuja, reported the matter to the Apo police station on July 19.

He said that the accused persons criminally trespassed into the complainant’s shop at Kaura Market, Abuja on June 2. ``The accused persons destroyed the PVC- roof and all the electrical connections in the shop, valued at N182,000 and also stole N350,000 cash.’’

Nongo said the accused persons even threatened to kill the complainant, noting that the

offences contravened sections 79, 348, 327, 287 and 397 of the Penal Code.

However, the four accused persons denied committing the offences.

The Presiding Judge, AdamuWakili, granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N200,000 each with a credible surety in like sum.

Wakili said the sureties must be living within the FCT and adjourned the case to Sept. 2 for further hearing. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 19

INSIDE

Customs generates N106bn from Tin-Can Island Port

isa_abdulwahab.com. isaabdulwahab@gmail.com. 08033045613

- Pg 22

R-L: Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, in a handshake with President, Siemens Group, Mr. Michael Lakota,during a partnership forum between Ministry of Power and Siemens Group, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mixed bag performances for Cadbury, Nestle, Unilever in 2Q 2013

By Abdulwahab Isa

A

report focusing on Nigerian consumer for second quarter 2013 by the RenCap Securities, United States subsidiary of Renaissance Capital, a leading investment bank on performances of some Nigeria’s blue chip firms has revealed a mix bag of performance results .

The report released yesterday, captures results of Nestlé Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and Cadbury Nigeria which had variously, reported their 2Q13 results in the past two weeks.

The report shows revenue trend amongst the blue chips with a conclusion that it is difficult to discern any clear sector trends due to wide variance.

Strong revenue growth at Unilever second quarter 2013 has not translated into earnings growth, while very significant margin uplift at Cadbury resulted in exceptional earnings growth for the quarter.

Nestlé’s result is somewhere in the middle, steady but below our forecasts for the year.

The Research firm had forecast revenue run-rates below expectations.

“We forecast 17% revenue growth for Nestlé in FY13, and 16% for Unilever and Cadbury.

Our forecast for full-year nominal GDP growth in Nigeria is 16%.

Over the past eight years, Nestlé has reported revenue growth 1%

above nominal GDP, on average, while the others have been below.

YtD, Nestlé and Unilever have reported 10% revenue growth, with Cadbury slightly below at 8%; 2Q13 revenue growth at Nestlé and Unilever accelerated to 13% and 20%, respectively, and slowed to 2% at Cadbury.

On Strong operating-profit growth YtD at Nestlé. Nestlé’s gross margin improved from 41.4% in 1H12 to 43.0% in 1H13.

The operating margin improved from 21.5% to 23.3%, resulting in 19% growth in operating profit YtD compared with our FY13 forecast of 17.5%.

Nestlé has consistently stated that it will improve its gross margin, due to operating efficiencies from new facilities and operating leverage from volume growth. The company has also declared that it will invest this improvement in price and marketing, and as such is not aiming to improve the operating margin. We therefore believe some of this improvement may be invested in 2H13, which could result in a lower operating margin in the period.

Margin pressure in 2Q13 at Unilever.

Unilever’s 1H13 gross and operating margins were fairly stable at 36.6% and 14.6%, respectively, compared with 36.3% and 14.8% in 1H12. The operating margin declined in 2Q13 to 13.2%, compared with 14.1% in 2Q12. The decline, surprisingly, was driven by

a 31% increase in administrative expenses, as opposed to the increase in selling and distribution expenses one might expect in order to achieve the very strong revenue growth reported in 2Q13.

That said, the second quarter according to the report has historically been the weakest quarter for Unilever.

In order for our Unilever forecasts to be achieved the revenue growth rate achieved in 2Q will need to be maintained for the remainder of the year and the EBIT margin in 2H13 will need to improve to 17.4% compared with 17.1% in 2H12.

Caution on Cadbury’s gross margin.

Cadbury’s gross margin improved from 30.7% in 1H12 to 39.6% in 1H13. This is the highest gross margin Cadbury has reported, and the report’s concern is that, it is partially driven by the cocoa price and is not sustainable.

Stanmark Cocoa, a commodity cocoa processing plant, which is now wholly owned by Cadbury, has historically had volatile earnings on the back of the cocoa price.

The EBIT margin improved from 5.9% in 1H12 to 15.7% in 1H13, on the back of the gross margin improvement it would appear. We believe an EBIT margin of around 15% is achievable in the medium term. However, we believe the company needs to increase its product range and volumes in order to achieve this.

•Valuation and rating. Rein Cap increased its target prices for Nestlé Nigeria to NGN1,100 (previously NGN1,000), Unilever Nigeria to NGN64 (previously NGN50) and Cadbury Nigeria to NGN48 (previously NGN39), due to the rolling forward of our earnings estimates.

It value Nestlé on a 20% premium to Unilever and a 40% premium to Cadbury, due to the greater consistency of historical earnings and better earnings visibility. We maintain our BUY rating on Nestlé and our HOLD rating on Unilever. We downgrade Cadbury to SELL (from Hold), due to share price performance.

13 % Derivation: Edo communities want Jonathan to withhold - Pg 21 funds Exchange Rates CBN

as at 31st July, 2013 Selling Buying

$

154.76

155.76

€

235.18

236.70

£

205.32

206.64

41.26

41.53

Riyal

Parallel Rates Buying

Selling

$

157.50

158.40

€

250

253.00

£

206.00

210.00

Riyal

43.00

45.00

MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY

Build a strong relationship with your new boss

Y

our boss has more impact than any other person on your success or failure at work. When starting a new job, it pays to invest in this relationship. Here’s how to get off on the right foot: Don’t stay away. Even if she gives you a lot of freedom, resist the urge to take it. Get on your manager’s calendar regularly to communicate any issues you’re facing and gather her input.

Don’t run down a checklist. Assume she wants to focus on the most important things you’re trying to do and how she can help. Focus on no more than three things in each meeting.

Clarify expectations early and often. Start during the interview process then check in regularly to make sure they haven’t shifted.

Source: Harvard Business Review

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 20

Economy Company News

Tourism body to collaborate with ECOWAS on investment

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he Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) said it was set to partner the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on privatepublic investments.

The President of the association, Mr Tomi Akingbogun, made the announcement at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election held in Abuja.

He said the association was also aspiring to partner ECOWAS to broaden inter-regional tourism trade and investments.

Akingbogun described tourism in Nigeria as globally competitive, saying that the federation was working to ensure a reduction in operating tourism businesses in the country.

UBA Capital Plc records gross earnings of N1.874bn

By Abdulwahab Isa he United Bank for Africa Group (UBA) has recorded Gross Earnings of N1.874 billion representing an increase of 260% over the N521million recorded in 2012.

The figures were contained in the Group’s unaudited financial statement filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the 6 months ended June 30th 2013.

Balancing its investment in medium term growth opportunities with near term profitability objectives, the Group posted a Profit before Tax of N1.221billion; a strong showing

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when compared to its 2012 half year performance of N237 million.

Commenting on the results, the Group CEO Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa said; “in line with the Group’s commitment to deliver competitive returns to its shareholders, we remain dedicated to improving customer experience across our strategic business units”. He further stated that the Group’s financial and investment services offerings continue to sustain market leadership with plans to further entrench their footprint through the introduction of innovative products and services during the course of the year.

The Group’s Trustees business continues to be a leading and dominant player in its market.

The Investment Banking business recently successfully completed the Rights Issue for a major NSE listed company and is currently fund raising for majority of the short-listed bidders for power generation assets. The Securities Trading business has significantly increased its market share as investment in people, research and execution technology deepens.

The Asset Management business has grown its Funds under Management and is also expected to excite the investing public with

G

StanBank to sell London unit to ICBC for over $500m -sources

S

outh Africa’s Standard Bank is in talks to sell its markets business in London to its biggest shareholder Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for more than $500 million, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.-

Deputy comptroller of customs Oyo/Osun command, Charity Nkanu (left), Oyo/Osun area Commander of Customs, Mr Richards Oteri (middle), showing newsmen some items seized by the command, yesterday in Ibadan. With them is officer in charge of Operations, Mr Johnson Akindele (right).

Photo: NAN

NSE set to revolutionise capital market

C

hief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Mr Oscar Onyema said that the new Nasdaq OMX trading platform would revolutionise the nation’s capital market.

Oscar said this at a technology expo tagged ``X-Gen Expo’’ organised by the Exchange in Lagos.

He said that the new trading platform would be the fastest in Africa and would aid the development of the country’s capital market.

He said the new trading technology was highly sought after by foreign investors in Africa.

Onyema said that migration to the new trading platform would begin during the third quarter of 2013, adding that up loading of the trading platform would be done in two phases to ensure seamless migration.

Kogi to establish 16 cassava processing factories

K

ogi state governor, Idris Wada Kogi has approved the building of 16 cassava processing factories in the state, Dr Temitope Sinkaye, Special Adviser to Wada on Youth and Women Development said on Tuesday.

Sinkaye made this known at Odu-Ogboyaga, Dekina LocaL Government Area, at the inauguration of the centre for transportation of cassava grits to Jos and other areas.

According to her, the establishment of the factories will boost the production capacity of cassava as well as to create more jobs.

She said that the initiative would also increase internally generated revenue of the state.

Sinkaye noted that with the transportation of the processed cassava products to other areas, the Ogboyaga Cassava Processing Centre had become a dream come true.

She encouraged farmers and youths to take advantage of the centres to reduce or eliminate cassava glut in the state. (NAN)

GSK Nigeria says H1 pretax profit up 8.3% laxoSmithKline Nigeria said on Wednesday its half-year pretax profit rose to 2.09 billion naira ($13 mln), up 8.3 percent from 1.93 billion naira a year ago Nigeria’s Diamond Bank H1 pre-tax profits up 14.2 pct Nigeria’s Diamond Bank, said on Wednesday its halfyear to June 30 pretax profit rose 14.2 percent to 17.56 billion naira ($109.22 million), compared with 15.37 billion naira in the same period last year. Gross earnings rose to 70.05 billion naira in the first six months of the year, from 52.08 billion naira in the same period a year ago, it said in a filing through the Nigeria Stock Exchange. ($1 = 160.78 naira) -

competitive return on investments on the diverse portfolios under management particularly in the area of mutual funds management.

As the Group continues to invest in improving its strategic business units, the outlook for the year remains extremely bright and sustainable.

``The first phase will be on equities, bonds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), while the second phase will be on derivatives, futures and options. ``This 21st Century technology in Africa will ensure online real time trading and increase market efficiency.’’

He urged the market’s stakeholders to take advantage of the new trading platform.

Mr Ade Bajomo, NSE’s Executive Director, Market Operations, said the proposed 1 trillion dollars (N155 trillion) market capitalisation by 2016 could be achieved with a robust trading technology in place.

Bajomo said that the Nasdaq OMX platform would enhance market liquidity, investment diversification, and enhance introduction of new products.

He said the platform would allow

the bourse to trade on options and futures to deepen the market.

Bajomo said the platform was necessary considering that e-trading was the trend globally. ``The NSE will not want to be left out. ``The new technology is about changing experience of doing business in our market,” he said.

Bajomo said the platform would offer investors and participants the flexibility to do business from anywhere, as well increase investor confidence.

He said that fund managers under the new platform could connect to their broker dealer from anywhere.

The executive director said the testing of the platform would be concluded this week, adding that the market operators would undergo five weeks training to ensure seamless migration. (NAN)

Nigeria to issue N172bn treasury bills

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igeria plans to sell 172.05 billion naira ($1.07 billion) worth of treasury bills with maturities of three months to one year at its regular auction on August 7, the central bank said yesterday The bank said it will issue 22.05 billion naira in 91-day bills, 60 billion naira in 182-day paper and 90 billion naira in the 1-year note, using the Dutch auction system.

Nigeria, Africa’s top energy producer, issues treasury bills regularly as part of money supply control measures.

Yields on short dated debt have edged higher in the secondary market since last week, when the central bank hiked the cash reserve requirement for public sector deposits to 50 percent, from 12 percent previously, in a bid to support the local currency. ($1 = 160.78 naira) (Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Commerce&Industry

PAGE 21

LCCI blames economic woes on power, substandard products Stories by Ayodele Samuel,Lagos

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he Lagos Chamber Of Commerce and Industry LCCI, has blamed the current power situation and influx of sub standard goods in the country as the bane for poor performance of the economy in the last six months.

Speaking on the economy at its quarterly press conference on the LCCI President ,Mr Goodie Ibru said the power situation in the first half of the year was

MAN disagrees with EU on trade terms

unsatisfactory.

“Firms’ expenditure on diesel and petrol was unbearable.

This development impacted negatively on investment over the last six months with increased expenditure on diesel and petrol by enterprises. This also comes with the consequences of declining productivity and competitiveness.

The incessant system collapse in the power sector remains a great cause for concern", he laments.

Ibru. Said in the midst of all these shortcomings, electricity tariff is being reviewed upwards.

“The increase in fixed charge is unfair to electricity consumers and should be

reversed. There should be a good balance between the protection of the interest of investors and that of the consumers" he said noting that other feedbacks from manufacturers indicated influx of substandard products which is also, taken a huge toll on the market share of many manufacturing companies in the country in the last six months.

Other key challenges in the last six month according to the LCCI boss, included the delays at the ports arising from port logistics, bureaucracy and congestion at some terminals.

The situation further deteriorated at the Apapa port

following the change of inspection service providers.

Another issue of concern to manufacturers in the last six months was overlapping in regulatory institutions and monitoring agencies.

This according to the LCCI boss leads to multiplicity of levies by agencies of government at States, Federal and Local Government levels.

He identified some of the institutions as NAFDAC, SON, Customs and some agencies at the state level calling on concern authorities to wade into the complaints. “ There were complaints about

overlapping regulatory approvals, delays in product registration; bureaucratic bottlenecks, exorbitant charges and high incidence of extortion.”

“Manufacturers suffer serious delays as a result of approval processes of Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) as well as NAFDAC. There were complaints about delays in getting import permit from SON and Certificate of Manufacturers and Free Sales from NAFDAC. Many manufacturers have suffered losses as a result of these delays. There were also complaints about delays in getting permits for controlled chemicals from NAFDAC.”

M

anufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN has said that the European Union. trade terms are capable of hindering the country industrial growth.

MAN Director-General, Rasheed Adegbenro, said the terms could compromise the needed protectionist profile required to safeguard the interest of the nation’s industrialists He expressed the hope that a consensus that would favour Nigerian industries would become feasible in the new CET regime.

The new trade agreements - Common External Tariff (CET), Community Levy and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which are still being negotiated, are designed to become operational in respect of business relationship between EU and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries.

The CET is a precursor to a regional customs union, which is predicated on the harmonisation and convergence of national fiscal, monetary and trade policies of member states for the attainment of economic integration by the 15-nation economic community with a combined population of more than 300 million people.

At the March meeting in Praia, Cape Verde, regional ministers of finance had endorsed a new five-band tariff regime for West Africa, after 10 years of internal negotiations, driven by the technical committee of the Commissions of the ECOWAS and the eight member West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), following the 2006 decision by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

The new tariff regime covers 5899-tariff lines with the rate ranging between zero and 35 per cent for the 130 tariff lines that fall into the category of specific goods that contribute to the promotion of the region’s economic development.

Under the new regime, five per cent duty is applicable for 2146 tariff lines under the basic raw materials and capital goods category10 per cent for the 1373 tariff lines that qualify as intermediate products category; while 20 per cent duty is reserved for the 2165 tariff lines under final consumer products.

L-R: Editor-in-Chief, BusinessDay Nigeria, Professor Jemie Onwuchekwa, Marketing Manager, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Kesiena Ogbemi, and Chief Executive Officer, HDI Youth Marketers, Mr. Joko Okupe, during the maiden edition of the BusinessDay Generation Next Survey Award, recently in Lagos.

Photo:Olawale Rotimi

13% Derivation: Edo communities want Jonathan to withhold funds

By Abdulwahab Isa

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he oil producing communities in Edo state have urged President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to discontinue forthwith, the payment of 13 percent derivation fund to the state governors.

The request has added another dimension to the sustain agitation by oil producing communities to take possession of oil derivation funds away from control of the state governors.

The letter to the President was signed by Mrs Nowan Uhunmwangho, Elder Peter Agbonkoko, Donyegha Ben, Chief Mrs V. Potoki, Mr. Edwin Ikinbor, Pastor Reuben Milton, Pastor A. B. Imafidon, Brasana Ekomiyenyefa, Olu Oyeh, Comader Segun

Imafidon, Karaki Ebi, Victor Omoruyi, Hon. Jackson Ikinbor, Mrs. Queen Donyegha.

Similarly, the group has called for expedient action on the recently released report by the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to ensure those found to have corruptly enriched themselves from the oil communities are brought to book.

On derivation fund, the group recalled that the Supreme court of Nigeria had vigorously applied that the 13 per cent derivation fund is not part of state consolidated revenue or that of the local government just as the group recalled that RMAFC also agreed with the position . " The last RMAFC in its submission on the new revenue formula to the 6th National

Assembly stated unequivocally that the 13 per cent fund was not part of fund of any tier of government.

They last RMAFc went further and recommended the creation of state derivation boards for the oil and gas communities access the 13 per cent derivation fund.

"Your Excellency, we believe strongly that this is a miscarriage of justice and failure of service delivery on the part of the governors to continue to manage the 13 Derivation fund. Apart from the fuel subsidy fraud, the 13 per cent derivation fund that have been misappropriated and misapplied by governors of the oil producing states is no doubt one of the biggest frauds ever in Nigeria's socio-political and economic development " Therefore, we pray that the illegality perpetrated by the Office of the Chairman of

RMAFC as well as the Ministry of Finance be swiftly corrected as delay in this issue has caused monumental fraud against the oil and gas communities of Nigeria The Oil producing communities in Rivers state started the clamour for the direct payment of 13 per cent derivation to the communities in a letter to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

It also, demanded for the setting up of a National Derivation Committee.

