Peoples Daily Online

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 9 No. 82

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

. . . putting the people first

Al-Muharram 19, 1434 AH

N150

SURE-P aiding capital flight, unemployment – NASS

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) yesterday queried the Christopher Kolade-

led board of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), for spending subsidy funds on projects that encourage capital flight and unemployment rather than creating jobs for Nigerians as

preached by the President.

This is coming on the heels of calls last week by federal lawmakers demanding that the programme be outrightly scrapped for perceived failure to achieve its mandate.

Members of the joint committee told the SURE-P board who were at the National Assembly to defend the programme’s 2013 budget that they were deeply worried that given the manner of policy

initiation and implementation by the SURE-P, it is likely that the committee will end up like others set up in the past.

Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Magnus Contd on Page 2

RIBADU REPORT:

How FG plundered NNPC accounts Presidential chopper Presidential committee Sponsorship of World Cup

By Richard Ihediwa

F

resh facts have emerged about how Federal Government officials turned the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

PD INDEX

3rd Dec., 2012

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

BUYING 154.76 246.91 197.25 0.2831 41

SELLING 155.76 248.51 200.54 0.3031 41.5

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

BUYING 207 255 42 157

SELLING 209 256 44 158

into a cash cow. The final report of the Nuhu Ribadu led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force obtained by Peoples Daily revealed details of movement of huge sums of money from the corporation’s accounts for loans and presidential purchases outside its mandate.

The final report, dated November 1, 2012 and submitted to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke also showed huge sums of unremitted revenue with the NNPC and its subsidiary companies especially the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as well as the list of companies used by briefcase contractors and government officials to steal the Contd on Page 2

Protests as Kaduna swears-in council chairmen >> PAGE 2

– N2.230 bn – N19.878bn – N866.2m

Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima (middle), assessing 1000 dilapidated hospital beds refurbished by technicians at the state owned Ramat Polytechnic, yesterday, in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram Northern creation, says Baba Ahmed >> PAGE 2

Budget: Okonjo -Iweala explains 4th quarter releases >> PAGE 3

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

CONTENTS News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

Defence

26

Agriculture

27

Local Governments: Why are state governors afraid of autonomy?, Page 4

Int’l

31-35

Politics

39-40

Sports

41-47

Columnist

48

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Protests as Kaduna swears-in council chairmen areas in the northern senatorial zone trouped to the palace of the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, contesting the outcome of the polls.

The Giwa, Soba, Sabon Gari and Zaria local governments are believed to be strongholds of the CPC as the protesters described the election results as manipulated.

Director, Buhari Organisation for the zone, Alhaji Abubakar Maiwada, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved persons, explained that they were at the palace to register their complaint, alleging injustice on the part of the PDP and urged the Emir to intervene.

In his remarks, a member of the House of Representatives from Zaria Federal Constituency, Alhaji

Abass Tajuddeen, also condemned what he called the PDP rigging style, warning that the CPC “will not allow intruders to occupy the local government office since it is a public office and not PDP’s office”.

In his response, the Emir commended the protesters for conducting themselves peacefully but urged them to follow the due process and direct their grievances to the appropriate authorities.

How FG plundered NNPC accounts

ormer federal permanent secretary, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed has put the blame for the existence of the Boko Haram sect on Northern leaders saying they were responsible by creating the environment that made the group to mature, grow and get out of control.

Speaking at the inaugural Ahmadu Bello Memorial Lecture in Abuja, Dr. Baba Ahmed said the entire northern states are today in comatose as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram sect which “the North is suffering economically, socially and politically”.

Dr. Ahmed also said the northern governors have no moral justification for complaining that President Goodluck Jonathan has not visited Borno and Yobe states since the Boko Haram insurgency began because they have not shown compassion to the plight of the people affected by the insurgency.

He challenge the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu of Niger state who was sitting on the high table and asked him why he has not visited Yobe and Borno state as the leader of the governors in the North.

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

A

midst protests from sections of some communities, the Kaduna state government yesterday swore-in new chairmen for the 23 local government areas in the state.

During the elections organised last weekend by the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM), the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 22 local government councils leaving the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with the Kaduna North local government.

Elections were also held for councillorship positions in the 255

Contd from Page 1 nation’s crude oil.

The report, signed by Malam Nuhu Ribadu as Chairman and Olasupo Shasore as Secretary/ member, showed that the Federal Government used its powers to direct the NNPC to release money for presidential purchases, sponsoring of sporting activities, loans to foreign countries and other government agencies.

Section 7 of the report which deals with the summary of outstanding debts found by the task force in the course of its review, as at April 2012 shows that the NNPC was made to pay the sum of N2.230 billion for the purchase of a chopper for the Presidency. The corporation was also made to pay N19.878 billion incurred on behalf of the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security.

It also showed that the NNPC was made to pay out the sum of N2.421 billion to Royal Swaziland Sugar Company for yet to be verified reasons.

The report listed other expenses the NNPC was directed to pay for to include the sum of N866.2 million for the “sponsorship of World Cup and others”; loan to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE),

wards across the state.

At the swearing-in ceremony, Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa urged the council chairmen to implement their campaign promises and noted that, “because you are the closest tier of government to the people, you have a big burden on you not to disappoint them. Their eyes will be on you and my own eyes will also be on you.”

The just concluded elections was not so much about who won or who lost, it is more on what development you are ready to impact on your councils”.

But elsewhere in the state, a cross section of members of the CPC from across four local government

N798.6 million; loan to Sao Tome and Principe, N700.5 million.

Others include payment for storage cost on illegal bunkering, N563 million; payment for expenses of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, N521 million; payment of legal expenses of the case between South Atlantic and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, N250 million among others.

Also the report showed that the NNPC and DPR were yet to remit over N1.377 trillion naira from discrepancies in crude oil sales, discrepancies in exchange rate, concessions, signature bonuses and royalties among others.

The report said the NNPC was yet to remit the sum of $4.6 billion arising from discrepancies in pricing of domestic crude sales from 2002 to 2011. The corporation, the report said has also not remitted the sum of N77 billion arising from exchange rate discrepancies from 2002 to 2011.

It indicted the DPR of failure to remit the sum of $3.027 billion being outstanding royalties from operators at at December, 2011.

The DPR, the report said has also not remitted a total of $560 million from bid rounds from 2005 to 2007 as well as concession

rentals of $183 million for allocations of 2008 to 2010. Also the DPR has not remitted $58 million balance from outstanding gas flare penalty, the report said.

Giving details of how some unregistered companies were used to steal crude oil from the country, the report indicated that many of them were foreign companies that had no contract with Nigeria to lift crude.

The report listed the companies to include Ghana based Tema Oil Refining, Petrobras, Itochu, Crossoil, Energem Petroleum Corporation, Ovlas Trading, AMG Petro Energy, Safiya Global Investments Limited, INC Natural Resources, Tristar, Emo Oil, Republic of Liberia, J&S Petroleum, OFSI Limited, and Petroleum Corp of Jamaica.

The list also includes Ommart Limited, Dainom Nigeria Limited, AMG Petro Energy, Tacorr, Roger Princeton, Rheinoel Limited, Sterling Oil Resources, Makwande, Alpha Petro Worldwide, Abacus, Ommart, Ovlas, Sunoil Refinery, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Mercuria, SPOG Petrochemicals, Sinclair Commercial, Sullom Voe, Liberia, Petroleum, Tocomo Oil, Centro Energy, Republic of Benin, Emo Oil, Arcadia, Overt Energy, Rheinoel Limited, and Sarb Energy.

Boko Haram Northern creation – Baba Ahmed

By Umar Muhammad Puma

F

SURE-P aiding capital flight, unemployment – NASS Contd from Page 1 Abe, queried the SURE-P management for improper expenditure accounting adding that the claim by the board to have expended N75 million in touring project sites was not acceptable.

He also berated the board for not presenting a properly laidout expenditure sheet on fixed asset, allowances and salaries, among others, item by item.

Other members of the joint committee expressed concern that most of the SURE-P community based programmes are being managed by the Federal Government existing structure in Abuja, arguing that

if SURE-P staff at the local areas were allowed to manage the projects, more jobs would be created.

They also lamented the inability of SURE-P to initiate projects that will create green and blue collar jobs for Nigerians in areas of agriculture, construction and artisanship, insisting that most of the contracts being financed by SURE-P are being handled by foreign contractors.

Also condemning the plan by SURE-P to employ 5000 youths in all the state and pay each N10,000 monthly, the lawmakers warned that rather than crate a framework to pay

youths an amount of money which may not be sustainable, it is better to empower them with self reliant businesses.

In his response, the Chairman of the SURE-P board, Christopher Kolade, said that most of the projects they are investing the subsidy funds in are projects already awarded by the government, adding that assigning indigenous contractors to handle such projects would delay and distort the implementation.

He also said that the 2013 budget already captured projects that will empower Nigerian youths and create more jobs.

Meanwhile, none of the federal roads across the country which are being executed by the Federal Government through subsidy fund is up to 50 percent completion.

According to an official document by the SURE-P, the Enugu-Onitsha-Port-Harcourt federal road is 25 percent completed, East-West road is 46 percent completed, Benin- OreShagamu road is 37 percent completed, Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road is 32 percent completed, while Kano-Maiduguri road is 47 percent completed.

Meanwhile, no money has being invested on the Second Niger Bridge.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 3

Don’t give terrorists publicity - DG SSS

NUPENG, PENGASSAN plan strike over sacked Shell workers

By Lambert Tyem

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

he Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, has pleaded with media practitioners to exercise restraint in giving publicity to terrorist attacks, noting that such publicity was the “oxygen the terrorists need to stay alive and perpetrate their evil”.

Ekpenyong who made this call during the official opening ceremony of a one-week training for journalists covering crime and security beats, organised by the SSS and held at the agency’s Institute of Security Studies, (ISS) Abuja, said security agencies need to partner with other agencies and groups to end the reign of insurgency.

The DG who debunked insinuations that the SSS organised the workshop in order to moderate and influence reports by correspondents, pointed out that the security agency was not out to gag the press but rather to equip them to carry out their duties more professionally and responsibly.

“Is the media not magnifying the threat of terrorism instead of allaying the fears of the public? Is the media emboldening the terrorists? Is the media working to enhance their activities? Once the media stops publicising and exaggerating their actions, their morale will be low and they will be weakened” the DG noted.

Ekpeyong who assured that the security agencies were not overwhelmed by the actions and threats of the insurgents, disclosed that the terrorists seek attention of the public through the media, want recognition of their motives and respect and sympathy from the society.

The workshop’s theme is Security and Media: Building an Enduring Partnership for Security and Development and has such topics as, Introduction to Contemporary Threats to National Security, Protecting Critical National Infrastructure the Role of the Media, among others.

he Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) has alerted the government and the general public of its determination to join the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in every protest and action to be undertaken in the event that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) management fails to recall sacked NUPENG members as directed by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu.According to a statement signed by the national publicity secretary of PENGASSAN, Comrade Zaid Kolawole, the protest and industrial actions will be jointly planned under the NUPENGASSAN platform to compel Shell’s management to comply with the minister’s directive.The minister had during a mediation meeting between NUPENG and the management of SPDC, directed Shell to recall the sacked workers on or before December 4, 2012.In the statement, PENGASSAN alleged that information reaching the union was that SPDC is contemplating circumventing the directive of the minister by planning that the affected NUPENG officers and members shall only be recalled to their jobs from which they were unjustly disengaged as casual workers.

T

T

R-L: President Goodluck Jonathan, and outgoing Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Ali Rifat Koksal, during the envoy’s farewell visit to the president yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

JTF kills three insurgents as blast hits Borno N From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

o fewer than three suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were killed yesterday morning, when operatives of the Joint Military Task Force, (JTF) engaged some gunmen in a shoot-out along the Post Office Road in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

The incident came two hours after a road side improvised explosive device, (IED) went off in Gwange ward, causing serious pandemonium in the area.

Witnesses told newsmen that no casualty was recorded from the blast as there was no vehicular or pedestrian movement when it was detonated.

“We were just standing opposite scene of the incident when we heard a large bang like an electric transformer exploding.

Shortly after, we began hearing sporadic gunshots and thereafter a thick smoke engulfed the whole area and we hurriedly ran for safety”, a witness said However the shoot-out occurred at about 11.am when five suspected insurgents, who

were driven in a tricycle opened fire on some soldiers at the security check point.

The attackers, who were reportedly armed with AK 47 rifles, parked the tricycle few meters from the check-point, disguised as passers-by and walked to the scene, before firing

sporadically at the direction of the soldiers.

The JTF operatives were said to have engaged the insurgents in a gun duel which lasted for about 30 minutes.

Spokesman of the JTF, Lt-Col. Sagir Musa could not be reached for comment as at press time

…explosion injures 3 in Kano From Edwin Olofu, Kano

A

n explosion yesterday morning injured three security personnel at a junction close to Kantin Kwari textile market by IBB way in Kano city.

Eyewitness accounts said the suspected time bomb was planted around the fence of the Eid praying ground which some security agents use as a resting place during work.

Our correspondent gathered that the critically injured officials include one Road Safety official, an official of the Kano state road Traffic Agency (KAROTA) and one official of the Hisbah guard.

Confirming the incident the state police command said the explosion injured three persons who

were at the junction of the busy textile market, but didn’t disclose the identities of the injured persons.

Police spokesman in the state, ASP Musa Magaji Majia told reporters that “Security operatives under the aegis of Joint Task Force (JTF) cordoned the scene of the blast and the entire area with a view to making arrests”.

According to him, the three injured persons were taken to hospital for treatment and they are in stable condition as two had already been discharged from the hospital.

“There is nothing to panic about traders are already trading their goods without any fear as the situation is under control”.

Budget implementation: Okonjo-Iweala explains 4th quarter releases

By Abdulwahab Isa … as Aig-Imokuede c’ttee uncovers N232.2bn fraud he Federal Government has

T

stuck to its guns on the controversial fourth quarter capital releases to the MDAs insisting yesterday, through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that it duly cash-backed releases for the fourth quarter with sum N170 billion out of N300 billion released.

Okonjo-Iweala told journalists that of N170 billion released for the fourth quarter, about N110

billion has gone straight in to the accounts of MDAs while the balance of N59 billion is going through Authorization to Incur Expenditure (AIE).

She also disclosed that the Presidential Committee on fuel subsidy verification chaired by Access Bank Managing Director Aig-Imokuede has uncovered about N232.2 billion fraudulent claims fuel marketers while verified claims of N1 trillion was

established.Apparently, the minster was tasked by the media to shed lights on capital releases against the backdrop of the position by members of the National Assembly that non releases of capital by the executive arm of government is hampering 2012 budget implementation.

She said: “as you know we released N300 billion for a total of N1.01 trillion. It was said that we have not cash-backed the last

quarter. This is not correct. We have cash-backed N170 billion of the fourth quarter release. That is the correct information. About N110 billion of that has gone straight into the account of MDAs and the balance of about N59 billion is going in through AIE (Authorisation to Incur Expenditure). Those entities actually have to apply specifically to us to effect the release of their resources.

Jonathan holds secret talks with Mark, Tambuwal

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, met with the presiding officers of the National Assembly for over two hours at the State House.

Though details of the meeting were not known as both the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of representatives, Aminu Tambuwal declined to speak with the press, it may not be unconnected with the ongoing review of the constitution by the National Assembly and other national issues pertaining to 2013 Appropriation Bill and the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

At the end of the meeting which was held behind closed doors in the President’s office, the chairman of the Governors Forum and governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi later joined the duo and rode in the same car with the two leaders of the National Assembly.

When approached for comments, Senate President David Mark who was dressed in a white Babanriga simply told State House correspondents thank you and drove off.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Local Governments: Why are state governors afraid of autonomy?

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wo days ago, Kaduna state Governor Mr. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, in what is likely to pitch him against most of his colleagues in the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), publically expressed support for the autonomy of local government councils in the country. In the on-going moves to amend the 1999 Constitution, two areas are, as far as state governors are concerned, clearly no-go. These are financial autonomy for state houses of assembly and total autonomy for local government councils. And the governors’ aversion to these freedoms has nothing to do with their desire for the development of democracy on these shores. It is more about controlling the purse string to keep these institutions not only at their beck and call at all times but also ineffective.

This is why many state houses of assembly are nothing but mare appendages of the state governments, to rubber-stamp what the governors support or oppose.

Governor Yakowa’s support for local government autonomy, anchored on his belief that it will bring about the development at the grass roots, is in tune with President Goodluck Jonathan’s desire for autonomous local government councils in the country.

Whereas the governor gave his imprimatur while flagging off the second phase of the Vice President Namadi Samboinitiated lap top/ computer loan scheme for staff of local government areas in Kaduna state, the President declared his support for full autonomy for the local councils at the 13th Annual Extra-ordinary General Assembly and National Conference of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON in Enugu on Monday.

President is of the view that, “vibrancy in the local governments means the constitution is functioning.

Tenure of local governments depends on the whims and caprices of the state governors.

That should not be so. The tenure of our local governments, whether three or four years, should be clearly defined in the constitution.

“The President has no right to wake up and say he has dissolved a state government.

So why must a state governor dissolve a council? Why are we following the constitution in breach? We must live up to our duty and expectation of upholding and defending the constitution. The President is 100 per cent in support of ALGON because the Local Government is the closest tier of government to the people.

“He is in support of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as

As leaders claiming to want nothing but the best for their people, state governors ought to be in the vanguard in the agitation for the autonomy of local government councils much in the same way they are clamouring for the devolution of power from the center to the states. But Instead of walking the talk of their professed conviction, governors, who not a few see as agents of their people’s underdevelopment, are running from pillar to post to ensure that the proposed constitutional amendment to free the Third Tier of government from the shackles of state control comes to naught, reports Abdu Labaran Malumfashi

President Goodluck Jonathan amended, which says that at every given time the local government must be democratically elected. The situation where some governors dissolve local governments is unconstitutional, illegal and unsustainable.

“One issue affecting the local governments that the President is concerned about is the statelocal government joint account.

It erodes the autonomy of the local governments. The framers of the constitution did not envisage that the account will be run the way it is being run.

“The joint account means that allocation from the Federal Government and internally generated revenue must be put together for sharing but unfortunately, most local governments don’t get up to 20 per cent.

How do the local government chairmen function without funds? It is for this reason that President Jonathan is fighting for full autonomy of the local government. So continue to mobilize and sensitise people for the amendment to come through.”

But the governors, who want more powers devolved to the states from the Federal Government, do not want it any way but theirs. Chairman of the NGF, Governor Rotimi Amaechi

Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers state had last week told a delegation of the House of Representatives Committee on Youths and Social Development that the governors would oppose

any move to give the councils autonomy and make them part of the federating units.

But many of the governors are not only against the

ALGON National President, Mr. Nwabueze Okafor

autonomy of local governments, they are against them completely, which is why many take the unconstitutional route of dissolving the democratically elected councils to appoint caretaker committees in their place.

During the recently concluded zonal and state constitution review public hearings organized by the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, thugs were allegedly sponsored by governors to disrupt the sessions in some of the venues.

The governors have good reasons to not want a divorce between the states and the local government councils. In one state in the North West where the local government councils have been under a caretaker committee for nearly two years now, releases to them are always made in cash immediately after which they are directed to convert 70% of the amount given to them into hard currencies and take it to the government house. In the same state, the councils can only state what projects they want in their area without making any further input, with the state government awarding the contract to the contractor of the governor’s choice.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 5

NAFDAC,Kano govt destroy N600m fake drugs

Nigeria, US move to boost economic, bilateral trade ••• non oil exports top priority

By A’isha Biola Raji

I

n effort to fight counterfeit drugs, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Kano state government have jointly destroyed fake drugs worth N600million.

The fake drugs were impounded by Kano state government following a month-long crackdown on various illegal and underground pharmaceutical outlets across the state.

According to a statement signed

by Abubakar Jimoh, Deputy Director, Public Relations and Protocol Unit NAFDAC, Kano state governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii jointly supervised the burning of more than 10 trailer loads of counterfeit drugs at Kano city dumpsite.

Among the burnt drugs were hundreds of cartons of counterfeit Chloroquine, banned Analgin injections and 14 million tablets of Tramoldine drugs often abused by commercial drivers and motorcyclists valued at over N135 million.

The statement further read: “Visibly angry Governor Kwankwaso said the Kano state government had declared a fierce battle against drug counterfeiters in the state and vowed not to leave any stone unturned until those merchants of deaths vacate the state”.

Dr. Kwankwaso announced 31st December, 2012 as the final deadline for drug dealers in Sabon-Gari market in Kano metropolis to relocate their businesses as the market has been declared illegal for sale of medicines which he insisted must be left to pharmacists and trained chemists.

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

N R-L: Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, Guest Lecturer and former United Nations Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, during the 1st Ahmadu Bello Memorial Lecture, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Dons dispute selection of new VC From Iliya Garba, Minna

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hree professors at the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna, Niger state yesterday, at the Minna High Court, challenged the method through which the new Vice Chancellor, Prof. Akim Osunde emerged.

The dons – Musa Galadima, Adama and M.A.T Suleiman asked the court to stop the selection process that put the new VC in charge alleging double standards in the whole method.

Barrister Olajide Ayodele, counsel to the defendants (FUT,

the governing council and council chairman) who mentioned the suit early October challenged the capability of a State High Court to consider a case affecting a Federal Government-owned institution, saying the court lacks locus to hear the case praying the court to strike out the case for lack of competence.

The motion was opposed by Barrister Ibrahim Ishyaku, counsel to the plaintiffs, he disputed that the court was competent and should proceed to hear the case.

Justice Aishat Lami Buwari, in her ruling affirmed after review

of submissions by the opposing parties that her court was competent to entertain the suit filed by the professors.

She therefore ruled that ‘’the state high court is competent and has the right to entertain the suit and the prayers of the defendant /respondents are hereby dismissed’’.

She then adjourned hearing till January 22nd, 2013 for motion on interlocutory injunction restraining the governing council from announcing any substantive Vice-Chancellor for the institution.

Mark visits Buhari over daughter’s death

By Richard Ihediwa

S

enate President David Mark, yesterday, paid a condolence visit to former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari and his family in his Sultan Road, Kaduna residence over the demise of his first daughter, Zulaihatu who died last Thursday.

Mark, accompanied by Senators Abu Ibrahim, Mohammed Sani Sale and Ahmed

Makarfi as well as Governor of Kaduna state, Patrick Yakowa condoled with the bereaved family, saying that death is a necessary end that must come when it shall.

According to Mark, “I earnestly identify with you at this moment of your of your grief. The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shares in this grief. May Allah in His infinite mercies grant her eternal rest”.

He prayed that the Almighty Allah give them the fortitude to

bear the loss.

Responding, the former Head of State expressed appreciation for the condolence, saying the visits by a cross section of Nigerians to his family have strengthened the family in its moment of grief.

Buhari also told the Senate President to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his concern since the incident occurred pointing out that the President did not only call him but sent him a condolence letter.

igeria and the United States of America yesterday, renewed their commitments towards increasing the economic, trade and investment relationship between both countries , especially in the area of non-oil exports.

This was the highpoint of the 7th US-Nigeria Trade and Investment Agreement Council meeting in Abuja.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said that, given the current global economic meltdown, trade and investment remained the only potent tool for achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth globally.

He added that there was a need for Nigeria and the United States to deepen their trade and investment relations, especially in the areas where both countries had comparative and competitive advantage.

The US-Nigeria Trade and Investment Agreement (TIFA) was signed in 2000. It establishes the framework for structured dialogue on trade; intellectual property rights; flow of investment as well as partnership for cooperation and collaboration between the economic operators of the two countries.

The minister said, “All over the world, Presidents and policy makers have agreed that there is only one tool that can lead to sustainable and inclusive economic growth. That tool today, is trade and investment. Nigeria is indeed the United States’ largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. This is largely due to the high level of trade in petroleum products, which accounts for nearly 46 percent of Nigeria’s daily oil production and ranks Nigeria the 5th largest exporter of oil to the United States”.

FG rolls out stimulus package for stock brokers

By Abdulwahab Isa

T

he Federal Government yesterday rolled out a forbearance package – a kind of forgiveness to stockbrokers playing in the capital market as a way of restoring confidence and vibrancy to the stock market.

The forbearance package translates to about N22. 6 billion on the margin loans of 84 stock brokers. Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who announced these measures yesterday to journalists, expressed confidence that the capital market will

...waives 12% taxes on all stock market transactions surely regain its lost glory by the time forbearance effect starts to trickle in. In effect, government agents are expected to halt further hounding of stock brokers allegedly linked with collapse of the market.

In addition to granting stock brokers forgiveness, government has also phased out stamp duties and VAT on all capital market transactions which is about 12 percent in a form of taxes in activities of the stock market.

“We also know that many Nigerians are all participants in the stock exchange and we

would like to see its survival.

For all these reasons and particularly to help us have some long term capital funds as we try to revive all sectors of the economy, we want to support and see how we can undertake some measures to revive the stock exchange and reinvigorate the capital m arket.

That is why we thought that in addition to what is being done, we should take some specific measures to try to support it…

“There are about 84 of these stock brokers. They were part of the vibrant capital market, they took some merging loans,

and AMCON purchased these loans at the cost of N42 billion far below what the original loans were worth.

“Now we have also seen that the assets or collateral underpinning these loans, worth about N19.96 billion.

On tax relief, she said it was one relief stock brokers had been craving for and, disclosed that “with the kind support of Mr. President, we would no longer have the stamp duties and VAT on the activities of the market.

This would amount to an equivalent of 12 percent being waived”.

However, a stricter

condition is applied as government according to the Minister would monitor the waiving of tax relief for a period of time to see how it helps to reinvigorate the capital market.

In her remarks, DirectorGeneral Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Arunma Oteh, said SEC as part of its effort to restore vibrancy to the market had by this year, approved the request of the Nigerian Stock Exchange to have more listing requirements. This she said was to encourage SMEs and other sectors to come into the market.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Insecurity: Yobe lawmakers deny fleeing Damaturu

By Adamu Saleh

M

embers of the Yobe state House of Assembly have denied reports that they have fled to Kano due to the insecurity in the state.

Speaker of the House, Hon Dalo Dogo, yesterday described the story as totally untrue.

According to him, the 24 Assembly members are in the state and working to move the state forward. "We don't have anywhere to go; Yobe is our home town, people have elected us to work in the state and to represent their interest", the Speaker said.

Speaking in the same vein, member representing Jakusko

constituency in the state, Hon Inusa Lawan Kaigama, said the Assembly members, commissioners and some of the advisers to the governor are in the state and that there has been improvement in human activities across the state.

He said: "Life is gradually returning in the state; no single

member of the House has fled to Kano or elsewhere in Nigeria. We go Kano, Borno and Abuja usually to do our personal activities, not as refugees. I am sure almost all the schools, both private and public have resumed. Even the burnt schools have been opened and reconstruction is going on", he said.

L-R: Anglican Archbishop of Gwagwalada, Most Rev. Tanimu Aduda, Chairman, Abaji Area Council, Hon. Yahaya Mohammed, and National Coordinator, Jummai Aduda Foundation, Mrs Hawah Aduda, during the official flag-off of "Abuja Grassroots Association (AGA), yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Nigerian appointed to the Bench in California From Suleiman Idris, Lagos with agency

A

Nigerian woman, Bunmi Awoniyi, 48, has been appointed to the Sacramento County Superior Court in California, United States, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

According to local media reports monitored on Sunday by the North America correspondent of NAN, Awoniyi's appointments were announced by Governor Edmund Brown Jr. of California.

Awoniyi has served as a principal attorney with a family law firm since

1994 as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patino School of Law from 1997 to 1998.

She is an associate attorney at the Law Office of Steven L. Wessels from 1993 to 1994 and an associate attorney at the Law Office of Brady and Kent from 1992 to 1993.

Also, Awoniyi was a law clerk at the Law Office of D. Kapp Nees in 1991 and a crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service in London from 1989 to 1990.

She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Inns of Court School of Law, a Masters of Law degree from

the University of Leicester School of Law, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Essex.

Awoniyi is a certified family law specialist. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on Dec. 3, 2011.

"I could not be more delighted or excited. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours the fruit of a yearlong arduous interview and screening process and an application that took me the better part of a year to complete.

"Through all of the many lost hours on the weekends and evenings devoted to this process, to see it come

to manifestation is truly marvelous‌" Her website states that she "completed all of her education in England. She attended the University of Essex and completed her Bachelor of Law with Honors in 1986.

"She thereafter obtained a Masters of Law from the University of Leicester which was conferred in 1988. Her thesis The Detection and Investigation of Child Abuse was published. She attended the Inns of Court School of Law in London, England and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in November of 1988 as a Barrister at Law.

African countries should be globally competitive- Jonathan

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has challenged African countries to become globally competitive and begin exporting finished products to the outside world.

President Jonathan was speaking to the outgoing Ugandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Christopher Onyango Aparr, at the State House, yesterday.

"Africa has reached a stage where we must stop exporting

raw materials. Instead, we should work harder to become globally competitive, exporting finished products", he stated.

President Jonathan said economic growth was necessary for political stability and added that Nigeria was focused on building and strengthening mutually beneficial economic relations with Uganda and Africa.

The President commended Mr. Aparr for sustaining the warm brotherly relations between

Nigeria and Uganda, and wished him well in his future endeavours.

Earlier, the outgoing Ugandan High Commissioner thanked President Jonathan for Nigeria's assistance through the Technical Aid Corps, as well as the strong bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.

At a different audience, President Jonathan commended Turkey for assisting Nigeria in developing human capacity through the establishment of

schools in the country.

The President was speaking to the outgoing Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ali Rifat Koksal.

"Human capacity development is critical for any nation's growth, and we appreciate your help in establishing schools in Nigeria", he stated.

President Jonathan also acknowledged the building of a Turkish hospital in Abuja, and said this cooperation was in the spirit of the relationship among the D-8 group of nations.

Rotary to perform surgery on 400 polio victims

By A'isha Biola Raji

I

ndia-Nigeria Rotary Club International is set to perform humanitarian corrective surgery service to victims of polio drawn across polio endemic states in Nigeria.

The exercise was flagged off yesterday at Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital by Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, in company of the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Muhammad.

According to the minister, support given by the 26-member team of surgeons and other orthopaedic experts from India, who are Rotarians will send positive signal to Nigerians who are resisting immunisation efforts.

He said: "We believe that this effort of polio corrective surgeries would create an atmosphere of faith in the efforts to eradicate polio".

The medical team led by Rajendra K. Saboo, past President, Rotary International has pledged to realise minimum of 400 surgeries within 10 days in both Gwagwalada teaching hospital and Federal Medical Centre Keffi.

In his welcome remarks, Dr. Ado said out of the 700 victims that have been identified from the high polio prevalent states for the surgery, 400 of them will be operated in the first phase.

He however advised that Nigerians should work together with government in prevention of spread of polio through immunisation. He said: "If polio is prevented, there won't be need for surgical operation".

Elumelu donates N1bn for flood victims' rehabilitation

By Aminu Imam

T

he Tony Elumelu Foundation has given fillip to the on-going efforts for the rehabilitation of victims of the recent flood disaster across the country with a donation of the sum of N1 billion.

The Foundation, a not-for-profit institution committed to the economic transformation of Africa by enhancing the competitiveness and growth of the African private sector, was established by the former Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa, Mr. Tony Elumelu.

