Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 03, August, 2013

Why oil theft war can’t be won — Investigation >>Page 11

Return of Umaru Dikko: The NPN connection >>Page 18

Kano: The morning after the blasts

Vol. 3 No. 50

SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

RAMADAN 25 - 26, 1434 AH

N150

lMuslims, Christians unite against terror

Alakyo killings: Witnesses recount how Ombatse killed 8, razed villages

>> Pg 8

Ramadan Timings for Abuja MAGRIB ALFIJR Governor Umaru Tanko Al-MAkura presenting a plaque to Major Hamza Al-Mustapha during an appreciation visit to Nasarawa State Friday

6.55 p.m.

5.03 a.m.

See other timings on Page 3

Registration over, fresh hurdles before APC >> Pg16 Ramadan Message

The Prophet (SAW) said: “There should be no envy except for two: A man whom Allah has taught the Qur’an and he recites and teaches it during the hours of the night and during the hours of the day and whom Allah gave wealth and he spent it (in good) during the hours of the night and the hours of the day.

(Al-Bukhari) Sponsored by Kano state government

Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Governor, Kano State

Page 2

Peoples Daily WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

News

Northern governors must declare emergency on education - Nasarawa SUBEB chairman

W

hat is your assessment of the fallen standards of education in the north?

In the north and across the country, there have been hues and cry about the fallen standards of education in the country for almost a decade or more and to me. By recent statistics, it would appear that if the education system in Nigeria is in fact in terrible level of decline, that of the north is a disaster. It has assumed a status of disaster and therefore, I will first advocate for a declaration of a state of emergency in the education sector in the north. We are at the lowest level of the educational development process. One may look at the other parts of the country, in spite of the categorization in the fallen standards of education, they are doing fairly well. My own sincere solution is that the northern states governors should come together to look at the statistics, and lay more emphasis on education rather than the political jamboree they are always engaged in and solve the problem of underdevelopment, illiteracy, poverty by focusing their attention and resources on how to bring up the declining fortunes of education in the region, which was hitherto one of the best in the country under the Sardauna regime. We should look at the appalling, terrible statistics in school attendance, quality of teachers, structural development of schools and how stakeholders, the parents, teachers, political elites, both the upper class and intellectual class have undermined the process of education.

Recently, in an attempt to address this fallen standard of education in the north, the federal government intervened through the almajiri school system. How far will you assess the impact of this programme?

I think the federal government has initiated a very good and pragmatic action.

I attend the meetings of all stakeholders in the education sector under the aegis of UBEC, which is the statutory agency that coordinates the activities of basic education in the country. I’m glad that the federal government has designed a very pragmatic approach to overcome the challenges of the declining fortunes of education, one of which is the establishment of the almajiri system. There are others like the nomadic education that was fashioned earlier, which has been seemingly abandoned by some states. There is the new educational programme to assist the south-east and south-south in what they call boy-child education scheme because of the high decline in school attendance by boys in these areas. So, they are now in a parallel dimension, designing what they have done in the north for the almajiri system.

I think the almajiri system is very good and it has confirmed the determination of the present administration to transform the educational sector and I think we should appreciate what the government is doing because, they have made people to be quite conscious . However, the almajiri system has to be fully integrated in order to succeed. One of the other shortcomings of the education sector is that our educational system is not customized, not tailor-made.

We have produced products from basic education levels to tertiary education, but the problem is that it has not been interconnected with the productivity level.

For me, we have not yet discovered the formula and the only way to discover it is to now go back to task ourselves to design the mechanism that will make our educational system to meet the yearning and aspirations of our developmental needs. All we do, is to quickly latch onto the enchantment platforms of other countries; Japan will come, we will rush to copy their project;

Mallam Abdulkarim Mohammad Abdullahi, seasoned broadcaster and educationists, former principal of the NTA Television College Jos, is now the Executive Chairman, Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB). In this interview with some journalists, he xrayed the fallen standards of education in the country and how the board is set to reposition basic education in Nasarawa. Ali Abare Abubakar was there.

Mallam Abdulkarim Mohammad Abdullahi the American system, the Chinese method is now being introduced. And this is bringing confusion in the sector. What we actually need to do is to ask ourselves, how were our founding fathers, the Sardaunas, Awolowos, etc, able to capture the required perspective in making the template to achieve the target of development? They had their own formula and they customized education, much as nobody is an island, with the world being a global village. What needs could you pick from the global village to implant locally? And at the level of competence, our universities have degenerated with the passage of time. Take for instance, the University of Ibadan where I graduated, it used to be rated amongst the best in the Commonwealth but because of the manner we took a fancy flight from reality, we are now in a situation where graduates from our universities are considered inferior.

Poor quality of education in the country could be tied to insufficient funding. How do you explain the failure of the tiers of government to heed to the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent of annual budgets to education, with governments only able to disburse paltry sums for the sector?

Inspite of efforts by the federal government and some state governments,

there is the apparent lack of political will to address the fundamental needs of our development. And you cannot talk about development without the strategic influence and role of education. I also buy into this believe that budgetary allocations to education is paltry. It is nothing to write home about. Day in day out, our leaders have been lamenting the fallen standards of education but we are yet to come up with any decisive action that would mitigate this decay. It has to do with the willpower.

There are few states that are making a strong headway in order to chart a course of renewal; at least, even Nasarawa state under the present leadership is gradually developing its own capacity to manage the education sector to the level that will make us nurture the greatness of our country.

Because we are the lowest of the lowest, to borrow a Shakespearean adage, we have the highest number of unqualified teachers.

Of course, there are other variables that add to this decay, the attitudes of parents, the attitudes of the political elites, the community itself. There are many factors that constitute a stumbling block to the development of a viable educational sector .

In the past, it was the community that ginger the government at all levels to support the educational crusade. We had community secondary schools, provisional schools,

we had several levels at which the people monitor the system but which these are all lacking presently. Now nobody is doing that and that is why when you see the statistics, the people themselves because of ignorance and poverty, have decided to be indifferent, they have the right to demand, know what quality and value of education their children are being given. There is no reason to elect people to represent them who completely ignore the fundamental requirement they should be occupied with. In our country, where many people today passionately lay false claims as Muslims or Christians, killing and maiming innocent lives on endless mission of vengeance and reprisals, to demonstrate our devotional commitments as a façade; while in reality, our actions and practices are symptomatic manifestations of a people steeped in the worship of money and godfathers, rather than the true God. The parents have to share the blame in this, because they should demand, even in their ignorance and illiteracy, to have the best in terms of the quality of education. Because, without education, their children cannot aspire to be nominated as those they have elected. They should make it a duty to set up local committees as was done in the past.

We know how communities spearheaded the passion for better education in the North and other parts of the country.

As boss of the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), you have continuously lamented the state of education in the state. What has been the situation as at the time you came into office?

I have every reason to lament the terrible state of education in my state, because of the statistics.You must know that the education sector in Nasarawa was like a vineyard, a place where hungry political merchants were given some patronage. Why shouldn’t I lament. When I came on board just over a year ago, people regarded the sector as a personal turf. In less than 17 days in office, a protest was organized against me by contractors who were the beneficiaries of the former system. Even when they did not complete their projects, they were trying to threaten fire and brimstone in the instance that I’m delaying their payment. And I refused to budge but rather set up a standard. I could not idly sit in the office, making articulated statements that have no bearing on reality, and you know the level of corruption in the country is so pervasive. So, they were angry and they were even being instigated by some of the staff within the system.

They would come and stand by my door, plotting violent protest over their money and I refused to pay. Up till now, I’m living with the stigma because there are some of my members who are also conniving with the politicians. There are some people surrounding the governor who give him false information about our action.

One thing I want to say is that, I have to change the way people think of the board.

Regardless of their undertones, campaign of calumny, I have told the governor, and I want to repeat it here, if the governor hears any information about corruption or fraud, he has the right, even before the EFCC or ICPC, to lead investigations. And you know that those who have been beneficiaries of corruption will go to length to smear you.

What these people are doing is to hijack the board and align it to the state bureaucracy.

I would rather resign than allow people who have no vision and passion for education to control the board’s activities. I took the job because of my passion for education; it took three months to convince me. So when I came, they thought they could also use the place to milk the people but I refused and that is why they resort to planting all manner of information.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

News Feature

Israel-Palestine negotiations

The road to nowhere

Mohammed Ayoob

Settlements are rendering a two-state solution an impossibility and upcoming negotiations are little more than a sham.

E

verybody, including John Kerry, is trying to save Israel from itself. Except for the Israeli establishment, which occasionally speak with a forked tongue, but in reality pursues a policy that has put to rest all prospects of a two-state solution.

This policy was summed up three years ago by British-Israeli historian Avi Shlaim with reference to Israel's continuing colonization of the West Bank in the following words: "Netanyahu is like a man who, while negotiating the division of a pizza, continues to eat it".

Moreover, despite Netanyahu's lip-service to the concept of two states, some of the most influential figures in the Israeli cabinet have made it clear that the two-state solution is dead. Naftali Bennet, head of the Jewish Home Party and a senior member of the current Netanyahu cabinet, has made clear that "The idea that a Palestinian state should be established within the Land of Israel has reached a dead end... The most important thing for the Land of Israel is to build, and build, and build [Jewish settlements]".

Dann Dannon, the deputy defence minister and a leading member of Netanyahu's Likud party, has similarly stated that Israel should declare sovereignty over the Jewish settlements and empty areas of the West Bank and that the fate of Palestinian "blocks" should be "determined in an agreement with Jordan". This harks back to the Allon Plan of the 1970s, except that the Palestinian "blocks" now will be much smaller and much more disconnected from each other than envisioned in the earlier plan.

Dore Gold, former foreign affairs advisor to the prime minister, a former ambassador to the United Nations, and influential public intellectual in Israel, has not only ruled out the 1967 borders but also ruled out ceding East Jerusalem to a future Palestinian state.

He insists that there cannot be a two-state solution without Israel retaining military control of the Jordan Valley - a derogation of sovereignty that even the most pliable Palestinian interlocutors, such as Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erakat, are bound to reject.

Why is it then that US Secretary of State John Kerry is so eager to push both parties into another set of negotiations that are highly likely to be not only unproductive but counterproductive, by fuelling Palestinian anger by their failure, and thus bringing us a step closer to the inevitable third intifada? The answer is simple.

The United States needs Israel and the Palestinian Authority to start negotiations for the sake of negotiations well before the UN General Assembly convenes in September so that it can be spared another major embarrassment on the issue of Palestinian statehood when the General Assembly convenes. If Kerry can demonstrate that an American-sponsored peace process is underway he can forestall criticism both of Israel and of the United States in the General Assembly for lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood.

The primary reason for the Kerry initiative is to deflect international criticism of the United States for its failure to stop Israeli colonisation of the West Bank which is rendering Palestinian statehood impossible. It has become increasingly clear to seasoned observers of the Middle East that Washington's inability to make a dent in Israel's settlement policy is not only a question of the tail wagging the dog; it demonstrates that on the Palestine issue the dog and the tail have switched roles.

Paradoxically, the American failure to stop Israel from establishing and expanding Jewish settlements and de facto annexation of more and more Palestinian land may appear comforting to the discerning Palestinian observer for it is more than likely to lead to a re-unified Palestine within the borders of the British Mandate.

This means that we are fast moving toward a situation, if we have not arrived there already, that, notwithstanding the on-going charade about reviving the peace process, there will be only one state between the River Jordan and

John Kerry, US Secretary of State the Mediterranean Sea. Such a state will be based on one of two mutually exclusive principles: Equal rights for all its inhabitants or de facto apartheid.

The chances are that the dynamics of this state will be Jewish superiority and Palestinian inferiority amounting to apartheid. This is likely to be the case because the granting of equal political and civil rights to all its citizens would mean that the state, even if it continues to be called Israel, will lose its exclusivist Jewish character, reversing Zionist goals and achievements, an outcome that will not be acceptable to the large majority of Israel's Jewish population.

An apartheid state such as the one envisaged above, which is likely to be the end result of the present trajectory of Israeli policies, will be a recipe for perpetual conflict between the two peoples inhabiting the territory between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Even a seasoned US Army General, John Mattis, head of the US Central Command until his retirement two months ago, warned in a recent interview that the present situation is "unsustainable".

According to him, without a separation of the populations, "either [Israel] ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don't get to vote - apartheid. That didn't work too well the last time I saw that practised in a country".

Moreover, the US "paid a military security price [for Israel's policy] every day... because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel".

The emergence of an apartheid state is likely to be accompanied by international opprobrium as well as global ostracism of Israel - an outcome that even the United States will be unable to prevent despite its veto power in the United Nations Security Council that it has used so many times to such good effect in preventing resolutions critical of Israel from being passed by that august body.

What is more, conflict within a bi-national but apartheid Israelis bound to spill over its borders triggering off one or a series of major regional conflagrations. If this scenario unfolds, and given present indications it is likely that it will within the next decade or two, it will have extremely deleterious consequences for the United States and other Western powers that have major strategic and economic interests in the region but are seen as staunch supporters of Israel.

Mr Kerry's shuttle diplomacy and the reconvening of talks between a discredited Palestinian Authority and a less than honest Israeli government are unlikely to stop this future from unfolding.

Mohammed Ayoob is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Michigan State University

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Ramadan Timing Day 25

TOWNS MAGRIB ALFIJR Aba 6.49 5.09 Abakaliki 6.47 5.11 Abeokuta 7.06 5.28 Abuja 6.53 5.09 Akure 6.58 5.20 Argungu 7.07 5.08 Ankpa 6.46 5.10 Auchi 6.54 5.16 Azare 6.45 4.51 Bama 6.30 4.38 Bauchi 6.44 4.57 Benin 6.57 5.21 Bichi 6.53 4.58 Bida 6.58 5.14 Birnin Gwari 6.56 5.09 Birnin Kebbi 7.10 5.14 Biu 6.33 4.39 Calabar 6.43 5.12 Damaturu 6.38 4.44 Daura 6.54 4.55 Dutse 6.49 4.56 Enugu 6.48 5.12 Funtua 6.57 5.04 Gombe 6.38 4.51 Gwoza 6.31 4.40 Gumi 7.05 5.11 Gusau 6.58 5.04 Gwadabawa 7.07 5.08 Hadejia ` 6.47 4.50 Ibadan 7.03 5.23 Ife 7.02 5.22 Ilorin 7.03 5.23 Jalingo 6.36 4.52 Jere 6.52 5.05 Jos 5.47 5.00 Kabba 6.56 5.16 Kafanchan 6.50 5.04 Keffi/Nasarawa 6.53 4.59 Kaduna 6.54 5.05 Kano 6.52 4.58 Katsina 6.58 4.59 Kontagora 7.01 5.14 Lafia 6.46 5.04 Lagos 7.04 5.28 Lokoja 6.53 5.28 Maiduguri 6.31 4.39 Makurdi 6.46 5.06 Malumfashi 6.58 4.58 Minna 6.57 5.11 Port Harcourt 6.48 5.17 Ringim 6.49 4.56 Shagamu 7.04 5.26 Sokoto 7.07 5.08 Warri 6.56 5.21 Yola 6.32 4.48 Zaria 6.53 5.03 Cotonnou-Benin 7.07 5.33 Ndjamena-Chad 7.22 4.32 Niamey-Niger 7.20 5.21 Younde-Cameroun 6.28 5.01 Source: Society for Propagation of Islam Kaduna

PAGE 4

Special Report

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

The last kings of Africa: How Nigeria’s tribal ….(even though they lost power 50 years ago) Nigeria’s many traditional kings were formally stripped of their constitutional powers in 1963. But they continue to command great respect among their communities and wield considerable influence. Celebrated photographer, George Osodi toured the country extensively for a series of photographs entitled ‘Kings of Nigeria’ which is due to be exhibited at London’s Bermondsey Project between October 10 and October 27.

N Posing on his ornate throne, Alhaji Dr Ado Abdullahi Bayero is the current ‘Emir of Kano’, a position he has held since 1963.

igeria’s traditional monarchs may have been stripped of their powers half a century ago, but they appear to have lost little of their regal pomp and splendour as this fascinating series of portraits show.

With their brightly coloured robes, ornate thrones and legions of flunkeys attending every whim, they seem every bit the archetypal African kings.

A former ambassador to Senegal he is renowned for his abundant wealth, which has been amassed by investing in the stock market and agriculture.

As a well-known and celebrated Nigerian photographer, Mr Osodi was granted rare access to the palaces and throne rooms of these hereditary rulers who now serve

as living repositories of Nigeria’s enormous cultural heritage.

He told Al-Jazeera: ‘There are frequent clashes among different ethnic groups… Lots of people have lost trust in their identity. I felt it was important that we see this diverse culture as a point of unity instead of seeing it as something that should divide us as a nation.

‘The easiest way I could approach this was to look at the monarchy structure in the country because they are closer to the people than the governors.’

While their ancestors ruled over vast tracts of Africa, following the abolition of the monarchy in 1963 the regional monarchs were stripped of all their constitutional powers. But far from fading into Contd. on Page 5

His Majesty, Deinmowuru Donokoromo III, The ‘Pere of Isaba’, poses with his royal sceptre outside his palace. He has ruled over the Kingdom of Isaba in the oil rich South-West area of Delta state since 1983.

His Royal Majesty Oba Oyetunji Jimoh Olanipekun Larooye II, the ‘Ataoja of Osogbo’ in southwest Nigeria.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 5

Special Report

monarchs still live in lavish royal splendour

Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the current ‘Ooni of Ife’, relaxes in his throne room Contd. from Page 4 obscurity, they mostly remain popular leaders and are held in great regard by their hundreds of thousands of loyal subjects.

And despite lacking any formal powers they continue to wield considerable influence and serve as unofficial intermediaries between their subjects and the Nigerian government. His Majesty, Wilson Ojakovo Oghoghovwe Oharisi III was made the ‘Ovie of Ughelli’ in 1980 and has ruled over the great kingdoms of Ughelli and Urhoboland for more than 33

years.

Born in 1930, he has enjoyed a colourful life first working for his father’s business, then with the Nigerian Tribune newspaper, before attending Northampton College in the United Kingdom where he studied business management. In 1963 he became Sales Director of the stateowned National Motor company in the Nigerian capital Lagos.

He later formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria.

He worked as a teacher for

Robes of office: HRM Agbogidi Obi James Ikechukwu Anyasi II, ‘The Obi of the Idumuje Unor kingdom’, was until his death earlier this year, the longest reigning African Monarch. He was crowned king on October 9, 1946 at the age of 22. His robe, depicting a young Queen Elizabeth, gives a clear nod to the period of British colonial rule.

many years, firstly at a baptist day school. He was crowned king in 1976 and rules over some 300,000 subjects. He has studied management in London and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Just two years and four months after his birth in July 1977 he was crowned king following the unexpected death of his father.

It meant he was the youngest king anywhere in the world. He is currently the Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, one of Nigeria’s most prestigious universities.

(Source: Daily Mail)

Born to rule: Sitting on his golden throne, Benjamin Ikenchuku Keagborekuzi I is the current ‘Dein of Agbor’.

Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa I was crowned ‘Oba of Benin Kingdom’ in the Edo state of Nigeria in 1979. Before that he studied at Cambridge university before being appointed to many top government posts.

Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman is the current and 50th ‘Emir of Kasina’. He was coronated in 2008 five days after the death of his father, Emir Muhammad Kabir Usman. He is remembered as a peacemaker during the Nigerian civil war and has a passion for Polo.

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3

News

— SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PDP slams N10m nomination fee on Anambra gov aspirants

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday slammed N10 million nomination fee on aspirants seeking to contest the November 26 Anambra state governorship election.

Female governorship aspirants are expected to pay N5million for same.

All aspirants are also expected to pay N1 million each for the party’s Expression of Interest Form.

Already, 26 aspirants,

...As Dickson reconciliation cttee sues for peace in Ekiti including three women, have obtained the party’s Expression of Interest Form.

This is coming as the Chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Committee and Bayelsa state governor, Henry Seriake-Dickson yesterday called on stakeholders and gubernatorial aspirants from Anambra state, ahead of the congress, to close ranks and work for the success of the party at the governorship election.

You must wake up, IGP tells AIGs

By Lambert Tyem

T

he Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar yesterday charged Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) in charge of Zonal Commands and Departments to improve their efforts at fighting crime.

The IGP urged the AIGs that to “wake up from your perceived slumber and address the issue of insecurity frontally” .

Speaking at a meeting with the AIGs which later went into a closed door session, Abubakar stressed that there was need to increase efforts as crime wave was rising across the country.

“I urge you to pay more attention to the incidences of rising crime waves across the country. Daily situation reports bear testimonies to this phenomenon. In spite of the Emergency rule in Adawawa, Borno and Yobe, the insurgents still inflict untold hardship on peace loving resident of these states”.

According to the IG, the explosion in Sabon-Gari area of Kano metropolis on July 29, 2013 is another painful reminder that the war against terrorism is not yet over.

“I hasten to add that you must redouble your efforts and restructure the existing

crime fighting architecture at your disposal to ensure that the zones, commands and formations under your watch are kept secured.”

He directed the AIGs to collaborate with sister security agencies in their jurisdictions in the war against crime, noting that security was multi tasking in nature and that a single security agency could not handle it alone.

“In the South-East and South-South zones, armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes such as murder, assassination and political upheavals seem to be the order of the day. Hardly any day passes without tales of woes of residents robbed, kidnapped or assassination of political rivals.

I therefore charge you to sit up and tackle these menaces and ensure that the ordinary citizens get reprieve from those hell-bent on inflicting anguish and pain on them,’’ he said.

Abubakar urged them to mobilise men on robust intelligence gathering and constant patrol to check crime and insecurity across the country.

Declining questions on the crisis in Rivers State, when the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu appeared at the Force Headquarters, the IGP said he would address the media on the issue at a due date.

World Breastfeeding week: Men seek paternity leave- Minister

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

M

inister of Health, Prof.

OnyebuchiChukwu yesterday flagged off the 2013 World Breastfeeding week, with the theme “Breastfeeding Support: Close to mother”.

The Minister who was represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, AmbassadorSani BalaSaulawa said this year’s World Breastfeeding Week coincides with the launching of some developed materials on Infant and Young Child Feeding.

Prof. Chukwu said “this year’s theme celebration, with the slogan “Exclusive Breastfeeding: Support the mother, support the child” could not have come at a better time, considering the ongoing clamour for paternity leave

for fathers and the importance of peer counseling group to enhance collective survival of both the mother and the child.

He said the importance of breastfeeding in the first six months of life and up to two years and beyond could never be undermined, adding that malnutrition was responsible for more than 50% mortality rate among children of less than 5 years of age.

The minister added that the child’s immunity is lowered due to malnutrition thereby exposing the under-fives to deadly diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, saying malnutrition in the early stages, particularly in the first 1,000 days to two years cause irreversible physical and cognitive damage to the child.

Rising from a meeting with some aspirants yesterday at the presidential campaign office of the PDP in Abuja, Dickson said the mandate of the committee does not cover the consensus arrangement, saying that it will not impose any candidate on the Anambra state chapter of the PDP. The state chapter of the PDP, according to the time-table drawn by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), will hold its congress and governorship election on August 24 and November 16 respectively.

He explained that the work of the committee is to ensure harmony and mend all fences and make recommendations to the leadership of the party.

Earlier, the committee met with the leadership of the PDP from Ekiti state and berated it for the recent violence which engulfed the chapter over the alleged adoption of governorship consensus candidate in the state.

The Bayelsa state governor, during an interactive session with the Ekiti state delegation led by its Chairman,Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said

that as a disciplined party, the PDP is worried about this orgy of violence that occurred in the state, saying the party would not condone such behaviour from its members.

Dickson said that the party has adequate internal mechanism for members to resolve issues without resorting to violence.

He said that the Committee decided to interact with the members of the State Working Committee first as the custodians of the Party’s structures in the state while that of other stakeholders would follow suit.

L-R: Chairman, Abaji Area Council, Hon. Yahaya Garba Gawu, Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Hon. Mican Jiba, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of FCT, Mr. John Chukwu, during the Area Council Joint Account Allocation Committee meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

APC will move Nigeria forward- Gaidam

By Abubakar Ibrahim

G

overnor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state has expressed delight over the registration of All Progressives Congress (APC) as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to a press release signed by Abdullahi Bego, Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, the governor therefore congratulated “all members of the new party and indeed all Nigerians on this significant democratic leap for-

ward”.

Governor Gaidam commended leaders who “worked tirelessly and conscientiously and devoted long hours of thought, time and planning to ensure the realisation of the APC grand idea”.

“His Excellency is confident that the selflessness and patriotism exhibited across the country toward the formation of the APC will translate in ensuring a political party that is strong, people-based and capable of bringing about the fundamental changes that our country so desperately needs”, it stated.

Governor Gaidam called on leaders of the APC to continue to demonstrate the same sense of purpose and to rally Nigerians around the common hopes and aspirations they all share for a better future.

He expressed believe that the APC was the alternative that Nigerians want in order to build a stronger, united and more prosperous country and held the hopes of the people.

The Governor also called for a strong, broad-based support for the APC “on behalf of the progress of our nation and the wellbeing of its people”.

2014 guber race: Group urges Anambra people to obtain voters’ cards

A

group, Ifeanyi Uba Mandate 2014 Worldwide, yesterday called on the people of Anambra state to return home and get registered ahead of the state’s gubernatorial election in 2014 to avoid being disenfranshised.

The coordinator of the group, Mr Chidozie Okolo, told newsmen in Abuja that the call became necessary to enhance massive participation in the race.

“I have a firm belief in the Jega-led Independent National

Electoral Commission that the Anambra guber race will be one man, one vote. Anambrarians should be serious to cast their votes for the candidate of their choice, but this can only be achieved if they get registered. There is no need complaining about bad governance when we don’t endeavour to vote,” he said.

He said he decided to declare his support for Dr. Ifeanyi Uba because he believes the business

mogul has the wherewithal to take Anambra state to the next level.

“Anambra is an industrial area, and Ifeanyi Uba can give the state the framework to maximize its business potentialities. If you look around, you will see that he has the zeal to deliver. His motives are real, and speak volumes.”

He stressed the need for increased power supply and road networks in the state to enhance business activities.

Cover

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Kano: The morning after the blasts N From Edwin Olofu, Kano

lAs Muslims, Christians unite against terror

The fifth columnists in ceaseless blasts >>9

ormalcy has been restored in Kano metropolis after the bomb blasts that killed no fewer than twelve persons last Monday night. Many had expected a backlash from residents of the Sabongari area that were hit by the devastating effect of the blasts.

The successes recorded by the authorities against insurgent groups was all that may have reassured kano residents that nothing unpleasant could occur to them anywhere within the Kano metropolis.

When the latest attack occurred in Sabongari which is home to Nigerians of the southern extraction, many feared that besides the disruption of commercial activities, hell would be let loose in Kano.

But those prophets of dooms must have been shocked as barely twelve hours after the dastardly attack, it became business as usual for residents irrespective of their religious leanings and tribe.

Peoples Daily Weekend observed that thousands of residents put behind the sad incidence as they trooped to their respective business and office premises the next morning.

Most intriguing, even those who had businesses to do around the vicinity of the scenes of the deadly attack on Igbo road and New road of Sabongari shamed the devil as their respective shops became a beehive of activities.

The unscheduled visit of the Kano state governor Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to the scenes of the blast on Tuesday morning was a boost to the resilience and the brevity of Kano residents to resume normal commercial activities.

Kwankwaso who was on his way to Sokoto state to meet with former President Shehu Shagari alongside three of his colleagues of Jigawa state, Adamawa, and Sokoto state respectively commiserated with the families of the victims of the attack and strongly condemned the terror attacks.

Soon after the visit by Kwankwaso, there was massive traffic all around the Sabon Gari, especially roads leading to the Abubakar Rimi Market which is situated within the Sabon Gari territory.

The sudden change of events in the area was the subject of discussion within and outside Sabon Gari.

This was against the scenario of Monday night when the blast occurred as the entire lively area was completely deserted because of the fear that enveloped the area.

Shortly after the twin blasts that occurred minutes after 9.pm on that fateful day, activities not only in Sabogari but in the city were brought to a halt despite the fact that in the holy month of Ramadan, the predominantly Muslim populace of the commercial city stay out late into the night to offer special prayers and listen to sermons often delivered by versed clerics in kano.

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Cover Kano: The morning after the blast PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

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Ironically, many residents outside Sabo Gari were not even aware of the sad incident only to hear the story the next day.

Alhaji Isa Magaji is a trader in the Abubakar Rimi Market said he learnt of the incident when he tuned in his radio set in the morning to listen to news.

Lamenting the incident, he said it didn’t deter him from going to open his shop meters away from the two scenes of the blast.

“Honestly, I was shocked to hear the news this morning. I immediately asked my neighbor who confirmed it. I didn’t hear the sound of any explosion and when I entered the market I was surprised that people were going about their normal businesses. That goes to show that people are tired of this insecurity and want peace to reign to be able to earn a living. And both Christians and Muslims are united along this line because we have realized that we have a common enemy.”

Fears of a backlash of this sort of attack had been echoed by the Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero, when the Federal government delegation led by Interior Minister Mr. Abba Moro paid him a visit in his palace after the much more devastating Kano Luxury Park attack.

Abba Moro was in Kano to commiserate with him on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Bayero who had never hidden his disdain with the activities of terrorists in his domain had noted that the motive behind the attack was to cause chaos.

Just like the last time when the luxury bus attack occurred, the recent attacks on kano has not changed anything as both Muslim and Christian faithful continued to live harmoniously in Sabon Gari and the entire state.

Ethnic leaders under the auspices of “Ethnic Traditional Leaders Forum Kano” were the first to issue a statement on the incident which was jointly signed by His Highness Alhaji Abdullahi Salihu (Oba Yoruba Kano), His Highness Boniface Ibekwe (Eze Ndi Igbo Kano), His Highness Alhaji Abubakar A. Obochi (Sakin Idoma) and Deacon Fred Akhigbe (Sarkin Edo Community Kano). They condemned it in strong terms while urging their subjects to live in peace and not to take laws into their hands.

“We jointly and severally condemn in its entirety the dastardly act perpetrated on innocent and defenseless non-indigenes resident in Sabon Gari area of Kano by

the people suspected to members of Boko Haram Sect. we sympathize with the families of the deceased and other victims receiving medical treatment at various hospital. May the almighty God give them the fortitude to bear the loss, to the deceased may their souls rest in perfect peace while wishes those at hospitals, God intervention for quick recovery.

“Nevertheless we jointly appeal to the people to resist any form of reprisal act and should go about their normal daily business and maintain peace and order.”

The statement appealed.

For Chief Tobias Idika the President Ohaneze Ndigbo Kano, he said the Igbos will not carry out a reprisal attack on anybody but have resorted to personal security, with

the aim of establishing a vigilante group to protect themselves.

Idika futher added that the Igbo nonviolent attitude shouldn’t be taken for granted, while stating that nemesis will soon catch up with the perpetrators of this heinous act.

The Kano state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ransome Bello is of the view that the attackers are the enemies of both Christians and Muslims and therefore promised to work hard to enlighten his members on that.

“We condemned the attack, we have no problem with Muslim community in Kano because this is not orchestrated by Muslim community in Kano. My view is that both of us the Christian community in Kano and

the genuine Islamic community in Kano are faced with the same enemy. I do not see it in culminating in any religious disharmony between Christians and Muslims in Kano state. we only pray that God will give us victory over wickedness of this people.

“However, since they come in the name of Islam is not every Christian who will be matured enough to understand that, this not the hand work of Islamic community in Kano. It is my job to explain things to my people to calm them down so we can understand what is really happening that this not Islam fighting Christianity in Kano state. Their claim is that they want to Islamize the country but beyond that I also believe that they want to create some tribal conflict so we should be wise enough not fall into their trap. It is my prayer that they will have a change of heart.