In the letter the group,is also proposing the setting up of a National Derivation Board and state management committee for the funds so that the fund is received by the National Derivation Committee and disbursed to the states.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Economy

World Bank boosts Africa economic development with $14.7bn

By Sunday Etuka

T

he World Bank Group has committed US$14.7 billion in fiscal year 2013 (July 2012 to June 2013) to support economic growth and better development prospects in Africa despite uncertain economic conditions in the rest of the global economy.

“The region has shown remarkable resilience in the face of a global recession and continues to grow strongly,” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region.“Africa is at the center of the World Bank Group 2030 goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, in an environmentally, socially, and fiscally sustainable manner.”

The World Bank Group continued its strong commitment to Africa approving $8.25 billion in new lending for nearly 100 projects this fiscal year (FY13).

These commitments include a record $8.2 billion in zerointerest credits and grants from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries. This is the highest level of new IDA commitments by any region in the Bank’s history.

For the International inance Corporation (IFC), its total commitment volume in Sub-Saharan Africa, including mobilization, grew to a record $5.3 billion, 34 percent more than the year before.

Similarly, IFC’s spending on Advisory Services programs in the region increased to more than $65 million, about 30 percent of IFC’s total. This led to increased results in fragile and conflict states and greater impact in IFC’s primary areas of focus: sustainable farming opportunities, access to finance for microfinance clients and individuals, improved infrastructure services, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Supporting developmentally beneficial foreign direct

investment into Sub-Saharan Africa is a priority for MIGA. In 2013, the Agency issued $1.5 billion in guarantees supporting investments into projects in the agribusiness, oil and gas, power, services, and water sectors. A significant volume of this coverage is for investments in power generation projects in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya.

Sub-Saharan African accounted for 54 percent of MIGA’s new volume this year -- more than doubling last year’s level of 24 percent.

FG to cut CAC’s Business Registration fees

T

he federal government of Nigeria says it will, in two weeks from now, roll out a deliberate policy that will reduce the cost of business registration through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The Minister of Industry,

Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga made this known at a ministerial media platform in Abuja.

He said the policy will promote business growth and ensuring Nigeria is one of the global most sought after business

destination.

Mr Aganga also said, government will soon introduce for the first time the corporate governance code as part of its domestic, regional and international strategies and trade policy.

Minister of Culture & Tourism Edem Duke with some traditional dancers at a recent carnival in Abuja

Customs generates N106bn from Tin-Can Island Port

T

he Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin-Can Island Port Command, Lagos, generated N106.9 billion in the first half of this year as against N103.5 billion in the first half of 2012.

The Public Relations Officer

of the command, Mr Chris Osunkwo, said this recently in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Osunkwo attributed the increase to diligence on the part of officers of the command.

``Although we had more cargoes in 2012, we generated more revenue in 2013. ``This was based on our insistence that every waybill must be accounted for,’’ he told NAN. Osunkwo said that the command also made seizures

valued at N355 million in the period under review.

He said that the seized items included two vehicles, tissue papers, furniture, soaps, vegetable oil, soft drinks, used clothes, generators and used tyres. (NAN)

Equity Bank customers now get mobile with Airtel Money

E

quity Bank and Airtel Kenya have entered into a partnership that will offer comprehensive mobile commerce solutions to their customers in Kenya, through Airtel Money.

The service, available to all Equity Bank customers with Airtel lines, will enable customers from both Airtel and Equity Bank to access Airtel mobile banking platforms, perform agency cash transactions at Equity Bank branches and also enable Airtel services customers to withdraw money at any Equity Bank countrywide.

Airtel Money will also enable customers to pay their utility bills, receive bank transaction alerts, check account balance and receive mini statements, among other services.

Speaking at the launch, Equity Bank Group CEO Dr. James Mwangi said: “We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Airtel, which will further strengthen our commitment to extending financial inclusion across East Africa by enabling the unbanked and under-banked to enjoy the benefits of mobile payments, while also giving us the opportunity to better serve Airtel customers.”

“We shall continue to strengthen our business model through innovation, enhanced use of technology, automation for a better customer experience and collaborations with industry stakeholders such as Airtel,” said Dr. Mwangi.

“This partnership with Equity Bank marks yet another milestone in deepening the accessibility of Airtel Money to our customers throughout Kenya. The 203 Equity branches and 600 Equity Bank ATMs, will complement our 10,000 Airtel Money agents spread across Kenya thus making it easier and more convenient for customers to have guaranteed access to Airtel Money deposit and withdrawal of cash,” said Mr. Jayant Khosla CEO Airtel Africa- Anglophone.

While emphasizing that Airtel believed in the delivery of innovative and relevant mobile commerce solutions that make life easier for its customers, Mr. Khosla also added that they will continue to educate their customers on the benefits of using Airtel Money mobile commerce solutions including the product’s convenience and ease of use.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 23

Stock Watch

Report as at Wednesday, July 31, 2013

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

Special Report

Returning Nigeria to palm oil prosperity

By Mohammed Kandi

C

ross River state lost the bulk of its oil wells and subsequently huge resources to Cameroun sequel to the ceding of Bakassi to the country in 2008. It also lost 176 oil wells to the neighbouring Akwa Ibom State in 2012.

But the state is no longer moaning its losses because it has already found succour in oil as collaboration between two companies, PZ Cussons and Wilmar International to produce PZ Wilmar Joint Venture is set to make the state the leading palm oil producer in the country.

The collaboration has resulted in the acquisition of the 5,500-hectare Calaro Oil Palm Estate from the Cross River state government, the 12,805-hectare Kwa Falls Oil Palm Plantation from Obasanjo Farms, and the 5,450-hectare Ibiae Oil Palm Estate and an 8,000-hectare estate in Biase. But the company is looking beyond its current capacity as it targets 50,000 hectares by 2017/2018.

Aside from growing palm trees in the state, the company also plans to establish a palm oil mill with a capacity of 1,200 to 1,500 tons per day in Cross River state to position the state to benefit from the value-addition accruing from the enterprise.

While conducting journalists

round the plantations, the General Manager, Mr. Lee, said apart from the joint venture’s ambitious plan to increase its capacity, it was also working with the state government to encourage local farmers to join hands with it in making the state the number one in palm oil plantation and production.

He explained, “We are working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cross Rivers state to implement a palm outgrowers scheme, which would be promoted under the Cross River Agriculture and Rural Empowerment Scheme. The aim is to develop a symbiotic arrangement between small scale farmers and PZ Wilmar Joint Venture for the purpose of self-support and to enhance local capacity through the transfer of world class technical skills to local farmers.”

The out-growers will receive technical support from the company in form of improved seedlings and guidance on how to get the best yields from their farms. They are also assured of a ready market for their produce as PZ Wilmar will buy whatever they produce. The two parties benefit from the arrangement as the company’s dream of increasing its capacity is realised while the farmers also smile to the bank.

Lee added that the scheme would give local producers access to the milling facilities which would improve extraction of oil from their fruits as well as increasing their quality and yield.

The General Manager further said that, “Over 600,000 high yield palm plants have been transplanted with 2.1 million of seedlings at our four nursery sites across the site within a palm nursery.”

He explained that the seedlings used were the best in the world from Malaysia and Indonesia, adding that they would start fruiting at 30 months and would be ready for harvesting a while after. He added that the palm trees would yield fruits for between 25 and 30 years.

Lee said that after the company procured the estates it realised that the existing palm trees were too old, some of them having been planted in the 1950s, and were no longer yielding optimally. So, they had to be felled and replaced.

“The trees were too old and they were not the best in terms of genetic quality, so we had to replace them. They were producing between five and six tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hectare and that was by far too low compared to up to 30 tonnes of fresh fruits bunches that are obtainable from the trees we are now planting,” he said.

Speaking on how the manpower requirement challenge was being tackled, he said a training school had been established in the plantation to provide on-hand training for those interested in pursuing a career in plantation management.

According to him, the fully residential training programme lasts six months during which trainees are taken through the rudiments of farming and

plantation management.

He explained that the third set of trainees would be rounding off their programme in August, adding that all the graduates of the scheme had been absorbed by the company and were still working with it save one who opted out due to personal reasons.

One of the trainees, a graduate of Political Science from Imo state who did his NYSC scheme in Cross River State, said he was informed about the PZ Wilmar training programme when he was about to complete his youth service and he applied since he had always been interested in farming. He

“

Minister of Agric, Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina

Speaking on how the manpower requirement challenge was being tackled, he said a training school had been established in the plantation to provide on-hand training for those interested in pursuing a career in plantation management

said he was looking forward to a fulfilling career in the company after the completion of his training.

To make life easy for workers in the plantation since many of them reside there, the company has a clinic in place just as there is a public primary school situated in the plantation. It is also building eco-friendly staff quarters to augment the ones it inherited while there are plans underway to construct recreational facilities for the staff.

Talking about the plan of the company to maintain a good relationship with its host communities, Mr. Ho Dye Joan, Wilmar International’s Plantation Head for West Africa, said the company was working hard to ensure that the interest of the host communities are protected.

According to Joan, some of the envisaged challenges include adopting an environmentally sustainable plantation and the need to effectively manage social and community-related challenges. He, however, said the company was poised to overcome all the challenges through its proactive approach.

He said that the company had paid all that it ought to pay to its host communities and has provided many of the indigenes employment opportunities. He pointed out that the company’s objective of “producing palm products at the lowest cost

adopting sustainable plantation, agronomy and management practices in plantation development and operation” could only be realised if it had a peaceful environment to operate in.

He added that the company had also been involved in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to endear itself to its host communities.

While addressing journalists in Lagos a few weeks back, the Chief Executive Officer of PZ Cussons, Mr. Christos Giannopoulos, said PZ Wilmar Joint Venture was formed with the vision of helping to bring palm oil home to Nigeria. He had added: “The ambition is to help revive the palm oil industry in Nigeria where the palm plants are indigenous. This will contribute significantly to addressing the current national shortage of palm oil, creating new markets and income for local industry and communities and thousands of potential job opportunities.

“We have set out to achieve this by investing in new plantation and refining facilities to world class standards resulting in significant job creation, production of quality, healthy cooking ingredients and supporting and facilitating the development of local agriculture and industry in addition with the government’s 2020 vision, through investment, education and collaboration.”

Mr. Giannopoulos, who was in company with the Managing Director, Wilmar Limited, Mr. Santosh Pillai, at the briefing, added that the vision of the joint venture is to ensure 100 per cent local production of palm oil products. Tagged ‘From plantation to plate’, the collaboration would result in planting the oil palms, refining and developing same into cooking ingredients within the country.

According to Giannopoulos, PZ Wilmar would be investing about N100billion in the project over the next few years and, in the process, create 12,000 direct jobs and over 33,000 indirect jobs at various skill levels.

The PZ CEO said the company was at the verge of completing a N10billion refinery in Ikorodu, Lagos state. “The refinery will process crude palm oil in the most hygienic way to fill the significant demand gap in the Nigerian market. We are also developing a range of branded healthy, authentic palm oil-based cooking ingredients to meet the current needs of the Nigerian consumer. This gap is currently filled by imported finished products smuggled into the country,” Giannopoulos said.

“Nigeria’s production is only 1.3 million and is a net importer of 700,000 tons to meet the national shortage. It is our conviction that opening the competitive space will, in the short and long run, be for the

benefit of the country.

“Our refinery is capable of processing 1,000 tonnes per day. It incorporates world class, high efficiency technology, combining the best expertise from PZ Cussons and Wilmar International in manufacturing and palm production. The oil that is produced from our world class refinery will always be 100 per cent pure. We will be launching a wide range of consumer packs to suit all budgets. Now, every Nigerian mother can take pride in greater tasting family meals every time,” Giannopoulos added.

Expounding further on the benefits of the project, the PZ CEO said the initiative was in alignment with the country’s 2020 transformation plan of the country and had already drawn a foreign direct investment to the tune of $650million. He added that the PZ Wilmar Joint Venture “is a beacon project for global-scale investment into Nigeria.”

The benefits to the community, he said, would include employment generation, technology and skills transfer and local farming development by empowering and educating communities to improve palm husbandry techniques, yields and income.

The consumer will have access to safe, reliable and affordable cooking ingredients produced to world class standards, he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 27

Mother Earth

Bio-fuel production in African countries A frica has over time been used to generate products and services for rich countries, as an almost century long colonization of Africa by European countries was aimed to secure raw materials and markets for the latter.

The global economic stagnation of the 1970s made Africa, with the help of development assistance become markets for the products of industrialized countries. The question is; can Africa’s biofuel production this time around be seen as a provider of alternative energy to confront climate change and thus enable the population of rich countries to maintain their high level of consumption?

The question arises from the rush towards biofuel production among foreign investors in Africa that seems to have created serious problems for governments to coordinate and guide such production.

In many African countries, including Nigeria, investors are on the ground without the existence of policies and guidelines for such production.

The recent and dramatic global crises may well lead to reduced pressure on Africa for some time as a safety valve for production of alternative energy for rich countries, but as prices of oil is likely to rise again in the future, the issue of biofuel production will once more enter forcefully.

To some of us who do not know what Bio-energy is; bio-energy is produced from biomass including all types of organic matter such as wood, charcoal, energy crops, agricultural and forestry wastes, manure etc.

Due to rising oil prices and climate change, bioenergy emerged as an alternative renewable energy source that can help reduce green house gas emissions.

There currently exist at least five different forms of bio-fuel; bio-ethanol made from sugarcane, wheat, cassava, sorghum and maize that are rich on starch; biodiesel, made from oil rich seeds including soya, oil palm, jatropha and algae.

Others are biogas produced from the biological breakdown of organic matter including waste from plants and wood; bio-methanol made from celluloses and biohydrogen made from

Ambrose Inusa Sule,

mnes

ENVIRONMENT WATCH globenviron@yahoo.com 0703-441-4410 (sms only)

Jatropha as source of bio-fuel for Africa biomass or by converting methane through steam reforming.

The bio-energy forms in focus today and of particular relevance to Africa are bioethanol and bio-diesel.

These energy forms can be used to fuel car engines, either directly or in some form of blending with other fuels, e.g. petroleum.

The emphasis on bioethanol and bio-diesel are related to several factors; global techniques are available for their production and the fuels can easily be distributed in existing transport and distribution infrastructure; they are considered to be renewable energy forms that can substitute nonrenewable energy sources, i.e. positive effects on climate change; they require land areas for their production and the energy, given certain preconditions, is considered to be commercially competitive on a global scale.

In order to avoid the continuation of the historic scenario of Africa as a provider for others, experts have suggested that there is the need for

urgent research on biofuel production in Africa that should throw light on some of the following issues; What type of biofuel crop/feedstock is best suited for African needs and at the same time secure an export market and incomes over time? Can biofuel generation from other crops than sugarcane or those that require well watered lands represent a potential?

What scale of production of biofuel can best promote and protect the interests of African smallholders? How can the rights of smallholders to land and water be secured? Can smallholders to a larger extent produce biofuel to generate

energy and incomes for their own communities?

Can smallholder farmers cooperate with large scale production units to create win-win situations?

Can intercropping of bio-fuel crops with other crops minimize or avoid the reduction in biodiversity, can it help in mitigating climate change, or can biofuel crops be designed so that they both generate food and energy, e.g. as has been developed by ICRISAT for sweet sorghum?

It is not in doubt that the recent interest enjoyed

by African countries from abroad, thanks in part to a great amount of available land apparently ideal for cultivating crops for

“

The bio-energy forms in focus today and of particular relevance to Africa are bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. These energy forms can be used to fuel car engines, either directly or in some form of blending with other fuels, e.g. petroleum.

providing food security and for the production of bio-fuels.

However, it has been discovered that the insufficient legal protection for the local population often leads to the signing of contracts that deprive these people of their source of subsistence.

Residents usually have little influence on the content of these contracts, which, furthermore, are often not even available for public review.

While the private sector dominates investment in farmland (“land grabbing”), it frequently has strong financial or other support from the local government.

The main countries targeted by investors are countries in Africa, especially areas in the Sub-Saharan part of the continent including Nigeria.

According to a recent Human Rights Watch study, thousands of people in the Gambella region of Ethiopia were displaced due to farmland. The government’s promises of improved living conditions turned out to be hollow.

Similar examples can also be found outside of

Africa. Documenting the vast scale of farmland purchases and rent by foreign investors in developing countries, Oxfam International reported that since 2001 a total of 227 million hectares of land has been acquired, the greatest amount in the past two years alone.

With all the negative experiences countries have had, one might expect greater caution in the trend toward cultivating biofuel crops. But this is not the case. Yet, companies often keep the true state of their business affairs secret, and governments do not always guarantee an effective control mechanism.

It is therefore necessary to secure the legal rights of the local residents and improve the transparency of contract compliance. The debate over the cultivation of bio-fuel crops should also shift from the developed world, where it has taken place for the most part up until now, to developing countries, since it is their residents that bear the brunt of the “ecological” aims.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 26

Mother Earth Lead poisoning: What next after successful cleanup in Zamfara?

By Mohammed Kandi

T

he Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, announced penultimate week, the successful clean-up and environmental remediation of lead contaminated sites in all the affected communities in Zamfara state.

She noted, while explaining why the feat called for celebration, that 300 buildings contaminated with lead poisoning in Bagega Village in Anka Local Government Area in Zamfara had been rendered safer for habitation.

H o w e v e r , s u c h accomplishment, which is long overdue, elicited cheerful reactions amidst pertinent questions on what exactly is required of the appropriate authorities for the vulnerable communities, in which over 500 innocent children lost their lives to illegal mining activities in 2010.

