Peoples Daily

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 10 No. 28

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

. . . putting the people first

Rabiul Awwal 25, 1434 AH

N150

2015: Govs endorse opposition merger ...say PDP rule not good for democracy APGA, ANPP inclusion stalls talks From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos & Ikechukwu Okaforadi, Abuja

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bout 10 governors from opposition political parties involved in the ongoing merger talks for a mega party rose from a closed meeting in Lagos yesterday with a resolve to flush out the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

The governors who affirmed their support for the merger plans regretted what they described as the rampaging one-party system in the country as represented by the PDP. “It is not good for the nation’s hard earned democracy,” the governors noted.

In a swift reaction, the PDP described the meeting of the opposition political parties as a “welcome development.”

Addressing journalists after the Contd on Page 2

L-R: Ekiti state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, representative of Yobe state Governor, Senator Jejere Alkali, Oyo state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, chief host and Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Nasarawa state Governor, Alhaji Umar Tanko Al-makura, Zamfara state Governor, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Yari, Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Imo state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, after the meeting of opposition governors from different states on the proposed merger talks among the parties, yesterday at Lagos House, Marina, in Lagos.

Again, Amnesty accuses police of extra-judicial killings

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mnesty International has accused the Nigerian Police of extra-judicial killings in parts of the country, urging the federal and states governments to investigate such deaths and carry out proper autopsies.

The group in a report released yesterday lamented that hundreds of fatal police shootings each year leave families anguished and bereaved without

investigation and attributed the development to what it described as failure of the Nigerian justice system.

In the report tagged, “Nigeria: No Justice for the Dead,” Amnesty said that inquiries it carried out in Rivers state illustrate the gaps in the investigation of deaths following police action where basic techniques of crime scene protection and investigation are not applied and autopsies and

inquests are either not carried out or are inadequate.

“The lack of investigation in Nigeria means that many of the police officers who appear to have used unlawful lethal force enjoy impunity, seriously undermining human rights protections,” said Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa.

According to the report,

“many of the victims killed by the police each year may have been unlawfully killed in what constitutes extra-judicial executions.

“Relatives are often left with no answers about the fate of their family members and rarely receive justice.

“Amnesty International believes Rivers state is representative of other Nigerian Contd on Page 2

PD INDEX

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

>> PAGE 5

>> PAGE 3

BUYING 154.74 242.87 211.09 0.3029 41.25

SELLING 155.74 244.44 212.46 0.3229 41.52

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

Nigeria has1,487 Muslim community Money laundering: illegal routes accuses DSS of unlawful Court grants - Interior Minister arrests, harassment Lamido’s son bail >> PAGE 3

4th Feb., 2013

BUYING 208 254.50 42 157

SELLING 210 257.50 43 158

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

CONTENTS

SURE-P expends N70bn on projects in 2012

News

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

Property

24-27

Motoring

28

Arts

29-30

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he chairman of the Subsidy Re-investment and E m p o w e r m e n t Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, yesterday, disclosed that about N70 billion were spent on projects in the last six months of 2012.

He noted that the committee could not do more because its funds were not released until July even though the committee was set up in February.

He disclosed this to State House correspondents after presenting the SURE-P 2012 annual report to President Goodluck Jonathan.

"It was in February last year that the SURE-P committee was inaugurated, having worked through the rest of 2012, it was

good time to come and give the President a report of our activities in that year, especially as we have now started a new year. This meeting was to give President the annual report of SURE-P for the year 2012.

We are here to tell the President that we have been doing the work that he expected us to do according to the mandate and there are different areas of work, infrastructure, building roads, rails, mass transit and also maternal and child healthcare, we have been active in all those areas and we gave the Presidency an update of what we have done.

He added: In the remaining six months of the year, we actually did work to the tune of over N70 billion. If we had N180 billion for the whole year and we spent N70 billion plus in six months, it means

that we worked at the rate we were supposed to work.

On the focus of the committee in 2013, he said: "If you look at our budget, it is still the same areas such as social safety nets; things that will help the health of women, children, employment to

young people, things that will enable these young people to express themselves as citizens of this country and … media should be on the lookout and ask people who are beneficiaries of the projects if the roads in their areas are better.

Jonathan appoints Nebo to Power, Turaki to Special Duties

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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he Federal Government yesterday confirmed the appointment of Prof.

Chinedu Nebo as Minister for Power.

According to a statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the

President also approved the appointment of Kabiru Turaki as Minister for Special Duties.

According to the statement, the two ministers are to resume work immediately. Both appointees were sworn-in by the President on Monday with a charge to help the administration deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

Again, Amnesty accuses police of extra-judicial killings Contd from Page 1 states where violent deaths at the hands of the police are not investigated adequately.

“Medical and legal sources revealed that there is a practice of doctors signing death investigation reports without examining the body properly.

“In many cases, the identity of the deceased is not known to the police and bodies are registered as ‘unknown.’ Little effort is made by police to identify them.

FAAN and concessioning: Patriotism or personal interest, Page 4

Int’l

31-34

Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-46

Leisure

47

Columnist

48

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU The Peoples Daily wants to hear from you with any news and pictures you think we should publish.

You can send your news and pictures to: letters@peoplesdaily-online.com pictures@peoplesdaily-online.com contact@peoplesdaily-online.com

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

“Pastor Ken Neele told Amnesty International that after learning of the shooting of his brother following police action in November 2011, he went to several hospitals in search of his body which he finally traced to Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital in Port-Harcourt.

“Pastor Neele was distressed by the disrespectful handling of his brother’s body which was lying at the bottom of a pile of other bodies. More than a year

later, Pastor Neele has still not been able to bury his brother police have yet to approve the body’s release.

“When an Amnesty International researcher visited Braithwaite they found the mortuary overcrowded with bodies dumped in piles on the verandah or on benches.

“It is a sad truth that in Nigeria the victims of police brutality and their families rarely receive justice.

“In spite of the existence of domestic law and international standards requiring the investigation of such deaths, the lack of proper autopsies and inquests mean the perpetrators of these crimes are simply getting away with it.”

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer at the Police Headquarters, CSP Frank Mba, to react to the report, were not successful as he did not pick several calls on his telephone lines.

2015: Opposition govs endorse merger talks Contd from Page 1 meeting at the Lagos House Marina, the governors who spoke through Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, explained that they are concerned about Nigeria and that they are determined to chart a way forward.

According to Shettima who read a communiqué from the meeting, “We, the governors of Borno, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun , Oyo Osun, Yobe and Zamfara states, rose from a meeting at the Lagos House Marina today (yesterday) Tuesday, having reviewed the situation in our country and we resolved that to rescue Nigeria is a task that must be done.

“As progressives and patriotic leaders of our people across party, religious and geo-political zones, we are extremely concerned about the state of the nation as we put our heads together in the interest of our people to deliberate on what can be done to rescue our country.”

Also speaking, the Imo state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said there was no room for skepticism over the merger plans arguing that as governors and leaders of the political parties involved, all the machinery would be put in place to realize the objectives.

As Okorocha put it, “the merger has become necessary in order to save our democracy and the likelihood of turning Nigeria into a one-party state.

“It does not augur well for democracy, therefore I fully endorse this movement and this new merger at least to rescue the nation and we say we are on a rescue mission here and to make sure

Nigeria gets better.

“The essence of this whole merger is to make Nigeria a better nation.”

Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, in his contribution said that, “skepticism is one thing; the commitment that we bring to the table will certainly override any skepticism. “I am convinced that the full weight of 10 governors and many more who unfortunately could not make it today, is a much stronger force.

“The underlying reason is clearly how to make this country a better place, this is not the best that this country can have and we intend to deliver Nigeria’s best.

His view was not different from that of the Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who assured that a lot of other people will come on board once they see the sincerity of those driving the process.

“That is why we are not taking this lightly as we are determined and I am sure that with the support of all Nigerians, this merger will work,” Amosun said.

And for the Zamfara state Governor, Alhaji Abdul-Aziz Yari, “the move is to fix Nigeria in the right perspective.

“The People’s Democratic Party has become something else and if we as opposition say that we are right and you as journalists and many people outside there, go and ask them whether they have been happy since 1999 till date or not.

“So, it is a duty for all of us as leaders to drive our people right and we believe the PDP has not done enough.

“We have the idea, the

knowledge and we have the progressive ideas to move the country forward, so if you say that we intend to move the PDP out of power, yes we are ready to do that.”

Also present at the meeting were, Alhaji Umaru Tanko AlMakura of Nasarawa state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state, Senator Abiola Ajumobi of Oyo state while Senator Degere Alkali represented the Governor of Yobe state.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who reacted to the development however warned against what the party referred to as, “overheating the polity or inciting Nigerians to violence.”

According to him, “it is the belief of the PDP that everything should be played according to the rules of the game.”

Efforts by the opposition political parties to merge began last year with the National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP], Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, insisting that it would go a long way in addressing a number of problems confronting the nation.

Another member of the ANPP who is a member of the party’s contact committee, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, said recently in Abuja that the opposition parties would ensure that a new political party from the coalition talks emerges by March.

According to him, “before March 2013, we are all going to reach an accord on this merger, that is the deadline for the coalition materializing.

“From all indications, the

parties are looking forward to forming a totally new party where all the opposition parties will come together as one entity.”

Revelations emerged yesterday on how the proposed merger talks between the Special Negotiation Committees set up by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), could not proceed owing to the demands by members of the committee that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), should be part of the talks.

Peoples Daily gathered from a source in the committee that Senator Chris Ngige, who is a former Governor of Anambra State, and a current ACN Senator, moved the motion, which was unanimously adopted by other members of the committee.

Similarly, the opposition governors met yesterday in Lagos over the planned mega party that would dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015. It was also learnt that Rochas Okorocha, of APGA also attended the meeting in addition to other ANPP governors.

Another source who preferred anonymity, said it was because of the presence of these APGA and ANPP governors in the meeting that gave rise to the demand that their parties should be part of the merger talks, such that whatever that is agreed will be binding on all the opposition parties.

Meanwhile, the meeting in Abuja is billed to continue tomorrow, in the residence of one of the co-chairmen of the merger committees.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 3

Jonathan meets British PM, French President

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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L-R: Bauchi state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sani Malami, the state Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda, and Chairman, State Mobilisation on Polio, Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu, during the launch of National Immunisation Plus Days, yesterday in Bauchi.

Photo: NAN

Nigeria has 1,487 illegal routes, says Interior Minister

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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inister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has revealed that there are about 1, 487 illegal routes into the country, just as he added that there are 84 regular borders that have been discovered by the Nigeria Immigration Service.

Moro who was responding to

questions on the porosity of the nation’s borders against the backdrop of the current security challenges facing the country, as well as the insurgencies across the nation’s borders, said "since I assumed office, we have taken deliberate steps in conjunction with National Boundaries Commission, to identify our borders and the routes that lead

to Nigeria from other countries, and I have repeatedly told Nigerians that in that process, we have been able to identify 84 regular borders and over 1, 487 irregular routes in to the country".

A statement issued yesterday by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, George Udoh, said the Nigeria Immigration Service

(NIS), under the purview of the Ministry of Interior has taken far reaching steps towards patrolling and controlling movement around the identified regular border routes with the understanding that the steps so far taken would help contain the movement of people, goods and materials along the regular routes.

ThisDay bomb suspect denies charge

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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he alleged Boko Haram member, Mustapha Umar, who was accused of bombing the offices of some newspapers in Kaduna in April last year, yesterday denied the accusation when he was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Two lawyers, Mr. F. I. Umahi and Mohammed Umar, announced appearance for Umar,

whose arraignment was initially stalled on January 29, 2013 because he was not represented in court by any counsel.

When the one-count charge was read to him through an interpreter, he pleaded not guilty.

The charge preferred against Mustapha reads/; "That you Mustapha Umar, (M), 34, of Gashuwa, Yobe state, on or about 26th April, 2012, drove a White Honda Academy Car with registration No. AL 306 MKA

laden with improvised explosives into the premises of SOJ Plaza occupied by ThisDay, The Moment and The Sun newspapers, located at R9, Kontagora Road, by Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna, and detonated the explosives.

"You thereby committed an act of terrorism contrary to section 1(2) (c) (v) of Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011, and punishable under section 33 (1) (a) of the same Act." Thereafter, prosecution

counsel, Mr. Simon Labaran, asked for a date to commence the trial.

Defence counsel, Umahi, asked the judge to order the prison authorities to grant Umar access to his lawyers and members of his family.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola ordered that the accused person should be granted access to his lawyers while he remains in prison custody.

The matter was adjourned to March 12, 2013 for trial.

Money laundering: Court grants Deceased doctor’s children to EFCC each time his infected with Lassa fever in Benue Lamido's son bail reporting attention was needed.

Form Edwin Olofu, Kano

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Federal High Court sitting in Kano has granted the bail application filed by the defence counsel of Aminu Sule LAmido, son of the Jigawa state governor Alhaji Sule Lamido who is standing trial for alleged money laundering.

The presiding judge, Justice Fatu Riman, said the accused has never been convicted and therefore deserves bail, stressing that after all he was granted an administrative bail by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and has was

He added that the bail application filed by the defence counsel is meritorious and therefore granted bail on the condition that he deposits N8 million.

He further added that that the accused provide two sureties that must be civil or public servants of not less than level 14 , and must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court, three years tax clearance submitted to the court and a deposit the sum of N4 million each.

Justice Fatu adjourned the case to 18 and 19 march 2013 for hearing.

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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wo children of the medical doctor who died of Lassa fever in Benue state have been infected with the disease and are currently receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH).

Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Prof. Abraham Malu who disclosed this to newsmen yesterday during the donation of drugs and protective masks by a delegation of medical team from the Federal Ministry of Health, assured that the hospital is

working hard to prevent the spread of the disease.

The CMD lauded the quick intervention of the Federal Ministry of Health at curtailing the ailment, promising that the drugs would be judiciously applied for the purpose they are meant for.

The Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu who was represented by an Assistant Director in the Ministry, Dr. Okpikpi Okpako regretted that Lassa fever started with health workers and has continued with them.

resident Goodluck Jonathan was scheduled to leave Abuja yesterday night for London and Paris to confer with the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron and the President of France, Mr. Francois Hollande on matters of vital interest to Nigeria, Britain and France.

The President’s talks with the British Prime Minister in London are expected to focus on the expansion of trade and economic relations between Nigeria and Britain as well as the enhancement of cooperation between both countries on the war against terrorism.

In Paris, President Jonathan will confer with President Hollande and French Government officials on the ongoing deployment of Nigerian and ECOWAS troops to Mali to support the current military action against insurgents and terrorists in Northern Mali.

According to a statement by Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, "on his way to London, President Jonathan will stop over in Cairo, Egypt to participate in the conference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) scheduled to open today.

He is also scheduled to attend the launching of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation in London on Friday.

The President, who will be accompanied his wife and other government officials is due back in Abuja on Monday.

Ogbulafor: DG Budget Office certified projects, says witness

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

witness in the ongoing trial of former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, yesterday told an Abuja High Court that the Federal Government had verified and certified projects executed before payments were made.

Ogbulafor, then Minister for Special Duties, was arraigned alongside Emeka Ebilah and Jude Nwokoro on a 17-count charge in June, 2010 by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over allegations of conspiracy and award of fictitious contracts valued at N104 million in 2001.

Ebilah and Nwokoro were Secretary of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) and Implementation Director of Federal Ministry of Finance respectively.

Testifying under cross examination by defence counsel, Awa Kalu, ICPC witnesss, Basil Momodu, said the Director General of the Budget Office of the Ministry of Finance certified the projects and signed the payment vouchers to the companies after verification.

The judge, Ishaq Bello, adjourned to February 14, 2013 for continuation of trial.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 6, 2013

FAAN and Concessioning: Patriotism or personal interest?

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ince the advent of Nigeria's current democratic dispensation some thirteen years ago, not a few business transactions involving government agencies and the private sector are typify the classical case of conflict of interest.

Be it in the power sector, maritime, road, housing, defence, security, education, health, telecom or sports, the story is almost always the same; greed riding rough shod on patriotism, or so it would seem.

One such practice is the concessioning of services by government agencies to the private sector through either Public Private Partnership (PPP) or Build Operate and Transfer (BOT). The runaway leader in this not wholly unquestionable form of government/private sector partnership is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria's (FAAN) which has concessioned services ranging from terminal development, aeronautical and non-aeronautic revenue collection and remittance, toll gate collection, among others.

Thus we have companies like Maevis Nigeria Limited, Bi Courtney Aviation Services Limited, I-Cube West Africa, Pan Express and AIC Hilton Limited as key beneficiaries. But the cases of Meavis and Bi Courtney Aviation Services, who are embroiled in legal battles with FAAN, have exposed the infamy in the deals.

These companies, in the opinion of stakeholders, are either owned by top politicians or their representatives, which explains why they easily enter into concessioning agreements without following due process, even when some of them lack of the necessary legal and administrative platform to carry out such ventures.

In most cases, these deals are skewed in favour of the contracting firms with the federal agencies involved, nay the nation as the losers; usually in billions of naira.

One such case is the agreement Meavis entered with FAAN on October 31, 2007 for a myriad of services including the acquisition, installation, operation and management of an Integrated Airport Operation Management System (AOMS), Common User Self-Service System (CUSS), Flight Information Display System (FIDS), Airport Pricing and Billing System, a proactive revenue management system and an Electronic Payment gateway system. The deal covered the four major airports- Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Port-Harcourt International Airport, Port-Harcourt, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. This is a bad deal for FAAN.

In this analysis, Suleiman Idris examines the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria's (FAAN) habit of concessioning services in the aviation industry.

Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah

Mutala Mohammed Airport

Another case is that involving AIC Hilton Limited, a firm promoting the hospitality business. The company, owned by business mogul and politician Chief Harry Akande, got a lease of a portion of land close to the international airport runway 18R in Lagos for 50 years. The disputed land lies 50 meters to the terminal building and also 50 meters close to the runway expanding from the "E" Wing of the building up to the Nigeria Aviation Handling PLC (NAHCO) premises at the cargo area of the facility.

The romance between the two began on February 17 1998 when FAAN concessioned the parcel of land to the company to build the proposed hotel beside the international airport on the 11.

654 hectare of land. But by 2000 when AIC decided to commence construction, it was ordered to stop doing so by the authority, the action marked the beginning of legal hurdles between them until an arbitration instructed FAAN to pay compensation to AIC for the loss of revenue anticipated.

The case had gone to the Federal High Court and also an arbitration headed by the late jurist Justice Kayode Eso, awarded a fine against FAAN to the tune of $74 million that the supposed hotel would have generated for the ten years that elapsed.

But on January 13, 2013, AIC Limited, in what FAAN described as "an unprecedented act of brigandage by a private investor on government property", forcefully took possession of part of MMA's land with the help of armed policemen and hired thugs.

Mr. Gbenga Akinyemi, the

agreement will make provision on how to resolve any dispute and the very first one was that the parties should submit themselves to arbitration and we did. The arbitration, typical of Nigerian setting, lasted several years, it ended in 2010. The arbitration tribunal was headed by late Justice Kayode Eso, and he ordered that the company should be compensated for any expenses that they incurred as a result of the loss of the land."

He maintained that the federal government had the right to "say, yes, you were given this parcel of land, but now we are saying no base on overriding public interest, we have decided to halt it. Nobody want to short change anybody in this matter or AIC in this instance."

Also Yakubu Dati, GM Corporate Communications of FAAN said in a press statement that the portion of land allocated for the project was meant for the expansion of the international terminal, under the airport's master plan. Explaining that citing the hotel so close to the restricted area of the airport clearly jeopardized security and

Personal Assistant to Chief Harry Akande posited that since the 1998 agreement covered a period of 50 years, the company has every right to remain on the land.

But according to the Director of Legal Services of FAAN, Barrister Mark Jacobs, "The land was concessioned in 1998. It was a properly drawn concession agreement, but by the year 2000 it was set aside. FAAN decided to terminate the concession on good grounds."

Jacobs adduced reasons why it was terminated to include; "one, the transfer of the land to a third party for the purpose of building a hotel on that spot was counter to the entire airport master plan. In a very simple term, it was going to prevent any future expansion of the Murtala Muhammed International wing of the airport.

Two: It was going to have a serious security implication if hotel was situated there, just overlooking the runway and the taxiway. So on those two grounds, infraction of the master plan and security, FAAN decided to terminal the concession agreement."

He affirmed that "Luckily, in any transaction like that the

“

These companies, in the opinion of stakeholders, are either owned by top politicians or their representatives, which explains why they easily enter into concessioning agreements without following due process, even when some of them lack of the necessary legal and administrative platform to carry out such ventures

safety at the airport It is his belief that the reasonable thing for AIC to do is to pursue the payment of this compensation rather than resort to self-help by forcefully taking possession of land belonging to the Federal Government and by so doing, exposed the country's foremost gateway to serious security threat, especially considering the present security situation in the country.

In the same vein he said "by March, 2013, construction work for a new international terminal for MMA, as envisaged in the airport master plan, will commence on the very site invaded by the thugs brought in

by AIC. The Federal Government has already entered into a MoU with the Government of China for this project, which will effectively turn MMA into a major hub in the West African air transport region, a dream that past administrations in the country could not realize for many years" "We also wish to state that it is curious that AIC chose this time to forcefully enter into the said piece of land, having kept quiet for over 15 years. We hate to believe that this act of brigandage is a calculated attempt to blackmail the Federal Government, which is on a mission to rescue the aviation industry from the rot that resulted from many years of neglect.

"We assure all aviation stakeholders that FAAN has the mandate of Government to transform all our airports to meet acceptable international standards and no act of blackmail or intimidation can deter the Authority from accomplishing this mandate".

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 5

EFCC arraigns ‘yahoo-yahoo’ fraudsters in Benin From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

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he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, arraigned nine suspected internet fraudsters excluding 11 others arrested for the same offences before a Federal High Court sitting in Benin City, Edo state.

EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said the accused were arrested by men of the Joint Task Force, who had mounted surveillance on a building located at No. 56, Siluko Street, Benin.

Offa/Erin-Ile crisis: Gov says chairmen’s suspension not political From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin wara state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has attributed the suspension of leaders of Offa and Oyun local government areas of the state to the inability of the chairmen to manage effectively the motor parks in the two communities which ignited the earlier phase of the inter-communal violence.

Governor Ahmed said he would not spare anybody found guilty of sponsoring the violence in the communities stressing that such a person would face the full wrath of law.

The governor stated this yesterday when the management of Nigeria Navy School of Health Sciences paid him a courtesy call to seek greater cooperation with the state on boosting security.