“The problem I can point out is that judging by the last attack here where they pretend they were selling fruits, henceforth we will not allow people selling food or anything like that close to our churches.

Some of these people selling foods and fruits are mainly from the north here. It will not be reasonable or acceptable to allow them to come around a church anymore that is the only area we should watch out for so that we don’t have any conflict.”

Ade Olawale, a mechanic who escaped death by the whiskers was having a swell time at a joint along Igbo road by Enugu road before the bombers struck, recounting how he is still at a loss on how to describe exactly what happened.

“I stood up to go and meet a friend on the other side before I heard a deafening sound, without feeling any pain I saw blood running . I was confused and scared immediately when people started running helter-skelter I didn’t know what to do.

“But I must confess it was a big miracle for me that I’m still alive today I saw dead bodies injured people around me. Blood flew everywhere it was a horrific experience that will not pray to see again in my life time.

“I was among the few people that assisted the security agents to take away dead bodies and the injured one. Some died because there was no immediate medical attention because I saw a man that was hit on his head he was shouting for help and nobody came to his rescue until he gave up. I counted eight dead bodies that were taken to the hospital and learnt one or two died in the hospital.”

Olawale narrated.

Alakyo killings: Witnesses recount how Ombatse allegedly killed 8, razed villages

I

n continuation of its proceedings yesterday, the judicial commission of inquiry investigating the killing of scores of security operatives in Alakyo village, was told how the members of the Ombatse cult allegedly raided villages in the district, killing 8 persons and setting ablaze several houses, including the palace of the village head of Yalwa.

Witnesses in support of a memoranda submitted by the Hausa community in Bassa district of Kokona local government area made the statement yesterday.

Narrating his ordeal before the commission, the village head of Yalwa, Alhaji Maiwada Dauda, 57, informed the panel of several

attempts by the alleged cultists to sack the village of Yalwa, twice attacking the farming community, killing two people and setting several houses on fire, including his palace which was burnt down completely by the rampaging youths.

He disclosed that in one of the incidents, the Ombatse attacked as early as 5 am, one Tuesday in April this year, when Muslim fateful were in the mosque, with the marauders wielding guns and machetes, chanting “Ombatse! Ombatse!!”, following which they attacked and killed one Saidu Maitaru, while he was performing ablution in front of his house and another person, Rabon Jubu, was cut down while attempting to flee the mosque.

Alhaji Dauda also recounted how 9 Eggon youths, carrying matches and dry grasses attempted to set Yalwa village on fire but that the youth of the community were able to mobilize in quick time to chase the suspected arsonists and to eventually accost them by the river bank.

According to him,”when we arrested them, they were carrying matches and dry grass they intended to use to burn down our houses. I alerted the combined team of army and police based in Bassa, who came and took them away to the state CID headquarters in Lafia.”

Through cross examination by counsel to the commission, the village head revealed that the 9 Eggon youth were finally released by the authorities, even as it was gathered that they were released without being taken to court.

Another witness, Idris Salihu, 39 and a farmer, informed the panel about how on the 8th of March, 2013, at about 8 am in the morning, another group of the Ombatse, in large number, laid ambush on the town of Bassa, shooting sporadically into the air while chanting “Ombatse! Ombatse!!”

According to Salihu, he was in his shop located in the market area of the town, when he heard gunshots and saw residents running helter skelter, with the people of the town escaping to the outskirts for safety, leaving behind their property, with the invaders burning down four vehicles and setting several houses on fire.

By the time calm returned to troubled Bassa, the witness recounted, six residents were discovered dead, with machete cuts on their bodies.

He gave the names of those killed as Baba Mohammadu, Idrisu Yahaya, Hassan Ibn Kashim, Audu Fulani, Audu Dahiru Madugu and Kanura Madaki.

On the 10 Hausa men reportedly arrested in Bassa on the allegation of causing trouble, Salihu, denied that the men were arrested shortly after the March incidence, explaining that the 10 Baasa residents were arrested sometime in February, allegedly after refusing to heed to a warning by mobile policemen stationed in the area for the people to live the area dominated by the Hausas.

“They came on a Sunday, blaring their siren and arrested people randomly. Some were arrested in the market place while others were picked up in their homes.

One person was arrested just as he was returning from the river”, he recounted.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, JULY, 2013

PAGE 9

Cover

The fifth columnists in ceaseless blasts Nigeria seems to be going through the all too familiar pattern of crisis that led to the collapse of many nations but optimistically weathering the storm. But as she inches towards the 2015 general elections, in the face of continual bomb blasts and insurgency activities, News Editor, Abubakar Ibrahim examines the ingredients of power struggles occasioned by subterranean conspiracies from local and foreign players for vested interests.

Madalla bomb attack

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he war bells had been rung severally by the United States of America, for the possible breakup of Nigeria in 2015 after several failed predictions in the past. Timelines of the tragedy have been shifted probably either due to review of US strategies or the failure of the elements of conflict to fuse properly into the expected implosion.

It is claimed that the doomsday progenitors are institutions separate from the US government but with their top memberships drawn from former and or serving employees of elite outfits of the American state, it is hard to unplug them from the government.

Coincidentally, the religious, ethnic and regionally-inspired rivalry for the socio-political and economic space called Nigeria manisfested strongly since civil rule returned in 1999 with every segment of society cashing in on the newfound freedom to either behave with civility or assert themselves forcefully. However, behind these actions, sometimes seen as spontaneous, lies the hideous hands of internal power seekers and foreign hegemonists hell-bent on having ace over phenomena or to destroy, when interests are under-served.

Interestingly, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley, has recently denied the US prediction of Nigeria’s break up in 2015.

Speaking with journalists during his visit to Oyo State, McCulley said, “No US government official predicted that Nigeria will break up by 2015. That statement must have emanated from a private agency but clearly not from the government. I must state at this point that the US is interested in Nigeria as a very important country in Africa. We have been impressed by the role played

by Nigeria in the peace process in the sub-region and even beyond.”

But signs are rife suggesting the

meddlesomeness of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) principally established to scuttle and derail potential challengers to America’s economic hegemony. It chokes and paralyses most potential challengers by subjecting countries to endless social crisis, hardship, torture, fear, and psychological warfare.

Confirming this strategy, former CIA Director of Plans, Richard Bissell, said, ”The CIA’s interface with the rest of the world needs to be better promoted through our friends in foreign governments….We need repression if we hope to divide these societies into owners and slaves.

We need to put the people under continual duress and in a perpetual state of imbalance, so that confused and demoralised, apathy on a massive scale will result.”

Populated by psychopaths and neo-fascist occultists, this ultraclandestine secret society was fingered in the assassination of Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba of Congo in 1961, the toppling of Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 and our own General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, all for their panAfrican political views that threaten foreign economic interests. Raising puppets and fronts to be planted in governments and sensitive private sectors around the world, enables the CIA to control most nations.

Also, with such astonishing secrecy, sleeper operatives freely work in spaces like universities, colleges, mega-churches, nightclubs, public parks, hotels and hospitals.

In anticipation of Nigeria’s crash, the US military had, in May 2008, conducted war games called Unified Quest 2008, to ascertain how its military might respond to a war in parts of Africa including Nigeria and Somalia According to an article written

by Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC and Guest Columnist of All Africa

Global Media, Mr. Daniel Volman ( See: One World Media For ‘Global Citizens’- 2009 World Economic Forum; Are You Ready? ), the Nigerian scenario was predicated upon a possible war in 2013. The article observed that it was the first time the African scenarios were included, as part of Pentagon’s plan to create a new United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). It also emerged that “the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market” was one of the “guiding principles” of AFRICOM, as articulated by Vice Admiral Robert Moeller at an AFRICOM conference held at Fort McNair on February 18, 2008.

The 2013 war date, according to the article, was a test of how AFRICOM could respond to a crisis in Nigeria in the event that rival factions and rebels fight for control of the oil fields of the Niger Delta and the government was near collapse.

Among scenarios examined, Volman said, were the possibility of direct American military intervention involving some 20,000 US troops in order to “secure the oil”..

Also, the question of how to handle possible splits between factions within the Nigerian government was tested. Other options included diplomatic pressure, military action, with or without the aid of European and African nations.

In Nigeria, one would find a clear infiltration by foreign bodies posing as foundations and organisational institutions, all geared toward influencing government policies in the oil and gas sectors. We may also want to ask why African history disappeared from Nigeria’s secondary school curriculum.

It is also very familiar that the battle for political power at the centre took a desperate dimension before the 2011 general election following the demise of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

Sectional and religious cleavages

clearly superseded issues with emotion running high over which person or which region should take the slot.

Curiously, as events unfolded, it became clear that other options outside the democratic process, was at play. On October 1, 2010, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) disrupted the Independence Day celebration by setting off bombs close to the Eagle Square venue of the event in Abuja.

Surprisingly, while President Goodluck Jonathan was making efforts to clear MEND from the terrorism, its leader, Henry Emomotimi Okah who is currently in a South African prison over his alleged role in the blasts, revealed how government wanted him to implicate the North.

It would have passed as one of those antics of an aggrieved rebel against the Amnesty programme but when General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s campaign director, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, was repeatedly interrogated over the act, the lid was blown. The electoral value of such terror attack became clear with the heightened religious and sectional passion it generated, sympathy vote the clear objective.

In an affidavit Okah submitted while applying for bail at the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg in South Africa early May 2012, President Jonathan and a number of his aides were prominently mentioned. Okah also alleged that his present predicament cannot be divorced from his refusal to get MEND to retract their claim of responsibility for the Independence Day bombing.

It stated : “On the day of the bombing of 1 October 2010, I received a call from Mr. Moses Jituboh, the Head of Personal Security to President Jonathan, who solicited my assistance and continued cooperation with President Goodluck Jonathan towards shifting blame for the bombings to the North of Nigeria”.

Who would bomb churches ?

Allegations of Boko Haram’s CIA link is not clear but the agency’s Al-Qaeda connection during and after the Afghan war of liberation from Soviet rule adds credence to a tie. Note CIA’s objective of putting “people under continual duress and in a perpetual state of imbalance” .

Attacks on both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria bear the imprimatur of known organized state-sponsored foreign policy machines commissioned to perpetuate “the state of imbalance” . The attack last Monday on Enugu Road, Sabon gari, Kano killing over 30 persons mostly of southern Nigeria origin (which has unusually been unclaimed), speaks volume of this disruptive direction either for electoral aims or the ultimate balkanization of Nigeria.

In February 2001, the respected Indonesian newsweekly Tempo, published a cover story suggesting links between the church bombings in the country and the Indonesian military, the TNI. The article pointed out that Edi Sugiarto, who was quickly arrested and confessed to assembling 15 of the bombs used in the town of Medan, has long run a car repair shop in the province of Aceh, where a separatist group named GAM operated.

Members of TNI and Indone-

sia’s special forces, Kopassus, regularly went to his shop for repairs and just to hang out. In Indonesia, the special forces regiment, Kopassus, allegedly worked closely with Mossad (MOSSAD IN INDONESIA) and the American military.

There is evidence linking Kopassus to attacks on Christian churches in Indonesia.

“The most vicious combined operation of Coker (Christian gangsters) and Kopassus was the attack on the village of Soya, 22 houses were destroyed by fire, as well as the historic church of Soya built during Portuguese times and 12 people were killed. The Soya bloodbath created new tensions between Muslim and Christian communities.”

The medium also noted that CIA, allegedly secretly bombed Christians in Indonesia, in order to topple President Sukarno.

On 15 May 1958, a CIA plane bombed the Ambon marketplace, killing a large number of civilians on their way to church on Ascension.

Three days later, during another bombing run over Ambon, a CIA pilot, Allen Lawrence Pope, was shot down and captured. (Indonesia 1957-1958 KH).

Pope was tried in Jakarta in 1959.

Unfortunately, most Nigerians are ignorant of these plots and are carried away most of the time by emotions of the moment from seeking out the fifth columnists. However, some of our leaders have already seen through the veneer of deceit even though some of them are full participants in the dangerous drama threatening the peace and security of Nigeria.

On the 17th of May 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo had sent a 7 paragraph reaction titled ‘Report of the US Intelligence Council” to the Senate. In the letter, Obasanjo said:[I]”As a means of informing ourselves, I hereby forward a copy of the United States National Intelligence Council document on “Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa’s Future” for your attention. I am sending this to you not because I am alarmed by the report but because if we know what others think of us and about us, we can prevent what they project for us.

“As a person who has participated in similar so-called “expert group” on issues, situations and regions, I know that the predictions and projections can be wide off the mark because both politics and economics cannot be absolutely predicted and their dynamics can fool the greatest and best expert. But it is important for us to know that we are being rated low, not because of what is happening to us from outside but because of what we do to, for and by ourselves internally.

“I believe that it is only God and ourselves that can map our present and future. No outsider can do that accurately for us...

I believe that they are living in the past and incapable of noticing and appreciating the positive strides we are making on all fronts and the determination of the Nigerian people to join hands to consolidate democracy and promote sustainable growth and development”.

Page 10

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

News

Kano dry port to take off January 2014

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hairman, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd, Alhaji Ahmad Rabiu, has assured that the Kano dry port would commence operation in January 2014.

Rabiu told newsmen in Lagos that the management of the dry port was waiting for the Federal Government to declare it a port of origin and port of destination.

The shipper said that the declaration would fast track the completion of the dry port and enable the foreign technical partners to move down to Nigeria and complete the remaining aspects of construction work.

Rabiu said the dry port could take 20, 000 containers, adding that there was room for extension as only 35 acres of land had so far been occupied out of its 200 acres.

He said it would take about six months to complete the tech-

nical aspect of the dry port, for full operations to commence.

Accordiing to him, ``It will function like the Tin Can Island Port; like the Apapa Port, except that there will be no water. ``When goods arrive any of the sea ports, they will be mainly in transit, and therefore, Customs duty and inspection cannot be done in the sea port but in my facility at the dry port in Kano”, Rabiu said.

He said, there was a temporary arrangement to market the take-off of the dry port by Jan. 2014.

Rabiu urged the Federal Government to gazette the dry port, saying that this was the main bottleneck hindering further action at the dry port.

From Edwin Olofu,Kano

him the name Isa Waziri because he was a descendant of the Wazirin Kano.

He is also an early promoter of women’s education in Kano and later served as chairman of the State Sharia Implementation Committee. He supported the implementation of Sharia as a law from Allah.

Born in 1925 to the family of Muhammed Gidado, he attended the Judicial School, Kano, Kano Law School and Al-Azhar University, Egypt. Sheikh Isa Waziri died living behind many children and grand children. He has since been buried according to Islamic rites.

Wazirin Kano dies at 88

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heik Isa Muhammad Gidado, popularly known as Sheikh Isa Waziri, has passed away. He died at the age of 88 in his home at Tudun wuzirci Kano after a protracted illness.

Before his death, Wazirin Kano, a religious figure, was the Imam of the Murtala Muhammed Jummat Mosque. He was later appointed the Chief Imam of Kano and was crowned the Wazirin Kano by the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero.

He earned the name Waziri during his days at the Kano Law School. A teacher at the school gave

R-L: Malam Husain Zakariyya Yawale, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, Former Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, Malam Adamu Ciroma, Chairman, Peoples Media Limited, Malam Wada Maida, Former Minister of Sport, Alhaji Bala Kawuje, with other faithful Muslim, during the closing of the Ramadan Tafseer by Malam Husain Zakariyya Yawale, at Uthman Bin Affan Juma’a Mosque Wuse II on Friday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kano arms cache: Court transfers Katsina dam collapses, destroys farms suspects to Kuje prison

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

federal high court in Abuja yesterday ordered the transfer of three Lebanese suspects standing trial over terrorism and illegal importation of firearms, from the custody of the department of state services (DSS) to Kuje Prison.

The suspects are Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahani and Talal Ahmed Roda.

The court also adjourned proceedings till Monday August 5, 2013 for continuation of the defence of the accused persons.

The order was based on application by the suspects’ lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN) that his clients no longer feel comfortable in the custody of DSS. Raji told the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola that his clients made the request because they are afraid of stay in DSS custody while giving evidence in defence of their case.

“The 1st and 2nd accused persons are afraid to stay in the DSS custody anymore. They should be transferred to a neutral place so that they can come to court with a free mind and express themselves in the evidence they shall give before this court”, he said.

Raji added that the accused

persons are no more comfortable based on strange experiences in the DSS custody.

“They said they were interrogated by foreigners for 14 days. The foreigners speak Arabic, and that they do not see them even only their voices and if they must see them, they wear masks”.

Justice Ademola granted the order for the suspects be taken to Kuje prison.

At the resumed trial yesterday, the accused persons opened their defence.

According to the defence lawyer, Mr. Raji, the accused person were to demonstrate before the court that the alleged label, ‘international terrorist’ is wrong.

“Under Nigerian law and in particular, the terrorism Act section 9, neither Hezbollah as a body nor any of its arm, branches or departments have been declared an international terrorist in Nigeria, therefore all counts predicated on same must collapse and be discharged.

“Therefore, counts 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 16 have no reason to stand”, he said, adding that the accused persons would call a witness from Lebanon to testify as to the correct status of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is a friendly country to Nigeria.

“The detail of such is to

whether it is a political party in Lebanon, because all I know is Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government. It has ministers in the cabinet and members in the parliament. It is a body that enjoys the support of the UN and other international bodies”.

“On the issue of ammunitions, the 1st and 2nd accused persons will give testimonies that they have nothing to do with the property in Kano where those arms were found and so they cannot be held responsible.

“Finally with respect to a gun found in wonderland, the 1st accused person will testify that he has license for the gun and he merely uses it for hunting”.

Meanwhile, the 3rd accused person (Talal Ahmed Roda) in his testimony yesterday as defence witness (DW1) admitted that he was a resident at No. 3 Gaya Road in Kano as a squatter but had good knowledge of the arms in a bunker.

According to him, he serviced those arms on the instruction of the owner of No. 3 Gaya Road, Kano, Mr. Abdulhassan Tahir.

“Tahir told me that those arms were licensed and I had no reason whatsoever not to believe him”, he told the court.

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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he multi-million naira Kankia Dam in Kankia Local Government area of Katsina state that was recently rehabilitated, has collapsed destroying farm produce valued at millions of naira.

The collapsed dam affected about 50 farmlands destroying rice, corn, guinea corn and maize.

A farmer affected by the disaster, Malam Abba Almu told our correspondent, that the dam’s embankments collapsed and subsequently spilled water into surrounding farms.

He noted that although there were no loss of life, the level of destruction in the farm could translate into food shortage for the Kankia community.

The chairman of the local

government, Alhaji Abubakar Lawal Kaita lamented the dam’s fate and said, it was recently rehabilitated under the constituency project of a member of the National Assembly representing the area.

The chairman therefore called on the lawmaker to order the construction firm back to site to effect rehabilitation and save lives and property from further threat.

Similarly, a cattle rearer in the area, Malam Abdullahi Mai’unguwa has called for the quick rehabilitation of the collapsed dam, because it was their major source of water for cattle.

Our correspondent gathered that the dam was the major source of potable drinking water to the Kankia community that have been facing acute water shortage for long.

FEC meeting: Jonathan fails to announce cabinet shake-up

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ontrary to speculations of an imminent cabinet shake-up, yesterday’s emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held without any change in the structure of government apparatus.

President Goodluck Jonathan did not announce or suggests any change in his ministers.

There was palpable fear of cabinet shake-up on Thursday among ministers as Jonathan convened an emergency Federal Executive Council meeting.

The emergency meeting however discussed the Federal Government’s medium-term fiscal framework for 2014-2016 appropriation years.

News Crude oil theft: An unwinnable war?

Page 11

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

By Patrick Andrew and Etuka Sunday

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veiled Statement recently by the Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister for the Economy/ Finance Dr. NgoziOkonjo- Iweala on the cost implication of oil theft on the economy drives home the magnitude of illegal siphoning of Nigeria’s major resources.

Painting a pathetic picture, the Minister, whose worry reflects the anxious care of the majority in the country, said over 4,000 barrels of crude translating to N7 billion is lost daily to the activities of oil thieves.

Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) admitted that the country loses a huge chunk to the nefarious activities of oil theft. Last year alone, the corporation says Nigeria lost between $25 million and $75 million euros (N33 million and N100 million) to pirates attacked of 966 sailors with the resultant loss of the above amount in product and worth.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke while giving account of her stewardship in a presentation at the 2013 Ministerial Platform held at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, last week, agreed that the menace of crude oil theft was a challenge not only to the sector but to the nation’s economy.

Before now, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, further collaborated on the huge loss arising from oil theft. He however, puts the nation loss to about $12 billion annually.

However, putting the scam in oil and gas sector in proper perspective, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Tuesday said Nigeria lost a total sum of $10.9 billion to oil theft from 2009 to 2011.

NEITI’s Chairman, Ledum Mitee painted a pathetic picture of the situation while presenting the report on the extent of the loss, “Over 136 million barrels estimated at $10.9 billion was lost to crude oil theft and sabotage.”

Oil theft is nefarious commercial craft associated with criminal gangs, militants tapping crude from pipelines for local refining, while the large quantities of stolen crude leaves Nigeria’s shores to foreign countries where it is sold illegally to make more money.

The unwholesome act poses a great threat to the survival of Nigeria as a mono-economy because the oil and gas industry provides the highest revenue/ income to the federation coffers.

Government opted to check activities of oil theft hitherto commonly associated with militia group from Niger Delta region awarded security contract estimated over N17billion to some egg-heads of the ex-militant groups to protect the country’s pipeline against vandalisation as well as other activities oil thieves.

illegal refinery Curiously, rather than the situation abating, it has rather assumed astronomical dimension, calling to question the real characters behind the theft. Previously, the dominant thinking was that militants and other miscreant were largely behind the pipeline vandalisation and oil theft.

However, a closer evaluation of the situation has shown that beyond pipeline vandalisation, several methods are adopted to cart away crude oil and disposed of at high sea, and going by the sophistication and the paraphernalia required to engage in the illegal trade, it is obvious illegal oil bunkering may be perpetuated by highly placed individuals with some international business clouts and machinery to embark on the illicit act.

Of course, it could only be the privileged elite of the society with influence in the corridors of powers, who in collaboration with security personnel would easily beat off efforts to checkmate their nefarious deeds. True, there are security surveillances of oil installations, but the elements are often at the back and call of these influential persons who command enough political clout to determine who gets posted where and when.

Little wonder, Mrs. AlisonMadueke in apparent declaration of government helplessness in handling oil theft referred to it as ‘multifaceted and complex’ issue that will require the co operation all stakeholders to confront it.

According to her, “We are working in tandem with the security agencies, state governments and other agencies and stakeholders.

Beyond that, Mr. President has also reached out to his counterparts internationally, with Presidents of countries across the globe.

“Some countries are beginning to ban the sale of Nigerian stolen crude. So we are working towards it internally and globally as well to ensure that over the next two months stolen crude activities would be found uninteresting or uninviting.”

The cooperation of external forces may well be inevitable given that without their patronage the activities of oil theft would have fizzled out or at worst be greatly reduced.

This was the submission at an international stakeholders’ forum recently where stakeholders brainstormed on the best way to end.

“We expect to see aggressive, fairly and quick results out of some of the actions. Others will look at the medium and long term for the country in terms of production of our core critical national assets in the Oil and Gas Sector,” she said.

That corroborates the position of Yakubu, who had urged all critical stakeholders to take urgent steps to end the activities of oil theft by reaching out to multinational corporations and their affiliates outside Nigeria to help stem the tide. His argument was cogent since he canvassed for boycott of illegal crude oil sold in the high sea by un-authorised elements.

But just who are these individuals? That is the million dollars question as they posed no little challenge to Nigeria’s economic discomfiture.

The nation faces impending major oil crises owing to the huge capital shortfall in the coffers of the state for capital projects and other essentials which directly impacts on the lives of the citizens.

Few months ago, the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield destroyed 748 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta.

Media Coordinator of

the agency Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, who said 498 suspects involved in the illegal activity were arrested within four months. Additionally, some 545 assorted boats, 26 barges and 18 vessels were also impounded same period.

Still, many months after incidences of oil theft rather than abated has had added impetus forcing the government at every forum to cry out and plead for international and local assistance to put an end or reduce the scorch.

Peoples Daily Weekend learnt that several former and serving senior military personnel as well as politicians are deeply involved in messy oil deal. Through their connections in high places the few miscreants arrested are hardly prosecuted.

One Naval officer opted to retire from the force if not reassigned from the creek where he was guiding the oil installations. “I could not bear the hypocrisy of the leaders who publicly condemned bunkering yet own several native refineries and have high profile customers who berth often at the high sea to receive stolen or illegally sourced products.

“The business is not for the miscreants. They are highly placed persons behind it. That’s why the government can’t really do much to stop what has become an embarrassing and economically damaging scourge,” the serving officer who had been posted from Lagos to Bayelsa state few years ago said.

Bayelsa state governor Seriake Dickson believes both the government and multinational corporations should work together to put an end to oil theft because it will be to their advantage. “Quashing the illegal bunkering syndicate will be mutually beneficial

to both government and the oil companies. While the oil companies will have a safe and secure operating environment, the state government’s revenue accruing from oil will increase just as it will reduce the pollution and destruction of the ecology,” he said.

Expectedly, oil theft has led to sharp decline in revenue accruable to the federal government and if not checked, Nigeria’s target to increase crude oil production to 4 million barrels per day and grow the reserves to 40 billion barrels by 2020 may be an exercise in futility.

The Managing Director/ Country Chairman of Shell companies in Nigeria, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, raised the alarm at the 38th Society of Petroleum Engineers’ annual conference and exhibition, in Lagos.

“The impact of the activities of crude oil thieves and illegal refineries on the environment in the Niger Delta and the Nigerian economy is now a crisis situation.

Until there is a deterrent, the industry does not stand a chance against illegal bunkering of the scale we are seeing today,” he argued.

Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) has consistently declared force majeure on its operations, from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2.012 and also this year 2013. This was due to the activities of oil thieves who had damage its pipeline thus disrupting production.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its fourth quarter economic report, painted a picture of dwindling oil proceeds accruing to the federation coffers.

“Nigeria’s oil revenue in the fourth quarter of last year slumped by N112.6 billion, as a gross oil receipt in the Federation Account was N1.824 trillion– a 5.8 percent reduction from N1.936 trillion that was the figure recorded in the third quarter of the same year.”

That can only be done by government, according to the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Zainab Ahmed, “NEITI does not have the responsibility to take measures to stop oil theft, our responsibility is to identify what is happening, what is wrong, where the problem is happening, the scale of the problem and to recommend to government on measures to take to curtail it.”

To complement existing measures put in place, government recently set up a task force headed by the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke with specific mandate to prosecute offenders and sentence such to 21 years imprisonment without option of fine.

The legal task force comprised of representatives from the NNPC, the Armed Forces, Civil Defence, Police, SSS and other related agencies and it is expected to be operational from last month-a team which was long faulted by analysts as lack of political will to go after the sponsors of the act.

PAGE 12

Photo Splash

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo with Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Abubakar Shehu Bunu (middle), observing Juma’at Prayer with other worshippers, on Friday at the Holy Prophet’s Mosque in Madina, Saudi Arabia.

L-R: Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Yero in a handshake with Corps Marshal Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Osita Chidoka, during the Corps Marshal Visit to Governor on Thursday in Kaduna.

R-L: Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga Audu and Country Representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Rui Vaz, during his visit to Kaduna on polio sensitization, recently.

L-R: President, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Engineer Mustapha Shehu with Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, during the president of NSE working visit to Power Minister on the coming world engineering summit to be hosted by Nigeria in 2014, on Thursday in Abuja,

L-R: Secretary General, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, National President, Catholic Women Organization of Nigeria (CWON), Mrs. Felicia Onyeabo, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Felix Alaba Job, during the Commissioning of COR Mariae College, a project of the National Council of Catholic Women Organization, on Friday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Crime Cycle

pmlcrimecycle@gmail.com 08138559513 (SMS only)

Court orders firm to pay retired FCDA director N250,000

A

High Court in Jabi, Abuja, has ordered Platinum Parking Services Management (PPMS) in Wuse Zone 4 to pay N250,000 to Alhaji Mohammed Lawan for confiscating his car since Dec. 21, 2012.

Lawan, a retired Deputy Director of Planning in the FCDA, had told the court that he parked his car in a lot in the Central Business District on the said date and stuck a parking ticket on the wind screen.

Lawan’s counsel, Adamu Mohammed, said a lady working for PPMS came to demand payment from his client, saying that the payment he made to a parking firm in Zone A was not valid in Zone B. “My client went to transact his business. When he came back, the PPMS had clamped his car, a Peugeot 406 with Registration No. CQ865RSH. The parking firm asked him to pay N5,000 to get the

CRIME NUGGET

car released.

“In the evening, he received a phone call to go and pay N15,000 to reclaim the car or it would be kept until January 2013.’’

The counsel told the court that since the matter was brought to the court on Jan. 29, the defendants had never come nor were they represented in court in spite of being served the summons.

He reminded the court that the last summons were served on the defendants on June 11.

In her judgment, Justice OlasumboGoodluck said that the continued detention of the plaintiff’s car by the defendant was unlawful She therefore ordered the release of the car to the plaintiff forthwith. “The defendant is hereby ordered to pay the sum of N250, 000 as general damages in favour of the plaintiff,’’ Goodluck said. (NAN)

11 Facts About Hate Crimes

Police arraign driver accused of stealing N.9m

A

33-year-old former driver of CY Incorporated Ltd., Usman Garba, has appeared before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, over an alleged theft of N900, 000.

Garba, who lives around Lagos Island, is standing trial on a onecount charge of theft.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Emmanuel Ajayi, told the court that Garba committed the offence on July 19, at Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Ajayi alleged that the accused stole the said that amount, while driving the company’s articulated vehicle with registration number

LSR 611XB. “The accused, who delivers goods for the company, stole the money from the trips he embarked on from Lagos to Onitsha. “He was, however, arrested in Cross River on a tip off by the police and brought down to Lagos for arraignment,’’ the prosecutor said.

Ajayi said that the offence was contrary to Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused who pleaded not guilty to the charge was granted bail by the magistrate, A.A. Famobiwo, in the sum N100, 000 with one surety.

Captured Abiodun Ogunjobi, aka ‘Abbey Godogodo, the suspected leader of a notorious robbery gangthat had been terrorising Lagos and South West states; he was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos, on Thursday.

PAC trains traders, artisans on security intelligence gathering

By Chris Alu & Stanley Onyekwere

A

non-governmental organization known as Police Assistance Committee (PAC) in collaboration with Senate Committee on Police Affairs has organized a security workshop for traders, artisans and women in Abuja, to assist on how to use information to prevent, detect crime and curb criminal activities their locality.

Speaking at the seminar the Director-General of PAC, Dr. Martins Oni said the training exposes participants to the

present security challenges as well as who could be the target of criminals and how to tackle them headlong.

He said that traders and artisan needed to be educated on using on-line communication facility to disseminate security information to the police and other security agencies.

According to him, since traders and Artisan are at the receiving end of criminals, they must be guided on how to detect crimes and assist security agencies to arrest suspected criminals.

Dr. Oni said, “the current

security situation in the country which has continue to pose a threat to government and security forces is in no doubt overstretching police and the military in their operations therefore need assistance from by any volunteer group or individual that informed the creation of PAC .

“At the moment PAC has intensified its efforts of sensitizing the people on how to prevent crimes and how to gather intelligence reports and sending it to security agencies through modern communication technology.”

Further, he disclosed that the NGO has moved from Abuja to other major parts of the states and local governments, mostly where the security challenge is high to assist the police and the military in intelligence gathering dissemination on security issues for quick actions.

Dr.Oni, called on government and cooperate bodies to support PAC financially to enable them carry out its functions, noting that “at the moment PAC needs to employ more hands that are capable of doing intelligence gathering reports to more states.