For the minister, the successful environmental remediation of about eight affected villages was a major breakthrough for the Federal Government, even though she never failed to acknowledged the concerted efforts of sister ministries and other relevant groups – the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Mines and Steal Development, state governments, the Emirate Council, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), Miners, Terra Graphic International Foundation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and an NGO called “Follow The Money” (FTM).

The two expertise groups— Terra Graphics International Foundation, working with and Medicines Sans Frontiers, both of whose consultants have been in charge of the clean-up, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of gullible children in the area, declared to the media recently in Abuja, that all the affected communities are now safe for habitation for residents.

But, observers said getting the presidency to heed to pressures and getting it to donate funds for the project was a Herculean task. In January 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the release of about 837.3 million naira from the Ecological Funds Office, after a protracted advocacy by a consortium pressure groups spearheaded by the NGO, FTM, using especially all the available social media at its disposal.

In justifying the disbursement and the subsequent expenditure of the funds, Co-creator of the NGO, Hamzat Bala Lawal, was quick to extol the Environment Ministry over others, saying N497 million was approved for the Ministry of Environment, while the Ministry of Mines and Steal Development got a share of N158.3 million and the Ministry of Health received N200 million, for remediation, safer

Environment Minister, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia mining practices and sustainable health plan in Zamfara state respectively.

“In August 2012, the FTM team visited Bagega for the first time to ascertain the level of contamination and speak to the community and various stakeholders on how best to approach the situation,” he said.

“The FTM team is committed to tracking public funds in Nigeria and providing information to policy makers and the general public to be better informed, in order to facilitate sustainable development and international best practices on transparency and accountably as well as citizen engagement,” Hamzat informed.

A joint campaign of the NGO and Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2012, Hamzat further said,

prompted the released of the funds for the clean-up project by Federal Government in January, 2013.

“On December 6, 2012, the FTM Team, in collaboration with HRW launched a social media campaign asking people to post on President Jonathan’s Facebook wall to immediately release the promised funds for remediation as children lives were at risk in Zamfara,” he explained.

Having successfully completed the remediation exercise on the affected areas in the state, the ministries of health and that of Mines and Steel Development are expected to ensure the sustainability of the existing efforts.

Thus, the Ministry of Health must be seen to be dominating the provision of medical intervention

Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar of Zamfara state and rapid treatment of the ailing children who already being attended by the Médecins Sans Frontières, considering the huge N200 million now in its possession for the project.

According to Mrs. Michelle Chouinard, of the Médecins Sans Frontières, while over 4,000 children were said to have been diagnosed with various illnesses arising from the lead poisoning incidence, no fewer than 500 deaths were recorded at the initial outbreak.

As for the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, which has been accused of flaunting mining regulation that has failed to properly address illegal mining activities and providing guidelines for miners in the country, the

Bagega, where children and adults engege in illegal mining practices in Zamfara state

ministry was advised to step up its education of the people by ensuring that they adopted safer mining practices. The ministry reportedly received the sum of N158.3 million for the project.

As part of the benefits of the remediation project, about 19 Higher National Diploma (HND) graduate crew managers, 32 Ordinary National Diploma (OND) graduate crew supervisors, and 213 unskilled youth from Bagega village have been employed.

The technical consultant for the project, Mr. Simba Tirima, while assuring that the works done were of the best possible standards, noted that the project also generated other capacity-building opportunities for 87 staff of the Zamfara state Ministry of Environment.

Meanwhile, having substantiated the release of the substantial N837.3 million to all the relevant stakeholders for the clean-up project, there is the need ask: What is next for sustainability of safer mining practices, as well as the safety of lives of the inhabitants of the affected areas should the practice continue?

One: Given the ample insight into how lead poison affects not only children under five years, but even elder ones, there is the need for proper institutional controls and sustained solution to the lead poisoning cases in Zamfara.

Two: It is important for every stakeholder in country to be working on how Nigeria’s indigenous institutions could help in putting a stop to the menace.

Three: There is the need for consistent provision of medical interventions for the residents and the provision of workable mining guidelines that should be strictly enforced and adhered to at all times.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 29

Emergency Update

Curbing recurrence of flood disasters in Nigeria

By Tiamiyu Arobani

L

ast year’s flood was one of the most devastating natural disasters in Nigeria, as several states across the country were then ravaged by the flood, in which many lives and property were lost.

The Ministry of Environment said the floods affected more than seven million people, while more than 363 persons lost their lives, apart from the 597,476 houses that were destroyed.

could cause some dams to overflow their banks, which might cause loss of people’s lives and destruction of their means of livelihood.

Following this prediction, the Federal Government has advised citizens across the country to take necessary precautions in the event of flooding.

Analysts however contend that although flood could not be prevented from occurring, its effects could, nonetheless, be controlled via the adoption

regular cleaning of drainage systems and water reservoirs.

Sani-Sidi also called for the provision of navigational aids at airports, adding that storm barriers and end-dykes should also be erected on river banks and coastal areas.

He noted that in spite of the sensitisation, only 224 local government areas across the country had functional emergency management committees, stressing that states and the remaining local government areas

and Cameroonian authorities were discussing how to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

The leader of the Technical Mission to Cameroon, Mr. John Shamonda noted that Nigeria was considering the construction of a dam in Dasin Hausa, Adamawa, to control flooding in the region.

Media reports indicate that Nigeria had, in 1978, planned to construct the dam before Cameroon constructed the Ladgo Dam. Shamonda stressed that

UNICEF urged residents of flood prone areas in Oshimili-South Local Government Area in Delta State relocate ahead of August heavy rainfall predictions

Also, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi, at a recent forum on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland, said that Nigeria lost about N2.6 trillion to last year’s flood disaster.

Observers therefore insist that the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) has a role to play in efforts to curb future flood disasters, by enlightening the public ahead of the envisaged disaster.

Just as it did last year, NIMET has sent some warning signals to some states and local governments across the country on the likelihood of having torrential rains that could result in flooding.

“Based on the condition that is prevalent at the time of making the prediction, we are predicting that the rainfall pattern in 2013 will not be different from what we saw in 2012,’’ the agency announced, in a recent statement.

NIMET said that the rains

of coordinated and proactive strategies.

In line with the analysts’ suggestions, NEMA has been organising consultative workshops on flood prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response across the country.

At the inauguration of the workshop in Abuja, NEMA’s Director-General called on governments, at all levels, to put in place proper refuse disposal mechanisms, while undertaking

should improve their disaster management capabilities.

In her remark, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe called on people living in flood-prone communities to take precautionary measures against flooding.

Due to the fact that water released from Ladgo Dam in Cameroun largely contributed to the flood disaster which Nigeria experienced in 2012, the minister emphasised that relevant Nigerian

the dam’s construction would particularly check the incidence of flood in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue and Kogi, Anambra, Delta and Bayelsa.

He also observed that Dasin Hausa dam would serve as a buffer to contain any excess water released from Ladgo Dam. To avoid a recurrence of flood disasters in Nigeria, Shamonda said that the Federal Government had given the dam project a priority attention.

The agency also observed that indiscriminate dumping of wastes in drains and the erection of buildings on flood-prone plains were some of the factors responsible for the occurrence of flood disasters in the country.

Besides, the Ministry of Environment, in a statement, said that it has strengthened its environmental education and awareness campaigns across the country to forestall flood disasters.

The ministry said that as part of efforts to curb indiscriminate blockage of water channels and minimise the impact of flooding, it would enforce regulatory provisions on property development on flood plains.

Moreover, it said that automated community-based flood early-warning systems have been installed near major rivers in flood-prone areas for real-time flood forecasting.

All the measures notwithstanding, NEMA warned that if the states and local governments failed to initiate aggressive flood prevention strategies, all the efforts would be in vain.

It stated that the strategies should include the clearing and expansion of drainage systems as well as the evacuation of people from flood-prone areas.

The agency also observed that indiscriminate dumping of wastes in drains and the erection of buildings on flood-prone plains were some of the factors responsible for the occurrence of flood disasters in the country.

It said that it was collaborating with the media to establish a national emergency information centre, in order to dish out timely and accurate emergency information to the public.

NEMA pledged that it would continue to embark on aggressive sensitisation campaigns in vulnerable communities by engaging traditional rulers to sensitise their subjects to the need to avert flood disasters.

The NEMA’s Coordinator (North-Central zone), Malam Mohammed Abdulsalam said that 4,000 volunteers had been recruited in Benue, 3,500 in Plateau and 3,000 in Nasarawa state as the first respondents in the event of flooding.

All the same, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Magareta Wahlstrom, stressed that the Federal Government should go beyond the adoption of shortterm measures to tackle flooding and other recurrent natural disasters.

Walhlstrom said that Nigeria should shift its approach towards developing the capacity of local communities in disaster risks’ reduction.

She also underscored the need for proper co-ordination and central planning functions in all disaster management tasks.

All in all, observers urge all the relevant stakeholders to develop a virile synergy in efforts to engender a proactive approach to preventing, mitigating and responding to anticipated flooding in any part of the country. (NAN)

PAGE 28

Emergency Update

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Nigeria lost N2.6tr to 2012 floods, says NEMA

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that Nigeria lost over N2.6 trillion to last year’s floods in 23 states.

The agency also said 5, 970 houses were submerged in 256 local government areas, adding that the floods displaced 2.1 million people and caused the death of 363 people. Seven million people were reportedly affected across the country.

NEMA’s Southwest Coordinator Iyiola Akande spoke at the Southwest Zonal Awareness Flood Campaign, titled: “Towards Early Warning and Early Action for MDAs, NGOs, CBOs and FBOs Level of Preparedness of states in the South-East”. The event was held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Stakeholders at the event brainstormed on how to prevent flooding, using the predictions of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

Akande, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Adebiyi Babatunde, said the workshop was coming on the heels of a public announcement of NIMET’S Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) held early in the year.

He said: “The prediction painted a more serious picture of what the nation is to expect this year, when compared to the devastating effect of the 2012 floods, which ravaged about 23 states of the federation.”

Declaring the workshop open, Oyo state Commissioner for Environment and Habitat, Lowo Obisesan, hailed NEMA for being proactive through the workshop.

He said following the efforts by stakeholders, flooding would not only be controlled but prevented.

Obisesan, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Modupe Omonigbehin, added: “If we are all ready to give what it takes, if rivers and streams are allowed to go through their channels without obstruction, we can rest assured that flooding would be prevented.”

The commissioner explained that flooding could not be compared with earthquakes, hurricane or volcanic eruptions in scope, time and impact.

He noted that because flooding can be predicted, unlike the other natural disasters, the people should always prepare ahead.

One-day stakeholders, interactive session

NEMA evolves pro-active approach against disaster

By Mohammed Kandi

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ollowing various deaths and the myriad loss of property to disasters in the country, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has evolved new strategies of addressing emergencies, from reactionary management to pro-active management.

Speaking during the inauguration of the agency’s Grassroots Emergency Vanguards in Maiduguri, the North-East zonal coordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, lamented that “in recent times, the nation had witnessed the occurrence of series of disasters which seriously affected the communities resulting in deaths and loss of property worth millions of naira.”

He said this had made the “emergency managers to refocus attention on the prevention of disasters and disaster risk-

reduction to pro-active, rather than re-active, approach to disasters”.

Kanar said: “It is in line with the paradigm shift that the agency trains youths at the grassroots, to serve as disaster management vanguards during emergencies”.

In a statement issued by the agency’s press unit, he disclosed that before the decision was taken, the agency considered “the fact that people at the grassroots are living in the real theatres of disasters, they stand in constant need for capacitybuilding, to help them anticipate and cope with emergencies in their communities”.

He said, during emergencies “it is expected that the grassroots will be the first to respond, hence their role as first responders cannot be over-emphasised, to enable them discharge this responsibility effectively”.

During the training, the youth were educated on the basics of disaster management, the basics

of First Aid and their role as First Aiders.

The training, which was kickstarted in Borno state and is to be extended to Yobe and Adamawa states, was undertaken by the Red Cross, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Borno state Fire Brigade Service.

Meanwhile, the North-West zone of NEMA has so far trained 3, 200 volunteers on how to respond to situations of emergency and disaster management in their communities.

The North-West Coordinator, Musa Illallah, stated this at a oneday programme in Birnin Kebbi, to train and inaugurate volunteers to get involved in all phases of disaster management such as preparedness, response, prevention, recovery and rehabilitation.

Illallah, who said the volunteers, would serve as first responders in situations of emergencies and disasters in their respective communities, noted that

good Samaritans often stretched out their helping hands to rescue victims of emergencies and disaster, but lack the competence and skill to do so.

According to him, “This has prompted NEMA to embark on training of volunteers on the basics of search and rescue efforts in the zone”. He called on the state governments to enhance the capacity of the volunteers at the grassroots level by making annual budgetary provisions for each local government to train 1,000 volunteers.

The agency has intensified its anti-flood campaign, by embarking on an awareness campaign to prepare Nigerians for flood. The sensitisation campaign is being organised for various local government officials, civil society organisations, community and faith-based organisations, volunteers and citizens, to educate them on risk reduction and prevention.

The importation of civilian JTF in war against terrorism

By Aliyu AbdulHameed

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n May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of Emergency (SoE) in north-eastern Nigeria, including Borno, Bauchi and Yobe states, with the aim of using the military to eliminate the insurgent group, Boko Haram’s safe havens and disrupt their intent for attacks.

The operation, to some extent has been very successful, even with some discomfort to the civilians, whose movement had, until recently, been restricted and ex-communicated from use of their mobile devices. The military operation is under the Joint Task Force (JTF), which comprised the military, police and other security agencies with the main objective of defeating the cruel Islamist insurgency.

Since the beginning of the operation, the JTF have succeeded in chasing the insurgents out of their strongholds, including Sambisa forest and in Marte and other parts of Borno state. a large number of insurgents were either killed or arrested by the ‘Special Forces’, who bombed their camps.

Some top Boko Haram fighters, as well as, their commanders were captured. Those who escape take refuge in neighboring countries, while others are said to have hidden in their family homes.

Realizing the difficulties of identifying the Boko Haram members from the populace, local vigilante and youths have mobilised themselves to identify with the smooth operation, by establishing what is now known as the ‘Civilian JTF’.

The Civilian-JTF is comprised

of mostly Muslim youths including women, street thugs, GSM rechargecard vendors and Okada riders, who were fed up with the criminalities of Boko Haram members. The story so far, is the recognition and acknowledgement of the CivilianJTF by the security officers in the affected areas. The local group has assisted the authorities to up-root the bloody sect from the capital, by moving round the city wards, capturing the escaped sect members, apprehending them and handing them over to the military-led JTF. The Civilian JTF’s restless effort is receiving more attention as they are now referred to as a “new National Heroes” by those in government.

Even among their people, their actions are well preferred because, unlike the Military JTF that has been accused of human rights violations, the Civilian JTF’s actions

were justified, as they are seen as an integral part of the society.

While there have been some reservations on the activities of the civilian-JTF, who are untrained and largely uneducated on basic security drill, their emergence is a welcome development.

In view of their desire to contribute to the security of their communities, the authority should provide all necessary assistance for their training and funding so that they could become active volunteers in the support of military intervention to eliminate militants in their communities. The Government should not dismantle them, but rather encourage the youths to observe the human right ethics.

Aliyu AbdulHameed is of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

News Analysis Tasks before Daura as Acting Director-General, NITDA Dr. Ashiru Sani Daura’s appointment as the Acting Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency( NITDA), is seen by industry observers as a welcome development that will accomplish the dreams and aspirations of the Federal Government, in its drive to attain Vision 20:20:20 goals. Christopher Alu, in this report x-rays the performance of the agency, the hard nuts Daura needs to crack such that will guarantee his confirmation as the substantive D.G of the agency.

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he National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is a Federal Government agency, saddled with the responsibility of developing a policy frame work that will enhance the growth and development of ICT, research, adopt standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of ICT practice in Nigeria.

It was also mandated to provide guidelines that would facilitate the establishment and maintenance of appropriate mechanism of ICT systems application to the public and private sectors and urban-rural communities in order to effectively enhance the use of ICT for economic and day to day administration in the country.

It was also to collaborate in other to provide a one stop single window shop system for all the states and local government council for people to access their economic, agricultural and commercial activities.

NITDA was also mandated to provide a roadmap for the progress of internet penetration and transformation in the rural and urban communities as well as providing guidelines for improvement and regulation of ICT as practices globally.

And also introduce appropriate regulatory policies and incentives that will encourage private sector participation and investment in the information technology industry among others.

The appointment of Dr. Ashiru Sani Daura as the acting Director –General of National Information Technology Development Agency( NITDA), following the retirement of professor Cleopas Officer Angaye was a welcome development and a step in the right direction for the agency in particular and the ICT sector in general, as the sector will witness another upward swing in the implementation of National IT policy in the country through its key objective of achieving the Vision 20- 2020 initiatives of the Federal Government.

Daura, having served as the Director of Software & outsourcing of the agency, has the credentials and the capabilities to continue from where Angaye stop.

And as an insider who has made an in-road to the growth and development of the sector with several years of towering experience

NITDA’s Head Office Complex in Abuja

spanning over two decades would be ready to bring in initiatives that will leap-frog the sector to the next level, by actualizing the dreams and aspirations of the government in its drive to make Nigeria and indeed the west African subregion an ICT hub. Daura has worked as director zonal coordinator, and director Infrastructure and Capacity development as well as the director software development and outsourcing being an accomplished Engineer per excellence, is ready to down load his experience in order to reposition the agency by taking ICT to its greater height.

Accordingly, Daura is expected to actively promote, enthrone and position Software as the primary and core development strategy of the Federal Government in compliance with global best practice.