“On the premise of not been able to manage the parks which are largely guided by bye laws at the local government level, the councils fell short of expectations in their responsibilities to maintain law and order and in ensuring the safety of lives and property”.

Uwajiaren said one Peter Sunday (aka Richmon), believed to be the leader of the syndicate, was arrested along with 19 others, while 40 computers and other hardware were seized in the raid.

He said: “The suspects were arrested by the JTF and handed

over to us.

“The suspects operated from a cyber café, so intricately designed it will never occur to anybody that any criminal activity took place there.

“They scammed people from all over the world from inside of a mud house located on No. 56,

Siluko Road, which was used to deceive outsiders; no one will think any criminal activity went on inside of the mud house”.

The suspects who were slammed with a six-count charge pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Justice K M Elima after the pleas, granted the accused

persons bail in the sum of N1m each and a surety with landed property within the jurisdiction, which must be linked to said surety, “with verifiable proof of ownership duly signed by the traditional ruler of the area”.

Hearing was adjourned to March 4, 13 and 19.

Maitama Sule enjoins Muslims to encourage Qur’anic recitation

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

F

ormer Nigeria’s United Nations representative, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has admonished Muslim faithful in the country to promote and encourage the study and documentation of the Qur’an in

order to attract Allah’s favour and mercy in this world and the world to come.

Speaking yesterday at the N250 million fund raising ceremony for the building of Qur’anic Recording Centre of Nigeria held at National Mosque Abuja, Sule, who was the guest

speaker, noted that Nigeria is blessed with a pool of Qur’an reciters that memorise the great book (Qur’an).

In his remark, the Chief Imam of Abuja National Mosque, Sheikh Musa Mohammed, noted that the objective of the centre is also to propagate Islam and to collaborate with government and non-

governmental organisation in strengthening peaceful co-existence among the various religions in Nigeria.

When constructed, the Centre will devote its entire operation to promoting Tajweed in the country, which is the science of Qur’anic recitation.

K

Auto crash kills three, injures 10 in Bauchi From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi hree people died in a tragic auto crash while 10 others were injured in Sabo Narabi along Bauchi-Jos road in Toro local government area of Bauchi state.

The Bauchi state sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Mr. Henry Sunday Olatunji, confirmed the incident to news men in Bauchi.

According to him, the accident occurred on Monday around 5; 45pm when a trailer truck lost control as result of brake failure; it involved 13 people, three died instantly while 10 sustained various degrees of injury.

He said all the victims were occupants of the truck and called on road users to avoid dangerous driving.

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L-R: President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele; Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Chief Christopher Kolade; and Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters, Mr. Nze Akachukwu Nwankpa, during the presentation of 2012 Sure-P Annual Report, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Muslim community accuses DSS of unlawful arrest, constant harassment

By Mohammed Kandi uslim community in the FCDA Owner-Occupier Estate in Kubwa, (FCT), has complained of constant harassment and unlawful arrest of two of its members by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS), appealing to appropriate authorities to intervene immediately.

They are demanding the quick release of Ishaq Abbas and Aminu Muktar, who were unlawfully arrested by heavily armed officials of the DSS at about 1.30 am on Wednesday, 30th January, 2013, and are still kept in custody.

The duo, according to a statement issued by the chairman of the community, Malam Usman Nababa, are the community’s Imam and Islamic teachers at the only mosque located in the estate.

He described the constant arrests, intimidation and harassment of his members as ploy to thwart efforts by Muslims in the area to erect their own place of worship.

The chairman, who slammed officials of the DSS for their preposterous charge against those arrested as members of the Boko Haram sect, alleged that his

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member’s arrest was in connection with one of the petitions filed by one Barr Ishaku Golit Bakori, to FCDA Development Control Unit, against the construction of the mosque at its present location saying that it was close to a church.

“The petitioner is a fictitious character who writes from a false address. All these petitions were investigated by the FCDA and found to be without substance. The FCDA duly approved the application for the allocation of the

plot and also gave approvals for the building of the mosque and work began in earnest. Thereafter the petitions started again”, Nababa stated.

Nababa also said the Imam and some teachers had been summoned and released severally by the DSS for interrogations over allegations that were not disclosed.

He said: “It is important to mention here that the community was never given the opportunity to meet its accusers. Neither the

FCDA nor the DSS ever produced these petitioners for issues to be properly joined for a just resolution of whatever problem they were complaining about.”

“Each time a petition is dismissed for lack of substance, another is written by the same set of fictitious characters and the Muslim community leaders are invited for new investigation. No less than eight petitions were written in total to the DSS and the FCDA,” the chairman explained.

Senate may spurn Jonathan to pass Disability Bill into law

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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pparently aggrieved by the refusal of the executive to assent to the disability bill which was passed by both the House of Representatives and Senate in 2009, there are indications that the upper legislative arm may disregard the President and mobilise towards giving the bill a force of law if it is not assented to this second time.

This revelation emerged yesterday during the second reading of the “Bill for an Act to Ensure Full Integration of

Persons with Disabilities into the Society and Establish a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and vest it with the Responsibility for their Education, Health Care and the Protection of their Social, Economic, Civil Rights, among others”, which was sponsored by Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman (Kogi Central).

Speaking after the debate, Senate President, David Mark, regretted that the bill has been in and out of the National Assembly since 1999, thus, it has remained a Bill rather than an Act.

Mark, who wanted to dissolve the Senate to committee of the whole to expeditiously pass the Bill, however changed his mind due to what he described as the need to comply with legislative due processes.

He therefore referred the Bill to the Senate committee on Sports and Women and Social Development, urging it to amend the controversial areas that may work against its passage, such as the section that seeks to give automatic admission to disabled persons into higher institutions.

PAGE 6

Commissioner fears transmission of polio virus in Kano From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

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ano State Deputy of the state’s Governor and Chairman Task Force on Polio Eradication, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has urged stakeholders in Minjibir local government area to do everything possible to wipe out the virus before the target deadline of 13 December, 2013.

The deputy governor stated this while flagging off another round of polio immunisation at Zura village of Minjibir local government area, yesterday.

Ganduje asserted that "whoever has a stake in the immunisation exercise should not bypass anybody provided he is supposed to be vaccinated ".

Dr. Ganduje called on the people of the village to have a change of the mind and do away with the disease.

In the same vein, the state's Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, said "if care was not taken, the two children infected the virus in the village could transmit it to about 400 children across the local government ".

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Lassa fever: FG deploys rapid response team, drugs to checkmate outbreak in Nasarawa

By Stanley Onyekwere

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s part of its effort to checkmate the recent outbreak of Lassa fever in Nasarawa which has so far claimed two lives in the state, the Federal Government has dispatched a rapid response team from the Federal Ministry of Health to, among other things, provide support, strengthen surveillance, and identify the source of the infection as well as sensitise health workers in the state on the deadly disease.

The team which was led by Dr. Danny Asogun, Director, Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control, Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo state, also donated drugs which include Ribavirin (both tablets and injectable) and personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Nasarawa state Ministry of Health for the treatment of affected victims.

According to him, the team was in Nasarawa to create public awareness and campaign against Lassa fever to remind the people to

fumigate all affected wards and environment.

On his part, Dr. Obiefuna Chidi Ejezie, who is a member of the team, advised the people to desist from bush burning, because it drives rats into the living homes and food stores.

“People must not habour or eat rats because they are the reservoirs of the dreaded Lassa fever”, he warned.

He further explained that the virus could be contacted through ingestion of the rats as a delicacy and also through person to person transmission through

contact with body fluids.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Alhaji Suleiman Mohammed who received the drugs on behalf of the state government, thanked the Federal Government for the kind gesture describing the intervention as timely which will go a long way to curtail the further spread of the disease.

He noted that so far, there have been five suspected cases of the disease out of which two deaths were recordered as at the time of filing this report.

Court sacks Osun LG caretaker committees From Inumidun Ojelade, Osogbo

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n Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo, yesterday, sacked all the caretaker committee members in the 30 local governments and area office, Modakeke.

Justice Jide Falola who presided over the suit filed by some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ordered that the caretaker committee members be removed from office immediately.

According to the judge, the state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and the State House of Assembly flouted the rule of the court by amending the state law on local government and appointing caretaker committees when the case was pending in court.

Besides, the court frowned at the appointment of 14 persons into each of the council areas instead of five as stipulated by the state's local government law.

He however explained that it would be difficult for him to order for immediate election into local government offices due to an ongoing suit filed against the state government by ex Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) members at the Supreme Court.

Justice Falola further ordered the state House of Assembly to commence immediately the amendment of the state OSIEC law as directed by the Supreme Court in a judgment delivered by the apex court in December, 2011.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Bashar, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and Minister of State for Niger Delta, Mr Dirious Dickson Ishaka, during the ministers' interactive meeting with the House Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, yesterday at the National Assembly in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Nasarawa has highest number of unqualified teachers in North-central - NTI From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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mong the states of the N o r t h - c e n t r a l geopolitical zone, Nasarawa state has the highest number of unqualified teachers in its primary schools.

Terrumum Dabu, state coordinator of the National Teachers' Institute (NTI), disclosed this yesterday, during a one-day interactive session for newly appointed quality assurance officers drawn from across the state, organised by the Nasarawa State

Universal Basic Education Board, which held at the secretariat of the Teachers' House in Lafia.

The NTI coordinator lamented that most teachers in public primary schools in the state do not possess the National Certificate of Education (NCE), the basic

Reps summon minister over JAMB policy somersault

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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orried by the adoption of the computer-based test method for the JAMB Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) 2013 slated for Saturday 27th April, 2013, the House of Representatives yesterday directed the Minister of Education to suspend the e-test for the 2013 UTME. JAMB world, instead revert to the use of old centres and the new secondary schools constructed by various arms of government and allow for more time to equip these schools with necessary infrastructure to conduct computer test, practical and mock exams to prepare the students before introducing a computer-based test.

A motion under matters of urgent public importance read by Rep. Ali Madaki (PDP Kano state) said, JAMB had fixed the year 2015 as the terminal year to end its paper and pencil based examination as stated by the minister, Prof.

Rukayyatu Rufai in November 2012; but that JAMB has now somersaulted and resolved to start computer based test on 27th April 2013.

"There is no adequate sensitisation and preparation; lack of necessary infrastructure, student readiness course must be organised in all secondary schools to ensure that the candidates know the ABC of computer usage and are acquainted with examination software through mock exams,

moot sessions. The vexed question is "how many secondary schools are equipped with computers"?

He stresses that there is no clear cut modus operandi for the computer-based test method because JAMB itself lacks the competence and facilities to conduct the examinations, hence JAMB has contracted private firms to conduct the computer based test. The ripple effect has led to massive reduction of examination centres despite increase in schools, closure several registration centres in states like Bauchi, Bayetsa, Kano, Benue, Cross River, FCT, Kaduna, Katsina, thereby leading to the disfranchisement of many candidates that would have take the exams.

requirement for teaching in such schools, with most possessing either the Ordinary National Diploma (OND), or even senior secondary school certificates.

Earlier in a welcome address, state chairman of SUBEB, Malam Abdulkarim Mohammed Abdullahi, warned participants at the session that the era of substandard projects, the supply of low quality learning and teaching materials, is over and can no longer be tolerated.

While lamenting that the quality of most projects, classroom furniture, textbooks, learning and teaching materials were inferior and of low, he said this has led to the decline in the standard of education in the state.

Abdullahi said the administration of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, has set a new template for quality assurance which the board will pursue vigorously.

He maintained that the high quality assurance needed will be holistically pursued, with teachers, pupils, classes, furniture, curriculum, libraries, etc, to be transformed and brought to required standard.

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Jonathan is incompetent, ACN replies Okupe From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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ction Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described i n c o m p e t e n c e , cluelessness and inconsistency as the hallmark of the Jonathan Administration, contrary to the futile attempt by presidential aide Doyin Okupe to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians through a pedestrian play on semantics.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also slammed Okupe for seeking to blame the opposition for the failure of the Jonathan Administration to make a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians, saying the likes of Okupe, rather than the opposition, have contributed in no small measure to the Administration’s low esteem in the eyes of Nigerians. ‘’There is no point rummaging through the dictionary to define incompetence, as Okupe has done in his rambling statement.

All one needs to do to understand the meaning of incompetence is to look at the waffling Jonathan Administration.

“Touting President Goodluck

Jonathan’s impressive academic qualifications is also very cheap, as they have not proven to be an asset in the way and manner the President has steered the affairs of his Administration, especially his articulation of his government’s policies and the projection of its ability. In any case, while a Doctorate Degree in any field is something to be celebrated, it is not a prerequisite for being a good leader,’’ it said.

ACN said the incompetence of the Jonahan Administration have resulted in the country

being bogged down by monumental corruption, unprecedented level of insecurity, policy flip-flops, absence of governance and downright lies that have estranged the citizens and erased their trust in government. ‘’No Administration in our recent history has been more a hotbed of corruption than the Jonathan Administration, whether it is the fuel subsidy scam or the police pension scam, just to mention two. Even when a feeble attempt is made to prosecute those behind the

scams, the majesty of the law is rubbished by incompetent prosecution that ensures that convicted persons get only a slap on the wrist. ‘’ If this government is not building a 2.2 billion naira banquet hall, it is spending 4 billion naira on the office building of the African First Ladies Peace Mission. The funds being wasted on these white elephant projects would have been better spent on creating jobs for our youths, millions of whom are roaming the streets daily in search of what to do to make ends meet,’’ the party

Youths decry selective treatment of subsidy scam suspects From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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northern youth umbrella group, the Northern Youth Assembly of Nigeria (NYAN), has decried the recent selective justice meted to a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Farouk Lawal, one of the suspects in the infamous subsidy bribery allegation, with Femi Otedola, an accomplice in the bribery saga, left untouched.

In a statement issued in Lafia, the group through its Speaker, Obande Gideon,

wondered why only Lawal was taken to court and remanded, when it was the common practice all over the world, that anyone aiding and abetting corruption, is also deemed to be guilty of the offence.

NYAN then called on all governors in the North to as a matter of urgency, rejuvenate both primary and secondary education which is fast decaying, while commending the governors of Benue, Kano, Yobe and Zamfara states, for their effort to transform the education sector in their

respective states.

The group also challenged the governors to accord relevance and dignity to the teaching profession by paying outstanding arrears and benefits owed to primary and post primary schools teachers, to encourage maximum output from them.

NYAN appealed to the chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), to prosecute an industrial revolution as a way out of the eradicating despondency among most youths in the region.

said.

On the road contracts awarded by the Jonathan Administration, it said the joke is on Okupe who, in saner climes, cannot be speaking for any government that is worth its salt. ‘’There is nothing new about awarding contracts for road rehabilitation. What the public expect from Okupe is how many of the roads have been completed or are nearing completion. The contracts for most of the roads which Okupe listed in his statement have been awarded severally by previous PDP regimes, with nothing to show. Even Okupe has collected huge funds for road contracts that he later abandoned! How then can such contracts be celebrated, when all they do is put money in the pockets of party cronies?

How can such a man like Okupe speak for any serious government, when he should have been dutifully prosecuted?

Little wonder the citizens have no trust in the Jonathan Administration?’’ ACN queried. ”While a security crisis of the scale perpetrated by Boko Haram may be unprecedented in our country, equally unfathomable is the government’s inability to rise to the occasion, to such an extent that even the President admits that his administration has been infiltrated by Boko Haram members! Of course, there is also, unprecedented cases of kidnapping and armed robbery.

“Overall, a government that lies to its citizens by either saying it had been hailed for its anti-corruption effort by Transparency International when that is not the case, or giving an exaggerated amount of electricity that has been generated cannot get much respect from the people,’’ ACN said.

Kogi Assembly stinks, as airconditioners stop work From Sam Egwu, Lokoja L-R: Oyo state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Atinuke Osunkoya; wife of the state governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi; wife of the Deputy governor, Mrs Janet Adeyemo, during the empowerment of widowhood support scheme, yesterday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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igeria Youth Organisation (NYO) has attributed the present worrisome state of Northern Nigeria to the lackadaisical attitudes of “four of the five alive” at the helm of affairs in the country.

National President of the Organisation, Comrade Ahmed Bature Musa gave the four as Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, and the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bamanga Tukur.

C o m r a d e A h m e d

Youths blame North’s leaders for woes Musa explained that the four of the five alive are in a better position to influence a halt to the backward trend the North, and therefore apportioned the retardation of the region squarely on them.

“Our so-called four alive are doing nothing to youth restiveness and unemployment, doing nothing to povertystricken Northern people, nothing to socio-economic development, and above all nothing to the worsening insecurity challenges facing the Northern region”, Musa

lamented.

He noted at the Organization’s 33 anniversary lecture in Bauchi that the fifth of the five alive, President Goodluck Jonathan has since his ascention to office, been facilitating the speedy development of not only the South-South but entire Southern Nigeria.

He also suggested that the Boko Haram sect be given the benefit of doubt for its proclaimed cease-fire as against pursuing the sect members to their tents even when they did not strike.

The Special Adviser to the

Bauchi state Governor on Youth and Sports, Jibrin Adamu had earlier in a paper, described youth as the most valued possession of any nation without whom there can be no future.

He said that the extent of youth vitality, responsible conduct, and their roles in society are positively correlated with the development of local government, state and the nation in general, revealing that onethird of the Nigerian population is made up of young people between the ages of 10 – 24 years.

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embers of Kogi House of Assembly, held their plenary yesterday in Lokoja as legislators battled heat with hand fans.

The situation nearly marred the proceeding as some people at the gallery had to vacate the place.

The two giant split airconditioners in the hallowed chambers and the two at the gallery packed up, leaving the rooms stuffy and stinking.

Attempt to speak with chairman, House committee on establishment, Hon Yori Afolabi failed as the members hurried into their cars after the sitting, but a senior staff of the Assembly told our reporter that fund has been the major snag.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

L-R: Former President Alhaji Shehu Shgari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, and former Head of State, General Abubakar Abdulsalami, during the Nigeria Centenary flag-off ceremony, on Monday at the State House, in Abuja.

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L-R: Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, President Goodluck Jonathan, jointly lighting the torch of unity, during during the Nigeria Centenary flagoff ceremony, on Monday at the State House, in Abuja.

L-R: Chief of Staff to the GOC, 2 Div., Brigadier-General Laide Lawal, Garrison Commander, Col. Thomas Eze, and the GOC, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Abubakar, during the inauguration of a water project, yesterday in Ibadan.

L-R: Former Court of Appeal President and Galadiman Katsina, Justice L-R: Consultant, Senate Committee on Health, Dr Wale Okediran, national coordinator, people Mamman Nasir (rtd), receiving donations from Chairman, Malumfashi living with HIV in Nigeria, Mr Edward Ogenyi, and NACA Director-General, Prof. John Idoko, Enlightenment and Empowerment Forum (MEEF), Malam Aminu Sule, during the stakeholders forum on the proposed HIV/AIDS anti-stigma and discrimination bill, during the formal handover of 10 hospital mattresses and other supplements to Malumfashi primary health care centre by Meef, yesterday in Katsina yesterday in Abuja. state.

Photos:Joe Oroye and NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Kogi committed to clean environment – Wada From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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s Nigeria prepares for the centennial celebration next year, the need to make Lokoja, the first capital iity of Nigeria, clean, has become imperative, Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada, has said.

The governor who emphasised the vantage position of Lokoja in Nigeria’s history during the commissioning of 700 metal drum waste bins, warned the people against turning the River Niger and its banks to toilets.

Wada who was represented by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, called on the people to renew attitudes and accept the new government’s persuasive initiative, warning that government will no longer tolerate the indiscriminate dumping of waste on the roadside.

The governor urged the people to use dump sites designated by government and waste bins.

Capt. Wada explains that “the task of keeping the capital city clean can only be achieved through collective efforts.”

Earlier in her speech, Acting Secretary, Kogi State Sanitation and Waste Management Board, Mrs. Florence Joseph, said the 700 locally-made metal dustbins were aimed at encouraging households to shun the habit of dumping wastes on road medians.

Court remands two for stealing 17 cows

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Magistrates’ Court in Gusau, Zamfara state, yesterday, remanded two men in prison custody over alleged theft of 17 cows.

The accused, Muhammad Muhammad, 30, of Bakinwa village in Wanke near Gusau, and Umar Mareri, 30, of Mareri Area of Gusau, are facing a three-count charge of brigandage, conspiracy and theft.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Daniel Longwan, told the court that the two conspired on Oct. 5, 2012, invaded and stole the herds of cattle belonging to one Yahya Mustapha of Kanwuri area of Gusau.

Longwan said that the accused persons stole the 17 cows, whose value was yet to be ascertained and disappeared, but were arrested by the police two days after the incident.

The prosecutor claimed that the accused persons had confessed to committing the crime during interrogation by the police.

According to him, the accused confessed that they took the cows to Ruwan Godiya village in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State and sold them to one Umaru, now at large, for N950, 000.

Longwan said that the offence contravened Sections 305, 97 and 287 of the Penal Code.

The three accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. (NAN)

PAGE 9

Yuguda vows to sanction parents who reject polio immunisation From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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overnor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has vowed to deal with parents and guardians who reject polio immunization for their children.

Yuguda stated this while flagging off Polio Immunization plus Days (IPDs) in the state for the month of February at the Government House, Bauchi, adding that it is sad comment that polio is rampant in the North largely due

to ignorance.

He said his administration would not take it lightly with anyone who impedes the successful eradication of polio in Bauchi State and called on traditional rulers, village and ward heads and parents to support the war against polio in the state.

Yuguda warned that parents, traditional rulers, village and ward heads found to be rejecting polio vaccine, would be punished, adding that,

to completely eradicate polio from the state by the end of this year, every stakeholder must join hands with government in ensuring that the war was won in the state.

“It is not a good remark on us the Northerners to have much of polio in our midst”, Governor Yuguda said, adding that, “whenever our people are going for Hajj, they use to ask whether our respective states are doing anything to eradicate polio. So, if we reject polio now, in times

to come, we will regret it.

He said people often believe that children suffering from polio are being affected by jinns.

He commended the efforts of the state social mobilization committee on eradication of polio, headed by the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Biliyaminu Uthman, in mobilizing the people of the state for immunization, pointing out that the achievement recorded last year was largely due to the efforts of the committee.

L-R: Registrar, National Examination Council (NECO), Professor Promise Okpala; Minister of State for. Education, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike; Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'i; and Chairman, NECO Governing Board, Dr. Paddy Njoku; during the inauguration of NECO Governing Board, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Corruption stalling Ajaokuta Steel – Ndoma-Egba

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

S

enate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba has identified corruption as the major factor militating against the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex.