1. Hate crimes are any crime where bias, prejudice, or bigotry is a motivating factor.

2. 6,222 hate crime incidents involving 7,254 offenses were reported in 2011.

3. Out of 6,216 crimes reported:•47 percent were racially motivated•21 percent resulted from sexual-orientation bias•20 percent were motivated by religious bias•12 percent stemmed from ethnicity/ national origin bias•Less than 1 percent (0.9 percent) was prompted by disability bias 4. Every hour in the United States somebody commits a hate crime.

5. At least eight black people, three white people, three gay people, three Jewish people, and one Latino person become hate crime victims every day.

6. Half of all the hate crimes in the nation are committed by people between the ages of 15 and 24.

7. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 gives the FBI authority to investigate violent hate crimes, including violence directed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

8. Hate crimes stem from a learned behavior of hatred because inherent hate for a whole group of people for no particular reason other than one’s own bias is not something people are born with.

9. Every week somewhere a cross is burned.

10. 41 states and the District of Columbia have laws against hate-crimes.

11. Hate crimes can have a psychological effect not only on the person being directly affected but the targeted group as well.

Politics

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 16

Registration over, hurdles before the APC

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC), obviously came after a seemingly protracted and tortuous journey by the various opposition parties who are signatory to the merger agreement. Before then, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been repeatedly upbraided for refusing to register the merger party. INEC’s delay in the registration of the new party brought interludes of criticism and political manipulations, which apparently has the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the unsung mastermind.

First, it started with overnight emergence of various phantom APCs by those suspected to be agents of PDP. To make the matter worst, INEC rather unwittingly identified with those fake APCs, even threatening to register one of them with the controversial acronym. However, despite these challenges with the electoral commission, the APC leaders stood their grounds, insisted that the acronym remained their intellectual material, and forbids INEC from assigning that acronym to another association, whatsoever. Political observers at that point, criticised the APC merger committee led by Tom Ikimi, for disclosing the acronym, even when INEC was yet to register it. Some also suggested that nothing prevents the leaders of APC from adopting another acronym if APC has become controversial. But like it is said, there is something in a name, hence the struggle for APC acronym continued, and culminated in the formal registration by INEC midweek.

Now that the mega party has defied all stumbling blocks to secure a constitutional platform, the next move is how to boost the popularity of the party in the grassroots and endear it to the over 70% of Nigerians who reside in the rural areas. The next hurdle is convening congresses at the ward levels to usher in local government and state level congresses. It is from these congresses that delegates would emerge to elect the national officers of the party, who will take over from the Bisi Akande-led interim leadership, constituted for the purpose of registration. The Akande’s interim leadership was principally constituted to achieve the cardinal constitutional requirements as set out by INEC for the registration of any political association as a political party. The interim structure- the current National Working Committee of the APC- will cease to exist after six months. Note that it is after these congresses that the party will convene a national convention at which the National Executive Committee (NEC) would be elected to run the affairs of APC for four-year period. In addition, massive mobilisation and registration of members will most likely go side by side with these congresses and convention, especially considering the limited time at the disposal of the new party, vis- a- vis the enormous tasks which still lie ahead. Already, the need for an urgent meeting to forge a way forward for the newly registered party is under way, according to the former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lai Mohammed, who revealed that the interim leadership of APC will meet to set up three committees for further actions.

One of these three committees will take charge of grassroots registration of members to boost the membership base of the mega party. This has become very necessary as the former members of CPC, ACN, ANPP, faction of APGA and DPP, have lost

L-R: Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tunubu, arrow heads of APC their identities, since INEC midweek withdrew the certificates with which those merging parties were registered and recognised as political parties.

This is in line with statutory requirement. By that withdrawal, the members of those parties cease to exist, and therefore must be re-registered with the new party. In addition to the registration committee, there will be a contact and mobilisation committee. Its thrust will be to strategise on how to lure new members into the fold of APC. Their emphasis would predominantly be to make contact by reaching out to individuals and even groups they believe are sympathetic to its course. Also, those were formally not members of the parties in the merger as well as aggrieved members of the ruling party. The mobilisation strategy of this committee would also involve grassroots campaigns to sell and endear the party to the rural populace. Then, there would also be a convention committee which will handle every issue concerning the party’s convention. This committee

will organise the APC’s congresses at the wards, local governments and states levels, which will give birth to a national convention. According to Lai Mohammed, it is expected that these exercises will take place within three months, to enable the party invigorate its grassroots campaigns, in preparation for the 2014 elections in some states and 2015 general elections. So, why not losing sight of the victory and what it represents for democracy in Nigeria, it apparent that the greater battles lie ahead, as long as this mega party is committed to wrestling power from the vicious grip of the ruling PDP in the 2015 general elections. The leadership of the APC must hit the ground running because the ruling party will not fold its hands and watch while the new party combs the nooks and crannies of Nigeria for new converts. Already, there are insinuations that the sudden reconciliation between Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state and the embattled chairman of APGA, Victor Umeh, in addition to the reversal of the

Chief Bisi Akande, Interim Chairman of APC

INEC’s decision to proscribe over 30 political parties, are part of the grand scheme and horse trading by the ruling party to solidify and remain formidable despite the arrival at the scene of the APC.It may be an assumption, but so is everything in politics. However, to outwit the wily ruling party with massive structure and bags of experiences in political theatrics and manipulation, the leadership of the APC must put on its thinking cap, sober reflects on past activities of the PDP and perhaps reach out to the APGA faction for talks. The APC should not delude itself in the false claims that the rich population of the north

“

Their argument is that victory of acronym is far from victory at the polls.

Emphasising the need for an aggressive mobilisation at the grassroots, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) advised APC to celebrate less, but match into the streets and through attractive campaigns and programmes capture the hearts of the majority of the electorates. is enough for it to wrestle power from the PDP. Undoubtedly, every seasoned politician would prefer to have victory at the polls, rather than victory of acronym. This is what the leaders of APC must bear in mind, particularly given that the efforts of its leaders would amount to futility if at the end of the day it makes no tangible progress in the battle to dislodge the ruling party. When the leader of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Muhammadu Buhari, early this year, asserted that PDP does not need merger with any party since it has already merged with the state apparatus, such as police, army, SSS, INEC, CBN, among others, most people did not understand from where he was coming. Obviously, speaking from experience as the longest opposition leader in Nigerian politics, having consistently lost elections as first runner- up to PDP since 1999, Buhari is free the gullibility which may be the bane of the APC. He understands and should explain how crookedly dynamic the PDP’s alleged rigging strategies have advanced and stabilized over the years. So, his crying out about the unholy merger between PDP and the state forces is like the cries of one of those ancient prophets, whose harkening to or otherwise, would bring about either doom or joy

to the faithfuls.

Political analysts have submitted that any party wishing to oust PDP must have commensurate force of power and strategy. This, therefore, places big responsibility on APC leaders, especially if they do not wish to disappoint themselves and those Nigerians that have faith in them to bring about the needed change in the political space. Political analysts would expect the leadership of the APC to take advantage of the growing disenchantment within the ruling party to shore up its support base. This they can do by deliberately reaching out to mend fences with them and seeking to convince them in acts, quality leadership and everything they had found offensive about the PDP. Inevitably, taking their campaign to the grassroots rather than flex muscles with the PDP in the media, which regrettably has been the prevalent trend, seems the right starting point. This can afford APC a rare opportunity to take rug off the feet of the ruling party and make huge capital gains especially in places where the party has performed abysmally poor. Many political groups which have been following the journey of APC to this stage, have harped on this inevitability of grassroots mobilisation. Their argument is that victory of acronym is far from victory at the polls. Emphasising the need for an aggressive mobilisation at the grassroots, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) advised APC to celebrate less, but match into the streets and through attractive campaigns and programmes capture the hearts of the majority of the electorates.

According to the National Secretary of CNPP, Willy Ezeugwu, with the registration of APC, the earlier public perception that INEC will do the bidding of PDP in 2015 has been proved wrong. He said victory at the 2015 elections would be on the popularity of the contending parties among the electorates. “I charge the leadership of the party to now move into the street to enlist the support of the voters ahead of the 2015 general elections. It is there that its popularity would be tested”, he said. Ezeugwu, however, said it is not about registration but ability to defeat PDP, pointing out that Nigerians should not rejoice now but after the 2015 elections. He dismissed the notion that Nigeria now has two major parties, saying it is after 2015 elections that Nigerians would now know which party is a majority or minority. Also harping on this need for grassroots mobilisation, the former chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Tony Momoh, said the APC will have a great deal of work to do at the grassroots, if it must convince the majority of Nigerians to register with the party.

Momoh said there are about eighteen organs which the party has set up to take charge of registering voters on the new APC’s platform, having earlier dissolved their respective parties through conventions. He said these organs would also plan the convention that would produce the leadership of the party, which would take over from the interim leaders in the next six months. At this point, he advised the politicians in the country to endeavour to play by the rule in 2015 to avoid political violence, disclosing that the new party has mapped out strategy to forestall any form of rigging at the polls, and would not condone any form of rigging by the PDP. Nevertheless, at this stage of Nigeria democracy, it is promising that the 2015 general elections will be accompanied by so many interesting political intrigues, much as it promises to be the toughest electoral contest in Nigeria.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 17

Politics

2015: It’s political suicide to leave PDP - Okupe Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, in this interaction with newsmen recently says it would amount to political suicide for any governor on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to dump the party for the newly registered All Progressive Congress (APC). He also claims that the eventual registration of the APC by INEC was a manifesting of the transparency and political liberalism of President Goodluck Jonathan. Our Ag. political Editor, Lawrence Olaoye, was there, Excerpts:

I

NEC has announced the registration of APC. Is the President not jittery because a credible opposition has come on board?

The registration of APC is perhaps the most powerful, the most eloquent testimony of the openness, transparency, honesty and political liberalism of President Goodluck Jonathan. This would not have happened under many Africa presidents, especially when it is obvious that there were obvious hurdles and obstacles to that registration, which could have been exploited, and could have been amplified and could have been used by people of lesser integrity to frustrate the APC. This is a testament. We have no fear whatsoever about APC registration, we are not in any way anxious. These are people that were beaten individually before and collectively, we will defeat them randomly. But we are glad that at least now instead of fighting three or four parties, we can concentrate on one and get it done. I can assure you that there is nobody in the Villa that is worried.

For us, it’s a good thing, it’s a great development. I don’t know whether the opposition is credible enough, I cannot attest to that. We have political parties that have been inept previously, that have been extremely weakened and of no serious political importance before now, have come together under one umbrella with an attempt to challenge the status quo . We will see how far they can go.

With the registration of APC, do you think Nigeria is gradually drifting into two-party state?

No, no, I don’t think Nigeria is drifting towards two parties system, I don’t think so.

But more and more development will happen; people are more enlightened…..like I said before I don’t think APC will last for a long time because the foundation is wrong, the combination is faulty, the ideologies are not clearly defined, the competition will almost ….well, when the time really come, so, do not really take this as a very serious opposition. There will still be other parties, there will still be other tendencies. I don’t think we are at that stage of two parties or even moving close to two parties system.

The governors, who before now have threatened to leave the party, are meeting with the President, do you think they are likely going to change their minds?

It’s becoming obvious to dissidents within the PDP that there is nowhere else to go. That is why you hear everybody saying we are not leaving the PDP. So, it’s better to fight and fight inside. I don’t want to call them dissidents, but those who are not very

happy with the way situations in the party are. They are telling the world, yes, our party may have its problems, may have its faults, may have its inadequacies, but there is no alternative than to be inside. There are more than enough reasons for people to leave, but you know, you don’t leave a winning platform politically. It’s politically suicidal. You hear something like 20 governors, 40 governors will join us, and these are empty boast and things that do not hold water. None of these governors as you can see for yourself is prepare to move. What they are trying to do is to move around and ensure that they are heard and at least maybe some of their demands are met, but nobody is going anywhere, because PDP is still the real party to beat.

After the meeting, we expected they would have sheathed their swords, but they have gone to Sokoto state to see former President Shehu Shagari.

Does that mean that the interaction with the President did not yield the desired fruit?

These governors have already set the agenda long before now. They are just using the Rivers state scenario as an excuse. But this continued perambulation shows that there are things they are not telling us. It’s a free country, you can consult around, provided you stay within the law and what you are seeing is politics, like the President said this is 2015 live.

Are you saying the governors have hidden agenda that is probably not known to the President?

They are telling us that the real motivating factor is this Rivers state and people keep talking about crisis in Rivers state.

How do you define crisis? There is no unrest in Rivers state. There is no problem in Rivers state. Amaechi have a problem with some members of House of Assembly. It’s not strange, not unusual. Over 18 Speakers have been removed in this our young democracy and nothing happened. Everything you hear about Rivers state, anything you hear about governors moving all over the place has nothing to do with Rivers state.

Rivers state is a political camouflage. The

“

President Goodluck Jonathan real thing is intense politicking by people with very serious interest in the polity or who have agenda they want to make sure manifest by hook or by crook. They are going all over the country, trying to mobilize support for what they want to do. Someone said that they try to intimidate the President not to run because …..but it is obvious they are insisting that there will be no open ticket for the President. If this party PDP is a very serious party, which I believe it is, if the President decides to run, why should the party picks somebody else? The only advantage it will have when contesting is that it has an incumbent President, who will not be telling Nigerians that vote for me I will do this, he will be telling Nigerians vote for me I have done this. All these people talking about there is no automatic ticket, what they are saying is politically unwise and is impracticable and they cannot come to pass.

I heard Ango Abdullahi saying the North will win 2015 and the South will never do something. Ango Abdullahi is day dreaming, what he is dreaming about will never, never come to pass. President Jonathan has not decided to run or not, and has not told anybody, that is the truth. If he decides to run, nobody can beat him, it’s not possible. The calculations are in his favour, the odds are in his favour, the national supports are in his favour, the performance index is in his favour.

2015 is around the corner and Nigerians are worried that the President has not yet declared his interest either to run or not...

(Cuts in) If I have any worry, it’s that by God grace what we promised Nigerians people that we will achieve, we will achieve 75 percent of it by December next year. I think these are the President’s worries. Election and electioneering should not be on for three years. Six months is enough for all the processes of electioneering, between primaries, conducting election, winning and losing and going to tribunal, six months maximum.

The meeting you came for (at the PDP Hqtrs) is about the convention, but there is a court injunction stopping

We have no fear whatsoever about APC registration, we are not in any way anxious. These are people that were beaten individually before and collectively, we will defeat them randomly.

“

I heard Ango Abdullahi saying the North will win 2015 and the South will never do something. Ango Abdullahi is day dreaming, what he is dreaming about will never, never come to pass. the convention, was that disused at your meeting?

Yes, it came up. In fact, that is the first thing that the Chairman briefed us on, he said that the aggrieved people who got the injunction are working tirelessly to get the thing vacated. I was told that those who went to court have today addressed the press that they are no longer interested, they are withdrawing their case. So, the injunction is not an issue anymore. The convention is on course.

Are you saying they are working to vacate the injunction or the injunction has been vacated, which one are we going to take?

They are working to vacate the injunction.

About two months ago, you told us that the President was working on the complaints by the people from the South-West concerning marginalisation and you said that very soon that will come up, but up till now nothing has been done?

What you should know is that government does not work that way, there is already work that is going on underground, I am aware. This issue is uppermost in the mind of the President and the presidency.

Every effort is being put in place to ensure that as much as possible…. it will be impossible to really correct the imbalance 100 percent because in any case two years have gone. So, what needs to be done is to give people hope and confidence that whatever that has happened was inadvertent, it was not intentional and will not be sustained.

I am telling you that it is going on, government is slow and steady.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Politics Dikko’s new task as PDP disciplinarian

By Lawrence Olaoye

S

econd Republic Minister of Transport and Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Rice under former President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, was recently appointed to chair the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Disciplinary Committee.

Not a few stakeholders in the party have expressed surprise at the sudden reappearance of the Kaduna state born Second Republic tactician who had gone into political hibernation since the Shagari administration was toppled by the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s junta in 1983. This is because his name has not been prominent in the party since formation.

There are insinuations that Dikko’s appointment may be a pay back gesture to the old man who helped Tukur in getting the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)’s governorship ticket for the old Gongola state.

According to a source within the leadership of the PDP, Dikko was chosen to lead the panel because of his political influence and his no nonsense stance on party discipline and supremacy. This, according to the source, he demonstrated by wielding NPN stalwarts into line in the second republic.

The source disclosed further that Dikko was not consulted before announcement of his appointment as he is currently ill and cannot utter audible words. He is undergoing speech theraphy in a UK hospital.

With this development, there may be little or nothing he could contribute in adding value to the discipline in the PDP His tasks, going by the happenings in the ruling party, are gargantuan because of the avalanche of crisis in the ruling party by virtue of indiscipline and lack of respect for the party’s constituted authorities by the PDP teeming members.

The party under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur had drummed the principle of party supremacy into the ears of the PDP members just as he had severally maintained that his administration would not condone indiscipline in whatever guise. But members of the have obeyed these directives in default.

Similarly, President Goodluck Jonathan while receiving the PDP delegation from Rivers state, and commenting on the alleged anti party activities the Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, had warned the the party would no longer tolerate indiscipline in he party when he told the Felix Obuah led group that “For us to have a stable democracy we have to have a strong political party. And that is why we get worried when we noticed some of the indiscipline in some of the political parties. And the new PDP that we are all working together for no longer tolerates this indiscipline.

“All over the world parties are supposed to build on ideological differences. May be close, if you look

Alhaji Umaru Dikko at the classical case of the Social Democratic Party, SDP and the National Republican Convention, NRC, that were created by the military, their ideology was a little to the right and a little to the left.

“That is the essence of politics.

But in a situation where somebody is in a particular political party but his faith is in another political party, for those who are not holding political offices, yes you can be excused, but if you are holding an elective office you won’t be in that party and be working for another party. Otherwise, why are you there?”

“

Though the Dikko’s committee has yet to be inaugurated, this Presidential submission forms the basis of the task before the Dikko’s panel. The committee would be looking into the Rivers crisis, evaluate the level of culpability of the governor and recommend appropriate sanctions.

Equally, the party’s leadership has made stringent calls on members who are currently in court to withdraw their suits and exploit all internal mechanisms to address their grievances. To this extent, the trio of Abba K. Yale, Yahaya A. Sule and Bashir Maidugu, who have

gotten injunctions against the party and technically stopped party’s Special Convention Committee chaired by Professor JerryGana.

Although the leadership of the committee had said that plans were ongoing to quash the ruling with the stalwarts allegedly in out-of-court deal with the party’s Reconciliation Committee chaired by the Bayelsa state governor, Henry SeriakeDickson, chances are that they may be made to face the Dikko’s committee.

Another issue that may attract the Disciplinary Committee is that of the Rivers state governor,

The source disclosed further that Dikko was not consulted before announcement of his appointment as he is currently ill and cannot utter audible words. He is undergoing speech theraphy in a UK hospital. With this development, there may be little or nothing he could contribute in adding value to the discipline in the PDP

Amaechi. He had been accused of anti party activities by refusing to carry out the directives of the state chapter to reverse the suspension of the Obio/Akpor Council’s Executive Council.

Five northern governors, including Murtala Nyako, Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Aliyu Magatakarda and Sule Lamido of Adamawa, Niger, Kano, Sokoto and Jigawa states respectively are perceived to be working against the party and as such may be made to face the party’s Disciplinary Committee.

The governors have been working tirelessly for the emergence of a northern President even when the body language of the leadership of the party suggests that the incumbent may be returned as its candidate ahead of the 2015 Presidential election.

Some of them, especially the Adamawa state governor, have made disparaging comments about the party and may be called to question accordingly. Nyako has openly said that most of them are in the party to bury the PDP when it eventually dies. This is coming as there were reports that his aides and political allies have decamped into the newly registered opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state.

But there are doubts whether Dikko would have the physical strength to carry out the onerous and energy sapping assignment.

Critics are of the opinion that at over 70 years of age, the new PDP Disciplinary Committee chairman may just be too old for the job.

Others are of the opinion that considering his closeness to the PDP National Chairman, he may not be neutral in his judgment considering the fact that most of the offensives from those perceived disloyal to the party are against Tukur as a person.

Umaru Dikko was born in 1936, was a trusted adviser to President Shahu Shagari. He was also the Nigerian minister for Transportation from 1979-1983. He started playing a role in the nation’s governance in 1967, when he was appointed as a Commissioner in the then North Central State of Nigeria (now Kaduna State). He was also Secretary of a committee set up by General Hassan Katsina to unite the Northerners after a coup in 1966.

In 1979, he was made Shagari’s Campaign Manager for the successful presidential campaign of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). During the nation’s Second Republic, he played prominent roles as Transport Minister and head of the Presidential Task Force on Rice.

A coup on December 31, 1983 overthrew the government of Shagari. Dikko fled into exile in London with a few other party officials. On July 5, 1984, he played the central role in the Dikko Affair; he was found drugged in a crate at Stansted Airport that was being claimed as Diplomatic Baggage, an apparent victim of a government sanctioned kidnapping.The crate’s destination was Lagos.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 19

H ome s

Romantic bedroom ideas for newly weds

F

or those who are starting their lives together as a newly married couples, it is always a most exhilarating period in their entire lives. Now is a great time to make your master bedroom your special sanctuary. Here are some key details you’ll both need to make your room look more luxurious, even if you’re just starting out.

Create nice-looking easy-to-use storage.

Your goal is to hide items that tend to make a mess. Do you tend to empty your pockets on the dresser? Find an attractive box or basket you love, use this to hold your wallet, keys, loose change for the evening.

Banish clutter. It’s tempting to use your bedroom space to store gifts, odds on ends, things that don’t yet have a home. Try not to do this. Pick a closet for things you’d like to use, but aren’t ready for it just yet. If you don’t have a closet, seek a basement, attic space, or commercial storage for new items, your wedding dress, or out- of- season items. Now is the time

to re-home duplicate pieces or furniture that just doesn’t fit in your bedroom.

Help your combined furniture to cooperate Your bedroom furniture don’t have to match to add favour to aesthetics. Perfectly matched sets can look a bit impersonal or out of touch with your vibe as a couple. In the short term, if you must choose between dressers, choose the one that best fits your things or your space, and go from there. Using similar colour or texture can help match pieces coming from different places.

You may find your tastes run in opposite directions, as in, she loves modern, he loves antiques. Blending these styles together can make a room look like it truly belongs to both of you. To combine your different preferences together, first decide which style predominates among the pieces you are keeping. Treat this as the main style, with accents coming from the other look. Let each unique piece have its own voice. Similarities like colour and line can allow

different items to work together.

Warm up the color scheme Choose a favorite item, like a photo, a soft throw, a bedspread, and make this the basis of your colour scheme. Colours that add a sense of luxury and excitement include gold, or burgundy, or a rich violet. Just the right dash of bold, warm colour can go a long way to spark excitement and sex appeal.

Highlight the bed.

It is a bedroom, after all. Don’t be afraid to make the bed the focus and make the message romantic. If you don’t have a headboard, call on a little creativity to help make the bed attractive and inviting. Paint can be useful here. Use a warm accent colour on the wall behind the bed.

Paint the rest of the room a softer colour.

If your situation doesn’t allow for painting, you can hang a group of pictures above the bed,

or images from your honeymoon or a special trip together. Look for a special item like a quilt, a series of photos, or even a well-crafted gate borrowed from the garden for a unique, expressive headboard.

Use luxurious linens on the bed. Take advantage of the cozy feel and inviting texture of fabric. Place a soft throw, a folded plush blanket or a few accent pillows on your bed to dial up the romance factor.

Gather inspiration from something you both love See what you both like, and enjoy the process of exploring how to mix and match your different tastes. If you find you just can’t get things to work together the way you want, stop and take a breath. You’re not alone. You can always get some professional advice to keep the process easy and fun.

Pots & Pans PAGE 20

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Sausage Pan Cake

T

With Hajiya Ramatu Usman Dorayi

hese fluffy pancakes are an easy way to fill up the kids’ lunch box when going to school or anytime you need a light meal.

Ingredients All purpose flour • 2 teaspoons baking

powder • 1 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon baking

soda • 2 eggs • 2 cups buttermilk • 2 tablespoons canola

oil • 1 pound bulk pork

sausage, cooked and

drained • 1-1/2 cups pancake

syrup Directions • In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in sausage.

• Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle; • Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with syrup.

Yield: 6 servings.

Coconut and pineapple smoothie

A

smoothie is a good way to increase your fruit intake, but some smoothies are quite high in calories. Pineapple and coconut are two fruits that are beneficial to health and their flavors pair well.

Smoothies can be purchased in already made packs or prepared at home for a snack or breakfast.

Ingredients To make a smoothie with fresh coconut and pineapple juice, you will need 1 cup of juice and 1/2 cups of coconut meat, 1/2 cup ice, 1/2 cup pineapple and 1/2 banana.

When you choose the pineapple juice, make sure it is low in sugar.

The juice from a can of pineapple is a good option if it is 100 percent juice. A healthy fruit smoothie won’t contain added sugar so this recipe is a good choice as long as you stick to one serving.

Preparation Simply place the ingredients in a blender and puree them until they reach the desired texture.

Smoothie Recipes recommends blending together the juice, ice and banana and then adding the pineapple and coconut. The pineapple may take longer to puree so you may want to add it before the coconut. A high powered blender will make it easier to create a smoothie that is not chunky and is often faster as well. After blending, sieve and keep refrigerated

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, JULY, 2013

PAGE 21

Magazine

Kannywood set to unleash Fatima on viewers >> P36 Memories of Hadejia Emirate Council >> P24

‘Talking at mealtimes boosts children’s confidence’ >> P27

Uche Jombo releases ‘False’ and ’Lies Men Tell’ >> P28

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Magazine

Scientists seek to rein in diagnoses of cancer

By Tara Parker-Pope

A

group of experts have advised cancer research institution to change the definition of cancer and to eliminate the word from some common diagnoses as part of sweeping changes in the approach to cancer detection and treatment.

The recommendations, from a working group of the National Cancer Institute, were published early in the week in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

They say, for instance, that some premalignant conditions, like one that affects the breast called ductal carcinoma in situ which many doctors agree is not cancer, should be renamed to exclude the word carcinoma so that patients are less frightened and less likely to seek what may be unneeded and potentially harmful treatments that can include the surgical removal of the breast.

The group, which includes some of the top scientists in cancer research, also suggested that many lesions detected during breast, prostate, thyroid, lung and other cancer screenings should not be called cancer at all but should instead be reclassified as IDLE conditions, which stands for “indolent lesions of epithelial origin.”

While it is clear that some or all of the changes may not happen for years, if it all, and that some cancer experts will profoundly disagree with the group’s views, the report from such a prominent group of scientists who have the backing of the National Cancer Institute brings the discussion to a higher level and will most likely change the national conversation about cancer, its definition, its treatment and future research.

“We need a 21st-century definition of cancer instead of a 19th-century definition of cancer, which is what we’ve been using,” said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, who was not directly involved in the report.

The impetus behind the call for change is a growing concern among doctors, scientists and patient advocates that hundreds of thousands of men and women are undergoing needless and sometimes disfiguring and harmful treatments for premalignant and cancerous lesions that are so slow growing they are unlikely to ever cause harm.

The advent of highly

Doctor diagnosing a cancer patient

sensitive screening technology in recent years has increased the likelihood of finding these so-called incidentalomas — the name given to incidental findings detected during medical scans that most likely would never cause a problem. However, once doctors and patients are aware a lesion exists, they typically feel compelled to biopsy, treat and remove it, often at great physical and psychological

“

pain and risk to the patient.

The issue is often referred to as overdiagnosis, and the resulting unnecessary procedures to which patients are subjected are called overtreatment.

Cancer researchers warned about the risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment as a result of new recommendations from a government panel that heavy smokers be given an annual CT scan. While the policy change,

announced on Monday but not yet made final, has the potential to save 20,000 lives a year, some doctors warned about the cumulative radiation risk of repeat scans as well as worries that broader use of the scans will lead to more risky and invasive medical procedures.

Officials at the National Cancer Institute say overdiagnosis is a major public health concern and a priority of

The problem for the public is you hear the word cancer, and you think you will die unless you get treated. We should reserve this term, ‘cancer,’ for those things that are highly likely to cause a problem

the agency. “We’re still having trouble convincing people that the things that get found as a consequence of mammography and P.S.A. testing and other screening devices are not always malignancies in the classical sense that will kill you,” said Dr. Harold E. Varmus, the Nobel Prize-winning director of the National Cancer Institute. “Just as the general public is catching up to this idea, there are scientists who are catching up, too.”

One way to address the issue is to change the language used to describe lesions found through screening, said Dr. Laura J. Esserman, the lead author of the report in The Journal of the American Medical Association and the director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center at the University of California, San Francisco. In the report, Dr. Esserman and her colleagues said they would like to see a Contd on Page 30

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Magazine

Scientists seek to rein in diagnoses of cancer Contd from Page 22 multidisciplinary panel convened to address the issue, led by pathologists, with input from surgeons, oncologists and radiologists, among others.

“Ductal carcinoma in situ is not cancer, so why are we calling it cancer?” said Dr. Esserman, who is a professor of surgery and radiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Such proposals will not be universally embraced. Dr. Larry Norton, the medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said the larger problem is that doctors cannot tell patients with certainty which cancers will not progress and which cancers will kill them, and changing terminology does not solve that problem.

“Which cases of D.C.I.S. will turn into an aggressive cancer and which ones won’t?” he said, referring to ductal carcinoma in situ. “I wish we knew that.

We don’t have very accurate ways of looking at tissue and looking at tumors under the microscope and knowing with great certainty that it is a slow-growing cancer.”

Dr. Norton, who was not part of the report, agreed that doctors do need to focus on better communication with patients about precancerous and cancerous conditions. He said he often tells patients that even though ductal carcinoma in situ may look like cancer, it will not necessarily act like cancer — just as someone who is “dressed like a criminal” is not actually a criminal until that person breaks the law.

“

Changing the language we use to diagnose various lesions is essential to give patients confidence that they don’t have to aggressively treat every finding in a scan

“The terminology is just a descriptive term, and there’s no question that has to be explained,” Dr. Norton said. “But you can’t go back and change hundreds of years of literature by suddenly changing terminology.”

But proponents of downgrading cancerous conditions with a simple name change say there is precedent for doing so. The report’s authors note that in 1998, the World Health Organization changed the name of an early-stage urinary tract tumor, removing the word “carcinoma” and calling it “papillary urothelial neoplasia of low malignant potential.”

When a common Pap smear finding called “cervical intraepithelial neoplasia” was reclassified as a low-grade lesion rather than a malignancy, women were more willing to submit to observation rather than demanding treatment, Dr. Esserman said.

“Changing the language we use to diagnose various lesions is essential to give patients confidence that they don’t have to aggressively treat every finding in a scan,” she said. “The problem for the

Some drugs are caught and destroyed but some shipments still get through

public is you hear the word cancer, and you think you will die unless you get treated.

We should reserve this term, ‘cancer,’ for those things that are highly likely to cause a problem.”

The concern, however, is that since doctors do not yet have a clear way to tell the difference between benign or slowgrowing tumors and aggressive diseases with many of these conditions, they treat everything as if it might become aggressive. As a result, doctors are finding and treating scores of seemingly precancerous lesions and early-stage cancers — like ductal carcinoma in situ, a condition called Barrett’s esophagus, small thyroid tumors and early prostate cancer.

But even after years of aggressively treating those conditions, there has not been a commensurate reduction in invasive cancer, suggesting that overdiagnosis and overtreatment are occurring on a large scale.

The National Cancer Institute working group also called for a greater focus on research to identify both benign and slow-

growing tumors and aggressive diseases, including the creation of patient registries to learn more about lesions that appear unlikely to become cancer.

Some of that research is already under way at the National Cancer Institute.