NITDA, as an agency of the Federal Government, has been working hard on its core mandate, by impacting positively on the wellbeing of the people in its motive of ensuring that ICT gets to the nooks and crannies of the country and that everybody, most especially the youths, are ICT-compliant; it is also spearheading the use of e-Transformation for the general economic development of the country which is indeed a plus to the agency.

The agency has also performed creditably well in the area of human investment, infrastructural development as well as institutional capacity building to public and private sectors.

NITDA has also collaborated with the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria for its yearly National Software Conference and Competition, which is aimed at bringing competition in software creativity to students, in order to uncover students’ talents in Software Development for the development of software through competitiveness in the sector. The agency has also contributed to ICT penetration and programmes in the Rural and Urban communities by building ICT centers in the rural areas.

NITDA has also designed several programmes aimed at accelerating the growth of ICT in the country, through the establishment of Rural Information Technology Centre’s (RITC) across the country, which is making waves for our youths to catch up fast with ICT; it has also embarked on promoting Information

Technology development in all public and private sector of the economy, and has maintained its standards rules and policy guidelines of creating youth empowerment schemes, especially in the areas of software and web technologies and also created awareness on the use of IT and Internet among the populace, especially among the urban and the rural communities.

NITDA, being the architect of steering the affairs of ICT in the country, has been giving research grants and scholarship to deserving students to study abroad in Computer Science, Engineering among others; it has also collaborated with private sector to give internet to the people through the Internet Exchange Points, and has over the years been fighting software piracy in the country up to date.

The agency has also established Rural Information Technology Centres (RITC) across the country as its core mandate which is aimed at bringing Information Technology to the doorstep of the people, and by extension serve as a community-based platform for youths’ e-learning and capacity building in Information Technology and community-based trainings in IT-enabled outsourcing, as well as enhanced e-learning education in the country.

The agency, in its drive of building Internet centers is meant to help minimize migration from rural to urban areas and making the semiurban population to become part of the evolving knowledge-based society for them to participate in an economy that is driven by ICT in the country.

The purpose for the creation of the RITCs centers is to promote the decentralization of ICT as well as enable local administrative units to be upgraded in order to plan for its development activities, and also enable Local Government Areas to work closely with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations in a more effective and efficient manners.

The hard nut for Daura to crack, according to industry observers, is for the DG to double his effort in the area of promoting ICT skills acquisition to the people and create quantum employment opportunities to the people as well as increase software grants and incentives.

Also, the agency, as the nation’s clearing

Acting DG, NITDA Dr. Ashiru Sani Daura house for ICT development, needs to discourage duplication in government IT projects and increase its fight against software piracy.

Daura also needs to ensure standards for e-learning and guidelines for application of Information Technology in the economy are maintained and also develop a strong synergy with the relevant bodies involved in the manufacture, sale and use of computer hardware and software systems in the country and also adopt a policy framework for the development of national and states-based Information Infrastructure Backbone for the nation.

The acting D.G needs to create millions of jobs through outsourcing, as that will fulfill the Federal Government’s agenda; little wonder, the D.G took a positive step recently, during his fist assignment in office by constituting the Board for Outsourcing in order to create millions of jobs to the teeming population.

Daura stated, while constituting the board members, that he would do anything possible to grow the outsourcing sector, which according to him, is a task that must be done if job opportunities are to be created for the nation’s teeming youths, as according to him, outsourcing has the potential of job-creation and revenue-generation which will eventually contribute significantly to the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. He therefore said the agency needs to work hard, by ensuring that Nigeria indeed becomes an outsourcing hub in the West African subregion.

He explained that the outsourcing programme is expected to commence immediately, and to that effect, the board members will as soon as possible be given a take-off grant to start work immediately, in order to accomplish the core objectives to the mandate giving to the agency.

Also, the acting D.G needs to transform the Software industry to become highly competitive, in order to create employment, stimulate the growth of IT-enabled services and reduce the cost of running businesses in the country, as well as attracting investors.

For Nigeria to effectively drive and achieve the Vision 20:20:20 initiatives, stakeholders expect the Federal Government to urgently confirm Daura as a substantive DG of the agency, having served the agency for several years, and given his wealth of experience, he will never miss any opportunity to brush up on new developments while steering the affairs of NITDA, by making it as one of the viable and strongest in the West African sub-region.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 31

International Tunisia: Tamarrod by assassination?

ANALYSIS

By Larbi Sadiki

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fter my curiosity turned me into a protester two nights ago, my eyes are still itching from the teargas. The news of the assassination of secular politician Mohamed Brahmi shocked everyone.

The Tunisian friends I was with when we heard the news were speechless.

More bad news today, as the body of the slain Nassirist politician was being laid to rest in Al-Jallaz cemetery, the country’s most famous resting place for nationalist and anti-colonial heroes. The day was opened up with news of a blast in Tunis, which luckily caused no deaths but added to public anxiety and thirst for answers as to what is going on in Tunisia - the only Arab spring country on the verge of a genuine democratic transition.

Is al-Qaeda sending a not-so-veiled message? Is it Ben Ali’s azlam - as Tunisians refer to the folool (remnants of the old regime)? What is certain is that the government doesn’t know either.

At the time of speaking, more than 40 National Constituent Assembly (NCA) deputies have declared their resignation from the 217-seat interim parliament. Similarly, proponents of a visibly weak “tamarrod “ campaign are staging protests in varying degrees of intensity around the country. In Tunis there is a protest in front of the NCA building. I will be inhaling more teargas, so it seems - the mischief of curiosity that always seems to get the best of the “cat”.

Having more or less failed to explain the latest killing, the Interior Ministry is not in an enviable position, nor for its Islamist-led government, its Congress for the Republic (CPR), or Ettakatol partners.

Popular front (Jabhah sha’biyyah) opposition figure and NCA deputy, Mohamed Brahmi, was shot dead outside his home in Ariana, southeast of the capital, Tunis.

His execution comes nearly five months after the assassination back in February of another Jabhahpolitician, Chokri Belaid. Brahmi was one of the figures that opposed Ben Ali ferociously, and apart from his PanArabist Nassirist politics, he was not particularly important in a way that could explain why he was the target of the latest killing. In terms of stature, the late Belaid enjoyed more prominence.

This latest political murder was executed in a manner almost identical to that of Belaid. Brahmi, whose daughter might have seen the killers, died by shots fired at him in front of his house. Belaid was fired at three times; Brahmi’s body was riddled with 14 bullets, as if his murder was personal and one caused by hatred or vengeance.

Brahmi, who hailed from Sidi Bouzid, Bouazizi’s town, split from the People’s Movement (MP) to form his own party, and joined the broad leftist coalition, the Popular Front (FP).

Whether the 58-year-old Brahmi’s defection from the MP to join the Popular Front played a role in his killing is unknown. The facts presented by the Interior Minister and his aides, as inchoate and unconvincing as they might have been, implicate radical Salafists. Was the blast in Tunis

Widespread protests have followed the assassination of Brahimi. hours later in response to the Interior Minister’s press conference laying the blame on an extremist who is at large?

Time will tell.

In this second assassination, the devil is not in the missing details but rather in the timing.

It comes at a time when the identity of Belaid’s killer or killers had not, until yesterday, been disclosed and no one has been brought to justice five months later. And why has the Interior Minister revealed a name, who may not be the killer anyhow, under the pressure of a second assassination?

Was it good police work? Nahda, who is slightly slipping in popularity, should have acted earlier, especially as growing numbers of people accuse it of being lenient on extremists, including the rising forces of al-Qaeda-like Salafism. This is despite the fact that the Prime Minister’s office claims to have identified half-a-dozen names allegedly associated with Belaid’s killing.

Similarly, Brahmi was killed on a symbolic day when Tunisia is celebrating the 56th anniversary of the republic. It is a public holiday and people normally gather in public places. Was the killing timed to take advantage of this event and convert public celebration into crowds of commiseration and rage against the ruling Nahda? Luckily for Tunisia, since the revolution, celebration of republic day has been mellowed by angst over jobs and worsening

economic situations, including in the South and the centre where protests from yesterday resulted in one fatality.

It will not be the last as Tunis becomes the focus of opposition protest.

A rebellion campaign will not succeed in Tunisia. The army is professional and neutral and will not intervene.

In February 2013 mass demonstrations were staged during and after the funeral of slain politician Chokri Belaid. The call for a rebellion campaign is already in the public domain, mostly by forces and voices opposing the Islamist-led government.

Some even have called for the dissolution of the NCA, which is tasked with constitution-framing. This would be a major setback for the future of democratisation in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

The bizarre thing in Tunisia is that people calling for tamarrod (rebellion a la Egypt) are under fire - and the President of the country, former human rights activist Moncef Merzouki, has spoken against such a campaign. The mere call for a campaign of protest should not in an incipient democracy be criminalised. Such a campaign would not succeed in Tunisia - despite scenarios of doom and gloom, the democratisation process remains promising, even if slow, and should deliver the goods depending on how major parties and leaders behave over the next a few days.

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If this second assassination is aimed at triggering a “rebellion” against the ruling Nahda Party, the argument that the government has failed to act decisively against the assassins implicated in the first assassination may not help Ali La’rayedh’s government. La’rayedh, the interim PM since Hamamdi Jebali’s resignation, was Interior Minister at the time of the first assassination. This second assassination under his premiership comes to refute his attempts to allay the public’s fear about the rise of Salafi terrorism in Tunisia. This is one point that the disjointed and incoherent opposition in the North African country has seized upon to sow doubts about Nahda.

Hundreds from the supporters of the Ansar al-Shari’ah group have been arrested. And despite earlier toleration of Salafis, Nahda is now far more outspoken in its rejection of violence

by Salafis.

Early in June, two soldiers were killed and two others wounded when a mine planted by Salafists detonated in Doghra, in Mount Chaambi. The fight against terrorists comes at a time when the country witnesses sharp polarisation; although the June 30 calls to emulate Egypt and lead a rebellion campaign against Nahda has support, it is limited.

There have been calls by extremists to target key opposition leaders. This has been coupled by calls for rallies

The bizarre thing in Tunisia is that people calling for tamarrod (rebellion a la Egypt) are under fire - and the President of the country, former human rights activist Moncef Merzouki, has spoken against such a campaign.

by Salafis in places like Kairouan and the Ettadamon suburb in Tunis. Acts of desecration of ancient shrines, considered heretical, along with attacks on premises licensed to sell alcohol are known to have taken place since 2011. The same goes for TV stations.

Generally, Salafis in Tunisia want a Sharia-ruled Tunisia and for some this threatens the state, which is a common exaggeration.

Hundreds have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an unknown number - perhaps close to 2,000 - may be fighting in Syria. This adds security complications to Tunisia, both state and society.

Tunisia has benefited from the prolonged period of transition - outside the originally agreed timetable even though there seems now to be massive calls for hastening voting on the constitution so that draft laws are passed to close the first phase of transition. Already NCA members are yet to wrap up deliberations of the draft constitution. They have more or less finished discussing the 180 questions on the draft constitution.

Dissolution of either NCA or government would plunge Tunisia into the unknown. However, sustaining the status quo is also a recipe for disaster.

This is a time for Nahda to show leadership - not to wait - even if the situation is nothing like Egypt or what Morsi faced. Initiative is the name of the game. Nahda’s statement against all violence - only that which is sanctioned by law and under the aegis of the state - should be be through immediate dismantling of the committees for the protection of the revolution. They are hurting its popularity outside its fixed constituency, especially youth.

Others should do the same.

Mustafa Ben Jaafar, the NCA Speaker, should wrap up the work of the constitution firstly through the consensus committees so that all contested issues are ironed out. Following this, the remaining work to complete the drafting of the constitution would - as is widely and wisely called for in Tunisia - be referred to an NCA-elected panel of experts.

It is a mechanism that has been used in many a democracy.

Alternatively, the NCA is given a two-month deadline to deliver a complete draft ready for a public referendum.

There have been all kinds of dramas in “elasticising” the NCA’s work - noted for high absenteeism - and the Elections Commission should not have taken seven months to vote nine commissioners.

NCA-mediated solutions are preferable to alternative scenarios - a power vacuum and rebellion for the sake of rebellion, and those scrutinising the bloodbath in Egypt - should realise that the ballot is way more eloquent than the bullet. Brahmi’s tragic end is regrettable at a time like this as the Arab Spring geography witnesses paralysis and bloodshed - but the bullet that killed him should not shoot down Tunisia’s democratisation, lest lunacy have the last laugh.

Source: Al- Jazeera

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

International

AU delegation meets with Mursi

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high-level African Union delegation working to ease tensions in Egypt met with deposed President Mohamed Mursi and the leaders who replaced his Muslim Brotherhood-backed administration after a July 3 military coup, the AU said Wednesday.

This comes amid international efforts to forge stability in a country seething with political tension and reeling from spurts of sporadic and deadly violence after Mursi was toppled on the heels of mass protests against his rule.

The three-person AU group is sitting down in Cairo with a range of people in the same week that Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, met with current leaders, Muslim Brotherhood members andMursi-- now held at an undisclosed location on a variety of criminal charges.

“The establishment of the Panel and its current visit to Cairo are part of the AU’s efforts to assist Egypt in addressing the challenges confronting the country and ensuring that the legitimate aspirations of its people are fulfilled,” the AU said in a statement.

“In so doing, the AU is acting on the basis of its relevant instruments and in

the spirit of African solidarity, as Egypt’s challenges are also Africa’s challenges. A stable, democratic and prosperous Egypt constitutes a tremendous asset for the AU, as it strives to achieve its stated objectives.”

The delegation consists of three former leaders:

former Malian President Alpha OumarKonare, former Botswana President Festus Mogae and former Djibourti Prime Minister Dileita Mohammed Dileita.

Along with Mursi, the panel met with acting President Adly Mansour, interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei

and Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the man who led the coup.

It also sat down with Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby and representatives of several political movements. It plans to meet with the pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, a women’s group and diplomats.

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Members of the AU delegation; former Malian President Alpha OumarKonare (L), former Botswana President Festus Mogae (middle), and former Djibourti Prime Minister Dileita (R).

Gadhafi-era minister sentenced to execution

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criminal court in Libya’s western city of Misrata sentenced a Gadhafi-era education minister to death on Wednesday for murder and for inciting violence during the 2011 civil war.

It was the second such guilty verdict by the same court in recent days.

A judge found Ahmed Ibrahim guilty of inciting residents in

Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte to form armed gangs and fight the rebels that were seeking to overthrow the Libyan dictator.

Ibrahim also was convicted of spreading false news through the local radio station and terrorizing and demoralizing the public.

The judge also found him guilty of killing a man named MoftanSadiq el-Sofrani after

kidnapping him from a hospital, as well as giving orders to kidnap and kill five other people from the el-Sofrani family.

The el-Sofrani family’s lawyer, SalimDans, told The Associated Press that the case will be sent to Libya’s Supreme Court, which will either accept the initial sentencing or accept an appeal, if filed.

According to Libyan law, Ibrahim will be executed by a firing

squad. No timeframe was given.

Gadhafi was captured by rebel forces in October 2011 and killed.

A few days ago, the same court in Misrata sentenced Masnour Al-Daw Gadhafi to death for his role in the civil war. He belongs to the Gadhafi family and was a top security chief of one of Libya’s most-hated security bodies called the Popular Guard. He also had been captured by rebels.

Former PM Keita holds lead in Mali vote

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ormer Malian Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita holds a comfortable lead and could win an outright first-round victory in the West African nation’s presidential election, according to preliminary results released by a government official.

Keita’s rivals immediately rejected the partial results, calling for the minister of territorial administration, who is in charge of the elections and made the statement, to resign and an international commission to be established to tally the vote.

They are demanding that the vote go to a second round.

Voting in the polls on Sunday was peaceful and observer missions have praised the process, but tensions rose as the announcement of results neared.

“There is one candidate, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who

Pressure grows on Tunisian government amid resignations

has a wide margin compared with the other candidates,” Colonel MoussaSinkoCoulibaly, the minister of territorial administration, told journalists in the capital, Bamako.

“If maintained, [it means] there will not be a need for a second round,” he said. The results

Keita

represented a third of ballots cast from constituencies across the country, he said.

AmadouKoita, spokesman for ex-Finance Minister SoumailaCisse, who Coulibaly said was currently in second place, called the announcement “scandalous” and questioned why

the minister refused to give figures to back up his statement.

Koita questioned how the minister could give a projection based on one-third of votes when he said the commission that is made up of representatives from all camps and is tasked with collating results had only counted 12 percent of votes so far.

Cisse and two other of Keita’s rivals - ModiboSidibe, a former prime minister, and DramaneDembele, the candidate of Mali’s biggest party - came together to complain about the process.

Cisse said he would challenge the results if Keita is announced winner in one round.

Average turnout was tallied so far at 53.3 percent, well above Mali’s record high of 40 percent, Coulibaly said. Final results could be ready on Wednesday.

unisian Education Minister Salem Labyedh has resigned, the prime minister’s spokesman said on Wednesday, as pressure mounted on the Islamistled government to step down.

Protests against the moderate Islamist Ennahda party intensified after last week’s killing of a leftist politician, the second to be slain in six months, disrupting a political transition that began when Tunisians toppled an autocratic leader in 2011.

Opposition parties, the largest labor union and the secular Ettakatol party, the ruling Ennahda party’s junior coalition partner, have all demanded the government’s departure.

Labyedh, a secular independent, had said he was considering resigning after fellow leftist Mohamed Brahmi was shot dead on Thursday in an assassination the government has pinned on hardline Salafi Islamists. The opposition blames Ennahda.

The minister of culture, Mehdi Mabrouk, also told local media he was hoping to convince all ministers to resign.

“I hope to see the resignation of all members of the government in the coming days,” he told the local Shems radio station. “I hope these will be the last days I spend as the minister of culture.”