An Africa-based and Africanfunded philanthropy, whose mission is to identify and groom African business leaders and entrepreneurs to achieve the foundation's central objective of enhancing the competitiveness and growth of Africa's private sector, the donation has distinguished Tony Elumelu Foundation as a committed partner in ensuring that the internally displaced people are rehabilitated and given a new phase of life.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Police prosecute five for allegedly smoking Indian hemp

T

he police in Lagos yesterday arraigned five men for allegedly smoking Indian hemp in public.

The men – Lukman Aipa, 30; Seriki Mudasiru, 33; Friday Akpan, 29; Rasaq Hussein, 30 and Mustapha Sulaiman, 32 – are facing charges of unlawful gathering and smoking of Indian hemp before an Ojokoro Magistrates’ Court.

The accused, who have no visible means of livelihood, all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, Insp. Clara Olagbaiye, told the court that the accused allegedly committed the offences on Nov. 30 at Egan/

Igando Road at 6.00 p.m.

“The five men unlawfully gathered with the intention of carrying out a criminal act and conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause breach of peace by publicly smoking Indian hemp”, she said.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravened sections 166 and 327 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.

The Magistrate, Mr. K.O Ogundare, however, granted accused bail in the sum of N50, 000, with one surety each in like sum, and adjourned the case to Jan. 14. (NAN)

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

general”.

He therefore, said that it is the responsibility of all institutions to map out programmes and policies all aimed at empowering the youths, adding that “as leaders, either in the mosque or church, we can’t afford to fold our arms and expect our youths to grow and become responsible individuals.

He said crime and criminality can be reduced to the barest minimum if youths are gainfully engaged in productive ventures, adding, “let me tell you that without mincing words: unemployment is the major factor why criminal activities are on the increase in the country”.

He commended the Governor Ibrahim Gaidam for the employment over 20, 000 youth in the state and called on the private sector to provide jobs for the youths across the country, arguing that government cannot do it alone.

Yobe Assembly advocates youth employment

T

he chairman, House Committee on Millennium Development Goals/Animal and Fisheries Development in the Yobe state House of Assembly, Hon Inusa Lawan Kaigama, wants youths in the country to be responsible in their daily engagements.

Speaking to our reporter, the legislator stressed the need for government at various levels to evolve policies that would provide youths the opportunity of realizing their ambitions.

According to him, “there is no way any society can witness meaningful development if the youths, who are the strength and future of the society, are not empowered. The consequences of such action could be very devastating to the youths in particular and the country in

PAGE 7

150 shelter units ready for victims of flood in Kogi From Sam Egwu, Lokoja ersons whose lives were dislocated by the recent flood disaster in Kogi state will be assisted back to a normal and better living conditions.

The assurance was given by the state governor, Capt. Idris Wada during the commissioning of 150 units makeshift houses for the flood victims in Idah local local government area of Kogi state.

The ceremony was attended by a global donor agency, Shelter Box International, government officials and hundreds of the internally displaced persons.

A press statement from the Chief Press Secretary, to the governor Mr. Richard Elesho, confirmed that the initiative is the result of collaboration between Kogi Women Empowerment Network KOWEN, the pet project of the governor’s wife, Hajia Halimat

P

Wada and United Kingdom based Shelter Box International, a nongovernmental organization committed to the provision of temporary abodes for victims of natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis and infernos, all over the world.

Leader of the NGO, Mark Dier said his team were concerned about the devastating effect of flood on the houses of the victims, many of which are no longer habitable. Dier disclosed that although his group has been providing relief services for victims of disasters in countries like United States, Haiti, Guatemala, Uganda among others, Kogi state is its first operation in Nigeria.

The activities of the NGO, he explained are funded through donations from well meaning groups, organisations and ordinary individuals across the globe.

Governor Wada who

commissioned the houses, urged the would-be beneficiaries to take good care of the facilities and not to despair as government will continue its efforts to make life more meaningful for them.

He thanked Shelter Box International for the prompt and invaluable intervention. He further disclosed that schools previously used as refugee camps for the displaced persons are in the process of being renovated and reopened.

More than 1, 000 units of make shift houses are expected to be erected in various parts of the state.

Each unit can accommodate about six persons and is durable for about 18 months. Each Shelter Box comes complete with beddings, mosquito nets, light bulbs and cooking utensils. They are also easily movable and the tents can be erected by a just few persons in a short time.

Police deploys men to dark spots in Jigawa

T

he Police Command in Jigawa state said it has deployed its officers and men to dark spots in the state to check the movement of suspicious characters.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Theophelous, made this known in an interview in Dutse on Sunday.

Theophelous explained that the measure was aimed

at checking cases of theft and armed robbery in the state.

He said that his officers and men had been directed to arrest any person with suspicious character, noting that the police were committed to protecting lives and properties in the state.

He urged the people to help the police with information to enable them to perform effectively. (NAN)

Security scare: Ekiti police arraign suspect

A

debayo Ogungbemi, the 22-year-old who allegedly caused a security scare at the premises of the Ekiti Government House in Ado-Ekiti last Wednesday, has been arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court.

Ogungbemi was charged yesterday with conducting himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace at the Government House.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Caleb Leramo, told the court that the accused at about 9 am on the said date, wore an object suspected to be an explosive and wandered around the premises of the Government House for a disorderly purpose.

He said the accused by his actions contravened Section 249(d), 80 and 250(6) of the Criminal Code Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty when his plea was taken.

His counsel, Mr. Ropo Filani, prayed the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms, saying a reliable surety would be provided.

Chief Magistrate Richard Adegboye granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 and two ‘substantial’ sureties in like sum.

He adjourned the case till Jan.16, 2013 for mention.

(NAN)

L-R: Past President of Rotary International, Dr. Rajendra Saboo, Dr. Vinary Kulkami, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, and Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Muhammad, during the flag-off ceremony of India-Nigeria Rotary Polio Corrective Surgery Project, yesterday at University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kogi-Anambra to wait six months for disputed oil wells From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

T

he crisis over the rightful ownership of the disputed oil wells between Kogi and Anambra states will be determined in the next six months.

Dr. Mohammed Bose Ahmed, Director General, National Boundary Commission, stated this yesterday in Lokoja at the joint meeting of Anambra/Kogi interstate boundary meeting held in Government House, Lokoja.

The Director General

pointed out that the boundaries under dispute were last demarcated in 1954, stressing that development, population and nation’ s federalism, has necessitated the present need to carry out another demarcation.

The demarcation, Dr. Mohammed hinted will help resolve issues surrounding the boundaries, towards having amicable solution and to know the limits of the boundaries.

While noting that the discovery of natural resources has made the determination of boundaries in the country very

difficult, he said the present exercise to determine the Anambra/Kogi boundary was a presidential directive, and appealed for cooperation from the states involved.

In his remarks, Arc Yomi Awoniyi, the deputy governor and chairman State Boundary Committee, who received the Presidential Committee, said the state will do all it can towards having an amicable resolution. He advised that the exercise should be done in a manner that will enable the people to continue to live as brothers.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Physically challenged persons decry apartheid From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

P

ersons living with disabilities have frowned at the discriminatory attitude of society towards their plights and called for a re-orientation.

The call was made at the National Disabled Students' Convention held in Makurdi at the weekend under the auspices of National Association of physically Challenged Students (NAPCS).

National President of NAPCS, George Marvel said disability was not a curse and therefore, the physically challenged should stop being objects of pity in the society.

He noted the recent brilliant performance of the physically challenged persons at the concluded Olympics where they brought glory to the country by winning several medals when the able-bodied men and women could not win anything and urged all participants to see themselves as solution and not problem.

Guest Speaker at the event, Dr. Osmond Ukanacho who lamented the discrimination against the disadvantaged population in the school environment, maintained that the development amount to social injustice and deprivation.

Ukanacho said the despicable experiences of the physically challenged who take lectures on higher floors of building could only be imagined and urged policy makers and other stakeholders to always take into consideration the needs of the challenged population

By Chris Alu

N

R-L: Gombe state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, presenting cash to one of the beneficiaries of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme, recently in Gombe. when architecturally designing the layout of any higher institution.

He also lamented the unprintable records of discrimination on disabled persons in the course of pursuing their fundamental rights to quality

education in higher institutions.

"The physically challenged persons never chose to be in the situation they have found themselves, hence, they should be so viewed as innocent to their plight.

It is therefore unfortunate that they suffer all

forms of discrimination due to their peculiar circumstances." " Most times, they are treated as the "cursed" population. No one is ever willing to render a helping hand to this challenged population in these institutions," he frowned.

Council decries detention of suspects without trial

T

he Legal Aid Council Coordinator in Edo state, Mr. Eddy Inenevwo, has criticised the continuous detention of suspects in prison and the delay in trials.

Inenevwo said in Benin on Sunday that detaining suspects either in police or prison custody for several months and years without trial was unacceptable.

He appealed to the police to always carry out thorough investigations in criminal cases to avoid delays in the trials of suspects who often languished in custody.

He said the law presumes an accused person to be innocent, noting: "keeping an accused in custody without trial is travesty of justice.

Inenevwo expressed regrets

that the council was handling a number of cases where the suspects had been in custody for nearly 10 years without trial.

The coordinator said that in spite of the delay in the trial "the prosecution keeps asking for adjournments with the intention of keeping the suspects in the gulags".

He, however, expressed the hope that the jail delivery by

the state chief judge would afford him and members of his entourage an opportunity to review some of the awaiting trial cases.

"The visit will definitely help to decongest the prisons; it is also an opportunity to review situations and conditions of inmates in the different prison formations across the state", he said. (NAN)

Thoracic Society wants more focus on respiratory infections From Olanrewaju Lawal,Ilorin

T

he Nigerian Thoracic Society has urged federal and state government to expand the community based case management across the country to reduce acute respiratory infections.

The Society, in a communiquĂŠ issued and signed by the President, Prof. Gregory E. Erhabor, noted that the infection need multidrug resistance that should be made available to the public.

"There is increasing morbidity and mortality associated with acute respiratory infections and multidrug resistance

NBC cautions broadcast stations on phone-in programmes

infections in children and adults. The NTS believes that the Nigerian government should initiate a programme for expansion of communitybased case management of acute respiratory infections, as well as promoting exclusive breastfeeding which will help contribute in a substantial way to the decline of infection-related deaths, and hence attainment of MDG 4, which is aimed at reducing under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 in Nigeria.

"Federal and State governments should empower each Tertiary Hospital in the country to carry out TB

culture and drug susceptibility test (DST), and actualize the treatment centres for multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) which are supposed to be established in each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

"There is a steady rise in the rate of antibiotic resistance by most pathogens causing the common lung infections in Nigeria. Hence, the need for continued surveillance of such infections and appropriate antibiotic for treatment must be provided, the economic implications not withstanding."

The Society noted that the burden of lung diseases associated with indoor and

outdoor air pollution including cigarette smoking was increasing, adding that to curtail the rising trend, governments at all levels and all other stakeholders must take active steps to stem the tide.

"There should be collaboration between the Nigerian Thoracic Society, Federal and State governments of Nigeria to provide the state of art equipment for managing the condition as well as funding the epidemiological surveillance of asthma", he said.

ational Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has advised media stations operating in Nigeria to be versatile in handling phone-in programmes and desist from practices that will jeopardise security, peace, professionalism and national development.

The commission also expressed dissatisfaction with the excesses displayed by some radio and television stations in the way they handled phone-in and discussion programmes on their channels.

At a conference organised

by NBC, in Lagos, the director-general Yomi Bolarinwa, , urged the broadcasters to adopt best practices to curb the excesses observed in the presentation of some phone-in programmes in the nation's broadcast media. ''The aim of this parley is not to condemn any station.

However, broadcasting live phone-in programmes without recourse to professionalism, fairness and balance in the contents has been disturbing.

Broadcasting, corporate discussion is about pluralism, opinion and if issues are not represented, then you are not fair," he stated.

Also speaking, Mr. Kelvin Ejiofor, veteran broadcaster, said live programmes' anchors must show competence, be knowledgeable, carry out extensive research on topics under discussion and give all sides the opportunities to air their views.

A phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast.

Maria Odeh, another veteran broadcaster, noted that if well handled, phonein programmes could be used as a tool for sensitising the society in the areas of health, education, food security, wealth creation and poverty reduction.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 11

Information leverage : How to make a success of ebook writing

G

etting back to your eBook writing, you will need to follow some important guidelines in order to come up with a product that will be enticing, informative, and affordable to your target audience. Here are tips to help you get into the swing of developing the idea for your eBook, following through with the creation of the eBook, and getting everything in order, so you can effectively create and leverage the product.

Guide 1: It is important to always start your writing at the beginning. When it comes to eBook writing or any other aspect of writing for that matter, there is really no other place to get started than the beginning. Assuming that you have performed due diligence and settled on the subject matter for your eBook, it is time to get into the writing aspect of the product.

The thing to remember about Informational eBooks is that they have one main purpose or function. That function is to educate. For example, if you plan on creating eBook on benefits of herbal supplement, then you will want to make sure the subject matter of the E-books is accurate, timely, and relevant to any perceived problems. This will mean doing a great deal of research before you begin to write the first word.

You will want to explore the origins of the use of herbs in various healing processes. Find out what you can about the effectiveness of herbal remedies at various times and places. Locate research into the claims made for various herbs regarding the treatment of bodily ailments, and provide solid

information that will indeed serves as solution to the readers.

In short, before you can hope to educate anyone else, you will need to spend some time educating yourself first.

Guide 2: Once you have amassed sufficient knowledge and documentation to write effectively on the subject matter, you will need to begin the process of organising your data.

Hopefully, your research will have provided you with plenty of information that can serve as the basis for your eBooks. Carefully divide your information into subcategories, and organise the information in any format that will make it easy for you to refer to.

Next, use the collected data as an outline of your eBook. This will help to lay the groundwork for your table of contents. The purpose of an outline is to help create a logical and cohesive flow to the information that is being presented in the document.

Just as with any type of book,

you want the thought processes presented in the material to follow a sensible chain of presentation, with each section or chapter logically leading into the following section. Thinking through this process in advance, rather than arbitrarily creating a collection of disjointed sections, will mean a lot less editing work for you.

Keep in mind that the outline is a guide, not a sacred document that can never be changed. Treat it with respect, but do not revere the outline to the point that you refuse to change it in any way.

Feel free to revise, improve, rewrite, and in general adapt the outline as you move forward with the project.

To keep the content fresh, make sure that even if you are presenting a point for the third time; keep the verbiage you use different from the other instances.

This will help the flow of the document in two ways. First, it helps to reinforce key concepts when you present them in slightly

different settings throughout the work.

Secondly, it provides the reader with the chance to evaluate the theme or concept in a different light each time that you bring up the point. If the first attempt to educate with the theme did not quite click with the reader, there is every chance that by the third attempt, a connection will have taken place.

Guide 3: When creating the text for the eBook it is important to apply a certain amount of selfdiscipline. Writing is work, and often happens to be hard work for that matter even for some of us who enjoys writing.

If you are having a little trouble getting started, stop thinking about the five thousand words you are planning to write today. Instead, focus on creating one good paragraph a day.

Once that is done, it will be a little easier to convince yourself to write just one more. In a short time, you will find that the entire page is filled and you just start getting some great ideas on how to expand on the subject matter for your eBook.

Once you have the first draft of the content for your E-book, set it aside for a day or two. This will allow you to refresh your mind and be able to go back and edit the draft with eyes that are fresh and capable of being balanced in the way you read the document.

There is an excellent chance that you will find sections you want to rewrite slightly, or perhaps change a word here or there to make the section more cohesive or clear in its meaning.

By all means, feel free to do so.

Just as the outline was not to be considered above reproach and

shoes and bags are bought from the used shoes and bag sellers. I used to get some top class shoes for N3, 000 by the roadside back in those days when I can't really afford high quality designer shoes that cost N50, 000 or more.

Get a nice place where you will be displaying your goods like in front on shopping malls. Go to fairly used market (Katangowa or Aswani in Lagos) you may go to seme border or Kotonou. Select quality fairly used shoes, look for designs that are close to the latest fashion. N40, 000 can get you up to 40 pairs of shoes. Sometimes you make profit of up to N3, 000 from a single sell.

3. Used books - You used to see them by the roadsides and you are wondering if the seller is making money from it? Try it and see. You will be surprised at the profit margin, and you will be amazed at the rate at which people buy different books.

Follow the same process as it is with the used shoes but you buy

at different markets. Used books are sold in importers warehouses, locate one and go there to select nice used books, Children books, Professional books, hand craft books, etc. These types of books sell very fast with high profit margin.

N50, 000 is more than enough for a starter.

4. Office supply - People who works in offices finds it difficult to go out to the market to buy certain things like wrist watches, shirts, ties, and

change, your manuscript, though a work of art, is also subject to revision and improvement. Make one edit changes and put the manuscript away for another day or two. Then try a second round of edits.

You may find very little to correct the second time, which is a sound clue that you are almost through and just about ready to begin the formatting process.

After the text for your eBook has gone through editing, the time has come to begin formatting the material from a manuscript into a workable eBook format.

Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent software packages that can take a basic word processing document and easily format it for use in an electronic book format.

Most will allow you to set the page sizes, arrange major headings, create a Table of Contents, and then import the text of the manuscript into the program. Or you may use a simple formatting system like this very Information.

You can also use the tools included with the software to create a cover, just as if you were publishing a hard copy of the eBook. In fact, that is the look and feel you want to set as your goal.

The only difference between your electronic book and a real book should be that one is a collection of images on a screen, and the other is a tangible paper document.

Chose to include in the information and the general look of the eBook. This will give you one last chance to make some changes in the eBook and increase the chances that people who actually buy the book will enjoy it and recommend it to their friends and acquaintances.

perfumes. Help them do the shopping and charge moderately, don't be greedy like other suppliers who buys fake things for N1000 and wants to sell for N10,000 in the name of office.

Start with less than N50, 000 and make good profit in small business (2)

1

. Plantain chips making Move around the street and you will see different brands of Plantain chips on sale and it sells very fast. People just like chewing stuffs and there is no end to it, so if you can engage in the business of producing and supplying it, you will be making good money on daily basis.

All what you needed are: Big Frying Pan (N3, 000) Small Sealing Machine (N15, 000) the nylons and labels (N2, 000) other utensils (N5, 000) the rest N30, 000 goes into buying of plantains and logistics. Supply to the shops and to hawkers and you will be making your money.

2. Tokunbo shoes - Chose quality leather materials, all my

Quote

The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government.

Mitt Romney Source: wealthresult.com

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

The Sierra Leone elections S

ierra Leone is best known for its so-called blood diamond, the cause of the more than a decade brutal civil war in which both the government and an armed opposition battled to gain control of. The scramble for the ‘blood diamond’ even soaked in outsiders who angled desperately for a piece of the action. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was earlier this year convicted for crimes against humanity, committed in Sierra Leone.

However, late last month, Sierra Leone grabbed prime time news headline on major world channels for its elections, the third since the end of the brutal civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002.

The just concluded elections are remarkably unique because it is the first post-civil war poll conducted by Sierra Leoneans themselves, the two previous ones having been conducted by the United Nations. The elections featured presidential, parliamentary and local council contests. The presidency was feverishly contested by the incumbent, Ernest Bai Koroma, who ran on the ticke of ruling All Peoples Congress (APC), and the Sierra Leone People’s Party, whose candidate was former military leader, Julius Maada Bio. The other significant candidate among the other eight was Charles Francis Margai, of the People’s Movement for Democratic Change. He is the son of the second prime minister of Sierra Leone, Albert Margai.

The campaign for the presidency was tension-filled, though no major incident was recorded. However, when results were released ten days after the election, President Koroma, 59-year-old former insurance

executive, won with 58 percent of the vote, barely crossing the threshold of 55 percent and avoiding a runoff.

According to the constitution, if no candidate wins 55 percent of the total votes, a run-off will be staged for the two frontrunners.

Bio and his SLPP gained 37.4 percent, placing him second. The other parties, including the political wing of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the main antagonist in the brutal civil war, shared the remaining votes. Bio,

“

We counsel continued reconciliation of all Sierra Leoneans and concrete measures be taken to bring about improvement in the quality of lives for his six million compatriots who had earlier complained over the election arrangement, rejected the result, claiming that it did not reflect the will of Sierra Leoneans; he denounced the process as fraudulent.

The chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, Christiana Thorpe, has asked him to substantiate his claims.

Notwithstanding the allegation of fraud, international observers praised the polls. The chief observer of the European Union, Richard Hewitt, told a news conference that “we describe the

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”

elections as being well conducted and as a contribution to democratic consolidation.” The observers, however, noted that the ruling party generously deployed state resources in its care and commandeered disproportionately media coverage, thereby availing itself of strategic advantages over other parties.

However, taking into account where the country is coming from, almost fresh from hell, we cannot but join in commending the presidential election and its outcome. This, we believe, is the beginning of a more credible election process.

For the main opposition candidate who lost this poll and has since disowned the process, we urge caution.

Bio may have been fazed by the undue advantage of state institutions and resources that the ruling party commandeered, but there is wide consensus on the integrity of the electoral umpire, a key deficit of the electoral process in many countries in the sub-region, including Nigeria.

Bio, at 47, has a lot to give his country both now and in future. For the winner, Koroma, who has been sworn in for a second term, we counsel continued reconciliation of all Sierra Leoneans and concrete measures be taken to bring about improvement in the quality of lives for his six million compatriots.

It is so interesting that after chopping off hands and limbs, the RUF through its political wing sought votes; that is the beauty of democracy and we commend Sierra Leoneans for their sense of tolerance and accommodation.

Now that the elections are over, the elites must move beyond bickering and give their people a sense of worth.

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

CHAIRMAN MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE DIRECTOR/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RUFA’I IBRAHIM EDITOR, DAILY ABDULAZEEZ ABDULLAHI

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

By Babayola. M. Toungo

T

he threat by the Nassarawa state House of Assembly to impeach governor Tanko AlMakura of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) reminds one of the maxim that “the more things change, the more they remain the same”. Reading the story took me back to the second republic politics of old Kaduna state when a National Party of Nigeria (NPN) dominated House of Assembly fought a war of attrition with the Peoples Redemption (PRP) governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa.

The then NPN swept the country like a gale picking states at will particularly the northern states but could not win the mother lode – the old Kaduna state. It was a shocker for the NPN and its candidate, Lawal Kaita, who to all intents and purposes was just waiting to be crowned. While the NPN swept almost all the seats in the legislature, it performed woefully losing the gubernatorial seat to a little known accountant – Balarabe Musa.

This was unacceptable to the NPN and so began the ‘war’, which led to Balarabe’s impeachment. The people of the state were the worst for it because in the two years that Mallam Balarabe Musa lasted, he was not allowed to perform optimally with distractions coming from the House of Assembly.

Be as it may, the PRP government was able to establish some industries like the Kachia ginger factory and the Ikara Food Processing Company.

We can only guess what the state lost by the antics of the NPN, but from

PAGE 13

Will Al-Makura suffer Balarabe Musa’s fate? the little that was delivered by Mallam Bala, we can hazard a guess as to the unquantifiable loss the state experienced with his impeachment.

Balarabe Musa operated without commissioners for the duration of his stay in office but many people still revere him for his performance and he still remains a reference point for good governance. The shenanigans taking place in Nasarawa state since the ascension of Al-Makura to the governor’s office reminds one of how the NPN scuttled people’s dreams because of the selfishness of the party and its members in 1981.

In the run-up to the 2011 general elections, Al-Makura, a founding member of the PDP, left the party newly registered CPC to realize his ambition of becoming governor of the state, which he couldn’t realize in the PDP. In a scene reminiscent of Kaduna in 1979, the PDP won almost all the elections held in 2011 and then lost the governorship to the CPC and Al-Makura. The PDP holds him responsible for its loss in Nasarawa.

From the day he was sworn to the present moment, the governor has not known peace from his legislators who are supposed to be his partners in carrying the state forward. He has been jumping from one booby trap to the other.

The legislators once boycotted their legislative functions for the ridiculous reason that the governor refused to furnish their chamber – a contract awarded by the erstwhile governor when most of them were in

the legislature. But the recent threat to impeach the governor within seven days beat all else. How does a fight between two ethnic groups constitute an impeachable offence beats my imagination? Much as I try to see reason and logic in the threat, I couldn’t find any. Nigeria has been practically on fire since Goodluck Jonathan became president but I do not remember anyone threatening him with impeachment.

Ethnic and religious violence has been the hallmark of elite rivalry and has been destroying the country and tearing the nation apart and any right thinking Nigerian is trying to find solutions to these senseless killings and destructions going on. To try to trivialise such a grave issue is tantamount to irresponsibility. The PDP like politicising issues that they believe will advance its cause even if lives may be lost. This attitude is exactly why you have pockets of clashes all over the country.

Authorities concerned are not interested in addressing critical questions but rather try to gain political points from such. The recent misadventure by the group called Ombatse in Nasarawa state that led to the loss of lives of innocent Nigerians, some ordinary travellers, should under normal, rational circumstances elicit condemnation by the State House of Assembly and a call on the authorities (state and federal) to arrest and prosecute the leaders of the group. But no. The PDP see the disturbance of a way of issuing

threats and may be finally get rid of Al-Makura, whose only offence seems the bruising of PDP’s dirty nose in the dirt.

The legislators accused the governor of lacking “competence to response to emergencies, and has shown complete disdain for the courtesy of extending relief to thousands, including women and their children, as well as the elderly, often displaced by the fast spreading violence”. I hope federal legislators from Borno and Yobe states are listening and will take a cue from the Nasarawa State legislators. The people of the two states (Borno and Yobe) should ask their representatives on why they are yet to issue impeachment threats against the president. Goodluck Jonathan has not for once visited these hapless people to even show empathy, much less extend “relief”.

While he is not busy to attend the 40th pastoral anniversary of Ayo Oritsejafor, he is always busy to visit Borno and Yobe despite the unparalleled lost of lives and destruction of economic activities in the two states under his watch.

Al-Makura was also accused by the majority leader in the House, Godiya Akwasiki, of “failing to comply with previous House resolutions to act on the raging violence and has folded his hands to watch while the people were daily being killed”. May be I don’t get the meaning of this allegation, but are they talking about the president or

Nassarawa State governor?

The NPN held the people Kaduna State to ransom and denied them the chance to be led by a bona fide welfarist. Now it appears it is the turn of Nassarawa State and its people to be treated to the fascist’s treatment by the offshoot of the NPN. I see the fascism that drove Balarabe Musa out of office in 1981 at play in Nasarawa state in 2012. But if the state legislators should be foolhardy to go ahead with their threat, National Assembly members should be on notice to kick out Goodluck for the fact that while Nigeria is on fire he is playing modern day Nero – drinking expensive wine in place of Nero’s fiddle.

If the PDP as an institution wants to play this type of brinkmanship, why don’t they start with the presidency? At least, they are in control of the National Assembly. To single out al-Makura for such a threat smacks of arrogance and bad bele.

This should be unacceptable to Nigerians wherever they may be.

We should not allow dictatorship creep in on us wearing the garb of law and order. Granted that AlMakura must, as the chief security officer of the state, ensure the prevalence of peace, harmony and peaceful co-existence amongst and between the disparate people of the state. But this must be applicable to the federal government that controls all security agencies.

Babayola M. Toungo is reachable at babayolatungo@yahoo.co.uk

Five lessons for Nigeria from the American election

By Adeolu Ademoyo

D

espite the soundness of the radical critique of the electoral component of democracy in the western world as a process that restricts and suppresses voters and hence election is seen as a reformist ritual, reformist as it is, there are some lessons for Nigeria in the American election.

Perhaps the overarching lesson Nigeria can learn from the American election is ethics of choice making. In the American election, there is the sense that the election creates choices.

As divided, as the country appears to be, it is that sense of democratic choice driven by election that unites the country. The election thus becomes a moral space of choice to resolve national problems. In Nigeria election is a closed business space to resolve personal and sectional problems. We need to move beyond this.

The voter in the American election considers himself or herself rightly or wrongly but both consciously and unconsciously as a moral agent that has the power to choose and make a difference. Hence, even when there are divides of all sorts, every voter watches, and is always trying to make the best decision. And because the voters are taken to be moral agents, and they take themselves as moral agents, candidates are obliged to go to them to present themselves and persuade them. That is not the case in our country, Nigeria. The parties are business companies. In Nigeria the party that controls the electoral body and police wins. These two are instruments of rigging. The voter

does not consider himself as a moral agent of choice, neither is he so considered by the candidates. So the voter is not voting in or voting out programs. Having been bought, the voter is doing a paid job, hence he is forgotten immediately the ‘result” of election is announced except when he is needed to cause violence. Because the voter does not consider himself or herself as a moral agent who candidates must come to, to seek for support for a program, candidates do not go to Nigerian voters to present their programs, candidates buy Nigerian voters. The consequence is that the ethnic rather than the rational dominates us because the ethnic leader buys the ethnic voter!

The rational is that which one can turn into a universal law. To this extent a lot of rationality is brought into losing and winning elections in America. In other words, losing and winning become an indivisible duality. The losing party knows it can win, while the winning party knows it can lose. In our country Nigeria, election is embedded in complete irrationality for the ruling party, which controls the police, and electoral body knows it will always win. Hence, our elections lack any moral content to it because of this irrationality. Hence, we are dominated by ethnic talk and ethnic gossips after an election for winning and losing was never a rational act with rational projections. In American election, winning and losing are projected based on clearly stated criteria such as demographics such as gender, age new and old, class, faith, etc. The programs of each party galvanize these demographics. For us to move beyond the ethnic we

need to embed our electoral conversations in contesting programs and visions about the future of our country.

The Republican and Democratic parties in America remind one of politicking in first and second republics in Nigeria when there were stark choices to be made from party manifestoes and programs even if we did not make those choices because we are always dominated by the ethnic in us! Nigerians who took a programmatic view of party politicking could see stark choices among Northern Peoples Congress, National Council For Nigeria and Cameroons, Northern Element Peoples Union, Middle Belt Union and The Action Group. Bourgeois as they were, Nigerian political parties then strove to be programmatic and problem solving tools. The political tradition of the party as programmatic tool and problem solving tools continue with some of the parties in the second republic when we had the National Party of Nigeria, Nigeria Peoples Party, Great Nigeria Peoples Party, Peoples Redemption Party and the Unity Party of Nigeria.

Then some of the parties attempted to define the electoral

conversation around education, rural development, agriculture and food production, full employment, economy and health. American election today re-echoes that. It is about issues and programs such as taxation, employment, economy, health, immigration, foreign policy and defense. Just as some of Nigerian political leaders in the first and second republics tried to do, Mr. Barak Obama and Mr. Mitt Romney went to the American taxpayers to ask for their votes on the basis of clearly defined programs. Today, the PDP, ACN, CPC etc are no parties either in the sense of parties in Nigeria’s first and second republics or the current American sense. Talk with any Nigerian voter and ask him why he voted or will vote for any of these parties, you will not get a rational answer. There is no clear choice among the parties, because there is no program and road map on any issue.

The ethnic dominates our conversation even among the socalled elite and educated. To change this killing ethnic conversation the parties must be vessels of programs.

Like the Americans, let us disagree vigorously and vibrantly on competing programs, visions, and

“

We need to learn this moral act in politics in Nigeria. Time is no longer on our side. Other African countries are moving on. It is only by investing this rational and moral act in our politics that we will begin to solve the so-called national question that has subtly destroyed our country

manifestoes rather than on some silly sectional ethnic talk. Can we bring back the old Nigerian political party tradition based on programs and manifestoes rather on persons and the ethnic in us?