Since becoming director of the institute three years ago, Dr. Varmus has set up a list of “provocative questions” aimed at encouraging scientists to focus on critical areas, including the issue of overdiagnosis and molecular tests to distinguish between slow-growing and aggressive tumors.

Another National Cancer Institute program, the Barrett’s Esophagus Translational Research Network, or Betrnet, is focused on changes in the esophageal lining that for years have been viewed as a precursor to esophageal cancer. Although patients with Barrett’s are regularly screened and sometimes treated by burning off the esophageal lining, data now increasingly suggest that most of the time, Barrett’s is benign and probably does not need to be treated at all. Researchers from various academic centers are now working together and pooling tissue samples to spur research that will determine when Barrett’s is most likely to become cancerous.

“Our investigators are not just looking for ways to detect cancer early, they are thinking about this question of when you find a cancer, what are the factors that might determine how aggressively it will behave,” Dr. Varmus said. “This is a long way from the thinking 20 years ago, when you found a cancer cell and felt you had a tremendous risk of dying.”

Source: NYtimes.com

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 23

Woma n h o o d

W

By Evelyn Okakwu

henever you discuss women and music in the Nigeria, one name stands out.

Not because of the rhythmic flow of her songs but the inspirational undertone that comes with the genre of the music she produces. She has been unique and consistent over time. That woman is no one else but Nigeria’s Queen of Africa pop music, Onyeka Onwenu.

The Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) is an icon in the Nigerian music industry. A brand that knows her onion, Onyeka has not only carved a niche for herself in the Nigerian entertainment industry, but has inspired youth and women in particular to venture into entertainment and other careers hitherto the exclusive preserve of the male folk.

Onyeka Onwenu is unarguably one of Nigeria’s foremost female artists, who before venturing into music had practised journalism. Dubbed “Elegant Stallion and Incorruptible Nigerian of the day” by the Nigerian Press, Ms. Onwenu has scripted some of the most memorable songs in Nigeria’s entertainment industry. Onyeka is unique in her brand of music as she stands out as the only musician to have crossed pop with juju music and highlife.

In fact, she is a woman of many parts: a mother, journalist, singer/songwriter, actress, social critic, a philanthropist and a politician all rolled in one.

She is a grassroots mobiliser, an advocate for women empowerment and gender equality. Onyeka, who lost her father at the tender age of four, never allowed that to hinder her desire to etch her name in gold in whatever she chose to accomplish.

Educated in the United States of America, Onyeka worked for many years at the United Nations before returning to Nigeria in 1981 and did her National Youth Service Corp with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Lagos.

But 1982 was a turning point in her life. That year, she released her first album, “ENDLESS LIFE” and followed that up with “FOR THE LOVE OF YOU” in 1983. “IN THE MORNING LIGHT”, her third album was released in 1984 featuring the theme song of the BBC/NTA documentary (in the morning light).

“

Touching lives through music is her common philosophy. Also, she believes music is a wonderful the genre which can be used to uplift the soul of the downtrodden especially the women folks in Nigeria

Onyeka Onwenu Onyeka’s fourth album “ONE LOVE” was released in 1986 with an astonishing reception for the track “ONE LOVE”. “Dancing in the Sun” was released in November 1988 and remains a chart material. Aptly called the Queen of African pop music, it was no surprise that Onyeka was awarded the performing Musician Association Best pop Artist for the year 1988.

“DANCING IN THE SUN” album

featured a duet with King Sunny Ade with the track title “WAIT FOR ME”, which has been hailed not only for its innovative creativity, but also for her ability to break new grounds.

The reaction from the duet “mada wolohun” (Let them Say) was tremendous, and fans demanded for more. In response, Onyeka Onwenu joined forces with King Sunny Ade in “Wait for Me” and “Choices”, both of which were composed by Onyeka herself and

produced by Lemmy Jackson.

Albeit, she has been on the scene for more than three decades, Ms. Onwenu continues to work as evident by her recent works “This Land of Mine” a theme song for Nigeria’s Centenary Celebrations, which has received rave reviews around the world. She has two musical compilations, “The Worshipper” and “The Legend Uploaded” and stars alongside Thandi Newton and Chiwetal Ejiofor in the new film, “Half of a Yellow Sun” based on the Chimamanda Adichie book of the same title.

She serves as the Good will Ambassador for The Leprosy Mission of Nigeria and Friends Africa, a non-governmental organization which galvanizes support from the private sector, Governments and Civil Society for the battle against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

Onyeka was promoting safe-sex long before it became popular to do so and before Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS population became unmanageable. In both “Wait For Me” and Choices” the lyrics focused on family planning, sex education and birth control.

Her industriousness and contributions to womanhood has not gone unnoticed. Little wonder she has been bestowed with many awards such as the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of works and contribution to the Artistic, Social, and Cultural Fiber of Nigeria. Also, she received podium honours in the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a supporting role.

The 52 years Amazon and icon in the Nigerian entertainment industry owes accomplishment to her mother whom she describes as “a disciplinarian, tough” and whose hard work and zest to achieve was infectious. She provided adequately for her fatherless children and thus inspired her children to assume life unmindful of the seemingly obstacles.

So shocked was she after her mother’s demise in 2011 that for awhile she considered quitting the entertainment industry. But she’s no quitter. Onyeka Onwenu put her emotions and energies into work and returned with 3 videos in 7months and included her latest album THE LEGEND RELOADED. She wants donate proceeds from the sale of the CD for church building.

Touching lives through music is her common philosophy. Also, she believes music is a wonderful the genre which can be used to uplift the soul of the downtrodden especially the women folks in Nigeria.

Indeed, her desired to improve the standard of living of the people at the grassroots moved her to venture into politics in 2002, where she contested for the chairmanship seat for Ideato North in Imo State, and lost her first try.

Presently, she is the chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture.

Besides, she is currently a judge on X Factor West Africa, the world’s biggest singing reality TV show.

FOR THE RECORDS Born on the 17th of may1961; Ms.Onyeka Onwenu is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts USA where she obtained Bachelors in International Relations and Communication and the new school for Social Research in New York where she completed a Master’s Degree in Media studies. Her children live in the USA. The lovely Lady has always rocked a TWA (teeny weeny afro). She has never worn a weave or long hair...Never.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST , 2013

Page 24

Kiddies World

With Nami Hassan Kadir namy.kadir@yahoo.com 08130693795.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS Hadejia Emirate Council

B E AD C

HIS AND HERS’ CORNER

P

rior to the rise of the emirate Council in Hadejia, the territory now known as Hadejia Emirate or Kasar Hadejia, was made up of seven separate and distinct kingdoms namely: Garun Gabas, Auyo, Dawa, Fagi, Kazura, Gatarwa and Hadejia. Unfortunately, these kingdoms possessed neither historical documents nor codified oral traditions which could throw light on their histories.

The founders and early settlers of all the Kingdoms east of Kano, we are told, were attracted to this area by its richness in terms of grazing land, fertile landscape. and fishing streams. Hadejia town, for instance, owed its name and origin to a Kanuri hunter from Machina, Hade, and his wife, Jiya, who, while on hunting expedition, became attracted to the area because of its rivers and other natural endowments. Hade became the founder of Hadejia and the first in a long line of Hadejia Kings - thirtytwo in all who ruled the area before the nineteenth century jihad.

The town and the kingdom, and indeed later the emirate, got their name when Hade and his wife Jiya settled in the area, and the people in the surrounding settlements started to migrate to, or identify the area with, them. It is said that the people often referred to the settlement as Garin (town of) Hade and Jiya and later merged the two names and simply called it HADEJIYA, after the name of the man and his wife.

They remained under Borno’s imperial control up till the beginning of the Nineteenth Century when the Fulani conquered them and subsequently transformed them into what became known as the Hadejia emirate. The government of Hadejia in the 19th century, like other emirates of the old Sokoto Caliphate, was based on autocracy. The emir who was a spiritual as well as temporal head was at the helm of affairs.

The nature of the society of Hadejia emirate unlike most of the other emirates of Hausa land was ethnically and religiously diverse in composition. Yet, despite this diversity, the emirate was united by a common religion (Islam) and language (Hausa) which serves as a lingua franca. Islam was the religion of majority of the emirate’s inhabitants.

It is both a religion and a way of life.

Islamic law regulates the life and activities of the people and provides a common bond of unity. Indeed, both the Muslim majority and non-Muslim minority of the pre-colonial Hadejia saw the Emir of Hadejia as their overall leader even though they had their respective local community heads.

All Hadejawa (the people of Hadejia) irrespective of ethnic or religious differences converged periodically at the Capital and celebrated the Muslim feasts of Eid, with the diverse people interacting freely. Also, there was evidence of inter-marriages between

Disney Angle

them.

Economically, Hadejia in the period before the colonial epoch was a wealthy and industrious emirate.

The economy primarily rested on agriculture, with the household serving as the basic economic and social unit, and the household heads acting as the supervisors in the process of production. The land of Hadejia like other areas within the savannah zone provided favorable conditions for the production of grains and for livestock husbandry.

The nature of the environment also supported other economic activities such as dyeing, weaving, smithing and pottery making.

As was common in other places, the surplus produce was usually sold out; thus the people of Hadejia engaged in commercial transactions.

So trading activities, both petty and long distance formed another feature of the pre-colonial economy. In this respect, the emirate of Hadejia in the Nineteenth Century occupied the position of an important source of commodity supplies and a distribution centre east of Hausa land. The emirate mainly exported food items such as wheat and fish in exchange for kolanut from Kano markets and beyond.

Its people also traded in the sales of woven gowns or white rigas, beeswax, hides and skins, fans and cattle in exchange for foreign goods like salt, horses and potash.

This fact gave further indication that Hadejia, in addition to being an administrative and social centre for the emirate, also served as a commercial nerve centre in the region east of Kano.

Ghouls Fools

Mickey Mouse Pluto’s Chrisma Tree

Donald Duck Phineas and Ferb

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

B Kiddies World

E A CD

With Nami Hassan Kadir namy.kadir@yahoo.com 08130693795.

CREATIVITY How To Make a Kite out of paper Things you’ll need: - Construction paper - String Pipe cleaners / sticks - Scissors -Colored pencils / Markers (optional) -Tape (optional) - Rulers Steps: -Get a piece of paper (any color), and cut a diamond shape from it. Sometimes it is better if you tape four pieces together. But you have to tape them together the right way. Tape two together, then tape together the other two.

Tape them on each other.

-To cut a diamond shape on the paper (if you are not taping four sheets together), cut the 4 corners off. It should be in the shape of a square. the paper horizontally, cut it again but this time lay it across the paper vertically. Tie the two sticks or pipe cleaners together.

-Make it as tight as possible.

-Tie the two sticks or pipe cleaners together. Make it as tight as possible. Pierce 2 holes in the diamond-shaped paper. On

the inside corner where the two sticks cross, thread a thick string.

-Using the other end of the thick string, do the same. Then tie the string when both of the ends of the string are threaded through.

-Tie a long and strong string on to the sticks or pipe cleaners to

AFRICAN TALES

form the tail. You can add small strips of paper to the end of this tail string for weighting. It also looks more complete.

Colour the kite if you want, find a breeze or some light wind, have someone to help you hold your kite as you wait for wind to come Have fun flying your kite.

ACTIVITIES

Using the right colours, shade the image below. Describe the action and show your work to your teacher for correction. Cheers!

MODEL OF THE WEEK

Spider And The Honey Tree

T

here was once a young girl from a village far way who had a special talent for finding the very best foods in the bush. Her oranges were just a little sweeter, her plums just a little larger, and her bananas had just a little more flavor.

Everyone wondered where she located such delicious fruits. But, nobody ever asked the girl about her secrets of the bush. That is, nobody asked her after they heard the story about Spider and this young girl.

One day Spider asked this young girl to help him look for food. He was too lazy to work for himself and was sure he could trick this girl into sharing her secrets. He didn’t know how clever this girl could be. “Little girl, nobody finds fruits as sweet as yours,” cooed the spider. “Will you please take me with you when you go looking in the bush?” “I’ve never done that before,” replied the girl. “It would mean so much if you could do it one time,” pleaded Spider. “Well, I suppose I can do it just once,” agreed the girl. “Do you promise to keep my secrets?” “You can trust me,” promised the lazy spider. “What do you like to eat?” “Well, I like plums and bananas, of course, but I especially love honey.” “I think I can help you,” grinned the girl. Spider couldn’t believe his luck.

The girl lead Spider along the path into the bush. She took him down trails into areas where people rarely ever go. Spider grinned because he knew he was about to learn her secret places for finding the very best food.

After learning this, he would never again have to work hard for good food. “This plum tree,” explained the girl, “does not have much fruit so most people ignore it, but its plums

Page 25

are the sweetest ones in all of the bush.” Now Spider was just as greedy as he was lazy. As soon as the young girl showed him the secret plums, his eyes became wide and his mouth began to water.

Then, Spider shoved the little girl into the bushes. He rushed past her and climbed up into the tree. Then, he ate every single one of the plums. He didn’t even leave one plum for the little girl. And, he didn’t even say thank you. After his feast, Spider rubbed his very full belly and thought, “This is the best day of my life! What a great idea! I can’t believe she showed me where her plums are found.

I wonder if she will take me to any bananas?

She must be very foolish.” Spider looked down at the girl with his biggest smile and she asked politely, “Do you want any of my special bananas?” He raced down out of the tree before the girl could change her mind.

The girl continued down the path showing Spider her secrets of the bush. They walked further down the trail into areas where people rarely ever go. “Over here is a small patch of the very best bananas,” declared the young girl. Again, as soon as Spider learned the secret, his eyes became wide and his mouth began to water. Again, he shoved the little girl into the bushes. He rushed past her and climbed the banana plants. He ate every single one of the ripe bananas. Again, he left the young girl with nothing -- not even one banana. And once again, he didn’t even say thank you.

His belly was so full, but Spider was not satisfied. He wanted to learn more of the secret places of the bush. He thought to himself, “This girl is really foolish. But, as long

as she guides me, I will continue to eat all of her food.” Again, Spider looked down at the little girl and smiled. Once again, the young girl looked up at Spider and politely asked, “Are you too full or would you like to find some honey?” One more time, Spider rushed out of the tree and followed the girl down the trail before she had a chance to change her mind.

Now this girl was not nearly as foolish as Spider thought. She had a plan to teach this greedy spider a lesson. She remembered that Spider loved honey and was not surprised at all when his eyes became wide and his mouth started to water. She also wasn’t surprised when he shoved her into the bushes, ran past her, climbed up the tree, and squeezed into the hole. Again, he ate all of the sweet golden honey, sharing nothing with the young girl.

He didn’t even share one drop. And once again, he didn’t even say thank you. When Spider had eaten his fill, he tried to climb out of the tree but he couldn’t get out the hole.

His stomach had grown too large. He was stuck! “Help me, young girl,” cried the spider.

“I cannot get out of the tree!” “You wouldn’t be stuck if you hadn’t been so selfish,” scolded the girl. “I’m sorry for what I did!

Please call for help,” cried Spider. “I am not as foolish as you think. You aren’t sorry for what you did. You are only sorry you are caught in the tree.” “No, you’re wrong,” lied the spider but in his heart he knew she was right. He had enjoyed every minute, every bite of food, as long as he thought he was tricking the young girl. He never expected his idea to turn into such a problem for him.

“Please call for help! I am trapped.

Finally, a smile crossed over the little girl’s face and she said she would do as the spider asked. She cried for help -- as softly as she could, “Help! Help! The foolish spider is caught inside the honey tree. Help! Somebody come and help this greedy spider!” Of course, nobody could hear her whispers for help. And, nobody could hear Spider’s cries from deep inside the tree. They were too far into the bush where people rarely ever go.

Finally, the little girl looked up at Spider with a clever grin. “Good bye, Spider, I am going to get some huge oranges for my family. If you want to eat some, just follow me there.” She waved to him as she left to go down the trail.

Muhammed Sunusi is saying HELLO

Page 26

Peoples Daily WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

LEARNING

With Namy Kadir Hassan namy.kadir@yahoo.com Compiled by Melea Jude Moses

Paint the bird

By Georgeann Packard

B

etrayed by her husband and best friend, the Rev. Sarah Obadias finds herself “this less-than-married minister.”

After a church conference brought on by a crisis in faith, Sarah is at a loose end in lower Manhattan. She retreats to a restaurant/bar, there meeting Abraham Darby, renowned painter, who is a virile, self-obsessed colossus. Sarah and Darby are marked with the “refinement of age.”

She’s 69; he’s slightly older,

but their attraction is intense, immediate. Cocktails, food and then bed follow. The next morning, she finds herself with Darby in Brooklyn at the funeral of Yago Darby Díaz, Darby’s son, dead from AIDS. Sarah’s shocked when Darby stands to eulogize his son and rages that “[h]e stopped sharing his life with me when he joined this... culture?”

Lives quickly become intertwined, Sarah with Darby, the two then with Johnny, Yago’s spouse, and their son, Angelo, and Allyssa, Angelo’s biological mother. Johnny is settled, owner of a small restaurant, and

Did you know?

Yago, blithe spirit in life and death, had partied regularly around the bar circuit.

The narrative moves to Darby’s summer house at Orient, Long Island, where Alejandra, Yago’s sensual and flamboyant artist mother, joins the moveable wake, and then back to the city, where Darby tumbles into a deep depression.

Faith broken by doubt, Sarah’s left to confront her fractured life alone. Packard’s book packs layers of symbolisms on its pages, but it’s also an entrancing exercise in employing language to explore and define the nature of love and the meaning of life framed against death.

The lyrical narrative edges toward the surreal when Yago speaks from the hospital gurney where he lies dead, then addresses Darby in the car on the way to his beach house, and finally approaches Sarah on the beach.

The novel is a deeply poetic meditation “About life, about trust.

About God. About death.” Brilliantly imagined and rendered.

How to tame your Duke

By Juliana Gray

W

- Iceland consumes more Coca Cola per capita than any other country - wine is sold in tinted bottles because it spoils when exposed to light - the word ‘rhythm’ is the longest word without a vowel - dreamt is the only word that ends in mt ‘Bookkeeper’ and ‘bookkeeping’ are the only 2 words in the English language with three consecutive double letters - Earth is the only planet

hen her father is assassinated, Princess Emilie flees to England, then goes undercover as Mr. Grimsby, a male tutor to the teenage son of the scarred, war-wounded Duke of Ashland.

When their German principality comes under attack, three princesses escape to England and the protection of their uncle, the Duke of Olympia, who arranges to send them each undercover into different households across the land.

Emilie, the most studious and intellectual of the three, winds up as the tutor to the

not named after a god - sound travels almost 5 times faster underwater than in air - sponges hold more cold water than hot - a giraffe can go longer without water than a camel - hot water freezes quicker than cold water - rain contains vitamin B12 The artists expressed delight over the awards and also thanked the CPE for the gesture.

The Hero Pose

By Glen Ebisch

A

former MP, who generally keeps to herself, is broughtinto, then away from, investigating the disappearance of a town’s beloved doctor.

Alison Randall doesn’t make it a practice to get involved in the lives of the students at her yoga studio.

However, when Lauren Malcolm beseeches Ahson for help after a class, she can’t say no. Lauren’s boyfriend, Dr. Jim Schianno, has gone

missing, and Lauren thinks that Ali’s past as a military MP in Iraq might qualify her to search for Lauren’s beau.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Dr. Jim had got romantically involved with Lauren before divorcing his wife.

As Ali digs into Dr. Jim’s past, she finds that Lauren is only the latest in the good doctor’s string of affairs. He has a long history of taking the hero’s role with patients in trouble, and Ali is concerned that someone might have taken advantage of this vulnerability.

Though she’s willing to delve deeper into Dr. Jim’s life, Lauren abruptly halts the investigation, insisting that Ali forgets everything she has learned. But Ali’s military career has taught her the value of perseverance, and she’s not the type to be dissuaded. So, like it or not, she’s determined to see her amateur investigation through.

Ebisch has done better with comedy (Breaking the Rules, 2012, etc.) than with this melodrama, especially since Ali’s a little brusque to be a sympathetic protagonist.

son of the reclusive Duke of Ashland, who was wounded in India and shuns society in his remote Yorkshire estate.

Immediately drawn to the damaged yet compelling Duke, Emilie finds herself enticed into a platonic but highly sensual relationship with the man at a nearby hotel, while still maintaining her disguise in his household.

And if that situation isn’t confusing and fraught enough on its own, things become even more problematic when enemies of her kingdom attack her in Yorkshire.

Gray begins a new trilogy on the heels of her highly successful Affairs in Moonlight (A Duke Never Yields, 2013, etc.), following a trio of sisters who flee their besieged principality in late 1889.

Fun, engaging, sensual and touching, the first installment reads like a slightly outlandish fairy tale, but Gray’s lyrical writing, intense emotion and spirited characters carry the sophisticated plot to satisfying fruition and keeps readers engrossed in every step of the way.

Gray’s fans will recognize the ever-plotting Duke of Olympia and some other minor characters from her previous trilogy. A delightful romance treat. you be a Victorian? Crave the experiences of the long dead. Be prepared to wear fancy dress.

Page 27

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Leisure

CARTOON

‘Talking at mealtimes boosts children’s confidence’

M

ealtime chatter helps boost children’s communication skills, suggests a study by the National Literacy Trust. Children whose families sit and talk during meals are more confident, the poll of 35,000 UK children indicates. But more than one in every four misses out on daily mealtime chats with their families, suggests the poll.

Former EastEnders actress, mother, and literacy campaigner Natalie Cassidy said: “Food is fuel for our bodies. So is conversation for our brains.”Ms Cassidy urged parents: “Even if you’re strapped for time, make 10-15 minutes to all sit down together”.

Vital conversation She said “the spoken word and listening back are the first steps on the learning ladder” for her daughter Eliza, three. Children aged eight to 16, from 188 schools across the UK, completed the questionnaire in their classrooms late last year.

The data suggests that sitting in silence at mealtimes is worse for children’s confidence than not sitting down for family meals at all.

The results suggest that some two-thirds (62%) of those who talk daily with their families at mealtimes feel confident to speak in front of a group, compared with less than half (47%) of those who eat in silence and just over half (52%) of children who don’t sit down for meals.

Some three-quarters (75%) of those who chat at family meals said they felt confident to join in class discussions, compared with 57% of those who sit together to eat but never or rarely talk and just over two-thirds (64%) of those who don’t sit down for meals.

The study also suggests that the majority of children and young people (87%) sit down with their family at mealtimes but while almost three-quarters

(74%) of families chat at mealtimes every day, some 7% said they almost always ate together in silence.

Life skills Children on free school meals were slightly less likely to report chatting with their families at mealtimes everyday (71%).The rate for older pupils was also lower - 68% of 14- to 16-year-olds, compared with 76% of 11- to 14-year-olds.

The National Literacy Trust’s Words for Life campaign calls on families to encourage their children’s speaking and listening skills “by taking simple steps like chatting together at mealtimes”.

The trust’s director Jonathan Douglas said: “Our research shows just how vital conversation at home is to the future success of our children and young people.

“Talking and communicating at home, for example at mealtimes, will help children gain the skills they need for a successful and happy life.” By Judith Burns BBC News education reporter

PHOTO OF THE DAY

FUNNY FACTS • 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 • Tiger shark embroyos fight each other in their mother’s womb. The survivor is born.

• Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow a film down so you could see his moves. That’s the opposite of the norm.

• A Blue whale’s tongue weighs more than an

elephant.

• You grow by about 8mm (O.3in) every night when you are asleep, but shrink to your former height the following day.

• Over 4 million cars in Brazil are now running on gasohol instead of petrol.

Gasohol is a fuel made from sugar cane.

• Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the

telephone, never telephoned His wife or mother because they were both deaf.

• “Bookkeeper” is the only word in English language with three consecutive Double letters.

• A normal person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation.

Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a Few weeks.

WORD SEARCH

DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR GEOGRAPHY?

Homeless but not hopeless

Quotable quotes • The greatest pleasure of life is love.

Euripides.

• One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Plato.

• For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

Audrey Hepburn • If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.

Milton Friedman.

• All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their

minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence • A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

Lana Turner • I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.

Lily Tomlin • By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Confucius

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

s p i T y t u a Be

Carrot Juice for Skin Health Y

our skin is a reflection of your underlying health. Good nutrition including fresh vegetable juice such as carrots can play a role in creating betterlooking skin. Carrot Juice is used for skin health to provide curative and preventative properties for healthy glowing skin. The largest organ in the body, our skin is the first defense against germs and the environment. One of the best ways to slow the aging of skin is to ensure the skin is well hydrated by consuming fresh juice and plenty of water each

day.

Carrots are regarded as the ‘herbal healer’ of skin diseases as they promote the repair of skin tissue. Carrot juice is a valuable source of Vitamin A, which is a major vitamin for skin health.

Carrots are rich in antioxidants, including phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals, which protect, nourish and moisturize the skin. Nutrition received from carrots helps to reduce photosensitivity to promote skin renewal and protect the skin from sun damage.

Carrot juice acts as an anti-

inflammatory and revitalizes and tones the skin. Cosmetically, carrots are used to treat dermatitis, eczema, rashes and wrinkles caused by free radicals.

Carrot juice is also used to assist in the healing of cuts and abrasions. Complexion problems due mainly to toxic overload in the body and an acidic condition in the blood can be stabilized through consumption of carrot juice. Potassium in the carrots helps to neutralize the excess acid and the vitamin A assists the liver in flushing toxins from the body.

Compiled by Nami Hassan Kadir

Compiled by Namy Kadir Hassan

Fashion

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Page 29

Trendy Styles Made With ‘Ankara’

A

n k a r a Clothing introduces you to a new insight on what fashion is really about.

Offering you a unique service that unites contemporary, fashionable styles with the vibrant array of patterns and colours, inspired from Africa. Nigerian fabric that is making it within and outside Nigeria is the Ankara stylish fashion, numerous designs here in,Nigeria are being sewn everyday, and even in abroad the country of men with white colour so to

say. Different,designers are improving on their skills on Ankara stylish fashion every now and then, and are coming out with lots of beautiful designed in Ankara fashion.

Ankara Jackets are fun, chic, trendy and sure to put you on the best dressed list!

They are perfect for glamming up playful jumpsuits, shorts, skirts, dresses and jeans.

There is nothing quite like an ankara jacket to breathe life into remarkably dull and uninspiring outfits. So, rock an ankara jacket and be fun, be adventurous, be vibrant, be hip.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

OUR MISSION “To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”

PAGE 31

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

Chairman Malam Wada Maida, Oon, Fnge Director/Editor-in-Chief Rufa’i Ibrahim Managing Editor Abdul-Azeez Abdullahi

Chief Operating Officer Ali M. Ali

Head, Advert/Marketing Hussaini Abdulrahman, Cna

Editor, Daily Ahmed I. Shekarau

Manager, administration Hassan Hammanyaji

Deputy Manager, Production Abdul-Rauf Musa

Editor, Weekend Hameed M. Bello

Head, Lagos Bureau Adesoji Oyinlola

“To be a reputable, profitable, innovative and technologically reliant media company offering world class services and products”

LETTERS

The benefits of Ramadan WRITE TO US

Sakina Dhikra Mohammed

T

he word “Ramadan” emanates from a root word, “parched thirst”. It’s the expression of hunger and taste by those who are fasting in the entire period of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan, by its nature is, a time of sacrifice whereby you would give up all pleasures and be sincerely devoted to Allah.

Ramadan signifies the period of love, giving, sharing, demonstrating kindness; reflections and spiritual devotions. These are virtues Muslims, except those exempted for some reasons, around the world are expected demonstrate. Those exempted include mothers breastfeeding babies, the sick and those on journey.

Quran (2:183) states; that “fasting is made obligatory to all Muslims so that they may learn self-restraints”.

This, indeed, is a true goal and test of

Peoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: The Editor, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja.

Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com adverts@peoplesdailyng.com pictures@peoplesdailyng.com contact@peoplesdailyng.com faith in the month of Ramadan.

A constant devotion proclaimed by ALLAH on Muslim faithful, Ramadan fasting has not lost its spiritual essence since it became a compulsory exercise ordained by ALLAH. It has firmly exerted its spiritual and

intense value on mankind. Through self-control, a Muslim practises good manners, speech and good habits through increased charity, Muslims show generosity and kindness to one another.

A Muslim experiences hunger and thirst which will make him sympathise

with those who have little to eat every day and through increased devotion, Muslims feel closer to their LORD and realise that everything we have is surely a divine blessing from HIM. Through changing routine, Muslims have the chance to establish good healthy lifestyle, particularly with regards to diets. And through family gatherings, they strengthen the bonds of brotherhoods within the family and the community at large.

In conclusion, Ramadan is a very special period for Muslims to embrace good acts and spurn acts forbidden and then learn vital lessons Ramadan sacrifices for a lifetime.

May ALLAH, accept our fasting now and always, forgive our sins both major and minor, those we know and those we know not, establish our feet firmly in our religion and guide us to the right path. SALLAMUALAIKUM....

Sakina Dhikra Mohammed writes from Abuja

Beauty of faith and Ramadan Mohammed Jameel Yushau

I

t comes once in a year, but leaves the most indelible memory in the life of a Muslim. "Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur’an, as a guide to mankind. Also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong).

So everyone who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if anyone is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and per chance ye shall be grateful" (Qur’an chapter 2 verse 185).

Muslims all over the world fast in the month of Ramadan; in the same month, united by the same faith, worshipping the same God, and longing for forgiveness from the Creator. It is unique in its essence, the hearts are warmed by its spirituality, the character is reformed by obedience to the Almighty, the poor and the needy are helped because of its mercy, the children enjoy it, they look forward to it. Everyone celebrates its arrival, and mourn at its departure.

Those who can afford it travel for the lesser Hajj, to the holiest of cities, hosting the noblest of houses, the birth place of the greatest human being ever to walk on this earth. Neither white nor black, nor Asians, Africans, Europeans or Americans, everyone is simply a Muslim, facing the same direction and worshipping the same God. That is the beauty of faith.

As the the Mu’addhin calls the prayer, and people break their fast, it is a moment of reflection and supplication. The family comes together, dad smiling at the mom, brother helping the sister pick a date from the bowl, the uncle sipping a cup of tea, the neighbour satisfied with the generosity of his brothers and sisters in faith. Happiness is not a commodity for sale, it is a priceless jewel shared by the people of faith.

We thank God for the Month of Ramadan. Everyone is equal, neither poor nor Sultan. Character is reformed; there is no room for Shaitan. Our faith is strengthened, always seeking the mercy of Rahman.

Last ten days have arrived, let’s seek for Ghufran. Forever never abandon the lessons of Ramadan.

Jameel can be reached via: mjyushau@yahoo.com.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 37 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 32

We don’t condone corruption at Ijumu LG-vicechairman

I

bukun says: When you people were elected, you all are betraying us, You have done nothng for us. You are all figure A leaders. No benefit just squandering LGA allocation on useless prophets.

Change Akomode

Y

akubu Toyin says: Only few individuals who are connected to the power that be have access to money.

These persons have developed distended bellies at the expense of the entire Okun land.

Okun land will only be on its road to development when it has a strong but centrilzed independent traditional institution that will be fearless but fair.

It will be able to task politicians and call the erring ones to order without fear or favour and ensure that Okun land moves from its present stage of endemic poverty and under development. Thank you.

2013 British billionaires list: No black faces

U

go Onwutalu says: There are some millionaires, notably Charles Gordon, Alexander Amosu and Adam Afriyie. There are also upcoming people to watch out for like Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, Bernard Kordieh, Alistair Soyode, Magnus Djaba and Karen Blackett (the last two happen to lead multi-million media agencies).

However, I’m not sure where the next industrialist/technical entrepreneur will come from.

the problems.

Some staff show gross incompetence and lackadaisical attitude to work. While it is the duty of the management team to formulate policies, but it is the responsibility of the staff under the leadership of the Assistant Directors to implement them.