A small roadside bomb exploded on Wednesday south of the capital as a police patrol passed, but no injuries or damage were reported.

Last Saturday, the day of Brahmi’s funeral, the capital Tunis was hit by its first car bomb, but again no one was hurt.

“We are facing two choices.

Either we confront terrorism together, or we will distract the army and security forces with political battles that are much less dangerous than terrorism,” NoureddineBhiri, the prime minister’s spokesman, told a news conference.

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh will meet the head of the powerful Tunisian General Labor Union on Thursday to discuss the political crisis and a new initiative to deal with the situation, the prime minister’s office said.

The 600,000-strong union is calling for a compromise that would remove the current government and put a technocratic government in place, but would not dissolve the Assembly.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 33

International

Nine-month goal for Middle East peace deal

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sraeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to meet again within the next two weeks, aiming to seal a final deal in nine months, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

The two sides will meet in either Israel or the Palestinian territories and “our objective will be” to reach a “final status agreement over the course of the next nine months,” Kerry told reporters after Israelis and

Palestinians ended a three-year freeze on talks.

Kerry, speaking with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at his side, said this week’s round of talks between the two sides were positive and constructive and he was convinced that they could make peace.

After a morning of talks at the White House with President Barack Obama and at the State Department,

the two sides had agreed that all the most contentious issues such as borders and refugees and the fate of Jerusalem would be on the table for discussion. “[The two sides] have agreed that all the final status issues, core issues, are all on the table for negotiation,” said Kerry.

“And they are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending

Tzipi Livni (L), alongside John Kerry (middle), and Saeb Erekat (R).

the conflict, ending the claims. Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months.”

He went on to say that all details of the talks and discussions will be kept confidential. “No one should consider any reports or rumours unless they come directly from me.”

Following Kerry’s speech, SaebErekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, took to the podium, and said: “Palestinians have suffered enough, and no one benefits more from this endeavour than the Palestinian people”.

“I am happy that all final status issues are on the table.”

Following his brief speech, TzipiLivni, the Israeli negotiator, took the opportunity to point out that, “in these negotiations, it is not our intention to argue about the past, but to make decisions for the future.”

“It is our task to work together, so we can transform a spark of hope into something that is real and lasting.”

Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply divided over “final status issues”, including the fate of Jerusalem, claimed by both as a capital, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the borders of a future Palestinian state complicated by dozens of illegal Jewish settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank.

Deadly blasts target Baghdad mosques

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suicide bomber has blown himself up outside a Shia mosque in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, leaving seven people dead and wounding at least 11 others.

The blast occurred near the Assad Allah mosque in the Hussainya suburb to the northeast of the capital.

“As the suicide bomber was on his way to approach the mosque to blow himself up, one of the guards grabbed him. He immediately exploded,” said eyewitness Abu Zahra.

In separate attacks, there was a bombing near a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad which killed two worshippers.

Hospital officials confirmed the death tolls in the two attacks.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media.

Suicide attacks, car bombings and other violence have killed more than 3,000 people since April in Iraq, according to an Associated Press news agency count.

The aftermath of a blast at one of the mosques.

China’s Xi seeks peace in sea disputes

C

hinese President Xi Jinping told his Politburo on Wednesday the country wanted to resolve its maritime territorial disputes peacefully and through talks, but would not compromise on sovereignty and had to step up its defensive capabilities.

Territorial claims by Japan and China over the uninhabited islets and resource-rich waters in the East China Sea, as well as China’s claims over the South China Sea, rank as some of Asia’s biggest security risks.

At a meeting with members of the ruling Communist Party’s inner elite, Xi said China would adhere to

the path of peaceful development, but “in no way will the country abandon its legitimate rights and interests, nor will it give up its core national interests”, state media reported.

China will “use peaceful means and negotiations to settle disputes and strive to safeguard peace and stability”, Xi was quoted as saying, without naming any countries. His comments were the most high-level remarks on the subject in weeks.

“China will prepare to cope with complexities, enhance its capacity in safeguarding maritime rights and interests, and resolutely

safeguard its maritime rights and interests,” Xi said, according to the official Xinhua news agency report.

Becoming a maritime power is an “important task” for China as “the oceans and seas have an increasingly important strategic status concerning global competition in the spheres of politics, economic development, military, and scientific and technology”, Xi said.

Still, the country will adhere to a policy of “shelving disputes and carrying out joint development” for areas over which China claims sovereignty, while also promoting

mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation, Xi added, repeating a line offered previously by Chinese officials.

Japan’s top career diplomat met China’s foreign minister on Tuesday in the latest bid to ease strains between Asia’s two biggest economies over their bitter territorial row in the East China Sea, though a Chinese official newspaper said Beijing had ruled out a leaders’ summit.

Tension over the East China Sea has escalated this year, with China and Japan scrambling fighter jets and ordering patrol ships to shadow each other, raising fear that a miscalculation could lead to a broader clash.

Asia & Middle East

Cambodia’s opposition claims election win

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ambodia’s opposition party says it narrowly won Sunday’s general election, challenging the ruling party’s earlier declaration of victory.

Hours after the poll, PM Hun Sen’s ruling party said it won 68 seats in parliament to the opposition’s 55.

But opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the result was 6360 in his favour, and called for an independent commission to investigate poll irregularities.

Official poll results are not expected until mid-August.

Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia for nearly three decades.

The national election commission is widely expected to back his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

But the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) says it does not accept the results.

Earlier this week, it cited multiple irregularities with voter lists.

Human Rights Watch echoed the CNRP’s concerns in a statement released on Wednesday.

“Senior ruling party officials appear to have been involved in issuing fake election documents and fraudulently registering voters in multiple provinces,” said the organisation’s Asia director, Brad Adams.

Sam Rainsysaid that the opposition would not take its seats in parliament, which is expected to meet in September, until its win was recognised. This would also prevent a new cabinet being approved.

“We expect the CPP to concede the election to us. The information we have received from the our activists and party agents show that we have won 63 seats and they have won 60,” he said.

“To move forward without an independent committee is cheating. We will comply with the conclusions of an independent committee. There is no other way or else the county will face a period of instability and uncertainty.”

Ouch Borith, Cambodia’s secretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected claims of voting irregularities.

“We have over 10,000 national observers and over 100

Xi Jinping

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 34

International

Obama asks Republican senators to visit Egypt B arack Obama, the US president, has asked two senior Republican senators to travel to Egypt to meet with its military leaders and the opposition, as Cairo’s allies struggle with how to address the turmoil convulsing the country.

The invite came amid a visit to the Arab world’s most populous nation by Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, who met with the deposed president Mohamed Mursi in his first known contact with the outside world since he was toppled by the army earlier this month.

“The president asked ... [John] McCain and myself to go to Egypt next week, so we’re trying to find a way to get there,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said.

He said the pair wanted to “go over and reinforce in a bipartisan fashion the message that we have to move to civilian control, that the military is going to have to, you know, allow the country to have new elections and move toward an inclusive, democratic approach”.

Graham added that “killing the opposition is becoming more and more like a coup”.

More than 200 people have been killed since Mursi’s removal on July 3.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Ashton said Mursi, who is currently being held in an

unknown location, “has access to information, in terms of TV, newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation”.

She refused to comment on the substance of their conversation, saying “I told him that I was not going to represent his views”.

Mursi has been held

incommunicado since the military removed him from power.

Early on Wednesday, the state news agency confirmed that a delegation led by former Malian President Alfa Omar Konari also held a one-hour long meeting with the deposed president.

Egypt’s authorities say Mursi is being investigated for charges, including murder, stemming from a 2011 jailbreak when he escaped detention during the revolution that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak.

Political turmoil has divided Egypt, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in rival rallies for, and against, military rule.

Tension increased further after scores were killed at a rally in support of Mursi in Cairo on Saturday.

Monday’s meeting with Ashton came as Mursi’s supporters marched towards security headquarters in Cairo, despite a warning from the National Defence Council that it would take “decisive and firm action” against demonstrators if they went beyond their right to peaceful protest.

“The [Greek] economy is rebalancing,” the IMF said on Wednesday. “However, it continues to do so through recession, not productivity-enhancing structural reform.”

It also pointed to a potential 10.9bn euros “financing gap” over the next two years.

Greece was granted a huge 110bn euro (£93bn; $145bn) IMF/ EU bailout in May 2010.

EU sources told Reuters there

were various ways in which this gap for 2014 could be closed, either through member states providing new loans, or the possibility of Greece returning to the markets to issue short term bonds.

They said then that the issue will have to be discussed in the autumn.

Greece is in its sixth year of recession, and has seen a 25% drop in output since a 2007 peak, and has an unemployment rate of 26.9%.

But the IMF also says the country has stabilised its economy and is on course to end its recession next year, despite missing targets for privatisation and shedding state jobs.

The coalition government is struggling to meet staff reduction targets to its sizeable public sector, and is due to announce details of its plan to suspend up to 25,000 employees on reduced pay by the end of the year.

power stations and for medical purposes.

The last high-level talks between Iran and world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - were in Kazakhstan in April. They failed to break the deadlock.

Western diplomats say the world powers will have to wait for

a new government to be formed in Iran before they can discuss a date for a new round of talks.

“Clearly, let the new Iranian government settle in well. There will be a new government formed.

But we are ready for talks anyway,” Sajjadi said.

Sajjadi denied reports that Tehran and Moscow had been discussing

the possibility of Russia providing Iran with Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missiles, to replace deliveries of S-300 missiles that were frozen

by Moscow after international sanctions were placed on Iran.

But he said any proposal for such a deal by Moscow could become part of negotiations on how to settle the S-300 issue.

McCain

IMF says Greece must deliver reforms faster

T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Greece needs to take more action to promote growth and deliver promised structural reform.

It has backed the next payment of 1.7bn euros (£1.5bn: $2.3bn) after its fourth review of the country.

But now it says Greece must deliver “rapidly on structural reforms to unlock growth and create jobs”.

Putin to meet new Iranian president

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ussian leader Vladimir Putin will meet Iran’s newly elected president for the first time in Kyrgyzstan in September, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Moscow said on Wednesday.

Russian and Iranian media reported last week that the Russian president would go to Iran in August for talks with Hassan Rouhani on Tehran’s nuclear program.

But Ambassador Seyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi told a news conference that these reports were false, and that Putin’s first talks with Rouhani would be on the sidelines of a summit of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on September 13.

World powers hope Iran’s relatively moderate new leader will comply with demands for Tehran to scale back nuclear work which they suspect is aimed at enabling it to make bombs.

Iran says it is enriching uranium, the fissile material for atomic bombs, only to fuel nuclear

Putin

Europe and Americas US releases three declassified documents

US director of national intelligence James Clapper

T

he US director of national intelligence has released three declassified documents that authorised the bulk collection of telephone data, one of the surveillance programmes revealed by former spy agency worker Edward Snowden.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement the declassification was made in the “interest of increased transparency”.

The documents that were declassified on Wednesday include the 2009 and 2011 reports on the National Security Agency’s “Bulk Collection Program” under the USA PATRIOT Act. In addition it released an April, 2013 order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court which described how the data should be stored and accessed.

Meanwhile, the deputy director of the NSA said on Wednesday that no one had been fired and no one had offered to resign over Snowden’s ability to take large amounts of classified data from agency computers.

“No one has offered to resign.

Everyone is working hard to understand what happened,” John Inglistoldat a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the committee, questioned Inglis sharply about how Snowden had managed to take the data.

“I realize you have to have a considerable amount of trust. But don’t you have people double-checking what somebody’s doing?” he asked.

Inglis said the NSA did not yet know how its safeguards had failed and expected to discover that “over weeks and months”.

Inglis said the phone surveillance contributed to disrupting or discovering attacks 12 times. Inglis said the 54 involved both the phone records programme and a separate initiative gathering Internet data.

The developments came as Snowden’s father told a Russian television channel that he was willing to agree to a request by the FBI to fly to Moscow to see his son.

Speaking to the state-owned Rossiya 24 channel in footage broadcast on Wednesday, Lonnie Snowden of Allentown, Pennsylvania, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government for the “courage” they have shown in keeping his son safe.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 35

Strange World Robot bartenders at Germany bar

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ome bars use intriguing names just to attract clients, but the Robots Bar & Lounge in Ilmenau, Germany really lives up to its name. This unique venue not only has a technology-inspired decor, but also a humanoid robot bartender that mixes drinks and makes small talk with patrons.

The Robots Bar & Lounge just opened late last month, but it’s already hugely popular in the town of Ilmenau thanks to Carl, an unusual bartender who fits right in the techie atmosphere of the place. Carl is a humanoid robot built by mechatronics engineer Ben Schaefer out of parts from disused industrial robots.

Schaefer says that although progress has been made in the field of robotics artificial intelligence is still in its infancy, but by placing a robot in an environment where it can observe and interact with real humans it’s much easier to test the programming and make necessary improvements than it would be in a closed laboratory.

Apart from evolution, Carl’s secondary goal is to bring humans and robots closer together, and prove that “scenes from science-fiction movies are quite possible”.

So far, the likable bartender is doing a great job, entertaining clients with his drink-mixing skills and the occasional small-talk. Unfortunately, his speech recognition skills and ability to interact are very limited at the moment, but like all bartenders he is a very good listener.

To make sure he doesn’t bump into things and spill the drinks on his clients, Scahefer equipped Carl with a belt of sensors.

Robot bartenders at the Robots Bar & Lounge in Ilmenau, Germany.

Japan’s long breath diet a series of more effective ways of breathing in and exhaling, and created the now famous Long Breath Diet.

The name is a bit misleading, because his weight-loss techniques have little to do with dieting and more with exercising. Basically, you have to have a certain posture, inhale through the nose for three seconds and than exhale aggressively through the mouth for seven seconds, while

using your whole body to push out all the air.

Apparently, repeating the process for 2 to 5 minutes every day will help you lose weight, or breath away the extra pounds, if you will.

There are two ways of practicing the Long Breath Diet: 1. Tighten the buttocks and place one foot in front of your body while placing 90% of your body weight on your back foot. Once you’re in

position, breath in for 3 seconds while lifting your arms above your head. Then exhale contracting all the muscles in your body to help you get all the air out, for 7 seconds. It sounds easy enough, but most of the air comes out in the first couple of seconds, leaving you to flex your abs as you run out of breath.

2. The second method requires you to stand up straight and tighten the buttocks. Place one hand on your abdomen and another on your lower back, and breath in for 3 seconds while sucking in your midsection.

Finally, exhale for 7 seconds and suck in your stomach even more.

The Ostrichcopter – dead ostrich turned into a helicopter

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emember Bart Jansen, the Dutch artist who stuffed his pet cat and attached rotors to each of his paws to create the Orvillecopter? Well, Bart did it again, only this time he used a large ostrich as a medium for his

Miki Ryosuke displays his breathing techniques

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hat would you say if I told you losing those extra pounds is as easy as taking a nice long breath and exhaling for just 2 minutes a day? Only it’s not me who is saying it, it’s Miki Ryosuke, a Japanese actor turned dieting guru and inventor of the famous Long Breath Diet.

Miki Ryosuke discovered the Long Breath Diet completely by accident. He was practicing breathing techniques to ease back pain, but noticed he was losing a lot of weight, which eventually amounted to 28 pounds and 5 inches in 50 days.

Realizing the potential of his discovery, Ryosuke came up with

The “ostichcopter”

bizarre art.

Last year, visual artist Bart Jansen and technical engineer ArjenBeltman shocked the world with the Orvillecopter, a unique flying machine that was part cat part helicopter.

Apparently, their first invention wasn’t shocking enough, so they’ve decided to kick it up a notch by building an even more bizarre radiocontrolled device they aptly named the OstrichCopter.

This time they took a male ostrich that had died at an ostrich farm and turned it into a quadcopter by adding four rotors and a pair of wooden skids. The crazy duo describe their invention as “the world’s flying ostrich”, adding that the experience of flying “must be it’s wildest dream, to able to fly and finally escape them untrustworthy Wildebeests”.

I didn’t know wildebeests attacked ostriches, but they probably just meant wild beasts. Anyway, Jansen and Beltman recently posted two videos of the OstrichCopter’s test flights on YouTube, and it seems to work pretty well.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Digest

Be happy: your genes will thank you for it

People who derive their happiness from helping others, like Mother Teresa, have strong antibody genes, UCLA scientists claim

By Sarah Griffiths

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merican scientists have found different types of happiness have surprisingly contrary effects on our genes.

UCLA research found that people who derive their happiness from helping others have strong antibody genes, while people who get their kicks from selfgratification can suffer from low antiviral and anitbody gene expression.

The study, which also involved the University of North Carolina, is the first of its kind to examine how positive psychology impacts

human gene expression.

People who are do-gooders have high levels of ‘eudaimonic well-being’.

They derive their happiness from a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life showed favourable gene-expression profiles in their immune cells.

Those studied from this happiness group had low levels of inflammatory gene expression and strong antibody and antiviral genes.

However, individuals who have high levels of ‘hedonic well-being’ - the type of happiness that comes from consuming goods and selfgratification - showed the opposite.

This group of people showed high inflammation and weak antibody and antiviral genes.

The study’s findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research, led by Steven Cole, a UCLA professor of medicine and Barbara L. Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina, has taken a decade.

The scientists have looked at how the human genome responds to fear, stress, misery and other negative mental states, but focused on how human genes might respond to positive psychology in this study.

They studied the biological implications of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being through some 21,000 genes.

Previous research found immune cells show a shift in baseline gene expression profiles during times of uncertainty, stress and fear.

The shift is characteristised by an increased expression of genes involved in inflammation and less of those involved in antiviral and antibody functions.

Professor Cole believes the response probably evolved to help human immune systems cope with the changing nature of microbial threat associated with changing social and environmental conditions at the time.