Listening and the capacity to listen is a moral act. Though, Nigerian politicians never asked for the trust of Nigerian taxpayers, they in turn do not trust the politicians. The Nigerian politician maintains an immoral relationship with Nigerian taxpayers. This is not the case with the American election. Immediately after the recent American election, Mr. Obama is out again meeting voters on his programs. It is a moral act. He knows he has to check on his promises again with the American taxpayers before taking his programs to the American congressthe equivalent of our House of Representative. In this, Mr. Obama cuts the image of the president as a paid worker of the American taxpayers, and he truly is. To be hired to do a job is to be trusted. And to be trusted is a moral act. The American taxpayers have trusted Mr. Obama for the next four years. Mr. Obama knows this hence he is out on the streets checking the soundness of his programs and promises with the American taxpayers who hired him to do a job. We need to learn this moral act in politics in Nigeria. Time is no longer on our side. Other African countries are moving on. It is only by investing this rational and moral act in our politics that we will begin to solve the so-called national question that has subtly destroyed our country.

Adeolu Ademoyo can be reached on aaa54@cornell.edu

PAGE 14

By Bayo Olupohunda

W

hen in 2010, the founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, Delta state, Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor, was elected the President of the 36-year-old Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the umbrella body of the Christian faith in the country, I was genuinely apprehensive. His emergence to that exalted position marked the first time a pastor of the Pentecostal bend would head an organization whose leadership over the years has become a rallying point for not only Christians but as the voice of the voiceless and a thorn in the flesh of corrupt and oppressive leaders in the country.

Oritsejafor succeeded John Onaiyekan, a Catholic who had himself succeeded Jasper Akinola, an Anglican, in 2007. The Christian body which was founded in 1976 had had the luck of being led by men who had used their positions as Christian leaders to unwaveringly speak truth to power; Olubunmi Okogie, Sam Mbang, Bolanle Gbonigi were also noted for the Spartan lifestyles they lived as clergies- a virtue they also encouraged among the faith and Nigerians. But it was the Okogie years that significantly defined the role of the church and church leaders as agents of change in a society bogged down by the crises of leadership. Olubunmi Okogie was your quintessential pulpit activist.

He unpretentiously used his leadership to speak truth to power at every given opportunity.

Usually seen in his white cassock; he was fearless and abhorred the ostentatious lifestyles of leaders and the corrupt. Even when the risk to his life became dangerously evident during the military years, Okogie

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Oritsejafor’s God is not poor

rejected the suggestion of extra is founded by him as the overall CEO. donate the jet to CAN when his tenure security details. His ubiquitous official But that was also a source of expires? One question has become car, a Peugeot 404 and later 504, could worry. How can a man not used to relevant here; how did Ortisejafor’s be seen in traffic crawling along with leadership structure as a leader of a predecessors evangelize while they the rest of the masses. He lived the life “one-man show church” emerge to presided over CAN? His excuse of “jet he preached. He shunned all pretences lead an umbrella organization of all for evangelization” is shameful at of the affected. Olubunmi Okogie Christians where he will have to best. fought for the interest of Nigerians no consult widely among Christian As expected, the jet issue is matter their being sadly religion or debated among ethnicity. Even Christians and in retirement, he Nigerians. While has not some are Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text wavered. He still condemning it; messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written lends his voice to others see it as a contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 the unending “testimony” to the words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and follies of our lifestyle an a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed leaders. He and average Christian other CAN should aspire to to: leaders of their because as they era represent the say, the Christian The Editor, role of God is not poor. So, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, Christianity and instead of the CAN 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. its leadership as leader uniting the Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com the conscience of Christian Faith, SMS: 07037756364 the nation. Can he has succeeded the same be said in dividing it with of today’s Christian leaders especially leaders before taking decisions? Did he this endless and unnecessary in this age of unbridled flamboyant for example consult widely before debate fuelled by his flamboyant living by so-called pastors and one- accepting the gift of a private jet from lifestyle. This is dangerous. The man churches that have turned his church bearing in mind the division will serve to further Christianity into a joke? position he occupies as not only the energize the corrupt political class How can we reconcile the paradox leader of his Warri church but that of to strengthen their divisive agenda of vice and the unrestrained religiosity millions of Christians all over the which will drive a nail into the of Nigerians of all faiths? You can country; those whose sensibilities have coffin of a critical part of the civil imagine my concern when Oritsejafor now been hurt by his indiscretion? society capable of providing the emerged the leader of the influential Perhaps if he had, he would have checks needed for good governance CAN. Do not get me wrong. I do not known that the acceptance of the jet to thrive in our country. have anything against the “man of will bring his leadership of the Oritsejafor’s ostentatious lifestyle God” (if indeed he is). I know it is a fad respected organization into disrepute. and his new dalliance with the to be referred to as the man of God In defense, he claims the jet is for occupier of Aso Rock Villa are an these days. A friend made a point evangelization! Really? Why not wait affront to the position he holds. The recently about how easy it is to claim for the entire Christian body to buy a picture of the CAN president flying to be an “anointed man of God or being private jet for the CAN leadership? around in an expensive private jet, called by Him”. I do not doubt How can a private jet purportedly while the laity wallows in abject Oritsejafor’s ability to lead Nigerian bought to mark his birthday now poverty and die on neglected roads Christians. After all, he has led his become the property of CAN for the is far removed from reality. But church. Never mind that the church purpose of evangelization? Or will he the Oritsejafor tragedy is a

WRITE TO US

reflection of the Nigerian situation.

Yet we cannot despair. It is a passing phase.

The modern church is in great need of prophets of old who had led CAN on the path of respectability. Not the self-appointed and wild eyed fanatics’ clan of three-piece suit, jewellery wearing, and jerry curled pretenders “men of God” seen on religious broadcasts who add their delusions to the revelation of Scripture. Those who equate sweating and laughter with anointing leading millions further down a road of deception and delusion.

Instead, we need men in Christian leadership who will stand on the side of the masses and speak truth to power. Our country needs men of vision who are not selling out the church so they can become a celebrity in the ‘religious conference tour in the guise of evangelization.

We need men of proven integrity; not the ones who brazenly tell us to pray for our leaders to steal us blind.

The current crisis of leadership in CAN has me wondering lately; where are the prophets? Are there any real prophets cut from the same cloth of an Elijah who confounded the evil King Ahab or a John the Baptist who called out the sins of Herod? Are there any among our Christian leaders who are willing to break political ranks and speak truth to power? At this critical point in our nation’s history, the next generation will not forgive those Christian leaders who look the other way while the country heads to the abyss.

Solutions to complex issues like corruption, poverty, healthcare and growing insecurity will require greater vision than what is currently possessed by those in power and those seeking to replace them. Our nation stands in great need of the truly prophetic.

BayoOlupohundaisonFacebook

Maduka/Ubah faceoff: Questions, more questions

By Olayinka Olaleye

T

he drama that is currently playing out in the media, involving two ‘heavyweight’ sons of the industrial town of Nnewi, in Anambra state, is becoming interesting by the day. From all indications, the (Cosmos) Maduka/ Ubah (Ifeanyi) faceoff does not appear to be an issue that will soon go away.

The war (well, that’s what it is), is being fought in the law courts, and also in the electronic and print media, with indications that it would soon become a communal issue. It does appear, however, that the matter has passed the stage at which the traditional ruler of Nnewi and his cabinet can handle, contrary to what Dan Ulasi, who would like to be seen as a troubleshooter in the ongoing war, hinted on Sunrise, the Channels Television breakfast programme, a few days ago.

Ifeanyi Ubah, the chairman of Capital Oil, had, for several weeks, been in the news for the wrong reasons, namely, alleged involvement in the fuel subsidy scam, for which some oil marketers are currently standing trial. Ubah, it was alleged, had got the federal government to pay his company subsidy benefits for fuel it did not supply. And just when the public was trying to find answers to the whys of the allegation, Cosmos Maduka, the president of the Coscharis Group, came into the picture, raising the

alarm to the effect that a brother, Ubah, whom he bailed out of trouble, had turned around to bite the finger that fed him and, in a curious twist, plotted a sinister move to put him (Maduka), in trouble.

Ubah has, since coming out of incarceration, been crying foul, alleging a grand design involving the minister of finance, Access Bank and, wait for it, Maduka, to run him out of business. The point must be made that both men in the centre of the current war are what we usually refer to as ‘men of timber and caliber’ in the Nigerian economy. One is an industrialist of no mean repute, with significant contributions to the growth of the Nigerian auto industry and the transport sub-sector, while the other is a major player in the downstream sector of the oil industry.

From what can easily be discerned, there was a business relationship involving Maduka and Ubah, over the importation of fuel.

Maduka says he intervened to assist Ubah secure a facility from Access Bank of which he is a director, when no bank would grant him facility, on account of the alleged bad record he has across the financial sector. But even then, the Coscharis boss could only secure the facility by using his own name. And being the calculating risk taker that he is, he got Ubah to guarantee him, just in case a situation like we are witnessing today occurred. And because he isn’t a Mother Teresa, or a Santa Claus,

Maduka, who can perceive the smell of a money just like any other businessman, made sure he benefited from the deal for which Ubah needed his assistance.

The Capital Oil owner, who is not known to have any connection whatsoever in Access Bank, on the other hand, says he helped Maduka secure a facility in Access Bank. Not only that, Ubah allegedly pledged many of his company’s assets, including a choice property on Banana Island, as collateral for the loan.

All went well with the business of importation of fuel, with the first six consignments delivered and the proceeds properly accounted for, and both parties smiled in satisfaction, well, until something happened to the seventh consignment! Maduka says one year after the vessel conveying the fuel was supposed to have berthed in Nigerian waters, following in the footsteps of the first six, there has been no trace of the ship, its cargo or the proceeds that should accrue from the sales. He contends that even if Molue, the popular Lagos mass transit bus, was used to convey the fuel from its point of purchase, it would have arrived Nigeria a long time ago. Ubah argues that the consignment arrived quite all right, was sold, and the proceeds deposited in the vaults of Access Bank, where they can never be traced, hinging this bizarre argument to the supposed machinations of Maduka and Access

Bank.

The Maduka/Ubah saga is nothing other than a business transaction gone awry. It is typically what happens when transparency is in short supply in a business deal or, for that matter, any deal. In analyzing the fallouts of the multimillion dollar fuel importation business that has now obviously fallen on its face, there is need to ask some salient questions. With about 38 years’ active involvement in the Nigerian economy, Maduka is not known to have ventured into any business and failed. Indeed, he has been a pace setter in the different subsectors of the auto industry which he has been involved in. If he found attraction in the fuel importation business, why would he need to climb on Ubah’s back to achieve his aim?

Who helped who?

For a man whose name opens doors in and outside Nigeria, including financial institutions, why would Maduka need Ubah’s assistance to secure a loan facility in a bank in which he is a director? It cannot be that Ubah has exclusive knowledge of the intricacies of fuel marketing, such that a Maduka would need his help to navigate the rough waters of the industry. If children of politicians and other money bags are using their fathers’ names to succeed in the sector, Maduka, who has been around for a long time, would hardly need Ubah to succeed.

Access bank is not a charitable organization. Its first objective for being in existence is to make money.

So, why would it connive with Maduka to withhold proceeds from a business for which it granted a loan; indeed, why would it hide the proceeds in its vaults, with the full knowledge of the borrower (in this case Maduka), while making the latter pay a monthly interest of almost 400 million naira?

Something doesn’t look tidy here.

Did Ubah watch the AIT interview in which Maduka alleged that banks consider him a bad sale?

I expected the Capital Oil boss to slam a libel suit on Maduka, with AIT joined as co-defendants. But as I write this, the man has yet to take that action. What is the interest of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Aig Imokhuede and Maduka in running Ubah out of business? Ubah did not say Maduka is seeking to take control of the downstream sector of the oil industry, nor did he reveal that the three own a company that is involved in the importation of fuel.

And if we have to contend with the bring-him-down syndrome that is common in Nigeria, are we to believe that the London court that has frozen Capital Oil’s assets worldwide in connection with the deal is also working in collaboration with Ubah’s adversaries to ruin him?

Olayinka Olaleye, a company executive, wrote in from Lagos

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

By Ayobami Oyalowo

D

uring the 2011 electioneering campaigns in Nigeria, there were three major contenders for the topmost job in the land, namely: General Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC, Nuhu Ribadu of the ACN and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the PDP. Of the three, it was clear Jonathan was going to win and it had nothing to do with his “excellent” antecedents or track records. It was solely based on sentiments and the power of incumbency. The Jonathan team had, from the outset, primed itself to play on our famous religious and ethnic sentiments. No wonder he was at the RCCG camp, where he knelt down unabashedly and was prayed for.

He didn’t stop at that, he constantly drummed it into the ears of anyone who cared to listen, that he had no shoes, as a boy, he had no enemies to fight and he was not going to rock any boat. Little did the hordes of cheering fans realize the poignant truth in his “no fight” cry.

Indeed Jonathan is everyone’s ‘Mr. Nice Guy’, corruption inclusive.

From his antecedents, Jonathan is corruption personified and I say this without a tongue bridging my cheek. However, intellectual laziness has blinded most of us from researching his past. Here is a little snippet into the past of Mr. Jonathan, a creation of the corruption he unashamedly tells

By SOC Okenwa

F

ew weeks ago there was a report online whose caption “The World’s ‘poorest’ President” instantly caught my attention as I navigated the global village via the Internet. In it we were told about a certain President who should be ‘canonized’ as a saint in a world inhabited by executive animals, jesters and serial sinners. According to the report, the President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, is doing what no president in history ever did: donating his official salary to the down-trodden of his country! No Jonathanian hypocrisy, no razzmatazz, no publicity, no exibitionism: the man of power is doing it all from his heart! A very good man indeed!

After reading the striking compassionate story I was enveloped with righteous indignation as I compared and contrasted it with what is happening in my home country. Just imagine how Nigeria would have fared if we had a President of Mujica’s patriotism and solidarity with the poor! You see two things ‘bother’ me here as regards this extra-ordinary uncommon President: his salary and his disdain for affluence and megalomania! The President earns the equivalent of twelve thousand dollars monthly and he graciously uses the bulk of the pay towards servicing the poor and the needy in the society!

Wonderful!

Mujica would probably ‘die’ of heart attack if he were to be told about a big country in West Africa where presidents make suffering of the masses a state policy! He would melt into insomnia when he would be informed that Nigeria’s leaders had stolen the people’s money for generations, graft upon graft, fiscal scandal upon fiscal scandal running into billions of dollars without any

PAGE 15

Why this government won’t fight graft people that he is fighting: In 2006, he was indicted for false declaration of assets by a Joint Task Force (JTF) on corruption that was set up by Obasanjo’s government. That powerful panel was headed by Nuhu Ribadu, who was then chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Joint Task Force said Mr. Jonathan was in possession of illegally-acquired property such as homes and exotic cars, all of which he could not explain within his legitimate income. While he was invited for hearing, he claimed he bought them from his “savings”.

Meanwhile, he was a lecturer preceding his becoming a deputy governor. Kindly see for yourselves, the worth of the properties which were bought from Mr. Jonathan’s ‘savings’: a seven-bedroom duplex worth N18 million at Otueke Ogbia LGA acquired in 2001; a fourbedroom duplex, valued at N15 million at Goodluck Jonathan Street, Yenegoa, acquired in 2003; and a five-bedroom duplex, at Citec Villas, Gwarimpa II – Abuja, valued at N25 million, also acquired in 2003. There were also two cars: a Lexus Jeep valued at N18 million; and a BMW 7351 Series worth N5.5 million. If you check the dates the purchases were made from 2001, it was just two years after GEJ became a deputy to a criminal governor,

Alamieyeisigha, convicted for fleecing Bayelsa state dry.

Since Jonathan became the president, it has been one sad tale of corruption after another. While previous governments have even pretended to wage a war against corruption, Mr. Jonathan on the other hand, has no room for such pretence or luxury. He romances and dines with corruption and the corrupt. The Malabu scam comes to mind. N155billion paid into fictitious companies with fake or unknown addresses. Yet not one person has been brought to book as we speak.

The ministry of finance recently published a list of about 27 companies that received subsidy payments, but to the consternation of right thinking Nigerians, Pinnacle Construction was on the list released by the ministry.

Further investigations revealed that about N2.7billion had been paid to that same construction company as subsidy payment! Investigations also showed that the company was not even registered with the CAC. Various probes and commissions of inquiry have at different times shown the grand larceny being superintended over by the powers that be. It gets more nauseating when one considers that the report of such probes have at various times being either discarded or deliberately rubbished using individuals of

questionable integrity. Nigerians are regularly mocked by those in government– they see trillions being misappropriated and the scoundrels have not only gone scot free, they are either rewarded with board appointments, national honors or are frequent callers in Aso Rock, the Nigerian seat of power.

A recent Gallup poll showed that Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in the world. Also according to International audit firm KPMG, the cost of fraud in the first half of 2012 alone is $1.5bn (N225bn), the highest on the African continent.

And that is only because they have no real idea of what is going on in government circles. While Nigeria is ranked third behind the USA and China in backlogs of orders for personal private jets, the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) asserted that our nation is the worst place to be born in 2013 due to deteriorating indicators of human security. What a damning submission!

The power conundrum is another avenue for the grand larceny being committed against Nigerians. Billions have been spent on power but all Nigerians can see is darkness. It is so bad that the president had to come on National TV to lie to Nigerians about generating 5,000 megawatts. With no visible improvement in our various homes, one can only

GEF: How not to fight corruption one of them ending up in any jail anywhere or even arrested for interrogation! He would be forced to think about the veracity of the black continent being labelled by detractors as a dark enclave where Lucifer must have elected home.

The true statesman would shudder when he becomes aware that some pseudo-statesmen in Nigeria had stolen huge amounts of money — much more than the annual GDP of Uruguay! He would be filled with bitterness upon getting to know that the late Gen. Sani Abacha alone stole billions of dollars that are still being tracked all around the world today! He would marvel at our collective helplessness to ‘cure’ ourselves of the graft ailment afflicting our politicians. The graceful President would definitely feel sorry for Nigerians if he knows about one smart crook named James Onanefe Ibori and his dismantled network of monumental fraud.

The likes of Jose Mujica are hard to find under the African sky. With the exception of a very few good men like Nelson Mandela and the late Julius Nyerere Africa has produced the very worst leaders any sane country could ever get. In Nigeria there will never be any Jose Mujica because of who we are and how we do things. Even if one manifests himself he may likely be cut down by forces hell-bent on maintaining the disastrous status-quo.

One Sunday as I woke up in the wee hours of the night I went online and was greeted by a mind-boggling news story culled from a local newspaper. According to the investigative report under the Goodluck Jonathan administration Nigeria has lost a whooping US$31 billion to fraud and corruption! Not that one was shocked by that

revelation but the sheer amount involved somewhat knocked me off my feet for a while! Dazed as it were and fuming with patriotic rage I had reached for a glass of whiskey to knock ‘sense’ back into my faculty and continue with the literary exercise.

Thirty one billion dollars stolen in a space of just two years of the Jonathan presidency? Holy Jesus!

Just imagine what a billion dollars would do when channelled towards the rehabilitation of the death-traps called federal highwares. Just think about what one billion dollars can do to upgrade the ‘mere consulting clinics’ without qualified doctors and expired drugs. Just dream of what a billion dollars would do when deployed in the education sector to curb poor quality academic output and input.

Just consider what a billion dollars can do in the employment schemes aimed at engaging the teeming unemployed youth being recruited

by Boko Haram and kidnapping kingpins and PDP godfathers.

But why is corruption now a way of life in Nigeria? Why are ‘saints’ very rare to come by? Why is (almost) everybody and everything corrupt?

Well, the answers to these posers are as easy as they can ever be. In a culture that rewards malfeasance and honours the rich fool, in a clime where illicit money is celebrated without question values are bound to take flight. Another reason could be total lack of patriotism. Yes, patriots are no longer there to be counted in their millions or thousands; Nigeria has since become an ‘orphan’ and everyone is out to milk her dry. But who cares about how she fares anyway?

While IBB was reputed to have institutionalized corruption in Nigeria what we are witnessing today must have informed the “I-deh-kampe”

attitude of both IBB and OBJ — the two worst executive culprits of corruption in Nigeria. The ‘grabgrab’ syndrome has affected every sector and almost everybody is corrupt one way or the other. No one sane enough would ever elect to die for a nation whose fortunes keep plummeting while ‘leaders’, through their mischievous aides, regale us with tales of ‘ogogoro’, fish pepper-soup and cassava bread in the seat of power!

The decay in major sectors of the economy, the moral rot in the political sphere speaks only one thing to our mind: the endemic corruption in our country has gotten worse and if nothing revolutionary is done quickly then we risk surrendering our lives to the panjandrums who, like the drug cartels in Guinea-Bissau, Brazil and Mexico, are making governance look like a class thing or a secret organisation in which details of engagements are known only to the initiated!

President Jonathan’s complacency in the fight against corruption is understandable but inexcusable. Understandable in the sense that he is not only a weak and uninspiring leader but he was foisted on the nation by a corrupt godfather who was desperate to cover his looting tracks once out of power. But inexcusable because the very life of the nation and millions of her peoples are daily being rubbished by the odious effects of high-wire corruption that has gone out of control.

Inexcusable because GEJ has no reason whatsover to fail in this urgent task of booking and jailing those who, with manifest impunity, plunder and plunder the resources under their care and retire as sacred cows or ‘stakeholders’!

How can a government that

conclude that the megawatts he quoted are only being generated in his dreams. A quick math will suffice: let us assume that at N97/ litre, Nigerians effectively burn N5.66 billion annually, with the attendant environmental and the accompanying health hazard to boot. Using our elementary mathematics, in 29years, Nigerians would have spent N5.66trillion or $354billion. How much do we need to generate proper and clean energy? I would have asked some of our Government officials to tell us, but I guess they are busy chasing some “evil spirits” that those in government believe are the cause of our blackout. How laughable?

The larceny committed against Nigerians by this government would have, in some climes, earned the bare-faced looters the death penalty. But as it were, it is business as usual. It will be advisable for the Jonathan government to heed wise counsel. Nobody hates Jonathan (and I say this because his hired goons and ‘voltrons’ sadly feed him this impression daily). But a man who superintends over such monumental thievery is not only worthy of opprobrium, he must also be extremely callous and unconscionable to assume that all should be well.

Ayobami Oyawolo twits @Ayourb claims to be seriously fighting corruption condone one by sending the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, to file a last minute motion asking the court trying to uncover how and why the former dictator Ibrahim Babangida embezzled the 12.4 billion dollars oil windfall to disqualify the claimants saying they lacked the authority to question the spending and fraud associated with the funds? I mean, so GEJ does not want IBB jailed to serve as a big example to others? Or he is mortally afraid of the consequences?

That is why we are rooting for Muhammadu Buhari, a hard man whose political antecedents suggest he is battle-ready to destroy the elements of corruption in our national lives. Any President who willfully condones or tolerates corruption in whatever guise must be corrupt himself! Come 2015 President Jonathan must excuse us another four years of misery and mediocrity! While one recognizes that power has since intoxicated him and his wife (making wishful voluntary exit near-impossible) we think the 4year ‘good-luck’ (sorry gridlock) he is currently serving should be enough worries in our lives.

Power must, therefore, change hands come 2015! The Peoples Democratic Party ought to be soundly defeated by the opposition bringing to an end 16 years of greed, graft and mediocrity. Nigeria deserves nothing less as unprecedented institutional corruption seeks relentlessly to snuff life out of the emaciated giant. Nigeria can never develop with the present half-hearted anti-corruption policy of hits and misses, the present unmitigated assault by forces of corruption.

SOC Okenwa is reachable on soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

17 physically challenged persons, others receive wheel chairs, crutches

By Josephine Ella Ejeh o fewer than 100 physically challenged persons in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), yesterday received wheel chairs, crutches and other gift items like wrappers at an event to mark the 2012 International Day of Persons with Disabilities held at the Cyprain Ekwensi Centre for Art and Culture.

The gesture was a collaboration of the Department of Social welfare Services of the Social Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA) and a n o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l organisation(NGO), Public Health and Community Development Centre(PHCDC).

While 17 motorised wheel chair was handed to some of the physically challenged persons, including men and women, others were presented with some iron clutches and the rest each got gifts of wrappers, food and drinks.

In an address the Minister of State for the FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, remarked “that persons with disabilities have a significant positive impact on the society and their contribution can be even greater if we remove barriers to their participation”.

According to her, irrespective of their challenges, the group of women and men with disability, who are working selflessly in the FCTA, have demonstrated their commitment to effective service delivery like their counterparts.

Commending the group for their commitment, Akinjide who was represented by her Special

N

By Usman Shuaibu

G

The motorised wheel chairs donated to some Physically challenges persons yesterday in Abuja by an NGO in collaboration with the FCTA. Assistant, Mrs. Uche Nwafor expressed the determination of the administration to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy their rights and realise their great potentials.

On her part, the Secretary, Social Development Secretariat, Mrs Blessing Onuh, advised the physical challenged persons to see abilities in their disabilities.

According to her, many of

the successful people on earth are special people who have unleashed great potentials that have contributed immensely to the development of their societies.

Also speaking, the Coordinator of an NGO , also collaborating with the FCT, Mrs Grace Adogo, commended the gesture, saying that people living with disabilities have being their major focus.

“We are rehabilitating them

at the FCT Rehabilitation Centre in Bwari. Also, we have just finished training some of them in Karimajiji in soap making, shoe making, tailoring etc”, she added.

The beneficiaries were appreciative of the gesture as they thanked the FCTA and the NGO. One of them, Idris Rilwan prayed that God would reward the initiators, urging them to continue in the good act so that others could benefit at the long run.

Woman drags driver to court over alleged fraud

A

trader, Mrs Habiba Timothy has dragged a 30-Year-old driver, Stanley Okore, of Zone 7, Lugbe, to the Grade One Area Court, Lugbe, Abuja, for allegedly defrauding her of N110,000.

Timothy prayed the court to compel the accused to refund the money and to pay her N50, 000 as damages and cost of the law suit.

She told the court that the accused had collected the money from her under false pretence.

Timothy said that the accused had in April 2012 asked her to lend him N55, 000 to enable him to buy a pick-up van, which she obliged.

She said the accused came back again in June 2012 and told her that the vehicle he bought was involved in an accident and that he needed an additional N45, 000 to repair the car which she also gave to him.

She said the accused later asked for an additional N10, 000 which she also obliged him.

Passo residents urged to live in peace

“Since then, all efforts to recover my money from him have failed.

“One day when I went to his house to ask for the money, he brought out a knife and threatened to kill me if I did not stop disturbing him about the money.

“Out of fear, I ran out of the house and he took possession of my phone and shoes to date,’’ she said.

Timothy also told the court that she had reported the matter to the Lugbe police station.

She said that the police made him to commit himself to a written undertaking to pay back the money but had yet to do so.

When the presiding Judge, Alhaji Haruna Masanawa, asked the accused to confirm or deny the allegations against him, he first denied but later confirmed them as true.

He said that he was willing to refund the money then but that he had an accident.

The accused, however, said that he paid the complainant N10,000 before the accident.

The judge after listening to both parties adjourned the case to Monday for continuation of hearing.

He then ordered that summons should be served on the Investigating Police Officer who handled the case at the police station and that Timothy’s witness should appear in court on that day. (NAN)

Man gets six months imprisonment for cheating

A

Wuse Zone Six Magistrates Court, Abuja, has sentenced Paul John, 30, of Mararaba, Abuja, to six months imprisonment for cheating one Albert Moses of N120, 000.

The Magistrate, Mr Aminu Eri, however, gave him an option of N20, 000 fine and asked him to pay N120, 000 as compensation to Moses.

The convict was charged with cheating contrary to Section 322 of the Penal Code.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Simon

Ibrahim, had told the court that the convict collected N120,000 from Moses in September and promised to get him an Iranian Visa which he never did.

Ibrahim said Moses, a resident of Kubwa in the FCT, reported the matter to the Utako Police Station on October 3, 2012.

The prosecutor added that the convict avoided Moses and stopped picking his calls until he was arrested at Area 1, Abuja, on October 28.

The convict pleaded guilty to the offence. (NAN)

wagwalada Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has called on the people of Passo village to continue to live in peace with one another irrespective of their tribal and religious inclinations.

Chairman of the area council, Hon. Zakari AuguluDobi, who made the call during the presentation of staff of office to the village head of Passo in Gwagwalada, asked the residents to be united for the progress of the area.

Dobi, who was represented by the Council Secretary, Alhaji Usman Yahaya, said that the administration of the council was geared towards the development of the entire Gwagwalada Area Council.

He advised the traditional rulers in the area to be loyal and co-operative with the leadership of the area council all the times.

While answering a question on the 2013 Area councils chairmanship election, he appealed to the people of Passo to vote credible candidates that will take them to the promised land.

Responding, the village head of Passo, Chief Joshua Madaki expressed happiness for the honour done to him by the council by elevating him to the status of village head.

He said his leadership would continue to support the administration to move Gwagwalada to higher heights.

He called on the people of Gwagwalada and its environs to come closer to the administration of the council to enable the chairman to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of their respective areas.

The village head cautioned royal fathers against utterances that could cause dispute in their domains and urged them to carry their subjects along in the interest of peace.

Madaki, who is also the Chairman of the Village Heads in Gwagwalada commended the administration of Zakari Angulu Dobi for the structures put in place in Passo village.

Speaking on behalf of the village heads, the Village Head of Angwan Gwari, Alhaji Yunusa Aliyu urged the people of Passo to continue to obey their chief.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

PAGE 18

Man docked over missing wines

By Amaike Beauty

J

ohn Wadzani, 33, of Masaka village in Nasarawa state was yesterday docked by an Abuja Magistrates Court for criminal misappropriation.

Police Prosecutor, Ramatu Sule told the court that on November, 29, 2012, one Agbo Uchenna of AB Patsy Plaza Jabi, Abuja, reported the accused at Utako police station.

He said that the complainant entrusted his wine shop which is situated at Patsy Plaza, Jabi to him.

But between the month of October November ending, he discovered that wines, worth one hundred and forty thousand naira(N140,000) were missing.

When the accused was questioned, he was said to have failed to give satisfactory account of the missing wine.

Sule said that the offence was contrary to Section 309 of the Penal Code.

The accused pleaded guilty on the charges.

Magistrate Tom Tukura Vera, adjourned the case to January, 8, 2013 for hearing.

Generator repairers at work

Residents decry sale of sub-standard generating sets

S

ome residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried the sale of power generating sets of various brands without issuing guarantee to buyers.

The residents, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja in separate interviews, complained that the sellers of the generating sets did not give any guarantee on the effectiveness and durability of the sets.

NAN also reports that even where they do if the sets developed any problem they normally refused to take responsibility for it, saying that it was not their fault.

One of the respondents, Mr Chibuike Chukwu, said he bought a set at the market and barely used it for a week when the generator packed up.

“I was so surprised when I put on the set and it refused to work, the next day I took it back to the man I bought it from, but was shocked when the man said he could do nothing about it as he too bought the set himself.

“In fact, he insisted that if he collected it on whose account would the loss be and said I should take it to a mechanic who will find the fault with it.

“The annoying thing was that he was not even apologetic, if we had steady power supply this would not be happening,” Chukwu said.

Another resident, Mr. Suleiman Danladi, who also made the same observation, said the dealers of these products just go to the manufacturing companies abroad to manufacture substandard products.

According to him, they would

not bother about what the people, who purchase these items go through as long as they smile to the banks.