Unfortunately, some of the Assistant Directors gossip the commissioners about like juniour staff.

Further, it should clear after the confirmation exercise that staff duplicate functions which encourages laziness. Some other staff even perform occasional jobs or one-off duties- mostly once in a month!

If the Commission really wants the general public to take it seriously in the areas of prudence and transparency, the management team must re-organise by evaluating job functions and ease out those staff found to be surplus to requirement.

Neither should there be sentiment in the matter nor the desire to reduce unemployment, take precedence over prudence and transparency which are the hallmarks of FRC.

A

ghalagha Ukeh says: Sir, My own contribution is that the rot in the Commission is so fundamental and endemic that only outright scrapping or merger with another serious Commission is the solution.

The problems of the Commission are shared 50:50 by the management team and the staff.

The Commission has made a mockery or trivialised the Fiscal Responsibility Act. No wonder that the international community does not take Nigeria seriously.

The problems can be summarised as follows: 1.

Overstaffing of the Commission: For example, a job that could be conveniently

witch.

Unmoved I insisted by arguing that as far as she is Anebira she is a witch. I am sure that is what she was told by her mother.

We should thank God that we are Anebira and we should be proud of it. Marry Anebira if you don’t want to regret tomorrow.

S

alami Emmanuel Omeiza says: What an article!

Anyone who is not proud of his or root is not worthy to live. We are all God’s creatures irrespective of Ethnic inclination.

We never had the premonition which tribe we were to be born into,but by divine providence he created diverse ethnic groups and created each of us into it I am an Ebira, a distinct ethnic group and proudly one as a matter of fact.I love my people and I would defend them anywhere and anytime.

Court stops PDP special convention Tukur, PDP National Chairman performed by an individual is being performed by about four persons.

2. Incompetent Management: The management team does not know how to set standards for achieving the objectives and mandates of the Commission.

3. Corruption: There contract splitting, while some senior management staff use their personal companies to award contracts to themselves.

4.

Favouritism: Some management team members have their ‘boys’(mostly juniour staff) in the Commission who they use to carry out their illicit activities.

Re: Fiscal Responsibility Commission: The sleeping watchdog

5. It seems fishy that barely few months to end of their tenure the management team is hell bent on acquiring a Corporate Headquarters somewhere in Central Area of Abuja at the cost of N6billion.

6. Wide Area Network: The Wde Area Network (internet) project that gulped millions of Naira in 2012 is not functional up until now. In short, it has never worked for one day! Who won that contract and how much was actually paid for it? It is an irony that a Commission that is mandated to entrench the regime of prudence and transparency in the economy is involved in shady deals.

Some of us have been to EFCC Headquarters to report all this mess but EFCC insisted in receiving a formal and written petition before it can swing into action.

Please, Nigerians talk to EFCC to commence investigation of the Commission without delay.

Thank you sir, as you ponder on the above.

The Ebira girl in me

O

M

rs Jokke Amusan says: Sir, I write in reaction to your recent write-up on the above subject matter.

I am on the staff of the above named Commission. As an Insider, I have observed with keen interest the way the Commission has degenerated in terms of carrying out its functions and mandates. While the management team cannot be exonerated from the problems bedeviling, some staff of the Commission contribute to 90% of

A

damu Ahmed says: The more you look the less you see. Tukur we are behind you.

Yelwa, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Chair

ZI-SAYEED says: A National Youth Service Corps of Shuwa-born Ebira extraction recently came to my office and was quick to identify herself when she heard us speak Ebira language.

However, during the course of our discussion she shocked us all by alleging that Ebira people are witches and wizards.

To which retorted that she was right because her mother is a witch. She fiercely objected my corresponding accusation and insisted that her mother is no

Male Psychology decoded: How to make a guy fall in love

L

ovedelusions.Com says: Thanks for the marvelous posting!

I definitely enjoyed reading it. You could be a great author. I will remember to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back from now on. I want to encourage you to continue your great posts, have a nice weekend!

A letter from a Christian to Muslim women

K M A

ay says: Wow… One of the best pieces I’ve read in a long while… May Allah guide you Joanne, amen. imi says: Thank you sister, we need more of your kind in our society.

HMED. R says: I am proud to be a Muslim woman. Ya Allah make our Muslim youth (particularly our girls) understand and appreciate our deen. AMEEN.

Sure-P: RTEAN doles out 1,000 vehicles to members

I

Am Interested In The Car says: This is really good and should continue.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 37 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 33

The politics of democracy in Nigeria

By Fahad Garba Aliyu “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

– President Abraham Lincoln

T

he above statement by President Abraham Lincoln is arguably the best known definition of democracy.

The word “Democracy” originates from two Greek words: demos (the people) and kratein (to rule).

The two words put together form democracy which literally means “rule by the people”.

It is a system of voting for a government through a free and fair electoral process, a system of government that ensures and respects the human rights of all citizens; wherein the Rule of Law applies to all citizens of the land in equal measure. In a democracy, the government is bound by the consent of the governed and is accountable to the electorate.

Nigeria has been a “democratic state” for the past 14 years, yet the dividends of democracy have yet to cover the Nigerian people. A democratic government is one in which power flows from the people to their elected officials, who hold power only temporarily. Can the nation truly then be considered a democratic state? For even in principle, we have continuously failed to uphold the very tenets

upon which the concept of democracy is predicated. So what exactly is it that is hindering the growth of our democracy?

The MAIN obstacle of and constant bane to the progression of our democracy is the perpetual lack of a freely conducted elections. Our elections have lots of flaws and the necessary policies and enforcement mechanism must be put in place to improve and strengthen our democratic process and democracy. Our seeming inability to conduct free and fair elections is hindering our nation’s journey towards a stable democracy. For indeed in a democracy, it’s not merely the voting process that matters.

It must also be ensured that the ballots and their respective tallies are free from any instances of tampering; the votes of the electorates should count.

Another obstacle to continued progress of our democracy is a perpetual lack of strong democratic institutions. Vice President Namadi Sambo recently echoed the same sentiment saying that democracy cannot be sustained in the long run without sound policies that will benefit the electorate. He added that building strong political institutions and strategizing ways to deepen our democratic culture is paramount to its continued viability.

Therefore, priority must be given to the establishment of impartial and bipartisan government and civic organizations.

Party affiliations are supposed to give the electorate an idea of the philosophy of a candidate.

Political affiliation should be a way to understand the core beliefs of each candidate in the context of the said party’s political and social manifesto.

However, within Nigeria, our political institutions are weak, devoid of any overarching strategy pertaining to the nation’s socioeconomic concerns.

They serve only to ensure the indefatigable control of the nation’s resources by the present incumbent class. Dissent and or divergent opinions are not tolerated; and are followed by either outright expulsion or unanimous condemnation.

Executive officials have centralized the balance of power around their respective offices, both at state and national levels.

Our democratic institutions are under the personal control of men and women who show little concern as to how these complex political machinations, the great majority of which have no relevant significance in the contingency of democracy in particular and in the well being of the citizens at large.

We want to be a democratic state, we want to have a stable democracy, a democracy that works and delivers.

A system that moves our country forward yet we do not seem to have a cogent proposal as to how we can achieve that objective. We don’t have a structure that will get us to the Promised Land, a country of opportunities, of freedom, liberty, a country where the citizens feel safe, where no one is above the law. Presently our yearning for a

stable democracy is but a wish.

We have to move past the mindset where people believe an elected official’s performance or indeed, the impetus for his selection is determined by his adherence to a particular religion or kinship towards a certain tribe or region.

We have to put our largely inconsequential differences aside and dialogue meaningfully with people across all backgrounds, religious beliefs and tribes with a view to proffering solutions that will facilitate advancement for the benefit of our people as was envisaged by our founding fathers at independence.

Our founding fathers from all over the nation came together and did lots of great things for our nation that we are proud of till today. So why can’t we do the same? We have to always put our country first and our fellow countrymen before any personal and selfish interest, that’s the only way our nation will prosper.

Democracies grow and progress when its people establish lines of dialogue, yet they only truly develop when its various communities put aside largely inconsequential differences and work towards the common good.

Recent efforts by some opposition parties to merge into one (All Progressive Congress) is a step in the right direction for our democracy, not because the new party will SURELY solve Nigeria’s problems but we need a strong opposition that can challenge any party in power.

We want a system whereby

any party that fails to deliver the dividends of democracy to the citizenry will be replaced.

Ensuring in the long run that all parties involved work towards a more progressive agenda.We, as Nigerians, don’t expect our democracy to be perfect from day one but we want to see progress by the day, we DO NOT want to see our democracy slide ever backwards into an Oligarchy.

In conclusion I leave you with a statement by Fareed Zakaria “Modern democracies will face difficult new challenges-fighting terrorism, adjusting to globalization, adapting to an aging society--and they will have to make their system work much better than it currently does.

That means making democratic decision-making effective, reintegrating constitutional liberalism into the practice of democracy, rebuilding broken political institutions and civic associations. Perhaps, most difficult of all, it requires that those with immense power in our societies embrace their responsibilities, lead, and set standards that are not only legal, but moral.

Without this inner stuffing, democracy will become an empty shell, not simply inadequate but potentially dangerous, bringing with it the erosion of liberty, the manipulation of freedom, and the decay of a common life.”

Fahad Garba Aliyu, Kano, Nigeria fahadaliyu@yahoo.com

Iftar at the Abuja Central Mosque

By Halima Mohammed

F

asting in the month of Ramadan is one of the important pillars of Islam and it is taken seriously by Muslims all over the world. This is so because Ramadan is considered the holiest time of the year.

Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and take the month as a time for spiritual reflection, improvement and increased devotion.

It is also a time to reflect on the blessings of food and satiety. because while fasting from dawn until sunset Muslims refrain from consuming food and drinking liquids among other things allowing them to experience once a year what many experience daily throughout the world, When the Adhan or “call to prayer” happens each day for the “sunset prayer” during Ramadan, signaling the end of the day’s fast, there are many out in the world whose fast will not end because they have no food and hungeris not a choice but a fact of life.

So, not only do the devout celebrate Ramadan by giving time to God but also by giving time,

energy, material goods, and food to those less fortunate than themselves.

The provision of iftar is a form of charity which the Ramadan period emphasizes as it shows the solidarity of humanity and as such it is very important that the Muslim ummah at this time of the year endeavor to give more for the sake of Allah.

Exemplary of this is the provision of food for iftar which has been on going at the Abuja central mosque for a while now, different organizations come together to provide food for the members of the Muslim community who cannot afford to feed themselves.

Speaking on the importance of charity, Mal. Mohammed Adejoh a staff of the Abuja Muslim forum of the Abuja central mosque stated thatthe importance of giving food to the less privileged during the period of Ramadan cannot be over emphasized as it is a good way to be blessed and to be a blessing to others.

As such his advice to the Muslim ummah of Abuja is that it is of great importance for people to come out during the blessed month and touch the lives of the under privileged as a Muslim.

Among the organization’s he mentioned that were responsible for this at the central mosque so far, are the USUK dialogue foundation, Maryam Babangida foundation, the state house, Abuja Muslim forum and the Muslim sisters volunteer group (MSVG) and so many other philanthropic individuals.

Their effort and sacrifice have been able to meet in part the needs of the less privileged that

“

go there to break their fast.

There is no required amount of food to give because even the giving of water or dates to a fasting person is also a blessing and it is believed that feeding people during the month of Ramadan a person receives as many rewards as the fasting person receives, without any reduction in the reward of the fasting person.

The importance of giving in charity is also emphasized in some

There is no required amount of food to give because even the giving of water or dates to a fasting person is also a blessing and it is believed that feeding people during the month of Ramadan a person receives as many rewards as the fasting person receives, without any reduction in the reward of the fasting person

of the hadiths an example of this is seen in (Bukhari Vol. 2, Hadith 524) where Abu Musa narratedthat the Prophet (S.A.W) said, "Every Muslim has to give in sadaqa (charity)." The people asked, "O Allah's Messenger (S.A.W) if someone has nothing to give, what will he do?" He said, "He should work with his hands and benefit himself and also give in charity (from what he earns)." The people further asked, "If he cannot do even that?" He replied, "Then he should help the needy who appeal for help." Then the people asked, "If he cannot do that?" He replied, "Then he should perform all that is good and keep away from all that is evil and this will be regarded as charitable deeds.

In all this, it is clear that charity though it begins at home should be exercised outside the home as well because to be Allah's servant one has to be a generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).

Thus as we approach the end of this Ramadan month one can make the decision and plan to do better in other upcoming Ramadan months.

BU$I#€SS PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Negligence of power sector by past govts responsible for decay – Nebo

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo has blamed the decay in the power sector on negligence of the sector by successive governments in the past.

The Minister observed that it was only in 1999 with the return of Nigeria to Democracy that the gross neglect got addressed.

For instance, he said that although for 17 years, no single engineer was hired in the power sector, this huge gap in human ca-

pacity required to run the sector, is being bridged with the on-going recruitment of young Nigerian engineers.

Nebo while answering questions on the African Independent Television Programme: “90 Minutes’’, with the focus: Power Sector: Can Nigeria get it right, disclosed that before President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration, the country was producing just over 2000MW. He asked if the move from 2000MW in 2010 to the current 4,500MW was not achievement.

He stated therefore that all hands must be on deck to improve the power generation as the present capacity of 4000MW is unacceptable considering the nation’s population and potentials as “giant of Africa”.

He directed that all issues surrounding metering and unfair billing should be resolved immediately without any Nigerian being short-changed.

On the previously moribund Rural Electrification Agency (REA), he said before the coming on board of President Good-

luck Jonathan’s intervention, the Agency was abandoned, but the present administration revived, making it more effective in the provision of electricity off grid to rural dwellers.

Prof. Nebo assured Nigerians that at the end of the ongoing privatisation, Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief as the generator importers will soon be eased out of business.

On labour issues, the Minister said that he has directed the commencement of payment of severance package to PHCN

staff on which about N384 billion is going to be expended with additional N16billion to pay other retirees and pensioners of the company.

He assured that the revolution in the telecoms sector would be a child’s play when compared with the revolution that is about to happen in the power sector as huge investment is expected in the on-going privatization when it is completed. This would further inject a lot of funds and stimulate financial activities in the sector.

Nokia wins best Coolest Phone brand of the Year

By Chris Alu

N

okia Nigeria has emerged winner of the best Coolest Phone Brand of the year by The BusinessDay generation next survey award.

The award was giving to Nokia based on the strength of its ability to produce cool, colorful and functional smartphones, as well as engaging the youth market through trendy social activities.

Also the award was a direct result of market survey among Nigerians aged between eight and twenty five (8-25 years).

The survey polled respondents on what phone brand they considered to be ‘the coolest.’

Nokia beat Apple, Blackberry and Samsung to the coveted prize.

Speaking on the achievement, Nick Imudia, Managing Director Nokia West and Central Africa, said, “We are very happy to receive this award. We appreciate our customers across Nigeria and the organizers for honoring Nokia. At Nokia, we strive to make great mobile products that connect our consumers to what matters most. Through our vibrant range ofAsha and Lumia phones, we bring consumers freedom of choice in colour, design, feature set and price range.

"We believe this is resonating strongly in the youth market, as highlighted by this fantastic award.”

Nokia is not only creating devices for our customers to purchase, but also creating opportunities for them to engage with their phones and with the Nokia brand. Last year, we introduced the Nokia Asha range of smartphones targeted at the youth market.

L-R: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Akwa Ibom state Governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Governor, Mrs. Valerie Ebe, during the launching of Pro-Vitamin A cassava varieties, recently in Uyo. Photo: NAN

Mobile Assistant will enhance productivity, says Etisalat chief

T

he Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Etisalat Nigeria, Mr Steve Evans has described the newly-launched Etisalat Mobile Assistant as a value added innovation, to enhance productivity.

Evans said at a media briefing, after the public presentation of the Etisalat Mobile Assistant in Lagos, that it would enable business executives leverage other people’s assistance, to maintain their business relationships with less stress. ``We deliver on our promise as our organisation’s culture is to make the customer the centre of our world. ``We have continued to be a master in quality, to serve our customers satisfactorily always,” he said.

Evans said that Etisalat had adopted various initiatives that had been rewarding to the customer, and that the Mobile Assis-

tant service was first of its kind. ``No one else has had something like this before, and it has taken between 12 and 18 months to get here with this innovation,” he said.

Evans said that with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) data indicating 130 million active users of the mobile phone service, Nigeria ranked the second biggest market in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He said, however, that Etisalat remained significantly concerned about the quality Key Performance Indicator (KPI) set by the NCC. Mr Lucas Dada, the Director of Business Segment, said that the service would give users mobile efficiency, and would also enable them to attend dual business meetings with less stress. ``The Mobile Assistant allows the user a lot of convenience and

helps achieve efficient time management.”

Earlier, the Head, Business Market Segment, MrBidemiLadipo, said that the service was for every business person who did not want to miss their important calls.

Ladipo said that customers could decide on any of the three platforms available, including Live Assist; Timed Assist and the Control Assist.

He said that to activate the service, prepaid customers should dial *305# to get guidelines on what to do, while postpaid customers should call the corporate sales team for assistance.

Ladipo said that the service would be available at the rate of N750 monthly, and that for promotion purposes, corporate customers would enjoy a threemonth free-trial period.

Ladipo listed the benefits of the service as greater efficiency, prioritising, improved quality of life, increased accessibility, flex-

ibility and convenience. (NAN).

Railway police assure train users of adequate security The Railway Police Command on Thursday said that it had beefed up security to ensure nationwide safety of passengers and goods in trains.

The Commissioner of Police, Railway Command, Mr Nyats Jatau, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. ``We have put measures in place. All goods going into the trains for transportation are strictly screened,’’ Jatau said.

He told NAN that the command had set up a special taskforce to ensure that goods such as like arms were not moved by rail. ``As part of safety measures, I have mobilised my men to follow every train. They are also to check hanging on the roofs of trains.’’

Jatau added that special scanner machines had been installed at some railway stations for improved security. (NAN)

PAGE 35

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

BU$ I #€ SS N

igeria’s gas reserves are quite vast and experts say that the country could become one of the leading gas producing nations of the world if its gas production potential is properly harnessed.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, expressed a similar viewpoint in Abuja when she spoke at the second edition of the Ministerial Platform.

Nigeria’s gas reserves stood at 182 trillion cubic feet as at the end of 2012, as against crude oil reserves of 36.8 billion barrels in the same period.

Alison-Madueke said that Nigeria’s gas supply almost doubled between 2010 and 2013, with the power sector remaining the most dominant consumer. ``The vision of the ministry is to transform the economy of the nation through an efficient oil and gas sector. ``The Federal Government’s gas revolution programme is aimed at galvanising our gas resource to power projects, reducing gas flaring and developing the gas infrastructure as well as gas-based industries across the country. ``It is also aimed at boosting gas supply to the power sector, stimulating gas-based industrialisation around fertiliser, petrochemicals and methanol production, as well as effectively leveraging gas as feedstock for key industries, thus creating jobs. ``It will also transform the gas sector into a value adding sector, while stimulating at least a threefold increase in gas generation capacity by 2015,’’ she said.

T

he minister, however, underscored the need to deregulate the downstream oil and gas industry, so as to attract potential investors. ``Investors cannot come in a subsidy-backed environment like ours; we need to deregulate the sector for investors to come in. We cannot eat our cake and have it; we have to do the right thing to transform the sector,’’ she said.

Alison-Madueke said that the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of four refineries had commenced, adding that work on the Port Harcourt refinery would be completed by the end of 2013.

She added that TAM activities at the Kaduna and Warri refineries, which were ongoing, would be completed at the end of 2014.

She said that even though the refineries, with the combined installed production capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, could not satisfy the country’s daily fuel consumption needs, it would go a long way in complementing fuel imports.

On the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Alison-Madueke expressed optimism that it would soon be passed into law by the National Assembly.

The minister, however, warned against the undue politicisation of the issues surrounding the bill.

Boosting Nigeria’s gas reserves, power supply

Nigeria’s LNG plant at Eleme, near Port Harcourt, Rivers state

She, nonetheless, identified oil theft and pipeline vandalism as some of the challenges facing the petroleum sector. ``The incessant crude oil pipeline vandalism, theft and illegal refining, what I call firewood distillers, are not only taking away our oil from us but are also greatly endangering and impacting negatively on the environment. ``Crude oil theft affects every Nigerian; it affects us in ways that many of us may never know. But the truth is that when the economy of your country is directly impacted negatively; then, one way or the other, it affects the food that you put on your table,” she added.

Moreover, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who also spoke at the Ministerial Platform, said that the average number of hours of power availability per day had increased from eight hours in 2010 to 16 hours in 2012.

“

He stressed that the nation’s power supply would further be improved via the adoption of an energy mix, which would entail the use of resources such as coal, wind and solar energy. ``Others include biomass and hydro power potentials, which will be fully utilised. ``Feasibility studies on the development of coal-to-power plants are ongoing in five coal blocks in the Enugu axis and three coal blocks in the Benue, Kogi and Gombe axis,’’ he said.

A

s part of efforts to boost power supply, the minister said that the Federal Government was currently constructing new hydro power plants at Zungeru in Niger and Mambilla in Taraba, among others.

Nebo said that the government had initiated transmission grid expansion, framework for alternative

funding of transmission projects, electricity market development and effective monitoring and evolution schemes to ensure stable electricity supply in the country.

He also said that the government had concluded all the labourrelated issues with PHCN workers, while developing the local content framework in the electricity supply industry to attract investors.

Nebo said that the government had also entered into partnerships with investors from China, India, South Korea, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, while creating an enabling environment to attract private investors and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Besides, the minister said that the ministry had improved the access of rural communities to electricity supply, while divesting from the National Independent Power Projects (NIPPs).

When Nigerians start buying power the way they are buying water, when we actually start paying for what we are consuming, that is when we will be able to sustain power distribution efficiently

While seeking the continuous support and understanding of stakeholders, Nebo stressed that efforts were underway to complete key projects. ``The ministry will intensify efforts in the implementation of the power sector’s reform roadmap and it will ensure the completion of key projects and programmes with renewed vigour in 2013 and beyond,’’ he said.

A

lso speaking, the Minister of State for Power, Hajiya ZainabKuchi, said that the privatisation of the power sector was the only way to ensure sustainable power supply. ``When Nigerians start buying power the way they are buying water, when we actually start paying for what we are consuming, that is when we will be able to sustain power distribution efficiently. ``That is why we are saying that commercialisation of power is the only way and we are working towards that,’’ she said.

Observers note that the two sectors are critical to the country’s development and they, therefore, urge the government to fund them appropriately.

They also urge the ministers to strive to improve their service delivery. “Government should also endeavour to tackle the menace of vandalism which is affecting the power and petroleum sectors,’’ they add.

PAGE 36

Kanny w o o d

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Kannywood set to unleash Fatima on viewers

K

annywood fans are in for a swell time. A new face will soon hit the screen to further delight them with delectable performances. That is because for about a year now, Fatima Danladi Isa, a.k.a Fatee Asirka, a new and upcoming artiste has been working assiduously to carve a niche for herself in the Kannywood industry. In this interview with Mustapha Adamu, the cameroon-born actress, who holds National Diploma in Social Works, shares her experiences and challenges in kannywood.

I

Tell us about yourself? am Fatima Danladi Isa. I am a holder of the National Diploma in Social Works from the Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State.

I was born and brought up in Cameroon. My father is Nigerian but my mother is a cameroonian.

Though I lived and studied mostly in Maiduguri, I have also lived sometime in Kano with my relatives and do often come to purchase goods there as well. I am an upcoming artiste.

What motivated you to Kannywood?

I used to sell fashion materials like shoes and bags, jewelleries, most of which I got here in Kano as well as Ghana and Benin Republic. During the course of the trips my interest in drama came alive and even friends began to encourage me to develop it while a few urged caution against joining Kannywood.

Finally, a friend of mine in the film industry encouraged me by using my picture in a poster for a movie titled ‘Karimatu’ though I did not feature in the film. The actress that featured in the film and I are lookalike. She got married before the release of the film and so the producers decided to use my picture the poster.

Following this, my interest was rekindled especially after my friends and some lecturers at school saw the poster and pampered me about it.

Tried as I did to convince them that I did not feature in the movie, they insisted that I must keep performing.

They were very happy for me eventhough I merely featured on the poster. That boosted my morale and eventually heralded my entry into kannywood.

How long have you been in Kannywood?

Not too long, just about a year.

How many films have you featured in so far?

I have made about 10 movies but they are yet to be released.

So, can you tell us some of them?

Yes, some of them are ‘ Akwatin miciji’, ‘ angon karni’, ‘ Asirka’.

Which is your first movie is since joining kannywood?

My first movie is titled ‘ Asirka’. It was the movie that I starred as the leading character.

Which is your favourite among your movies?

I like all my movies, all of them are my favourite.

Since joining Kannywood, what challenges have you faced?

Well, without challenges life itself is void, lacking spice, so there have been some challenges, but nothing really serious. I have been very prayerful that nothing that I cannot withstand happens. I am even preparing to go back to school to further my studies. By God’s grace I will not encounter any serious difficulty at all.

Who is your favourite in Kannywood?

Everybody in Kannywood is my favourite.

But don’t you see film making as hindrance to your business?

No, I still run my business. Of course, everything is timed, so I schedule programmes and activities so that they don’t clash. I travel to purchase goods whenever I am free in the industry. But if I am engaged, perhaps during shooting of a film, I would wait until we are through with it and then I would travel to wherever I want to, to purchase my goods and then disposed of them in Maiduguri.

Are you now working on a yet-to-be released movie?

All my movies are yet to be released.

You are now about a year old in Kannywood, how do you find life there?

Life is different. Before I joined Kannywood, I had my own time, go wherever I wanted, dress the way I wanted, but things have changed and I am now under control. We are strongly guided against certain acts which could be detrimental to kannywood and more especially the Hausa culture and Islamic religion.

We are warned to conduct ourselves in a good manner, something that portrays our culture in good light. We must behave well at all time and place because we are ambassadors. But we are also celebrities and the society looks up to us as role models.

Some of us see this as restrictive: but generally, the majority see nothing wrong about it because we are truly role models and cultural pacesetters of some sort. I personally see it as something good.

Fatee Asirka

Danja bags City People’s double awards From Mustapha Adamu, Kano.

K

annywood star, Sani Danja, won the Best Actor of the Year and also the Best Kannywood Producer of the year 2013 award in the City People Entertainment Awards.

The event, which took place on the 14th July 2013 in Lagos, was witnessed by celebrities colleagues from Kannywood.

Nafisa Abdullahi, whose suspension by Association of Film Makers Association (AFMAN) was recently lifted, won the award of the Best Supporting Actress.

Zaharaddeen Sani, who is known for his energetic performance in the Kano movie industry, bagged the award of the Best Supporting Actor of the year while Kannywood new face, Yakubu Mohammed, got the 2013 City People Best New Actor of the Year.

Ali Nuhu was crowned the Face of Kannywood, while screen diva, Rahama Hassan, received the Best Kannywood Actress of the Year.

In the directing category, Aminu Saira won the Director of the Year award as Halima Atete bagged the Best Kannywood New

Actress of the year award for her astonishing performance in the movie titled ‘DAKIN AMARYA’.

The artists expressed delight over the awards and also thanked the CPE for the gesture.

Speaking to Peoples Daily Weekend, some of the awardees described the event as another call for them to improve in their skills and make Kannywood greater and bigger in the nearest future.

They also thanked the City People for including the Kannywood category in the Award this year.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 37

Ent ertai n m e n t Rihanna declared 'style ‘Sexy Mama’ leads icon' for winning lawsuit Naija Top 10 charts against Topshop H

ollywood Reporter has said that popular music superstar, Rihana, has not only succeeded in winning a lawsuit against Topshop, a U.K.based fashion retailer that has stores around the world; but that she also got a justice to recognise the value of her imprimatur as a bonafide "style icon."

Rihanna brought the lawsuit in the U.K. after seeing her image on an oversized sleeveless jersey being sold. She alleged that Topshop was "passing off" her approval.

As such, a British high court justice had to investigate why consumers buy T-shirts that feature the faces of celebrities: Was it because her fans thought she endorsed the product or was it merely because consumers liked the look?

Justice Colin Birss reached a conclusion that "The mere sale by a trader of a T-shirt bearing an image of a famous person is not, without more, an act of passing off".

"However the sale of this image of this person on this garment by this shop in these circumstances is a different matter."

If the case was brought in the U.S., Rihanna might have claimed that her publicity rights were violated. (For example, Peter Fonda recently sued after seeing his image on a Dolce & Gabbana "Easy Rider" T-shirt.) : But as the Justice notes in his opinion, there is in England no such thing "as a free standing general right by a famous person (or anyone else) to control the reproduction of their image."

Iyanya

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ward winning singer, Iyanya, is at the top of this week’s MTV Base Official Naija Top 10 charts powered by Star Music.

The “Sexy Mama” singer and Project Fame winner displaces Wande Coal who drops one place to number 2 after two weeks atop the chart with “The Kick”, featuring Don Jazzy, and directed by Sesan.

There are two new entries on the Official Naija Top 10 this week: Burna Boy’s “Run My Race” (number 9) and 2Face’s “Rainbow”, which enters the chart at number 10 in the same week that “Dance Floor” makes its exit. Also dropping out of the chart this week is Wizkid’s “Azonto” after an impressive 9 weeks in the chart.

This week’s highest climbers are D’Banj,

PSquare and Chidinma who each jump two places – D’Banj to number 7, P Square to number 4, and Chidinma to number 8 with “E Mi Ni Baller”.

The MTV Base Official Naija Top 10: 26 July – 2 August 2013: 1 Iyanya – Sexy Mama 2 Wande Coal – The Kick 3 D’Prince – Goody Bag 4 PSquare – Personally 5 Ice Prince – VIP 6 Flavour – Chinny Baby 7 D’banj – Don’t Tell Me Nonsense 8 Chidinma – E Mi Ni Baller 9 Burna Boy – Run My Race 10 2Face – Rainbow

Banky W, KCee, Basket Mouth to perform at ‘Tymeout With Tee A’ in Abuja

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fter pulling off a good concert in Lagos in December 2012, standup comedian and award winning act, Tee A, has finally announced details for his next concert, Tymeout With Tee A – Live Edition Abuja Concert.

According to the popular act, the second live edition of his famous TV show, Tymeout With Tee A, will hold on Sunday August 11, 2013 at Congress hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

‘We’re putting only the best together, to make sure guests enjoy a fantastic concert experience says Tee A. The concert, Tee A says, will also include thrilling live performances, comedy skits,

interviews, giveaways and a lot more exciting surprises.

“The Lagos edition was a massive success with the support of our fans and partners. The feedback we got was impressive and we are just as eager to replicate the success in Abuja.

Abuja get ready to have a great time,” he added.

A number of A list musicians, actors and celebrities have been confirmed for the Abuja concert.

Guests can look forward to popular artistes such as Banky W, Iyanya, Kcee and Emma Nyra who are set to thrill them with hit songs and hilarious skits from comedians: Basket Mouth, Bovi, MC Abbey, Headmaster, Princess, and others.

Rihanna

Weekend Getaway, Alan Poza lead movie nomination at NAFCA 2013

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ollywood movies, Weekend Get Away and Alan Poza, lead this year’s nomination list at the prestigious Nollywood & African films critics USA, dubbed African Oscar.

Weekend getaway got 10 nominations in various categories of the award (best film, best cinematography, best drama, best editing, best director, best supporting actress in lead role, best actress in lead role) while Alan Poza had 9 nominations: best director, best drama, best film, best editing, best actor in supporting role, best actress in lead role.

Billed for September 14 at a red carpet event at Warner Theatre in Washington D.C, NAFCA will also honour President Goodluck Jonathan and his Liberian

counterpart, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with its Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The First Lady, Patience Jonathan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; Amobi Okoye; and U.S. rapper, Curtis Jackson(50cent), will receive NAFCA’s Image Awards.