Full Moon ‘disturbs a good night’s sleep’

By Rachel Reilly

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full Moon can disturb a good night’s sleep, scientists believe.

Researchers found evidence of a “lunar influence” in a study of 33 volunteers sleeping in tightly controlled laboratory conditions.

When the Moon was round, the volunteers took longer to nod off and had poorer quality sleep, despite being shut in a darkened room, Current Biology reports.

They also had a dip in levels of a

hormone called melatonin that is linked to natural-body clock cycles.

When it is dark, the body makes more melatonin. And it produces less when it is light.

Being exposed to bright lights in the evening or too little light during the day can disrupt the body’s normal melatonin cycles.

But the work in Current Biology, by Prof Christian Cajochen and colleagues from Basel University in Switzerland, suggests the Moon’s effects may be

The disturbance in sleep patterns is not connected to the extra light of a full Moon

unrelated to its brightness.

Lunar rhythms The volunteers were unaware of the purposeofthestudyandcouldnotseethe Moon from their beds in the researchers’ sleep lab.

They each spent two separate nights at the lab under close observation.

Findings revealed that around the full Moon, brain activity related to deep sleep dropped by nearly a third.

Melatonin levels also dipped.

Thevolunteersalsotookfiveminutes longer to fall asleep and slept for 20 minutes less when there was a full Moon.

Prof Cajochen said: “The lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not ‘see’ the Moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase.”

Some people may be exquisitely sensitive to the Moon, say the researchers.

Their study did not originally set out to investigate a lunar effect. The researchers had the idea of doing the lunar analysis years later, while chatting over a few drinks.

Source: BBCNews.com

The threats included bacterial infection from wounds produced by fighting and increased risk of viral infections as people lived closer together and became more sociable.

Professor Cole said: ‘In contemporary society and our very different environment, chronic activation by social or symbolic threats can promote inflammation and cause cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and other diseases and can impair resistance to viral infections.’

In the present study, the researchers drew blood samples from 80 healthy adults who were assessed for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, as well as negative psychological and behavioral factors.

The team used the geneexpression profile to map the potentially distinct biological effects of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.

The study found people with eudaimonic well-being showed favorable gene-expression profiles in their immune cells and those with hedonic well-being showed an adverse gene-expression profile.

But interestingly professor Cole said: ‘People with high levels of hedonic well-being didn’t feel any worse than those with high levels of eudaimonic well-being.’

‘Both seemed to have the same high levels of positive emotion.

However, their genomes were responding very differently even though their emotional states were similarly positive.’

Individuals who had high levels of ‘hedonic well-being’ - the type of happiness that comes from consuming goods (pictured) showed high inflammation and weak antibody and antiviral genes ‘What this study tells us is that doing good and feeling good have very different effects on the human genome, even though they generate similar levels of positive emotion.

‘Apparently, the human genome is much more sensitive to different ways of achieving happiness than are conscious minds.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

The study concluded that doing good and feeling good have very different effects on the human genome, even though they generate similar levels of positive emotion. Human chromosomes under a scanning probe microscope are pictured

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 37

LGs, state Assemblies’ autonomy will help grow democracy-Bauchi Minority Leader INTERVIEW

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Honourable Baba Abubakar Suleiman (CPC), representing Azare/Madangala state constituency, who is the Minority Leader of Bauchi State House Assembly in this interview with our Bauchi Correspondent, Ahmed Kaigama, laments the slow pace of development of democracy in Nigeria due to corruption and widespread poverty.

ecently you’re among those that attended conference on emerging democracy, how did it go?

Yes it was a conference of leadership of the National and the state Assemblies in Nigeria and some African countries.

The participants were from academia, from our development partners, that is the USAID, UNDP and so on. It was an international conference and that gathering was aimed at brainstorming on the challenges of democracies in Africa, especially in emerging nation like Nigeria. Definitely democracy has recorded some successes in some countries of Africa while in many others within the continent, have not even set the ball rolling because you will be confused on whether these countries practicing something else. There are some countries like Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia and some host of other countries which have taken the part of democracy, but sadly enough, I cannot say that we have even started doing things in our quest to be a democratic nation. Because when problems are being analyzed, you may agree with me that Nigeria is a typical case study of all those challenges. You cannot claim to be operating democracy where there is deep rooted corruption; where there is no rule of law;where there is no freedom, because, I can say there is no freedom because even the constitution of this country has enshrined in it a kind of liberties which it should be enjoyed by the citizens but if you look at it today, you cannot exercise all that freedom as a Nigerian.

What exactly are we practicing or operating with the happenings in our judicial system; with the deep rooted corruption within the system; with the failure of the government in addressing infrastructural deficit; with the failure of the government to address the issue of the rule of law like I said earlier, and so many other problems in all Nigeria. For example in education sector, the cost of inefficiency of government in education is higher and above what will make the system to be efficient. How much are citizens paying in trying to obtain private education? How much do you pay for your child to goes to private school? How much do you use to send them abroad? If you quantify that, at least per annum, so that can be the cost of the inefficiency of government which I believe by the time you can sum all these costs it will be above what the government will spend in making that system to be efficient.

Even at the party level, internal democracy is completely absent.

None of these parties will claim to

Honourable Baba Abubakar Suleiman have a good internal democracy with what is happening during the primary elections. So, you see right from the start we have lost it. Look at places like even Liberia that has spent about 11 years battling with civil war, they are taking the path of greatness. Look at the Ethiopia and also many other African countries even Zimbabwe; look at the issue of youth unemployment , it has become a serious challenge to this country because over 60 percent of the population of this country are within ages of 15 to 40. There are young people but they are hopeless; here, life is in serious despair. But the question is what is the government doing to address all these problems? Virtually nothing, because the leadership is unable to address some of the major problems of the citizens of this country.

People will view your comment on the basis that you are from the opposition party?

It’s not like opposition; it is about facts. I don’t think there is any one that may disagree with me on this aspect. We have to tell ourselves the truth because this is our differences with some other countries that I have discovered during that event. At that

conference. Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, the Liberian President and some other dignitaries there were even citing examples with their countries. But what is happening with us, you will see Nigerian official when he is presenting a paper, it happens with the former PDP Chairman Senator Ahmadu Ali, he was trying to do the normal praise singing that this government or the government of Nigeria is doing something towards good democratic tendency but he was shouted down at the event because he cited example with Nigeria under president Goodluck Jonathan. Most of the participants there were shouting that ‘no Nigeria is not anywhere close to the real democracy’which is a fact.

What is your view on the SURE-P programme which was aimed at addressing the problems facing the youths?

Not too good and not too bad because the SURE-P programme and some other unemployment policies of the federal government will not tackle the problem of unemployment in Nigeria. What we need is a very robust system that will accommodate large percentage of the youths. Recently,

Ethiopia, in a partnership with the Chinese firm on Agriculture but with a pre- condition set by the Ethiopian Government, that yes we will agree but until you can provide 100,000 jobs to our youths. So, this kind of employment generation is the one that will seriously address our unemployment problem.

If you are talking about the SURE-P and some other polices of the federal government, this is only for those that have real formal education; those who are highly skilled. What of those that are unskilled among the population of our youths? They say the government is claiming the SURE-P and the other programmes were able to address or provide jobs for about 20,000 youths, so that is why I said it is not too bad and it is not too good but the government must be committed in addressing these problems and the way to do it is to provide the basic infrastructure, create the enabling environment for every entrepreneur; for every citizen to start his business and succeed. But if you want to go into manufacturing, is the manufacturing really existing? The manufacturing sector is in total decay; even those in it, they have dwindling profit. Majority of the manufacturing industries in this country are maintaining bare existence; that is why the businesses are collapsing, some are migrating to where they have favourable business environment like Ghana. And in every country it is not the government that was supposed to engage all the youths for employment, most of it come from the private sector which is the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing sector is expected to engage about 60 to 70 percent of the unemployed youths while the government will engage about 30 percent but that will not happen unless the government has created the enabling environment for those types of business to succeed.

The lifespan of the small scale business all over the world standard is 5 years.

When you come to Nigeria, most of our small scale business die within one to two years because of unfavorable condition to operate.

What, in your opinion, are the solutions to these challenges?

The government, I think must do all that it could do to address first the issue of corruption because the issue of corruption in the country has been deep rooted within the body polity.

So, Nigeria must now come out with measures to holistically address the issue of corruption and uphold the rule of law. These are some of the ways in which we can address these issues.

When you go to the education sector, as we are talking now, the ASUU is on strike and it is sad Polytechnic Staff have just called- off their strike and you cannot spend one year without going

on strike action by the ASUU or the polytechnic schools, or colleges in this country. Nigeria universities is among the 125th within African axis, and none of the Nigeria universities is among the best within 1500 universities in the world. So, this is a food for thought for our leaders and policy makers on the roots of the Nigeria problems. We have so many challenges, we have so many problems and we need serious people to address them. We have weak financial capital of most of our institutions. Look at the relationship between the states and local governments; our local governments are just like an extension of the state.

They are being controlled by the state sgovernments; their finances and all what they can do is controlled by the state government.

But you are a lawmaker and are expected to solve most of these problems It is a systemic problem. The issue of joint account and joint project is what is killing the local government but the National Assembly is trying to address this problem because they are seeking for the amendment of constitution. That will guarantee autonomy and independence of the local governments including the state House of Assembly. If these two can be addressed, I am telling you some of the problems also can be reduced to the barest minimum. The National Assembly is making Nigeria very proud because of the level of some independence. It is not the same at the state level because from the messenger to the Clerk of Assemblies are posted or employed by the state government. In principles the three arm of government are supposed to be autonomous but they are supposed to be working together in harmony.

Since these problems are constitutional problems, and even presently states are making effort to frustrate the autonomy of local governments, how do you think Nigeria can develop?

Nigerians will not allow anybody to frustrate the agitation for councils’ autonomy and the independence of the legislature and judiciary. To address Nigeria problems, there has to be a general commitment to democratic development as demonstrated in various peaceful transition across the continent. You see, this also becomes a factor within a kind of African polity.

Anytime there is election, there is always a problem which sometimes lead to civil war. This our character of wanting leadership by hook or crook, we have to learn from others like Ghana, South Africa and most of the countries in Africa which have had peaceful transition through peaceful and acceptable credible election.

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PEOPLES DAILY, T HURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Politics

Zamfara 2015: Opposition plots Yari’s fall ANALYSIS

By Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

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s the saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step”. Barely two years to the 2015 general elections, political gladiators in Zamfara state have started warming up for the governorship contest.

This early preparation was pronounced within the fold of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as key players have started to strategize to take over power from Governor AbdulAzeez Yari of the the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

Ever since the return of democratic rule in 1999, the political leadership in Zamfara state has remained an exclusive preserve for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). In the 1999 election, it was a tough fight between a collection of elites likes Gen. Aliyu Muhammed Gusau (Rtd), former Governors in the old Sokoto state, Garba Nadama, Mallam Yahaya Abdul-Karim, and Ambassador M. Z. Anka, to mention a few in the PDP and relatively unknown persons in the scheme of things in the country, such as Ahmed Sani Yarima, Alhaji Ibrahim Ruwandorowa, among others.

In fact, the contest between the PDP candidate, Alhaji MZ Anka and his rival in the then APP, Alhaji Ahmed Sani Yarima, remained unpredictable until when the voters turned out to elect the APP candidate against the formidable PDP candidate.

Notwithstanding this defeat, the PDP faithful remained committed to snatching power from the then ruling APP. In 2003, when APP had changed into ANPP, a former Military Governor of Nassarwa state, Col. Bala Mande (Rtd) challenged the Ahmed Sani Yarima of ANPP with all federal might, but lost the election.

Similar episode occurred in 2007, when Yarima completed his second term. A former governor of the old Sokoto state, Mallam Yahaya AbdulKarim, also sought another mandate from the people of Zamfara state, but however, was defeated squarely by Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, who was the ANPP gubernatorial candidate.

However, not long after he was sworn in as the executive governor of Zamfara state, this ANPP governor decided to part way with his political master,Sen. Ahmed Sani Yarima, as he defected to the PDP. However, history repeated itself in 2011 general elections as electorates defied the power of incumbency of the serving governor, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, who defected to PDP, to re-elect the ANPP candidate at the election.

The year 2015 is another round of election period where the gladiators in the PDP would test their strengths and popularity again amongst the electorates.

But, unlike the previous years

Governor AbdulAzeez Yari

Hon Bello Matawalle when the contest was largely a circulation of old players and handful of new breeds, this time around, with utmost confidence, member of the opposition PDP have started calling names of the prospective contestants for the governorship seat.

Those whom the kite is flying around are former Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, Hon.Bello Matawalle, a member House of Representatives, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, minister of state for Works and Alhaji Bashir Adamu, popularly known as IMAD (Dan Majen Gusau).

The aspirations of these two opponents, Matawalle and Adamu, became obvious based on the number of projects which they embarked upon, and which are primarily aimed at

Sen Ahmed Sani Yarima

Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi promoting their political aspirations and to win the heart of the people at the grassroots.

Matawalle, a prominent politician who started politicking with a contest for council chairmanship and served for four years as Commissioner and now serving his third term in the House of Representatives, had a strong connection within the PDP circles.

However, IMAD, a successful businessman in the oil and gas, is allegedly enjoying the backing of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, as he struggles for the governorship seat in 2015.

Adamu’s philanthropic tendencies in recent times is seen by political observers as a clear pointer to his desire to venture into the politics of Zamfara

“

state. Available records reveal that Adamu, a successful businessman with tentacle in oil and gas, transportation, real estate and others, had in the last couple of years, made it a duty on himself to ensure that he uses his wealth to put smile in the faces of the people of Zamfara State.

IMAD, as he is popularly called by associates, is also a strong advocate for educational development of Zamfara commoners, both in Islamic and western education. To this end, in the last few years, he has spent much in the payment of school fees for indigenous students in the secondary and tertiary institutions across the country and overseas, especially the less privileged.

In addition, IMAD educational foundation has been awarding

But, unlike the previous years when the contest was largely a circulation of old players and handful of new breeds, this time around, with utmost confidence, member of the opposition PDP have started calling names of the prospective contestants for the governorship seat.

scholarship, paying JAMB and NECO fees for at least fifty students in each of the 14 local governments areas of the state annually.

Just recently, Adamu sponsored a free eye treatment for less privileged people in the state, which saw the treatment of different cases of eye related ailments. Another area at which he works to gain support from the electorates is the disbursement of soft loans to the indigent people in the state. Through this strategy of IMAD Microfinance Bank, small and medium scale businessmen and women get funds to run their businesses, as part of his contribution to bridge the economic gap and grossly reduce poverty among people.

This microfinance bank, for some years, have been giving soft loans ranging from N10,000 to N50,000 to less privileged women and small scale traders and farmers. By this arrangement, all the accruing interests on the soft loans granted by the bank are being paid by Bashir Adamu as part of his efforts to alleviate poverty among the populace.

Analysts believe that this could serve as a good strategy because it will boost his popularity, especially considering the current hardship being experienced under the leadership of Abdul-Aziz Yari.

As a formidable strategy to capture the youth, IMAD has designed new initiative for the training of 1,500 youths on agriculture and other trades across the state through skill acquisition programme for the period of six months which comprised computer, GSM repairs and carpentry workshop. Others are: Tailoring, Shoes and bags making and electronic centre, which is accompanied by a monthly allowance, in addition to their empowered after graduation.

Forasuccessfulimplementation of his political script, a group known as IMAD 2015 Movement for Good Governance Forum, which has PDP members drawn from the 144 wards in the 14 local government areas of the state, resolved to spearhead the crusade for the emergence of Bashir Adamu as the flag bearer of the party come 2015.

Shading more lights on the forum’s mission, its chairman, Alhaji Haruna Ibrahim Mai-Fura, said the Forum decided to aligned itself with Bashir Adamu for 2015 gubernatorial election based on the level of commitment already demonstrated for the wellbeing of the people of Zamfara state.

Mai-fura added, “despite incumbency syndrome over the years in any general elections, members of the PDP would do everything possible to wrestle power from the ANPP. This time around, if opportunity would be given to Adamu, it would be an easy ride to the government house by the PDP going by the massive support of electorates in the state”.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Group wants Fashola to review ban on tricycle From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he Concerned Human Rights Nigeria (CHRN) yesterday appealed to the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Lagos House of Assembly to have a rethink on the restriction of tricycle in the state.

The group also appealed to the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa to re-order enforcement agencies in the state’s transport sector to stop clampdown on tricycles in Ikeja, Surulere, Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

Addressing Newsmen in Lagos, CHRN National Coordinator, Mr. Declan Ihekaire said there is urgent need for Lagos state to approach the restriction of tricycles with a feeling for humanity so as not to put the people into more transportation hardship.

“We appeal to members of the Lagos House of Assembly to begin a process that will translate into amending the Traffic Law as it affects the tricycle.

“This way, the people will not be thrown out of employment or the commuters left at the mercy of trauma, pain and sorrow,” he said.

Ihekaire noted that the Lagos state could work without banning or restricting tricycle.

He further stressed that, as much as Lagos residents love and want a megacity, it must not be at the detriment of their health caused by stress of transport.

He argued that if commercial motorcycles were banned in some parts of Lagos because of alleged usage by armed robbers, why would the tricycle be banned since it is a slow moving form of transportation?

Night of Majesty: Ahmed urges Muslims to pray for peace From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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wara state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has implored Muslims, especially those in Saudi Arabia on lesser Hajj (Umrah), to use the night of majesty with their supplication in the mosque, (I’tikaf), to pray more for peace and sustenance of political stability in the country.

The Governor in a message sent to the Muslims on lesser hajj, said it is only in an atmosphere of peace and political stability that the country can achieve the much desired socioeconomic transformation.