“You cannot blame these importers because if our power supply was constant who will bother about generators.

“They continue to capitalise on the situation in the country to enrich themselves and the citizens are absolutely helpless because the regulatory bodies are nearly non-existent,” Danladi said.

Also a respondent, Mrs Justina Bolatito, urged the government to provide electricity for the citizenry.

“We have entered the dry season when the weather is very hot and without electricity people have no other option, but to patronise dealers in generators.

Three in prison over robbery allegations J

ustice Balami Mwada of the Federal Capital Territory( FCT) High Court sitting in Gwagwalada at the weekend, ordered that three persons, Victor Adindu, (29), Henry Oluchi, (25) and one Ekene, (23) be remanded in prison custody.

Adindu, Oluchi and Ekene are facing a five count charge of conspiracy, robbery, impersonation, being in possession of dangerous weapon and threatening one Patrick

Mwokara.

The Prosecution Counsel, Mrs Nnorma Okafor, told the court that the accused committed the alleged crime on May 4, 2010 at Gwarimpa in FCT. She said the men conspired and robbed Mwokara of valuable items.

Okafor said the accused persons used guns, cutlasses and knives to threaten Mwokara, as they made an attempt to kill him.

The prosecution said that the three men, who pretended to be PHCN staff, broke into Mwokara’s house and beat him up.

The trio, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, then, prayed for an adjournment to enable her bring her witnesses to court.

Justice Mwada, then ordered that the trio be remanded in Kuje Medium Prison and adjourned the case to February 6, 2013 for hearing. (NAN)

“Even when we know the negative impact of these generating sets to the environment,” she said.

Bolatito also appealed to the regulatory authorities to check the importation of fake and substandard products like power generating sets to minimise people’s discomfort.

Responding to the complaints, Mr. Kanayo Amadi, a generating set dealer, told NAN that the dealers were not at fault as they only buy the products they could lay their hands on with the hope to make profit.

“As a dealer how many generating sets can I test to check for the effectiveness, we only take the word of the importers and hope for the best.

“We too plead with regulatory bodies to do their work by making sure that only standard products are allowed into our borders,’’ he said Public Relations Officer of the Consumer Protection Board (CPC), Mr. Abiodun Obimuyiwa, speaking on behalf of the Director General CPC, Mrs Ify Umenyi, said that the council would not accept such a thing, as “it is very wrong,’’ he said.

According to him, the consumer has the right to complain over any product or services rendered if the product is not commensurate with the value of the money spent on it.

“In the first place, the buyer is supposed to get warranty of a year or thereabout over any product bought from the seller.

“We advice that any consumer who is unjustly treated should write a petition to the council giving vivid explanation

of the matter and the council will wade into it and ensure the right of the consumer is protected,’’ he said.

Obimuyiwa said the council was ever ready to champion the cause of the consumer and fight for their rights. (NAN)

Amafor Progressive Union calls for unity

By Usman Shuaibu

T

he Chairman of Amafor Progressive Union (APU) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Charles Uwonwa, has called on the executive of the association as well as members to come together for the overall development of the Union.

Uwonwa, who made the call during the end of the union’s year’s party in Abuja, said his leadership would continue to work towards the progress of his people.

According to him, Amafor Progressive Union is an umbrella body of Amafor sons and daughters in diaspora and at the same time serves as a link between the home town of Amafor in Ohaji/ Egbema Local Government Area of Imo state.

He urged members to deem it necessary to maintain cordial relationship with those at home and other branches of the union in Abuja for the benefit of peace and co-operation.

The Chairman appealed to the sons and daughters of Amafor/Ohaji, who did not register with the union to do so for their own good.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Galadimawa community decries lack of health centre T

he Chief of Galadimawa Community, FCT, Alhaji Musa Barde, on Saturday decried the lack of health centre in the area, which has made it difficult for residents to access health care.

Barde told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the community was feeling neglected as it lacked basic health care needs like a health centre.

“Presently, we don’t have health centre here as you can see the village is an ancient village, it has history, very long history like every other village in Abuja.

“But the only problem we are facing is that of health care, we have been trying to persuade the authority of FCT on how the

community can be integrated to the health care system of the territory for people to benefit,’’ he said.

He said that people from the area had tried unsuccessfully to convince Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to assist the community with a health centre.

“If you take a look, the population in the village will require that we have a health centre, because if we do not have any health centre here, it will affect the community.

“Anytime someone was sick, particularly women that normally go for antenatal or time to deliver babies, residents find it difficult to access health care because the hospitals are far from

here,” he said.

The chief lamented that the residents had to take their family members all the way from the village to Wuse or Maitama hospitals.

“And if it is possible to have one close to us here, I think it will help us a lot,” he said.

Barde said that the issue of poverty had also been a factor, adding that someone with small income or small business, with no health support would not be comfortable.

“They may find it difficult to get to the general hospital on time because funds may not be available. Some residents have such challenges and the problems are real,’’ he said.

According to him, sometimes people have to assist in gathering some small amount of money to carry the sick person to the hospital.

“We have some few private clinics around here that we use when we are sick, but you know how private clinic is, if you don’t have money they will not attend to you and that is the most difficult thing.

“They will not attend but if you don’t have money, so that is the problem we face here generally,’’ he said.

Barde said that some pregnant women deliver at home because of lack of money because they had no alternative.

“Our pregnant women deliver

at home when there is no fund for proper care and also the means of getting to hospital on time due to the distance.

“We have Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), they give assistance to our pregnant women, and some of our nurses that work in the general hospitals who live around here.

“But sometimes before you reach out to the nurses, they will say they are on duty, so there is nothing we can do but to seek for alternative means.

“We are appealing to the authority to come to our aid because our population is increasing by the day, our women are given birth everyday and children are increasing.

“We are no more in the rural area, we should enjoy the benefits of belonging to an urban settlement,’’ he said. (NAN)

Tenant drags landlord to court

O

Generator repairers at work

Court jails driver for trespassing into airport

A

n Upper area Court in Gudu, Abuja, on Friday sentenced one Samuel Ariyo of Jikwoyi, Abuja, to 12 months imprisonment for criminal trespass, touting and resisting arrest.

The Judge, Adamu Wakili, however, gave him an option of N9,000 fine.

Ariyo was arraigned alongside Isaac Dapian of Jahi

and Emmanuel Thompson, of Hiltop Hotel, all residents of Abuja.

The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Blessed Akpan, told the court that the offence was contrary to sections 342, 172 of the Penal Code and Section 6 (6) of the FAAN bye law.

He said that on November 28, 2012 Ariyo, Dapian and Thompson trespassed into the

Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, to pick passengers without permission.

According to the prosecutor, Ariyo, Dapian and Thompson in their vehicle with registration number DZ 998 ABJ unlawfully gained entrance into the airport and picked passengers.

The prosecutor said that when they were found out, they

resisted arrest by the police.

Ariyo pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for leniency but Dapian and Thompson pleaded not guilty.

The judge then admitted Dapian and Thompson to bail in the sum of N100,000 each with one surety each who must be resident in the FCT. He adjourned the matter to February 4, 2013. (NAN)

ne Udoh John of Nyanya, Abuja, has been arraigned before a Karu Senior Magistrates Court on a four-count charge of conspiracy, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint and theft.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Stephen Eimoga, told the court that the complainant, Victor Inwang, of Area A Extension, Nyanya, Abuja, reported the case to the Karu police station.

He said that the accused and 11 others, now at large, forced the door to his room open and removed his property on November 26, 2012.

Eimoga added that the accused, who was Inwang’s landlord, conspired with the 11 others and removed the complainant’s property because he failed to pay his house rent of N450, 000.

“In the process of removing the property, Inwang discovered that two of his belts valued at N30, 000, a leather wrist watch valued at N20, 000, a laptop valued at N140,000 and N250,000 cash were missing.

“Other missing items include a wall clock valued at N2,500, a long sofa valued at N55,000, 50 pieces of DVD cassettes valued at N15,000, a show glass valued at N65,000, two drinking glasses valued at N2,000 and a standing mirror valued at N1,8000 was damaged, bringing the total cost to N581,300’’.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravenes Sections 79, 342, 254, 327 and 288 of the Penal Code.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Senior Magistrate, Celestine Odo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 and a surety in like sum, who must have a fixed address and reside within the jurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case to February 6, 2013, for hearing.

(NAN)

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE - Pg 22 Nigerian content fund hits N15.7bn

Mob: 08033644990

Naira rises to 4-week high vs dollar

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The Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu( middle) and winners of The Elumelu Legacy Prize for Top-Performing Graduating Students; From left Atiku Jibrilla Usman, Medicine; Muhammad Sani, B.Sc Economics; Salihu Umar, Masters in Business Administration, and Shadi Sabeh, M.Sc. Economics, during their Convocation at Othman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto and the institution of Elumelu Legacy Prize by The Tony Elumelu Foundation in the University on Saturday.

FG’s oil revenue share down to 60% soon – Okonjo Iweala

By Muhammad Nasir

C

o-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi OkonjoIweala has revealed that the nation wants to reduce the oil’s contribution to the Federal Government revenue to 60 percent in the medium term.

The minister stated this at the opening of the 18th edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#18) themed: ‘Deregulation, Cost of Governance and Nigeria’s Economic Prospects’ which commenced yesterday in Abuja.

According to the minister, oil currently accounts for 70 percent of government revenue in the nation, down from 80 percent in recent years; while taxes and non-oil exports provide 30 percent.

“We’ll continue to drive that down to 60-40 percent over the medium term,” she said, adding that the country is seeking to reduce oil dependence and its vulnerability to oil-price shocks by diversifying its revenue sources.

“The country’s excess crude account, which holds the difference between the oil price used for the budget and higher prices realized from the market, has risen to about $9 billion. The government expects to reduce recurrent spending in 2013 to 68.8 percent from 77 percent in 2010, she said.

President Jonathan, who was represented by the VicePresident, Mohammed Namadi Sambo also discussed the nation’s economic prospects.

The President’s key ministers, including the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Planning Minister, Shamsuddeen Usman and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido, Sanusi Lamido made presentations on the economy, highlighting progress made so far, failures, as well as government’s policies going forward.

The organisers of this 18th NES say the event is conceptualised and structured to elicit deeper dialogue between the public and private sectors on the need to build on Nigeria’s successful deregulation of the telecoms, banking, insurance and aviation sectors, by adopting and supporting full deregulation of the remaining critical economic sectors of agriculture, power, transportation, healthcare, as well as oil and gas, which collectively account for 56 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. The theme of NES# 18, according to the Minister of National Planning, Shamsuddeen Usman, was chosen to explain to

Nigerians, the broader concept and implications of deregulation, discuss government principles on cost of governance, as well as x-ray the nation’s economic outlook. He described the summit as a unique and good forum for governments and the private sector to gather and interact with all other concerned stakeholders.

The NES, which has held for the past 17 years, is the largest national gathering for discussions on economic issues and is jointly organised by the Federal Government, represented by the Ministry of National Planning, and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), representing the private sector.

The summit, which is billed to bring over 500 people together, including government officials, business leaders, civil society groups, the youth, and friends of Nigeria, to deliberate on critical issues of national economic development is scheduled to hold till 5th December, 2012.

he Naira rose against the U.S. dollar to its strongest in more than four weeks on the interbank market, supported by dollar liquidity flows from four energy companies, traders said.

The naira closed at 157.10 to the dollar on the interbank market, firmer than the 157.38 it closed on Friday. The Naira has not been this high since Oct. 31, when it closed at the same level.

Traders said the Naira was supported by dollar sales by units of ExxonMobil, which sold $50 million, and Agip $5 million, while Royal Dutch Shell and Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) sold unspecified amount.

“We have a lot of dollar flows to the market today from some energy companies, which helped to take out the few dollar demand and provided support for the naira,” one dealer said.

Traders said demand for hard currency is gradually declining

FIRS to create taxpayers service units nationwide

T

he Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) yesterday said plans had begun to create a Model Tax Payers Service Unit nationwide to strengthen relations between the tax authority and taxpayers.

Mr. Moses Oppanike, Deputy Director, Registration, Returns, Filling and Processing Programme of FIRS, made this known at a workshop on business growth for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Abuja.

He said the unit would be equipped with adequate modern facilities and provided with the personnel to ease taxpayer’s compliance with tax obligations and provide technical assistance.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that during the workshop, the service distributed cash sales and purchases day books to business owners.

“These record books will assist companies, individuals and enterprises concerned to maintain standard records of business transactions to enable them to monitor business performance and trends.

The Deputy Director stressed that tax authorities and other government agencies were

Management Tip of the Day

A

What you can do to prevent layoffs

re layoffs just a fact of life?

Or are they avoidable?

Sure, few managers have a say in whether their company will lay off employees, but there are some things you can do to reduce the likelihood:· Watch out for complexity.

Organisations have a tendency to grow, adding unnecessary

layers, positions, and locations.

Whenever possible, advocate for keeping things structurally simple.· Phase out products and services.

Outdated products and services can eat up costs and require expensive infrastructure. Eliminate the ones that have outlived their value.· Concentrate on the

after some importers had built up their stocks for the forthcoming Christmas, and this is expected to reduce pressure on the local currency in the near term.

“We see the Naira stabilising at the present level of N157.10157-50 to the dollar because of expected additional dollar flows from some oil companies and offshore investors buying treasury bills at an auction later in the week,” another dealer said.

On the official window, the Naira remained unchanged at 155.76 to the dollar as the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold only $154.28 million compared with $200 million sold at the last auction.

The CBN plans to sell N127.97 billion worth of treasury bills with maturities ranging from three months to one year on Dec. 5 (tomorrow), at its twice-monthly auction.

(Reuters)

future. Focusing on short-term revenues can build up costs (and people) that provide results today but cannot be sustained in the long-term.

Don’t just invest in current operations.

Source: Harvard Business Review

interested in both business performance and provision of necessary support to improve entrepreneurship.

In his comments, the Coordinating Director, Standard and Compliance of FIRS, Mr. Andy Ejemeyovwi identified accessing finance and record keeping as the most pressing issues facing businesses in Nigeria.

He urged business owners to make record keeping a cardinal point to ensure that accessed funds were judiciously utilised.

Ejemeyovwi added that well run companies and enterprises would ensure that “fair taxes are paid to the tax authority’’.

(NAN)

Nigeria’s FX reserves, at $44.32 bn hits more than 3-yr high

N

igeria’s foreign exchange reserves have climbed to their highest in more than three years, reaching $44.32 billion by November 27, 34.18 percent year-on-year, latest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed on Friday.

N i g e r i a ’ s f o r e x reserves were $42.56 billion a month earlier, and $33.03 billion this time last year.

The reserves have not been at similar levels since July 9, 2009 when they stood at $44.10 billion. The last available figure showing them higher than this was in January 26, 2009 when they were at $50.58 billion.

Data in the period between February and June 2009 was not available for comparison, as the bank never published it.

(Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS Halogen Security

H

alogen Security Company Limited, Nigeria’s leading indigenous security company, at a grand gala night at the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, marked twenty outstanding years of providing state-of-the-art security solutions in Nigeria.

Speaking at the occasion, Representative of the Lagos State Governor, Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, Tunde Panox (Rtd), congratulated the company for her enviable achievements over the past 20 years. He said that it was an honour to identify with those who are making a mark in their respective industries and adding value to the state, and the country at large.

In his welcome address, chairman, TROYKA Holdings, the Holding company of Halogen Security, Biodun Shobanjo, congratulated the entire management and staff of the company on the occasion, and said that he is proud of the great feat attained by the company in the past 20 years.

First Bank of Nigeria Plc

F

irst Bank has made good its commitment, in ensuring a secure future for children through the Hi-Fi Young Savers Account, following which the bank lived up to its promise by giving 12 lucky children N1m at the 3rd raffle draw organised for the HiFi young Savers account holders at the NTA festival programme held in Lagos recently.

The First Bank HiFi Young Savers Account which was introduced in 2008, is a special account designed for children from age 0 – 17 years to sensitize and cultivate savings culture within this age bracket and to help parents plan towards the future of their children and wards.

Research In Motion (RIM)

C

anada’s Research In Motion (RIM) has lost a contract dispute over the use of Nokia patents in a case which could halt sales of its BlackBerry phones if it does not reach a deal to pay royalties to the Finnish company.

Nokia said on Wednesday a Swedish arbitrator had ruled that “RIM was in breach of contract and is not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing royalties with Nokia.”

Wireless local access network (WLAN) technologies, usually marketed under the WiFi brand, are used across BlackBerry devices and by most other smartphones.

CBN, banks in talks to cut charges

By Abdulwahab Isa

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is considering a reduction of the 5 percent cost on transaction (COT) or its entire removal from transactions between customers and banks.

The apex bank is also in talks with local banks to see the possibility of reducing the present high bank rates and charges which are frustrating businesses and almost crippling the economy.

Analysts said last night that the decision, if carried out, would boost businesses and enhance financial inclusion, as canvassed by the apex bank.

Tunde Lemo, CBN deputy

governor for operations, said the apex bank was uncomfortable with the high rates charged by banks, because they undermine the apex bank’s key mandate of maintaining price stability.

Lemo said the outcome of the talks with the banks would be announced soon.

He was speaking yesterday in Abuja, when members of the House Committee on Banking and Currency paid the CBN an oversight visit, led by their chairman, Jones Chukwudi Onyerere.

“There is a review going on, on bank charges and part of that review is to look at various charges and see how bankers can work together and agree, so that overall, the charges to customers

are reduced and one of the areas they are looking into, is actually to reduce the COT from a maximum of 5 percent per million that it is now, to something lower.

They have not yet concluded but the discussion is ongoing,” he told BusinessDay after the meeting.

Responding to the concerns of law makers on high lending rates and charges by banks, Lemo explained that interest rates in the country were high on account of inflation and a hostile business environment. He added that the CBN was working with the banks to ensure they reduced their margins.

Lemo explained that banks bore high operational costs which tended to over-burden their balance sheets, since many of

CBN Gov. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi them constantly generated electricity on their own, and provided security to guard against armed robbery, among other challenges.

GTBank divests GTB Asset Management Ltd From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

G

TBank has divested its GTB Asset Management Ltd in line with a directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2010.

Mr Nicholas Nyamali, the Managing Director of GTB Asset Management Ltd, disclosed this at



Economic Indicat ors

M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91‐day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res

a news conference in Lagos on Friday.

He said that the divestment was to enable GTBank concentrate on core commercial banking.

According to Nyamali, following the buy-out, GTB Asset Management Ltd is now known as Investment One Financial Services Ltd.

As at:

N14,398,225.5m Oct, 2012 N15,126,973.6m Oct, 2012 11.7 Oct, 2012 11.7400 11/28/2012 12 11/28/2012 12.4 11/21/2012 8.69 Oct, 2012 16.48 Oct, 2012 US$110.5 11/28/2012 US$44,386,394,457.9 11/28/2012

Inflation rates from Nov, 2011 to Oct, 2012 Max = 12.9%, Min = 10.3% for period in display.

Current Inflation rate = 11.7% Source:CBN

“Investment One Financial Services Ltd is now owned by the staff and management of the company as well as some select investors.

“The name reflects the firm’s strategic positioning as a service oriented firm that is responsive to the investment needs of its customers,” he said.

The managing director said that the company’s desire was to be a one-stop shop for comprehensive investment services and innovative financial solutions.

Nyamali said that the

company would introduce investment innovations to increase the participation of Nigerians in the investment space.

He said that the company would strengthen its investment education strategies to ensure rightful investment decisions.

“It is when people are informed that they will be able to make the right investment decision,” Nyamali said.

It will be recalled that the apex bank has directed commercial banks should divest their nonbanking subsidiaries. (NAN)

Naira heads for first monthly drop since June

T

he Naira headed for the first monthly decline since June against the U.S. currency as companies sought dollars to import consumer goods for holidays next month.

The currency depreciated 0.1 percent to 157.41 a dollar and headed for a monthly drop of 0.2 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earnings Report for Banks Source:Pro-share Nigeria

“Dollar demand increased this month, driven by companies bringing in consumer and household goods for Christmas and year- end celebrations in December,” Tunde Ladipo, chief executive officer of Lagos-based Valuechain Investment Ltd., said. “Demand is also boosted by companies bringing in gasoline.”

The drive for consumer goods rises during religious festivities in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people with a population almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians.

The country also relies on imports to meet 70 percent of its fuel needs because of inadequate refining capacity, according to the Petroleum Ministry.

The Central Bank of Nigeria held its benchmark interest rate at a record high 12 percent this year to ease inflation pressures and stabilize the naira. Inflation, which accelerated for the first time in four months to 11.7 percent in October, remains above the bank’s target of less than 10 percent.

Yields on 10-year naira debt fell six basis points to 12.3 percent, according to yesterday’s prices compiled on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website. Borrowing costs on the nation’s $500 million of Eurobonds due January 2021 fell two basis points to 4.256 percent. (Source: Bloomberg)

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Non-interest banking in Nigeria-tax issues (II) F

rom a tax perspective, one of the major challenges confronting Non Interest Banking (NIB) internationally is that tax laws generally cater for conventional banking products, which involve the charging of interest on monies lent which is not the same with NIBs. While many Islamic products are structured to replicate the economic effects of conventional financial products, the legal form of these products is very different from conventional products. This may lead to differences in tax treatment that may potentially place Islamic banks and their customers at a disadvantage compared to banks with conventional products.

Tax neutrality has been accorded to Islamic finance instruments and transactions executed to fulfil Sharia requirements. Malaysia's tax neutrality framework promotes a level playing field between conventional and Islamic financial products, hence reducing the cost of doing business in Islamic finance.

Tax neutrality, standardisation of accounting practices, legal contracts and favourable regulations seem on the surface to promote Islamic banking and finance; careful scrutiny reveals that they are all intended to bring Islamic banking and finance closer to the ethos of the conventional financial system.

Globally most tax incentives are provided to make Islamic finance competitive with conventional finance; these should eventually be phased out, so that Islamic finance focuses on its competitiveness and offering customers with a valuable product, rather than developing sophisticated political power to entrench the tax incentives.

On the other hand, incentives that place Islamic and conventional finance on equal footing should be maintained.

For example, eliminating double taxation where the structure of an Islamic financial product would lead to extra taxation compared to a similar conventional product that would be subject to lower taxes.

The UK government took a lead in the west in revising its taxation law to include specific provisions for Islamic products and services. The key issue relate to the tax treatment of the Islamic deposit account that in theory paid a profit share to the depositor. The deposit account offered by Islamic Bank of Britain was

FIRS Headquaters, Abuja based on the principle of Mudarabah, whereby the Bank shared the profits earned with the customer. Normally, any interest payments made by banks to its depositors is deductible from gross income before tax is calculated.

However in accordance with anti-avoidance rules in the UK, any "interest" payments made on deposits that were linked to the profit made by a bank was not allowed to be deducted from gross income but was considered as distribution of profit after tax. In other words, these were considered as dividend payments.

This high incidence of tax charge made the Bank economically unviable. To overcome this issue, the UK government established a Special Inland Revenue task force to review the taxation of Islamic products so as to ensure that there was a "level playing field" with the conventional market. In a government paper, "Regulatory Impact Assessment for Sharia Compliant Products" that accompanied the Budget for 2005 it was stated that the key policy objective for taxation of Sharia compliant products is to ensure that such products are: "Taxed in a way that is neither more nor less advantageous than equivalent banking products. The intended effect of the proposals is to allow providers to offer Sharia compliant products without facing commercial disadvantage and to enable

customers to take up these products without encountering uncertainty or disadvantage over tax treatment".

The solution that emerged from the task force and included in the Finance Act 2005 was to define Islamic products as "alternative Financial Arrangements" and to set out the key structures of the arrangements in the legislation. The profit payment on the deposits was termed as "Profit Share Return". Islamic products are not specially mentioned in the Finance Act but only in the explanatory notes. Furthermore the Act is concerned not with principles but the specific structures of the products. This was done to mitigate the risk of these structures being used to avoid taxation. In the explanatory notes it was clearly stated that the relevant legislative clauses relate to arrangements: "that involves profits and losses on sales of assets or profit share agreements that are economically equivalent to conventional banking products, but are not interest or speculative returns.

The measure ensures that such arrangements are taxed no more or less favourably than equivalent finance arrangements involving interest".

Prior to 2005, the government had already resolved the issue of double incidence of Stamp Duty on property financed using Islamic

structures. Normally whenever property is purchased, the buyer has to pay a Stamp Duty.

In case of Islamic finance where banks buy the property and then sell to the customer, there were two Stamp Duties payable, first by the bank and then by the customer. In 2003, the government had amended the Stamp Duty rules to charge only one Stamp Duty on such finance arrangements.

The UK government has also issued guidelines on the application of VAT to Islamic products. These guidelines have ensured that Islamic products are treated in the same way as conventional products. The lead taken by UK authorities to tax Islamic products should be intricately considered by Nigeria regulators and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as possible solution to help the Islamic markets to flourish.

Closer home, In Morocco, three Islamic banking products have been introduced; Ejara, Murabaha and Mucharaka. The first is essentially the equivalent of a leasing product, which typical is subject of a 20% VAT. But in the Ejara case, the financing does not originate from a bank, meaning that it is not considered a credit with the conventional interest rates that apply to credit. Ejara is said to be financed by the own funds of the consumer credit company, i.e. own resources and not what it labels as credit. What the financing firm gets is a sort of profit margin generated during the lease period through

monthly instalments, instead of an interest on financing.

Nevertheless, the Moroccan tax authorities have decided to impose a 20% VAT on Ejara.

In contrast, Murabaha was defined by the tax authorities as bank loans and imposed a 10% VAT. They consider it as a form of credit, just as it is defined in mainstream banking. Where the difference occurs is in the way the transactions are defined. In mainstream banking, credits are subject to interest on the money loaned.

In the Murabaha case, the creditor actually sells the "product" in question and earns a "legitimate" profit on that product. Even if the creditor never saw or took possession of the product, the money it gave its client means that implicitly it (the creditor) purchased that product and resold to its customers in exchange for a profit margin.

Summarily, it is argued that the need for reform is driven by a combination of reasons of which the requirement for tax parity is a significant element. Given the complex issues involved, the reform process may be conceptualized through a framework that reflects the collective influence of local factors in line with best practices merging the key factors of meeting the national interest criteria, law, fiscal and regulatory considerations. The rationale of such taxation framework is that faith-based considerations alone cannot determine changes to tax law--the necessity must be driven by a combination of core considerations based on 'need and urgency and circumstances.'

Any reform of tax law must in the first instance meet the 'national interest' criteria, meaning that the reform must benefit the nation as a whole and not just a select group. The 'legal compatibility' driver advocates that proposed changes to tax law must be accomplished within the existing legal framework with minimal adjustments.

'Fiscal' considerations relate to reforms that do not result in revenue loss and that revenue-positive outcome may be achieved through increased economic activity. That is, the net effect of facilitating Islamic finance ought not to result in revenue leakage but carry the potential to raise additional revenue through competition and innovation.

The 'regulatory' consideration argues for a 'whole-of-industry' approach in the sense that Islamic financial practices must conform to requirements administered by the FIRS, CBN and SEC. It must be noted that the longer Islamic banking tax regulations take to put in place, the greater the probability that other jurisdictions may gain greater competitive advantage.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 22

Nigerian Content Fund hits N15.7bn Stories by Muhammad Nasir

T

he oil companies in the country have contributed $100 billion (N15.7 billion) to the coffers of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) since inception of the scheme in 2010, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa, said.

Nwapa said at Nigerian oil and gas trade and investment forum 2012 organised by the federal ministry of trade and investment and orlean invest west africa limited in Port Harcourt, that designated accounts for NCDF and procedure for payment of one percent sum

had been set up for the initiative.

Meanwhile the $2 billion (N320 billion) Phase 4 jetty under construction in Onne oil and Gas Free Zone (FTZ), Port Harcourt, is expected to be completed in 2014. ‘’The new fund would be utilised as a pool to attract and facilitate venture capital.

Professionals will run the NCDF and it is expected to close all the

identified gaps in the old fund’’, he said.

According to him, the fund would be managed by the board of NCMB and was different from the $350 million local content fund, which was put together by NNPC in 2007 to serve as a working capital for Nigerian companies that got service contracts in the industry.

Nwapa said: ‘’ In this case, you need to demonstrate the

bankability of an investment and the board will begin to talk to you. You are going to show a business plan and prove that the investment will be able to “The fund will not be managed by engineers or officials of the board.

It will be managed by a proper fund manager with international best practices. So, there is no question of utilising the fund for what it is not meant for’’, he explained.

Nwapa said the vision of the NCMB was to grow the fund and use it to attract other financial players who would leverage on it such that Nigerian service providers would do business knowing that the fund was available for them to use.

He called on Nigerian investors to take advantage of the immense opportunities which the Nigerian Content Act had created for them.

NERC rules out cut in electricity tariff

A

gainst the backdrop of claims by one of its commissioners last week of a planned reduction in the recently introduced electricity tariff, the Nigerian Electricity Commission (NERC) has said there was no such moves.

NERC said at the weekend that the tariff was not yet ripe for review as it was only introduced less than six months ago.

In a chat with journalists at the weekend, Chairman of the Commission, Sam Amadi, admitted, however that there were established cases of wrong classification and illegal billings that were not in tandem with the new tariff.

He also identified improper implementation by the electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) as one of the problems plaguing the implementation of the new tariff.

Amadi, who reviewed the comment by the commissioner that NERC had commenced downward review of the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2 to be more favourable to small-scale businesses, denied such plans.

He added: “There are no tariffs for SMEs. Tariff is tariff and there are different customers.

You don’t review tariff piecemeal. There are reviews that the MYTO talked about; biannual minor review. That has to do with changes in inflation, exchange rates, and may be the cost of gas. That is about the minor review.”

He said the tariff regime was still being tested, with feedbacks from consumers still being collated and analysed.

Stressing that the MYTO 2 may not immediately translate to better electricity supply, he pointed out, however, that it was instrumental to unlocking the potential of the sector.

The NERC boss identified the granting of loans to finance power projects by international finance corporations largely funded by Nigeria as one of the major breakthroughs of MYTO 2.

L-R: Former Director, Tax Audit Processes and Programmes, Federal Inland Revenue Service (firs), Mrs Queensley Seghosime, Deputy Director, Tax Payer Services, Mrs Abimbola Opejun, and representative of the Chairman, Mr Andy Ejemeyovwi, during the business support programme, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

NEITI begins audit of allocations to govt, states, councils, agencies

T

he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) will soon begin a comprehensive independent audit of fiscal allocation and statutory disbursements of the extractive industries revenue funds from the Federation Account to the three tiers of government.

A statement issued by NEITI Director of Communication, Ogbonnaya Oji, in Abuja at the weekend, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has already approved the project at its last meeting Wednesday last week.

He stated that the objectives of the exercise include; the establishment of how the funds were distributed and received by the federal, state and councils.

He explained: “It is also designed to provide base line information and data to the three tiers of government on basis of computation of who gets what, how and why. The exercise will also explain if each of the three tiers gets from the funds their actual due. The audit will also lay emphasis on the application and utilisation of the funds by the various beneficiaries at the federal, state and local governments.”

NEITI highlighted that the scope of the exercise audit will cover the 13 per cent derivation

and relevant institutions that directly receive allocation from the federation account. It is expected to review policies and procedures on the disbursement and utilisation of extractive revenue funds by the three tiers of government.

According to NEITI, major agencies to be covered by the audits include the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Petroleum Development Technology Fund (PDTF), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Government’s share of derivation and ecology funds.