See the full nomination list below.

GENERAL CATEGORIES Best Film 1. Alan Poza 2. Ninah’s Dowry 3. Weekend Getaway 4. One Night in Vegas 5. Le Silence Pure Best Indigenous Film 1. The Blessed Curse 2. The Hands of Fate 3. Le Silence Pure 4. Deceit of the gods

Best Drama 1. Alan Poza 2. The Hunters 3. Le Silence Pure 4. Weekend Getaway 5. Ninah’s Dowry Best Comedy 1. Alan Poza 2. Mrs. Somebody 3. American Mama 4. Wife for Ozobia 5. Unguarded Best Docu-Drama 1. A Wish-Brest Cancer 2. The Hand of Fate- HIV 3. Boys Cry-Bullying 4. Ninah’s Dowry-Dowry 5. Le Silence Pure BestTV/Online Series 1. Wife for Ozobio 2. African Connection 3. Adams Apples

PAGE 38

Noll y wo o d

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

N

ollywood star actress, Funke Akindele alias Jenifa may have finally gotten over the betrayal by her husband of barely a year after she quickly responded to his claims that he was building a house and getting set to buy her a car.

The actress swiftly replied by telling him to keep his things as she has moved on with her life.

“He should keep his house and car. They are not for me. He should take them to his wife in Oshodi and the other concubines he keeps. That place is not for me; I have been through hell and back. I was abused emotionally and verbally.

"Really, I felt we could work things out when trouble started two months after the marriage.

But after taking so much hurt, I made up my mind and shut the door of the marriage at him when the trouble was coming too much for me.

"Ask him when last he came to my house? He left me there in the apartment with nothing and will dash in and out. He gets abusive and caustic anytime we had a misunderstanding and often told me to my face that he was going to his wife in Oshodi. I stooped to conquer him; I buried my fame and name to make him my husband but it did not work. He has been sending me SMS messages. And recently, he said that he has seen a buyer for his house at Adeniyi Jones for N40m.

"He asked me if he should sell it and if he does, he will buy me a car and rent a new apartment for me. Why now? I don’t need all that; I want my sanity back. I respected him to the end but he chose to treat me this way. He said he wanted to clip my wings. He should just go his way and stop trying to win me back because I have moved on and nothing will make me go back to him,” a teary Funke concluded.

Funke Akindele and her former hubby when things were rosy

Entry for 2014 Africa Magic Viewer's Choice Awards open

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

F

ollowing the successful first edition of the AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), MultiChoice and AfricaMagic have again announced the call to entry for the second edition.

The AMVCAs were created to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution made by Pan African filmmakers, actors and technicians in the success of the conti-

nent’s film and television industry.

The official announcement of the 2014 AMVCAs was made on Africa’s biggest reality show, Big Brother. This after Big Brother invited 2013 AMCA award winners, Ghanaian actress Jackie Appiah and director Akin Omotoso, to judge a movie task that was presented by the housemates.

This year a total of 28 awards in 26 categories will be awarded ranging from acting and directing

Uche A Jombo releases ‘False’ and ‘Lies Men Tell’

to scriptwriting and cinematography, with 9 of those categories being voted for by the viewers.

Other areas in which honours will be given are editing, makeup, sound, lighting, including the most anticipated of the whole ceremony, the Industry Merit Award and the Trailblazer of The Year Award. Last year the two awards were awarded to veteran Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs and Nigerian actress Ivie Okujaiye respectively.

“It is a pleasure for us to an-

ctress cum producer, Uche Jombo, is back with something that appears refreshingly distinct from her past

works.

The actress, whose last works, A Mother’s Fight, and Misplaced, garnered rave review, attention, and patronage in the DVD market, will release two works very soon. They are ‘False’, and ‘Lies Men Tell.’

‘False’ stars Kate Henshaw, Kalu Ikeagwu, and Uche herself.

Kalu is the unfortunate husband who wanted to eat his cake and have it, by playing love with a stranger on Blackberry despite having a dutiful and dedicated wife in Kate Henshaw.

In a twist of plots, the stranger (Uche Jombo) took the play too far, believed the mirage and romance of Blackberry Messenger (BBM) to be real, went to Kalu’s house and demands that Kate leaves her matrimonial home for her to come in.

Unfolding event afterwards proved fatal.

Kalu tried to save his marriage but was

nounce the launch of the second AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards after the resounding success of the first one. AfricaMagic is committed to recognising, nurturing and rewarding the excellence and artistry that exists within our movie and television industry,” says M-Net Africa MD Biola Alabi. She goes on to say: “The number of entries and the significant response we received last year is proof that the AMVCAs are contributing by recognizing,

caught in the web of manslaughter/murder.

It was a classic case of BBM romance gone too far.

In Lies Men Tell, a philandering Igbo husband, Desmond Elliot, took his playboy game too far. His smart wife, Uche Jombo, outwitted him in the game of smartness. It would be a game of winner takes all with a Range Rover worth over ten million naira at stake. Desmond told series of lies like adulterous men do, but at every juncture he met the imprint of his wife. In another family, Bayray Mcnwizu, after enduring series of lies from her philandering husband, Mofe Duncan, contacted a sexually transmitted disease.

The release of both movies will coincide with the celebration of Uche Jombo’s month on Africa Magic Entertainment on DSTV. In the last couple of years, Uche Jombo has not only earned her place among A-list actresses, she has transcended to be a prolific movie producer with over 12 movies to her credit.

Uche Jombo

acknowledging and rewarding the hard work that goes into this everexpanding industry,” says Alabi.

CEO of MultiChoice Africa, Nico Meyer said: “MultiChoice Africa is delighted to be a partner in the second edition of the AfricaMagic Viewer’s Choice Awards.

Our association with the awards is a show of our commitment to growing Africa’s talent, the entertainment and movie industry with quality local programming allowing Africans to take ownership.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Bollywood & Hollywood New Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president emerges

C

heryl Boone Isaacs has been elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s board of governors, Hollywood Reporter has said.

Boone Isaacs, a marketing executive who has served stints at Paramount and New Line, is the first African-American to head the 86-year-old Academy and only the third woman to serve as president.

Actress Bette Davis held the post for just two months in 1941, and screenwriter Fay Kanin served for four years from 1979-83.

In addition at the July 30 board of governors meeting, John Lasseter was elected first vice president; Jeffrey Kur-

PAGE 39

land and Leonard Engelman were elected to vp posts; Dick Cook was elected treasurer; and Phil Robinson was elected secretary.

Boone Isaacs succeeds Hawk Koch, who served as Academy president for the past year, but ran up against term limits after completing nine successive years on the board. A longtime Academy insider, Boone Isaacs represents the public relations branch on the board and is currently serving her 21st year as a governor, having returned to the board in 2011 after a hiatus. For the past year, she served as first vp while also producing the fourth annual Governors Awards in December.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Arrow season 2 to welcome The Flash A

rrow Season 2 series would introduce Dr. Barry Allen, the alter-ego who turns into DC Comic superhero 'The Flash', at some point, according to Hollywood Reporter, who said CW President, Mark Pedowitz intends to shook up the series.

Meanwhile, when the character debut, the questions were: Who might portray him? How will he get along with Oliver? But DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and Arrow producer Andrew Kreisberg, gave report-

ers the insight in the following chat.

When will Allen enter the Arrow universe?

On Episode 8. He will be a forensics scientist working for the Central City police department and will also appear on Episode 9, prior to a true backdoor pilot taking place on Episode 20.

Viewers will meet the doctor as an "ordinary man".

How will Starling city residents react to the introduction of super powers?

Our characters will react to the extraordinary changes to their world in hopefully a realistic way. These 'powers' won't be treated as commonplace on the show. They will be extraordinary events, and our world and the characters in them will react accordingly."

How will Oliver get along with Allen?

Not well. We’re really excited about what his arrival means for Oliver, for Dig, for Felicity, for everybody. He’s going to affect

everybody’s lives. Barry is a cop, so he follows the law, he follows the rules. The last thing he would ever think about is being a vigilante.

How will Allen's super speed be portrayed?

The Flash will not be "blurring around," previewing the concept of his powers. We want to do something fresh and exciting and give people a cinematic experience.

Who will portray The Flash?

There's the big question, right? Kreisberg said his ideal actor would have blonde hair, but the main goal is just to find the best person "for the part." And, yes, The Flash will do his wellknown costume once he gains his powers.

The Flash series will mark The CW's third spinoff. The Vampire Diaries, of course, is launching 'The Originals' this fall, while a backdoor pilot is being developed for a potential Supernatural spinoff that would take place in Chicago.

Biggest Bollywood release in UK on the way

B

ollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's latest blockbuster 'Chennai Express' will get the biggest release for any Indian film in the UK, India Today has said.

The comic caper, costarring Deepika Padukone and directed by Rohit Shetty, will hit cinemas around the world to coincide with Eid next Friday.

"I am very glad the film is getting such a big release here. UK audiences are fantastic. I don't believe that actors have regional appeal but I have to accept that some of my star value is largely down

to audiences here," said Shah Rukh Khan, during a promotional tour for the film in London today.

"With all humility and kindness, I would like to request them to keep watching my films the same way. It is a great fun film, the kind I havent done before and I promise it will be a great ride," he added, speaking to mediapersons at Courthouse Hotel in central London.

The film is expected to release across 125 cinemas and 170 screens across the UK, marking one of the widest Bollywood releases in the country.

PAGE 40

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Fiction A wedding without the groom

By Miriam Humbe

W

hen the friend and neighbour of this reporter announced that Friday evening at about half past seven that she had a wedding to attend, it got yours sincerely puzzled. “A wedding at this time of the night?” I asked. “Yes, a wedding”, she responded. “Truly, is it a reception or a real wedding?”, I queried further.

“It is a wedding,” she insisted.

Hally as she is fondly called by all, [her real name is Halima] responded to all these questions in the affirmative, displaying her clean and well arranged dentition as she smiled. “Is it a Christian or Muslim wedding?” I asked again, curiosity taking the better part of me. “It is a Muslim wedding, the wedding of my friend’s daughter”, she answered and threw open an invitation that I could accompany her to the event if I had enough spare time.

It was already long past working hours, a weekend just setting in so the need to cool of some heat after a hard day’s work propelled me to accept her offer. [Or how else would I have gathered all of these gists for you, my wonderful readers?]

The truth is that, I have heard so much about how lavish and classy quite some Muslim weddings could be. However, all of that only existed in my imagination. I never as at then had the privilege of witnessing

one for myself. This thought pushed me further to go figure it out for myself, so I accepted her invitation without further hesitation.

My friend disappeared into her flat, freshened up briefly and reappeared, looking as beautiful and elegant as ever in her gold coloured hijab with burgundy coloured embroidery designs that flowed from top to the hem and a maroon coloured scarf to match. She arranged the items we were to convey to the wedding ceremony in some bags and took to the car.

“Please lift the wedding cake into the car so we can go”, she pleaded.

Halima, a professional caterer with lots of experience in event management, had spent the better part of the evening carefully adding finishing touches to the lovely cake she had baked on the previous day. She had decorated the cake according to specification. “The bride personally asked to have this decorated in the colours of red, deep blue and turquoise”, she confided.

She stepped back a little and walked round the

beautiful piece she had just created, her eyes permanently glued to it.

Finally, Hally smiled as she threw her head back in contentment. The cake she had spent the entire evening adorning with icing sugar in designs of colours and flowers had turned out an exquisite piece fit for the royals.

We packed the needed items into her car as we drove to the bride’s family house at the Wuse Zone 3 area of Abuja. “Careful please”, she cautioned as I held the cake in my hands and headed towards her car. I lifted the cake and placed it gently on my laps as I sat beside her. She drove with every iota of caution and soon, we were at the bride’s house.

Quite a lot of cooking was taking place simultaneously behind the main house. In a short while, the cooking was over, all the

“

I watched keenly and with rapt attention as the lovely young maidens all dressed in well tailored Ankara skirts and blouses and canopy head-ties with matching veils swung their waists gracefully to the rhythm of the ‘kalangu’ music, a royal dance step peculiar to the Hausa speaking people of Northern Nigeria

food was dished into large food warmers and loaded into the three cars that were parked outside, in front of the gate. We moved straight to the National Women Centre in the Central Area of Abuja, venue of the event.

Some guests had earlier arrived and were already seated at the beautifully decorated round tables loaded with assorted soft drinks, packs of juice and bottled water. As it is customary with the tenets of the Islamic faith, there was no trace of alcoholic drinks anywhere in sight. As they awaited the arrival of the bride and groom, the toasts of the moment, the guests sat patiently, either chatting with one another or catching up on lost but found friends and family members.

It was the wedding of Fatima and Umar [not real names]. At about nine o’clock, the drumming started and nearly reached fever peaks as the local musician ignited the chill atmosphere with a rendition of a tune in Hausa language. He beckoned on the audience to get on their feet and dance.

I watched keenly and with rapt attention as the lovely young maidens all dressed in well tailored Ankara skirts and blouses and canopy head-ties with matching veils swung their waists gracefully to the rhythm of the ‘kalangu’ music, a royal dance step peculiar to the Hausa speaking people of Northern Nigeria.

The women on the dance floor were joined spontaneously by the very few men around. The men took the lead while the women followed behind as they danced in circles. It was the bride’s party, as I later learnt, and by extension, an all women affair.

At half past nine, the music went faint as the dancers who had filled the floor while awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom, gave way as she stepped in with her maids.

The ecstatic bride and her companions, danced for a few minutes before they were ushered to the only five seats available on the high table. At this, I began to wonder when the groom would come into the venue and where he would have to sit.

When the bride was called upon to cut the wedding cake, she was escorted by her four companions who surrounded her on both sides. They immediately captured the dance floor and the music continued. This was followed by a lavish reception where assorted food, drinks and gift items were served by the bride’s family. Could the bride have been abandoned by her suitor? Her countenance didn’t reflect that.

“When is the groom coming?”, I asked Rakiya, Hally’s younger cousin who had come visiting from the University of Abuja campus. “The groom is in Kano with his family”, she responded. “Ha! In Kano when his wedding is taking place?”, I asked again, this time, a little perplexed. Rakiya said it was the wedding fatiha and farewell party of the bride so the groom was not necessarily expected to be there. While in Kano, he and his friends were holding a similar feast at his family house.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Wellness

Healthy Living

PAGE 41

With Isaac Yakubu Akogu

diabetes education – diabetic nephropathy W

elcome to yet another exciting time with me in this column as we continue our discussion on complications of Diabetes. In the past few weeks, I have been taking a look at complications of Diabetes like Diabetic Neuropathy, Diabetic Retinopathy and this week, I will dwell on yet another complication known as Diabetic Nephropathy. As usual, I will use simple definition for the purpose of understanding of readers of this column who cut across different spheres of life.

I like to use this opportunity to thank my numerous readers who are on the increase weekly for keeping a date with me. Do endeavor to enrich this column by sending your contributions, comments and questions to my contacts above. I have painfully taken time out to answer questions and reactions that readers of WELLNESS Column have come up with in my mail box, I urge you to keep writing.

It is important to note that because Diabetes does not go on holidays, we must strive to be educated about this chronic health disorder. This weekend, I will discuss about a complication of Diabetes known as Diabetic Nephropathy.

This can literally be defined as a kidney disease that results from Diabetes mellitus or can be referred to as a kidney disease that occurs in people with Diabetes. In severe cases, it can lead to kidney failure.

However, not everyone with diabetes has kidney damage.

WHAT CAUSES DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY? The human body normally has 2 kidneys and each is made of hundreds of thousands of small units called Nephrons. These structures filter the blood and help remove waste from the body. Persistently high blood glucose as found in poor diabetes control can destroy these nephrons such that they are not capable of carrying out the filtering properties. The following conditions are noticeable as the damage continues: • The kidneys begin to leak and protein (albumin) passes into the urine.

• This damage can happen years before any symptoms begin.

• The exact cause is unknown.

However, kidney damage is more likely if there is poor control of diabetes and high blood pressure also family history may also play a role.

• People with diabetes who smoke and those with type 1 diabetes that started before age 20 have a higher risk for kidney problems.

• People of African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian origin are also more likely to have kidney damage.

SYMPTOMS OF DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY There are no noticeable symptoms in the early stages, hence it is important to have regular urine tests to find out kidney damage early and sometimes it can be reversed if detected early enough. Kidney damage can begin 5 to 10 years before symptoms start to manifest especially for persons living with type 2 diabetes. The first sign of kidney damage is a small amount of protein in the urine which is detected by simple urine test, as the damage worsens, the blood pressure rises and the cholesterol and triglyceride levels rise too. As the condition progresses, people with severe and long term kidney disease may have symptoms such as: - Fatigue most of the time

- Headache - Nausea and vomiting - Poor appetite - Swelling of the legs - General ill feeling.

H O W I S D I A B E T I C NEPHROPATHY DIAGNOSED? The condition is diagnosed using simple tests that check for a protein called albumin in the urine. Urine does not usually contain protein. But in the early stages of kidney damage, before any symptoms-some protein may be found in the urine, because they kidneys aren’t able to filter it out the way they should.

Finding kidney damage early can keep it from getting worse. So it’s important for people with diabetes to have regular testing.

• If you have type 1 diabetes get urine test every year after you have had diabetes for 5 years.

• If your child has diabetes, yearly testing should begin when your child is 10 years old and has had diabetes for 5 years.

• If you have type 2 diabetes start yearly testing at the time you are diagnosed

www.diabetesguidenigeria.blogspot.com, 08176179496, diabetesconcepts@gmail.com

A Diabetes expert, Mr. Isaac Yakubu Akogu, is also Pharmacist with over 16 years experience with specialisation in Diabetes Education.

with diabetes.

Treatment for Diabetic Nephropathy When kidney damage is detected in its early stages, it can be slowed with treatment.

Once larger amounts of protein appear in the urine, kidney damage will slowly get worse. Keeping blood pressure under control (under 130/80) is one of the best ways to slow kidney damage.

• Your doctor may prescribe medicines to lower your blood pressure and protect your kidneys from more damage.

Often, the best types of medicine to use are ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).

• Even when your blood pressure is normal, these medicines will help slow kidney damage.

Eating a low-fat diet, taking drugs to control blood cholesterol, and regular physical exercise can also help prevent or slow kidney damage.

You can also slow kidney damage by controlling your blood sugar levels, which you can do by: • Eating a healthy diet

“

This can literally be defined as a kidney disease that results from Diabetes mellitus or can be referred to as a kidney disease that occurs in people with Diabetes. In severe cases, it can lead to kidney failure.

• Regularly taking insulin or other medicines your doctor prescribes • Knowing the basic steps for managing your blood sugar levels at home.

• Checking your blood sugar levels and keeping a record of them.

• Acquiring diabetes education as much as possible.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOUR KIDNEYS? • Work with your doctor to keep your blood pressure down, usually below 130/80.

• Work with your doctor to keep your cholesterol level as close to a healthy level as you can. You may need to take medicines for this.

• Keep your heart healthy by eating a low-fat diet and exercising regularly.

Preventing heart disease is important, because people with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to die of heart and blood vessel diseases. And people with kidney disease are at an even higher risk for heart disease.

• Watch how much protein you eat.

Eating too much is hard on your kidneys. If diabetes has affected your kidneys, limiting how much protein you eat may help you preserve kidney function. Talk to your doctor or dietician about how much protein is best for you.

• Watch how much salt you eat.

Eating less salt helps keep high blood pressure from getting worse.

• Don’t smoke or use other tobacco products.

Until I come your way with another package on diabetes education next weekend on WELLNESS COLUMN, I say keep in touch. RAMADAN KAREEM!

PAGE 42

Inte rv i e w

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

‘How my friend living with HIV/AIDS inspired me to fathom power of fate’ Tell us about yourself… ’m the daughter of Late Major Yakubu Alexander Mbaka. I was born on November 27th, 1987, in Minna, Niger state.

But I’m from Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna state. I started my nursery school in Lagos state, and then we moved down to Kaduna where I did my primary school at Command Children’s School and further my secondary school in Command Secondary School, Kaduna.

But we relocated elsewhere in 2001 where I completed my secondary education.

Thereafter, I had my first degree in English at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

Presently, I’m running a post-graduate degree (PGD) programme in Education at Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

Your marital status…

I’m single.

Is ‘Crystal Tears’ your first literary work?

Yes, it’s actually my first work which was launched in July 6th, this year. Though I have launched the book but it’s not really fully in circulation.

What message did you had in mind when you took pen to write the book?

Fate, that’s destiny. Most people think it’s all about HIV/AIDS but for me it’s about fate. And fate is something that is destined to happen in life. ‘Crystal Tears’ is a story about an ambitious beautiful young lady who is devoted and charming. She was living a fulfilled life with her family when fate caught up with her. Now she has to choose between life as an experience and life as a living hell. But ultimately, no one knows what the future holds but God’s intervention is certainly the best.

Unfortunately, it seems that enlightenment on HIV/AIDS is still not understood.

Today, so many people especially the youth are still stalked in the dark. Stigmatization persists even with much insight on the disease. When you go to schools, you still find young girls and boys misbehaving. Aside from the once in a while workshops and seminars done in schools, these young lads are not stimulated to read.

So I want to inculcate the habit of reading wide on the subject matter in the minds of the youths. Because when students are encouraged to read books like this, which mirrors the ethos, psychology, sociology, spirituality, morality and economy of life from other people’s experiences, it would help them to understand their society better.

Does ‘Anintah’ the central character in your book actually exist?

Yes, she does but in different name. Actually she is a friend of mine that has such experience as captured in the book. But before I put this down, I had to seek her consent. In fact, she wanted me to put her experience down in a book form because there are a lot of other people and even our friends out there who are in the same situation; some are even dead while a few are still alive.

So, she encouraged me to put it down, to let them know that this is something that is beyond their power. It is fate as God has ordained what happened and happening; and it would definitely be so. Therefore, what we need to do is to tell this category of peo-

I

Mariam Ande Mbaka is the author of “Crystal Tears”, a novel centered on the true life experience of a young lady named ‘Anintah’ living with HIV/AIDS, who prior to her condition was living a fulfilled life with her family when fate caught up with her.

And she had to choose between life as an experience and life as a living hell. According to Mbaka, she was inspired to put down into a book the experiences of Anintah (name not real), who happened to be her friend, to let other persons living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) know that it is something that is beyond their power. In this chat with Stanley Onyekwere, the author reveals how her personal experience and encouragement from her friends moved her to write a book.

Mariam Ande Mbaka ple to voice out their issues, and once they do so there are lots of people who would be there to offer help.

Like my friend, Anintah, she is now a successful person. But how did she become successful even with her condition? It’s simple; because she chose to voice out her issues, she never allowed them to eat her up.

There are youths out there who are in similar situation, whom I really want to voice out their issues. Even if you don’t want anybody to know you physically or personally you could write your experience down without attaching your real name to it.

We must not have your name or picture on it. We must not know who you really are or where you reside; but write it down and send it to people like me. Because once you

“

do so, there are people that would come out and tell you what to do to be successful in spite of their conditions.

What can you say inspired you to become a writer?

Inspirations come from Almighty God. I must say that spiritually, I was inspired by my creator who gave me life, wisdom and knowledge to write. So it’s an inbuilt thing that can never be taken away. Also I was physically inspired by my parents and as well the kind of upbringing I received from them pushed me further.

When I was a kid, my mum told that I loved writing. Back then, whatever I see or want, I don’t talk, as I always put it in writing and whenever I do something wrong and they scold me, I would go into my room, get

Even if you don’t want anybody to know you physically or personally you could write your experience down without attaching your real name to it.

my small diary which was given to me by my mum on my sixth birthday and begin to write a poem related to it. And when they noticed such extra ordinary talent in me at that time, they began to encourage me to write more.

Also to some extent, my father’s death while I was five did influence my writing career, but in fact what propelled me into writing was an experience I encountered in life and that of the lives of my friends.

What were some challenges you had to overcome while writing your first book?

First of all, my greatest challenge was finance. I had to source money from a friend to pay for editing. That took me a long time and subsequently, I paid for typing and other miscellaneous. Secondly, there was so much pressure on me; writing, doing my PGD and working in the office at the same time.

I was so depressed and almost wanted to stop writing. And third but the least of the challenges I had was emotional depression, because at a point in time, I could not stop crying about the situation. I wished it was just a fiction. Of course other normal circumstances occurred but I conquered it.

And in the long run, I was able to get full support from my family and friends; and things got done almost perfect.

Apart from writing, do you have an NGO or working with any organized civil society of group to provide care for people living with HIV/AIDS? Actually I don’t really have one in place now, but I intend to start my own NGO in the near future. It’s actually a talk show platform based on discussing female related issues. So I intend to put this into my talk show. And hopefully by December the show will take off as everything is being arranged to ensure realization of the dream. But I still need finance for the project; and I’m confident that once I’m able to meet this and other challenges, the project would be launched as schedule.

Apart from your parents do you have other role models?

I have a million and one role models. In addition to my mum’s decency and religious background, which continues to guide me through my life despite all trials, there is Alhaji Falalu Bello one of my role models. I love his sense of unity and passion for education. Other writers who have motivated my writing are Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Festus Iyayi, John Mason, NawaniAboki, John Adache, Chimamanda Adiche, Ola Rotimi, Ferdinand Oyono and John Pepper Clark amongst others.

Talking about writing and reading, what would say about the reading culture among Nigerian youths?

To be frank, our reading habit is quite low because most books are being translated into movies, so one hardly find the youths reading. All they prefer to do is go into the movie industry or any shop they could pick one or two movies to watch. So majority of our youths don’t read.

Your advice for the youth…

As a youth, you should be very patient in whatever you do in life. Nevertheless, when someone is determined towards a goal, you would hit the target in due time.

Page 43

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Archive

A scene off the ‘The Village Headmaster’ in the 1980s

Great Zik of Africa

Do you have old pictures for memories?

Send them to junioremma419@gmail.com

Ransome Kuti’s in the ‘40’s L-R Rev Israel, Dolu (standing behind) Fela (standing in front), FRK holding baby Beko and Olikoye(standing on right)

Port Harcourt Boys & Girls playing snoker 70’s & 80’s

Col. Benjamin Adekunle sending out a radio signal in Ikot Okpora during the civil war of 1967-70

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 44

Archive

S

tone Age, period of human technological development characterized by the use of stone as the principal raw material for tools. In a given geographic region, the Stone Age normally predated the invention or spread of metalworking technology. Human groups in different parts of the world began using stone tools at different times and abandoned stone for metal tools at different times.

Broadly speaking, however, the Stone Age began roughly 2.5 million years ago, ended in some parts of the world 5,000 years ago, and ended in other regions much more recently. Today, only a few isolated human populations rely largely on stone for their technologies, and that reliance is rapidly vanishing with the introduction of tools from the modern industrialized world.

Our human ancestors living before the Stone Age likely used objects as tools, a behavior that scientists find today among chimpanzees. Wild chimpanzees in Africa exhibit a range of tool-using behaviours. For example, they use bent twigs to fish for termites, chewed wads of leaves to soak up liquid, and branches and stones as hammers, anvils, missiles, or clubs. However, when prehistoric humans began to make stone tools

Japan’s Jōmon people, who thrived from 10,000 to 300 bc, made distinctive pottery for boiling, steaming, and storing food. The pots were made with coils of clay and then decorated by rolling carved sticks, plant fibers, or braided cords over the outer surface. This cord-marked (jōmon) pottery gave the culture its name.

Scala/Art Resource, NY they became dramatically distinct from the rest of the animal world.

Although other animals may use stone objects as simple tools, the intentional modification of stone into tools, as well as using tools to make other tools, appear to be behaviours unique to humans.

This stone toolmaking and toolusing behaviour became central to the way early humans adapted to their environment and almost

The stone age relics

certainly had a profound effect on human evolution.

Archaeologists believe the Stone Age began about 2.5 million years ago because that marks the age of the earliest stone tool remnants ever discovered. The earliest recognizable stone artifacts mark the beginnings of the archaeological record—that is, the sum total of material remnants of ancient human activities. As recently as 5,000 years ago all human societies on the face of the earth were essentially still living in the Stone Age. Therefore, over 99.8 percent of humans’ time as toolmakers—from 2.5 million years ago to 5,000 years ago— took place during the Stone Age. During the Stone Age our ancestors went through many different stages of biological and cultural evolution. It was long after our lineage became anatomically modern that we began to experiment with new innovations such as metallurgy, heralding the end of the Stone Age.

STUDY OF THE STONE AGE The term Stone Age has been used since the early 1800s as a designation for an earlier, prehistoric stage of human culture, one in which stone rather than metal tools were used. By the early 1800s various archaeological sites had been found in Europe that contained mysterious items from evidently earlier, prehistoric times. Christian Thomsen, curator of the National Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, developed a classification scheme to organize the museum’s growing collections into three successive technological stages in the human past: Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. This three-age classification was quickly adopted and spread not only among museums in Europe but also among excavators, who were able to identify Stone Age remnants that were found below Bronze Age remnants, which were in turn found below Iron Age remnants as they dug down through layers of deposits at their sites. The fact that Stone Age remnants were found at the bottom layers indicated that they were the oldest.

More than 10,000 years ago early inhabitants of the Americas, known as Paleo-Indians, hunted large mammals such as bison, mammoth, and mastodon. The hunting of such large prey was a late development in human prehistory, as it required sophisticated stone weaponry and a kind of planning and coordination possible only with an elaborate system of communication, such as language. This diorama from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City depicts Mesoamerican Paleo-Indians killing a mastodon.

Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis grained, or amorphous (having no crystal structure) rocks, including lava, obsidian, ignimbrite, flint, chert, quartz, silicified limestone, quartzite, and indurated shale.

Ground stone tools could be made

on a wider range of raw material types, including coarser grained rock such as granite.

Flaking produces several different types of stone artifacts, which archaeologists look for at prehistoric sites. The parent pieces of rock from which chips have been detached are called cores, and the chips that have been removed from cores are called flakes. A flake that has had yet smaller flakes removed from one or more edges in order to sharpen or shape it is known as a re-

touched piece. The stone used to knock flakes from cores is called a hammerstone or a percussor.

Other flaking artifacts include fragments and chunks, most of which are broken cores and flakes.

The terms culture and industry both refer to a system of technology (toolmaking technique, for example) shared by different Stone Age sites of the same broad time period. Experts now prefer to use the term industry instead of culture to refer to these shared Stone Age systems.

STONE AGE TOOLMAKING TECHNOLOGY Early hominids made stone artifacts either by smashing rocks between a hammer and anvil (known as the bipolar technique) to produce usable pieces or by a more controlled process termed flaking, in which stone chips were fractured away from a larger rock by striking it with a hammer of stone or other hard material. Later, especially during the last 10,000 years, other techniques of producing stone artifacts—including pecking, grinding, sawing, and boring—became more common. The best rocks for flaking tended to be hard, fine-

A number of small statues of female figures dating back to paleolithic times have been discovered in Europe. They suggest the possibility of goddess worship during the Stone Age. This statuette, known as the Venus of Lespugue, was found in southwestern France.

Carved from the tusk of a mammoth, it is estimated to be 27,000 years old.

Archivo Iconografico, S.A./ Corbis

These granite megaliths form one of many Bronze Age monuments in Carnac, France. Experts question the origin and purpose of the stones, although their mysterious configurations are generally considered to be the work of Druids, members of a Celtic religious group that was prevalent from the 2nd century bc until the 2nd century ad. Fridmar Damm/Leo de Wys, Inc.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 45

Biographies

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) Portuguese-born Spanish exploer and navigator

F

erdinand Magellan Portuguese-born Spanish explorer and navigator, leader of the first expedition to circumnavigate, or sail completely around, the world. He was born in northern Portugal Magellan set out to reach the East Indies by sailing westward from Europe, which no one was sure could be done. He intended to return by the same route, but after his death his crews found that the prevailing winds required them to keep sailing west, around the world.