The three-term senator representing Cross River Central Senatorial District, spoke in Abuja, maintaining that but for corruption, the project which started almost 40 years ago should have been completed.

Apparently worried by the pitiable condition of the steel company, believed to have the capacity of creating over two million jobs for Nigerians, he said: ”I feel diminished as a Nigerian each time I remember the story of Ajaokuta Steel. That project started when I was still an undergraduate. And in a few years, I would have been a graduate for 40 years. Yet, the project is still going on. So, there are a number of issues. That it hasn’t worked certainly has been as a result of corruption. For Heaven’s sake, even for the pride of the nation, I think that project has dragged on for too long, that we should as a nation be embarrassed that almost 40

years later, we are still talking about an uncompleted Ajaokuta Steel.”

On whether there are external forces working with selfish individuals in the country to undermine the steel project, Ndoma-Egba said, “I don’t have evidence. I don’t have any fact.

So, I can’t draw a conclusion. But one thing I can say with certainty,

if we as Nigerians are determined to complete Ajaokuta Steel, we will complete it, external forces notwithstanding. I mean, no amount of external forces should stop the completion of a project that is capable of bringing total transformation and advancement to our economy.”

Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta

affairs, Nurudeen AbatemiUsman, had in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Michael Jegede, accused some people in government of collaborating with outsiders to discourage President Goodluck Jonathan from completing the project, even though Jonathan is believed to be passionate about it.

Jigawa inaugurates economic steering c’ttee From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

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20-man Investment Summit-Economic Steering committee-has been inaugurated by the Jigawa state government to revamp commercial activities in the state.

Inaugurating the committee, the state deputy governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud said they are expected to create a favourable environment for private sector- driven economic development within the state.

“It is our firm belief that the staging of the economic summit would not only help in publicising the environment for which foreign and domestic private investors would take

advantage of, but lead to the emergence of robust and sustainable manufacturing sectors in the long and medium term in the state”, he said.

Alhaji Mahmud said the government has established modern infrastructure that include extensive road networks traversing the entire state, a new International Airport with bias to cargo handling and actualising the Maigatari border free trade zone.

“Also markets that include Sara, Gujungu, Maigatari are modernised and reforms were carried out in the areas of land acquisition and issuance and registration of property rights with incentives for private investors such as free lands and

exemption from all state taxes for a period of three years”, he said.

He said the massive inflow of private sector investments into the financial, real estate, agroallied and retail sectors together with the 2010 classification of the state by the World Bank as first in terms of doing business with ease, were enough evidence for investors.

The members include the Secretary to the State Government who is the chairman, Alhaji Lawan Abdu, the Secretary and also the Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Commerce Alhaji Babangida Hadejia as well as Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Alhaji Ibrahim Ismail and Alhaji Isyaku Tofa.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 6, 2013

80, 000 Nigerian women die from cancer yearly From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

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total of 80, 000 Nigerian women die annually from cancer-related diseases, representing 13 percent global estimate of the disease in developing nations where breast

cancer is predominant.

Consultant Surgeon and Lagos State Coordinator of National cancer prevention programme, Dr. (Mrs) Abia Nzelu disclosed this during the flag off of a free cancer screening exercise for 10, 000 women organised with the support of

Senator Daisy Ehanire Danjuma Monday in Benin City.

The consultant who described the 2013 World cancer day theme: ‘’Cancer, do you know?’’, as apt, said, prostrate cancer kills 14 Nigerian men every day.

She attributed the

prevalence rate among developing nations to expensive treatment for cancer for any reason.

Nzelu urged women not to subvert prolonged exclusive breast feeding for any reason, adding that early diagnosis was the way out of the silent killer.

L-r: Chairman, Plateau Traditional Council of Chiefs, Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Buba, Commander, Special Task Force (STF), Major-general Henry Ayoola, and Emir of Wase, Alhaji Mohammadu Haruna, during STF sensitisation peace tour, yesterday in Kuru, Jos. Photo: NAN

STF embarks on peace tour in Jos, seeks new attitude

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ommander of the Plateau State Special Task Force on Jos crisis, Maj.Gen. Henry Ayoola has appealed on youths in Kuru and Vwang communities of Jos South Local Government council of the state to have confidence and change their bad perception of the on the STF in order to restore peace in Plateau state.

He said the STF will remain fair, focused and unbiased in carrying out its peacekeeping mandate in the state.

Gen. Ayoola who said this on

Monday in Kuru and Vwang during the third day sensitization tour embarked by the STF, charged the youth to see themselves as peace ambassadors ,adding that without peace there would be no development.

He revealed that the STF has taken a bold step towards total peace and forgiveness for one another and charged the youth to assist the force in doing it.

The commander added that scholarship would be given to all the crisis-prone local government areas

to foster peaceful coexistence among the people.

On his part, the Gbong Gwom of Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba said peace comes from the heart of individuals and appealed to the STF to maintain law and order.

However, he condemned the attitude of some members of the STF for not performing their responsibilities well.

He said, the Berom ethnic group would assist the task force to achieve peace in the state.

The Gbong of Jos called on STF

to arrest any community leader who refused to respect the law in his domain, and to ensure that troublemakers are should brought to book.

He urged the Berom to be watchful in their communities and support security agencies in maintaining law and order.

The STF which had since last week made a peace tour to Barkin Ladi, Jos South and Riyom Local government and were billed to visit Bachit and Jol communities of Riyom LGC yesterday.

Why high blood pressure is a silent killer - expert

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specialist in family medicine at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Dr. Fabong Yildam said that high blood pressure kills quickly and silently because it has no specific symptoms.

Yildam said this yesterday in Jos that the ailment had remained a major cause of death of people from 25 years and above, because people in that age bracket hardly know they were hypertensive.

“Most people are hypertensive; it affects one in every three adults.

The unfortunate thing is that if it is not detected early, or if left untreated, it can cause heart attack, brain damage, stroke or death”, he said.

According to him, high blood pressure occurs when the force of blood pumping through the blood

vessel is higher than it should be.

He said that the blood pressure was measured in two numbers, with the higher number called “Systolic Pressure,” referring to the force of blood that pushes against the blood vessels' walls when the heart beats.

The lower number, he said, is called the “Diastolic Blood Pressure” and that refers to the pressure in the blood vessels between heart beats (when the heart is at rest).

“When an individual's `Systolic Pressure’ is 80 to 120, it means the individual’s blood pressure is normal.

“If the Systolic Pressure’ is between 120 and 139, the individual is said to be prehypertensive.

“However, if the individual’s pressure is higher than 140, the individual is said to be hypertensive”,

he explained.

He disclosed that apart from malaria, hypertension and diabetes were the leading cause of deaths and blindness in the tropics.

“The risk of being hypertensive is increased by smoking, high alcohol intake, stress, anxiety, high salt diets and fat, lack or inadequate exercise and processed food.

“Excessive alcohol intake can raise the blood pressure; smoking increases the chance of a heart attack or stroke.’’

He advised people to reduce their salt intake because ``salt makes the body to retain more fluid which makes the heart work harder”.

The medical practitioner said that ``hypertension cannot be cured but can be managed by the use of drugs to control the blood pressure

and to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

According to him, diuretic is usually the first medication given to first-time patients for its effective management.

He noted that high blood pressure usually had no symptoms, advising people on regular blood pressure checks to avoid becoming victims of stroke, heart attack or even death.

Yildam advised that people should imbibe the act of healthy eating and “ ensure they have eight to 10 hours of sleep daily”, he added.

He further advised that people should eat more of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, poultry and fish and less of processed and refined foods. (NAN)

Ex ICPC boss to deliver lecture at Unilorin conference From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

T

he University of Ilorin’s Centre for Ilorin Studies (CILS) has finalised arrangements to hold its first national conference from May 26 to 29, 2013.

The Conference, themed “Ilorin: History, Culture and Lessons of Peaceful Co-existence”, will hold at the University Auditorium at 9.00 a.m. daily under the chairmanship of the Vice Chancellor, Prof.

AbdulGaniyu Ambali.

A statement by the Director of the Centre, Prof. Abdulganiyu .S Oladosu, issued Monday disclosed that the keynote address at the conference would be delivered by the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi.

Oladosu, said other lead presentations would be made by Prof. Dawud O. S. Noibi, the Executive Secretary, Muslim Ummah of South-Western Nigeria (MUSWEN); and Prof. Isaac O. Albert, Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.

The statement added that both Prof. Noibi and Prof. Albert will respectively speak on “Ethnoreligious Plurality and Harmonious Co-existence in Nigeria: The Ilorin Lessons” and “Ilorinising Nigeria?

The Problems and Prospects of Peace building in a Multicultural Country”.

610 disabled persons get N23m incentive From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

In a bid to curtail the high rate of street begging, the Executive Secretary, Kebbi State Social Security Welfare Fund, Alhaji Danbuga Jega said Monday in Birnin Kebbi, that materials worth N23 million have been distributed to persons with disabilities who have undergone nine months vocational training in tailoring, carpentry and weaving.

The 610 persons with disabilities were drawn from the 21 local government areas of the State to acquired skills for selfemployment through the sale of their products.

According to the Executive Secretary, 252 were trained in tailoring, 243 received carpentry training and 115 underwent training in weaving,adding that the state government has distributed tailoring machines, carpentry tools as well as weaving materials worth 23 million naira with a N20,000 cash to each of the trainees.

In her remarks at the graduation ceremony, the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Hajiya Hafsat Ahmed Gulumbe called on the general public especially the wellto-do to compliment the effort of government by assisting the less privileged in the society .

“Make the best use of this opportunity and say good bye to street begging so that the whole society can also benefit from your products”, she said.

PAGE 11

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 6, 2013

Investment clubs A

n investment club usually consists of a small group of i n d i v i d u a l s who pool their money to make joint investments. This can provide those who have limited funds with a vehicle through which they can have access to investments that may otherwise be beyond their capacity. Not only can pooling money create better investing opportunities, but members also save on transaction costs by sharing the costs and fees associated with buying and selling stocks as a group. Here are some issues to consider should you wish to set up an investment club.

How many members?

It is common to have between 5 and 20 members, often groups of friends, neighbours, colleagues, church members, or relatives, who have diverse interests and experiences. If the group is too small, you may not accumulate enough money to make significant investments.

Yet, if there are too many people, it can become unwieldy and awkward to have regular meetings or to reach a consensus regarding investment options. A number of between 6 to 15 people keeps group discussions manageable.

A balance between some novice investors along with some experienced investors will ensure that you have the right mix.

Put structures in place It is important to recognise that an investment club isn't just a group of friends who come together to invest. Money matters can be sensitive and if not handled right can damage relationships. Club matters should thus be formalised and a solid structure should be put in place to guide a club's activity and ensure that its agenda is carried out efficiently and without friction. A limited liability company or a legal partnership tends to be the most common structure, a formal organisation with members with clear rights and duties.

Once it is legally established, it is important to have a formal agreement in place broadly stating roles and responsibilities. It should also include information and provide a record of the club's investment philosophy, of when, where and how often the group will meet, initial membership contributions and ongoing dues. It will also state how the club will manage

Quote In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later Harold Geneen

membership, how members can liquidate their investments, how dividends will be distributed, divesting from and dissolution of the investment club. This vital bit of paperwork is absolutely essential to protect members should things not work out. All

will be organised and run with all the attendant responsibilities.

Investment clubs typically meet monthly to discuss investment options, and to make investment decisions. It is important to review club financials, individual

personal savings and investments.

Who does what?

Officers should be elected early on so that structures and roles are in place. Typically, a Chairperson presides over meetings and a deputy in their absence. The Club Secretary keeps a record of minutes, and sends out reminders of upcoming meetings whilst the Treasurer coordinates financial matters relating to

members must be in agreement of the clubs legal and operational framework and understand the risks before committing.

A common investment philosophy A common investment philosophy and an adherence to its processes are essential ingredients for an investment clubs' success. Ideally, a clearly defined investment style should include some restrictions or at least quantifiable rules or limitations on the club's investment portfolio to ensure a minimum level of diversification always exists.

Individual risk profiles and financial situations vary; members who are more aggressive short-term investors or speculators may not partner well with the more conservative members who would rather wait to benefit from long-term capital appreciation. Members should have similar or at least compatible investment styles and objectives and should be prepared to support its approach.

Hold regular meetings A preliminary meeting will help everyone to determine if they can indeed work together and will help to articulate the commitment expected from participants. Members should agree on a name and set guidelines as to how the club

investment progress and any cash balance available for investment. Meetings should hold in an appropriate venue with few distractions and should follow the formal meeting process; it is important that meetings are run efficiently so that they don't become tiresome making members struggle to attend.

Financial commitment After a member contributes an initial lump sum for investment purposes; the typical investment club requires a monthly contribution from members.

Some are flexible and do not impose a set amount that members must contribute.

Members should be comfortable with the level of financial commitment required so that no one is hard pressed to come up with the monthly minimum contribution. Small investments may frustrate investors who want to commit larger amounts of cash in the hope of seeing a larger return.

Some members may fall short on occasion as unexpected expenses come up, and a large monthly contribution may eliminate members over the long run.

Ideally, your investment club contributions shouldn't be the only investment you are making; you should also be contributing to your Retirement Savings Account ("RSA") and building other

subscriptions, and keeps records of the club's holdings as well as each individual member's holding. The ability of this member is critical to the success of the club so this role must be selected carefully.

To enhance the experience of individual members, some investment clubs limit the amount of time each member can hold a particular role to ensure that all are involved and no one member becomes too controlling.

A good learning opportunity While the primary motivation is to make money, investment clubs are also a great way for investors to share ideas and learn about the market. Money matters can be complicated and learning about the different types of securities, investing styles and strategies can be hard to do alone.

Through an investment club, one can benefit from the support and encouragement and experience of "like minded" people, who have a similar interest in investing.

As the group becomes more knowledgeable, the quality and challenge of investing becomes more exciting.

Through presentations, seminars, guest speakers, and assigned readings on related topics, members will be educated on the options available and learn the basic concepts of investing.

The media also provides a

plethora of investment ideas and information.

Have a long-term view If your time horizon is only a year or less, an investment club might not be appropriate for you as you need only invest in short term instruments.

Investing is a long-term pursuit. It is impossible to time the market accurately and to pick winning investments all the time. A short-term horizon makes it difficult to manage the club's money effectively.

When an investment club is properly set up and managed, not only can it provide members with decent returns, but it can provide them with an invaluable educational experience as well as a supportive friendly atmosphere that makes investing all the more rewarding.

Feeling guilty to spend on anything I noticed the way I spend money changed. Not only am I spending less, but I feel pressured to not spend even for necessities. In short, I think I changed myself from frugal to cheap. A few weeks ago, I asked everyone whether I should celebrate on my big career accomplishment and splurge. I ended up not spending a dime.

In a way, this is good since I didn't waste my money on something I might regret later, but some might say that I have almost gone mad with saving money.

The argument is that I should reward myself for making such a big accomplishment with something anything. I agree with this somewhat, but when I think of all the things that I want, I just couldn't get myself to purchasing any of it even though I can comfortably afford the bill. When I shop, I don't look at the features or how it might be useful for me. The most important deciding factor of purchasing something has become the hit it will have on my bottom line.

"I want to retire early" I think to myself. But if I end up retiring early and do nothing at home every single day, would I be happy? I know I will just drive myself crazy if my day was too relaxing (maybe that is a problem in and of itself).

I feel sad about this sometimes. Isn't the idea of saving money so we have some to spend? During the weekends, all I can think of is how much activity A is and how much activity B will cost. This is totally unhealthy but how do I get out of this?

How did I get into this?

This seems to be a problem many people face, or have to deal with. How do we balance the current and future since they both compete for the same pile of wealth? Do you have a systematic approach to this or do you just go by feel?

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

P

N4bn First Ladies House of squander mania

rofligacy seems to have entrenched itself at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). Otherwise, it is difficult to comprehend the way and manner the incumbent FCTA leadership under the watch of Senator Bala Mohammed has been budgeting billions of naira lately for sundry projects.

Outrage had greeted recent disclosures that scandalously high amounts of money had been budgeted for the renovation of the banquet hall at the presidential hall and the Vice President's official residence. But even as the dust raised by these extravagant expenditures was still swirling, the FCT Ministry accelerated its financial misadventure.

In the latest serial demonstration of a culture of profligacy and impunity, mind-boggling sums have been budgeted for projects that have little or no bearing on the people's welfare. These include N7 billion for the construction of two city gates, and N150 million for the renovation of vice presidential guest houses in Asokoro.

The icing on the cake of the unprecedented squander mania is the allocation of a princely N4 billion to a so-called First Ladies' Mission House in the capital city. When the idea of the project was mooted last year under the umbrella of the African First Ladies Peace Mission

(AFLPM), the presidency washed its hand of it, stating categorically that AFLPM was purely an NGO. That was in July 2012.

It is curious that between then and now a supposedly quasi-private initiative has suddenly metamorphosed into a governmental project for which billions of naira must

“

We suggest that the government retrace its steps immediately. No tax payer's money should be devoted to this flight of fancy be budgeted, just like that. At a time when public utilities in the FCT, like in other parts of Nigeria, are in a shambles, it is beyond belief that officialdom's principal preoccupation is a vain-glorious project like the First Ladies House.

What makes the whole thing repugnant is that a project that is apparently devoted to the interests of African First Ladies is to be bankrolled by the federal government for reasons that are as opaque as they are

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”

provocative.

According to the office of the minister, the FCT administration sees the construction of the building as "part of its remit to live up to its international obligation". Whatever that means, it is instructive that ever since the minister ill-advisedly named some streets in Abuja after President Jonathan and proceeded to mount billboards bearing the duo's portraits in strategic parts of the city, eye service, apparently aimed at currying presidential favour, has been the rule rather than the exception.

No less sobering is the fact that provision of essential services in the city and its satellite towns seems to defy the minister's commitment "to build for the good of the public". A vivid example is the shocking story of a blocked sewer line which has been spilling raw feces on a major highway in the heart of Abuja metropolis. As reported by the government-owned News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this has resulted "in stench taking over the atmosphere in the affected area," even as officials of AEPB and AMMC passing the buck shamelessly.

We at Peoples Daily condemn this act of profligacy by a government that finds it more expedient to behave like the proverbial son by indulging in the profligacy called First Ladies House.

We suggest that the government retrace its steps immediately. No tax payer's money should be devoted to this flight of fancy.

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

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

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER ALI M. ALI

HEAD, ADVERT/MARKETING HUSSAINI ABDULRAHMAN, CNA

ACTING EDITOR, WEEKEND JAMILA NUHU MUSA

MANAGER, ADMINISTRATION HASSAN HAMMANYAJI

HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU ADESOJI OYINLOLA

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

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 13

The issue is tomorrow’s children, not yesterday’s men

By Ayobami Oyalowo

I

n Nigeria, a third world nation, we have been denied information over the years but suddenly, it does appear, the people have found a voice in social media and are judiciously using it to call the government to order.

One thing is clear though: despite the dissenting voices online, the Nigerian government scoffs at the voices of the people so much so that a presidential adviser once branded some citizens as " collective children of anger".

But there seems to be an exception to this rule. The moment certain personalities use the social media to make their voices heard, a horde of presidential minions are unleashed, from the attack dog, to crawling roaches. Like a cackle of hyenas, they are usually out in full force. They do not have to give any intelligible answer or clear grey areas as raised. Their singular aim is to muddle up the puddle, in their usually rambunctious manner.

They raise unsubstantiated allegations and mudslinging is their watchword.

Recently, Obiageli Ezekwesili, former World Bank Vice President, was University of Nigeria Nsukka's 42nd convocation lecturer. There she observed that the two administrations that succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo's had squandered $67bn - a combined sum from our foreign reserve and Excess Crude Account. Deeply troubled, she complained that six years after the administration she "served handed over such humongous national wealth to another one, most Nigerians (especially the poor) continue to suffer the effects of failing public health and education systems, as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions."

By May Akabogu-Collins

I

was a visiting professor in Paris last fall and it was the first day of class. I was making copies for my 10:30 class at the faculty lounge where two female professors were kibitzing by the coffee machine. "Oh, yeah," one said. "Soon as I learned he's Nigerian, I discounted everything he'd said as fraud." "Smart move," agreed the other, nodding, "nothing good's ever come out of that country. ..."

I cringed, held my breath and skedaddled on to my classroom, where my students wanted to know my nationality. I'm American. "Bot Professa," an African student's hand flew up, "ware you from originally? I hear the voice of Africa." I inhaled deeply, chuckled but ignored that question.

When I left Nigeria for the United States in 1980, the plan was to earn an M.B.A., a doctorate in economics, and then return. It was my moral obligation to help develop my country, whose oil wealth financed my education.

An M.B.A., a Ph.D. and 32 years later, I'm still here, abroad. In 1992, when I applied for a position at my alma mater, the University of Ibadan, the dean replied, "Why on earth would you want to return when everybody's trying

The government was jolted by that revelation. They were more troubled by the image of the messenger and the damaging impact it would have on their already grossly despised administration.

After the revelation, one expected a sensible government to either explain what happened or contradict the claims.

Not this government. In came Mr. Labaran Maku, the information minister. He didn't bother to explain or contradict Mrs, Ezekwesili, but rather cast aspersions on her person. It was almost a contest of 'yes, our government is bad, but was yours better?' Nigerians were treated to more macabre dance steps when a member of the presidential media gang, a supposed intelligentsia and a former chairman of the editorial board of a national newspaper, jumped into the fray.

Reuben Abati took infamy to a new low, going on an expletive laden spree. Not once did he he even pretend to address Ezekwesili's allegation. No, that wasn't necessary in Abati's book.

He chose to give her and her supposed co-travelers a serious tongue lash. The only sad part was that Reuben was not man enough to mention their names. All he could do was make allusions that keen watchers of events could piece together to know who particular invectives were meant for .

Let us stop for a moment and examine what the bone of contention has been about.

Ezekwesili alleged that the government under which she served, left behind a humongous amount of $45billion in Nigeria's foreign reserve and $22billion in the excess crude account (ECA) totaling $67 billion as sum left behind by the Obasanjo led government. But the government

that succeeded theirs, while the incumbent president was a vice President, had frittered some of that sum. Let us also recall that the same Obasanjo led government paid off the entirety of Nigeria's foreign debt which was around $30billion at the time.