“The audit will also investigate the administration and application of excess crude oil accounts, the 13 per cent derivation, allocation to states and local government council as well as ecological funds operations,” Oji added.

He stressed that during the exercise, NEITI audit will specifically ask questions and seek answers for details of receipts into the federation account from the oil and gas, mining sector, validate allocations to federal, state and local council areas made from Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The exercise will also establish the balance in the federation account

during the period under review (2007 – 2011).

Speaking on the importance of this exercise, the NEITI Executive Secretary, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, expressed confidence that the exercise would provide baseline information and data required to block any leakages in the system, identify potential opportunities to channel oil, gas and mining revenue to areas of critical national needs with a view to reducing poverty in Nigeria.

The NEITI scribe called on agencies and tiers of government to be covered by the audit to open its doors and books to NEITI auditors in the overall interest of the nation. She assured that the exercise would be carried out with independence, integrity, competence and professionalism, which NEITI holds very sacred.

The planned audit was in compliance with Section 2 of NEITI Act 2007 and will cover the period between January 2007 and December 31, 2011.

Distribution coy assures of efficient power supply in South-West at Yuletide

T

he Electricity Consumers in the South-West Zone have been assured of stable power supply during the forthcoming Yuletide, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Mr Jide Oyenuga, Zonal Public Affairs Director, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, told NAN in Ibadan on Monday that plans were on to ensure stable power supply during the festivities.

“We are assuring members of the public that there will be steady and efficient power supply during the Christmas and New Year celebration,” he

said.

The spokesman assured that there would better supply of power during the celebration than the current situation.

He said that a team to ensure stable power would be on standby during the period.

“There is a team that will be working 24 hours throughout the Yuletide to make sure that members of the public get power supply to enjoy the holiday,” he said.

He also said that there would be a monitoring team that would be observing the supply situation and reporting back to the management. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

After the floods, farmers brace up for irrigation farming M

ost natural disasters, like the recent floods that ravaged many states across the country, are unavoidable. What could be done at most is to put measures in place to mitigate the effects.

Early this year, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) gave warning signs about the impending disaster to enable the flood prone areas to take precautionary measures.

While some states and local governments took the warning seriously, others failed to give it the deserved attention.

The result was unprecedented destruction of houses and farmlands, as well as loss of lives.

The destruction of farmlands across the country was devastating, giving rise to speculation that the country may likely experience food shortage.

Crops in farmlands in some of the affected states were washed away by the floods, some with no hope of harvests.

UNICEF expressed concern about the aftermath of the floods, as it predicted an impending food scarcity danger that may affect many children in the country.

It linked it not only to the floods but also to inadequate rains in 2011 and conflicts and violence in 2012, which led to massive displacement of farming communities, resulting in low agricultural activities and poor harvests.

In Yobe, many farmlands and more than 450 buildings were destroyed, while 3, 500 people were displaced by the floods in Gashua and Nguru.

Alhaji Mamman Majidadi, Secretary, Bade Emirate Council of Yobe said: “I have never seen such a disaster in my life, where crops were completely swept away and houses falling like packs of cards’’.

He explained that “the crops were uprooted by the flood and floated on the stagnant water, while the

More than 800 hectares of farmland have been destroyed by flood in three communities in Oshimili South and Ndokwa East local government areas, Delta state and other parts of the country.

Officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on a rescue mission to victims of the recent flood disaster in some parts of the country. houses collapsed because the stagnant water had no route to empty its excess”.

Alhaji Wakil Sarki, Yobe Commissioner for Environment said “the ministry heeded the warning by NIMET and cleared drainage in major towns of the state. We also erected embankments along the water banks to check the floods.’’

He attributed the devastating effects of floods in Gashua and Nguru to

inadequate drainage and discharge points.

Wakil Modu, a farmer in Nguru, said that farmers in the area had lost all their agricultural crops to the floods.

“The crops had been washed away. We are not expecting to harvest anything from the farms this year,’’ he observed.

The farmer, however, advised government to make arrangements for irrigation farming, to complement the

expected poor yields.

Irrigation farmers in Yobe also joined in the appeal to local, state and federal governments to provide farmers inputs to enhance irrigation, to boost food production and to check any adverse effect of the floods.

Spokesman of the farmers, Alhaji Modu Gashua, said that the Nguru wetlands are suitable for crops and vegetables.

“The only alternative left for farmers after the floods are

to embark on massive irrigation farming with assistance from government.

“With improved seedlings, fertiliser, water pumps and other necessary inputs, the Gashua and Nguru wetlands can produce 60 per cent food needs of the state and vegetable needs of the NorthEast geopolitical zone.

“The farmers have another chance of producing food crops and vegetables to make up for their losses in the floods,’’ he emphasised.

Another farmer, Malam Aliyu Umar, also said that farmers should be assisted and encouraged to take advantage of the wetlands which are still rich in moisture for irrigation farming.

Aliyu advised the government to harvest the rain water in subsequent seasons for agricultural purposes.

“It is an opportunity for government to harvest the rains, to boost irrigation farming because of the threats

also posed by drought and desertification,” he noted.

Although the country is not experiencing any food shortages, UNICEF has stressed that children should be well feed.

It advocated exclusive breast-feeding, consumption of iodised salt and Vitamin A. UNICEF reiterated the need for pregnant and nursing mothers to eat nutritious foods.

Mr Niyi Oyedokun, a UNICEF nutrition specialist, said Gombe, Jigawa, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi and Kano in the northern part of the country were under severe threat of nutrition.

Oyedokun advised the affected states to adopt the National Nutrition Policy as amended in 2002, and

establish state ad-hoc committee on food and nutrition.

He explained that 216 C o m m u n i t y - B a s e d Management of Acute Malnutrition Centres were established across the seven states, while 59,093 infants were provided with food supplements in the first half of this year.

Although the country is not facing any food shortages and President Jonathan has also assured there will not be any, there is still the need to harness irrigation farming.

Government should also embark on water harvesting to boost agricultural production, especially in the Sahel region of the country, stakeholders suggest.

(NANFeatures)

“

The destruction of farmlands across the country was devastating, giving rise to speculation that the country may likely experience food shortage. ...The farmers have another chance of producing food crops and vegetables to make up for their losses in the floods Agric Minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 26

Echoes from the 2012 COAS Conference L

By Joy Baba

ast week, the array of Nigeria’s top military officers from across the commands met at the Grand Hotel, Asaba, Delta state capital for the 2012 Chief of Army Staff, (COAS) Conference.

The COAS Conference is an annual event that serves as a stock taking forum for the Nigerian Army on its activities for the year and performance appraisal for its overall mandate to provide security for the territorial integrity of the nation and in helping to keep internal order and peace.

This year’s event, with theme “Consolidating Nigerian Army Transformation Drive towards Enhanced National Security” attracted dignitaries beyond the military circles including President Goodluck Jonathan, state governors, federal lawmakers, captains of industries, traditional rulers among others.

At the opening on Monday, November 26, 2012, the Chief of Army Staff, (COAS), Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, charged officers and men of the Nigerian Army to be more focused on measures that will enhance the current effort of all security agencies at addressing terrorism and other related internal security challenges noting that the lead lecture for this year’s conference “ Enhancing Inter Agency Cooperation in Conflict management’ was selected to underscore the importance of synergy and partnership with other security agencies.

The Conference was declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan, who charged the Army to rise up to the occasion and work closely with other security agencies to address the security challenges facing the nation.

Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olushola Obada charged the Army to intensify its current effort and work closely with other security agencies to develop new strategies that will address the current security challenges the nation is facing noting that this should be the a major area during deliberations.

The president also commended the services for the professional manner they have carried out their constitutional roles in defence of Nigeria Democracy and promoting fundamental freedom.

Based on these charges, participants went into closed doors sessions during which farreaching decisions were reached on strategies to improve on the performance of the Army and welfare of officers and men. During the conference, officers engaged on brain-storming sessions and put security issues and the safety of Nigerians on the front

Chief of Army of Staff Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika presenting a statue of President Goodluck Jonathan to the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olushola Obada at the 2012 Chief of Army Staff Conference in Asaba, Delta state.

Photo: Joy Baba burner. The session lasted for four days and participants were deeply engaged and focused on issues at stake.

At the closing, the COAS assured that the Army will build on the gains of the conference to come out with strategies to enhance its performance.

He said directives have been given to commanders of various commands in Nigeria to ensure that the welfare of officers and men were adequately taken care of.

He said this year’s conference has afforded the Nigerian Army the opportunity to review the activities of the year and discuss vital security issues noting that this will lead to enhanced security through effective supervision and monitoring of officers.

As part of the efforts to reposition the Army, the COAS said there is an order to purge all barracks of squatters and illegal occupants while statistical data on accommodation and families of personnel living in various barracks will be taken to enhance security situations in the barracks.

Ihejirika also assured them that he would press for more resources to improve the welfare of officers and men and also provide more accommodation for them in a standard it is expected to be.

This according to COAS will boost their morale in deliver on their job.

He further noted that it is important to place on record that what has been achieved in

the two years of his administration far outweighs what has been done in the last two decades put together.

According to COAS “though several of our barracks have not been fenced, we must have fenced may be two or three, at most four in the last two years.

But we are talking about may be eighty barracks that are not fenced. So doing that will entail a lot of resources, a lot of support which the current budget may not contain. But again whether barracks is fenced or not, it does not serve as excuse for any commander to allow what happened in Jaji to happen”.

“But one thing I would say is that the lack of fence compounds the challenge. So every command must think of ways of putting in his best to ensure that what happened in Jaji does not happen. What is important is that you have put in your best in terms of planning, in terms of security measures, in terms of intelligence.

Even when barracks are fenced, fences could be climbed, houses could be broken up, and we are not going to fence cities. So what it means is that fencing of barracks would not be the only solution but it would aid security. So a board of inquiry has been set up by the Nigerian Army and another one by the Defence headquarters have been set up.

So with all these two inquiries with various terms of reference, I believe that a number of revelations will come up which will further help us to ensure that such a thing does not come up," he said.

The Army Chief further said training of officers and men will receive so much boosts in the coming year to equip them on facing challenges and Nigerians should expect more comprehensive action by the military and all the security agencies as part of the decisions arrived at is that unit commanders should liaise more and they should supervise and monitor their personnel more closely than they have done in the past.

Nigerian Army Ihejirika said is working in collaboration with other services hour by hour, day to day with the state security services and also receive support from the Nigerian Intelligence Agency. Apart from that he said there are also certain international bodies that also relates with the military.

His visit to the Inspector General of Police he further said also part of the different ways to enhance intelligence gathering and dissemination.

In his words ‘You are also aware of my visit to the Inspector General of Police, we also agreed on ways of enhancing intelligence collection and then dissemination. The conference also emphasized the need for national intelligence fusion.

What it means is that all the various measures are going to be fast tracked to ensure that intelligence is further enhanced’.

‘And you should know that it is running battle because the people you are fighting are people within the country. So they know what measures you are even taking. They know that. So that is why I also drew

the attention of commanders on the need for them to on a continuous basis devise new tactics in dealing with the problem. Certain groups are going to be set up too to monitor the commanders in the field and no mistake about it. And no mistake about it, Command responsibility is one area we will emphasise more next year.

He also said henceforth, all vehicles being used by members of the Nigerian Army for operations will be painted in Nigerian Army colors whether they were donated by a company, state or local governments for obvious reasons. The only exception he said will be those already in Defence Headquarter colors which he said must be implemented immediately.

On the use of uniforms for operations, Ihejirika said Nigerian Army has varieties of uniforms saying commanders of certain areas will have the latitude to decide on which uniform to be worn n for what basis operation but such commander must report to the headquarter for record purposes and to be at par and know the reason for such directives.

Ihejirika urged all commanders to be up and doing since the military is dealing with an enemy that has no other business than plan mayhem from morning till night. Any lapse from any command he said will be regarded as relegation of duty and dealt decisively. To this effect he continued, all unit will receive COAS staff directives next week he further said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 27

Navy promotes senior officers Stories by Joy Baba

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he Board of Nigerian Navy said it has approved the promotion of 112 senior officers to various ranks.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Naval Director of Information, Commodore Kabir Aliyu.

The statement further said the promotion which cut across different ranks has 19 Commodores promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, 40 Captains to the rank of Commodore, 33 Commanders were elevated to the rank of Captain and 20 Lieutenant Commanders to the rank of Commander.

The 19 Commodores

promoted to Rear Admiral include; Commodores PA Agba, SI Alade, BA Egbedina, NP Agholor, OP Ozojiofor, GA Anyankpele, LON Iwuoha, HO Ngonadi, HH Babalola, EG Ofik, SE Ogoigbe, JKZ Ango, and AA Osinowo.

Others are Commodores RO Osondu, A Johnson and AL Akintola. In the Medical Branch, senior officers promoted to Rear Admirals are Surgeon Commodores AB Afolayan, TGS Epelle and AH Yusuf.

The newly promoted Rear Admirals the statement also said will be decorated with their new ranks in Abuja at a date to be announced while the other senior officers will be decorated by their various Administrative Authorities.

Discipline and re orientation key to transformation

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Chief of Naval Staff, ViceAdmiral Dele Ezeoba

igerian Army has said there is the need for the enforcement of discipline and re-orientation of soldiers in line with the transformation agenda of the present administration and that of Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika.

The call was made by Participants of the 2012 Commander Corps of Artillery (CCA) annual conference held at headquarters of Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery (NACA) in Kontagora, with the aim of appraising the activities of NACA and other artillery formations.

The participants also spoke on modalities for filling of course vacancies in the Nigerian Army School of Artillery (NASA)

Kachia, conduct of sensitisation lectures on security awareness for troops and the maintenance of equipment amongst others.

Speaking earlier, Commander, Corps of Artillery (CCA), Major General Amnon Kalayi Kwaskebe, called on the participants to compliment efforts of the Chief of Army Staffin the execution of his vision to transform the army into a force better prepared to meet contemporary challenges.

A golf kitty was also hosted at the conference in honor of the immediate past CCA, Major General Emmanuel Etim Bassey.

Principal staff officers of NACA headquarters and commanders of the artillery formations and units attended the conference.

Navy launches attack on crude oil thieves in Niger Delta

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part from the B o k o H a r a m insurgency in the northern part of the country, perhaps, the next major challenge facing Nigeria currently is the theft of crude in the Niger-Delta region.

The Nigerian Navy, in an attempt to address the menace of crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, piracy and other crimes in the region, launched a week-long tactical operation to send warning signals to perpetrators of these acts that it is no longer business as usual.

The Naval Headquarters was technically relocated to the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) THUNDER, with the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Dele Ezeoba, and the top echelon of the navy aboard, for the sea exercise code-named Farauta.

The sea exercise took place in the Bight of Benin and the Gulf of Guinea from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17.

“The idea was to send a signal to crude oil thieves and pirates that it was no longer business as usual. With the massive deployment of eight ships, six gun boats, these criminals saw that they don’t have any other choice than to leave our waters,” Ezeoba said.

Gunshots were fired sporadically by the eight warships involved in the exercise to inform the sea criminals of the navy’s presence.

Analysts note that the naval exercise in the Niger Delta region is apt, considering the fact that the area is the economic nerve centre of the nation.

This is because the area, which constitutes about 90 per cent of Nigeria’s maritime environment, also generates about 80 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, some of the analysts note.

Unfortunately, the region is home to illegal activities such as crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, piracy, smuggling and oil pipeline vandalism.

Therefore, there is no gainsaying the fact that these

L-R: Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, Minster of State for Defence, Erelu Olushola Obada and Commandant, National Defence College, Vice Admiral Thomas Lokoson, after a press briefing on 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance day in Abuja. criminal activities within the coastal and offshore areas of the Niger Delta region have become a source of serious concern to the government.

Perceptive observers estimate that since 2000, there has been a daily theft of between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels of crude oil and a study commissioned by the International Centre of Reconciliation found that Nigeria lost about N14 trillion to crude oil theft and disruptions in oil production between 2003 and 2008.

Besides, a recent report by the International Energy Agency said that Nigeria was losing about seven billion U.S. dollars (about N1.05 trillion) to oil theft every year.

The report added that oil

theft and sabotage often led to oil pipeline vandalism, causing oil firms to cut output.

Also, there is a growing concern about the emerging threat of transnational terrorism in the Niger Delta region and its possible impact on maritime economic activities.

Irked by these illegal activities, President Goodluck Jonathan, during the swearing in of new service chiefs on Oct. 8, directed the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Ezeoba, to ensure that the Nigerian Navy put an immediate stop to these illegalities.

“I will like to use this forum to specially charge you to erase the many security challenges confronting our nation today.

“More specifically, the Chief of Naval Staff, along with his

officers and men, has the honorable responsibility of improving security in our territorial waters.

“The unacceptable rising incidents of crude theft must be tackled frontally because of the adverse implications of crude oil theft on our national economy.

“I expect the Chief of Naval Staff and other service chiefs to immediately go to work and urgently bring the issue of crude oil theft to an end,’’ Jonathan stressed.

In line with the president’s directive, Ezeoba swung into action by organising the weeklong joint maritime exercise to evaluate the operational effectiveness of the navy’s fleet.

Farauta was also aimed at intensifying ongoing naval operations against criminal

activities in the Niger-Delta region with a particular emphasis on Bonny-AkassaEscravos axis, the area notorious for crude oil theft.

Eight ships — NNS Thunder, NNS Kyanwa, NNS Nwamba, NNS Obula, NNS Burutu, NNS Zaria, NNS Makurdi and NNS Andoni — six gun boats and three helicopters, as well as units of the Nigerian Army and a maritime patrol aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) participated in the exercise.

At the beginning of the exercise, three ships, NNS Nwamba, NNS Andoni and NNS Makurdi, sailed from the Apapa Naval Base in Lagos, while NNS Thunder, NNS Kyanwa, NNS Burutu sailed from Onne, near Port Harcourt.

Source: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 29

Katsina’s approach to irrigation farming From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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gricultural sector the world over play a prominent role in ensuring the security and stability of the nation states.

With the increasing population and the threat posed by lack of food, experts in agriculture had device means of promoting irrigation farming. The recent statistics from various sources across the world and the irrigation farmers had shown that, irrigation farming is more beneficial as a source of revenue earner than the traditional wet farming.

To show that the future of the development of the world economy depends largely on agriculture developed economies of the world have shifted focus and investing heavily on agricultural activities. In 2010 the European Union, EU and the United State of America, US spent 57 Billion pounds on agricultural development of which 39 billion pounds were spent on direct subsidy.

Similarly agriculture and fishery subsidy formed 40 % of EU budget while countries like China, Brazil, Vietnam and Thailand had experienced significant growth in the agric sector which translates into poverty reduction.

In the case of Katsina State, since the inception of Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema’s administration in 2007 it has accorded agriculture the desired attention. Having considered the role of agriculture in sustaining stability and security of the society, the government took pro-active measures to reinvigorate and redirect the course of agricultural practices in the state. A lot of study groups man by experts on agriculture were formed while several brainstorming sessions were organised to chart the way forward.

Undoubtedly, these several efforts and experts assessments culminating into realizing the potentials of irrigation farming as a poverty reduction tool, a revenue earner and a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP of the country at large.

A major step taken by the government to boost agricultural activities in the state, was the setting-up of the Agricultural Activities Implementation Committee, AAIC, which comprises seasoned agriculturalists from within and outside the state.

The committee’s major role then was to study the report of the consultants from the Institute of Agricultural

Research of the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and to make recommendations that would move the state agric sector forward.

Irrigation farming as the future of agriculture became top and emerged as the major beneficiary of Governor Shema’s administration’s efforts aimed at ensuring food security and poverty eradication in the state. The major and must successful point of intervention was in the Jibia Irrigation Project.

The irrigation project is under the Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, (SRBDA), and following the state government’s intervention the scope of the scheme in terms of hectares coverage increased from 100 hectares in 2009 to 30,050.00 hectares in 2012.

Apparently, fertilizer is the major catalyst for farming activities and having realised this, Katsina State government formulated a transparent and more effective mode of fertilizer distribution to irrigation farmers across the state. This new mode of fertilizer distribution involves the direct allocation of this subsidized fertilizer to farmers on ground. These distributions were done under the strict monitoring and supervision of a powerful committee of the ministry of agriculture. The role of Fadama farmers in the development of irrigation activities cannot be ignored and it was in recognition of this that the governments move in to compliment them with various irrigation scheme initiatives. The government spent the sum of N431, 836,000.00 on procurement of 2 inch irrigation pumps with their accessories, drilling rigs, rig towing vehicles. These were all done under the Commercial Agriculture Loan scheme and government approved N3, 000,000.00 for the expansion of the loan scheme. Similarly the programme involves the drilling of tube Wells, 1,000 wash bores as well as the procurement of 1,000 2 inch water pumps for special loan scheme to irrigation sites across the state at a 50% discount.

Rehabilitation of existing irrigation facilities across the irrigation sites across the state was also a major priority of the government. To this end, the state government rehabilitated 5 irrigation schemes in Dabiram, Kwanar Are, Mashiga, Makera and Mairuwa , in Rimi, Kankara, Dutsin-ma and Funtua local governments respectively.

In 2010 additional 5 were rehabilitated at the cost of

over N50 million. In 2011, Katsina State Government under Governor Shema’s administration purchase 8 number 6 inch high capacity pumps to boost irrigation farming at the cost of N47,064,000.00 million and approved the purchase of 8 high capacity pumps at the cost of N47, 296,000.00 this year. Plans have also reached advance stage to construct three new irrigation schemes in Tuduwa, Takatsaba, and Kirjan both in Dutsi, Dutsinma and Dandume local governments respectively. To open-up more areas for irrigation activities the state government was making efforts to conduct feasibility studies at Gari River, Jachi I Ingawa and Mani local governments with a view of constructing new dams.

As a sign of government commitment to irrigation and improve food security in the state, the government stretched its hands as far as Benin Republic were it studied the operations and reputation of Songhai Centre at Port Nono as it relates to the concept of integrated farming. With this the government had entered into an agreement with the Songhai Regional Centre for the establishment of Songhai model farms in three locations in Makera, Sabke and Maituwa both in Dutsinma, Daura and Funtua local government respectively. The programme which is an integrated and multidimentional approach to agricultural development is expected to significantly address the menace of youth unemployment and poverty in the state. As part of the agreement, 60 youth from Katsina are already receiving six month training in agricultural enterprises at various Songhai Farms locations in Benin Republic.

This project would cost the state government and the 34 local governments in the state N3 billion.

Paradoxically, to ensure sustainability and secure the future the state Commissioner of Agriculture, Alhaji Musa Adamu Funtua noted that the government is exploring ways and avenues of harnessing the abundant agricultural resources in the state. He said just recently investors from Australia and Israel visited the state for discussion, seeking ways and areas of collaboration. The commissioner added that negotiations were also on with New Era Energy from UK to utilize the wind energy boost irrigation in three different locations in the state. To Katsina State, irrigation hold the key to food security and stability.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 28

By Mohammed Kandi

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n its effort to ensure selfsufficiency in rice production, the Federal Government and nine states governments have agreed to mobilize rice farmers in the country to plant the crop on 230, 000 hectres of farmland.

The stab is aimed at producing over 450, 000 metric tons of paddy rice through irrigation in the forthcoming dry season. The decision, according to a statement issued by Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, Director Information, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

IAR reiterates commitment to develop insect resistance cowpea

Rice production: FG, 9 states agree to plant 230, 000 hectares Development, was reached at a special meeting on the implementation strategy for accelerated paddy rice production programme in the 2012 dry season.

It also said the meeting involved the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Commissioners of Agriculture from 9 states of the Federation in Sokoto State.

Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Bukar Tijani, who chaired the meeting, represented the Federal Government while Commissioners

of Agriculture represented their respective states at the high-level meeting. The nine states represented at the meeting were Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Jigawa and Kebbi.

It would be recalled that as part of his National Transformation Agenda for the country, President Goodluck Jonathan has directed and mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to take all necessary measures in its agricultural transformation plan to expand and

accelerate paddy rice production in the country with a view to achieving self-sufficiency and end the importation of the commodity by 2015.

Meanwhile, Nigeria currently spends the equivalent of N1 billion daily or N365 billion annually on the importation of processed rice, even though the country has millions of hectres of land suitable for rice farming, and a pool of experienced farmers who could produce the commodity and process it locally for consumption.

President Jonathan has,

however, directed the ministry to provide incentives to the rice farmers including improved rice seeds free of charge, and 50 per cent subsidy on the cost of two bags of fertilisers.

Additional incentives available to the farmers include a Guaranteed Minimum Price per metric ton of paddy rice, creating linkages between rice farmers and largescale rice millers, and the provision of extension services in order to help them achieve maximum yield per hectres and earn good income from their efforts.

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he Director, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Dr Ahmed Falaki, says the institute has reached advanced stage in developing insect resistance Bt cowpea (beans) varieties.

Falaki made this known at the second Agricultural Biotechnology Sensitisation Workshop on “Development of Maruca Resistance Bt cowpea” held at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria on Wednesday.

Represented by Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar, the Programme Leader, Irrigation Research of the Institute, Falaki said the institute was determined to ensure the actualisation of the said goal.

“The workshop is aimed at keeping the university community and the general public informed on the progress made in our quest to develop maruca resistance Bt cowpea.

“Where we are today is at the stage of replicating multi-locations to select high yielding and insect resistance cowpea for subsequent release to our esteemed farmers.

“It is to the credit of IAR and African Agricultural Technology Fund (AATF) and ABU that in the entire history of mankind a transgenic maruca resistant cowpea variety is being successfully developed and at the verge of commercialisation.

“We are blessed with the basic infrastructure for product development at both field and containment levels as well as cognate expertise to spearhead this research endeavour,” he said.

In his speech, the Chairman of the occasion and Director, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Bayodele Solomon, commended the institute, describing the achievement as a “giant stride”.

Earlier, the ABU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, restated the commitment of the university toward maintaining its quality research output targeted at rural and agricultural development.

Abdullahi, represented by the Dean, Students’ Affairs, Prof.

Mohammed Ishaku, said it was to the credit of the university that the institute recorded tremendous achievements in agricultural research.

He assured the Institute and its collaborating partners of continued support to enable it TO achieve the set mandate. (NAN)

From left Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Bukar Tijani, Gombe State Commissioner for Agriculture Alhaji DahiruBubanBiri and Kebbi State Commissioner for Agriculture, Elder Muhammad SaniRuwanKanya, at the meeting of the Minister with 9 state Commissioners of agriculture on Accelerated rice production in the forthcoming dry season in Sokoto weekend

Rice sellers want modern farming technique in Gombe

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hairman, Gombe State Rice Sellers Association of Nigeria (RISAN) Alhaji Bala Idi, has called on governments at all levels to assist farmers with technical knowledge on modern farming techniques to improve productivity.

Idi made the call in an

interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe recently, saying that with proper planning and assistance, rice would be produced in excess for both domestic consumption and export.

He also said that with adequate support to rice farmers, Nigeria would produce a lot of farm

produce for self sufficiency in the country.

According to Idi, the importation of rice into the country can be avoided with determination and implementation of the policies in the agricultural sector.

“Nigeria has enough farm lands that can be used to produce rice for

domestic consumption and export.

It is possible to export the commodity instead of importing same, because we have all the resources in the country.”

Idi called on the relevant authorities to invest in the sector and assist farmers with enough inputs. (NAN)

Agric neglect poses danger to Nigeria’s economy, says Expert

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ountry Director, Crown Agents Nigeria Limited, Dr Mark Abani, has said that the neglect of agriculture poses imminent danger to the nation’s economy.

Abani was a guest lecturer at the 5th Convocation Lecture of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, held at the University auditorium recently.

The lecture is entitled: “Agriculture, Education and Entrepreneurship as catalyst for National Development’’, saying that Nigeria’s inability to feed itself further threatened the nation’s security.

The country director argued that Nigeria’s dependence on

mono-economy, oil and gas, meant that “any changes to the demand for those products will directly damage us.

According to him, that danger is real and looming as alternative energy sources are being explored.

Abani, however, charged the graduating students not to despair, pointing out that the development “poses very tangible opportunities’’ for them ‘’to grasp and exploit’’.

He maintained that food security and education were identified in vision 20:2020 as “key transformational drivers for the nation and the achievements of our goals’’.

He recommended the use of “entrepreneurship approach’’ to

agriculture as catalyst for agricultural transformation necessary for wealth creation.

He expressed regrets that agriculture had been treated in Nigeria as a hobby, arguing that it could only become profitable “if we use a business approach’’.

Abani maintained that the end result would be an increase in investment in the sector, job creation and security.

The country director also spoke extensively on the comparative benefits of the value chain marketing as against the “traditional selling system’’.

The chairman of the occasion, Dr Greg Ibe, charged the graduating students to develop their creativity

and entrepreneurial skills to succeed in the outside world.

“The world out there is not a bed of roses; you are to explore the opportunities offered by the environment in order to contribute to national development,’’ he said.

Ibe, who is also the Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, said that Nigeria had great potential to become a world leading economy through agriculture.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Hilary Edeoga, described the topic of the lecture as apt and strategic to.

Edeoga said the topic would further drive the message home that agriculture remained the livewire of Nigeria’s economy. (NAN)

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Re-understanding the political ideology of Muktar Shagari Haruna Garba Kebbe

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he above would have just passed as one of those paid public relations materials but for some insinuations it calls for a reply.

The writer of the piece Muhammad Abdullahi want us to believe that Muktar shagari is operating alone as deputy governor when we all knew that it's a joint ticket between him and Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. Whatever seeming shortcomings the writer might have observed, his master Muktar shagari is part of it. If the decay in the society has ever worried Muktar Shagari, he has not voiced it out openly or made any attempt to correct it or has he?

It is vainglory for anyone to continue to eulogise someone you hardly know. Muktar Shagari as far as anyone knows does not profess any ideology.

As a team player, if Shagari honestly believe that something is wrong with the way Sokoto is run, he can proffer solutions by talking to his boss or even take up the matter at the periodic Executive Council meetings and if such counseling fails then he could have basis to worry. Muktar should not rock the boat while at the same time paddling it. To paddle in a boat and yet try to wreck it is synonymous with treachery.

No matter how insensitive a government is it is not possible for it to ignore its' teeming youths who are the future of the society. The global recession is responsible for youth unemployment and the Magatakarda administration

Sokoto State Governor

ALIYU MAGATAKARDA WAMAKKO responded positively by way of skill acquisition programme.

Since its' inception the Wamakko administration has remained committed to the promotion of human development, self reliance and economic

“

Similarly, the government made it possible to recruit about 2,600 youths in the second phase of Neighbourhood Initiative Programme where they were trained in the area of first aid and neighbourhood watch services.

It is therefore surprising that considering the various achievements of Wamakko's administration, there are those who because of some personal ambitions see nothing in the efforts of the Government to tame these youths.

growth.

A number of strategies have been put in place to address the problems of poverty, youth restiveness and unemployment.

The establishment of Skills Acquisition Centres, renovation, rehabilitation and extension of Orphanage and Remand Homes has enhanced the social well being of the Sokoto people. These Skills Acquisition Centres have yielded dividends as over 150,000 youths have so far graduated and given tools and capital to start on their own.

So if these youths refused to continue after all the government has done who is to be blamed?

Similarly, the government made it possible to recruit about 2,600 youths in the second phase of Neighbourhood Initiative Programme where they were trained in the area of first aid

a n d neighbourhood watch services.

It is therefore surprising that considering the v a r i o u s achievements of Wamakko's administration, there are those who because of some personal ambitions see nothing in the efforts of the Government to tame these youths.