EARLY LIFE Magellan was born Fernão de Magalhães to a noble Portuguese family; later the Spanish knew him as Fernando de Magallanes. He served as a court page in his youth, and in 1505 he sailed with a fleet carrying the first Portuguese viceroy to India.

He then served with the fleet in the exploration and conquest of the East Indies. Twice wounded in battle, he took part in expeditions that captured the kingdom of Malacca (Melaka) in the Malay Peninsula of southeast Asia. He explored the islands of present-day Indonesia as far east as the Moluccas, or Spice Islands. By 1510 he was promoted to the rank of captain.

In 1512 Magellan returned to Portugal, and in 1513 he battled the Moors in Morocco. He was wounded again and left with a permanent limp.

Soon afterward he lost favor with King Manuel of Portugal, probably because of charges of financial irregularities while he was in Morocco. The king canceled a promotion Magellan had received for his valor against the Moors and later denied his request for a fleet to prove that the Moluccas could be reached by sailing west.

THE PLAN FOR THE VOYAGE Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship and in 1517 went to Spain to seek support for his plan from King Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). Magellan believed there was a passage to the west through or around South America. Such a passage would be of great value to the Spanish, who wanted a share in the lucrative trade in spices from the Moluccas. Portugal controlled the eastward route to the East Indies, around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, and would not allow Spanish ships to pass.

START OF THE EXPEDITION Magellan won the king’s approval for his voyage. A fleet of five vessels was outfitted and sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, with about 250 men on September 20, 1519. Magellan sailed through familiar waters along the west coast of Africa and then south to the equator. There the

“

Magellan’s great achievement was to confirm that the earth is round, measure its circumference, determine the length of a degree of latitude, and show that the world’s oceans were connected

“

QUICK FACTS Birth 1480?

Death April 27, 1521 Place of Birth Sabrosa, Portugal Known as Captain of the first expedition to circumnavigate the world.

fleet turned south-southwest and crossed the Atlantic to a point near Recife in Brazil.

Magellan searched down the coast of South America for a passage through the continent. In December he stopped at Rio de Janeiro, where the sailors traded with the Native Americans for provisions. Continuing south, he explored every likely inlet, especially the mouth of the Río de la Plata, which he briefly thought was the passage because it was so wide.

As the southern winter approached in April, the ships took shelter from storms in Port San Julián, now in Argentina. During five months there, Magellan suppressed a mutiny of his Spanish officers, who were jealous because Magellan was Portuguese.

One ship was lost when it was driven ashore during an exploratory voyage.

Uncertain but hopeful, Magellan pressed on through the strait, which was dangerously narrow and winding in many places. On the other side of the third bay, two passages were sighted; Magellan ordered them to be explored. During the night one ship mutinied and sailed back to Spain. Undaunted, Magellan pressed on. To the south was a stark, forbidding land, dotted with fires, which he named Tierra del Fuego, Spanish for “Land of Fire.” After several days the western passage led into a long channel, running northwest, that opened onto a great ocean. The ships sailed forth on November 28, 1520, having taken 38 grueling days to negotiate 579 km (360 mi) of icy water lined with snow-clad mountains. The route they used is now known as the Strait of Magellan.

THE PACIFIC Because it was calm, Magellan named the ocean Pacific. Although favored by the weather, the fleet suffered greatly in another way. Magellan had underestimated the ocean’s size, and his course was too far north to encounter the fruitful southern island groups such as Tuamotu and Samoa Islands. The fresh food and water were used up, causing scurvy, a wasting disease that results from lack of vitamin C in the diet. They were reduced to eating the leather rope guards, then sawdust and even rats.

Many died. After 98 days, the fleet finally reached an island—probably Guam—in the western Pacific. During bargaining for supplies, the natives stole a wide variety of objects, and for this reason Magellan named the islands the Islas de Ladrones (Islands

of Thieves). Later they were renamed the Mariana Islands.

Although Magellan did not complete the voyage, he is considered the first person to circle the world because Cebu is west of the Moluccas.

Sailing west, he had reached a point beyond the point he had reached earlier when sailing east.

RETURN TO SPAIN After Magellan’s death, one ship was abandoned because not enough sailors were left to handle three vessels. Captain Juan Sebastián del Cano took command of the reduced fleet and brought it to its goal, the Moluccas, where he took on a cargo of cloves. One ship tried to return across the Pacific but was forced back by the winds and then captured by the Portuguese, who interned its crew. Cano made the long westward return voyage with one last ship, the Victoria. After a difficult voyage, with a remaining crew of 18, the Victoria reached Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, almost three years to the day after setting forth.

The cargo of cloves sold for such a high price that, despite losing four out of five vessels, the voyage earned a profit.

RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE The voyage strengthened the Spanish claim to the Moluccas, although Portugal never accepted it.

More importantly, Magellan’s great achievement was to confirm that the earth is round, measure its circumference, determine the length of a degree of latitude, and show that the world’s oceans were connected. Magellan’s secretary, an Italian named Antonio Pigafetta, who published his journal of the voyage, was among the first persons to note that the westward circling of the earth results in the loss of one calendar day (see International Date Line).

The passage through the Strait of Magellan was an impractical route to the Moluccas, and Spain sold its interests there to Portugal. Nevertheless the voyage laid the foundation for trade across the Pacific. Spain did not immediately recognize the importance of the Philippines, but that country’s chief city, Manila, became the greatest Spanish trading center in East Asia by the end of the 16th century.

Milestones 1505 Sailed with a Portuguese fleet to explore and conquer the southeast Asian islands then known as the East Indies.

1517 Was denied Portuguese support for an expedition to reach the Spice Islands (Moluccas) by a westward route; gave up his Portuguese citizenship, went to Spain, received funding, and took Spanish citizenship September 20, 1519 Sailed west from Spain with five vessels in search of a waterway through South America.

October 21, 1520 Entered what was later named the Strait of Magellan, a channel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans 1520 Named the archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for 'Land of Fire') after the campfires that dotted the shore November 28, 1520 Emerged from the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean April 27, 1521 Was killed in battle on Mactan, Philippines September 6, 1522 Captain Juan Sebastián del Cano returned the remaining ship and crew to Spain, completing the voyage around the world.

Did You Know Because Magellan had been further east on previous voyages, his 1521 arrival in the Philippines technically made him the first man to circumnavigate the earth.

Magellan's expedition proved definitively that the earth is a sphere, and that all its oceans are connected.

Patagonia derives its name from patagões (Portuguese for 'big feet'), the name Magellan gave the foot coverings worn by the local people.

Magellan named the Pacific Ocean for its calm waters.

During the voyage across the Pacific, food supplies ran so low that the men ate boiled leather, sawdust, and rats to

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

International

Europe, America: An unfortunate month for transport

Scenes at the train crash in the Paris suburb of Brétigny-sur-Orge.

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau

T

he past month of July saw a wave of deadly transport crashes across Europe and America.

Trains have derailed and collided, buses have skidded off bridges. The death toll is in the hundreds in the different crashes in France, Canada, Spain, and most recently Italy.

Though unconnected, the crashes have become a major concern for security officials.

Spain has seen the worst crash, one of the worst in its history in fact. A total of 79 were among the dead, with more than 140 hurt, 20 of whom were seriously wounded and are still receiving hospital care.

The Spain crash happened on Wednesday 25th July, when a train carrying 218 passengers in eight carriages hurtled far over the 80kph speed limit into a high-risk curve.

The train tumbled off the tracks and slammed into a concrete wall, with some of the carriages catching fire.

The cause of the crash has been blamed on over speeding by the driver. Francisco Jose Garzon who was going at 190 km/h, over twice the speed limit for the section where the crash occurred.

Garzon has since been charged with multiple cases of negligent homicide. He admitted to driving “recklessly” and his license has since been withdrawn.

Italy also witnessed a deadly crash on July, 28th, when a

coach carrying about 50 people, including children plunged off a flyover in the southern part of the country leaving at least 39 people dead.

The coach hit several vehicles before smashing through a parapet and toppling down a steep slope near the town of Avellino, in the Campania region.

It is the country’s worst road accident for decades. The cause of the accident as of yet is unclear.

Unlike in the Spain crash, the driver lost his life.

In France at least 7 people died and dozens others were injured when a packed passenger train derailed at a station in the Paris suburb of Brétigny-surOrge on Friday 12th, July.

It was France’s deadliest train crash in 25 years.

The packed train, en route from Paris to the central city of Limoges, was carrying some 385 passengers when it derailed and crashed into the station at Brétigny-sur-Orge, 12 miles south of Paris.

Six carriages had derailed during the accident. The train’s third and fourth carriages de-

“

railed first and the others followed, witnesses said.

The cause of the crash may have been a loose steel connector plate at a junction, the French train operator said.

Pierre Izard, head of infrastructure services at SNCF, said the piece which was bolted on to the track had moved to “the middle of the track junction,” preventing the rolling stock from passing through.

Unlike in Spain, human error was ruled out, with France’s transport Minister Mr Frederic Cuvillier saying: ‘Fortunately, the driver of the locomotive had absolutely extraordinary reflexes in that he sounded the alarm immediately, preventing a collision with another train coming in the opposite direction and which would have hit the derailing carriages within seconds. So it was not a human problem.’

Again, unlike in the Spanish crash, the train was travelling under the speed limit of 93mph at 85mph In the most recent of crashes, two trains collided head-on in western Switzerland on Monday, killing one of the drivers and in-

juring 26 passengers.

A total of 46 passengers had been on board, police said.

The driver’s body was found overnight in the wreckage of the crash at Granges-pres-Marnand in the canton of Vaud.

Police have said it’s too early to try to ascertain the cause of the crash.

A town in Canda also witnessed a deadly train crash when a train exploded in a series of fireballs after it tipped over and sped eight miles down a sloping track and derailed. The crash happened on the Saturday, 6th July at around 1.a.m local time.

All but one of the 73 tanker cars were carrying crude oil from North Dakota to a refinery in New Brunswick, and at least five of the carriages exploded.

The crude oil laden tankers blew up into flames following the crash, killing at least 13 people.

The explosion and flames forced about a third of the community of 6,000 from their homes, with fears of further blasts from the unexploded carriages.

Oil producers are increasingly using railroads to transport oil to refineries, because of limited pipe-

Unlike in Spain, human error was ruled out, with France’s transport Minister Mr Frederic Cuvillier saying: ‘Fortunately, the driver of the locomotive had absolutely extraordinary reflexes in that he sounded the alarm immediately, preventing a collision with another train coming in the opposite direction and which would have hit the derailing carriages within seconds. So it was not a human problem.’

line capacity in Canada. This has inevitably come under close scrutiny by authorities.

Joe McGonigle, of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway said the company believes the train’s brakes were the cause of the crash. “The train was parked, it was tied up. The brakes were secured. Somehow it got loose,” he said.

The crashes in the cases of Spain, Switzerland, Canada and France have put the issue of rail safety under the spotlight. Some officials have indicated that the crashes could have been prevented or cushioned with better security measures.

The collision in Switzerland occurred on what is one of the most popular and safest rail networks in Europe. The Spanish also pride themselves on their safe and efficient rail services.

This only raises further questions as to why these crashes happened.

The Spanish rail agency has said the brakes should have been applied four kilometres before the train hit the curve in Santiago de Compostela.

The crash in Canada has also raised concerns over the use of trains for the transportation of petrol.

The growing number of trains transporting crude oil in Canada and the United States had raised concerns of a major derailment, and this one was sure to add to the debate over a proposed cross-U.S. oil pipeline that Canada says it badly needs.

In a more relieving development, none of the crashes were attributed to terrorist activities.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Page 47

Woman’s four-and-a-half-foot afro is the world’s largest… and takes her two days to wash

By Olivia Williams

P

News Extra

roud of her recordbreaking afro, Aevin Dugas says her hair is inspiring legions of women to ditch chemical straighteners and ‘go natural’.

The 37-year-old, whose hair entered the Guinness Book of Records at 4ft 4ins around, says everyone from toddlers to grandmothers are following in her footsteps.

Aevin said: ‘At one time I strived to get hair that was bone straight and now all I want is it big and poofy’.

She believes her voluminous hair may have grown even bigger, but she cannot reveal its size until Guinness take an official measurement.

‘When my hair is stretched out to its complete length and pressed, it goes down to my butt. But I don’t wear it like that because it looks weird.’

The newly single care worker is proud of her unique style but usually ties her hair back when going on first dates, only revealing her secret later.

‘I did tell one guy and he was shocked and he Googled me and was like ‘oh, wow’.

‘But then when I saw him again - he was wearing an afro too.’

Aevin, who has won fans from Brazil to Italy, has spent the last 14 years growing her hair.

Her jaw-dropping look brings her attention wherever she goes but it does have its drawbacks as she often gets it caught in trees, car doors and people’s earrings.

It can also take two days to wash and dry and is so big she struggles to see clearly out from beneath it - which means she cannot drive with her ‘hair up’.

To get her hair ready for a night out she shampoos it and then uses up to five conditioners.

She then puts her hair into two French braids and from then it takes about two days to dry.

But the positives far outweigh the negatives and she has become a hero in her hometown of Napoleonville, Louisiana.

Her biggest joy is inspiring young girls to stop using chemical straighteners, which can cause long-lasting damage to hair.

She said: ‘I don’t know why but there’s something very important to me about little girls appreciating my hair and then wanting to wear their hair the same.

‘I tell them there is nothing that I did special, there is no magical formula, we are born with our hair like this.’

Aevin was originally inspired

Aevin struggles to see out from underneath her extravagant hairdo if she does not style it up properly by a picture of her mum Deborah Dugas wearing an afro in the sixties - and she remains one of her biggest fans today.

Mrs Dugas, 62, who runs a care home, said: ‘I’m humbled by the fact she did this because she liked my natural hair, way before she was born.

‘It was about half the size of Aevin’s and everybody loved it.’

She added: ‘Her hair has definitely had an impact on the community.

‘She made her decision when wearing your hair natural was considered unattractive in the black community.

‘But, against all that, she started wearing her hair natural years ago. I am really proud.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

14 years in the making, Aevin says that she loves her bouncy hair

However, Aevin is thrilled with the results and is keen to encourage other AfricaAmericans to let their hair grow naturally

Aevin Dugas boasts the world’s biggest afro measuring an incredible four-and-a-half foot around the middle

Despite loving her hair, she has to tie it back while driving as it is so difficult to see past it

Hair washing has turned into a long-drawn out affair as it takes her two days to wash and dry it all in sections

On first dates, Aevin likes to restrain her afro as she says it can be ‘overwhelming’ for new people

Aevin getting her hair tended to at a salon in Reserve, Louisiana. Her mother says that she is particularly proud of her daughter for wearing her afro before it became fashionable

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 24, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 48

Weekend Sports

Kano Pillars coaches hospitalised after accident

T

he technical crew of Kano Pillars, who were involved in a serious motor accident have been hospitalised.

The accident, which occurred on Thursday afternoon at Gangarida in Ikara LGA of Kaduna State, was caused by a burst tyre which also resulted in the death of a roadside mechanic.

Pillars technical adviser Baba Ganaru, coach Abdu Maikaba and assistant coach Kabiru Baleria were all seriously injured, but are currently responding well to treatment at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital where they were referred.

The Nigeria champions were heading back to Kano from Ilorin after Wednesday’s Federation Cup game against Warri Wolves, which they lost 3-0.

Meanwhile, The League Management Company (LMC) has commiserated with the management of Kano Pillars over road accident

involving their technical officials.

The technical crew was involved in a road accident on Thursday on their way back to Kano after their futile Federation Cup quarterfinal campaign against Warri Wolves on Wednesday at the Kwara State Stadium, llorin.

LMC chairman, Hon NdukaIrabor said he has made contacts with the side’s general manager, Abba Galadima to ascertain the extent of the accident.

“We’re obviously saddened by the report of the accident involving Kano Pillars in Gangarida, Ikara Local Government Council of Kaduna State on their way to Kano.

“I’m in contact with the club officials and are wishing the injured quick recovery while we continue to monitor the situation,” Irabor remarked.

Irabor subsequently announced the postponement of the side’s Glo Premier League Matchday 23 encounter today against Akwa United in Kano.

Mohammed Babaganaru receiving treatment in hospital

Benin FA president back in jail Keshi to bait Liverpool youngster into Super Eagles

B

enin Football Federation former president Anjorin Moucharafou has been rearrested and sent to jail two days after he declined to run for a third term.

Moucharafou, who was

Anjorin Moucharafou

arraigned before a court in July 2011 for misappropriation of the federation’s funds and remanded in custody at the Cotonou Civil Prison, was summoned this week alongside the body’s accountant Cecile Houssou for the same charges.

The businessman is accused of mishandling $650,000 (R6.5m) sponsorship money from mobile phone company MTN between 2008 and 2010.

Moucharafou, who enjoyed the backing of Fifa and Caf when Benin’s FA disintegrated into two parallel bodies following the departure of 12 of the 15 executive committee members, decided not to seek a third term in office to give peace a chance in the country’s football.

T

he Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi, has said he is going to watch Liverpool youngster, Jordan Ashley Ibe in order to lure him into the Eagles.

The AFCON winner said that a number of players with Nigerian roots based abroad have been

Ibe

Edo, Bauchi states to host Fed Cup semi-final

By Albert Akota

T

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has selected Benin and Bauchi as the venues for the semifinals of the 2013 Federation Cup. The first semifinal between Warri Wolves and Akwa United will be played at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi while the second semis between

Lobi Stars and Enyimba will be played at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin Ciry.

Confirming the development, NFF Director of Competitions, Dr Mohammed Sanusi explained that the federation has concluded all logistical arrangements to make both semifinals memorable.

“We had to ensure that logistics and all other preparations are

taken care of because these are very important games in the Nigerian football calendar.

This is Nigeria’s oldest football competition and we intend to bring glamour to it as much as we can,” Sanusi said.

The winners of both semifinal games will progress to the final which will be played on September 15 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

Nasarawa plot Nembe ambush

N

asarawa United captain, Baba Idris is confident his team can nick points off the hosts Nembe City in tomorrow’s week 23 encounter.

The former Mighty Jets defender is optimistic that if officiating is fair, then there is nothing that will stop them from picking at least a point against Nembe.

“Our Federation Cup game

against Enyimba should be a pointer to this. We absolutely dominated them in the first half and unfortunately Ibrahim Ibrahim was red carded in the second half which made life difficult for us.

Nasarawa United hit Nembe immediately after the Federations Cup tie with Enyimba in a bid to rest ahead of the match and Idris says this can only do them good.

drawn up on his list including the Liverpool winger.

“I have been told he (Ibe) is a very good prospect with potential to become one of the best wingers in the world. I have not had time to watch him in any of his club’s games but definitely I will do so this season.

“I have been informed that there

Baba Idris, who led Nasarawa United to promotion from the Nigeria National League, also expressed his desire to help his team to finish in the top half of the league by the end of the season.

The Lafia based Glo Premier League team popularly called “Solid Miners” is currently in 14 positions on the log with 29 points from 22 matches.

are so many players out there with Nigerian parentage and a few I know myself. We will be looking out for them,” said Keshi.

The former Mali and Togo manager quickly pointed out that the decision of playing for Nigeria remains with such footballers apparently recalling how Sidney Sam ditched the African nation for Germany.

“Tracking or listing players who are Nigerians but born abroad is one thing while accepting to play for the country is another. But it will be a good addition for us if a player like Jordan accepts to play for the national team. But we will see how it goes,” said Keshi.

Ibe, who joined Liverpool from Wycombe Wanderers, has featured for the England Under-18 national team but is still eligible to play for Nigeria’s Super Eagles if only he decides to switch nationality.

Weekend Fixtures CAF Champions League Groups Sewe Sport (Ivory Coast) v Recreativo (Angola) Esperance (Tunisia) v Coton Sport (Cameroon) Sunday Al Ahly (Egypt) v Orlando (South Africa) AC Leopards (Congo) v Zamalek (Egypt) CAF Confederations Cup Groups TP Mazembe (DRC) v US Rabat (Morocco) Etoile Sahel (Tunisia) v St George (Ethiopia) Sunday St Malien (Mali) v CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) CA Bizertin (Tunisia) v ES Setif (Algeria) Nigeria Professional Football League Kano Pillars v Akwa United Kwara United v Sharks Kwara El-Kanemi v Enyimba El-Kanemi Sunday Wikki Tourists v Bayelsa United Lobi Stars v 3SC Dolphins v ABS F.C. Gombe United v Sunshine Kaduna United v Heartland Warri Wolves v Rangers Nembe City v Nasarawa United

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 49

Nasarawa: Counting the gains of Jonathan’s visit

BY RAYYANU BALA

L

afia, the Nasarawa state capital, literary stood still Monday 29 July, in welcoming the President and Commanderin Chief of the Armed forces of Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, ably represented by the Vice- President Arc. Namadi Sambo.

The visit, adjudged to be successful by all standards, left in its wake sweet reminiscence of a most fruitful welcome to a serving President ever received since the creation of the state in 1996.

The surging crowd that greeted the Vice-President as soon as his chopper touched ground at Shendam Road Government House, was exceptional, just as in every place the delegation of Mr. President visited the people’s jubilations was by no means unprecedented.

Before the President visit, there were some who thought, or even prayed for, Mr. President outing to Nasarawa state to be failure for the simple reason not far from mischief. These mischief fabricators are so much averse to anything positive in the CPC administration in the state, they always Governor Umar Tanko Al-Makura wish to see things that could dent Nigeria could descend so low as to the image and reputation of the enmesh himself in such gimmicks. government in their forlorn quest Mr. Labaran Maku, while welcomto reclaim political superiority, ing President Jonathan to Nawhich they lost in 2011 on account sarawa state, through a full page their selfishness and non-perforadvert (Daily Trust, 29/07/2013) mance. listed projects executed by the These pranks fabricators never MDGs and UBEC in the state get tired of alluding to the Alas the PDP-controlled Federal makura-led administration things Government projects in the state. that are not only uncomplimenHaba! tary, they were also found in the Mr. Labaran Maku is not habit of claiming the efforts of his however alone in this; even the government as theirs. functional chairman of PDP, Mr. For 12 years that the PDP held Yunana Iliya also took a full page sway in Nasarawa state, there advert to repeat what Mr. Maku were the Millennium Developsaid about MDGs and UBEC proment Goals (MDGs) as well as jects in the state. With this caliber UBEC and what have you, yet, of people inclined in misleadthey did not at that time find it ing the citizenry, as leaders or as convenient or expedient to exploit aspiring leaders, where would our the opportunities offered by these state go to from here? Certainly, agencies to better the conditions these people are incapable of of the people of the state, but leading the state, as we cannot, when the present administration in this age, afford to have people is exploiting the opportunities, who have no regards for our deep by dishing out marching counterfeelings. part funds, they now turn back The visit of the Vice-President to claim that it was the PDP-conto Nasarawa state has no doubt trolled Federal Government that afforded the CPC government in is carrying out the projects.

Nasarawa state an opportunity What is even more amusing to showcase some of its achievewas how the highly revered Minments in two years while in office ister of the Federal Republic of

within Lafia, the state capital. This is beside the numerous successes recorded by the government in other local governments and development areas across the 3 senatorial districts of the state.

Umaru Tanko Al-makura, while delivery his speech at the commissioning of Ta’al Model School in Lafia by the Vice President, lamented how the state lost its bearing on the education sector in the past, despite its significance to the development and influence on our way of life. Yet, past administrations in the state, for reasons best known to them, selected to ignore this vital sector which the CPC administration is now poised to restore its lost glory in the state.

As part of efforts towards realizing these objectives, the Al-makura led administration has awarded 36 contracts already, for the replication of Ta’al model schools across the 13 local governments in the state. The foresight of Al-makura in re-engineering, not only the education sector but all other sectors of the state economy, was duly acknowledged by the people, as noticed in the

way and manner they trooped out to cheer the state’s august visitor.

What is more, the acceptance by the Vice-President to the requests put forward by Al-makura in the area of electricity supply to the state, through the establishment of 330/33KV power sub-station in Lafia on a 330KV transmission line from Makurdi to Jos and the construction of Doma - FCT Federal Highway as well as the Federal support to the perennial ecological problems, are all part of the gains of the visit, which if not for the doggedness of Al-makura we won’t have gotten these life-line assurance from the federal government.

Yes, Al-makura has invested and sacrifices a lot to ensure the success of Mr. President visit.

Thank God, all these investments and sacrifices have not gone in vain. The state is going to benefit a lot from this visit. In the past, we had so many opportunities of receiving high profile visitors to the state but nothing fruitful came out of the visit.

From available records, since the creation of Nasarawa state, we have received no fewer than 3 seating Heads of state/Presidents on a working visit, but due to either carelessness or deliberate impiety, we never, as a state, received any bounty substantially enough to impact positively on the life of the people of the state, as a fallout of such visitations. Giving Al-makura’s pedigree on aspect of pursuance of perks for Nasarawa state, no one is therefore left in doubt that the assurance of VicePresident Namadi Sambo would be pursued with the view to be implemented to the letter. I believe he (Al-makura) will do everything humanly possible to get these assurances by the Federal Government to transform them to reality.

Precisely, it was Albert Schweitzer who said, ‘Success is achieved by those who are thoroughly imbued with the belief that they can attain it’, indeed!; Almakura is thoroughly saturated with confidence about achieving his targeted goals in life, which is why today, in Nasarawa state, we are reaping from his confidence, in terms of availability of some of the basic necessities of life in some of our urban and rural areas cutting across the state.

Rayyanu Bala wrote from Lafia, Nasarawa state

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Page 50

Sports

Hilario extends Chelsea stay

Liverpool line up move for Costa

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iverpool have launched a £21.8 million bid for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa as manager Brendan Rodgers looks to add to his forward line.

Costa has been capped twice

by Brazil and scored ten goals in 31 league games last season as Atletico finished third in La Liga.

Liverpool has made no comment on the possibility of signing the 24-year-old, but sources said the club is hopeful that a deal will be struck.

Rodgers stated last week that a major priority in the transfer market was to “a bit more support that extra bit of quality at the top end of the field”.

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of the 25-man squad currently on tour in the United States.

“It feels really good to sign a new contract for another year at the club, I’m very proud,” he told the club’s website.

“I’m really pleased to be part of this great squad and I’m looking forward to working once again with Jose Mourinho.

Hilario will continue to face tough competition this season in a squad which includes Petr Cech, Mark Schwarzer and Jamal Blackman.

Roma fly to London for Gervinho

Diego Costa

Cardiff City join hunt for Osaze

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ewly promoted Barclays English Premier League club, Cardiff City are believed to be interested in signing unsettled West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie, according to sources.

The 32-year-old has been training with the reserves of West Brom this summer following his attempt to force a move to QPR on the final day of the January transfer window.

Odemwingie also attracted suitors from afar with Dubai club, Al Nasr tabling an £850,000 (N210 million) for his services which was promptly rejected by WBA. (N4.9 million £20 almost spending Caulker, Steven and Cornelius Andreas of signings the with summer this record transfer their broke twice they as names stellar services procure to cash splash ready are that shown since have Cardiff>

Cardiff manager, Malky Mackay says the Premier League newcomers are hopeful of further strengthening their squad before the end of the transfer window.

It is now expected that Cardiff will table a formal bid for the controversial Nigerian attacker in the coming days.

Peter Odemwingie

Liverpool loan Robinson to Blackpool Gervinho

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oma sporting director, Walter Sabatini, is expected to hold talks with Arsenal officials on Friday in an attempt to finalise the deal for Gervinho.

The Giallorossi are desperate to land the Ivoirian striker, who was specifically requested by new head coach Rudi Garcia.

Roma are believed to be close to sealing the deal with personal terms of €2.7m a season already

Marchisio: I want to stay at Juve

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Henrique Hilario helsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilario has extended his stay at Stamford Bridge by signing a one-year contract with the club.

The 37-year-old joined the Blues from Portuguese side Nacional in 2006 and has played a back-up role for the past seven seasons.

He was initially named on the club’s transfer list at the end of the 2012/13 season but he is set to continue at the club and is part

Marchisio

agreed upon.

According to Sky Italia, Roma will fly to London on Friday morning in an effort to make the Ivoirian international their player by the end of the day.

The club has showed their intentions to improve from their sixth place finish in the Serie A league last term by bringing in Kevin Strootman from PSV Eindhoven.

Jack Robinson

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iverpool defender Jack Robinson has joined Blackpool on a season-long loan deal.

The 19-year-old spent the

second half of last season on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Reds have decided to send him out again so he can get more game time.

He made his debut for the Reds against Hull City in May 2010 and has since played 11 matches with the first team.

The fullback was also part of England’s Under-21 side which recently took part at the European U21 Championship.

At Blackpool, he will be reunited with fellow England youth international Thomas Ince and former Liverpool player Paul Ince, who is currently the manager at Blackpool.

uventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio has said he wants to finish his career at the club after turning down offers to leave Turin in the summer.

Marchisio, 27, attracted interest from Manchester United and Monaco but the Italy international said he was happy at Juve.

Marchisio has inherited the mantle of crowd favourite from Alessandro Del Piero, who moved to Sydney FC last year, but said he could still move if Juventus received an offer they felt they could not refuse.

Marchisio made his debut for Juventus in the 2006-07 season and spent a year on loan with Empoli before returning to Turin, becoming a first-team regular and winning his first Italy caps at the age of 23.

Monaco close in on Portugal keeper

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ui Patricio is closing in on a move to Monaco after the French club agreed to meet Sporting Lisbon’s asking price for the goalkeeper.

Arsenal had been heavily linked with a move for Patricio as Arsene Wenger looked to provide stiff competition for incumbent number one Wojciech Szczesny.

But the Gunners were reported to have focussed their attentions elsewhere after having a £10m bid rejected in May, with Sporting holding out for £13m.

However, reports in Portugal suggest that a deal has now been struck that would take Patricio to Monaco for an initial £9m plus a range of performance-related extras.

Rui Patricio

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Eight powerlifters for British Classic tourney

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he Nigeria Professional Powerlifting Association (NPPA), said yesterday that eight power lifters will represent the country at the forthcoming British Classic Push and Pull Championship in Durham County.

The NPPA’s Secretary, Peter Oluwo confirmed yesterday that the athletes were prepared to do the country proud at the competition that would hold from August 23 to August 25. ``Eight of our athletes will represent the country in the British Classic, the powerlifters are currently training to ensure a good performance at the Championship,’’ he said.

Oluwo said that the athletes would depart the country on Aug. 22, alongside two officials from the NPPA.

The secretary added that the championship would also serve as a rehearsal, ahead of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Masters Competition, slated for Orlando, U.S., from Sept. 23 to Sept 29. ``The competition will improve the ability of our athletes, ahead of The IPF world masters,’’ he said and appealed to corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to support the aspirations of the association.

Sunday Erepadei, one of the athletes that would represent the country at Durham County, had earlier represented the country at the British Bench Press Championship in March.

Erepadei had benched 155kg in the 83kg class to win gold at the championship.

Sports

Omeruo undergoes Chelsea medical

By Patrick Andrew with agency report

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enneth Omeruo, Super Eagles’ defender, was due to undergo a medical at English Premier League side Chelsea yesterday.

The youth international has in recent times especially after his inspirational partnership with Godfrey Oboabona in the heart of the Eagles defence been the subject of rave headlines.

The defender, who plies his trade in Norway, had broken into the Eagles barely days before Stephen Keshi drew his list for the AFCON and went on to become a constant figure in the Eagles defence.

At the FIFA Confederation Cup, Kenneth again showed his sterner stuff with brilliant display that won him acclaim and the serious attention of Jose Mourinho. He has expressed the confidence that he would fight for a place in the Chelsea main squad.

The Nigeria defender left Nigeria for London on Thursday after being granted a work permit by the British Home Office and was expected to undergo the medicals preparatory for the new season.