Today, Nigeria owes about $10billion in foreign debt and $50billion in local debt. Bear in mind that crude oil which forms between 70-80% of our national income has never sold for less than $90 per barrel in the last 6 years.

Nigeria's current OPEC quota is 2million BPD. You can do the maths. Recall also that the British Prime Minister, in Davos, recently asked the Nigerian government to account for the over $100billion which accrued to Nigeria last year.

He made the call while belaboring the point that Nigeria does not deserve more foreign aid.

What is lost to most Nigerians in this government orchestrated "roforofo" public mudslinging is that instead of asking the hard questions, the masses are being treated to a Nigerian brand of the Roman Coliseum. During the

zenith of the Roman empire, when the citizens were disillusioned and therefore restless, especially when the government's performance abysmal, the rulers would stage a big gathering to entertain them.

Today in the Jonathanian era, we have our modern day coliseum. It is an arena that reads like: "yes, I am very inept and corrupt but others are corrupt too". The gullible amongst us lap it up and say "yes, those people are not saints."

Nigerians have lost sight of the real deal. Obasanjo was not a saint, neither were his subordinates. But what you can't take away from his government was the fact that he placed Nigeria on the path to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. I will seek to clarify a few points in the paragraphs that follow. I believe that all sensible Nigerians should join Mrs. Ezekwesili in this crusade.

What is the use of having a large reserve? International (foreign) reserves are a country's "external assets"-including foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities, gold and SDRs. Nigeria under

“

Today in the Jonathanian era, we have our modern day coliseum. It is an arena that reads like: "yes, I am very inept and corrupt but others are corrupt too". The gullible amongst us lap it up and say "yes, those people are not saints

Obasanjo, saved the excess money which was not in the budget, due to sudden increase in global oil price. Note that in reserves, you merely hold the funds as savings but it doesn't yield any interest. To answer the question of why a country needs its FR, in global trade, countries show up at the negotiation table with what they have in store as a way of gaining an upper hand and tilting the bargain their way. Nigeria as an import based economy needs to maintain a low and stable exchange rate. The healthy state of our external reserve is a means to achieving that lofty goal.

Any business man can bear witness to the catastrophic happenings of December 2008 when the exchange rate crashed from 118 naira to a USD to about 200 naira to a USD. What created such a terrible and unstable situation was the depletion of the external reserves by the federal government of Nigeria led by Yar'adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Herein lies the crux of the matter. What became of the $67 billion? Having a healthy foreign reserve is a precursor to being able to dictate the play in global finance and foreign trade. It enables a country to play and bargain from a position of strength. A healthy foreign reserve also helps to defend the local currency from unnecessary fluctuations and sharp drop in value.

It is clear that the governments of Yar'adua and Jonathan have a lot of questions to answer, but they would rather be clever by half.

Enough of these Roman coliseums.

We are no longer interested in who is a saint or the sinner. We need an answer to the question posed by Dr. Ezekwesili: where is NIGERIA'S 67 billion USD? You can meet me on twitter @Ayourb

A Nigerian Spring is long overdue to escape?" No one's been paid for over three months, he explained, and universities are on strike half the time.

Twenty years later, Nigeria can still bring the crazy. In 1980, the naira had a very favourable exchange rate against the dollar.

En route to the United States, I stopped over in London. All along King's Road, the shopkeepers beckoned: "Nigerian? Welcome.

Come inside." I was proud to be from Nigeria and was offended when the country was confused with Niger. But, today, if I can pass for someone from Niger sadly, I would be glad.

Is there a person on the planet who remains unfamiliar with the Nigerian e-mail scam? As a Nigerian living abroad, I've become embarrassed - indeed scared - after learning that in February 2003 a Czech victim of an Internet fraud murdered an innocent Nigerian in Prague. That isn't the scariest narrative - not by a long shot. In recent years, Nigerians abroad have been warned: "Don't come home. Just send money." But if one must, say, attend a wedding, a funeral or take a chieftaincy title, it is necessary to hire prearranged police

protection from the moment you land at the airport until the moment you depart.

Last summer, my ailing 87year-old mother, worried that her days are numbered, called a family reunion for Christmas. My three U.S.-based siblings and I made plans to return home with all our kids. At the last minute, my brother sent an e-mail canceling the reunion. "What?" my daughter said, her glass of iced tea slipping out of her hands and shattering on the tile floor. Uncle Tony can't guarantee our safety in Nigeria, I explained. "What about hired armed security like the last time?" she inquired. I showed her the link to the news report my brother had sent headlined, "Gunmen Kill U.S. Returnee in Enugu," his hometown in Nigeria.

Ogbo Edoga had returned from the United States to attend the meeting of an organization of Nigerian professionals in the United States to raise funds for an ultramodern medical diagnostic center in his ancestral village. On his way, he was robbed and shot and killed with an AK-47. He had hired police protection, as had many Nigerians who visited our motherland only to be robbed and

murdered. The lucky ones got kidnapped and released after their families paid a huge ransom. And now, Mom's joined the choir: "Don't come home."

Here's what is shameful: This is the Nigeria that has been one of the world's top 10 oil exporters for decades; the presumed "Giant of Africa" when I was leaving in 1980. But three decades later, despite a half-century of billions of petrodollar inflow, in March 2011, at a World Bank-O.E.C.D. conference in Paris, I found myself sliding down my chair to hide my face behind my laptop as a fellow economist explained why Nigeria was excluded in a comparative study thusly: Since Nigeria (with South Africa) dominates the SubSaharan African economy and since Nigeria does so poorly at wealth creation, if included, it would render Sub-Saharan Africa's genuine savings dwarfish vis-à-vis East Asia and Latin America.

Here's the thing: One doesn't need a Ph.D. in economics to understand the correlation between poverty and today's high crime rate in Nigeria. When corrupt politicians persistently embezzle public funds rather than produce proper policies, the result

is a stagnant economy and its attendant human misery - high unemployment and massive poverty. Marginalized youths resort to Internet scams, kidnapping, or join Boko Haram.

When the police go unpaid for months, the citizens become the logical prey.

That's where Nigeria is today.

It will not change until we, the people, join in a mass outrage against corruption, demand transparent accounting of our oil revenues and economic justice.

Only then will an honest leadership emerge to invest a fair share of the oil revenues in capital in such a way as to permanently raise the consumption level of the masses. Otherwise we Nigerian expatriates - the most educated immigrant group in the United States - will remain in exile, and Nigeria will remain a breeding ground for terrorism.

Is there an Honest Ernest among Nigerians who is able to galvanize us? Can something that good come out of Nigeria? That's a palm reader's guess.

May Akabogu-Collins is a visiting professor of economics at the American Business School in Paris.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 14

By Suleimman Mohammmed Dikwa

T

here are two classes of Nigerians, leaders and followers. Leaders are the politicians, the parents, religious leaders and traditional rulers while the followers are the artisans, small farmers, junior civil servants and the people on the streets. We are all hypocrites! The norm back then, in the secondary I attended, was for one to be withdrawn from school when you failed a class exam twice. Nigeria's ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has ruled this country for three consecutive terms, and counting, from President Obasanjo to Yar'adua toJonathan, it has been a litany of failed promises and experiments.

Nonetheless, we can't blame them, but our selves. When I met a foreigner and complained about Nigeria, the person, confused, asked; "Why do you vote them back? Why do you tolerate the level of corruption that has been exposed daily since 1999? Why do you allow so much disparity in the national reward system?"

Nigerians love to complain at home, at work, in newspapers, on the social media etc, but that is where it all ends. When the time for exams come, when the annual AGM of the country comes or elections, we reward failure by returning parties and people that have failed us woefully. We return to our religious and ethnic enclaves, effectively truncating the power of our votes and therein lies our hypocrisy.

The government always asks us to be patient; change is a slow process they say! The little successes we see now in electricity,

By Victor Ehikhamenor

L

ast Sunday was Superbowl in America, and if you missed it I am sorry and if you don't know what I am talking about, omase o. It is one of those Sundays I looked forward to because you could get really drunk without your family suggesting you go for AA therapy. But more seriously, I love the TV commercials that get rolled out during timeouts. Companies compete for attention with new, funny and crazy commercials in front of millions of Americans guzzling Budweiser beer (NOTE: Budweiser paid me to insert their name here-in America, they call that Product Placement).

Superbowl Sunday sees an array of parties all over town, and despite the cold weather the atmosphere is usually charged with festivities and fanaticism. For the past ten years or so, I have only looked forward to the parties and not the games because my local team, the Washington Redskins, is exactly like our Nigerian lawmakers; they get paid millions of dollars to fool around. Redskins over the years play as if they are characters in a beta version of Nintendo Wii. Since I did not have any dog in this year's fight, as usual (apology to Michael Vick), and did not feel like bracing the cold weather I thought to relax in one of my brother's new reclining chairs meant for Nollywood movies. I had settled down, with all necessary paraphernalia for lazy TV

We all are hypocrites C h a n g e railway and management others took the experts agree ruling party 12 that for positive years of Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text change to scandals, happen, the messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written betrayals, followers, or we, corruption and contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 must "unfreeze" billions and words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and the situation billions of a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed and the frame mismanaged to: must be bent. and seemingly, At the billions of dollars The Editor, independence unaccounted Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, lecture two for. So much has 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. years ago, a been said about member of the Email: opinion@peoplesdaily-online.com corruption but I audience told the want to talk SMS: 07037756364 President, "Mr about three President, for types of everyday hypocrisy, our reward, personal comfort. Millions of public transformation to start, ask all and justice system and contract funds are budgeted and expended Government officials to transfer on their houses, cars (a Governor's their generators and cost of valuations.?

While our leaders ask us to be convoy would cost something like maintenance to the hospitals and patient over sufferings, two million dollars and millions schools that are in darkness. Then, immediately they are elected, more just to maintain), aides, new we will know you are serious." selected, elevated or appointed, schools for their children (abroad Naturally, the President, the they set out to address their of course) and other comforts. politician, did not respond to that

WRITE TO US

“

Our criminal justicesystem was aptly captured by the events of the past two weeks. The billion naira pension thief was let off the hook with a slap on the wrist while a guy who stole a car radio got five years. If you are a big man, you buy justice or your connection gets you off. If there is too much media attention you get a slap on the wrist

Superbowl Sonny watching when my brother declared that we were going to a Superbowl party. I told him I wasn't in the mood for going out, I could no longer bear the wintery bitterness of America, the cold seemed angrier at me ever since I moved back home to Nigeria. Also I hadn't planned on attending any party because in America you are supposed to take your own drink to the host's house, a culture I could no longer tolerate. I spend more time in Nigeria now, and at home you don't call a party if you can't handle the entertainment. But my brother insisted we go-"Oya let's go, we are going to Sonny's house."

That did it for me, I jumped up.

You see, Uncle Sonny (Superbowl Sonny) is a true Nigerian when it comes to hosting parties. Moreover, I think those who declared Nigerians to be the happiest people in the world met Uncle Sonny first and last and concluded the matter. I have attended countless numbers of Superbowl parties in his house and knew better not to miss this. Also, as a Washington Redskins season ticket holder, the party helps Uncle Sonny forget the abysmal performance of the hideous team and its bizarre owner, Daniel Snyder.

Brothers and sisters, Uncle Sonny turned it up a notch this year. We arrived a bit late and

could barely find parking space around his house. My brother was about to drive to another street in search of parking in the bitter cold when I shook my head and said"You Americans, abeg block somebody, when e wan go e go call us na." He too shook his head and said, "You Nigerians!" but he hates the cold, so we did a Lagos parking stunt and rushed into the house.

It was like a beehive inside Uncle Sonny's new house (recently built with Nigerian and Superbowl parties in mind). There were different sections with plasma TVs staring from the walls like blackboards. Oh, I forgot to tell you

that when you are going to his party, you don't take anything along but thirst and hunger. This party was fully catered ala Lagos style. The first room I arrived in was the children and youth section, these were the American children born by Nigerian parents who think pounded yam can choke the eater-so there were boxes of pizzas, macaroni and cheese, Chinese food, and all kinds of nonalcoholic beverages there. Uncle Sonny had accosted us at the door, his face filled with happiness and laughter. There was also the shock of seeing me - coming all the way from Nigeria - to his Superbowl

“

I think those who declared Nigerians to be the happiest people in the world met Uncle Sonny first and last and concluded the matter. I have attended countless numbers of Superbowl parties in his house and knew better not to miss this. Also, as a Washington Redskins season ticket holder, the party helps Uncle Sonny forget the abysmal performance of the hideous team and its bizarre owner, Daniel Snyder

key statement.

In the same economy, the big man is unfairly and disproportionately rewarded compared to the small man, whether in the public or private sector. Our criminal justicesystem was aptly captured by the events of the past two weeks. The billion naira pension thief was let off the hook with a slap on the wrist while a guy who stole a car radio got five years. If you are a big man, you buy justice or your connection gets you off. If there is too much media attention you get a slap on the wrist. ?

A former labour leader, Ali Chiroma, once said Nigeria paid the lowest wages and the highest contract fees in the world.?

This is manifest in all contracts awarded at local, state and federal levels. We have now accepted it as a norm that contracts must be inflated. Government complains about lack of resources but daily, we see contracts inflated when a quick Google search will reveal the costs of materials and services have not changed since the time the contracts we awarded. Despite this glut of information, our governments deceive us daily and are killing us daily.

When all is said and done, the hypocrites that we are, we turn to God; the rich seeking salvation and the poor seeking redemption. The religious leaders have identified this niche market and exploit it daily with their own hypocrisy.

They can't look at the man in the mirror and say my salvation and redemption from poverty comes from hard work and prayer. Who are we deceiving?

Suleiman Mohammed Dikwa can be reached at smdikwa@yahoo.com party. He took our coats himself (sorry folks, no matter how rich you are in America, no houseboys and house girls there) and led us to the basement where the real action was.

The basement was already jam-packed, with rolls of seats like Onikan stadium. The comfortable, fully-upholstered seats in the front row were already occupied by early birds. Not to worry, because the TV was so large I could have seen a pin if I were watching from Ekpoma. There was a buffet with uniformed Hispanic waiters serving pounded yam with egusi, Ogbono with assorted, efo riro with orisisi, jollof rice, fried rice, beans and dodo, American-suya (i.e. peppered skewered beef) and Nigerian salad-the one with sardine, baked beans, and all the things that are not supposed to be mentioned in the same breath as salad. The generational and cultural difference between Nigerian fathers and their American children was glaring and jarring in Uncle Sonny's selection of food for this section.

The drinks selection ranged from robust VSOP, various bottles of brandy, assorted wines in bottles the shape of cheerleaders, and Guinness stout of course. I sat among old friends and ignored every single question about Nigeria, because in all honesty I don't wash dirty national linen in public, especially in the home of such a good man as Uncle Sonny.

Victoe Ehikhamenor is reachable on...

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

By Abdulhamid Babatunde

T

he state of world affairs today is peculiar enough to earn particular reckoning in the thoughts of people, especially people whose stations in life allow them to think beyond here and now. The evident deconstruction of the defining principles and practices that had ruled the world for about centuries looms large on the horizon of world events, casting eclipsing shadows on The Age of Reason and the supremacy of good over evil. The world is in a metamorphic flux that defies all but a fleeting form and is driven by a deluge of derangements. All things once wrong are now celebrated as right- and pitifully vice-versa- while reason has lost its anchorage of sensibilities.

Despite the dizzying tempo of these unfolding epochal changes, there is no confusion about the steady erosion and occasional instant extinction of entrenched interests and authorities that is a prominent feature. In other words, in the lexicon of government gurus, "treason" has become a major casualty in the creeping demise of this age of reason as "men of steel and men

By SOC Okenwa

I

n Lagos recently on my way to Benin City (during a month sabbatical) I boarded a Goddy Edosa mini-bus in Mile 2 that took me to the ancient Edo State capital city. But before we took off a mobile 'man of God' was preaching and praying for our safe journey. In the process he made a reference to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor by saying that if the Warri-based highflying Pastor could become a servant of God after his early years as a 'bandit' and 'weed-smoking delinquent' then repentance was possible for everyone else. I had listened with rapt attention as he spoke and in the end passengers were donating 'offering' to the man for his biblical eloquence and sound prayer.

Pastor Oritsejafor's 'transformation' is a remarkable story of sin and redemption, a life whose transmogrified past could be described as a 'miracle' -- God's supernatural intervention in the natural affairs of men! The man of God is a study in spiritual rebirth, one who wins souls for Christ having himself been won over by the Saviour! He started his work in the vineyard of the Lord with the Church of God Mission International established in Benin City by the late enigmatic pentecostal preacher Benson Idahosa. Archbishop Idahosa revolutionized pentecostalism in Nigeria by becoming one of the pioneers, watering the seed of faith and contributing to the blossoming of the ministries across the nation.

As a young student in Benin city in the early 90's I remember watching a weekly evangelical TV programme tagged "IWO And You" anchored by the late 'Ogboni' nemesis himself -- preaching the good news, recounting his encounters with the devil and his agents as well as overseas tours and miracles. (IWO stood for Idahosa World Outreach).

Archbishop Idahosa, whose survived wife, Margareth, has taken over the ministry, would

PAGE 15

The Age of Treason of power" lose control by the hour". Of all the legion of empire states in world history, only the US remains on the desolate and rapidly diminishing temporal throne of earthly might and is itself unravelling in daily demystifying leakages of the diverse devilishness of god's own country. Witness the waxing waves of nature's wrath as world weather surges into disaster mode, rendering human mind and machine manifestly subjugated.

Witness also the undisguised and chaotic demise of civilization as the ultimate trophy of mankind's mangled tenure as the earthbound landlord. As longstanding nations get melted down into xenophobic enclaves, so too have the moral values and hallowed traditions which preserved and protected the humanity of man for ages sustained irreversible derailment towards enthroning social decadence and unleashing the inherent inhumanities of man. This detestable debacle is

"now showing" on every street, in every city, in every nation of every continent, openly condoned or tactically promoted to the detriment of all. The monopoly of the minority is a selfdestructive syndrome.

Little wonder that in today's world there are no gloved fists but bare knuckles in the allconsuming unscrupulous greed for the world's resources now gone to the rabid extreme of adopting unprovoked external aggression to impose "regime change" on targeted sovereign nations whose unwanted incumbent rulers are hanged or mercilessly hunted down and killed. So, as a collateral corollary of this hideous conspiracy of nations-against-nations, spontaneous insurgencies by Kalashnikov-wielding marginalized militants lay siege on discredited governance with the bloody bravado of mercenaries; martial law is the sole life-line for the survival of crippled civilian democracies in a macabre mutation of diarchic

government. Power is no longer a matter of cash, but a cache of military weaponry! Bear witness to the contrived redrawing of the map of the world now in progress and programmed to add a gruesome genocide to the terminal inhumanities of man.

Remarkably, even ancient Greeks who came up with fabled five ages of the human race, consigned this generation to the last and most unworthy base metal Iron Age and provided horrifying foresight of the calamity that has befallen us today in this unnerving excerpt from Hesiod Works and Days: “For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them. The father will not agree with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime.

Men will dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and

will carp at them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack another's city. There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oath or for the just or for the good; but rather men will praise the evil-doer and his violent dealing, and reverence will cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking false words against him. Envy, foulmouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along with wretched men one: and bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no help against evil.�

Alas again! These abominable scenarios are verily here with us as clear and present dangers we brought upon ourselves.

Between the garrisons of gullible and garrulous masses and the cultish conclave of greedy, sadistic and opportunistic rulers (not leaders) there is precious little to choose. May God have mercy on us all.

Abdulhamid Babatunde is a Media Consultant in Kaduna

captivate viewers with his polished English betraying no fear and waxing wholesomely spiritual. He waged a 'war' against occultic and fetish elements in Benin city and elsewhere in the then Bendel State to the extent that he spoke about his nocturnal triumphs against principalities and dark powers!

The archbishop, during his eventful life, touched many lives and performed many miracles in Nigeria and outside the shores of the country and the African continent. He narrowly escaped assassination attempt on more than one occasion. On one such occasion the hired assassins, perhaps overpowered by the holy spirit, didn't recognise Idahosa in person as they met him in his home asking the same man where to find Idahosa! The marked man simply pointed upstairs to the killers and disappeared from the building! As the title of one of his books reads Idahosa was indeed one of God's battle axes in Nigeria of yore.

I remember meeting him with a fellow student in his GRA church headquarters in Benin City after a crusade. The brief encounter revealed a deeplyspiritual man with wide network, a foreign connection (especially in the States) that made it possible for him to visit God's own country and came back with some 'goodies', some preachers of the gospel for home evangelism.

During his time Archbishop Idahosa never had time for politics; he squarely engaged himself with edifying matters of soul-winning, writing books and pursuing pious causes.

Oritsejafor 'graduated' from this disciplined spiritual school of thought and went to establish his own ministry in Warri, Delta state known as Word of Life Bible Church. Ayo has come a long way indeed and the battle for the lost

souls continued unabated albeit tainted by the syndrome of lucre that has 'invaded' the house of God. Ayo has changed as Nigeria has changed -- for better or for worse!

From a relatively poor background the controversial pastor is now 'swimming' in both adulation and dollars -- thanks to the work of prosperity preaching and tithing.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is experiencing a crisis of confidence. CAN is the umbrella organisation for all Christians in Nigeria irrespective of church denomination. And Pastor Ayo is the current controversial President. Recently the Catholic Church announced that they were pulling 'temporarily' out of the association for what they called "some recent attitudes, utterances and actions of the national leadership of CAN which in our opinion negate the concept of the foundation of the association and the desire of Our Lord Jesus Christ".

In a letter dated September 24, 2012 and addressed to Oritsejafor, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, President, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBNC) said his group was suspending "participation in CAN meetings at the national level until such a time the leadership of CAN revert to the original vision, mission and objectives of CAN". The Oritsejafor-led leadership of the association, the bishops lamented, had "politicized" CAN thereby failing in its duty to "promote peace and unity in the country" maintaining that "CAN is being dragged into partisan politics thereby compromising the ability to play its true role as conscience of the nation and the voice of the voiceless".

Quite an apt censure; one cannot agree more! When the head of a religious organisation is perceived to be pro-

establishment, defending sometimes the indefensible in favour of the corrupt ruling party then that man has deviated; associating with such a man without scruples becomes a moral problem, a moral burden worth shedding. It is as simple as that!