In an attempt to further solve the problems of unemployment t h e administration provided over six hundred buses, taxis and tricycles that were given out on loan to individuals to e a s e transportation problems within and outside the State. This was just part of the steps in an ongoing exercise to alleviate poverty in the state through v a r i o u s commercial activities. The Wamakko administration also procured Candle, shoes, mattress and Paint-making machines and other machines that were used to train the unemployed youths who were encouraged to be self-reliant and industrious. In the same vein the Government procured three sets of complete drilling equipment for water boreholes, one for each of the three Senatorial Districts. The equipments are being utilized by the State indigenes that have been trained in that field.

The drilling equipments will ensure citizens are involved in provision of water for agriculture, human and animal consumption. This is general empowerment. The youths have taken advantage of this opportunity to engage in all season farming. It is also on record that the

Government trained more than 13,000 youths on various trades.

After all these does, Abdullahi and his benefactor want or think these efforts are not enough? Your personal prejudices and refusing to submit to the will of Allah would be your greatest undoing. Look Mr Abdullahi, if your aim is to add value to your benefactor's quest to become the next Governor after Alu, then your approach is wrong because it is capable of undermining him.

Having an egalitarian society is not only the statutory responsibilities of the government but a collective one. Every member of the society has a role to play in making sure that he does what would add to societal growth and not to begrudge the efforts of well meaning individuals or leaders. As individuals, what has Abdullahi and his benefactors did to alleviate the situation or even help educate some of these youths as part of civic and social responsibilities. In other places where people benefitted immensely from Government they pay back by way of shouldering certain responsibilities. No one is asking anybody to give handouts to people but rather help them to attain a situation where they can fend for themselves.

My candid advice to the Muktari protagonists is that they should tread carefully and be honest and just in their comment about this W a m a k k o / S h a g a r i administration.

This is because it is not politically expedient to keep spilling the beans in the belief that by trying to create a holier-than thou attitude the pendulum would swing in favour of their master. 2015 is still far and caution, absolute loyalty and submission to the will of Allah are the only things that can take you guys to the envisaged position.

Adversary and persistent fault finding can never lead you and your master to salvation. A word is enough for the wise.

Haruna Garba Kebbe Sokoto State Polytechnic haroung@yahoo.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

ANALYSIS

By Richard Falk

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hen Israel, a member state of the UN, fails to co-operate and is guilty of persistent gross violations of international law, then something should be done in reaction. It is notable and regrettable, that the most direct challenges to the unlawful blockade of Gaza have come, not from the UN or from member states in the region and beyond, but from civil society in the form of the Free Gaza Movement and the Freedom Flotilla. It is equally notable that the most serious challenges to Israel's archipelago of expanding settlements has been mounted by the BDS Campaign of solidarity with the Palestinian people and not by states or international institutions.

We should also remember Rachel Corrie, in this connection, an American peace activist who was brazenly killed by an Israel bulldozer almost 10 years ago while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home in Rafah. Rachel was an idealistic young woman who pierced the dehumanising myths surrounding the plight of the Palestinian people. In a letter to her mother back in Olympia, Washington, Rachel, just days before her death, wrote, "I have bad nightmares about tanks and bulldozers outside our house and you and me inside."

It is such brave persons who bear witness to the daily ordeal being experienced by Palestinians, not just for days or months, or even years, but for decades and generations. It should not have been necessary for Rachel Corrie to sacrifice her life in this manner if the world system had done its job of enforcing the rights of the long oppressed Palestinian people.

We who have witnessed and documented these realities of oppression must do our best to honour Rachel Corrie's legacy.

The time has come for practical measures that back up UN assessments of Israeli unlawfulness.

This unlawfulness is sustaining a cruel and prolonged occupation of Palestine that has over time assumed the character of territorial expansionism coupled with an apartheid structure of control. As many as 600,000 Israeli settlers are fully protected by the Israeli rule of law while Palestinian residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem are held captive decade after decade without rights and without the protection of law.

Such conditions are often worsened by prison detentions and lifelong confinement in refugee camps, either within Palestine or in neighbouring countries. It is an intolerable status quo, and has been for a period spanning several generations of Palestinians. The international community recently, with much fanfare, avowed "the responsibility to protect" as a new international norm intended to guide the UN in responding to situations of humanitarian catastrophe. Only the maliciousness of geopolitics can explain why the people of Palestine, and especially the residents of Gaza, have not been given the protection that they so desperately need and deserve.

It seems time to challenge this maliciousness in the name of peace and justice, and the dignity of a

PAGE 31

Palestine: Political violence is not the answer (III)

"The Palestinians are the most glaring example in this post-colonial era of a people who have not managed to gain their independence and national sovereignty despite almost 65 years of struggle, strife and humiliation," says author [EPA] people whose inalienable right of selfdetermination has been too long denied. A starting point might be the deployment of UN peacekeepers to monitor adherence to the ceasefire.

The Palestinians are the most glaring example in this post-colonial era of a people who have not managed to gain their independence and national sovereignty despite almost 65 years of struggle, strife and humiliation.

Prolonged occupation is a special condition that deserves a special recognition that it has not yet received. The occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since 1967 exacts a terrible cost from the captive population. The framework provided by international humanitarian law, while helpful in situations of short term occupation, falls far short of its claims to offer the protection needed when an occupation extends beyond 10 years. One aspect of occupation is to silence those who represent the people of such a society.

The UN General Assembly is being given an opportunity to take belated account of this situation on

this very day by recognising and acknowledging Palestinian statehood, something 132 governments have already done by establishing diplomatic relations with Palestine. The very least that a people living for more than 45 years under occupation deserve is this right of access to the institutions of the world to present their grievances on a global stage, to have a voice, and if not a fullfledged seat at the tables of decision, at least a stool. Let us hope that the UN General Assembly will give us all something positive to celebrate on this International Day of Solidarity.

Let me bring these remarks to a close with several observations: What follows from this is obvious: if political violence begets more political violence, then it is time for the stronger side to turn to diplomacy, compromise, respect for law and rights. Until Israel appreciates that its security can only be achieved by turning to peaceful means, there will be insecurity for both Israelis and Palestinians, the dance of death will go on. It was only

“

when the British made this switch that the conflict in Northern Ireland changed from being "irreconcilable" to becoming "negotiable", and a substantial peace followed.

This is a time when the test of solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people needs to be expressed by deeds, by walking the walk, no longer being content with talking the talk. It is time for civil society actors throughout the world to lend robust support to the BDS Campaign. It is time for governments to consider the sort of economic sanctions so effectively imposed on the South African apartheid regime. It is time for the UN to accord recognition of statehood to any people that has been occupied for more than 10 years starting with the people of Palestine.

It is time for the members of the Quartet, which includes the UN, the EU, Russia and the United States to explain to the world how it imagines a Palestinian state to be possible in light of Israel's continued settlement expansion and the related determined attempt to give East Jerusalem a distinctly Jewish character. Without such an explanation, it is bad faith,

In other words, it is time for us finally, wherever and whoever we are, to act responsibly toward the Palestinian people. The great Jewish religious teacher, Abraham Heschel, expressed this sentiment with memorable words: "Few are guilty, all are responsible".

and a trap for the Palestinians, to urge a return to another diversionary round of negotiations, a roadmap to nowhere!

In other words, it is time for us finally, wherever and whoever we are, to act responsibly toward the Palestinian people. The great Jewish religious teacher, Abraham Heschel, expressed this sentiment with memorable words: "Few are guilty, all are responsible".

I want to give the last words to the extraordinary Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, some lines from his long prophetic poem, "Silence for Gaza", written in 2007, but more relevant today than when written. These lines refer to the plight of Gazans, but they apply as well to all Palestinians, whether living under the yoke of occupation, in refugee camps, or consigned to an involuntary diaspora throughout the world: Enemies might triumph over Gaza (the storming sea might triumph over an island‌ they might chop down all its trees) They might break its bones. They might implant tanks on the insides of its children and women.

They might throw it into the sea, sand, or blood But it will not repeat the lies and say 'Yes' to invaders.

It will continue to explode It is neither death, nor suicide. It is Gaza's way of declaring that it deserves to live. It will continue to explode. It is neither death, nor suicide. It is Gaza's way of declaring that it deserves to live.

Concluded Source: Aljazeera.com

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto confirm Kenyan alliance T

Gabon seeks tougher terms from oil companies

G

abon is seeking to squeeze more money out of foreign oil companies operating in the country, executives say, potentially damping enthusiasm for a long-awaited deepwater licensing round due next year.

The move mirrors similar steps by resource-rich nations around the world over the past decade, when countries such as Kazakhstan or Venezuela clawed back projects or tightened the terms for international companies as energy prices soared.

Oil accounts for around half of Gabon's economy but output has fallen by a third since peaking at 370,000 barrels per day in 1997.

However, the country's reserves are put at around 3.7 billion barrels, giving it several decades yet of hydrocarbon wealth.

The West African country's government has launched audits of oil producers that have led to big back-tax claims and is demanding tougher terms for, and equity stakes in, new contracts, said executives, who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising their interests in the country.

"I think it is really driven by the desire to get a better deal for the state," said one oil executive.

The government declined to respond to questions about whether it had launched a concerted drive to extract more money from oil companies but the country's oil and energy minister confirmed some companies were being audited.

"We got the opportunity to do some audits to see if a contract is well run and ... we noticed a lot of exceptions," said Etienne Ngoubou.

"You engage in some negotiations with the operation company to check each exception and to agree if you have some tax (due)," he added in an interview with Reuters.

Three executives said Addax Petroleum, a unit of China's Sinopec, had been threatened with the loss of an oil field in a dispute over terms.

Ngoubou acknowledged the dispute but said the disagreement was over environmental problems at the field, which one executive identified as the Obangue onshore field.

"They got some accidents.

Their facility doesn't respect the rules of the Institute of Petroleum ... They have to fit with the specifications. Otherwise we take some decisions," he said.

wo bitter political rivals in Kenya facing trial at the International Criminal Court have confirmed their alliance for next year's election.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former minister William Ruto addressed thousands of supporters in western Kenya to seal their pact.

The ICC has indicted the two over the violence that hit Kenya after the disputed 2007 elections.

Their case is due to start after the March election.

'United and peaceful' At a joint rally in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, the two leaders announced that Mr Kenyatta would be the presidential candidate and and Mr Ruto his running mate.

"We have agreed we are uniting on behalf of the people of Kenya. Our alliance is not for fighting anyone. We are uniting for the sake of the people of Kenya," Mr Kenyatta said.

Mr Ruto said they were not concerned about the ICC case.

"Those talking ill of Ruto and Uhuru are wasting their time. The

Under the deal, Uhuru Kenyatta (l) will be the presidential candidate and William Ruto (r) his running mate ICC cases have formed the basis of debates but we are going to prove them wrong [and show] that Kenyans are united and want peace," he said.

Both men deny playing key

roles in the violence which followed the 2007 poll.

Some 1,200 people were killed and 300,000 forced from their homes.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were

on opposite sides in the 2007 election.

Mr Kenyatta backed President Mwai Kibaki, while Mr Ruto was part of Raila Odinga's alliance seeking to oust the president.

Egypt judges refuse to oversee Morsi referendum

J

udges in Egypt have refused to oversee a vote on the country's new draft constitution, to be held in two weeks.

The Judges' Club's decision follows a confrontation between Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court and Islamist supporters of President

Mohammed Morsi.

The court said it was suspending its work after its members were prevented from ruling on the legitimacy of the body that drew up the constitution.

Opposition groups called for protests against the referendum on

Protesters again Mursi's proposal in Cairo

Tuesday.

They said Mr Morsi had broken a promise not to call a referendum without gaining a wide national consensus.

"The National Salvation Front condemns the irresponsible act by the president of the republic in calling a referendum on an illegitimate constitution that is rejected by a large section of his people," an alliance of opposition groups said in a statement.

The opposition believes that the draft constitution undermines basic freedoms.

The latest developments heighten the tensions between President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political opponents and the judiciary on the other.

Hours after the Supreme Constitutional Court suspended its work, the Judges' Club, the union

which represents the profession nationwide, said it had turned down the judges' traditional role of electoral oversight for the referendum.

"We have decided to boycott the supervision of the referendum on the constitution scheduled for December 15, 2012," the club's head Ahmed al-Zind announced.

"This protest is in response to what is being called the 'constitutional decree' and until this decree is rescinded."

Correspondents say the club's decisions are not binding on members, and Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky said he was confident judges would do their job.

The Supreme Constitutional Court had earlier described Sunday as "the blackest day in the history of Egyptian judiciary" after its judges were prevented from attending a meeting by Islamist protesters.

Congo government back in Goma, says rebels still too close

G

overnment forces reestablished control over Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma on Monday after rebels withdrew, but a senior official said the insurgents were only a few kilometers away and still posed a threat.

The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.backed government forces and holding it for 11 days.

But the situation remained tense and uncertain in the absence of any definitive peace accord to end the eight-month-old insurgency, which has displaced thousands of civilians in a region that is a tinderbox of ethnic and political conflict.

North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku, who had left Goma when rebels took it on November 20, met Congolese Interior Minister Richard Muyej in a hotel in the city, which is sited among lush green hills on Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda.

"I have come back here to work like before," Paluku told Reuters, saying his residence was looted during the rebel seizure of Goma. The city's capture triggered an international diplomatic scramble to head off an escalation of the conflict.

Under a deal brokered by Uganda days after Goma's fall, M23 leaders agreed to withdraw to positions 20 km (13 miles) north of the city after Congolese President Joseph Kabila said he was ready to listen to the rebels'

grievances.

But Paluku said some M23 units were much closer to the city than

had been agreed. "They are in Monigi. It is only 3 or 5 km away. It is not good," he told Reuters.

Government forces arriving Goma

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Asia and Middle East

A

Royal Saudi Air Force F15 jet crashed in the Gulf during a routine training exercise late on Sunday and the search for the pilot is still continuing, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the defense ministry as saying on Monday.

PAGE 33

Saudi F-15 jet crashes on training mission, pilot missing Pilot Officer Fahad Bin Faleh AlMsarir was on a routine training mission late Sunday in King Abdulaziz Air Base located in the Eastern Region, the defense

ministry said "The plane suffered an accident leading to its fall in the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia and investigation is undergoing," SPA

Japan prepares for North Korean missile launch

announced a $29.4 billion deal to sell the new F-15, made by Boeing, to the Saudi air force. Industry sources have said the Saudis will buy 84 of the jets.

UN's Ban Kimoon warns Israel of 'fatal blow' to peace

I

J

apan has begun deploying a surface-to-air missile defence system and is putting its armed forces on standby in advance of a planned North Korean missile launch this month, reports and officials say.

The Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that a naval vessel carrying PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) ballistic missiles left a western Japan naval base on Monday, headed for the country's southern Okinawa island chain.

North Korea announced on Saturday that it would launch a rocket between December 10 and 22 - its second long-range rocket launch this year after a much-hyped but botched attempt in April.

Satoshi Morimoto, Japan's defence minister, ordered the military on Saturday to prepare for the rocket launch, with a defence ministry spokesman telling AFP news agency that "our ground, marine, and air forces are now preparing to deploy troops in Okinawa", which the rocket may fly over.

Japan is also planning to deploy Aegis warships in neighbouring waters, the Yomiuri Shimbun and other Japanese media reported on Monday.

Officials are preparing to issue an advance order as soon as Friday to shoot down the rocket if it looks set to fall on Japanese territory, after an emergency meeting chaired by Yoshihiko Noda, prime minister, the Nikkei business daily reported.

In April, Japan ordered missiledefence preparations, including placing one of its PAC-3 systems next to the defence ministry building in central Tokyo in response to the earlier North Korean rocket-launch attempt.

Military preparations were also made in 2009 in advance of another attempt.

Noda on Monday called for close co-operation with the US, China, South Korea and Russia in preparation for the planned launch, which has drawn international condemnation.

"I have ordered cabinet ministers to gather and analyse information closely with each other and as we closely collaborate with related countries," he was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.

North Korea has reportedly notified neighbours, including Japan, of the trajectory of the planned rocket launch.

It would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong-un, who took power following his father Kim Jong-il's death nearly a year ago.

added. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and main Arab ally of the United States, also has Tornadoes and Typhoons in its air force.

Last year Washington

F-15 jet

sraeli settlement plans in a strategically sensitive area of occupied land near East Jerusalem would deal "an almost fatal blow" to peace hopes, UN head Ban Kimoon has warned.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem could be completely cut off from the rest of the West Bank, he said.

Israel authorised 3,000 additional housing units a day after the UN voted to upgrade Palestinian status.

On Monday, the UK summoned the Israeli envoy to express its concerns.

The UK Foreign Office said Israel should expect a "strong reaction" if it went ahead with its plans.

The UN General Assembly backed a proposal last Thursday by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to change the Palestinians' status at the UN to that of non-member observer state.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr Ban expressed "grave concern and disappointment" over the 3,000 newly authorised Israeli settlement units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Internet freedom tops Dubai summit agenda

A

Japan defence ships headed for Okinawa island

A construction site in East Jerusalem

n unprecedented debate over how the global internet is governed is set to dominate a meeting of officials in Dubai, with many countries pushing to give a UN body broad regulatory powers even as the US and others contend such a move could mean the end of the "open internet".

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the UN responsible for international information and communication technologies regulations, will host the 12-day conference that begins on Monday.

Government regulators from 193 countries will meet to revise a wide-ranging communications treaty for the first time since 1988.

The treaty regulates how telephone and other telecommunications traffic is exchanged internationally.

The conference largely pits revenue-seeking developing countries and authoritarian governments that want more control over internet content against US policymakers and private net companies that prefer the status quo.

Thomas Crampton, a social media analyst, told Al Jazeera that much is at stake in the negotiations.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas Russia's Putin to discuss Syria with Turkey PM Erdogan

R

ussian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Syrian conflict, which has strained bilateral relations.

Moscow is a key ally of Syria, while Ankara is backing the rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In October, Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound plane which it said had Russian-made defence equipment - a claim rejected by both Moscow and Damascus.

The talks in Istanbul are also expected to focus on energy issues.

Ahead of Monday's meeting, Mr Putin's chief foreign policy aide was quoted as saying that both sides would have a "detailed conversation" on Syria.

Yuriy Ushakov also said he hoped that such an "exchange of views should lead, if not to a tie-up of positions, then at least to a better understanding of each other's actions", Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

There is a belief in the Turkish government that Russia is trying to distance itself from Damascus, but there is currently very little evidence to support this claim, the BBC's James Reynolds in Istanbul reports.

Moscow also has arms contracts with the Syrian government worth billions of dollars.

So, Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan may struggle to find a way of overcoming the simple, profound difference that separates them on the Syria issue, our correspondent adds.

President Putin is also expected to raise his concerns about some of Ankara's recent moves, including its request for Nato to deploy Patriot anti-missile systems on the Turkish border with Syria.

Turkey says it is a purely defensive move, but Russia has warned that it will weaken stability in the volatile region.

The Istanbul meeting will be Mr Putin's first venture outside Russia since a visit to Tajikistan in October.

Reports in the Russian media have suggested that the 60-yearold keen sportsman is suffering from a bad back.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, which has close relations with Russia, told Reuters news agency last week that Mr Putin had recently "twisted his spine" playing judo.

Putin

Colombia forces ‘bomb FARC rebels, 20 killed’ A

t least 20 FARC rebels have been killed in Colombia after the military launched bombing strikes on one of their camps, the army says.

Saturday's raid is said to be the biggest military operation

against FARC since peace talks began in October.

The camps were in Narino province near the Ecuadorian border, commander Gen Leonardo Barrero told AFP news agency.

The strike comes as President Juan Manuel Santos said the rebels had less than a year to abandon their weapons.

In November, the FARC announced a ceasefire set to last until 20 January. Mr Santos,

A soldier looks in one of the hideouts at the camp

however, has rejected calls for a government-led truce until a final agreement has been reached.

Speaking on Sunday, he said his administration would offer all necessary guarantees so the FARC could disarm and join the political process as a legal party.

"This has to be a process of months, rather than years," the president said.

Mr Santos said any attempts to delay disarming were unacceptable. The FARC has not responded to Mr Santos's deadline.

The president made his comments after the rebel group acknowledged that it was holding what it called "prisoners of war", contradicting its previous denials.

In February, the rebels announced that they would stop all political abductions and kidnappings for ransom. But victims' groups say the kidnappings have continued and not all hostages have been released.

The peace talks, aimed at ending five decades of conflict, began in Norway on 18 October before moving to Cuba's capital, Havana, a month later.

Kate and William expecting royal baby

T

he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their first baby, it has been announced.

St James's Palace revealed the news after the duchess was admitted to hospital on Monday afternoon with acute morning sickness.

It is understood that the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. But the fact that she has been admitted to hospital, and is likely to stay there for several days, forced the palace into making an announcement earlier than it would have liked.

In a statement, a spokesman said: "Their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby. The Queen, the Duke of

Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news.

"The duchess was admitted this afternoon to King Edward VII hospital in central London with hyperemesis gravidarum. As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her royal highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter."

Hyperemesis gravidarum is acute morning sickness, which requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.

The baby will be the third in line to the throne, bumping Prince Harry, the baby's uncle, to fourth place.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Bersani wins Italian left poll

P

ier Luigi Bersani has won the race to be the centre-left candidate for Italian PM in next

Pier Luigi Bersani casting his vote

year's general election, according to partial results.

The veteran Democratic Party

leader was in a run-off with Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, 37, to retain his post.

With the party leading opinion polls, Mr Bersani has a good chance of becoming head of government after polls scheduled for early 2013, analysts say.

Those polls will choose successors to the current technocrat administration.

Prime Minister Mario Monti's successor will face the challenge of addressing Italy's deep-rooted economic problems.

Mr Bersani won the first round on 25 November, with 45% of the vote to Mr Renzi's 35.5%. Partial

results on Sunday saw him polling more than 60%.

Mr Renzi tweeted that "it was right to try" and later congratulated his rival at a rally in Florence.

"They won and we did not," he said.

In his victory speech, Mr Bersani said job creation would be a priority as he put together a programme of policies for the electorate.

He would ensure there was room for younger members of the party to express themselves as they prepared for the challenges ahead, he added.

Alan Johnston in Rome says the two men are very different characters, with tieless, youthful Mr Renzi painting himself as the voice of a new generation which wants to sweep away the entire class of older politicians.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Men with beer bellies warned they are at risk of weaker bones

M

en with excessive fat around their middles aren’t just putting their hearts under strain - they are also at risk of weaker bones.

A study from Harvard Medical School found men with beer bellies had a higher chance of developing osteoporosis, a disease usually associated with older women.

The condition makes bones more prone to breaks as they lose density. Over a third of women have one or more bone fractures because of osteoporosis in their lifetime, however so do one in five men.

‘Most studies on osteoporosis have focused on women,’ study leader Dr Miriam Bredella said.

‘Men were thought to be relatively protected against bone loss, especially obese men.’

To check this assumption, Dr Bredella and her team of researchers evaluated 35 obese men with a mean age of 34 and a mean body mass index, a measure of body fat, of 36.5.

The men were divided into two groups: one with mainly subcutaneous fat, which lies just beneath the skin and is spread all over the body, and the other with mostly visceral

or intra-abdominal fat, located deep under the muscle tissue in the abdominal cavity.

Visceral fat, which is what causes the a pot belly even in thin people, is far more menacing because the fat is packed in-between the inner organs and is strongly linked to heart disease. Genetics, a high-fat diet and a sedentary lifestyle all contribute to visceral fat.

‘What surprised us most was that men with visceral fat had significantly weaker bones than (the subcutaneous fat) group. These are men with the same degree of obesity and who were about the same age,’ Dr Bredella said.

For the study, she put the men through a computed tomography, or CT scan, of the abdomen and thigh to measure fat and muscle mass, as well as very high resolution CT of the forearm. She assessed bone strength to predict fracture risk using a technique called finite element analysis, which is used in mechanical engineering to determine the strength of materials for the design of bridges and airplanes.

What she found was that the

bones of the group with more visceral fat were nearly twice as weak as those with subcutaneous fat, or fat spread all over the body.

The results also showed that muscle mass was positively associated with bone strength.

She said the size of her study was limited by the sophistication and expense of the imaging tools that were used to predict risk. Since the results of this study, she has evaluated an additional 30 men in the same fashion, rendering the same results.

There appears to be two main reasons that belly fat leads to osteoporosis, Dr Bredella said. One is that all people with visceral fat secrete less human growth hormone, which plays an important role in maintaining healthy bones.

The second reason is that visceral fat secretes certain molecules that cause inflammation, which in turn, weakens bones.

The secretion of these molecules and their effect on the body will be the focus of her future research.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

“

Belly fat leads to osteoporosis in men, a study has found.

What surprised us most was that men with visceral fat had significantly weaker bones than (the subcutaneous fat) group.

These are men with the same degree of obesity and who were about the same age

Doing the garden or going for a walk is better for your health

U

nfit people with high cholesterol levels would be better off gardening or going for a walk than taking pills, says a study.

Being physically fit cuts the risk of dying by two thirds compared with couch potatoes who take statins.

Researchers found that doing more exercise could help people with high cholesterol as much, or more, than drugs.

However, it also found that combining statins with keeping fit could improve survival rates even further.

Many experts claim statins should be offered to all over-50s

because everyone could benefit from lower cholesterol, but the ten-year study of 10,000 US veterans found that the very fit were 60-70 per cent less likely to die than unfit people on statins.

Professor Peter Kokkinos, who led the research at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington DC, said: ‘The fitness necessary to attain protection that is much the same or greater than that achieved by statin treatment in unfit individuals is moderate and feasible for many middle-aged and older adults, through moderate-intensity

physical activity such as walking, gardening and gym classes.’

Kokkinos and his colleagues assessed the records of 9,700 men and 343 women from Veterans Affairs hospitals in Washington DC and Palo Alto in California.

All had high cholesterol levels or other harmful blood fats and were tested to determine their exercise capacity as least, moderate, fit, or high.

The researchers found death rates were lowest among those taking statins and who were fit.

The higher the level of fitness the

lower the risk of dying during the median follow-up period of ten years. The fittest participants, regardless of whether they were taking statins, had a 60-70 per cent lower risk of death.

The difference could not be explained by age, body mass, ethnicity, sex, history and risk factors of cardiovascular disease and medications, said the study published online in The Lancet.

Professor Kokkinos said: ‘Treatment with statins is important, but better fitness improves survival significantly and is a valuable additional

The fittest participants, regardless of whether they were t a k i n g statins, had a significantly lower risk of death of around 6070 per cent.

Findings from US research suggest that doing more walking and gardening could help individuals with high cholesterol as much, if not more, than drugs.

treatment or an alternative when statins cannot be taken.’

Pedro Hallal, of the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, and I-Min Lee of Harvard Medical School, also writing in The Lancet, said that prescribing physical activity should be put on a par with drug prescription.

They said: ‘The cost of becoming physically active is lower than that of buying drugs and moderate-intensity physical activity has fewer side effects.’

Side effects linked to statins include muscle pain, which can be disabling in some patients, memory loss, depression, sexual difficulties and depression.

Malcolm Kendrick, a GP, author of The Great Cholesterol Con and a sceptic of giving statins to people with a low risk of heart problems, said a recent Austrian study showed that athletes who wanted to compete could not stay on statins. ‘They often find they can’t take effective exercise because the statins are harming their muscles and exercise capacity,’ he said.

Natasha Stewart, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘Statins and exercise can help combat high blood cholesterol levels and look after your heart.

‘However, this research shows that the two together can provide a winning combination to further improve your heart health, with higher intensity exercise possibly offering more protection.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 37

Senate vows to ensure maximum budget implementation

Reps order extradition of failed road contractor

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

By Lawrence Olaoye

‌re-summon Anenih, ogunlewe

ouse of Representatives yesterday ordered the extradition of the owners of Torno Investment Company back to Nigeria with a view to recovering the sum of N2.3 billion paid for a terminated road project in the country.

Torno after obtaining N2.3 billion had allegedly failed to execute the contract but secured a court order against Federal Government and sold all its equipment before leaving the country.

To this extent, the House committee on Works chaired by

T

he senate yesterday vowed to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that budget is maximally implemented as appropriated to the executives.

Speaking yesterday during the 2012/2013 budget defence by the Federal Ministry of Aviation, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Hope Uzodimma, said that budget is a veritable tool in good governance which helps the government to meet the needs and aspiration of the people.

Uzodimma argued that the ability of the government to meet the aspiration of the people is dependent on the political will of the government to completely implement the budget as proposed, explaining that if good budget is not maximally implemented, such budget loses its impact and value.

While regretting that poor budget implementation has become the bane of government in Nigeria, he reiterated the determination by the senate to move against the trend.

He however urged the Minister for Aviation, Stella Odua, to make more efforts in ensuring that more fund is made available to the ministry to enable it implement its capital projects, emphasizing that 2013 budget must be budget of prudence and accountability.

In her response, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Odua, said that out of the 34 billion naira budgeted for the ministry, only 19billion has been released, out of which 72 percent is utilized, adding that the ministry has utilized 85 percent of its overhead budget for 2012.

She also pointed out that the ministry has some ongoing projects at Enugu and Oweri International Airport, while consultancy report for Abeokuta Airport is already completed, awaiting the actual contract award.

She further said that in 2012 budget, airport maintenance got 85 percent, while contract for the construction of Bayelsa Airport and contract for the design of Kano Airport has just been awarded.

Meanwhile, according to her, NIMET has utilized 47 percent of its 2012 budget; NAMA has utilized 46 percent of its 2012 budget, FAAN has utilized 53 percent, representing 63 percent for the ministry.

At this point, the committee and the ministry went into a closed door session for further consideration of the 2012/2013 budget.

H

REp Ogbuefi Ozongbachi resolved to conduct a search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with the view to arresting all the Nigerian Directors of Torno Investment Company who allegedly connived in duping Nigerian government.

Similarly, the House Committee

Members of House Committee on public accounts going through some documents submitted to them during budget defence, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

on Public Accounts chaired by Rep Solomon Adeola has again summoned two ex-Ministers of Works and Housing, Adeseye Ogunlewe and Tony Anenih, to clarify the rationales behind the termination of about N8 billion road contracts in 1999 and 2003.

Adeola expressed concern over the loss of over N8 billion on various road contracts terminated without taking steps to recover the money.

He specifically queried the payment of N700 million out of N1.045 billion for rehabilitation of 55km road and reconstruction of 20km road Enugu/Nsukka road but abandoned by the contractor who requested for its termination.

The committee which queried the misappropriation of tax payers' money, berated the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for condoning fraudulent activities on the termination and re-award of same contracts at higher sum without effort to recover the money.

In a related development, the committee also chided officials of Federal Ministry of Works for reawarding a 20km road project in Nsukka/Enugu at the sum of N700 million. It was discovered that the 20km project contract was later rewarded at about N1.097 billion.

According to Bala Danshehu, Director Highway Planning and Development, the contract which attained 70 percent was later terminated because the Ministry could not afford the N700 million variation cost requested by Enco Construction Limited.

APGA crisis: Court decides Masalla's fate Jan. 21

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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n Abuja High Court yesterday fixed January 21,2013 to decide whether or not to proceed with the arraignment of Sadeeq Masalla, the self acclaimed National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) or quash the 11count criminal charge of forgery

preferred against him.