The trip was almost skuppered by a delay in issuing his documentation at the British High Commission in Abuja but it was all sorted on time for him to depart late Thursday night.

However, he will be unable to join the rest of the Chelsea squad as there was no time for him to apply for a US visa. It is not yet clear if Chelsea intends to keep the Nigeria for the current season, or if he will be farmed out on loan again.

But the club’s insistence on securing a work permit for him means he might stay in England, even if not at Chelsea.

Taekwondo not dangerous for female athletes, instructor claims

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hursdaline Peter, a taekwondo instructor with the Pan Africa Martial Arts international (PANAMAI) Club, yesterday debunked claims that the sport was too dangerous for female athletes.

Peter said in Lagos that if the rules guiding the sport were diligently applied, no harm would befall the athletes, irrespective of their gender.

She added that the provision of protective guards during training and competitions had drastically reduced the incidence of injuries in the sport.

The instructor stressed that the shin, chest, groin, head, breast, foot guards and hand gloves, were fundamental equipment to make the sport safe for the athletes. ``The impression that taekwondo is too dangerous for women is not right, because it has regulations guiding its practise. We also make sure that athletes are thoroughly

acquainted with the rules during their training sessions. ``All sports have their own areas of risk, however, we try to reduce the danger by ensuring that athletes adhere strictly to the rules during any form of encounter,’’ she said.

According to her, an athlete is not expected to hit or kick an opponent who is already on the mat, stressing that the fight would be put on hold by the referee. ``Such situation is inevitable during competitions, so what the referee does immediately is to stop the fight for a while, so that the incapacitated athlete could recuperate,’’ she added.

Peter urged budding female taekwondoists to make a career in the sport and disregard such unfounded and negative assumptions about the sport.

She stressed that taekwondo was good for self defence, in addition to the attendant benefits that could be derived from the sport. (NAN)

Record 206 countries for IAAF worlds

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record 206 countries have entered 1,974 athletes for the August 10 to 18 IAAF World Championships scheduled for Moscow, the athletics ruling body yesterday.

The IAAF said in a statement that the 14th edition of the championships in the Luzhniki was set to become the biggest.

The highest number of

participating nations so far is 200 from the 1999 edition in Seville and 2009 in Berlin.

The edition four years ago in Germany also saw the most athletes, 1,895.

Of the 1,974 competitors entered for the 47 Moscow events, 1,106 are men and 868 women. The final figures are likely to be released on the closing day of the championships

Page 51

Kenneth Omeruo, could play in England next season

NYG 2013: Discovered talents to replace old ones, says NSC

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eter Nelson, the Coordinator, National Sports Commission (NSC), Zone II, said yesterday that the U-17 National Youth Games (NYG) would serve the purpose for which it was introduced.

It would be recalled that the Youth Games is an innovation of the National Sports Commission (NSC) that replaces the National Sports Festival which has now been thrown open all elites athletes.

Accordingly, the Youth Games is meant to serve as the breeding ground for youth athletes who would then be groomed for senior competitions. The NYG, which is to feature 14 events, would be held from Sept. 19 to Sept. 29, in

Abuja.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the zone’s championships which started on July 31 and ended yesterday at the Akure Township Stadium, Nelson said the commission was determined to reap from the Games adding that states are encouraged to comb the grassroots for green horns for the games. ``Nigeria has been repeating the usage of old athletes in international competitions for years and our performance has been dropping drastically. We, the zonal coordinators, held a meeting with the Minister of Sports on dangers the repetition portends for Nigeria. ``This has led the minister,

Bolaji Abdullahi, to introduce the National Youth Games, specially made for the U-17, to produce talents to replace the ageing ones,’’ he said.

He expressed confidence in the ability of Zone II that include Ondo, Osun and Ekiti, to excel at the Games and stressed that zonal tournament was meant select representatives for the Youth Games.Events such as volleyball, handball, basketball and taekwando were competed for at the tournament.

Nelson said that the four events were to prepare the athletes in the zone for the NYG, adding that the zone would later hold championships for other games already registered for the NGY.

PAGE 52

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

Column

Helping Blessing Okagbare to win World Championships

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lessing Okagbare’s profile has had meteoric rise. That’s hardly surprising going by her eye catching performances in recent months. Yes, she may have disappointed herself and millions of Nigerians who had put faith in her at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Prior to that better forgotten Games, Blessing has been on song winning practically everything on sight. She seems to beaten the same track once more. Her latest conquest is rather significant, at that same venue last year, she had shattered the expectations of Nigerians especially Team Nigerian officials, who had seen in her their sole consolation for a hugely disappointing Olympics Games.

But when the flags were hoisted, Nigeria’s was conspicuous in its absence and painfully so because Blessing had an infamous distinction of seeking podium honours from the rear. She broke her heart, disappointed millions.

And so when she won there penultimate Saturday, it was understandable that she wept, no,

not some depressing tears, but of joy. So, the victory at the Olympics Stadium in Strafford represented something of an inspiration.

Her feat was no sheer fluke. It was against a rich field of talents though the world 100m champions Carmelita Jeter had withdrawn due to injury. Nonetheless, Blessing sensationally defeated two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

The victory was merely an icing on the cake, the excitement was aptly captured in the records she broke and set. Though ranked fourth this year by the IAAF, she clocked 10.79 seconds and for the second consecutive times broke Gloria Alozie’s 14 years old record of 10.90 seconds. At the heat, she had consigned Alozie’s performance to the dustbin of history by establishing herself in 10.86 seconds.

Prior to the London Olympics, Blessing had beaten both Jeter and Shelly-Ann, but these realising what the London medal represents, returned to their shield, and shunned all frivolous tournaments

just to have meticulous preparations for the Olympics.

Not so Blessing. She sailed and soared on winning everything in sight.

In London when the die was cast, Blessing fizzled out, no doubt burnt out, exhausted and therefore bereft of the strength and dynamism inevitable at such crucial moment.

But has she learnt from history?

Have we, by that I meant the authorities- AFN, NSC- learnt from the happenings that hindered Blessing’s quest to register Nigeria’s name in gold?

No, the facts on ground say otherwise. Neither the AFN nor the NSC have done anything to caution and if need be stop Blessing from overheating her muscles, straining her nerves rather too early. It seems we have applauded her to dip rather too early and could once again miss the chance for a glorious and memorable bragging right.

When the Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan led the chorus of praise singers to laud Blessing’s London

quest, none showed restrain or advised her to feign injury like other tops stars that usually pretend to be nursing injury just to miss irrelevant meets while vigorously preparing for an important competition.

Examples abound. Usain Bolt was beaten prior to the Olympics, many fear his ascendancy has ended sooner than expected. Jeter after losing to Blessing suddenly claimed injury before the same Olympics, Kenenisa Bekele, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Amantle Montsho among others were all “injured” months to the August Games today they are London Olympics champions.

One gets genuinely worried when Team Nigeria medal hopes burnt themselves out in some trivial

meets though one must say that the Samsung Diamond League is no fluke meets, which is why Blessing ought to have been cautioned to conserve her strength ahead of the Moscow meets.

Before now, the NSC should have brought its new grant for elite athletes to bear by ensuring that she receives necessary training allowances and thus restrained her from competing in every available meets for the sake of the money.

Albeit, it may be late to rein her in, Team Nigeria officials should ensure she lacks nothing in sharp technical training, provide good psychologist to psyche her up against a seemingly inferiority complex which she seems to exhibit at the highest moment.

By Patrick Andrew with agency report

players that sum in order to motivate them. But with the financial challenge, we opted for a cost-cutting measure to accommodate our demands and we got everyone on board.

“It’s significant to know that, at

$5,000, the Super Eagles remain among the best-paid national teams in Africa - a fact the players need to understand,” the spokesman of the NFF, Demola Olajire was quoted to have said.

Peoples Daily Weekend

recalls that the National Sports Commission (NSC) has constituted a panel to probe the bonus row as well as recommend appropriate measures which would be acceptable to all.

Sports Minister, BolajiAbdullahi,

though had upbraided the Eagles for the embarrassment their threat to boycott the Confederation in June had brought on Nigeria but he was quick to slam the NFF for not putting in place appropriate reward regime acceptable to all.

owoidoh_ng35@yahoo.com 08093782812

Again, NFF tells Super Eagles no going back on slashed bonus

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he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has reiterated its decision on the slash bonus of the Super Eagles stressing that it won’t back down on it.

Though there have pressure for the football federation to rescind its decision on the slashed bonus, the leadership of the football ruling organ has repeatedly said the decision would not be reversed.

It would be recalled that the NFF’s decision to reduce performance money from $10,000 for a win and $5,000 for a draw to $5,000 and $2,500 respectively led to protest by the Eagles who opted to boycott the FIFA Confederation Cup finals in Brazil, last June.

Albeit they eventually attended following the intervention of the Presidency, the Eagles through stand-in skipper Vincent Enyeama vowed to pursue the restoration of the bonus in full to a logical conclusion.

“It was a decision taken by the NFF executive committee after a thorough deliberation. There is no change on the bonus agreement - we are confident everyone will respect the NFF’s position on this matter,” NFF general secretary Musa Amadu said.

“We inherited the $10,000 amount and, with good intention, decided to continue paying the

Pacquiao vows to fight for 3 more years M anny Pacquiao has dismissed rumours that his parliamentary work would forced him into early retirement from boxing.

Speculations over the future of the Filipino came under serious spotlight after his defeat to Juan

Manuel Marquez. Following that loss, even his mother and wife demanded his retirement from the game.

But yesterday, claimed he still have three more years of boxing left in him and left non in doubt about his determination to reclaim

Pacquiao

the titles he lost in two consecutive fights recently.

The former multi-division champion said in Singapore yesterday, “It’s part of boxing.

Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win,” stressing that focusing on his political career won’t prevent him from fighting on.

Speaking at a promotional event ahead of his November 24 bout in Macao against American Brandon Rios, the 34-year-old “Pacman” said: “As long as I can still fight, I am going to fight.

“In my mind, I can still fight two to three years from now,” said Pacquiao, the only fighter in history to win “world” titles in eight weight divisions.

Controversy erupted in the Philippines last week after Pacquiao, a Filipino congressman, said he had considered running for president. A spokesman later said he had no immediate plans to further his political career and “he knows very well” he cannot contest an election until he is 40 years old.

Pacquiao’s seven-year, 15-bout winning streak came to an end in June 2012 with a controversial splitdecision loss to Timothy Bradley. It was followed six months later by the sensational defeat to Marquez in their fourth meeting.

The former champion promised a good show against Rios, who is seven years his junior. “He’s a tough opponent,” Pacquiao said. “We can create a lot of action in the ring.”

Rios, a former WBA lightweight champion, also promised an exciting bout. “I don’t think it’s going the distance,” said the Californian, who lost a close decision to Mike Alvarado in March for the vacant WBO interim junior welterweight title.

“We’ve both got something to prove. So we’re both going to be hungry and show that we’re not done yet.”

Promoter Bob Arum, who joined the two fighters in Singapore, called Asia the “emerging frontier” for the sport, saying boxing needed to create a major presence in the region.

Rafael Nadal

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

D ig e st Girl, 11 years grandmother repeatedly beaten by girl’s father

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little girl was walking aimlessly on the streets of Shichang, in China, disturbing passersby as she spouted abusive words at strangers.

Mr. Fu, a concerned citizen, alerted the police about the child after he saw her scarred face and almostbald head.

It turns out that the local villages already knew about her situation. The 11-year-old girl, Xiao Li, has been beaten by her father with sticks and ropes, including piercing her with needles, stitching her face with fishing wire, hanging her upside down, making her kneel on broken glass, and even dipping her head into boiled water.

Police say this child’s case has been known to them since the time her father allegedly dipped her head in boiling water. However, the father, who goes by Mr. Yang, said that he was helping his child remove the lice from her hair.

According to the paternal grandmother, Xiao Li would often walk away from home and find her way to her grandmother’s house to seek comfort after rounds of beatings by her father. The grandmother also said that she can’t do anything about Xiao Li’s situation because she too is sometimes beaten by her son.

“He sometimes even beat me along with her, using tobacco stems, hitting my back, hitting my head with pot lids,” the grandmother recalled.

Meanwhile, Xiao Li is recovering in a hospital, her medical expenses is shouldered by the local government. Mr. Chen, a local government official, also said that they are more than willing to let her be treated psychologically.

750 tonne crane has been named after the royal baby George Alexander Louis

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crane firm has offered up perhaps the strangest tribute yet to royal baby George Alexander Louis – deciding to name one of its 750-tonne vehicles af-

ter him.

Earlier this week the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge revealed the name of their new son, following his birth on Monday afternoon.

Since then he has received several grand welcomes from dignitaries across the world – but none of them have offered to name a massive crane after him.

The yellow Ainscough hire vehicle is the latest addition to the company’s fleet and could probably be the greatest tribute to Prince George of Cambridge.

The firm released a picture of the crane on Twitter shortly after the new royal had officially been called George.

It had earlier tried to encourage Prince William and Kate Middleton to hurry up and name their baby so it could get started on the tribute.

With this, the 750 750 tonne crane has indeed become a royal crane.

Prince William and Kate Middleton and the royal baby George Washington Louis

Stolen babe sold on Facebook

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ewborn children are often considered treasures that we should take care of. However, for whatever reasons, some see them as possible sources of income and choose instead to sell these gifts in order to earn money.

A man in India sold his grandchild on Facebook for 70,000 rupees (US$1,278).

After his daughter Noor gave

birth to his grandson, Feroze Khan, with the help of some hospital staff, he took the baby and was able to give him to his buyer, Amir Kumar. After seeing pictures of Feroze’s grandson via Facebook, Kumar agreed to pay for the baby.

Police learned about the incident after Noor filed complaints that her father sold her son. They immediately

launched an investigation and were able to trace the baby in Delhi.

Ludhiana’s Commissioner of Police, Ishwar Singh, said, “We acted upon the complaint of the mother, who alleged that her child was stolen from the nursing home in Ludhiana. After investigations, we found the grandfather of the child had struck a deal with a man in Delhi and had roped-

in the nursing staff to smuggle the baby out of the nursing home. We have arrested four people including the grandfather. We have also booked the buyer from Delhi.”

The reason for all this was that Mr. Khan was planning on another arranged marriage for his daughter. He had hoped that his daughter would get an abortion, but the hospital staff did not agree.

Abandoned duckling A game show in Pakistan gives away abandoned babies to boost ratings adopted by a cat

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duckling that was abandoned by her mother at birth has found a new home among a family of cats.

The baby duck was adopted by a feline called Tosia after she was separated from her mum when she hurt her foot in Olesnica, Poland.

‘Tosia came walking into the kitchen one day with something in her mouth,’said the cat’s owner Ryszard Andrzejczuk.

‘At first I thought it was a mouse or something, but then she

placed it on the ground and I saw it was a little duckling.’

The 68-year-old added the female cat and the duckling were now inseparable, with the bird also being welcomed in by Tosia’s kittens.

He said the young cats allowed the duckling to share their bowl of water, and the whole happy family has also been pictured snuggling together and hanging out.

This isn’t the first time a cat has taken in a duckling as foster baby.

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prime time game show shocked audiences when a presenter gave away abandoned babies in a bid to boost ratings.

Aamir Liaquat, host of Pakistan’s Amaan Ramazan, has so far given two babies to childless couples on the show during the month of Ramadan.

Holding the child in his arms on the show he said: “This is the beautiful girl who was thrown on a pile of garbage by somebody. “See how beautiful and innocent she is.”

The child was then handed to Riaz-ud-din and his wife by the head of the Chhipa (CORR) Welfare Association, which rescues abandoned babies.

The tearful wife described the child as a ‘gift of Ramadan’.

Her husband added: “These 14 years were full of hardships, people asked me to go for second marriage but I remained patient and also asked my wife to be patient.”

Mr Ramzan Chhipa, who runs the welfare association, said: “We have lots of babies that are just abandoned, left in the garbage or other dirty places.

“Often we just find the bodies so our message that we make is to tell people to bring their babies to us, don’t just leave them.”

Pakistan’s raucous talk shows are reportedly notorious for generating controversy.

It is believed the battle between television stations in the country is most intense during the month of Ramadan, when ratings traditionally fall.

PAGE 54

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

News Analysis The emergence of Oshodis in Lagos

By Adesoji Oyinlola, Dapo Olawuni, Suleiman Idris, Ayodele Samuel and Funsho Akinwale, Lagos

different places within the same axis.

For Ngozi, Oshodi displacement was a new vista for her. Ngozi said she now made an average of N300, 000. 00 profit from her new found business and appears less concern about the congestion problem.

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t the inception of his first tenure as the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) expressed his intentions to turn the state into a Mega City.

Part of his efforts in achieving the dream was the evacuation of miscreants and other undesirable elements from the streets of Lagos metropolis. He demolished places notorious for nefarious activities.

Oshodi was one of the places.

Those familiar with Oshodi before it was demolished are sure to remember terrible experiences people were subjected to on daily basis. There was the unfortunate almost helpless traffic gridlock and sea of human heads found there even at odd times. Oshodi connects virtually every part of Lagos.

Apart from the normal road side traders and businesses, Oshodi was infamous as the haven for armed robbers, petty thieves, kidnappers and pick pockets.

However, the once dread Oshodi has since become an environment-friendly place for people who now pass through the axis with ease.

Surprisingly, many of the miscreants and hawkers who were dislodged from Oshodi have found new havens in other areas. In this Report, Our correspondents combed the nooks and crannies of Lagos to identify areas that are fast springing up reminiscence of the old Oshodi.

IKOTUN EGBE n area in Lagos that has now taken over the look and notoriety of Oshodi is Ikotun Egbe. Motorists and residents of the area now face traffic challenges on daily basis as a result of the activities of market women who have blocked half of each lane of the roads with their wares.

The rowdiness is further worsened by the crowd from the

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LOST OF MAN HOUR ne of the resultant effects of overcrowding at some of these notorious spots is the number of man hour lost on daily basis by Lagosians.

Operators of commercial vehicles take advantage of the crowd that usually converge at such spots to make brisk business by inflating transport fares at the detriment of the helpless commuters.

One of the awaiting passengers caught in the traffic gridlock who identify himself as Tosin Dada says that commercial buses have taken advantage and lack of regulation to hike transport fares at will. “You can imagine when there is no fix fare for a particular route anybody is bound to impose any price on the masses” he said.

Another awaiting passenger at Igando Bus stop heading to Iyanaiba, Mr Tunde Odebode lamented the hardship he usually faces to and fro work. According to him, he usually spent 30 to 40 minutes waiting for bus.

A civil servant who, pleaded anonymity expressed his displeasure over the issue. “ I am always not happy when am at work and I see cloud gathering because I know I would have to pay double the usual transport fare back home, I must confess to you that this is terrible.”

A bus driver who identify his name as Tajudeen Adebayo, said the union leaders extort them through the touts, “we pay for many things a day, that is while we when we see the opportunity to exploit people we do not hesitate to do so, because we know that is the opportunity we have to make money” he added.

O

Synagogue Church owned by Pastor T.B Joshua. Anytime the church has events, and this is often, the roads are overcrowded with people thus making easy access difficult.

Another noticeable factor is the array of shops constructed along the Ikotun-Ejigbo road. Add this to several fuel stations scattered around Ikotun Egbe, the story of congestion is complete.

Hoodlums have now turned the Ikotun bus stop to a free zone where they carry out all sorts of illegality not minding the presence of law enforcement officers.

Once it is 11PM, no young lady can pass through Ikotun area without being harassed by hoodlums who hang around the Con Oil filling station at the busstop. There have also been several cases of rape around the area.

The Secretary of IgandoIkotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Alhaji Wale Azeez confirmed this but was quick to

attribute the problem to influx of persons who were dislodged at Oshodi.

“This place is choked because people want to trade in Ikotun by all means, we have market at Ijegun, Obadore, Igando, we want to decongest this concentration at Ikotun market, the Shagunbi market in Ijegun, Okerube and so on are ongoing, when these markets are completed, I believe people will move there.”

BORDER TOWNS order towns and communities like Ojodu Berger and Ojodu Abiodun, Alagbole, Akute, Iju Ishaja, Ajuwon up to the hinterlands of Olambe, Oke Aro are the new abodes for such people.

Ojodu Berger, being the famous entry point into Lagos along the Ibadan Lagos expressway on a typical morning and evening has now assumes the tenets of the old Oshodi.

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It is the exit point for residents of Abiodun, Alagbole, Akute, Olambe, Ishasi, Denro and all the settlements along the Berger Akute road and the Berger-AlagboleAkute roads, so travelers in and out of Lagos must pass through there and the attendant traffic problem is better imagined.

Also many markets, most of them hardly regulated have sprung up along these roads and within the new communities since the demolition of the Oshodi shanties.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC pipeline which runs through Arepo passing through many of the mentioned communities has become a ready site to site any market.

Commercial interests have driven some to the area. One Mrs. Kayode explained that when she arrived in Akute in February 2010, she managed to get a little shop that could barely contain four persons at a time. Now, she owns a chain of mini-supermarket in four

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 3 - SUNDAY 4, AUGUST, 2013

PAGE 55

Remniscence

Flora Azikiwe: Nigeria’ maiden First Lady at a glance

By Jamila Nuhu Musa

L

ike Groucho Marx, an American comedian once said, “Man does not control his own fate; the women in his life do that for him”. This infers that “women wield a lot of power and influence, not only in the kitchen and bedroom but also when it comes to having his ears”.

This, many men can attest to. Many examples abound of powerful men in history whose actions were influenced by women. But was late Mrs. Flora Azikiwe, wife of Nigeria’s first post independence ceremonial head of state, such a woman?

Perhaps, her involvement in the Home Science Association (HSA), formerly known as Federal Home Science Association was founded in May, 1961 by a group of devoted and dynamic women educationists who were interested in Home Economics could provide some insight.They were committed to improving the quality of life of the family, particularly the nurturing of children.

The association was established over a tea party at the residence of late Mrs. Florence Ajumogobia in Lagos.

Mrs. Flora Azikiwe, one of the wives of the country’s first, post independence ceremonial Head of State, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first Patron of the association. Some years ago, she was honoured for her selfless service along with other past founding members.

The association said story of its history would be incomplete without their contributions. Through the association many women acquired knowledge and skills in various Home Economics courses.

The HSA initiated and organized the campaign titled “Better Living for Nigeria” during which they carried out weekly demonstration lessons on food and nutrition. The late First lady, Flora was also a member of the Eastern Working Committee of the NCNC. Though Flora Azikiwe Secondary School, Neni is named after her, extravagant was never associated with her because she no government funds to play with. Flora never traveled abroad for medical checkup or shopped in Paris like the late Stella Obasanjo did, when her husband came to power. Except for few instances when she accompanied her husband Dr Azikiwe on state visits, she was largely inconspicuous in the manner of today’s first ladies.

In her book, Women and National Development: The way forward: Dr Hajo Sani indicated that Flora showed exemplary leadership to womenfolk. In it she revealed Flora never held back from speaking for the rights of women, their socio-economic improvement largely played an advisory role as wife of the president. She supported him to achieve good governance for the people.

As a Home Economics expert, Flora brought her experience to bear in the

Zik and Flora in their heyday decoration of the State House. As such, her tenure was marked with excellent housekeeping even as she initiated programmes to further the interest of children and students at the different levels of education.

It was in this context that late Mrs. Flora Azikiwe became well known in the years that preceded the 1966 military incursion into governance. She was adored for her dignified comportment and sartorial elegance. Unarguably, she was the first woman to bring glamour to the office of the First Lady. Though she didn’t have any pet project that could be ascribed to her tenure as First Lady, she still made appearances at government functions. She was mostly

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seen and heard less.

Unlike in the period when she held sway as First Lady, the position in modern times, best depicts the influence, prestige and power of the woman who is the wife of the president.

Our country, no doubt, has had a fair share of these powerful women who have one way or the other influenced the decisions of their husbands.

We have had different types of such women of ‘substance’ some flamboyant, some reclusive, the flashy and matronly. After Flora Azikiwe, the evolution of the position of first lady began to evolve in stages from harmless and supportive position to outrageous behaviour that is the trend at present.

Unarguably, she was the first woman to bring glamour to the office of the First Lady. Though she didn’t have any pet project that could be ascribed to her tenure as First Lady, she still made appearances at government functions.

She was mostly seen and heard less.

Flora was an indigenous first lady, who was quite noble and performed her role in the background. She performed her duties as wife and first lady seamlessly and it was evident that she comported herself as the lady that she was, and in the true sense of the word. This did not however diminish her relevance as the president’s wife.

Any where she went women waved and hailed her. Simply put she was a role model to Nigerian women who looked up to her as mother of the nation while young girls dreamed to be like her in future.

This was the trend of first ladyship until the excesses and abuses of the position such that even a minister is answerable to a first lady, while a first lady could also freely meddle in state politics and covet official positions if she so desired.

And at the state level, wife of a governor has the clout to slap a government official, in a show of shame which caused uproar like in the case of Katsina first lady, Binta Shehu Shema.

When Mrs. Azikiwe passed on in August 1983, her husband, who really missed her, went into seclusion for some time. Flora Ogboegbunam married Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1936, when he was 32 years. They both had one daughter and three sons, amongst whom are Chukuma, a Diplomat and Chukuemeka, a businessman.

BIG PUNCH I have said it severally just like the Peoples Democratic Party itself that the coming on board of APC is a welcome development and with the registration of the party, we will now have vibrant political associations in the polity...

Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida

SATURDAY 3 — SUNDAY 4 , AUGUST, 2013

Something, ultimately, must give!

R

amadan is, once again, bidding us farewell. “And if My servants ask you, Muhammad, about Me —behold, I am near,” the Quran [2:186] summarizes the essence of Fasting.

“I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way.” A key, though voluntary, component of Ramadan is the Retreat, i’tikaf, in which those fasting seclude themselves in the mosque, as Prophet Muhammad would do in Ramadan in particular but at other times as well, for the sake of prayers, meditation and contemplation to the exclusion of all worldly activities in the last third part of the month.

What do Muslims do in the Retreat? They forsakes all worldly pursuits, all enjoyments of life, even the most intimate of all – ‘but do not lie with your spouses skin to skin,’ they are enjoined in the Quran [2:187], ‘when you are about to abide in meditation in houses of worship’ – to be, as it were, in the presence of God. Here, they earnestly seek God’s forgiveness, mercy, pleasure; they desire moral rearmament and spiritual rejuvenation. This is the time for stock taking. Above all, however, the Retreat is an opportunity for the men and women of insight to, in the words Quran [3:190-192], ‘remember God when they stand, sit and lie down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: “Our Lord, You have not created all this in vain.

Limitless are You in Your glory!’

In other words, the realization that Creation has a meaning and a purpose, that life has a meaning and a purpose, is the ultimate goal of the Retreat. But in the wider context, meditation, that is the lofty exertion of the human intellect, forms part of the vital food chain which nourishes Islam. An hour of meditation, to paraphrase the words of Prophet Muhammad, may yield more benefits than the worship of a whole year. That is why successful societies maintain pools of high intellect which can pierce far and deep into time and space. And for every major issue, there is a think tank.

Ramadan, as has been observed so often, sharpens sensitivity to human suffering, with the hope that it might engender a general intolerance towards all forms of human exploitation as well as a general inclination towards social justice and human happiness.

Most of the human suffering and deprivation are more often ADVERT: BUSINESS:

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Former Egypt President Mohammed Morsi than not the outcome of policies and actions of those in power.

Good life for the greatest number is attainable if the policies were right, if there were creativity and foresight in government, if there was the will to be fair and compassionate, to care and share, if there was a preponderance of honesty, if there were good leaders.

The Quran speaks of mustad’afun:’’The utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, “O our Sustainer! Lead us forth [to freedom] out of this land whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, one who will bring us succor!” [4:75] These are scattered all over Nigeria and all over the world — simple and decent folks whose lives are shattered beyond recovery, refugees in their own country, refugees in other countries, victims of avoidable crises engineered by those who seek power by all means.

Others, like the fishing community of Baga, living quietly in one of the poorest places on earth, had a different experience altogether. On the pretext that a soldier was killed there, the

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his name written in black ink on his white shroud just to the left of the door. There were 37 corpses in the room. It was swamped in blood. The doctors had blood on their shirts. It wasn’t long before we had blood on our shoes.

The hospital next to the Rabaa mosque was packed with men and women in tears. Many of them talked about God. Believers all, I

Interim President Adly Mansour

Nigerian army invaded the town, and two days of unimaginable terror ensued. One crime stood high above all the others, which pale into insignificance even though they include burning of humans alive, rape, arson, massacre – crimes against humanity. The Nigerian Army snatched a child from his mother and threw him into the fire. Pray, has anything of this nature ever happened among human beings?

Yet no one is held accountable. A child is a symbol of the future, the army threw him in the fire, making a point – so emphatically!

The Egyptian army made its point in a similar manner on 27th July, 2013, in Cairo. The leader of the coup that is not a coup, General Abdel Fatah al Sisi, ordered a massive pre-dawn assault on thousands of people staging a peaceful sit-in, in Ramadan, demanding respect for the sanctity of their vote. The result was a massacre, one laden with a unique message. Robert Fisk files an eye witness account published by The Guardian, 28th July. Excerpts in the next two paragraphs: Aiman Husseini was lying by the wall. Khaled Abdul Nasser had

suppose. And the dead? Shot in the face, most of them, several in the eyes, many in the chest. I saw only one body which they claimed was shot in the back. A massacre? Most certainly. And these were only a few of the dead. These killings took place in the hours before dawn.

The police, everyone said, opened fire, first with birdshot, then with live rounds. All the dead were Muslim Brothers or their friends or family.

Many people said the things people always say when confronted by tragedy. That they would never give way, that God was greater than life itself, certainly greater than al-Sisi, a statement which the general would, of course, agree with. Behind the hospital were many men who had been wounded in the feet, some of them groaning with pain. But it was the dead who caught our attention, so newly killed that their faces had not yet taken on the mark of death. One paramedic had difficulty closing the eyes of a corpse and had to ask a doctor for help. In death, it seems, you must always appear to be asleep. And, cliché as it might be, I wonder if that is now the state of Egypt.

In fact, a doctor pointed out that many of the dead were shot in the forehead, precisely at the spot which touches the ground when a Muslim prostrates in prayer. That is the point the military wants to send to the Egyptian people.

But why must this happen?

Omar Ashur, a founding member of one of the revolutionary groups involved in the postMubarak political process suggests [Bloomberg Jul 7, 2013 7:00 PM GMT+0400], that what is happening is the continuous struggle between the Egyptian army and the Egyptian people.

The army has had over half a century of absolute dominion over Egypt, and even after reluctantly ceding power to an elected government, in an election in which it fielded a candidate, it still maintained a commercial empire, worth about 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Still not satisfied, the Army decided to put an end to democracy, and return to its dominion. And in one fell swoop, the army voided 14 nationwide rounds of free and fair elections, for the legislative houses, for the presidency and the constitution.

In all those elections, says Ashur, the winners were the same in every case, and some of them are now in jail; the losers were the same each time, too, and some of them are in power now. Others are victims of massacre.

Scholars emphasize that the profound Islamic awakening spreading across the Arab world will take time to mature – some, considering all the issues at stake and all forces involved, think in terms of decades. Soldiers, acting for foreign powers, believe they can stop, even reverse, the process.

The truth, however, comes from an unusual quarter, namely, Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who served in the CIA’s Clandestine Service from 1985 to 1994, specializing in the Middle East. ‘The real strength of the Brotherhood movement, along the Nile and beyond,’ he observes in The Washington Post, 12/7/13, ‘has always been its public faith and private virtue and its appealing historical narrative for Muslims who see the prophet Muhammad as a paragon — a people’s greatness flows from moral rectitude.’ So, contrary to what the Facebook liberals proudly boast on Tahrir Square, he concludes, the game is far from over.

In the ongoing historic drama, something, ultimately, must give.

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