CAN is a larger religious organisation than the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). And the Catholic Church represents one of the association's most influential blocs. So when the Bishops speak they are bound to be taken seriously because the Roman Catholic church, established more than a thousand years ago, does not play to the gallery. Highly organised and moderate in everything the church is showing good example despite the distracting issues of paedophile and sex scandals here and there.

But CAN's spokesman for the 19 northern states, Sunny Oibe, came out swinging in a brash reaction. He said they were free to leave the fold accusing the Catholic church of "arrogance" and seeking to "dominate". But that is begging the issues raised

by the pondering Bishops. Mr Oibe's reaction sounded hollow, more like the ruling party responding to opposition criticisms! Yes, the petulant spokesman sounded more like a local embattled politician trying in vain to ward off accusations of mediocrity andtreasury looting.

While the new generation pastors are intensifying their prayers for more prosperity in a nation suffering from moral malaise, we are always reminded that 'our God is not a poor God'!

Yes, we agree, God is rich indeed!

But common sense ought to guide us to know that whilst prosperity is good enough we must seek first righteousness and its prize, salvation. And every other thing shall be added unto us. If Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, were to come visiting today one wonders whether He would not dissociate Himself from the distorted doctrine that pervades the landscape pandering more to material acquisition and conspicuous consumption.

SOC Okenwa can be reached on soco_abj_2006 _rci@hotmail.fr

CAN, Oritsejafor and holiness

“

Yes, we agree, God is rich indeed! But common sense ought to guide us to know that whilst prosperity is good enough we must seek first righteousness and its prize, salvation. And every other thing shall be added unto us. If Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, were to come visiting today one wonders whether He would not dissociate Himself from the distorted doctrine that pervades the landscape pandering more to material acquisition and conspicuous consumption

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Man, 30, arraigned for defiling 3-year-old girl T

he Police have arraigned a man, Seyi Balogun, 30, of Zehidu Village, Lugbe, Abuja before an Abuja Senior Magistrates Court for allegedly defiling a three year old daughter of his neighbour.

Police Prosecutor, Inspector Jeremiah Elijah, told the court that the case was reported on January 31, 2013 by one Mr Sunday Patrick, the girl’s father

who resides at the same address as the accused.

Elijah said that on the same day, Balogun, who was the girl’s neighbour, deceived her to his house when she got back from school.

He said that Balogun used his finger to sexually abuse the three-year-old without her consent.

Elijah said that sometime in

December 2012, Balogun had also sexually abused the same girl and the case was reported at the Piwoyi Out-Post Station.

He said that during investigation, Balogun could not give a satisfactory account of himself and that a doctor also confirmed that the girl was sexually abused.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravene the

provisions of Section 268 of the Penal Code.

Balogun, however, denied the allegation levelled against him.

Senior Magistrate Grace Adebayo, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 and a surety in like sum who must be civil servant.

Adebayo adjourned the matter to March 4, 2013 for hearing. (NAN)

A clown entertaining guest at a public function, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Teenage bus conductor arraigned for theft

A

bus conductor, John Benson, 18, of Lugbe bus stop, has been brought before the Wuse Zone 2, Senior Magistrates Court, for alleged joint act and theft.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr Anigbo Paul, told the court that, one Eucharia Igwe, of Zone 7, Lugbe, Abuja, reported the matter to the Lugbe police

station on January 30, 2013.

“The accused and one Dickson, now at large, jointly snatched her bag containing a blackberry phone valued at N18,000, an ID card, a GT Bank ATM card and N650,’’ she said.

The prosecutor added that the accused was caught on the spot and confessed during

police investigation that they stole the bag.

He said the offences contravene Sections 287 and 97 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him in court.

The Magistrate, Mrs Binta Dogonyaro, granted

the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 and a surety in like sum.

She added that the surety must be a responsible citizen with a means of livelihood and must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.

Dogonyaro adjourned the case to February 26, 2013 for hearing.(NAN

Court dissolves 3-year marriage over husband’s failure to sexually satisfy wife

A

Zuba Upper Area Court has dissolved a threeyear-old marriage between Mohammed Dalhatu and Hauwa Abubakar both of Zuba, Abuja.

Hauwa, who petitioned her husband, told the court that Dalhatu had stopped fulfilling her sexual needs.

Confirming her statements, Dalhatu told the court that he adopted the measure to punish his wife for leaving his house without permission.

He said he had confronted her on many occasions on her attitude but to no avail.

”I told her that as her husband, I am responsible for her upkeep. She is also accountable to me in accordance with the provision of Sharia Law. “I have even involved our parents on the issue but she refuses to listen to them,’’ he said.

The Presiding Officer, Abdullahi Babba, while dissolving the marriage, said his failure to sexually satisfy his wife was an offence in Islam.

He said Dalhatu had failed to follow the steps provided by Sharia to punish his wife.

Babba said the step taken by the husband was the last

recommendation provided by Islam as punishment to wives.

He said Dalhatu had committed offence capable of dissolving any marriage.

He, therefore, dissolved the marriage and asked Hauwa to observe three months purification period before considering another marriage.

INSIDE FCT COURTS Court grants murder suspect bail

A

High Court in Kubwa has granted bail to a 32-yearold man, Lawrence Obasi, accused of alleged murder.

Justice Usman Musale granted the bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Musale said: “Even though the accused is standing trial for a capital offence, he, nonetheless, has the presumption of innocence in his favour.

“That presumption shall remain with the accused until he is found guilty. There are enough reasons to grant the accused bail.

I, therefore, grant him bail in the sum of N100,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum,’’ he said.

Obasi was arraigned on November 7, 2012 for allegedly hitting one Donald Ime with a wood on his head which caused his death.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He told the court that he had gone with two friends simply identified as Henry and Joe to a restaurant in Kubwa for refreshments when they met the deceased.

“We started an argument about Manchester United and Chelsea Football Clubs which later got heated up. As I made to leave, he prevented me and a fight ensued,’’ he said.

The accused said that he used the wood to hit the deceased in self defence but didn’t intend to cause his death.

The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Josiah Oruebe, opposed bail for the accused arguing that the case did not warrant the accused enjoying bail.

“In the case of a capital offence, the applicant is expected to present exceptional circumstances to convince the court to exercise its discretion in his favour,’’ he argued.

The Defence Counsel, Mr Kelvin Rugbene, urged the court to exercise its discretion.

“Bail is totally at the discretion of the court and the accused will not jump bail,’’ he said.

The case was adjourned to April 4, 2013 for continuation of hearing. (NAN)

Court adjourns robbery case over suspect’s absence

J

ustice Husseini Baba-Yusuf of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) High Court on Monday adjourned hearing in a twocount charge of criminal conspiracy and robbery brought against one Adebayo Oladimeji by the Police.

Baba-Yusuf adjourned the case to March 21 due to the absence of the accused in court.

Prosecutor Babajide Olanipekun

had told the court that the accused person, who “pretended’’ to be a taxi driver, conspired with one Sumaila, now at large and robbed one Fadimatu Mohammed.

The accused picked the complainant at Cool FM junction, Central Area, to Gwarimpa, Abuja.

“The unsuspecting passenger boarded the car without knowing that it is ``one chance’’

He said the accused took the passenger to an unknown destination and collected her gold necklace valued at N116,000, Nokia cell-phone valued at N21,000 and purse containing N6,000.

Baba-Yusuf said the accused should be brought to court on March 21, 2013 to make his plea.

(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 17

“Appoint indigene as FCT Special Adviser”, Abuja indigenes to Jonathan

By Adeola Tukuru

A

buja indigenes under the umbrella of the Concerned People of Abuja, have called on the President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint an original inhabitant of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a Special Adviser on FCT Affairs.

The leader of the group, Femi Sanusi said the FCT administration has ran out of idea due to the fact that it is lacking a strong indigenous guideline.

According to him, if the late Yar’adua led administration could stamp its mark on the annals of the Niger Delta then why can’t President Jonathan administration follow suit as it concerns FCT indigenes.

“We don't know if those around the President are really doing their duty well, if yes why are they not advising Mr President right.

“Last week in the National dailies, we read how the FCT minister of state presented a huge amount of over 150 million for the resettlement of some selected FCT indigenes, how did she arrive to that figure? Is she an indigene of FCT? And the senior minister also presented N5billion proposed for rehabilitation of prostitutes and destitute in Abuja, may be somebody is using his office to mislead the FCT minister who in his capacity as a former senator knows the implication of such amount for that little project,” he said.

“Recently some person where busy advising the minister to scrap FCT Area councils that has done massively well in terms of rural development and road construction even with the little amount it collects from the FCT as federal allocation ”, Sanusi added.

NYSC cultural troupe performing, during the 2013 NYSC Games, on Monday in Garki, Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Heaps of refuse take over Utako market

T

he mounting refuse at the dump at Utako Market in Abuja has become a source of worry as traders and buyers said it is now a serious threat to their health.

A check by NAN showed that the refuse generated inside the market and dumped on the road, had almost blocked one of the entrances, thereby making it impossible for motorists to conveniently ply the road.

Some respondents, who spoke with NAN correspondents in Abuja on Monday, urged the concerned

authority to act swiftly to prevent the outbreak of diseases in the area.

Mr Sunday Eze, a plantain seller, told NAN that the refuse had been there for some weeks.

“This refuse has been here for several weeks now without being evacuated.

“The situation is not within our control; if not, we would have organised ourselves to make sure that this place is cleared,” he said.

Eze appealed to the Sanitation Department of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to take the necessary action and evacuate the

refuse.

He also urged AMAC to provide more refuse bins for in the market.

Also speaking, Miss Joy Ibe, another plantain seller, said the refuse was a menace to public health.

Ibe said that the environment was fast becoming unhygienic for the people.

“This place has become an eyesore to the general public.

“I was ashamed when one white woman came here to buy plantain and it should be a shameful thing to other Nigerians too.

“This terrain is becoming very inconvenient to us the sellers and the occupants of this environment,” Ibe said.

Reacting to the situation, Mr Victor Ukanime, the Operations Manager of the market, said that efforts were being made to liaise with AMAC to evacuate the refuse.

Meanwhile, Mr Abdulrazaq Abdulkarim, the Head of the Sanitation Department in AMAC, however, said that each market had its own sanitation committee, which handles environmental sanitation issues. (NAN)

Orphanage appeals for water, other basic amenities

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Managing Director of the Divine Wounds of Jesus Christ Orphanage in Kubwa, Mr. Solomon Ezeonu has decried the lack of water and other basic amenities in the orphanage, appealing for the assistance of the Federal Government and other wellmeaning Nigerians .

In a chat with Peoples Daily, Ezeonu explained that orphanage home which has been in existence since October 1, 2011 have gathered about 26 children so far but they have believed God for the children’s feeding and schooling.

“Though God is also lying in the heart of some well-meaning Nigerians who have been assisting us but we still need more assistance from the

Federal Government.

“Our challenge here mostly is water, we need borehole, we have met the FCT Water Board, they said that where the orphanage home is located is rocky that if they pump water it won’t get to us, we need many

things like school materials”.

“We have started building a school from them within the premises because taking them outside is very tedious because of transportation and some of the schools we enrolled the children don’t have a school bus

to take them around”, he said.

In terms of medical services, he said there is a doctor that comes regularly to check the immates and immunize them.

Solomon further urged Nigerians to take care of orphanages and the less

privileged, saying, “it is not a one person’s job; we know that God calls but we need wellmeaning Nigerian’s to assist us. We are also seeking for assistance for a building for the mentally disordered children”.

Nigerian authors appeal to FCTA to waive land rent

T

he Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has urged the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to waive the annual land rent it pays on its Mamman Vatsa writers’ village, Mpape, Abuja.

The National President of the association, Prof. Remi Raji, made the plea in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.

He said that the waiver would enable the association gain more support toward the development of the village and to erect a permanent structure.

According to Raji, ANA has been debited certain amount of money as yearly land rent by the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA).

He said that in 2007, the

former FCT Minister, Senator Aliyu Modibbo, waived the land rent but since 2008 the association had been paying.

“We are appealing to the administration to waive the land rent as ANA is not a profit making organisation.

“What we are establishing here is not to make profit but to serve as an ambassadorial point for the image of Nigeria,’’ he added.

Raji said that the writer’s

village would not just be beneficial to Nigerian writers but also writers from all over the globe who would be invited to share in the glory of this heritage.

NAN recalls that in 1985, a plot of land was allocated to ANA to build the writers’ village by late Major Gen. Mamman Vatsa.

The aim is to enable the association build a world-class writers’ village. (NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

First Lady commissions N650m FCT youth centre in Nyanya

By Josephine Ella Ejeh

T

L-R: Wife of senate president, Mrs Helen Mark, first lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, wife of Vice-President, Hajiya Amina Sambo, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, and Senator Smart Adeyemi, during the inauguration of the FCT Ultra Modern Youth Sports Centre, yesterday at Nyanya, Abuja.

Photo: NAN

NGO plans cancer screen for 200 women in FCT T

he Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), said it will conduct cancer screening on 200 women in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).

Dr Olaleye Femi, the founder of the organisation, made this known during a one-day free cancer screening in Abuja yesterday.

Femi said that the foundation was hoping to pick at least 20 women, who were affected for treatment, noting that women, who had cervical cancer would be treated free.

He further said those who had

lump in their breast would be referred to general hospital for screening and treatment.

Femi said the free cancer screening exercise for market women in FCT was to commemorate the World Cancer Day, which was celebrated on February 4.

The doctor said that the purpose of the exercise was to detect breast and cervical cancer early to enhance effective treatment.

“Cancer has killed too many of our women, hence early detection of it through screening is the key to prevention,” he said.

Femi said that to create more

awareness, the organisation would engage various organisations, such as Market Women Association, community leaders, among others, to assist in sensitising the people on cancer.

He said the foundation was able to carry out its programmes through the supports from its friends and partners.

The doctor said there were two types of vaccine that could be used to prevent cervical cancer, adding that women from age 10 to 50 were encouraged to take it.

He recommended that women should go for cervical cancer screening at least two years

interval.

Also speaking at the occasion, Mrs Sheila Aliu, a participant, said that before now, she was afraid to go for this screening.

Aliu expressed satisfaction with her result and called on other women to go for cancer screening test.

Mrs Emilia Atobatele, the President of Wuse Market Women Association, said some women died due to lack of knowledge of the disease.

She added that the screening was free and that women should utilised the opportunity to know there status. (NAN)

Man sues wife for abandoning him, children

M

r. James Onyike, a businessman, on Monday sued his wife, Patricia, a nurse, for allegedly abandoning him and their children since 2008.

Onyike told a Cusomary Court in Garki, Abuja, that “my wife secured a one-year admission for further studies in the United Kingdom (UK). I paid the tuition and accommodation fees for the programme on the understanding that she would return after one year.

“But on expiration of the programme, my wife decided to stay back and enroll for another programme. On completion of her second course, she refused to come back to Nigeria. I continued to beg her to return, but she refused.

“Till date, she is still in London.

She has practically abandoned me and the children,’’ he said.

He said his wife was abusive and conducted herself in a manner

unexpected of a married woman.

When I visited her in London, she was so hostile to me and the children. She never cared for the children as a mother would.

“When I told her to try spending a little time with the children, she told me that she does not have time and that I should look after them. She kept avoiding me all through our stay, we never related like husband and wife should. In fact, she even threw me out of her room,’’ he said.

Onyike said that the love, affection and trust expected to exist between couples evaporated almost immediately after the wedding.

“On our wedding day, my wife’s real father showed up, but my wife had lied to me that her father was dead. She made me pay the bride price to someone whom she said was her brother. ”Even when she visited Nigeria in 2010, though we stayed

under the same roof, she was always keeping to herself. She was no longer exhibiting that motherly love and affection,’’ he said.

Onyike prayed the court to dissolve the marriage, grant him custody of the children and restrain his wife from entering his home.

On her part, Patricia, who was represented by a counsel, Mrs Timitope Joshua, said they had enjoyed love and affection for each other.

“There was never any serious quarrel between us; he even encouraged me to travel for further studies. When I finished the first course, he visited UK and encouraged me to enroll for another course, which he said would make me a better qualified nurse,’’ she said.

She said that her husband and the children always visited her in London on every vacation, adding

that “whenever they could not make it, I visit. I have never been hostile in any of their visits. I try my best to take good care of them and we stay together happily until the vacation is over.

“So, I am surprised to hear that my husband has levelled accusations against me,” she said.

Patricia said her husband never informed her that he was no longer comfortable with her studies in the UK. She said she still loved her husband and her two children.

She also said that the marriage had not broken down irretrievably and could be redeemed in the interest of the children.

She begged the court not to grant her husband’s prayers, adding that she was still interested in the marriage.

The Judge, Alhaji Suleiman Ismaila, gave them four weeks to try and reconcile and adjourned the case to March 7, 2013. (NAN)

he First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned the N650m Federal Capital Territory (FCT) UltraModern Youth Support Centre in Nyanya, commending the FCT administration for its efforts towards addressing the problem of youth unemployment.

Mrs Jonathan who was accompanied by the Wife of the Vice President, wife of the Senate President and other dignitaries said the president administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was particularly concerned about youth empowerment; hence programmes like SURE-P were being implemented to address the issue of youth unemployment.

This was as she congratulated the FCT administration for its efforts towards youth empowerment.

“I congratulate the Senator Bala Mohammed for this bold and strategic intervention to reduce youth unemployment, with the completion of this Ultra-Modern Youth Support Centre,” she said.

She expressed optimism that the youth centre will go a long way in training and providing skills culminating to a robust platform for youth empowerment, job creation and self-reliance especially given that Abuja which is the seat of Federal Government has continued to attract a large number of youths from all parts of the country in search of jobs.

The First Lady, therefore, urged youths to reciprocate the FCT Administration’s gesture by remaining patriotic and responsive.

In a remark, the FCT Minster, Senator Bala Mohammed said the project was embarked upon to urgently institutionalize intervention programmes to address the upsurge of youths in the territory.

Senator Mohammed lamented that as a result of this, many our youths end up as street hawkers, beggars, commercial sex workers and other social miscreants.

He stressed that the FCT Administration embarked on this project to properly harness the neglected and untapped youths potentialities and make them productive, contribute meaningfully to the society and be self-sustenance. “ In addition to the entrepreneurial skills and workbased competencies the Centre will offer to the FCT youths, a learning environment as well as provide programmes aimed at inculcating in youths, the values of hard work, dedication, ethical rectitude, justice and moral discipline,” he said.

He further assured that the FCT administration will replicate the same Centre in the remaining five Area Councils of the FCT, appealing to philanthropists, youth-friendly organizations and other development partners to support the Centre.

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

Etihad Airways’ net profit jumps 200 percent to N6.72bn

Mob: 08033644990

NNPC, Capital Oil sell 120,000 litres of kerosene to households in Gombe - Official

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), in partnership with the Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd. have sold 120,000 litres of kerosene to households in Gombe.

The Business Manager of Kerosene-direct of the company, Mr. Samuel Echea disclosed this yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe.

He said that the scheme was part of efforts to cushion the effect of shortage of the product in Gombe state.

Echea said that the product was sold in different locations in Gombe metropolis at the official price of N50 per litre.

He said that the scheme was in collaboration with NNPC management to reduce the hardship faced by the masses.

According to him, the policy is also aimed at mitigating environmental problems associated with the felling of trees for fire wood.

He said that the product was sold at Kamara Primary School, Jeka da fari, Army Barracks, Low Cost Housing units and at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for government officials.

Echea said that there was a high demand for the product by

21 fuel-laden ships to discharge at Lagos ports

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wenty one ships are waiting to discharge petroleum products at the various oil terminals within the Lagos ports, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has reported.

NPA, in its daily publication, ‘Shipping Position,’ made available to newsmen yesterday in Lagos indicated that nine of the 21 ships would discharge petrol.

The report said that three ships would discharge diesel; five, kerosene, while one would discharge bulk gas.

Similarly, it said that two ships would discharge aviation fuel, three would discharge rice and bulk wheat and one would discharge ethanol.

It added that 88 ships carrying different cargoes would sail into the ports between Feb. 5 and Feb. 29.

The publication said that 11 of the ships would arrive with petroleum products; while 14 ships would sail in with new and used vehicles.

It said that 46 other ships would arrive with containers.

The report said that other ships would sail in with general cargoes, bulk wheat, sugar, rice, bulk malt, fish and truck heads.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 16 ships are currently discharging containers, bulk wheat, salt, rice, general cargo and petroleum products. (NAN)

the people of the state.

He said that the scheme had successfully checked the activities of middle men who were capitalising on the problem to sell the little available commodity in the state at high price.

“These products are loaded

directly from NNPC depots and all the surveyors and regulatory bodies will test it to be sure it is good.

“These products are also taken to NNPC mega station and also tested by the regulatory agencies that regulate it to ensure that the

quality is standard,’’ he said.

He said that the sale of the product was helping to reduce adulteration and disasters associated with adulterated products.

The manager said that the company was planning to bring

more products which the government would sell to its citizens.

NAN reports that households were seen scrambling for the product at the premises of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. (NAN)

A technical team led by Prof.Pat Breysse, Prof. William Brieger, Dr. Eliseo Guallar, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Team, United States of America (USA) on a health impact assessment tour in affected communities in Ogoniland, pose in a group photograph with Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke after a consecutive meeting in her office, before departing for Rivers state, on Tuesday.

Banks’ 2012 profits to hit N600bn

By Abdulwahab Isa with agency report he cumulative pre-tax earnings for Nigerian banks are expected to hit N600 billion for 2012 and investors are already positioning themselves ahead of the soon to be released full year banks’ results.

The top eleven Nigerian banks, ranked by capital, as at September 2012, had a total profit before tax of N406 billion in the first nine months of 2012, with N312 billion or 77 percent of the profits made by the top five banks. This is according to data from the Nigerian banking outlook 2013 report.

“We expect final banking profits to top N600 billion in 2012,” the report said.

The expectations of solid yearend results and dividends for the 2012 financial year are high and investors are already making bids for bank stocks.

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…investors position ahead year-end results

The Bloomberg Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Banking Index, which tracks Nigeria’s 10 biggest banks by market value, has risen 17.70 percent this year, compared with a 13.44 percent rise in the NSE All Share Index (ASI).

Some individual bank stocks have also performed better than the banking index. For example, Access Bank, Nigeria’s fourth largest bank by assets, rose by 22.65 percent in January, closing at N11.10 per share on January 31.

First Bank, Nigeria’s top bank by assets, was up by 15.5 percent in January, while UBA rose by 50.66 percent last month.