According to a press release signed by the his Chief Press Secretary , Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, the governor emphasised that though the path to greatness is always thorny, with collective will, determination, commitment and God’s guidance and blessing, success is guaranteed.

The governor also appealed to the pilgrims to shun acts that could tarnish the image and integrity of the nation urging them to dedicate themselves more to, spiritual uplift and rectitude. “Be good ambassadors of our state,” he counseled.

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News Extra

Nasarawa set to conduct LG polls From Maaji Dandaura, Lafia

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reparations are in top gear by the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) to conduct Local government elections in the state.

The chairman, Nasarawa State Independent Electoral commission Dr. Abdullahi Sallau Modibo disclosed this Tuesday while speaking to journalists in his office in Lafia.

Abdullahi said the Supreme

Court has ruled in favour of Nasarawa state government and NASIEC, and it is for this reason that the state government has given the electoral body the go ahead to commence preparations for the conduct of local government polls.

He said the conduct of the local government elections was delayed because of court litigation in which the former local government chairman took the state government to court.

According to him, it was a good

decision of the government to allow the court in conformity with the rule of law to give the verdict before NASIEC commences the preparations for the local government elections.

Abdullahi said NASIEC is now trying to dust its budget and also to fine tune its political time table to ensure a hitch free election.

“The conduct of local government elections is not a small business as millions of naira is expected to be spent by the state government in the conduct of

local government elections,” said the chairman.

He appealed to politicians and people of the state to support NASIEC so as to enable it conduct credible elections that everybody would be happy with.

Abdullahi however appealed to politicians to see politics as a game where there must be a winner and a loser, adding that the politicians should conform to the regulations of the game by adhering strictly to the rules and regulations of politicking.

L-R: Managing Director, Novo Health Africa, Dr. Dorothy Jeff- Nnamani, and UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr. Grace Ongile, during the signing of MOU on women health between UN Women and Novo Health Africa, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Nigeria will overcome Boko Haram crisis -Gulak

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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pecial Adviser on politics matters to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, has said yesterday that despite all the security challenges the country is facing today, it will overcome the challenge and come out stronger.

Gulak said this at breaking of fast with Muslim and Christian youth in Abuja, noting that, “It

is sad what is happening in the country particularly in the northeast, we are happy to see youth forming themselves into Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), this is Nigeria for you. Nigeria will never disintegrate.

“We have had series of crisis in the past like Nigerian Civil war, Maitastine, and the June 12 crisis, I have a strong believe that we would come out of this one too as well.”

Gulak who also serves as the national coordinator Goodluck Support Group (GSG), continued, “Mr. President is working, the railway is back, the roads have been fixed and the power supply has improved, but the opposition would not agree, but Nigerians are watching and they know.”

He however called on the Nigerian youth to remain resolute and not allow themselves to be used by the so called politicians

who are out to scuttle the effort being put in place by the present administration.

“We need peace in Nigeria irrespective of where you come from, the youth of this country are the hardest hit by poverty.

“You voted massively for Jonathan in 2011, we plead that this will continue although this gathering is not about 2015, but about the unity of the country,” he added.

Bauchi court reinstates suspended female lawmaker From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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he Bauchi State High Court 7 has issued stay of execution on orders that reinstated the suspended female law maker Mrs. Rifkatu in the Bauchi State House of Assembly.

It could be recalled that on 31st May, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Mohammed

Ibrahim Zango, ordered the setting aside of the indefinite suspension of the lawmaker and also ordered the assembly to pay her all her outstanding salaries and constituency allowances and finally declared her suspension as illegal, null and avoid.

He also declared that, Mrs. Rifkatu Danna, PDP member representing Bogoro

constituency in the Bauchi State House of Assembly has right to express her dissenting opinion on the relocation of headquarters of Tafawa Balewa local government from Tafawa Balewa to Bununu.

The presiding judge, Justice Aliyu Baba Usman in his ruling has also ordered for the stay of the execution.

The Counsel to the State

House of Assembly, Mahmud Haruna Yakubu has however filed an appeal against the Judgment and also filed a motion for the stay of execution of the judgment which was opposed by counsel to Danna Mr. Femi Falana and argued that the house wants to keep Mrs. Danna outside the house for the remaining period of her tenure.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

News Extra

10,846 pregnant women test HIV positive in Nasarawa From Ali AbareAbubakar, Lafia

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o fewer than 10,846 pregnant women were recorded to be HIV positive in a test conducted by the Institute of Human Virology in Nasarawa state from 2006 to date, and are now receiving free anti-retroviral drugs.

The figure was gotten from the total of 242,999 enrolled for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme ran by the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria.

The Coordinating Manager (IHVN) in Nasarawa, Emily Hauwa Umaru, explained to Peoples Daily that out of the 10,846 pregnant mothers who tested positive, 6,249 children were given birth to free of the disease, while 8,668 of the mothers are currently on ARV. According to her, IHVN which began operation in the state back in 2006, coordinates activities of the PMTCT in 132 sites spread across the state, including tertiary, secondary and primary health facilities, where testing and counseling on HIV/AIDS are given

to pregnant mothers.

On the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, the IHVN Coordinator pointed out that previously IHVN operated from its regional office in Jos to supervise

and work with the facilities, as well as give technical support in Nasarawa but the government saw the need for the organization to be closer to the people, so IHVN is now in the state.

She explained that as the leading Implementing Partner (IP), IHVN

opened its office in Nasarawa sometime in May last year, to ensure that the state understands the need to ownership and also care for the people living with HIV with special emphasis on PMTCT, so that mother to child transmission of HIV could be eliminated.

There is decline in polio virus infection, say development partners

By A’isha BiolaRaji

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r.

David Ross, out-going Head of Canadian International, coChair of the Development Partner Groups (DPG) has declared that, there is drop in the spread of wild polio virus in Nigeria.

He mentioned this at a sendoff party organized in his honour by ministry of health, on the completion of his stay in Nigeria as the Head of Canadian international.

According Ross, who spent a total of three years in the country, he said there is a decline in the number of states where polio virus is prevalent hence a major progress in polio eradication.

Describing the partner as modest in Nigeria, he said, “CIDA has modest program here in Nigeria; we are not as big as other developmental partner like USAID. “When I came, what we were putting into the Nigeria health sector was about eleven million US dollars (N1, 705,

000000) a year but now we have hundred per cent increase as it is twenty two million US dollars (N3,410,000000).

He however thanked Nigerian government for organizing what he called “surprise dinner.”

Showing his appreciation, the minister of health, Prof.

OnyebuchiChukwu described Mr. Ross as “Pragmatic person” who believes in proffering solution.

“It is not dressage, others should emulate this practice in him,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency,(NPHCDA),Dr. Ado Muhammad said the Canadian government has been of help; “They diversify and expand the scope of their investment in Nigeria covering maternal health, child health routine immunization in line with polio eradication.

“This partner is one we have benefited from as a country. It has contributed in making sure Nigeria attain MDG goals 4 and 5,” he said.

Lead poisoning: Ministry to procure safety kits

By Mohammed Kandi

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ermanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus Awute, said yesterday that the ministry has obtained Safety Kits and wears for safer mining activities by artisan and small scale miners at the critical flash points in Zamfara state.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by Marshall H. Gundu, Deputy Director Press, of the ministry, it said the distribution would aid best mining practices by field officers of the Ministry. “The wet milling and igoli machines for the safer mining programme ordered from South Africa would arrive the country soonest.

On arrival, the safer alternative equipment for processing of gold ores would be installed at three mineral processing centres in Bagega, Kwali and Maru.

“Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has plans in its future budgets to extend the safer mining programme to other states of the federation beyond Zamfara State to build mineral processing centres among other things,” he said.

Meanwhile, Country Head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Michelle Chouinard , said Government interventions over the Zamfara lead poisoning has attained remarkable achievements particularly in the areas of environmental remediation, sensitization on safer mining practice and treatment of the affected victims.

Chouinard, who disclosed this during her courtesy visit to the ministry, demands for collaborations and alliance to prevent future occurrence of lead poisoning in Zamfara and in any other state of the country.

L-R: Chairman, Board of Trustees, Community Intervention and Relief Initiative (COIRI), AVM Mohammed Audu Bida (rtd), Deputy Director, Disaster Risk Reduction, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Aliyu Sambo, and Consultant/Facilitator of COIRI, Malam Abubakar Ahmed, during the training of trainers workshop on flood risk reduction/strengthening local emergency management committee organised by COIRI and NEMA, yesterday in Keffi, Nasarawa state.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Electricity: Kaduna Distribution Company assures of steady power supply

By Etuka Sunday

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he Managing Director of Kaduna Distribution Company (DISCO), Idris Mohammed, has reiterated the determination of his Company to keep the ongoing power transformation agenda alive in the state through steady power supply to the customers.

In a statement issued by

the spokesman of Ministry of power, Timothy Oyedeji Mohammed said this would be achieved by supplying power uninterruptedly on daily basis.

While recalling his earlier promise to keep the transformation agenda alive in the power sector, he said this position has further been reinforced by a letter of appreciation from Senator Yushua Mohammed Anka.

Mohammed explained that Yushua acknowledged that people living in his neighborhood now enjoy near regular power supply, a feat he described as remarkable.

He assured that his staff would continue to improve the fortunes of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company until it gets to the target of 24hours daily.

Minister harps on strategic framework for youth empowerment initiatives

By Albert Akota

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he Minister of Youth Development, Malam Inuwa Abdulkadir, has said that in no distant time Nigerian youths would be fully engaged in various skill acquisition programmes in order to make them self-reliant.

Speaking at the public

presentation of the strategic framework for youth development in Abuja, the ministerstated that the initiatives are aimed at achieving the transformation agenda of vision 20-2020 of the present administration.

He explained that the initiative is a strategic framework that seeks to reposition the ministry as coordinating agency with the

singular goal of articulating a shared value in Nigeria youth development, by connecting the resources of the ministry with those of other stakeholders for accelerated mass outreach.

According to him, the new framework aims at achieving social mobilization of youths, leadership development as well as youth employment.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 41

NCF wants NSC support after Division 5 qualification F

Falcon job: Former coaches ruled out

Stories by Albert Akota ollowing the Nigeria’s qualification into Division 5 of the ICC World Cricket League in London, board member of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Olisa Egwuatu has called on National Sports Commission (NSC) and wellmeaning Nigerians to support the national team financially ahead of the next year Division 5 league competition in Malaysia.

Egwuatu who led the team to London for the qualification said yesterday in Abuja that the promotion into Division 5 would bring a lot of benefits to the game in Nigeria.

He noted that the NCF is delighted with the giant strides the sport is making to the country, especially the next year tournament in Malaysia alongside

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Ikpeba supports Nigeria professional football union

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x-Nigeria International and Football Analyst victor Ikpeba has canvassed for the establishment of association of professional football union to cater for struggling ex-athletes.

Ikpeba, a member of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical committee told Peoples Daily Sports in Abuja that the lack of viable professional union or any pension scheme responsible for struggling of sports men and women.

The prince of Monaco said: “I think we need to have a viable professional football union that we can run to for any assistance, if you look at the actors and musician they have a very strong union to support themselves and look after those one that are struggling or sick but in football, we don’t have any.

“And I think we need to have union that would cater for struggling athlete after their career so that with or without support from government or individuals we should be able to have enough funds to support people that are struggling among the ex international, “he said.

The 1997 Africa footballer of the year however said that Nigeria can win this year Africa footballer.

“Nigeria has opportunity to grab the award. There is no doubt about it. We have the likes of Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses, and Mikel Obi that can win it but for Sunday Mba, I am not sure, though he had a good outing at the Nation’s Cup, “he said.

Nigeria players celebrating victory Argentina, Tanzania, Vanuatu and Jersey, who hosted the division 6 championships.

“Another benefit of the promotion is that Nigeria will now feature in more international competitions than before, and this will further help in exposing the cricketers to acquire better skills,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Captain of the team Adekunle Adegbola lauded the NCF for

providing a platform for them to showcase their talents at the ICC World Cricket League in London.

“It is a great thing to be in Division 5 and we are highly privileged to be there and I to captain the side, which has yielded result in tournament because we played five games and loss one.

“The team did brilliantly we were excellent at the event, we did a fine job with the bat. We were all in high spirits at the event.

“I hope we do well in Malaysia and we will be looking to be promoted to Division 4 and we are going to prepare well because we know it is going to be a tough task and a step-up, “he promised.

Peoples daily Sports learnt that the Nigerian team was made up of 14 players, led by Olisa Egwuatu and sponsored by a former President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Dr. John Abebe.

3SC halve Salami’s salary for misconduct

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Gbolahan Salami

hooting Stars have vowed to slash the salary of their impressive striker, Gbolahan Salami after his absence from the team’s camp After going AWOL and missing training sessions without official permission from the club, Shooting Stars of Ibadan have placed their in-form striker, Gbolahan Salami on half salary.

The Board and Management of the club in a press statement relayed by the Oluyole Warriors’ media officer, Jubril Arowolo, said they took the action to enforce discipline in the beleaguered club.

Arowolo in a statement stated: “The board and management of

Shooting Stars Sports Club, 3SC, Ibadan have taken this drastic step in enforcing discipline in the team by placing Gbolahan Salami on half salary.

“The ‘enfant terrible’ of the Nigerian league has failed to turn up for the club’s training sessions in the last two days without official permission.

Salami, who had courted controversies in the past, has scored over four goals for the Ibadan side in the league this season. He also netted in his last official game for 3SC - the 3-1 loss to Enyimba in a Federation Cup Round of 16 clash played last week in Abuja.

Enyeama assures of Lille’s number one

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he Nigeria goalkeeper has been rewarded with a starting place in the French club by his coach following his year-long loan in Israel Vincent Enyeama will be first choice goalkeeper at Lille for the 2013/14 season after a year-long loan deal at Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

30-year-old Enyeama left Lille last season after being unable to get consistent play time at the then French champions as he was second choice to Mickael Landreau.

However, L’Equipe reports that Coach Rene Girard will now make the Nigerian his first choice

Enyeama in goal with the new season set to commence, ahead of Steeve Elana who took charge after Landreau’s departure in December 2012.

Enyeama, who had been linked with a move to Spain, will look to stay at the club as he hopes to keep his place in the Nigeria squad leading to next year’s World Cup in Brazil

ormer Super Falcons coaches have been completely ruled out from the vacant job.

Initially, they were listed as frontrunners for the position coach Kadiri ikhana vacated in November 2012 after the team’s worst performance at the African Women’s Championship (AWC) in Equatorial Guinea.

The former coaches are considered surplus based on the newest criteria to give the hot job to a fresh man who is disciplined and with clear cut track record of achievement.

The latest development has knocked out highly-favoured coaches like Samuel Okpodu, who won the 2002 AWC gold medal with the side but failed to replicate the feat in the 2003 Fifa Women’s World Cup, as well as Ntiero Effiom who failed with the side at the 2007 Fifa Women’s World Cup. Also without a chance of returning as Falcons coach is Eucharia Uche, who though won the AWC with the side but failed to qualify the team for the All Africa Games as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Coach Rolandson Odeh is shut out same as former assistants, Peter Dedevbo and Daniel Evumena.

Dedevbo assisted Effiom in 2007 and Evumena assisted Ismaila Mabo and equally handled the Falconets.

The coach of Pelican Stars, Edet Egan, who few days ago was reported to be in pole position of grabbing the Super Falcons job, is considered an outsider right now due to some unfavourable reports allegedly associated with indiscipline while the coast appears bright and clear for the Falconets and Rivers Angels coach, Edwin Okon to be named the substantive coach of the sixtime African champions.

A prominent member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical committee disclosed to supersport.com on condition of anonymity that the apparent delay in naming a coach for the side is due to the committee’s avowed commitment to be thorough in its decision to name a credible coach.

“We’ve done lots of work towards naming a coach for the Super Falcons but we’re careful not to settle for a coach whose past is full of dirts, indiscipline and bereaved of achievements.

“Our watchword for a perfect coach is based on discipline, achievement and clean record.

“Right now we’ve shut the doors against former and assistant coaches, many or virtually all of them came short of our main criteria.

“I know we’ve delayed on the assignment due to our patriotic desire to recommend an impeccable, high disciplined and experienced coach for the side.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 43

Sports

Fabregas must stay at Barcelona despite speculation D

espite Barcelona having already rejected several offers for CescFabregas, the English media continues to link the Catalan playmaker with a move back to the Premiership only a couple of summers after his return to his home club.

It is no secret that the former Arsenal captain continues to have a large number of admirers in the British Isles, mostly based on fond memories of his tremendous progression from promising youngster to midfield maestro under Arsene Wenger.

Since his return to the Camp Nou for 29.5 million euros, however, a considerable number of Cules believe Cesc has failed to show his worth. In their eyes,

the 26-year-old has shown an increasingly passive attitude which has stopped him from reaching the level of leadership which made him special during his time in England.

Competing with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta for a starting spot in the lineup is a huge challenge that many players, as ThiagoAlcantara showed recently, would be prepared to run away from if given the slightest chance.

The latest reports indicate that Manchester United is preparing a third bid. But I believe attempting to lure Fabregas from the Blaugranas this summer is virtually mission impossible as his journey with the Cules is just getting started.

Celtic sign Ajax star

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cottish champions Celtic signed winger DerkBoerrigter from Dutch champions Ajax for a fee believed to be £3m and he could make his debut yesterday’s UEFA Champions League third round qualifier.

The 26-year-old - who scored six times last season in helping Ajax win the title - signed a four-year contract and could well play a part against Swedish side Elfsborg in the first leg of the qualifier in Glasgow.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon, who has raised £17.5m from the transfers of Victor Wanyama to Southampton and Gary Hooper to Norwich City, said that Boerrigter ticked all the boxes.