Masalla is accused of forging the signatures of some members of the party's National Working Committee (NWC). The trial Judge, Justice Peter Kekemeke fixed the date after listening to submissions from counsel for the accused person, Tochukwu Onwubufo (SAN) and Prosecution Counsel, Frances Irabor.

Whike asking the court to quash the charges against Masalla, Onwubufor averred that the materials placed before it which warranted the leave granted the prosecution to arraign the accused person (Masalla) were not sufficient for the court to grant the said leave.

"Materials placed before this court is the proof of evidence which

culture,'' Oshiomhole said.

He called for a return to the good societal value system which was devoid of tribe and religion.

Oshiomhole noted that ``Nigeria has everything to make her excel but what we seem to lack is the correct leadership that has the capacity of a clear vision and commitment to ensure that resources are well delivered to the people.''

He urged leaders to imbibe the leadership role of the late Premier, adding that, ``he considered everybody equal regardless of religion and region; he did not discriminate, and his ideal was work and worship.''

Oshiomhole, who expressed optimism in the unity of the country and its ability to overcome its challenges, called for the adoption of a new style of leadership that encompassed tolerance and mutual understanding.

Also, Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger lauded Bello for his leadership role and virtue and described him as an exceptional leader who worked and died in service for the less privileged. ``History will forever be kind to Sir Ahmadu Bello as a colossus, a quintessential philanthropist, selfless and revolutionary aristocrat and humanist,'' Aliyu said.

Oshiomhole lists panacea for better economy

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

G

ov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo on Monday called for for a change of attitude among the leadership and the citizenry so that the nation's economy could grow.

Oshiomhole made the call at the 1st Annual Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation Lecture on ``Leadership and Good Governance in Nigeria'' in Abuja.

The lecture was organised by the Ahmadu Bello Foundation. ``We are never going to have a perfect, better economy if there is no conscious effort to change our attitude, if we don't revisit some of the ideas about our leadership

contains the names of the six witnesses. We are not challenging the charge but we are challenging your Lordships consent that brought the charge into effect.

Until the consent giving by the court is validl, before the issue of arraignment does not arise.

"The motion seeks to quash the charge on the grounds that the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the charge and that the application to prefer the charge did not comply with the Criminal Procedure Code, the proof of evidence attached to the affidavit did not indicate the offenses of forgery. That the charge is frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court processes, and that an accused person is entitled to bring an application to quash a charge on an indictment if he perceives that the charge would affect his right and is an abuse of court of processes.

Moreover, the application was brought behind his back ex- parte" he added. Irabor had in his response opposed the application on the grounds that the accused person ought to have been in court before his objection can be entertained by the court.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Benue LGSC boss bags transparency award

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he Executive Chairman of the Benue State Local Government Service Commission, Comrade Richard Gbande, has bagged the 2012 Transparency in Governance Award.

Conferring the honour on the recipient, National President of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for Transparency, Comrade Ibrahim Alih, disclosed to newsmen in a chat that the group, after considering various reports on the activities of various stakeholders in the Nigerian project, decided to confer the award on Gbande.

He said the award was in recognition of his fair and transparent approach to governance in Benue state without fear or favour. Alih described Comrade Gbande as outstanding in protecting and projecting the welfare of local government workers in Benue state.

According to him, Gbande is a true comrade who does not compromise his genuineness of purpose for bread at the cause of rendering selfless service to his people in particular and Nigeria in general.

"His strict adherence to rule of law, accountability and transparency in handling the taxpayers fund is highly commendable and no wonder the plenary has voted him as the 2012 winner of Transparency Award," he said.

PDP wins Kubau, Zaria LG election

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP has) was on Sunday declared winner of the chairmanship seats in Kubau and Zaria Local Government Areas of Kaduna State in the Saturday's council poll.

The Returning Officer, Muhammad Sule-Basawa, said Khalid Yalwa-Kubau of PDP polled 75, 609 votes to defeat Rilwanu MohammedInuwa of CPC who polled 19, 326 votes.

Sule-Basawa said, "having scored the highest number of votes and satisfied the requirements of the law, Yalwa-Kubau is hereby returned as duly elected chairman of Kubau Local Government''.

In a related development, the PDP Chairmanship Candidate, Lawal Balarabe, polled 146, 704 votes to defeat Lawal Jibril of CPC who scored 131, 358 votes in Zaria council election.

(NAN)

L-R: Oyo state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, and Alhaja Modinat Bosede Adedibu, during the grand finale of Ibadan Week Festival 2012, at the weekend in Ibadan.

Reps query EFCC's N500m budget on local travels

By Lawrence Olaoye

H

ouse of Representatives yesterday queried leadership of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over the whopping sum of five hundred and thirty five million earmarked for local travels of its staff in 2013 budget proposal.

The lawmakers asked Ibrahim Lamorde, the Commission's Chairman to explain the rationale behind the appropriation of the sum even when it is on record that the EFCC is yet to expend lesser amount approved for same purpose in year 2013.

The anti-graft agency got sum of N357.3 million in 2012 to cater for local trips on investigations and

... as FG slashes budget by N11.7b prosecutions of suspects in 2012 budge which it has yet to expend few days to the end of the year.

But Lamorde who led top EFCC officials before House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes yesterday for budget defence said his agency is anticipating how to cover new grounds next year.

The budget ceiling presented by Lamorde to the Committee yesterday was N21.028 billion as against N10.607 billion for outgoing year 2012.

Members of the Committee expressed concerns that the EFCC boss had failed to adequately convince them on why more funds should be

appropriated under local travels item.

They asked him to identify those things the Commission could not achieve with the current budget which it now intends to deliver with almost 50% increment.

Under the controversial item, the Committee pointed out a difference of N178.640 million between 2012 and 2013 budget.

Rep Moshood Mustapha a member of the Committee representing Ilorin West/Asa federal constituency of Kwara State wondered if there was any justification for the increment. He said the Committee would critically

Akpabio bags Lifetime Africa Achievement Awards Written by Mike Etim, Uyo

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kwa Ibom state governor, Chief Godswill.

O. Akpabio, will on December 15, this year in Nairobi, Kenya be conferred with 'Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize (LAAP)", a millennium excellence award for good leadership in Africa.

Akpabio received the invitation letter recently when Ambassador Ashim Morton, President of Millennium Excellence Foundation (Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize), Accra, Ghana, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Uyo. In receiving the offer the governor said "I receive this award with great happiness and dedicate it to the children of Akwa Ibom State,

who had no hope but now have a future. Most importantly, I thank God for this award. I also thank you for this award and for decorating me with a Ghanaian attire today, which I extend my greetings to the Board of Directors of the foundation. And I congratulate my fellow awardees who would be receiving the award alongside with me".

Governor Akpabio noted that their foundation was a selfless service to Africa, which would encourage good governance and change in Africa to change and help Africans to have hope that the continent could change.

The Governor was then presented with a broach for his handwork to the development of the state and country, which is to be worn

on the day of the award.

Speaking earlier, the President of Millennium Excellence Foundation, Ambassador Ashim Morton had explained that the award would be conferred on Governor Akpabio for establishment of programs to support the country through the development of Akwa Ibom State and contributing his quota to mankind.

Morton, who described the Governor as an inspirational leader amongst his peers because of the care and love that he has for the people of the state, called on youths to emulate him, pointing out that even after his service as a Governor, his legacies of leadership would be embalmed in the hearts of Akwa Ibom people, Nigerians and Africans.

look into all details as submitted by Lamorde in a bid to defend such before the House Committee on Appropriation today (Tuesday).

Another member, Bassey Ewa (Cross Rivers PDP) demanded to know progress of work on Lagos office of the Commission for which N3 billion was appropriated in 2012. Similar grey area, according to the Committee, was the disparity in figures appropriated under Drugs/Medical Supplies and Medical Expenditure.

EFCC in its proposal had wanted the sum of N13.029 million for Drugs/Medical Supplies as well as another N7.753 million for Medical Expenditures. The Committee demanded to know from Lamorde the difference between the two categorisations and the reasons for the huge sums.

Lamorde however explained that the slow pace on Lagos office project was due to inability to pay Lagos State government sum of N17 million as valuation cost. On the proposal for the huge travels cost, he explained that "We intend to expand our operations.

We have six offices across the zones but we still need to reach out some other places. We don't have resources that's why we refer the issue to other sister agencies with similar responsibilities. We deal within the resources given to us, we are behind payment to contractors up to N4 billion" He also lamented how a dime from N25 million budgeted for purchase of arms and ammunition for EFCC was not released under 2012 budget. Also not released in this year's budget ,according to Lamorde, was another sum of N30 million approved for purchase of motor vehicles for EFCC operations.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 39

SGF explains use of N25b Ecological Funds to Reps

By Lawrence Olaoye

S

ecretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, yesterday told the House of Representatives that the total N25b of the Ecological Funds was spent of the recent floods that ravaged several areas of the country.

Anyim who spoke during an investigative session by the House Committee on Environment chaired by Rep Uche Ekwunife said the amount spent was the intervention in the devastation brought about by floods which ravaged certain parts of the country.

Ekwunife noted that the fund was solely meant to address the ecological problems facing various states across the country. She howe v e r n o t e d that her committee was not impressed with the application of the funds as everywhere the committee went on oversight there were scores of abandoned projects.

The lawmakers noted that the investigative process stemmed out of a motion deliberated on the floor of the a House on Thursday November 15, 2012 on the Ecological Funds Projects procurement process as it concerns 17 projects for which procurement commenced since 2006 and is still undergoing various processes of procurement six years after they were first advertised.

"We are concerned that the ongoing process may have contravened provisions of the procurement Act 2007; and that due diligence may not have been carried o u t b e f o r e t h e said projects recently found their way to the office of the SGF and the

From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

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presidential candidate in the 2011 Presidential election on the platform of Social Democratic Mega Party of Nigeria (SDMPN), Professor Pat Utomi, has described the country as not only blessed in human and natural resources as touted everywhere, but also with indolent elites.

He made the remarks recently in Lagos when he delivered a lecture during the annual lecture for senior management staffs of blue chips organizations in Nigeria under the auspices of Institute of Certified Sales Professionals (ICSP) held at the banquet hall of Sheraton and Towers hotel in Ikeja Speaking on the necessity of having good leaders as a prerequisite for good governance, Utomi said with the abundance of human and material resources and for the country to remain one of the least developed countries in terms of infrastructural development, only translates to mean that the elites who would have made all the difference have all gone lethargic.

Minister of Environment for signing.

"It is the opinion of the committee that the ongoing process have not only become moribund but time bared because ecological problems progress with changing years and weather and as such are time sensitive."

But the SGF in his response said that the main problem that dogged the ecological funds was that at the time it was created it was not properly streamlined.

He said: " By the time the fund was created, it was not properly streamlined. This is part of the problem."

Anyim said he was also concerned that projects were abandoned and charged states that initiated or requested for projects should monitor them.

According to him, states have their own allocation of the funds and should stop heaping the blame on the federal Government.

He said based on the fact that most of the projects may

have been poorly conceived, there was need to review the projects. He however said most of the projects abandoned were small projects.

But Rep Pat Asadu called the attention of the members to the absence of the Minister of Environment Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia who was supposed to have been at the session.

Members of the committee took exception to the absence of the minister who wrote to request that the hearing be

moved to another date as she had to travel to Doha on official assignment wondering why the "jamboree" and waste in a season when there are urgent issues to address.

But the SGF while apologizing on behalf of Mailafia, appealed to the members saying that though the President had cut down on foreign trips, "the minister had scheduled the meeting from February with approval from the President and it was not an excuse to avoid the committee."

Abuja lawyer, Akpodiete blasts Uduaghan's critics

governance has afforded the ruling class the temerity to get away with most of the demeanors recorded against them noting that in other climes, like China and other nations, these mindless looters of our commonwealth would face firing squad.

He advised the sales professionals to always imbibe the culture of honesty and probity as those are the ingredients that make true sales professional.

Over twenty-five new members were inducted into the association

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos n Abuja based lawyer and human rights activist, Prince Christmas Akpodiete, has condemned critics of Delta state governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan style of administration just as he enjoined them to have a rethink because of the numerous achievements of his administration.

Akpodiete, who made the condemnation yesterday while speaking to our correspondent at a forum for good governance, said he was supporting Uduaghan not because he is Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, but because some people of Delta state have ignorantly made up their minds to discredit the Uduaghan's led administration without recourse to the developmental strides of the governor.

According to him, Uduaghan had done a lot of transformation in the state and he is determined to continue with his transformational programme to ensure tremendous development at every nook and crannies of the State.

"If God did not anoint him, there was no way he would have ascended to that throne. It would obviously amount to a child's play to mention all the numerous works His Excellency had done, let alone the ones he shall bring to pass between now and 2015," Akpodiete disclosed.

He maintained that it is sad to see people criticize government officials unnecessarily with bogus false claims all in an attempt to rubbish the image of men and women who have dedicated their lives to the service of their fatherland.

"I am not saying we do not have corrupt officials, but if you look at the on-going projects and those already completed in Delta State, you will agree with me that Uduaghan is a splendid administrator who is determined to transform the state.

had on Nov. 30, ordered the arrest of the accused person for contempt, but no mention of the order was made at the resumed hearing of the case.

Instead, Counsel to Yakassai, Malam D I Habib told the court that the accused had won the local government election conducted on

Saturday and urged the court allow him to attend the swearing-in ceremony. '' We ask for an adjournment through section 154 of the criminal code to enable the accused to be sworn in by the governor,'' he said.

The counsel to the complainant did not object to the application, and the chief magistrate adjourned the case to Dec 5, for continuation of hearing. (NAN)

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L-R: Chairman, House Committee on INEC, Hon. Jerry Manwe, discussing with Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission , (INEC) , Professor Attahiru Jega , during the 2013 INEC budget defence before the committee, recently at the National Assembly, in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Nigeria elites are indolent -Pat Utomi Going down memory lane, he lamented the present fate of Nigeria stressing that it is indeed a sad commentary that what beholds of the nation today is always a litany of woes; the body polity remain besieged by many ill- mass corruption, moral decadence, youth delinquency, a belligerent political class, and people enamored by religious intolerance.

He remarked further that within the political arena, governance has become the forgotten mission while in the

economic sector, Nigeria has become the dumping ground of the world and sadly he says, in the social sector, the nation's traditional values are nearly extinct.

He had words for Nigerians who are always quick to blame it on someone else stressing that he think the problem lies with everybody.

Expatiating further, he said the high level of docility that is always exhibited by most Nigerians most especially the elites in the face of glaringly mis-

New Soba LG Chairman arraigned for certificate forgery in Kaduna

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Chief Magistrate, Malam Garba Abdullahi on Monday in Kaduna adjourned till Dec. 5, the case of certificate forgery preferred against the new Chairman of Soba Local Government, Kawu Yakassai.

Yakassai was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court 11 on Daura

Road, Kaduna and the case was first mentioned on Thursday.

The charge was filed at the instance of two complainants, Musa Mustapha and Ubale Telan-Matasa, through their counsel, Malam Garba Shehu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the magistrate

PAGE 40

Persons with disabilities call for Presidential assent to disability Bill

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he Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities has called on the President to sign the National Disability Bill into law.

The National President, Mallam Danlami Basharu, made the call at an event to commemorate the 2012 International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill seeks to protect the rights of people with disabilities and guarantee equal access as other citizens of the country.

He said that only a clear legislation would address the many challenges faced by Nigerians with disabilities.

He added that the legislation would give persons with disabilities the nod to contribute effectively to national development and economic growth. ``What happens when the rights of persons with disabilities are trampled upon, what happens when we are not included in the development processes. ``It is only through legal backing that persons with disabilities can seek redress at the court of law," he said.

Basharu said that countries like Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa, which were less endowed than Nigeria, had passed laws on persons with disabilities in their countries. ``Nigeria as the ``giant of Africa'', which should be a leader and not a follower, should rise up to its critical position as the pace setter in the continent."

Basharu challenged politicians to be counted among world leaders who cared about the vulnerable and downtrodden, not looking at them as persons in need of charity. ``But empathetically recognising their need to be fully included, empowered and integrated into national polity. ``Now is the moment for every Nigerian politician, including the President to demonstrate that they actually care about the masses.

The Minster of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said that persons with disabilities faced diverse limitations, stressing that government would ensure that the disability bill was passed.

Speaking on the theme of the event, Maina said that barriers included education, employment, heath care, transportation and easy access to public buildings.

She said that about 15 per cent of the world's population was persons with disabilities, with 80 per cent living in developing countries.

Maina added that a Nigeria free of discrimination was achievable, if everyone ``puts his or her mind to it''.

Goodwill messages were presented by the representatives of the minister of health, the MTN foundation, UNICEF and UNDP. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Lagos Assembly expresses commitment to meeting peoples' aspiration

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he Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), has assured residents of the state of its commitment toward meeting their desires and aspirations.

The acting Clerk of the house, Mr Ganiyu Abiru, gave the assurance on Monday while speaking at a-five day training programme for members of the senior staff of the Assembly at Badagry, Lagos.

He said the house would accomplish the task through research and training of the staff of the house, for them to put in quality services for the benefit of the people.

The News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) reports that the training tagged, ''Emotional Intelligence: Principles of Success,'' was organised by the management of the House.

It was to fortify members' understanding of their roles, through appropriate forum, to enhance their productivity.

Abiru said that the choice of the title was timely as it had relevance with the challenges facing an average citizen, in the area, due to "the socioeconomic realities of the time" in the country. ''Members of staff who benefited from the ongoing training are between grade levels 13 and 16", he said.

Abiru added that the

training was meant to sensitise the senior echelon of the house on what was expected of them, in relation to their subordinates. ''As managers of men and resources, the state of our emotional and sociopsychological wellbeing goes a long way in impacting on our overall efficiency and effectiveness, particularly our jobs,'' he said.

He added that training and retraining were required for civil servants in the legislature to enable them catch up with the other two arms of government.

Abiru noted that whenever there was a change in government, it was the

legislative arm that would be first affected.

The acting the Clerk expressed satisfaction with the amicable relationship between the civil servants in the house and the lawmakers.

Aburi added that the training was part of effort to ensure continuity of such cordial relationship.

He urged the participants to maximise the advantage of the programme to improve their on their productivity. '' I urge the participants to take the full advantages of the training,to justify the huge human and financial commitments that have gone in to it, '' he said.

L-R: Rivers state Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Senate President David Mark, and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, after their meeting with the President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Acting Enugu governor urges Nigerians to support National ID card project

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he Enugu State Acting Governor, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, has called on Nigerians to enroll for the National Identity Management System (NIMS) to check fraudulent practices in the country.

Onyebuchi made the call when the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Chris Onyemenam, and his team paid a courtesy visit to him at the Government House, Enugu, on Monday.

He lamented that the insecurity in the country was a result of inadequate database, adding that the identification exercise would also help to check fraudulent practices in the public service. ``Nigeria's desire or goal to be among the 20 most developed economies in the world by the year 2020 can only be possible

with a national and integrated identity management system that is reliable, accurate, that can pass integrity test any day. ``Enlightenment is very important for people to understand, cooperate with your efforts. They also need to be reassured that their personal details will be safe, secured and used for definite or defined legal purposes. ``The success of what you are doing will also help to check some fraudulent practices in our society. We know especially in public service people who change their personal data from time to time as it suits their purpose. By the time we have a place that we can cross-check, they will have difficulty changing one form of information or the other. ``I am calling on all Nigerians, especially the people of Enugu State, to cooperate with

the National Identity Management Commission, knowing that the benefits will not just accrue to the commission, the Federal Government or to the state government but to all Nigerians.''

On his part, Onyemenam said the commission was set to introduce an identity management system that would be skilled, upgraded and easily accessible to stand the test of time.

He said the enrollment for the exercise would be extended to local government areas to cover the people in the rural areas.

The director general said that the exercise was still at the pilot phase, adding that the exercise would be formally launched when the commission had sufficiently enlightened the citizenry. ``This visit is part of an effort

that we have begun to implement to encourage citizens to understand what the National Identity Management System is.

"Also, to understand that what we are doing now is different from what has been done in the past under any agency of government; and to encourage people through that understanding, to drop the cynicism that has been carried over from the limited successes and failures of the past because we believe that that is the only way we can get citizens participation and ensure full coverage in the database," Onyemenam said.

Onyemenam, who disclosed that the enrolment would commence on Dec. 5 in Lagos State, appealed to the people to take advantage of the opportunity to be registered.

(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 41

Holyfield’s gloves fetch $35, 200

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he gloves that Evander Holyfield wore for his infamous ear-biting fight against Mike Tyson have been sold for more than $35, 200 (N5456,000, at N155 per dollar).

Holyfield wore them for their 1997 heavyweight re-match; the fight in which Tyson bit a chunk from one of his ears.

The gloves were sold for $35 200 at an auction in Los Angeles.

They were among 445 items

that belonged to the former heavyweight champion. The total amount paid for Holyfield’s mementos has not been announced.

The auction first ran into trouble when Holyfield said he didn’t want to part with some items. He then sued to prevent them being sold.

Little more than a week before the scheduled auction, he obtained a court ruling excluding a dozen items from the

sale. However, Darren Julien, president and chief executive of the auction house, said he remained confident those items would also be auctioned at a future date.

According to the figures posted on the firm’s website, the WBC cruiserweight belt won by Holyfield in 1988 went for $28 125.

In winning the belt by beating Puerto Rican Carlos De Leon in 1988, Holyfield became the only

undefeated and undisputed cruiserweight champion in history.

The purple satin robe and black satin belt he wore in 1996 for the first of his two fights against Tyson sold for nearly $82,000 and a Cartier watch that belonged to the boxer was sold for about $80,000.

Holyfield, nicknamed The Real Deal, won 44 of his 57 professional fights, 29 by knockout.

Holyfields boxing hand gloves

Ex-Eagles, Nwosu, lauds Eaglets for form for Morocco 2013

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ormer Golden Eaglets coach, Henry Nwosu said the Nigerian Under17s are capable of handling any team at the Morocco 2013 cadet

championship.

The Golden Eaglets on Sunday in Bamako, Mali defeated the Junior Eagles 2-0 and 4-0 on aggregate to book passage to the

biennial football showpiece in Morocco.

The African football body, Caf will on Sunday, December 9 conduct draws for the

championship.

An elated Nwosu said the Eaglets victory in Bamako against the Malian side showed they will be the team to beat in Morocco. “I’m happy we won and the team showed superiority over the Malians on their soil.

“Of course, there is no doubt that the Malians are older and bigger but the Eaglets’ victory showed the side is good and can hold their own anywhere, any place.

“I know the team still needs reenforcement as they head to the competition proper but kudos to their managers for job well done.

“I’m confident we’ll see a far improved side before they name the last squad for the championship,” the former Green Eagles captain said to supersport.com.

Nwosu said the Eaglets are the side to fear as the draws hold on December 9.

“African teams always fear Nigerian sides. The Eaglets can’t be scared of any team, I’m sure they can comfortably take on any team that come their way.

“Surely, they will go places at Morocco 2013 championship, I see them clinching the title,” he said.

... As Green says Eaglets are prospective Super Eagles

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200-metre backrole men swimming in the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

NPL congress: Baribote claims ignorance of boycott threat

By Patrick Andrew and Albert Akota

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hairman of the board of the NPL, Chief Victor Baribote, has claimed ignorance of the threat by 15 premiership clubs to boycott the December 6 NPL congress scheduled for Kano because of insecurity.

The clubs were said to have issued the threat following the approval granted the league board to organise the congress in Kano, where it is hoped that salient decisions would be taken for presentation before the NFF

congress for ratification.

The 2nd Vice President of the executive committee of the NFF, told Peoples Daily Sports yesterday that he was not aware of any threat or protest to boycott the congress on account of insecurity in any part of the country.

“I am not aware that clubs are threatening to stay away from the congress. I do know for a fact that the date for the congress has been fixed, so has the venue. There is no further development to the contrary.

“All that I am aware of is that we are going to Kano for the

congress. The date had been fixed and given approval by the NFF. We hope to go there and take forward looking decisions,” he said.

It would be recalled that the congress had been suspended indefinitely thereby causing the swift in the tentative date for the kick-off of the new season. We hear, however, that December 21 may be ratified for the season to commence.

Other salient decisions including relegation and promotion of clubs, sponsorships and several matters are to be considered.

hristopher Green, the immediate past Chairman of the NFF Technical Sub-committee, has declared that the present Golden Eaglets are prospective members of the Super Eagles.

Green, who was assessing the performances of the team during the CAF U-17 Championship qualifiers, said the quality exhibited by the players clearly indicated that they have potentials, and added that they would be groomed to assume places in the Super Eagles in future.

The Eaglets defeated their Malian counterparts 2-0 in Bamako, Mali on Sunday to qualify on a 4-0 goal aggregate for the African U-17 Championship, scheduled for Morocco next year .

According to him, the team played well and showed that the country have good prospects both for the Flying Eagles and the Super Eagles, respectively.

“This is an experiment that started over eight months ago, when we put these boys together and started nurturing them, and this is the result. Real under-17 players, as they played together as a complete unit.

“They have actually shown that they have prospect for football in this country because the way they played and the way they have gone through this series of qualification showed that the future of our prospective Super Eagles is very bright.”

Green said the Eaglets would go on break and later get back to camp to prepare for the African Youth Championship.

On the protest against the overaged Malian team, Green said the NFF was keen on the outcome of the decision by CAF, adding that protest during the first leg match in Calabar was based on principle.

“We are not withdrawing the protest against the Malians. Recall that we had said it is not about winning, but about honesty and following the rules of the game.

Physiologically, they (Malians) did not look like players that are U-17 years, but we might be wrong.

“It is left for CAF to open an independent investigation into what we have just said. There is no harm in CAF doing it because it is going to help football in Africa, as a matter of fact.’’

Green said in spite of the protest, the NFF had shown that the Eaglets were not scared playing against any team in the continent.

Manu Garba, Eaglets coach

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Team Lagos remains unbeaten in basketball

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eam Lagos male basketball team has continued its impressive runs in basketball at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012 after defeating Kwara 76-47 in the fifth game of the

competition.

Before the victory over Team Kwara, Team Lagos had defeated Enugu 63-43, Plateau 53-41, Ekiti 83-33 and Imo 58-37.

Mark Balogun Team Lagos coach says his lads are getting stronger

... cruise into volleyball medal zone, face Delta in semis today

with every match: “We are getting stronger day by day. I want to say that Kwara are no pushovers because they are good as well.

“But my players are in form and we will remain committed to our objective of claiming the gold

medal, and we shall surely make Lagosians proud at the end.’’

Also in the men’s event played at Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park, Bayelsa defeated Zamfara by 53-47. In the women’s event, Team Abuja recorded their third victory after beating Team Niger 82-52.

LOC urges teams to explore Lagos

L

agos female Volleyball team zoomed into the medal zone yesterday, beating Team Adamawa in a hugely one-sided game decided at the Teslim Balogun Volleyball courts. It was the first quarter-finals game of the day.

The Lagos team was just too hot to handle as team from the north east could not match them in the three set, losing all the sets to the all-conquering team.

The hosts showed they were for business from the blast of the umpire’s whistle in the first set, beating them mercilessly. They continued the trend in the last two rounds as Adamawa capitulated completely.

Lagos will now meet Team Delta in the semis today at same venue.

T

Ondo defends paratable tennis title

E

zekiel Ayodeji, an Ondo State Para-table tennis player in the Class 6 and 7 category, yesterday successfully defended the gold medal he won at the 17th National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt.

Ayodeji defended the title after he defeated John Otuka of Bayelsa at the ongoing 18th edition of the Games in Lagos, tagged “Eko 2012’’.

Reacting to the win, Gboye Omodojo, the Ondo State Para-table tennis coach, said the result is a manifestation of the good training his player had.

Omodojo added that he was

expecting more medals from different classes of the game.

“I feel so good, the gold medal won

by Ayodeji was due to the training he had and he believed in himself which was pivotal to his victory,” he said.

Ayodeji on his part thanked his coach for giving him adequate training, adding that it made him to defend his title in the ongoing festival.

Para-table tennis had so far contributed one gold and one bronze medal to Ondo state’s two gold, two silver and 7 bronze totalling 11 medals.

A

Soldier beats athlete to coma as fracas broke out at Agege Stadium

Team Lagos Dambe athlete, Amao Usman, was given severe beating by an Army personnel yesterday inside the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, one of the venues for the 18th National Sports Festival, tagged Eko 2012.

Amao had protested the result of his fight against his Yobe state opponent by throwing his hand gloves on the floor.

But that action infuriated the soldiers who pounced on him by using both their fists and gun boots to beat him and in the process inflicted bodily injuries on him.

A journalist, who had taken shots of the action in his digital camera, was sternly threatened and forced to delete the recorded action to

avoided being subjected to similar severe beating.

In another development, it took the intervention of a senior military personnel to avert what could have been violent clash between some soldiers and the police at the entrance of the Agege Stadium when both fought for some misunderstanding.

Residents of the area, journalists and some athletes, who went to the Bistro Hotel opposite the stadium to eat, had to run for their safety, as the soldiers engaged their Police

Players tussling for the ball during an hocky game

A Boxer from the blue corner been declared winner after a bout

counters in a free for all fight shooting sporadically into the air.

Explaining the cause of the clash, one of the Police officers said that he had gun to the restaraunt for some drinks when a soldier sought to know his identity but that the soldier slapped him as he

was attempted to produce his ID card.

No comment could be obtained from any Army personnel on the cause of the fracas which forced shops owners and other business centre operators to hurriedly close shops.

... Police arrest five fans over violent conduct

F

ive hooligans were arrested yesterday at the Yaba Polytechnic football pitch for a fight between Team Gombe and Team Kwara during a football match.

They were arrested for breach of the peace after security personnel managed to curtail the fracas that had ensued following a fight purportedly started by Team Gombe fans, a development that turned the Yaba Polytechnic football pitch into a battle ground.

The unsportsmanlike conduct led to serious injury on Team Kwara Head Coach, Moshood Adebayo, even as several others including fans also sustained varying degrees of bodily harm.

Trouble started when the centre ordered coach Adebayo of Team Kwara to leave the pitch after he had lodged a complaint over alleged poor officiating, the Team Gombe fans were said to have

descernded on him allegedly for encroaching on the pitch.

Team Gombe football team was leading and fans perhaps feared that the coach’s intention was to influence subsequent decisions of the referee in his team’s favour.

All sort of missiles were used in the ensuing fight even as fans and sports journalists ran for their safety as Team Gombe fans took on anybody on sight. The late arrival of security personnel on the scene did not help matters.

A Journalist from the National Pilot, Toyin Saheed, was brutally punched by angry Team Gombe supporters.

Incident was the second since the football match began at the venue that Team Gombe fans have disrupted proceedings as well as fought with match officials. They fought against Team Zamfara last Thursday.

he Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the ongoing 18 th National Sports Festival (NSF) has urged teams to take advantage of their presence to explore the vast tourists potentials of the state Among the attractions on offer according to the LOC are boat cruise, film shows and other areas of interests, adding that in the various Games Villages film shows are regular features from 8 p.m. daily till December 7.

The Secretary-General of the LOC, Kweku Tandoh said yesterday that the essence of the daily boat cruise and the film shows were to make the participants at the Games to enjoy their stay.

Tandoh said it was to show the athletes and officials the numerous tourism sites in Lagos State, as well as to foster unity and friendship amongst Nigerians.

“The major objective of the tour is to foster unity, peace, friendship among the people. We want everyone to appreciate one another and above all, have funfilled moments in Lagos,’’ he said.

Tandoh also said that films would be shown at the Games Villages, UBA Park, Tinubu Hall and Moremi Hall in University of Lagos (UNILAG).