Earnings by Nigerian lenders are recovering fast after the CBN in 2009 initiated banking reforms, and the subsequent setting up of the Asset Management Corporation of

Nigeria (AMCON), a unique institution that combines buying non-performing loans (NPLs), with loan restructurings and recapitalising troubled financial institutions.

The CBN reforms have led to a significant drop in cost of risk for banks, major balance sheet clean up, better underwriting standards, sustained net interest margins due to high lending rates and cheap funding, according to rating firm Standard and Poor’s (S & P).

The strong bank earnings in 2012 are also being supported by positive tailwinds such as a strong macro economic backdrop, high yields on government securities and juicy net interest margins.

Bank profits in the 9 months ended September 2012 represented

Management Tip of the Day Divide your writing project into manageable tasks

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ometimes the worst part of writing an email, proposal, or pitch is getting started.

Get over the hurdle by approaching the project as a series of manageable tasks. Poet, writer, and teacher Betty Sue Flowers envisions the steps as belonging to four different characters in your brain:· Madman.

Start by

voraciously gathering research and other materials for the project, diligently keeping track of quotations and sources.· Architect. Then organize the madman’s raw material into a sensible outline. Distill your ideas into three main propositions.· Carpenter.

Following the architect’s plan, write as quickly

as possible — without worrying about perfecting your prose.· Judge. Lastly edit, polish, and improve the piece. Do this in several distinct passes, each time focusing on only one element of your writing.

Source: Harvard Business Review

about 0.92 percent of Nigeria’s year end 2012 gross domestic product (GDP) of $270 billion.

Bumper earnings growth expected to be recorded by banks in their 2012 results may however be difficult to replicate this year, as high base effects increased competition and the impact of declining bond yields starts to impact on results.

Average yields on Nigerian fixed income securities fell from as high as 18 percent at the beginning of last year to 12 percent by year end 2012. Yields are likely to decline by 200 basis points (bps) below the 2012 average this year; according to, Meristem.

The oil and gas sectors, downstream, upstream and services dominated bank lending in 2012. However increased competition may lead banks to grow their loan book in other attractive sectors, such as consumer loans.

“According to the official figures, the ratio of consumer credit to total credit remains marginal at present,” said Samir Gadio, an emerging markets strategist at Standard Bank, London, in a response to questions.

“At this stage, this opportunity does not really appear to interest most Nigerian banks…but as in other emerging countries in the past, there will eventually be a turning point in this area,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS

Apapa Container Terminal

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PM Terminals, the Danish concessionaire in charge of Apapa Container Terminal, has concluded plans to invest fresh $135 million (N21.3 billion) to expand its capacity at the port.

This is coming at a time when the entire shipping community is in need of an efficient port facility that can support the already existing Apapa and Tin-Can Island port facilities that are currently over stretched.

The company, which is set to hold the groundbreaking ceremony of the project today at the port, said that the $135 million project will bring the total capital investment of the concessionaire at Apapa container terminal to $330 million (N52.1 billion) since the Federal Government concessioned the terminal to it in 2006.

Honda

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utomaker Honda has said it plans to integrate Apple’s Siri voice assistant in some of its upcoming Honda and Acura vehicles. On the list is the 2013 Honda Accord, and two Acura models,the 2013 RDX and ILX. The feature in question is Siri’s “Eyes Free” mode, a way to use Apple’s iOS voice assistant without having to rely on visual cues, or interact with on-screen menus.

The functionality, which was introduced at last year’s WWDC, works over Bluetooth and connects through Honda’s HandsFreeLink setup just like other mobile phones.

UBA

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n furtherance of its leading role in the Nigerian financial landscape and as demonstration of its support for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless initiative, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has added MasterCard for Domiciliary Accounts to its robust bouquet of electronic products.

This no doubt eases the transaction needs of its teeming customers who can now upgrade their Debit MasterCard for use on accounts denominated in currencies apart from naira such as US dollars, British pounds and euro.

This variant of UBA’s Debit MasterCard products is tied to domiciliary accounts instead of Naira Current or Savings account.

Aviation minister, Oduah clinches Champion’s “Man of the Year” award Stories from Suleiman Idris, Lagos or her remarkable contributions to the growth of the aviation industry since assuming office in 2011, Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, has been named Champion Newspaper’s ‘Man of the year 2012’award.

The award organisers said the award has justified the accolades Oduah have received from aviation stakeholders and some members of the public for the passion she has shown in turning around the fortunes of the country’s aviation industry.

Highlighting some of the achievement, Cooperate Communication spokesperson for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Dati said, include the Airport Remodelling Project started under

F

Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah her tenure by the Federal Government.

“This is the most ambitious airport development programme

of the Federal Government since the Aerodrome Development Programme of the mid 1970s, which led to the establishment of the then Nigerian Airports Authority in 1978. The Airport Remodelling Project, which is in two phases, is designed to transform Nigerian airport terminals into world class facilities.”

He said two of such terminals in Lagos (Domestic Terminal I) and Abuja (General Aviation Terminal) have already been commissioned and are offering world class services.

Dati told reporters that she has also initiated and is vigorously implementing the aviation sector master plan, the first of its kind in the industry, with the mission “to transform the aviation industry into an efficient, profitable, selfsustaining, effective and a

preferred mode of transportation.”

According to him, Oduah given practical expression to this mission by institutionalizing world class safety and security standards at all Nigerian airports, carrying out structural reforms in all the parastatals of the ministry, creating a Directorate of Cargo Development in FAAN that would stimulate the growth of cargo business through Nigerian airports, among other measures designed to increase the revenue derivable from the aviation industry by 300 per cent.

“The aviation road map has also set in motion, the development of airport cities, called aerotropolis, which will turn Nigerian airports into major employment, shopping, trading, business, leisure and cargo village destinations as obtained in most advanced countries of the world.”

Nigeria records growth in in-bound business travels

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espite the difficulty in securing the Nigerian visa, the uncompetitive airfare, security threats and several travel warnings by most embassies to their citizens against travelling to Nigeria, the country still received more visitors in the last three years than Ghana.

Analysts, who attributed the influx to better business environment, among others things, noted that with more stability in governance, more international airlines and investors would signify interest in doing business in the country, adding that Nigerians also have started appreciating the need to travel by air as the fastest and

safest means.

Available records from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) show that between 2009 and 2011, at Lagos airport which is the busiest airport in the country, passenger traffic increased from 5,644,572 to 6,748,290 while aircraft movement increased from 84,588 to 105,215.

“Nigeria is one of the biggest markets in Africa, especially with its population. The whole Africa does not have the kind of market Nigeria has and with the number of people travelling, foreign airlines capitalise on it to apply for landing rights and domestic airlines to apply for air operator’s certificates.

Also, on the domestic side, passenger traffic rises when the fare is low, with the coming of more airlines after the Dana crash, the fares dropped, while traffic is increasing,” Muhammed Tukur, secretarygeneral of Airline Operators of Nigeria said.

In 2010, total passenger traffic was 6,273,454, an 11.41 percent increase upon 2009.

Aircraft movement rose from 86,552 in 2009 to 96,599 in 2010 representing 11.60 percent increase.

A breakdown of 2011 report according to the annual traffic figures obtained from FAAN shows that passenger traffic at domestic wing of Abuja airport

increased from 3,361,107 to 3,624,862 while at the international wing, it increased from 561,440 in 2010 to 591,285.

At the Port-Harcourt domestic side, the airport witnessed traffic increase to 1,256,266 from 1,198,668 in 2010, while at the international wing, it increased from 13,148 to 90,345. At the Kano domestic, it increased from 234,996 in 2010 to 272, 911 in 2011 while it went up from 146,845 to 175,881 at the international wing. Enugu airport in 2011 played host to 301,744 passengers.

Also, according to statistics from Nigerian Tourism

Etihad Airways’ net profit jumps 200 percent to N6.72bn

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tihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, has reported a net profit of US$42 million (N6.72 bn) in 2012, up 200 per cent on 2011 (US$14 million) in a year which saw strong improvements in revenues, passengers numbers and cost control.

The airline’s revenue increased 17 per cent to US$4.8 billion (US$4.1 billion), on passenger numbers up 23 per cent to 10.3 million (8.4 million).

The numbers were boosted significantly by Etihad Airways’ equity partnerships and code shares, which delivered more than US$600 million in total revenue.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 24 per cent to US$170 million (US$137 million), while EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals) rose to US$753 million (US$648 million), a margin of 16 per cent on total revenue.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways James Hogan, said: “This has been a gamechanging year for Etihad Airways.”

“We have delivered improved net profit, the second consecutive year we have been in the black, a remarkable achievement given the youth, ambitious growth and ongoing investment made by this airline in a challenging global economic environment.

“We have taken great strides in building the industry’s first ‘equity alliance’, with our investments in Airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus, which are contributing

significant value to our business.

Hogan affirmed “we have met our mandate of contributing to the economic development of Abu Dhabi, growing its aviation sector and building trade and tourism connections across the globe.”

The airline also said that since Hogan joined the UAE airline in 2006, it has grown from a US$750 million business to one which now turns over nearly US$5 billion a year.

Mr Hogan said Etihad

Airways attracted further support from the global financial community in 2012.

During the year, growth in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) outpaced growth in available seat kilometres (ASKs) for the fourth year running.

RPKs were up 23 per cent to 48 billion (39 billion), on ASKs up 20 per cent to 61 billion (51 billion), resulting in an impressive lift in seat factor of 2.4 points to 78.2 per cent (75.8 per cent).

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Lagos Freedom Park records 16,000 visitors in four months

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r Oma Imishue, the Facility Manager, Freedom Park, Lagos, said yesterday that the park recorded a total of 16,000 visitors between September 2012 and January 2013.

Imishue, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the level of patronage of the park was encouraging.

He gave the breakdown as: Adult 14,601; Children 1,304; and 95 foreigners.

“The figure shows that Nigerians love fun; therefore, there is need to improve

facilities in the park to meet international standard.

“Despite the high patronage, the management still expects more visitors to visit the centre this year,’’ Imishue said.

The manager explained that the high patronage would also boost the revenue of the state.

The manager said that the park enjoyed its highest patronage between September 10, 2012 and February 4, 2013.

“This was the period that the management generated the highest revenue and enjoyed the highest patronage.

“We hope that the coming months would be better than the previous ones, “ NAN quotes him as saying.

Imishue said that the management of the park had improved on its facilities, so that fun seekers would enjoy themselves during Valentine Day, February 14.

He commended the efforts of Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State in giving a facelift to tourist centres in the state.

Imishue urged the Federal Government to work in collaboration with the state government in developing tourism. (NAN)

Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles and the Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe recently.

Fun seekers patronising bar beach NTDC to collaborate with to watch AFCON matches states to boost tourism

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he Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) yesterday said it would collaborate with the South-West states to boost tourism development within the zone.

The South-West Zonal Coordinator of the corporation, Mr. Nasir Kaka said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ikeja.

Kaka said that the collaboration with the states was meant to promote major tourists attractions within the zone and ensure adequate tourism development.

“There is need for the states’ tourism departments to work in collaboration with the NTDC as the corporation is on the fast lane of tourism development in the country,’’ he said.

Kaka said that each of the South-West states had the capacity and resources to develop its tourism potential to attract tourists to their areas.

He said that the NTDC had been having discussions with state governments in the South West on the need to develop their tourism potential.

Kaka said that such discussions would enable the NTDC to showcase the states’ tourism potential to the international community.

“The South West states have the necessary human, natural resources and the institutional framework to reposition tourism in their states,’’ he said.

“Each South West state had the unique cultural and historical antecedents that the corporation can promote to the outside world,’’ he said. (NAN)

CAMORA opens in Lagos

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Fun seekers at the Lagos Bar Beach

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he Chairman, Tourism Committee of Lagos Bar Beach, Mr Effiong Ekanem, said many fun seekers had been watching the ongoing African Cup of Nations football matches at the beach.

Ekanem made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

He said that a giant screen television had been erected at the beach for the comfort of viewers.

Ekanem said that the fun seekers had also been enjoying other shows including the

ongoing African Cup of Nations matches.

“The beach has been under refurbishment since January this year to make the environment better for fun seekers to enjoy themselves,’’ he added.

It could be recalled that recalls that the management of the beach recently said it had the mandate of the Eti Osa Local Government to transform the beach in 2013.

Ekanem assured that with the ongoing transformation, fun seekers would enjoy the

forthcoming Valentine’s Day and Easter holiday at the beach.

“The forthcoming Valentine’s Day and Easter holiday will have an everlasting effect on the beach users because a lot of things have been put in place,’’ Ekanem said.

He said that few new mobile toilets had been added to the existing ones to keep the environment clean at all times.

Ekanem said that the safety of fun seekers was also taken serious, adding that the management had kept life guards at the beach at all times. (NAN)

amora, Africa's biggest entertainment business experience is to debut in Lagos with a promise to transform the tourism landscape of the country. It is a four-day multi-layered entertainment and business platform, which is expected to draw exhibitors from across the various sectors of the Nigerian entertainment scene.

With the theme "MORE … giving the entertainment industry and Africans something MORE to Experience at CAMORA," it would incorporate a trade exhibition, live artiste performances, both from established and budding acts, and business seminars.

Over 50,000 participants are expected to attend this premier entertainment experience in Africa, which is scheduled to hold in the second quarter of the year. A good number of these participants will be Nigerians in Diaspora and other foreign nationals from Africa, America and Europe.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of D58 Production, the organizers of the event, Mr. Dom Lawson, it will tremendously impact the local economy, with visitors touring the various tourist attractions in the country.

Camora according to Lawson, is the first of its kind in West Africa and is borne out of the need to organize and give order to the entertainment industry, exposing more opportunities for investment, home and abroad, while showcasing our core African values.

Designed as a platform to additionally expose the industry as a whole to potential customers, investors and governments while also aiding the understanding of the entertainment industry, Camora's benefits by companies and governments and how it can be used as a tool for social and economic change cannot be overemphasized.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 22

NCC accuse operators on interconnect review rate

By Chris Alu

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n view of the Interconnected Rate review of 2009 agreement by operators, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has accused some mobile operators in the country of being noncommittal towards the success of the review.

Dr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of the NCC said some of the

big operators were nonchalant when asked to submit data on their networks, saying they breached the new final draft report recently released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwCas final draft report of the agreement by the telecom operators and other stakeholders. ”The Commission however would like to express its displeasure by some of the big operators who were not very

cooperative in the course of the collection of these data,” said Juwah.

Subsequently, he stated that the Commission’s “consultants had to apply international benchmarked figures to populate the cost models in those instances.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers that carried out the review also said they resorted to the international benchmark model to beat deadline given for

submission of their findings.

A partner, strategy consulting PwC, Alastair Macpherson, while reacting to some operators on their use of a hypothetical operator in the report’s evaluation, said it was not meant to depict actual operator.

“Hypothetical operator doesn’t represent any operator.

It only shows level of termination regimes in an operation.”

Macpherson noted that in a “natural equilibrium of the telecom market, some operators will survive while some others will go under according to market indicators.”

Juwah assured some skeptical operators that the report was not cast in iron as they were given a week to study the PwC report and make necessary recommendation before the final document is released for implementation.

Raw Materials Council wants operations to commence at Ajaokuta Steel Coy

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L-R: Group Managing Director, Suzan General Trading, Mr Afrif Hafiz, Anambra Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Michael Egbebike, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, and Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, during the investors conference, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

CrystaLife partners LeapFrog for improved business From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

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eading emerging markets fund investor, LeapFrog Investments, has concluded plans to draw on its extensive team of insurance experts and actuaries, to help CrystaLife to cover millions of Nigerians and tap the vast insurance opportunities in the country.

LeapFrog Investments has announced a strategic partnership with Nigeria’s largest non-bank financial company, Asset and Resource Management Company

By Chris Alu

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he National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) said it would partner with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to acquire and domesticate software in the country.

Dr Umar Bindir, a Director in NOTAP stated this in an interview in Abuja yesterday.

Bindir said, “The synergy between NOTAP and NCC is going to fully mature this year, so that we can take specific steps either to develop software for banking applications, education sector, health sector and so many more.

“Our strategy to acquire and

Limited (ARM). Further to ARM’s recent acquisition of a majority stake in CrystaLife Assurance Plc, the partnership’s ambitious aim is to make CrystaLife, currently the sixth largest life insurer in Nigeria, the industry leader in Africa’s most populous nation.

LeapFrog founder, Dr. Andrew Kuper, said: “Africa’s time has come. It is the place for investors to find top-tier returns, and make an enormous difference too. The accelerated growth and increased stability over the past ten years is nothing short of phenomenal. The

world is just beginning to understand that Africa is home to hundreds of millions of consumers, workers and entrepreneurs. They are actively acquiring products and services, lifting families and nations out of poverty.”

Speaking on the development, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) CrystaLife Mrs Oluseyi Ifaturoti, noted that “The market opportunity for insurance in Nigeria has grown rapidly, requiring businesses to rethink

product design, pricing, and distribution strategies to effectively reach the increasing pool of potential customers.

LeapFrog’s extensive experience building insurers in emerging markets will help CrystaLife seize the moment, stimulating significant growth in both value and reach.”

ARM is the largest non-bank financial services provider in Nigeria, and has emerged as one of the leading long-term investors in Nigeria, managing assets of $2.5 billion.

NOTAP plans to partner NCC to domesticate software in Nigeria domesticate these software, is first to do with partnership among the agencies that are involved and the key of the partnership are NITTDA, GALAXY BACKBONE, ISPOND, NCC and the Computer Registration Council of Nigeria.’’

According to Bindir, the synergy among these agencies will ensure the sustainability of the importation of software Nigeria. He said, “The consumption of software in Nigeria is literally total. We are

buying software for the banking sector, communication and oil and gas sectors.

“It is apparent to say that it is not healthy for Nigeria to depend on software importation, thus the country has to take a position to start injecting a bit of local content in these goods and services.’’

The director said that the sustenance of software importation was a problem, adding that there was the need for Nigeria to actively involve the

help of graduates computer scientists and programmers.

“We have to make use of the skills from graduates, who are working at research institutes to start looking at the unique needs of Nigeria in most of the sectors and to start coding software that can fix it.’’

Bindir said that a number of initiatives from some people were already making waves in software manufacturing presently in Nigeria.

he Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has called for the commencement of operations at the Ajaokuta Steel Company to enhance indigenous technology in the country.

The Director-General of the council, Prof. Peter Onwualu, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

Onwualu explained that there were a lot to be achieved with the local raw materials available in the country, adding that the raw materials sector cut across all sectors of the economy.

He said that if the Ajaokuta Steel Company could be put to use, there would be raw materials for fabricators to process equipment that would be used in raw materials processing.

“This is the time to make sure that projects like Ajaokuta Steel commence operations because if this is not done the country machine building capacity will be hampered.

“But if the steel mill works, you will find out that gradually, the country will be able to process all the materials available in the country,’’ Onwualu said.

He explained that paper, textile, building materials, wood and furniture, as well as glass would have been processed from machines that could have been made from steel from Ajaokuta.

Onwualu said that plastic making for all kinds of things including electronics, food and beverages, required raw materials for processing, adding that the problem was “these raw materials are available without value being added to them’’.

According to him, the objective of the council is to create an enabling environment for Nigerians to be able to exploit its natural resources that are available in the country and make them into industrial raw materials.

Onwualu urged industrialists to utilise the available raw materials to produce their products and reduce the importation of industrial raw materials into the country.

(NAN)

PEOSPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Report as at Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

07055652553 udennaorji@yahoo.com

Hindrances to housing development in Nigeria

Pg 27

Nigerians among leading investors in Dubai property market Pg 27

Industry operators list measures to deepen mortgage development

Pg 26

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 25

Learning to decorate Ever wonder what makes those designer rooms look so good? It’s not always the expensive furniture or the brilliant vintage finds. It’s the little touches that a designer adds that elevate a regular room to the living spaces you see on the pages of glossy home magazines.

Here are some easy ways you can make your home really sparkle.

L

designer pet-peeve is overstuffed bookcases.

A bookcase should have room for books and designer elements.

Imagine books alongside an old typewriter, framed piece of art, vintage clock or a small potted plant.

ook for the focal point.

If a room has a fireplace, a stunning view or large bookcase, build your layout around it. If there is no natural focal point, pick out a spectacular piece of artwork or a dramatic piece of furniture.

Arrange the future around the focal point. You want your guests to see what you’ve decided should catch their eye.

Pillows come in pairs.

Having one pillow in each corner of the couch or cropped up against a chair seems like something is missing. Use two pillows in different patterns, colors or textures. Balance is extremely important, when it comes to pillows, chairs, and table lamps.

Embrace whites and neutrals. You simply can’t go wrong with a palate of whites and neutrals. Add color and texture through well-placed accessories, but consider keeping the basics, like walls, couches or fabrics some version of white, beige or grey. You can’t go wrong with crisp white sheets and luxurious white towels. Always classic.

Pick your paint colors last. Find accessories and furniture that you love and build around those. It’s easier to change your mind about a pillow or a chair than the colors of your walls. And, think about your future flooring choices, since changing out carpet is even more of a pain than repainting walls.

Lighting is key. Don’t rely on your overhead light or a single lamp to light up a room.

One of the things people miss when designing their rooms is correct lighting.

Layered lighting with a combination of overall, task and accent lighting can take a room from elegant to exceptional. Overall or general lighting comes from overhead, task lighting is specified to one area, like a desk or table lamp and accent lighting shines on walls. Light at least three of the four corners of a room.

Accessories look better in threes or odd numbers. If you’re buying candles, picture frames or decorative vases, aim for three of each in different heights.

Don’t overstuff. A big

Don’t ignore any of the layers.

Hang curtains near the ceiling. Don’t hang curtains just above the window. Hang them higher for a more elegant look.

Wallpaper works.

Beautiful, modern textures and designs are making their way back to walls around the country. If you’re still hesitant about using wallpaper, try using it small spaces, like a bathroom, the inside of a large closet, or on an accent wall.

In catalogues, you see them hung just above the window trim, but that’s not where they’re supposed to go — it’s just cheaper to make them that length. Get ones that are too long and have them hemmed by your dry cleaner. It elongates your windows and makes them look much larger.

Think of color in layers.

The flooring — whether it’s carpet, tile or wood — is the first layer of color, followed fabric and window treatment colors, topped with wall and trim colors and if you want to add a bonus layer, the ceiling color.

Think big with area rugs. An area rug should anchor more than just your coffee table. For the most chic look, the area rug should anchor your whole seating group.

Here’s another opportunity to create a focal

Don’t fear painted furniture. Natural wood is lovely, but not everything in a room can be brown. A blue table can bring a room’s design together in the way a plain wood table just can’t. And, color can create a focal point where none previously existed.