Boerrigter had two spells with Ajax, re-signing with them in 2011, and also played for other Dutch outfits Zwolle and RKC Waalwijk.

Suarez will cost Arsenal £50m, say Liverpool Valencia eye Torres to replace Spurs target Fabregas

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Luis Suarez

iverpool striker Luis Suarez will not be sold for less than £50 million after the Uruguayan accepted he does not have a £40 million release clause in his contract, according to reports.

Arsenal believed they had triggered a clause last week by bidding £40,000,001 but were swiftly informed that the only significance of that figure was that the former Ajax man was required to be informed of the offer.

Suarez had been tipped to challenge Liverpool’s stance with the Premier League but the forward, who wasthe Reds’ top scorer last season, has sought no action.

That leaves Arsenal needing to stump up Liverpool’s asking price of £50 million if they are to prise Suarez away from Anfield.

The Telegraph quotes a senior Liverpool source saying: “We’ve all examined the clause in detail. All it obliges is for us to enter good faith negotiations about Luis’s future.

Tottenham start €115m negotiations with Real Madrid

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ottenham have finally opened talks with Real Madrid over the €115 million sale of Gareth Bale, with club officials increasingly convinced the Welshman will leave this summer.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been adamant all summer that the club’s prized asset would not be sold under any circumstances.

However, Madrid’s concerted campaign has borne fruit in the last couple of days, with their most recent tactic a warning to Bale and his advisors that it is ‘now or never’ for him to force a move prompting the 24-year-old to privately declare in a meeting with Levy that he wants to join the Spanish giants.

That has led the Spurs chairman, whose ‘no sale’ policy had been fully backed by owner Joe Lewis, to open dialogue with Real in the last 24 hours, with a meeting between Levy

and Madrid president Florentino Perez expected to take place on August 6 in Florida.

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ernando Torres could be heading back to La Liga with reports suggesting Valencia will attempt to replace Roberto Soldado with the Chelsea striker.

Soldado is nearing a switch to Tottenham in a £26 million deal, and with the role up front being vacated by the 28-year-old at the Mestalla, Valencia see Torres as the ideal candidate to fill the gap.

Torres signed for Chelsea for £50 million in January 2011, but it is believed that Valencia will not offer more than half of that fee for the former Atletico Madrid man.

It is not yet known whether Torres would be willing to head back to Spain, or whether Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would be prepared to take a loss on the player.

With Chelsea set to continue their pursuit of unsettled Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, it appears that Torres will not feature in Jose Mourinho’s starting line-up.

Torres enjoyed his best season at Stamford Bridge during the last campaign, netting 22 times in 64 appearances, but despite the solid figures has yet to impress since his move from Liverpool, with only 34 goals bagged in 134 games.

Torres

Adjei mute over transfer speculation

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ormer Ghana goalkeeper Sammy Adjei has refused to be drawn into speculation about his future following his eviction from Hearts of Oak. The veteran keeper has become a major casualty in an audacious bid by the club to revamp their squad for title pursuits in the next football

season.

Having decided to transfer-list 14 players, Hearts’ inclusion of the former national number one drew criticism from some quarters, but he says he will not speak to the issue for the moment.

His problems with Hearts coach David Duncan saw him relegated to

Hearts of Oak’s reserves bench for most parts of last season.

TettehLugard, younger and far less experienced than Sammy Adjei, was the preferred goalkeeper. As a result, Supersport understands that the player himself asked for his contract to be terminated.

Inter close in on Chelsea starlet

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Bale

nter are closing in on a loan deal for Chelsea’s Brazilian full-back Wallace.

Jose Mourinho confirmed during the club’s pre-season tour of Asia that the 19-year-old will be sent out on a temporary move for the season as he will not obtain a work permit to remain in the Premier League.

Wallace’s representatives held talks with with the Blues on Tuesday as they attempt to seek a resolution that would allow the youngster to make the switch to Serie A. Mourinho, however, has stressed that there will be no option to buy Wallace at the end of the season; despite the Italian club being keen to obtain a clause in the loan deal which would allow them to make the move permanent.

Inter boss Walter Mazzarri has been a long-term admirer of of the right-back and considered a move for the Brazilian during his reign as coach at Napoli.

Wallace

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY| THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Sports Robson, Watson win hard-court season openers

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eather Watson and Laura Robson began their United States hard-court seasons with battling wins in Washington and California respectively.

Watson recovered from losing the first set to beat American Alexandra Mueller 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 at the Citi Open.

The 21-year-old will play French fourth seed Alize Cornet in round two.

British number one Robson beat Ayumi Morita 4-6 7-5 6-2 in the Southern California Open at Carlsbad and will face Petra Kvitova in the next round.

Watson recently ended her twoyear coaching relationship with Colombian Mauricio Hadad and is working with American Chip Brooks in Washington, before Lawn Tennis Association lead

Approach, Toronado set for Glorious Goodwood clash

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awn Approach and Toronado are set for the ‘Duel on the Downs’ after they were confirmed as runners in Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Dawn Approach, the 2,000 Guineas winner and beaten Derby favourite, just edged out Toronado at Royal Ascot, having earlier beaten him at Newmarket.

Dawn Approach’s trainer Jim Bolger is confident his horse can complete a hat-trick of wins over his rival.

The Richard Hannon-trained colt Toronado only lost to Dawn Approach at the Royal meeting by a short head in a pulsating finish.

Heather Watson

women’s coach Jeremy Bates takes over in August for Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open.

The Guernsey native has also

spoken about developing a bigger serve and more attacking game, and an ace count of 14 in her first match since Wimbledon will have been encouraging.

World Swimming: Meilutyte, Ledecky win world titles

Toronado and Approach in action

Ohuruogu wins 400m at Anniversary Games

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Ledecky smashes 1500m world record

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ithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte added the 100m breaststroke world title to her Olympic gold with victory in Barcelona.

The 16-year-old, who is based in Plymouth, clocked one minute 4.42 seconds, just outside the world record she set in the semi-finals.

United States teenager Katie

Ledecky won the 1500m, knocking six seconds off the world record to finish in 15.36.53, ahead of Denmark’s Lotte Friis.

After winning 400m gold on Sunday, Ledecky will now target a historic treble in the 800m freestyle on Saturday.

Meilutyte, who has attained superstar status back in her

homeland since winning Olympic gold last summer, was cheered on by a number of Lithuanian fans who had made the trip to Spain.

Ledecky was locked in a battle with Friis, Rebecca Adlington’s old rival, throughout their 1500m final and only pulled clear in the final 150m. New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle finished third.

hris Adcock is hopeful of going one better than 2011 and winning mixed doubles gold at next week’s World Championships in Guangzhou, China.

Adcock teams up with compatriot Gabby White this time, after winning silver with Scotland’s Imogen Bankier at Wembley two years ago.

Adcock and White, ranked 17th, have a bye in the first round, while English champions Chris Langridge and Heather Olver take on Sweden’s Nico Ruponen and Amanda Hogstrom.

Both Adcock and White will play in two competitions, with Adock joining Andrew Ellis in the men’s doubles and White playing alongside Lauren Smith in the women’s doubles.

Welsh duo Daniel Font and Oliver Gwilt will take on Russia’s Sergey Lunev and Evgeny Dremin in round one.

WBO: Hull targets victory at St Andrews

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Charley Hull

nglish prospect Charley Hull says she dreams every day of winning the Women’s British Open, which starts at St Andrews today.

The 17-year-old from Kettering has made an impressive start to her first season on the Ladies European Tour, finishing second in her first five events.

Standing in Hull’s way this week is South Korea’s formidable Inbee Park, the world number one, who is bidding to become the first female golfer to win four consecutive major titles.

Australia’s Karrie Webb is another contender on the Old Course - the 38-year-old won the Ladies European Masters on Sunday at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, with Hull finishing in a share for ninth.

The Women’s British Open is the final qualifying event for the Solheim Cup and Hull’s primary focus this week is likely to be making the European team.

She is in contention to make her debut against the United States in Colorado next month after a fine debut season in the professional ranks.

Adcock and White

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

PAGE 45

Sports

P-i-c-t-o-r-i-a-l

1 1. Tahiti’s beach soccer team were abuzz with excitement as they visited the Home of FIFA , meeting with FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, undergoing a training session and taking hundreds of photographs.

2. The Scarlets are ready to open talks with British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies about a new contract.

3. Neymar spoke of his delight after making his Barcelona debut but claimed it will take time to get up to speed.

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3

4. Heather Watson and Laura Robson began their United States hard-court seasons with battling wins in Washington and California respectively.

4

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

Some Interesting Facts

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mus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.

•Eskimos never gamble.

•Estimated percentage of American adults who go on a diet each year: 44 •Even if you cut off a cockroach’s head, it can live for several weeks.

•Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treas.

•Every person has a unique tongue print.

•Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head.

•Every time you lick a stamp, you’re consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

•Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning “containing arsenic.”

•February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

•First novel ever written on a typewriter was “Tom Sawyer”.

•Goethe couldn’t stand the sound of barking dogs and could only write if he had an apple rotting in the drawer of his desk.

•Hang On Snoopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

•Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.

•Heinz Catsup leaving the bottle travels at 25 miles per year.

•Hot water is heavier than cold.

•How can you tell when a gorilla is angry? It sticks its tongue out.

•HowdyDoody had 48 freckles.

•Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.

•Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation.

PAGE 47

•If an orangutan belches at you, watch out. He’s warning you to stay out of his territory.

•If you are locked in a completely sealed room, you will die of carbon dioxide poisoning first before you will die of oxygen deprivation.

•If you bring a raccoon’s head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.

•If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

•In 75% of American households, women manage the money and pay the bills.

•In 1681, the last dodo bird died.

•In 1976, a Los Angeles

Leisure

secretary formally married her 50-pound pet rock.

•In 1977, a 13-year-old boy discovered a tooth growing on his left foot.

•In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die.

•In 1980, the Yellow Pages accidentally listed a Texas funeral home under frozen foods.

•In 1980, there was only one country in the world with no telephones - Bhutan.

•In 1983, a Japanese artist made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of toast.

•In 1984, a Canadian farmer began renting ad space on his cows.

•In 1984, a New Jersey man opened a summer camp for Cabbage Patch dolls.

•In 1987, a 1,400-year-old

lump of still-edible cheese was unearthed in Ireland.

•In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never said “Play it again, Sam.” •In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

•In high school, Robin Williams was voted “Least Likely to Succeed.”

•In Kentucky, 50% of the people who get married for the first time are teenagers.

•In Los Angeles, there are fewer people than there are automobiles.

•In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television’s Chann nnel ell 1 to to mobile services (two-wa way ay radi dio os in taxicabs, for inst nstanc ance) e) but but did did not re-numbeer the oth other er cha chann nneel assignmen ents ts. s. Th hat is why why y yo your ur TV TV set ha as cha han nne nel elss 2 and up, but but no chann cha nneel 1.

1

Say what?

SUDODKU

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A baby weighing almost a stone and measuring 22.6 inches long has been born in Germany.

Baby Jasleen arrived on July 26 and weighed a massive 13.47 pounds. Consultant physician Matthias Knuepfer and nurse take care of Germany’s heaviest newborn Jasleen Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013

LATEST

Ikpeba faults Oboabona for Arsenal snub

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ormer Africa Footballer of the Year Victor Ikpeba has said it was wrong for Godfrey Oboabona not to undergo trials with EPL side Arsenal.

Oboabona has said it was disrespectful for Arsenal to ask him to undergo trials after what he has achieved with the Super Eagles.

But Ikpeba, who played under Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger at French club Monaco, said the Sunshine Stars skipper got it wrong.

Ikpeba said: “Oboabona was wrongly advised, he should have gone for the trials even if he does not make it into Arsenal, another English side would have seen him.

Tahiti player fail drug test

eteran journalist and columnist of Daily Times of Nigeria, Alhaji Alade Odunewu popularly known by his pseudonym Allah De died last Thursday at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, at the age of 85. It is said that if you don’t climb the mountain, you can’t see the view. If you never read Allah De, you didn’t know Alhaji Alade Odunewu. His columns were great truths in tiny capsules. Born in Ikorodu, he was educated at St. Johns School, Aroloy, Lagos, and Bethel College, Onitsha, Anambra state. He studied journalism at Regent Polytechnic, London now University of Westminster.

He began his career at Daily Times and rose to the position of Editor. He was one of the elite journalists/writers/columnists at Kakawa Street (home of the Daily Times in Lagos) Nigeria’s equivalent of Fleet Street.

Odunewu would be remembered for converting his poignant and satirical column Allah De into the constituency of the rejected.

My first and only encounter with Odunewu was on the pages of his weekly Sunday column Allah De in the Sunday Times. It’s tough work eulogizing a wit as acerbic, clever, and ruthless journalist and columnist as Odunewu. I believe the best way to do this is to take a safe route by quoting from his columns.

But since I don’t have access to his articles, I will be content to base my opinions of him of what I read in those columns.

Odunewu was like a Baptist preacher united in a mission underpinned by an earnest faith that the work mattered, and he knew it, and the public which he wrote for knew it. He was devoted to the common good. His writings were laced with spontaneous jabs of humor. All the ruckus and furor of his penmanship just stimulated the creative juices of the reader.

He wrote with energy, a certain

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“ Joel Sanchez

ADVERT: BUSINESS: NEWS: LAGOS:

There is no doubt that the governors’ peripatetic vision has contributed in no small measure to the overheating of the polity.

— National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur

Legacy and legend of Allah De

SPORTS

IFA says it has provisionally suspended a Tahiti player for 30 days after he failed a doping test at the Confederations Cup. FIFA did not identify the player or details of the violation.

The player’s sample was taken after Tahiti lost to Uruguay 8-0 in Recife on June 23.

FIFA says it opened disciplinary proceedings and invited the player to request a full hearing.

It’s the third doping case announced this year involving a FIFA match. FIFA banned Peru midfielder Joel Sanchez for two years in March.

He tested positive for a stimulant after a World Cup qualifying match in Bolivia last October.

Last week, the Jamaica football federation said one of its players failed a doping test after a qualifier in Honduras in June.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

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GUEST COLUMNIST Bayo Oluwasanmi byolu@aol.com

Late Alhaji Alade Odunewu adventurism about the times with a sense of the fabric and the rhythms of our community. His writings would crack you up with laughter that comes with unconscious gratitude – somewhere inside you feel lucky to be reading his column.

His writings gave you a sense of hope and resilience in the hereand now. From his writings you would discover that he was inspired by the imperishable watchdog responsibility. Those who knew him remember him as the combination of playfulness, camaraderie, and seriousness of purpose. Whether the issue was insanity, corruption, or ineptitude of government, Odunewu’s verbal style blended the high and the low in a way that only Allah De could pull off. He was the indomitable spirit, the

rebel who stubbornly and without respite wrote against domination exercised by the powerful on the powerless.He articulated with wit and with a unique Allah De sarcasm the right to rebellion against social, political, and economic system that was capable of sinking Nigeria into disorder and chaos. He said more with less, found words that are better than the wisest silence, naked words free of rhetorical clothing. Reading his column, it was never in doubt that writing brings him deep feelings and great pleasure. Odunewu would fly in the dark like a bat, would vomit all the lies the government wanted us to swallow. He was disobedient to the powers who give order against the citizen’s conscience and against common sense.

He refused to be neutral in controversial discussions and debates on national issues. He tried to choose the right side in the eternal struggle of indignation against indignity. He condemned in no uncertain terms the hysteria madness of use of power by those in authority. He was adamant in advocating that leaders and others entrusted with the people’s business put their skills to use to benefit the people rather than to regiment or condemn people to a certain fate.

Odunewu in his no nonsense well reasoned and thought provoking articles, would not hesitate to match places and incidents with names, names with crimes and transgressions, and crimes with

His writings gave you a sense of hope and resilience in the hereand now. From his writings you would discover that he was inspired by the imperishable watchdog responsibility. Those who knew him remember him as the combination of playfulness, camaraderie, and seriousness of purpose. Whether the issue was insanity, corruption, or ineptitude of government, Odunewu’s verbal style blended the high and the low in a way that only Allah De could pull off.

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consequences. These investigative narratives were intellectual grist for the mill.He used his pen in critical engagement to summon the conscience of politicians and others in public service. He championed a new kind of journalism for humanism for a just and progressive social and political order. Odunewu was a revolutionary who saw the possibilities that journalism could serve as a tool to investigate and expose the appalling material conditions of the poor and the voiceless.

Few would deny the accuracy of his incisive observations regarding the Nigerian system and its effects on the people. His writings and ideas obliged us to take a dramatic stand, or stated differently, a position that defines the duties of the government vis-a-vis the expectations of the governed.He was ruthless with leaders who engaged in endless parades of buffoonery lacking the dignity and discipline to flush out all traces of insanity in government and in public office.

Indeed, Odunewu used his pen to increase the anxieties of corrupt and oppressive governments. The pen as his weapon was used to murder the sleep of those in power by constantly reminding them of their crimes against the people.He was a man of strong and active mind and great force of character, honest, resolute, and straightforward. He was true to his convictions of duty: let the consequences be what they might.He thirsted for knowledge, and the earnest and practical character of his mind led him to desire the solid and useful rather than showy and superficial life.

Odunewu’s retentive memory, a lively imagination, strong reasoning powers, and untiring application of best practices of journalism placed him in the foremost rank among his peers. Alhaji Alade Odunewu was a journalist with organic intellectual prowess whose acerbic column outlived his readers. This is the legacy and legend of Allah De. So, let’s toast Odunewu for Allah De’s journalistic reformist mission he let loose on Nigeria. Who would trade his columns – sassing the corrupt politician, dissing the inept public servant and imperiously threatening to end the career of powerful and famous politicians?

Just before you finish reading this, look back in your memory and reflect on his columns. The old columns and its rich memories seem pretty special!

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141