“Films will also be shown at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka. As most of the athletes are in the mood for the Games, it will help them to relax in the evenings.

“The boat cruise started on Sunday and we have decided to make it a daily affair. We will be glad if athletes and officials can avail themselves the opportunity to be part of the experience,’’ he said.

The LOC scribe said the shows were free for all athletes and officials who had been accredited for the Games, adding that the land tour would be in a doubledecker bus.

“We want all participants to always remember the experience days, months and even years after the festival,” Tandoh added.

It would be recalled that 34 athletes and officials were taken on the boat cruise on Sunday from the Queens Drive waterway, Ikoyi around the coast line, up to the Snake Island.

The cruise stopped at Ogogoro Village, an Island inhabited by fishermen, for the visitors to chat with the villagers.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 43

UEFA Champions League

Only third place to play for in Dortmund-Man City duel

M

anchester City will fight for pride and a berth in the Europa League when they take on Borussia Dortmund in their final UEFA Champions League match today.

The encounter will mark the final fixture of Group D and having already been handed their fate early on in the competition all that is left for City is pride and a consolation prize of a spot in the Europa League.

Having yet to take maximum points off any of their adversaries in the league, their disappointing run in the league further underlined that there is much more work which needs to be done

on the international stage for City.

Losses to Real Madrid and Ajax Amsterdam has left Roberto Mancini’s men stone last in their group, but only sit one point below the Dutchmen- who will also be eager to fight for a spot in the Europa League.

City now faces a spilt in their road: with one path positioning in the direction of whether or not they should fight to continue their European outing or whether they should bow out entirely and direct all focus on their domestic league.

The decision will fall on them on Tuesday evening whereas for

Dortmund they have little left to play for after having already sewn up their position as group leaders ahead of Real Madrid who will finish second.

Prior to Matchday Two’s encounter, the two teams have never met on the European front, but in an ironic twist of fate Dortmund’s first ever European outing came at City’s old Maine Road Stadium in a match against Manchester United.

The Germans have proved to be a revelation this season and are looking likely to make it even further than the final round of the last 16 with their tireless, fast pace attacking style.

Pole position the target for Royal Blues

S

chalke 04 will be looking to win their final fixture at Montpellier to ensure they finish first in Group B. With a one-point lead over Arsenal, the German team meet their beleaguered French opposition at the Stade de la Mosson tonight for their UEFA Champions League match.

Montpellier’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal on match day five not only confirmed their exit from the Champions League, but from all European competition this season. The only point the Ligue 1 champions have won in the tournament was against Schalke at the Veltins Arena on match day two.

Montpellier coach Rene Girard could name a few changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Olympique Lyonnais on Saturday. Geoffrey Jourdren, Teddy Mezague, Joris Marveuax, Karim Ait-Fana and Garry Bocaly have all been struggling with injuries, but Hilton returns to the fold after a recent layoff.

On the other hand Jamel Saihi and Cyril Jeunechamp could both feature, having missed recent domestic matches

through suspension, though the latter will have to see off competition from Daniel Congre. Finally, Remy Cabella could come back into the fold.

Schalke need a victory to confirm their place at the top of Group B. If they were to lose or draw, they would have to hope that Olympiakos can stop Arsenal from winning. Their victory over Olympiakos a fortnight ago was the only game that Schalke have won in their last five in all competitions.

Whether Huub Stevens’ decides to pick a strong Schalke side is open to conjecture. In theory they could name the same team that drew 1-1 with Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday, featuring stars such as Lewis Holtby, KlaasJan Huntelaar and Julian Draxler.

However, he could opt to give game time to some of the fringe players, including the likes of Christoph Metzelder, Tranquillo Barnetta, Chinedu Obasi and Teemu Pukki. Timo Hildebrand should continue in goal in place of out of favour Lars Unnerstall.

PSG, Porto battle for Europa Cup place

P

aris Saint-Germain and FC Porto will fight for first place in Group A of the Champions League on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes.

With both teams already having qualified for the round of sixteen of the competition, they are now aiming for the comfortable leader’s seat in the sixth and final week of the group phase.

Lying one point behind the Portuguese, Carlo Ancelotti’s men could reach their goal in the case of a victory, while a defeat or a draw would keep Porto in the lead in the group.

PSG were beaten 1-0 at the Estadio Do Dragao during the second week and they will definitely be set on revenge in front of their public.

“We suffered a heavy blow in Porto, we would have liked to have been more in control in the match. But it was a good match to measure ourselves in, against a team that is used to the

Champions League. We missed our opportunity, but we have the return leg

to catch up in,” stated Parisian defender Christophe Jallet on the UEFA website.

Above all, this European clash will be an opportunity for Paris to win back confidence, at a time when the club from the capital is experiencing a serious period of doubt on the national scene.

PSG were eliminated from the League Cup in the quarterfinals by SaintEtienne and have only bagged one victory over their last five championship games, having just suffered a loss against Nice 2-1. The Parisian coach has little else on his mind.

On the other hand, FC Porto are perfectly in control of their championship, where they remain unbeaten this season and have just enjoyed a great victory away against Sporting Braga, 2-0.

The other Group A clash will see Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo Kiev come to blows in a match with nothing at stake.

Fixtures Olympiacos

v

Arsenal

Real Madrid v

Ajax

PSG

v

FC Porto

Montpellier

v

Schalke 04

AC Milan

v

Zenit

B/Dortmund v

Man City

Malaga

Anderlecht

v

Dinamo Zagreb v Dynamo Kiev Group Standings Group A Teams

MP W D L GF GA Pts

FC Porto

5

4

1 0 9

2

13

Paris-SG

5

4

0 1 12 2

12

Dynamo Kiev

5

1

1 3 5

9

4

Dinamo Zagreb 5

0

0 5 0

13

0

Group B Teams

MP W D L

Schalke 04 5 Arsenal

3

GF GA Pts

2 0

9

5

11

5

3

1 1

9

6

10

Olympiacos 5

2

0 3

7

8

6

Montpellier 5

0

1 4

5

11 1

Group C Teams

MP W D L GF GA Pts

Malaga

5

3

2

0 10 3

11

AC Milan

5

2

2

1 7

5

8

Zenit St. Petersburg

5

1

1

3 5

9

4

Anderlecht

5

1

1

3 2

7

4

Group D Teams

MP W D L GF GA Pts

Borussia Dortmund

5

3

2

0 10 5

11 8

Real Madrid

5

2

2

1 11 8

Ajax Amsterdam

5

1

1

3 7

12 4

Manchester City

5

0

3

2 7

10 3

Group E Teams

MP W D L GF GA Pts

Shakhtar Donetsk 5

3

1 1 12 7

10

Juventus

5

2

3 0 11 4

9

Chelsea

5

2

1 2 10 9

7

Nordsjaelland

5

0

1 4 3

1

Teams

MP

W

D L

GF GA Pts

Valencia

5

3

1

1

11

5

10

Bayern Munich 5

3

1

1

11

6

10

Depleted Arsenal tackle Olympiakos

BATE

5

2

0

3

8

11

6

Lille

5

1

0

4

4

12

3

rsenal have opted to leave six first-team regulars in London ahead of their final Champions’ League group stage match against Olympiakos Piraeus in a bid to avoid fatigue, manager Arsene Wenger said yesterday.

Midfielders Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta, forwards Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott as well as defender Per

Teams

MP

W

D L

GF GA Pts

Barcelona

5

4

0

1

11

5

12

Celtic

5

2

1

2

7

7

7

Benfica

5

2

1

2

5

5

7

Spartak Moscow 5

1

0

4

6

12

3

A

Zlatan Ibrahomovic

Mertesacker were all missing from Arsenal’s 18-man squad named to travel to Greece for today’s match.

Wojciech Szczesny, Thomas Vermaelen, Alex OxladeChamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, and Gervinho will be surrounded by fringe and youth team players, five of whom are yet to make their first-team debut.

“Some players needed a rest because they were a bit on the

fringe of injury, and some players are injured,” Wenger told club website.

“When I count the injured players I speak about Podolski and Walcott. We needed to rest Wilshere, 100 percent, and Cazorla, Arteta and Mertesacker played many games recently.

They have been rested.

Arsenal have already guaranteed their passage through to the last 16. They can

top Group B if they win and German side Schalke, who lead the English club by one point, draw or lose against French c h a m p i o n s Montpellier.

Despite a weakened side Wenger will be hoping his 150th Champions League match in charge as coach ends in glory, however Arsenal’s last visit to Olympiakos’s Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium 12 months ago

ended in a 3-1 defeat for the north London side.

Arsenal overcame the Greek side by the same margin at home in October.

Swansea City striker Miguel Michu condemned Arsenal to a fourth Premier League defeat on Saturday when he scored twice to leave Wenger’s side 10th in the table as their worst start to a domestic season under his reign continued.

16

Group F

Group G

Group H W D L

GF

GA

Pts

Manchester United 5

Teams

MP

4

0

1

9

5

12

CFR-Cluj

5

2

1

2

8

7

7

Galatasaray

5

2

1

2

5

5

7

SC Braga

5

1

0

4

6

11

3

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

2013 Nations Cup finals

Keshi insists domestic league Eagles must fight for slots

N It’ ll be Eagles vs Ghana final, Lawal predicts

igeria head coach, Stephen Keshi has allayed fear that players from the domestic League will not be considered for the 2013 Afcon in South Africa.

Keshi told supersport.com that players in the NPL will get the chance to fight for places for the Africa Cup of Nations squad in spite of the league season being in recess.

“I don’t think it will be fair to say that the players based at home will

not get the chance to fight for places in the team for the Nations Cup in South Africa. A number of the players at home are key players in the team and played very important roles in helping us qualify for the Nations Cup. “No need to mention any name (of the NPL players) but you know some of them I’ve called up into the team and those who have impressed since I took charge as head coach,” said Keshi to supersport.com.

The former Mali and Togo coach also reminded that Nigeria’s preAfcon camp will open in the nation’s capital, Abuja with largely players based in the country.

“I must also tell you that the camp for the Nations Cup will start on December 17 and it will be filled with the players based in the country. So they have a very good chance to make the Nations Cup team like their foreign-based colleagues. Besides no one is sure

of a place just yet because I want to see who is committed,” remarked the Nigerian manager.

Keshi has a Caf deadline of January 9, 2013 to name his 23man team for the Afcon finals.

“Certainly we will meet that deadline,” assured the Nigerian coach.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles are drawn in Group B of the 2013 Afcon alongside defending champions, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

N

igeria midfielder Raheem Lawal has predicted the Super Eagles will clash with perennial rivals Ghana in the final of next year’s AFCON. The former Atletico Beleares of Spain midfielder said Ghana have a team good enough to reach the final, so too Nigeria, who he will tip to go on and win the continental trophy.

“I see Nigeria and Ghana playing in the final of the Nations Cup in South Africa. Not that the other teams who will feature in the competition are not good, but both Ghana and Nigeria have an edge with us best to win it,” Lawal said.

“I am also looking forward to play at the Nations Cup for the first time. I was so happy when we qualified and I will do my best to be in South Africa with the Eagles and contribute to the team’s success.”

Raheem Lawal said defending champions Zambia will be Nigeria’s biggest threat in the first round of the tournament.

“Zambia of course are the main threat because they are champions from last year and they are still very much intact.

We therefore have to beware of them and take them seriously even though we cannot afford to look down on Burkina Faso and Ethiopia,” he said.

The former Olympic international also told MTNFootball.com he was shocked Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi did not make the top five players to battle for the Africa Footballer of the Year Award.

“I was surprised when I saw the list. I don’t understand how CAF reached that conclusion because Mikel won the English FA Cup as well as the UEFA Champions League not as a bench warmer, but as a super regular. I think CAF need to tell us how they picked the final nominees,”he argued.

Gabriel Reuben, Godfrey Oboabana, Chigozie Agbim, must earned places in Super Eagles Nations Cup-bound squad

Zambia now to play Saudis once after hitch

Z

ambia defender HimoondeZambia’s twomatch friendly series in Saudi Arabia have been cut to a game after a delay in Lusaka.

The African champions’ trip to Dammam has suffered a 48-hour delay forcing the cancellation of the first game that was scheduled for December 1.

“The team, who were initially

A

December 5 in Dammam.

“The match will kick off at 17:00hours Arabian time which is 16:00 hours Zambian time,” Mwanza said.

The game is one of several planned by the Chipolopolo ahead of the defence of the AFCON title they won in Gabon in February.

They are also to take on

Tanzania, Morocco as well as Norway preparatory to the AFCON in South Africa.

2013 champions to tackle Spain, Uruguay

Togo players, coach threaten to pull out of team W

B

arely 48 hours after Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor pulled out of the team following a match bonus row, other players are threatening to follow suit.

Coach Didier Six told reporters yesterday he would wait for about 72 hours to react to the situation, whether to stay put or resign.

He said he wanted to see how many key players would quit in solidarity with the Tottenham striker, who last week denounced

Angola may play Algeria, Namibia before Xmas ngola are considering playing either Namibia, Zimbabwe or Algeria in their pre-Christmas camp in Lubango.

The Palancas Negras are lining up friendly opponents as they prepare for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

listed for the Saturday, 1st December 2012 flight at 21:20hours, will now leave on Sunday at the same time and arrive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia early Monday,” Football Association of Zambia spokesperson Erick Mwanza said.

The development will now see Zambia play just one match on

This was revealed by assistant coach José Kilamba, who says the game might be played on either December 16, 19 or 22.

Angola have been drawn in Group A at the Nations Cup along with South Africa, Morocco and Cape Verde.

the nonpayment of bonuses to players after they defeated Morocco 1-0 in an international friendly last month in Casablanca.

Togo football federation says it did not promise a win-bonus package to players ahead of the meeting, although officials admitted receiving •35,000 (R404,000) from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, but said was meant to cover travel and hotel expenses and not to pay bonuses.

The Sparrow Hawks first choice goalkeeper Kossi Agassa and midfielder Alaixys Romao of French Ligue 1 side Lorient have vowed to abandon the outfit as well if Adebayor’s decision was confirmed.

Togo are in one of the toughest groups of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, opening their campaign against 2012 finalists Ivory Coast before facing the two other members of Group D Algeria and Tunisia.

Emmanuel Adebayo

inners of next year’s AFCON in South Africa will battle European champions Spain in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The next African champions will battle Spain, Tahiti and Uruguay in Group B, while Group A houses hosts Brazil Japan, Mexico and Italy.

The draw was held in Sao Paulo on Saturday for the competition, which will take place from June 15 to 30 and will serve as a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup also in Brazil.

Africa have yet to win this prestigious tournament with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon coming the closest to reach this global milestone when they lost 1-0 to France after extra time in the 2003 edition.

South Africa hosted the last tournament three years ago with Brazil beating United States of America 3-2 in a thrilling final.

Spain placed third after they defeated the host country 3-2 after extra time.

Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire have also finished fourth in this competition among the various confederation champions.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 45

1] Neymar is not too young to shoulder the burden of leading Brazil's World Cup hopes, says new national team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

2] Newly crowned AFC Player of the Year Lee Keunho may have achieved much in a prosperous 2012 but the Ulsan Hyundai forward still harbours one major ambition; qualification for the FIFA World Cu. 3] Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell wins the World Challenge in California by three shots from American Keegan Bradley.

4] Ricky Ponting says his decision to retire from playing for Australia was easy after his final game ends in defeat.

5] Tyson Fury moves one step closer to a world title shot after overcoming American Kevin Johnson on points in Belfast.

6] Mesut Ozil says he has no interest in the criticism he has faced from the Spanish media and that he is only concerned about Jose Mourinho's opinion.

1

Pictorial

2

3

4

5

6

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

Wrestling boss wants judges to apply standard rules

D Adamawa defeats Oyo on penalties to reach second round

T

he Adamawa female hockey team yesterday defeated their Oyo counterparts 32 on penalties at the National Stadium, Lagos at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival.

The first and second halves of the match ended goalless and the winner emerged through a penalty shoot-out and has advanced to the second round of the Games.

In his reaction, Coach Kwaghe Hassan of Team Adamawa, expressed joy over his team’s victory and commended their opponents for putting up a good fight.

“The match was a very competitive one and I am happy my girls came out victorious after playing against a strong side, like the Oyo girls,” he said.

Also, Kenneth Ukah, Coach of the Oyo team, said that he was pleased with the outcome of the match, adding that his players tried their best but lost. “I do not really feel bad because in every game there must be a winner and loser,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the other match played in pool A, Kaduna defeated Anambra 1-0 even as seven states out of 11 in the event have qualified for the second round of the female hockey event at the festival.

The states are Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Kaduna, Bauchi and Adamawa.

amian Ohaike, T e c h n i c a l Director, Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), has appealed to officials at the wrestling event to apply standard rules and be honest in their judgment.

Ohaike, who said officiating has been reasonably fair, urged judges at the University of Lagos, (UNILAG) Indoor Sports Hall where wrestling events is taking place, to apply international best practice and thus get top grade recognition.

“In the area of officiating, Nigeria is not doing badly but we do not have many internationally-graded referees, which is not good.

“I appeal to referees at the event to be fair, honest and firm when they are officiating because the International Amateur Wrestling Federation is watching.

“We may think this is just a national event but the international body is also interested. This is our chance to show our competence and prove that we can be called to officiate internationally,’’ he said.

Ohaike said that any official found to be biased would be sanctioned in accordance with the rules of FILA, the world governing body for amateur wrestling.

He decried the lack of sponsorship for competitions, saying it

was hindering the exposure of referees, adding that without regular national competitions and international officiating, athletes, coaches and referees would not develop.

“We lack exposure because we do not have sponsors to help organise

Ohaike, however, noted that with adequate attention, the sport would improve.

The wrestling event of the biennial Games, tagged “Eko 2012’’ which started on December 1, will end on December 7, two days to before the curtain is dropped on the Games.

Security remains top priority at fiesta, says ACP Akinsola

A

CP Gideon Akinsola, Head of Security, at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Lagos, said on Monday that security remained a top priority for his team.

Akinsola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the issue of crowd control would be handled professionally, alongside the enforcement of law and order.

“We know the importance of this festival which is to groom young talents to stardom; we, as security agents, have to ensure that the environment is conducive enough and safe.

“Knowing the importance of spectators at sports venues, we strive to ensure the safety of everyone: athletes, officials and of course, the spectators.

“We trained our personnel on how to manage a crowd, which has worked for us, no matter the level of provocation.

Security personnel must not show any sign of irritation,’’ he said.

Akinsola stressed that the opening ceremony of the Games was a good example of how well the security team could handle a crowd, without any untoward incident.

“The crowd at the opening ceremony was huge and for it to have been hitch free, it shows that we have done well in managing the crowd, as there was no result of violence.

“We will not take anything for granted, we will maintain the same stance at all times,’’Akinsola said.

He added that the security agents were now working round-the-clock to ensure a hitch-free closing ceremony for the Games on Dec. 9.

Two pugilists exchanging punches during a bout at the on-going Games

Team Delta wins four golds in wrestling

T

eam Delta wrestlers won four gold medals in wretling at the ongoing festival even as the Niger Delta region dominates in the event sweeping a total of seven gold medals.

Wrestlers from the region have shown class in the Greco-Roman wrestling event at the festival as has been the case

in other combact games.

Teams Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers led the medals for the Greco-Roman wrestling event after Sunday bouts at Eko 2012.

Dominic Nnalue, Oke Ituru, Tamara Soso and Ekerekem Agiomor were the gold medal winners in different categories of Greco-Roman wrestling for Team Delta.

Team Lagos Taekwondoists hope for more medals

T

he Lagos State T a e k w o n d o Association, whose athletes have already won two gold and two silver medals at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival,

yesterday boasted of winning more gold at the festival.

Peace Ogunnowo, Chief Coach of the association, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Teslim Balogun Stadium,

venue of the event.

Ogunnowo said that the state won the gold in the male individual poomse and the female team poomse, while the silver madals were in the male and female fin weight

Finally, swimmers begin hunt for medals

A

championships and also for referees and coaches to attend international seminars.

“Wrestling will not improve if sponsors are not forthcoming. They should also have in mind that the sport offers seven medals because of its seven weight categories,’’ he said.

fter three postponements, the swimming event of the 18th National Sports Festival began yesterday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos with Heat I of the 100m women’s freestyle.

The swimming event, which was slated for November 29, was shifted to December 2 and later to yesterday because of excessive use of chlorine in the swimming pool.

The organisers said that high level of chlorine in the water could have adverse effect of the health of the swimmers, especially the skin, eyes and nose.

In the first event held yesterday, Abeng Oka from Cross River state who swam from lane four won after she returned a time of 1.08.86.

Anuoluwapo Agunbinade from Osun in lane two was second with 1.13:74 and Light Ikuloburu of Ogun in lane

five occupied the third position with 1.16:15.

Other results are Gift Joseph (Bayelsa) fourth with 1.19:43, while Marian Eworo of Ebonyi came last with 1.29:99. The Technical Director of Nigeria Swimming Federation (NSF), Gbenga Lawal said that swimming which had been delayed would be fast-tracked.

He disclosed that before now the pool looked beautiful and ready for the event but was technically faulty.

He said the non-readiness of the pool was responsible for the delay and added that the managers had to act quickly to save the situation.

The other swimming events held yesterday were the men’s 100m breaststroke, women’s 200m butterfly, men’s 200m freestyle. The swimming event will end on Saturday.

categories.

“There are 20 gold medals at stake in taekwondo, Lagos has won two and we are in good form to win more,” she said.

The coach, whose athletes won two gold medals at the Gateway Games in Abeokuta in 2006, said that her team was not under any threat from other participating states in the event at the Games.

“My players are still in a better chance to win more gold; although other states are here to compete and also win medals, I can confidently say that I have no serious challenge.

“Delta and some northern states have been our arch rivals in the sport, but times have changed for any state to maintain

Bayelsa finished in second spot winning two gold medals.

Nathaniel Samuel and Dickson Enenibodzie won gold medals for Team Bayelsa in the 84kg and 60kg classes respectively.

It was in the 120kg weight class that Team Rivers got its solitary gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. domination in the sport.

“I have confidence that my players will still win at least two more gold and two more silver medals as they are still in good form,’’ Ogunnowo added.

She commended the tournament officials, saying that their officiating was in accordance with the rules and regulations of the International Taekwondo Federation standards.

“The officiating has been commendable and free of any bias.

Our Chika Chukwumerije, the Beijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, is handling the Olympic standard machine sensor system, for scoring points,“ Ogunnowo said.

Team Lagos registered 16 players, eight male and eight female for the game at the festival.

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY CHIBUZO LAURA NDUBISI . NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS CHIBUZO LAURA NDUBISI OKEREKE. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

PAGE 47

Quick CrossWord (82)

Say what?

ACROSS 1 Smoker’s saucer (7) 5 __ Norris, star of action films (5) 9 Reverse a situation (4,3,6) 10 Plan, suggestion (8) 11 Cradles (4) 12 Intrusive (9) 16 Stratagem (4) 19 Consumed with (2,3,6,2) 21 Daisy-like flower (5) 22 Nap (4-3)

SUDOKU Getting Started Each sudoku puzzle is a 9 by 9 grid of horizontal and vertical rows, evenly separated into 9 squares with 9 spaces each.

Instead of word clues, each puzzle’s solution is determined by the pattern of the numbers already filled in you. You solve the puzzle by filling in the missing digits so that, when completed, each row and each square will have all the number from 1 to 9; each number will appear in exactly nine spaces within each puzzle.

DOWN 2 Liquid mining waste (6) 3 Very common (3,1,5) 4 Friend of Porthos and Aramis (5) 6 Pivot (3) 7 Ridges (6) 8 Of a sloping type, used for emphasis (6) 11 Constituent part (9) 13 Thing with distinct existence (6) 14 Strips of wood (6) 15 __ Sher, South Africanborn actor (6) 18 Town in Tayside E Scotland (5) 20 Plymouth __, seafront area (3)

Yesterday’s answer

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Yesterday’s solution

A boy swims amongst the debris as he tries to salvage belongings from destroyed homes in Manila.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

NSF: Irate soldiers to be handed to Army authorities

T

he Main Organising Committee of the 18th National Sports Festival (MOC) says that the soldiers that brutalised a Lagos Dambe athlete on Sunday will be fished out and handed to the army authorities for disciplining.

Speaking yesterday at a media briefing, Director of Games Services, Brigadier General Emmanuel Okaro (rtd) said his committee will not rest on its oars until those soldiers that committed that dastardly act were fished out and handed over to the appropriate authorities.

"I can assure you that justice will be done," the retired army chief said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the MOC, Alhaji Abba Yola, has apologised to the Dambe athlete, Yusuf Dogo-Auta, who was beaten up by the soldiers and The Sun photo journalist, Dele Ojo, who was also manhandled as he was trying to take shots of the incident.

The MOC says that much as security operatives are essential part of the Games, efforts are being made to ensure that they do not become overbearing on the athletes and innocent spectators, turned out in large numbers to watch the events.

Alhaji Yola notes that the MOC in conjunction with the security committee will reach out to the appropriate authorities to demand that its operative clearly distinguished between those performing official duties including athletes, team officials, sports journalists plus innocent spectators and those out to foment troubles.

In a similar vein, the MOC has warned Anambra State Weightlifting Association that was found to have fielded a Cameroonian. Yola assures that those found to have fielded mercenaries will not go unpunished in accordance with the laws of the Games.

He pleaded with states and coaches to help the NSC fish out mercenaries. "They will be doing us (NSC) and themselves enormous good if they can help us identify cheats in whatever form."

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE It's in the character of insurgency worldwide to audaciously attack insstitutions that will promote maximum fear in the heart of the citizenry.

–– Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan

The other mass murderers F

ormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar is, by all measures, a weighty voice in the political and business affairs of this country. He has a significant political following and owns and runs a big business empire from which he draws the resources that oil his political machine. He is not known to be a man given to hyperbole or drollery. And the way things are today, a President Atiku Abubakar is not quite beyond the pale.

Last week Atiku, no doubt outraged, as the rest of us were, by the twin bombing of a church at Jaji that claimed many lives, caused his media to issue a strongly worded statement in which he condemned the Boko Haram sect, believed to be responsible for the attack, as “mass murderers” and urged Nigerians leaders across all divides to form a united front to defeat the sect.

Atiku warned in the statement that, if not decisively halted, the relentless bombing and violent campaigns of the sect could lead to consequences that the nation would be unable to control. And he emphasized the urgency of the situation.

Atiku is a politician whose presidential ambition is not a secret. And it may be, as is being speculated in some quarters, that there are some political undertones to this his latest outing. Perhaps it is, among other things, intended to show Atiku as one Northern leader who has come out strongly and openly against the sect and its activities, in answer to the ceaseless accusations by Southerners that Northern leaders have been inexplicably quiet about, implying in effect that they are complicit in, what the sect has been doing. Whatever the case, the image of a prominent Northern leader now talking tough and being unsparing in his condemnation of the sect is sure to play well in the whole of the South and win Atiku some political mileage.

In any case, his concerns are widely shared, and across the entire country Nigerians feel equally outraged about what has been happening. And it is important that leaders speak out, and do so strongly and with one voice. In the fight against insurgency, any semblance of a crack or a weakening of resolve among the leaders could send a wrong signal and could be exploited by the insurgents.

But what is even more important is for the leaders to properly understand the nature

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FOR THE MASSES

By Rufa’i Ibrahim ruf585@hotmail.com

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and size of the problem in order to be able to craft the correct responses to it.

Atiku may not be wrong to label and condemn the Boko Haram sect members as mass murderers.

The non-legal definition of murder, as contained in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is “The crime of killing somebody deliberately.” To murder is defined in this dictionary as “to kill somebody deliberately and illegally,” while a murderer is defined as “a person who has killed somebody deliberately and illegally.”

Dictionary.com defines the words “to murder” as “to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously.”

Given this, a mass murderer can thus be defined as someone who has deliberately and illegally killed a lot of people in a manner that is inhuman or barbarous.

It is of course not clear what amounts to “a lot of people” in terms of figures. In the course of human history, the murder of a few people by a lone gunman and the organised killing of thousands or even millions of people by groups or state agents have been equally described as mass murders.

In many ways, however, Atiku was right. The Boko Haram insurgents are doubtless a

murderous lot. Through their violent campaigns of bombing, targeted assassinations and attacks on places of worship and even schools, they kill a lot of people. And their ways and methods are deliberate, illegal, inhuman and barbarous.

It is a pity and most unfortunate, though, that Atiku, just like many others are wont to do, saw only what he wanted to see when he surveyed the field. If deliberation, illegality, acting inhumanly and/or barbarously and killing many are what defined mass murder, how can anyone rightly say that Boko Haram members are the only ones out in the field working today in Nigeria? To say or think so is to grossly misrepresent reality, and it is freighted with serious implications for the security and future of this country.

As a leader and politician aspiring to be president, what does Atiku think or say about the Nigerian State’s response to the Boko Haram insurgency? What does he have to say in particular about the activities and methods of operation of the Joint Task Force in especially Borno and Yobe? If he is to give them a label what does he call them?

The armed forces high command recently told the world that the Boko Haram sect has killed about 3000 people in its three years of violent campaigns.

Bukar Abba Ibrahim, former twoterm governor of Yobe State and someone who should know, told the world that in the scotched earth operation by our armed forces ordered by the late President Yar’adua to route out the sect in 2009 alone, up to 5000 civilians were mowed down. And, as we saw in the video clips shown by Aljazeera Satellite television, this was done in the most inhuman and barbaric way. Our armed forces were at their most bestial during that operation. And, by common agreement, this is largely what has led to the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency to its present stage.

The armed forces were no less bestial and barbaric when they attacked and killed randomly in

Zaki Biam and Odi, to avenge the killing in these two places of their officers. The history of the Nigerian State and its coercive forces is one of violence. It is a state that has continuously failed to better the lots of the country’s poor and thinks nothing of turning its guns on them and killing them at the slightest excuse.

Today in Borno, especially the capital, Maiduguri, the JTF is acting and operating as an army of occupation, with no civilized rules of engagement, no postoperation reviews of its operation, and no respect for the peoples’ customs and ways of life They raid and sack neighbourhoods and kill as they please. They do summary executions and inflict collective punishments on the people. They detain and torture suspects whimsically.

The facts that one does not see all this being reported or captured in the Nigerian media and there are hardly any organised protests against the atrocities of the armed forces in these states doesn’t mean that all is well. Atiku must have his own sources who tell him what’s going on in those states and how the armed forces are the bigger mass murderers.

It’s good to have a united front against any kind of insurgency.

But in our current situation, what is even better, and what Atiku should be seriously canvassing, is an even stronger front against the impunity and brutal conduct of the JTF. For, as the Amnesty International Human Rights Watch and other concerned groups and institutions, both within and outside Nigeria, have been saying, it is largely the brutal conduct, impunity and human rights violations of the armed forces that are fuelling the insurgency. It is what has created the now vicious cycle of violence begetting violence, in which the people caught in the middle, with nowhere to go or turn to, between the insurgents and the armed forces. Unless the excesses of the armed forces are cheeked, this vicious cycle and the no-win situation that we are now in will continue, and it will keep exerting its heavy toll on all of us.

It is necessary for Atiku and all our other leaders, most especially those aspiring to positions, to realize that there is not just one set of mass murderers in the field but many: Boko Haram, the many criminal groups and gangs using the sect’s franchise and those paid by the state to check the sect but have now all now clearly outdone the sect in inflicting violence on the population.

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141