The power of threes.

point, while adding layers of texture, so don’t be timid with your area rug choice.

Don’t ignore the powder room. This tiny half-bathroom is a great place to experiment and take chances you wouldn’t in other places of your home.

Paint the powder room a bold color or use a very graphic wall-covering. Add a very dramatic chandelier or sconces. Think outside the box.

These are little spaces that if you tire of in a few years it won’t cost you too much to change it up.

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Industry operators list measures to deepen mortgage development

By Udenna Orji

M

ortgage banks and estate developers are currently holding meetings and presenting position papers to the federal government for approval that will enable them increase availability of funds for mortgages in Nigeria. On their sight is the nearly three trillion naira pension funds managed by the Pension Funds Commission (PENCOM).

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple has also been holding stakeholder meetings with operators in the housing sector to develop strategies for increasing sources of mortgage finance in order to ensure a successful execution of the federal government's new Housing and Urban Development Policies which were approved by the Federal Executive Council last June.

Speaking on the quest by housing sector operators to tap from the pension fund, Mr. Mohammed Jibrin, Managing Director of Sun Trust Savings and Loans Limited said "the Pension Reform Act, 2004, has made it possible for people to have a contributory pension scheme in place. The pension industry has an estimated N2.4 trillion of pension funds under management. These are mostly long-term funds and are the most qualified to support the mortgage industry in attaining its millennium development goals.

But these funds, understandably, are mostly locked up in government treasury bills and bonds. These (pension) funds have to be unlocked and made available for the real estate sector. This is because the funds are basically, as I pointed out, long-term and you may not have the problem we experience today in terms of mismatch in the maturity profile of the loans we grant, because mortgage loans are long term as against the deposits we take that are mostly shorttenured. If you do an actuarial valuation of the pension funds managed by the PFAs (Pension Fund Administrators), the minimum average number of years the money will remain with the PFAs is about 20 years.

This is what we call long term money. This is the type of money you expect should go into the housing and mortgage sector".

On whether the Primary Mortgage Institutions have been able to sell these ideas to policy makers, Mr. Jibrin said "there have been varied meetings and position papers to this effect. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple has been holding stakeholder meetings with the sector. She has set up committees, she is doing a great job honestly and

??????????????????

?????????????????? the Federal Mortgage Bank has been providing the necessary support to this effect. I am aware that the Minister of Finance and the Coordinator of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is committed to and looking at the housing sector as a catalyst for growth and employment generation. I know that the housing and finance minister have been working together to ensure that the housing sector is jump-started seriously this year.

It is on top of their radar. The idea is to create jobs in the economy. The Central Bank needs to get involved too by providing the necessary funds and credit guarantees to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria in particular and to the sector in general. The Nigerian housing sector is one of the most

diagnosed sectors of the economy. The issues that are militating against its development are very clear" Adding his voice to mortgage development, Mr. Elias Ovesuor a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) and Managing Partner, U.K. Ovesuor & Partners has blamed Nigeria's shortfall of over 16 million houses on "the deficient structures of the mortgage industry in Nigeria".

In his words, "mortgage financing as an instrument for home financing for now, I can say we are having problems with it. Only a few people are benefiting from it. The housing shortage in the country is about 16 million housing units, but in the last ten years, we have not provided up to half a million

housing units. So, to get the 16 million housing units that are in shortage, you will then appreciate the problem at hand in respect of housing provision.

Mortgage in Nigeria, to be candid to you, is still as its infancy".

As a way out of the problem, the Federal Government has been called upon to develop mortgage policies that will encourage Nigerian banks to grant mortgage loans to Nigerians at a maximum of 9% per annum.

Government has also been urged to check the rising inflationary trend in Nigeria as the trend is causing a steady rise in the cost of building inputs in Nigeria, leading to high costs in property development and sales.

Speaking with Peoples Daily

on how to boost homeownership in Nigeria and reduce the nation's estimated 16 million units housing deficit, Group General Manager of mass housing developer, El-Salem Nigeria Limited, Mr. Geoffrey Ozoani appealed to government to "come up with very definite policies on mortgage. Definite implementable policies on mortgage that make it attractive for commercial banks to offer mortgage loans to Nigerians because most commercial banks are not providing mortgage facilities".

He noted that "the fear of our commercial banks is how they can recover their money but a mortgage loan is the easiest loan to recover because the house serves as collateral and usually also rises in value over time. The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) loan is at 6% but if all our commercial banks are encouraged through attractive policies to offer mortgage loans at say 8% or 9%, Nigeria's housing deficit will drastically reduce. Even in Namibia where I recently returned from, the commercial banks pursue people to come and collect mortgage loans because their mortgage system works perfectly.

According to him, "there is also the burning need to create awareness to Nigerians about mortgages and Nigerian mortgage institutions. Even contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) do not know what they are contributing for. States and local governments should make land available to developers and encourage their workers to get loans from mortgage institutions to buy their own houses".

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 27

Hindrances to housing development in Nigeria

By Udenna Orji

E

state surveyors and real estate practitioners who concluded a two-day international conference on housing held at Lagos have identified the following as obstacles to housing development in Nigeria.

Low Income Nigerians have a per capita income of about $1000, about half our National per capital income in 1975. Despite the high oil revenue of the last three decades, poverty has remained with us in Nigeria. Poverty in Nigeria used to be rural-based but between 1985 and 1992, the number of the poor in rural areas fell sharply from 25.3 million to 22.8 million while those in urban centers rose from 9.7 to 11.9. A

low income is a big constraint in accessing affordability because mortgage is all about the ability to service loan when due. For this reason the majority of Lagosians live in rooming houses (73 per cent) as tenants. Singapore which was our peer in the early sixties has managed to house up to 85 percent of its citizens in owneroccupied flats and houses.

Dearth of Long-Term Funds High rates of interest and inflation have been typical features of our volatile economy since the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986. The Naira has suffered extensive depreciation averaging 45 percent per annum between 1987 and 1993, from an exchange rate of N1.0 to $1.0 in 1987 to N120.0 to $1.0. Because

most of our building materials have traditionally been imported, the effect of this depreciation has been a rapid rise in cost of construction. Interest rate has been similarly high at times as high as 72 percent in 1995: became stable around 18 percent after conclusion of the banking consolidation; but now on the rise again as a result of current global financial meltdown. The combined effect of these has been a sharp rise on the price of homes. The inability of Nigerian banks to harness savings from the people has been a major reason for the lack of longterm funds in the economy. The commercial banks have traditionally served only the mercantile class and lately the oil and manufacturing sector.

The Primary Mortgage

Institutions and microfinance teams are recent efforts to harness savings from the masses but they are mainly urban based and operate more or less like banks with very high appetite for quick profit.

High Cost of Construction Our refusal to build houses with locally available materials has been a major cog in the wheel of housing delivery. A look at our urban centers will show that our houses are built mostly of imported materials (cement, iron rods, aluminum roof).

Low Level of Economic Activity Statistic recently release by Nigerian Insurance Commission indicates that only about 15 million Nigerians are in regular employment. The vast majority are still employed in subsistence

agriculture or in menial services like okada riding. The level of industrialization is low so also is commerce which is characterized by street trading. Though the oil industry is strong but it is unfortunately not linked to the local economy. The combination of these factors is that the disposable income of the average Nigerian is low to build a house or qualify for mortgage assistance.

Access to Land The main objective of the Land Use Act was to facilitate access to land by the generality of Nigerians. Unfortunately the act has had the opposite effect.

Though it has made it easier for the elite to acquire land, it has made it much harder for the majority of Nigerians to access land.

Nigerians among leading investors in Dubai property market

D

ubai has long been the regional hub for the oilrich Gulf states, but the ambitious city state is never one to rest on its laurels.

The emirate has for years been touting itself as the central node for 2bn people, spanning the Middle East, the subcontinent, central Asia and eastern Africa.

Now, even West Africa, an eighthour flight away, is on its radar.

Paris and London have long been the hub for western African states, but Dubai is now giving these established centres a run for their money. Emirates airline’s Dubai-Lagos flight is renowned for constantly being packed.

Some banks, such as Standard

Chartered, have chosen to cover some business lines in subSaharan Africa from its regional headquarters at Dubai’s financial centre.

Luring talent to the comfortable Dubai lifestyle is easier than some African postings, while reaching various outposts of the continent can be easier from the city’s thriving airport than other hubs, such as Johannesburg and Nairobi.

As Chinese and Asian firms chose Dubai for their regional headquarters, often these businesses are not only targeting the Gulf, but looking to use the city as a launch-pad into subSaharan Africa as well. And the

investment flows are going both ways.

As Abu Dhabi based newspaper The National reports, Nigerians are flooding Dubai’s property market, especially as it starts to show signs of recovery after four years in the doledrums.

It isn’t exactly a new trend.

Even at the property market’s nadir, after the real estate crash wiped more than 50 per cent off average valuations in the autumn of 2008, Nigerians were known as likely buyers. One real estate agent said at the time that Nigerians were the only nationality buying properties as the market went into free fall.

And the Nigeria-Dubai

property love-in is still going strong as the property market in general improves. Jones Lang LaSalle in a recent secondquarter report noted that villa prices in Dubai had risen by around 20 per cent over last year, while apartments in popular buildings are flat on the year.

For those seeking a bolt-hole away from the corruption and danger of Nigeria, properties in Dubai are a good option: few questions are asked of buyers.

As such, they are joining a long list of nationalities who have turned to Dubai as an investment haven, especially wealthy investors from unrest-hit regions

of the Middle East, such as Egypt, Libya and Syria.

In the past six months, Nigerians are registered behind sales of $52.5m, according to the Land Department.

Some real estate agents, however, place the size of investment in much greater figures, as much as $6bn over the past three years. Dubai property brokerage The First Group opened offices in Nigeria three years ago and now Nigerians account for 60 per cent of its sales.

It’s more good news for Dubai’s property market, which still needs a boost to help it recover from the slump. Source: Financial Times

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Ford Expedition offers better ride quality W

hether it's due to recurring price spikes at the gas pumps or just the inevitable passing of another automotive fad, the widespread popularity of large sport-utility vehicles is clearly a thing of the past. Even so, there are some folks who still have a legitimate need for a full-size SUV like the 2013 Ford Expedition.

Actually, full-size is a bit of an understatement, as the eightpassenger Expedition and extended-wheelbase Expedition EL are among the largest passenger vehicles on the road.

While the resulting interior room is undeniably an asset when it comes time to move lots of people and cargo, it also means these big trucks can be a handful when trying to manoeuvre through rush hour traffic or cramped parking garages.

In addition to their sheer size, the Expedition twins offer a couple of advantages over their main competitor, the 2013 Chevrolet Suburban, including better ride quality and a comfortable third-row seat that folds neatly into the cargo floor.

The Toyota Sequoia matches the Expedition on these points, albeit with an interior that's just a tad tighter on headroom and legroom. Both the Suburban and Sequoia also have an edge by virtue of their more powerful V8 engine options, an important consideration for buyers expecting to tow sizable trailers.

In addition to the Suburban and Sequoia, buyers looking for a roomy eight-passenger interior should also consider large carbased crossovers, especially if they don't need the Expedition's considerable towing capacity.

Topping this list would be the Chevrolet Traverse and 2013 Ford Flex, both of which offer noticeably better driving experiences and fuel economy.

With all of that said, the 2013

Ford Expedition still fills an important role for those few buyers who really need both maximum passenger space and towing capacity.

The 2013 Ford Expedition is a fullsize body-onframe SUV available i n

driver seat (manual recline), power-adjustable pedals, a sliding and reclining 40/20/40split second-row seat, a leather-

wrapped tilt-only steering wheel, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, Ford's voice-operated Sync system (includes an iPod/ USB audio interface and Bluetooth

t w o body styles: the regular Expedition and the extendedwheelbase Expedition EL, which is 15 inches longer overall. Both are offered in three trim levels: base XLT, upscale Limited and top-of-the-line King Ranch.

Every Expedition comes with standard seating for eight passengers; optional second-row captain's chairs reduce that capacity to seven.

The XLT comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, foglights, running boards, a roof rack, rear parking sensors, heated mirrors, integrated blind-spot mirrors, rear privacy glass, power rearquarter windows, rear parking sensors and keyless entry (both remote and door-mounted keypad). Inside you'll find cruise control, air-conditioning, cloth upholstery, a six-way power phone connectivity) and a sixspeaker sound system with a CD player, satellite radio, an auxiliary audio jack and rear audio controls.

The XLT 201A package adds contrasting color body trim, automatic wipers, a power lift gate, a rearview camera, dualzone automatic climate control, leather upholstery and leatherwrapped shift knob, an eightway power driver seat with power lumbar adjustment and memory functions, a powerfolding third-row seat, a 110-volt household-style power outlet and a seven-speaker audio system. The 202A package gets those items plus a heavy-duty trailer tow package, heated and cooled front seats and an eightway power passenger seat with power lumbar adjustment. The 203A tacks on a sunroof and a touch screen navigation system that includes HD radio and

Sirius Travel Link service (provides real-time information on traffic, weather, sports, movie listings and local fuel prices).

The Limited trim includes all of the above except the 203A items, which are available as part of the 301A package. The Limited further comes standard with front parking sensors, power-folding mirrors, a driver-side

auto-dimming mirror, heated second-row seats and a wood-trimmed steering wheel.

The Western-chic King Ranch edition sports features similar to the Limited while adding special two-tone paint, upgraded headlamps, premium "Chaparral" leather upholstery and wood-grain trim.

Several items from upper trims are available on lower trims as stand-alone options.

Others vary by model and include 17- and 20-inch alloy wheels, a load-levelling rear air suspension, power-retracting running boards, a sunroof, second-row captain's chairs, remote ignition, a dual-screen rear video entertainment system and a heavy-duty trailer towing package.

The standard power train for the 2013 Ford Expedition and Expedition EL is a 5.4-liter V8 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. It produces 310 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque.

Rear-wheel drive is standard but buyers can opt for four-wheel drive with low-range gearing. The last Expedition we tested (it produced 10 hp less than the current model) accelerated from zero to 60 mph in 8.9 seconds, a below-average time for this segment. Properly equipped, the Expedition has a maximum tow rating of 9,200 pounds. This is solid, but more powerful competitors will feel more capable when towing in hilly terrain.

The EPA-estimated fuel economy for a two-wheel-drive Expedition is 14 mpg city/20 mpg highway and 16 mpg combined -average for a full-size SUV. EPA estimates for 4WD versions drop to 13/18/15.

Source: Edmunds.com

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 6, 2013

PAGE 29

“My play mirrors women’s struggles, society” Prolific play writer Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu, is a senior staff of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Lagos. In this chat with Sonde Abbah, the renowned literary luminary speaks on sundry issues regarding women as well as her wave-making new play ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, among others.

Y

our play, “Enough Is Enough”, was the ‘Convocation play’ of the National Open University Of Nigeria at its recent Convocation in Igamu, Lagos.

What is it all about?

The play “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”, mirrors the society in a unique way. In essence, it proclaims that the oppressed should not accept oppression as their lot but should confront their oppressors and assert their rights.

This nation belongs to all of us. So let us stand up for our rights. That is what the play is all about.

The play is about market women who decided to revolt against the imposition of incessant and unauthorised levies charged by touts. They pay to the local government and refused to succumb to intimidation and harassment by the touts. One of them was arrested by the police but they remained undaunted as one of them, who is a 4th year student of the National Open University of Nigeria, leads them to assert their rights. They triumphed in the end. The message is that the oppressed should not accept injustice, oppression, and subjugation as their lot but should rise against their oppressors.

Also, in a sub-plot, the play presents a policeman who is happy with the second chance university education offers him by the National Open University of Nigeria. He could not go to university earlier due to the death of his father so he could not earn his desired promotion but with the affordability, accessibility and flexibility of Open and Distance Education offered by NOUN, he is able to afford the fees with his meager salary and at the same time studied at his own convenience.

In his own words, “This bag is my permanent companion. I read every time, in the bus, in the office, at home and sometimes in the church too. No more hanging out with friends until I collect my certificate.”

Some have stated that the play is too short. Was it commissioned for this convocation?

It is the last scene of the play I started in 2001 but with some changes. For instance, then I had the distance education being offered by some universities in their outreach centres all over the nation, but now I adapted it to the education programme of National Open University of Nigeria. It was not commissioned; I was not paid to write it but the University sponsored the production.

Has it been published?

No, but it will go to the publisher soon.

FR OM THE FROM LIVE ST AGE STA with Patrick-Jude Oteh 0803 700 0496, 0805 953 5215 (SMS only)

The Depressing Arts Scene

A

Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu I read an article in a paper that you have five published plays and the last was published in 1995 which is a long time ago. What is happening?

A lot has happened, marriage, childbearing, a Masters degree, a Ph.D, plus my role as a wife, mother, a member of my community and the church. And apart from a one-year study leave for my Masters degree, I have combined all these while I am still working in Lagos where I spent half of my time in the traffic every day. When I was at the CEP Lagos Outreach of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, I worked on weekdays in the office and teach the mandatory four courses on weekends at the centre. That was the price I paid for my deployment to Lagos. You can see that a lot has been happening.

What inspires you to write a play?

Things and happenings around me, I try to address issues or give my opinion on issues I feel strongly about in my plays.

Basically, my plays talk about the society, unity, challenges, struggles of the African woman and the way forward.

How did you achieve that feat?

It was not easy, especially as I combined childbearing, work and studies and you know each comes with a lot of challenges. But I was determined and I am gladI made it at the end.

Does that mean you are giving up playwriting?

You can see from the production at the NOUN Convocation that I have not. As a matter of fact, I am back on the

block, hopefully, before the end of the year one or two of my plays would be on the shelf. I am now talking to a publisher.

Are your students members of your cast?

Not yet, for now only members of staff are part of my plays. However, we have extended an invitation to interested students and hopefully, they will respond. We want to see that studying in an Open and Distance University does not inhibit the students in any way.

It will be good to have the students in my plays and I look forward to that.

Apart from the convocation play, have you had other productions and do you have any other production in mind?

We have presented a “play let” and a dance to the university community. Our Vice Chancellor has encouraged us greatly. He is a scientist but loves art. With his support, I hope to produce radio plays for our FM, and later TV plays or even soap or movie. Once there is a will, there is a way.

Your husband, Maccko Iwuchukwu, is also a writer.

How does he influence your work?

Well, what he does is to encourage, motivate, and inspire one in his own little way, just as I also try to do for him in my own small way. He was a teacher too, and an author, though he is a lawyer by profession. As far as I can tell from our own experience, I believe that being married to a fellow writer is a blessing for both parties because we learn a lot from each other and I am glad I am married to such person.

couple of days ago, a few of us were involved in a discussion – the topic was the arts scene in Nigeria. On the surface, there has been a lot of movements but little or no motion.

It is almost as if we are trapped in a battle we do not understand – the bottom line is economics. A lot of us have been so used to the applause of our audiences that we have forgotten that we have to find and devise ways of surviving. My thinking on this was that our present theatre curriculum in the universities does not expose the students to what to expect beyond the classrooms and the safety of the four walls of the university.

The year 2010 is not going to be any better than 2009 or even 2008! The bottom line again is economics. We started taking note of arts organizations that have bitten the dust and the statistics are not flattering to us as a people or as a group. Of course, since arts organizations are not at the top of the ladder of national economics, a lot of us hardly notice the casualties.

What had gone wrong?

We need to take a look at the structures that we have on ground – are they sustainable structures or are they fragile structures? The present times do try the best of spirits but it is my thinking that any arts organization that survives this period has the advantage of surviving far into the future.

We also talked about the lull in the activities of Nollywood! For some of us the bubble has burst in that industry. We all felt it was an industry that was untouchable – but the megabucks has stopped flowing and a lot of our stars and waka – passes are also looking for other means of survival. Now is the time for a synergy to be built between the stage and Nollywood.

Now is the time for us directors to invite our stars in Nollywood to participate in our productions. We all will subsequently be better for it – our audiences get to see our stars in flesh and blood and our stars are also kept busy until the present lull in over.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that presently arts organizations should NOT stop producing. We should continue to produce and very qualitative works too. Any arts organization that thinks that it will save money by stopping to produce is getting it all wrong. More productions means greater visibility and the more visible we are to our audiences, the more respect they will accord our craft. This increases our audience base. Let me give instances – let us assume that we go out into the market to raise funds, and we are asked when last did we produce?

What will be our response? When we are asked what our next projects are, what will be our response? The economy is depressed. We are not immune from the depression but our response is extremely important – we must continue to remain visible by producing more.

For us on the stage, this is the time for us to create formidable marketing teams. Without a formidable marketing team, what we produce will not get out to the wider audience. Marketing must become key to the practice of our craft. Its sole existence will be to drive sales from tickets to adverts. Gone should be those days when we all produced to the applause of command performances where people end up making donations and pledges that they have no intention of redeeming.

In the last two years, we have had cause to wonder – why do we give complimentary tickets?

Complimentary tickets cheapen our craft and creates the unforgettable impression that our art is free. But it takes a lot of work to create so we know that it is not free.

In creating marketing teams that will be effective, we should not forget the individuals who come to watch our performances. This is a formidable group that most of us have forgotten to cultivate – imagine what a group that pays a yearly subscription for performances will do to the financial well being and vision of an arts organization. It means that before the season opens your organization already has funds with which to plan and work. It is like seed money for the arts organization.

I have been asked repeatedly – is it possible for arts organizations to make profit? Based on gate takings, making profit in an arts organization is rare. But we all must have a diversity of ‘products’. I believe very strongly that a lot of us have fallen into the habit of regularly seeking for the millions that we neglect the pennies! If we wait to get the millions before getting on stage, then we will not make any profit and we will not produce. A diversity of productions – we must begin to think in terms of educational programs, musicals, drama – at any point we must have a variety of menu that appeals to a variety of people.

Theatre programming is hard work – I hope I am not making it sound simplistic but it is not impossible. I am yet to see the promoter of an arts organization that is not hard working!

It only takes a lot of sitting down and finding out what our audiences want.

For instance, in a survey we carried out on our Abuja audience in 2009, we found out that they wanted plays from as many other climes as possible. We have since adjusted our programming to reflect this and we have been the better for it. We need to take drama back to the schools - this is another money spinning area of interest on its own.

We need to sit down with Literature and English teachers and even school Principals to find out what programs will benefit their students.

Our stand should be – if the government cannot create opportunities for us, we should create the opportunities ourselves. The unfortunate news is that any arts organization that builds its funding mechanism around the government is not destined to survive.

PAGE 30

BOOK REVIEW

By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

T

he short story craft is quite enthralling when it works well. Unlike the novel which takes time to unravel the short story hits you in the face as it were, rendering its magic like the Jamaican marvel of sprint named Usain Bolt. Deji Rahman, author of Circus of the Absurd, stakes his claim as a considerable voice of the form that has given limelight to such Nigerian winners of the coveted Caine Prize for African Writing as Helon Habila, Segun Afolabi, EC Osondu and Rotimi Babatunde. For Rahman, the Nigerian scene offers events and escapades that would put good old magical realism in the shade.

Everything is zany in this country that was once voted-for as peopling the happiest people in the whole wide world.

In this engaging collection of 11 short stories, Deji Rahman has his finger on the pulse of the nightmarish dimensions of Nigerian life. He renders appreciation to writers such as Helon Habila, Bisi Ojediran, Madeleine Thien, Tsitsi Dangarembga etc., and it's obvious that his craft has gained cubits through the Fidelity Banksponsored writing workshop that produced a 2011 anthology in which one of his short stories appeared.

A holder of a Master's degree in Economics, he has worked as a business journalist, stockbroker and banker, fields that have inspired his fiction.

From the first story "Candidate Number One" to the last "Arabian Groom", Rahman offers a potpourri of the odd and the odious rendered in well-measured language. Easily recognisable Nigerian characters and types

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 6, 2013

Circus of the Absurd adorn his pages and give life to the roundedness of the stories.

In "Candidate Number One" a touring President Oluwole, a character not unlike President Obasanjo, meets the upwardly mobile America-based Jide Martins in the Presidential Suite

in the Washington Hilton and encourages him to come home to render service to the country. The character mode of the president is rendered thus: "President Oluwole's temperament was a familiar story in the media. He had a legendary reputation for moods. He did not disappoint Jide.

He was as funny as he was acidic.

Several times, he wondered if Jide would ask the 'US President or the British Prime Minister that kind of insulting question'."

Jide who had intended to go into politics in America with "an

eye for the US Congress in 2014, to represent 12th Congressional District of Georgia" eventually "resigned as Senior Associate Editor at Time International magazine and relocated to Nigeria. With the support of President Oluwole he throws his

hat in the political ring to represent Lagos Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly. By the designation of the Electoral Committee he was given the tag of "Candidate Number One" but when the result is announced it is another candidate number one that is declared winner in the shape and size of Chief Mrs Sekinat Omolara Amusa. Jide could not but mutter in disgust: "Crazy people, crazy democracy."

The twist in the tale made famous by the masterful

American short story writer O Henry is a major fulcrum of the style of Deji Rahman. The second story, "The Grateful Refugee" starts with the eruption of the normal noise in Mushin by "homeless youths" only for the protagonist to see at the very end of the story the shocking appearance of his impregnated daughter Tolu, a 25-year-old "who was supposed to be busy with her Master's degree in London."

Themes such as Pentecostalism, fetishism, corruption, sham radicalism etc dot the pages in the manner that the Nigerian landscape has been despoiled. It is a nightmare world in which a puny monarch thinks nothing of sacrificing his only progeny in the quest for old power.

Political appointment turns a daredevil activist into a whimpering government appendage. Religion can be changed in the manner people change pants. A daughter settles scores with a father she considers unfair by luring her sister into tragedy. The last story of the collection, "Arabian Groom" upends Timothy "Tim" Ojukwu who converts from Christianity to Islam and takes the name Ibrahim in his bid to marry the daughter of Tunisian strongman, Bin Umar.

Circus of the Absurd by Deji Rahman is a stark dig at the absurdity of Nigerian life. The circus show is not indulged; the author displays tutored control over his subjects. On the minus side are some editing errors as in page 166, to wit: "If you want to prove me wrong, goggle (sic) Ojukwu and Nigeria." This notwithstanding, Circus of the Absurd is a clear pointer that in Deji Rahman Nigeria has a very promising craftsman in the slippery field of the short story.

Source: Africanwriter.com

China - Africa partnership mutually beneficial -author

By Miriam Humbe

T

he relationship between Africa and Nigeria in particular and China, the fastest growing economy on the global stage today no doubt is mutually beneficial.

In his new book, China/Africa, the issues, the challenges, Mr. Charles Onunaiju, a renowned Journalist with 20 years experience, part of which he spent as an international correspondent, x-rays the issues facing the challenges of modern Nigeria, modern Africa and the contemporary world and how the African nations can benefit from China's developmental experience.

Mr. Onunaiju who is also a freelance writer, commentator on public affairs and author has also written some few academic journals. For his latest book, China/Africa, the issues, the challenges, the research for the book was actually provided by the secretariat for Forum on China Africa and Cooperation, a secretariat of Chinese cooperation

with Africa. In 2009, Chinese Premier, Mr. Waljen Bright read out an eight point Chinese agenda for improving relations with Africa. Among the eight point agenda was the need to undertake to sponsor a research project that will effect an understanding of relations between China and Africa.

Mr. Charles Onanuiju is a beneficiary of that research grant which has culminated in the publication of his book. While speaking with our reporter on the book launch which is coming up tomorrow, he said, "To be very candid, China is involving itself in the most critical area of African contemporary challenge. In the area of building infrastructure, China's involvement in Africa has been a great thing. Before the incoming of China, we had terrible fluctuation of the prices of our primary products in the international market. And were almost manipulated by the monopoly from the west but today, because of China, we have the stable prices of our primary commodities. The Chinese took a

very urgent step to redress the imbalance in the international trade.

"And may I inform you that China is Africa's foremost trading partner. China is providing Africa a partnership that is based on mutual respect and I am still insisting that Africa should maintain trade relations with all nations around the world but the stand of China/Africa relations is touching on very useful areas that are critical to our development particularly

infrastructural development".

Mr. Onanuiju added.

The book launch which is expected to be hosted at 11am on tommorrow at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Sheraton Hotel and Towers Abuja will have in attendance, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, top government officials, politicians and members of the Diplomatic Corps. It will be chaired by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

PEOPLES POEM OF THE WEEK Title: The wounded

pilgrim

By Abigail George

W

hen I was a child I was afraid To speak to strangers; even then I felt estranged from the human Race, sought solace, a rare comfort In books and in between the neutral Spaces of the black letters of the Alphabet that spread itself across The pages I sought transition from Childhood to puberty; a word I am Still not very fond of; it meant growing Up behind closed doors, shutting out Dark voices; sensing there were no Clouds with silver linings only Cries of thunderstorms and lightning Streaking across the sky in the night air I was a good girl done badly by Not as bad as some yet still locked Inside a box with doll parts and the Garden of a blank canvas perfumed With the bright, still air of reality Children can only be fragile warriors But the canvas was uplifting and the words Could all fit, musings, brick by brick?

The sun on its belly ripening even more Poetry with keys, something absurdly Supernatural in effect like the holier ark Trailing behind the titan machine of my Consciousness; sometimes the story Begins at the end with no middle or Beginning; sometimes not at all but it has Educated me on so many things that blood Is thicker than water and that families Are not pulled out of the air for nothing They exist to terrorise you, to bully you, To grow you up into a worthy citizen or not For the reasons that you think.

QUO TE UOTE

Mr. Charles Onunaiju

When Wealth walks in the door, the Press Agent comes in through the window.

George Ade

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

DIPLOMATIC CIRCUIT

PAGE 31

isaochako@yahoo.com 08091700949

Nigeria-Cameroon trans-border security committee will checkmate terrorists- Minister

T

he minister of foreign affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru has said that the Nigerian and Cameroon Trans-border Security Committee will fast track security challenges facing both countries. Stating this at the inauguration ceremony of the committee yesterday at the ministry of foreign affairs Abuja, Mr Ashiru buttressed the timeliness of the committee considering trans-border related crimes that has engulfed the West African region. "This event is holding at a crucial period of renewed international fight against trans-border crimes, including the ongoing war in Mali, to get rid of terrorist groups, their networks and heinous activities".

"The Trans-border Security Committee is to develop practiceable strategies and measures to

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru (R) with representative of the National Security Adviser, Major General Samuel Babatude (RTD).

strengthen cooperationon security between Cameroon and Nigeria along their common borders" he added.

Topping the chart for the committee to address will include new and additional measures to address the challenges of terrorism, trans-border trafficking in small arms and light weapons and influx of illegal immigrants.

The minister had earlier signed an agreement on the 28th of February 2012 with the Vice Prime Minister of Cameroon on the shared desire of both countriesNigeria and Cameroon to strengthen security along their common borders.

Representing the National Security Adviser who is the Co-chair of the committee, Major Gen. Samuel Babatunde (RTD), assured Nigerians on the willingness and readiness of the NSA to fight crime and criminality.

HMSFA I receives in audience British High Commission welcomes outgoing high commissioner Chevening scholars back home to Nigeria the of the Republic of South Africa

Dr Andrew Pocock (L) addressing the returnees.

T

he British High Commission Abuja has organised a welcome back home reception in honour of Nigerians who completed their

Chevening Scholarship, in the 2011/2012 academic year. The Programme is designed to allows exceptional students the opportunity to undertake a fully

funded Masters Programme at a UK University.

Dr Andrew Pocock, the British High Commissioner, in his welcome address congratulated the graduates, emphasizing that the 14 candidates had to go through a competitive selection process.

Confirming that in year 2011, 2000 applications were received from Nigeria and only 14 of them were successful. This year, over 3000 applications have been received from Nigerians against 15 slots offered to Nigeria for the 2013/14 academic year.

The High Commissioner explained that Chevening Scholarships are not about brain drain but brain gain and encouraged the returning graduates to seek to excel in their chosen fields.

‌ Warns about dangers of illegal migration

I

n another development, the British High Commission in collaboration with Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) held a concert and talent contest in Lagos to raise awareness with Nigerian youth of the dangers of illegal migration.

With a large crowd at the Waterparks Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos a representative of the High Commission said: "Every year over 170'000 people travel from Nigeria to the UK. Most of those travelling have a great time and their visits are safe and successful. The UK is open to genuine visitors, students and business people and they benefit from the first class visa service we offer."

Some people try to circumvent the system and try to travel illegally.

When our well trained visa officers uncover cases of fraud the applicant

faces a potential 10 year ban on offering fraudulent documents or by travelling to the UK. saying they can guarantee a visa will The representative from the be issued. Potential applicants should High Commission said: not trust such source and we "We have strict controls in place encourage you to report them. to detect fraud.

I n c l u d i n g sophisticated d o c u m e n t verification and biometrics.

It's important that you fill in applications as fully and honestly as possible. If you don't the consequences can be very serious."

Unfortunately In another development, British High Commisthere are sion in collaboration with Prisoners Rehabilitau n s c r u p u l o u s tion and Welfare Action (PRAWA) held a conpeople who try to cert and talent contest in Lagos to raise awarecheat potential visa ness with Nigerian youth of the dangers of illeapplicants by gal migration.

M

inister of State for Foreign Affairs I, Prof.

Viola Adaku Onwuliri, on behalf of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, received in audience the outgoing High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency, Mr. Kingsley Mamabolo.

The Minister in her remarks commended the outgoing High Commissioner for his hard work and dedication to promoting, boosting and deepening relations between Nigeria and South Africa during his tour of duty in Nigeria.

Congratulating the High Commissioner on his new appointment as Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations, New York, she called for close cooperation and collaboration between Nigeria and South Africa, particularly on African issues, with a view to having a

Prof. Viola Adaku Onwuliri

unified agenda that would move the continent forward.

Response, the High Commissioner, His Excellency, Mr. Kingsley Mamabolo, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, and the people of Nigeria for the opportunity to serve in a great country like Nigeria. He thanked the Honourable Minister for the cooperation he enjoyed during his tenure and urged for the consolidation of South Africa – Nigeria relations, through the instrument of the BiNational Commission with a view to attracting more investments.

He reassured the Honourable Minister of ensuring that the warm relations enjoyed by both countries would continue even in his absence.

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Mali future debated at Brussels meeting

U

N, European and African officials are due to meet in Brussels to discuss how to hold democratic elections in Mali in the summer.

They will also discuss the security and humanitarian situation in the wake of last year's coup and the current offensive against Islamist militants.

French and Malian forces are forcing back al-Qaeda-linked fighters who seized the vast north of the country.

The US and France want African troops to take over from French forces.

Meanwhile, French warplanes have been bombing rebel bases and depots in remote parts of northern Mali to try to

cut off their supply routes.

Correspondents say the rapid progress of the French-led force has put the diplomatic focus on how to ensure lasting security in Mali.

"When a state falls apart, it takes a while to put it back together again. Nevertheless, we need to try," said one senior EU official quoted by Reuters.

UN envoy Brahimi (R) speaks with a participant at the event.

"In the medium term, we need to look at ensuring the north has adequate funds for development so the communities there can build real livelihoods," the official added.

The international support group for Mali, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, will discuss how to support a political process leading to elections that interim President Dioncounda Traore has said Mali hopes to hold on 31 July.

It will also look at how to fund, equip and train an 8,000-strong African force expected to eventually take over from the French.

US Vice-President Joe Biden, speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande on Monday, said they had agreed African troops should take over "as quickly as reasonably possible".

The EU aims to send about 500 military trainers to Mali by the middle of this month.

Funding for humanitarian aid will also be debated. Aid agencies warn that food and fuel supplies to some parts of northern Mali are starting to dry up.

About 45 delegations are expected at the Brussels meeting including international lenders such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Kenya tracks Facebook, Twitter for election "hate speech"

E

very day, Kagonya Awori and her tech-savvy team trawl through Facebook and Twitter for warning signs that Kenya's elections in March may unleash the same ethnic violence that took the country to the brink of civil war five years ago.

Sifting through blogs and social media sites, the group of six search for hate speech and inflammatory postings - or any early indications that intertribal tensions are escalating.

Awori and her colleagues have reason to be worried.

The last presidential vote in late 2007 when incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the re-elected victor was disputed by opponents and erupted into bloodletting.

More than 1,200 people were slaughtered, many butchered by

machete, burnt alive or shot with bows and arrows as the country's biggest tribes turned on one another.

"The amount of dangerous speech is going up but, this time, the people who are saying these things are not hiding at all," said Awori. She heads Umati, a webbased project monitoring dangerous speech for research firm iHub Research, which conducts Africa-focused tech research out of Nairobi.

"There are outright calls to kill, forcefully evict and steal as well as discriminate against members of particular communities," she said.

Most of the hate speech Awori's group has come across so far has been on Facebook, with users frequently revealing their names, and often their location.

Kenya, East Africa's biggest economy, has ranked second for

Twitter use in Africa in recent years, out-tweeting oilproducing powerhouse Nigeria

and Egypt, where social media helped galvanize supporters of the Arab Spring revolution.

Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta leaves in company of supporters after he was cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to run for the presidency in the March 4 presidential elections in capital Nairobi

Somali journalist sentenced over rape report

A

The trial of the journalist and the alleged rape victim has raised international uproar.

Mogadishu court has sentenced an alleged rape victim and a Somali journalist who interviewed her to one year in prison each, court officials say, in a decision that has enraged press freedom groups.

Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim, the freelance journalist, and the 27year old unidentified woman who claimed to have been raped by security forces, faced charges including insulting a government body, making false accusations and seeking to profit from the allegations.

Tuesday's ruling was based on alleged medical evidence that showed the woman was not raped, Somali officials said.

Ibrahim, who has been under detention since January 10, will begin serving his sentence immediately.

The woman is to begin her sentence after nursing her baby.

"The court finds that he offended state institutions by making a false interview, and entering the house of a woman whose husband was not present," said Judge Ahmed Adan.

The journalist's arrest followed increasing media attention on reported sexual abuse by Somalia security forces. Earlier in January, Universal TV - a local television station - and Al Jazeera's website separately published stories about allegations of rape in the city's crowded camps for displaced people.

Guinea says mining review to include all Producers

G

uinea's review of all mining contracts will include an effort to integrate a 2011 settlement struck with global miner Rio Tinto with an original agreement signed with the company, Mines Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana said on Monday.

Rio Tinto, the world's secondlargest iron ore miner, initially controlled all of Guinea's Simandou deposit, one of the largest untapped iron ore deposits in the world.

The West African country's government ousted Rio Tinto from the northern part of the Simandou deposit in 2008. Under a 2011 settlement, the company secured permission to mine the southern half after agreeing to pay $700 million and give the government the right to up to 35 percent.

Fofana emphasised that there would be no revision of the 2011 deal, but said the review would incorporate it with the agreement that first allowed Rio to develop the ore body.

"This accord has to be integrated with the initial framework agreement. To do that, we need to have discussions, and this is what the committee are doing, in order to make the necessary changes to the framework agreement," Fofana told Reuters on the sidelines of an African mining conference.

Fofana said there were "constant discussions" with Rio. Company officials were not immediately available to comment.

Guinea's government, under President Alpha Conde, has moved to overhaul the country's mining code and has set up a technical committee to review existing natural resources contracts, particularly those signed during the 2008-2010 period, when the country was ruled by a military junta.

Guinean officials said last year that the review would focus on three of the largest contracts, including a deal signed by BSG Resources (BSGR) - part of billionaire Beny Steinmetz's business empire - to obtain the northern half of Simandou.

That project was put on hold last year as BSGR partner Vale cited uncertainties in regulation.

Worries over the government's intentions have prompted BSGR to say it would consider all legal options to avoid expropriation.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas Obama proposes short-term budget fix to delay spending cuts

P

resident Barack Obama will propose on Tuesday that Congress pass a small package of spending cuts and tax reforms to delay larger, automatic cuts from going into effect and give Washington more time to agree on a broader budget deal.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner largely rejected Obama's proposal in advance.

Huge cuts to defense and domestic programs are slated to go into effect in roughly three weeks, a threat that has caused uncertainty and could hurt economic growth.

Obama welcomed efforts in the House and the Senate to come up with a budget that would address the U.S. fiscal challenges, but time was short to get that done, a White House official said.

"Given that the budget process in Congress won't likely be completed by March 1st, the president on Tuesday will call on Congress to pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms to avoid the economically harmful consequences of the sequester for a few months," the official said. "Sequester" is the term for the automatic spending cuts.

The official said such a move would "allow Congress more time to reach a solution that permanently avoids the sequester and significantly reduces the deficit in a balanced way."

The White House and Congress agreed on a deal at the beginning of this year that avoided the "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax increases by raising tax rates on households making more than $450,000 a year.

The deal put off the huge spending cuts for just two months, however, and Obama is eager to give both sides more time to resolve that issue.

If launched on March 1 as scheduled, the cuts would reduce federal spending across the board by about $85 billion for one year, split evenly between military and domestic programs. The total through 2022 would be about $1.2 trillion.

The Republican-controlled House last year passed two measures that sought to replace the sequester cuts and shield military spending by shifting the burden onto domestic programs, including many that serve the poor, such as Medicaid, food stamps and social services block grants that fund programs like Meals on Wheels.

The measure was never taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Mexico says Pemex blast caused by gas buildup A

buildup of gas in the basement of the headquarters of the national oil company caused a blast that killed 37 people and wounded dozens earlier this week, Mexico's attorney-general said Monday.

Attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam said an investigation by Mexican, Spanish, US and British experts found no evidence of explosives in the blast that collapsed several lower floors of the Petroleos Mexicanos administrative building on Thursday afternoon.

He said they believed that an electrical fault had caused a spark that detonated the leaking gas.

There was scant evidence of the burn marks typical in a bomb blast, he said. There was also no sign of a crater like that typically left by an explosive device.

Murillo said officials had yet to discover the source of the gas, which is believed to have been methane that leaked from a number of ducts and tunnels that passed under or connected to the building, built up from the sewer system.

The announcement late Monday ended days of silence

about the potential cause of the company's worst disaster in a decade.

The blast fueled debate about the state of Pemex, a vital source

of government revenue that is suffering from decades of underinvestment and has been hit by a recent series of accidents that have tarnished its otherwise

improving safety record.

Until now, virtually all the accidents had hit its petroleum infrastructure, not its office buildings.

Rescue officials at the scene that collapsed several floors of the building and killed dozens of people.

Liberal Russian governor faces ouster as Putin tightens grip

P

resident Vladimir Putin's attempts to reassert his grip on Russia after months of protests look likely to force the removal of one of the few liberal leaders outside Moscow.

The local parliament in the vast Kirov region in central Russia has called a no-confidence vote in

governor Nikita Belykh for February 14 which is likely to oust the man appointed by Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's predecessor as president.

His departure would spell the end of an experiment under which Medvedev installed him in 2009 to test whether liberals could be co-

President Putin

opted into local government, and extend Putin's policy of rolling back Medvedev's reforms.

The Kremlin has distanced itself from the events in Kirov, a region which is bigger than Hungary and is still named after a Bolshevik whose assassination in 1934 was used by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin as a pretext for his purges.

Politicians in the region, whose capital is 900 km (600 miles) east of Moscow, say Belykh has simply done a bad job.

"The governor's liberal policies have not only not made living conditions any better for many people in the region, but have made them worse," said Valery Rashkin, a local Communist Party deputy.

But the motion to vote no confidence in the 37-year-old governor was proposed by a local lawmaker from Putin's United Russia, and it is unlikely it did not have the approval of the party's

national leadership or the Kremlin.

"The chances of deputies voting no confidence in Belykh ... are quite high," said political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko. "I think it is a game that has been agreed on and could hardly have gone ahead without Moscow's approval."

Belykh was not immediately available for comment.

Putin is aware that having his own people in charge of the regions, some of them thousands of miles from Moscow, could be crucial to reasserting his authority over the whole of the country of more than 140 million people.

The move follows months of pressure on Belykh, who had been the deputy governor of the Perm region in the Ural Mountains and then a leader of a pro-business party based in Moscow before his appointment in Kirov in January 2009.

France's Hollande rejects 'a la carte' attitude to EU

F

rench President Francois Hollande has told the European Parliament there can be no "a la carte" attitude to the EU, as tough budget talks approach.

He called for a "multifaceted Europe which would be neither a two-speed Europe nor an a la carte Europe".

National interests, he said in Strasbourg, risked taking precedence over the interests of the EU. His remarks were aimed at

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the BBC's Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, reports.

Mr Cameron announced last month that a referendum would be held on EU membership if his Conservative Party was returned to power at the next general election, expected in 2015.

"Start Mr Hollande's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, commented at the time: "We

want the British to be able to bring all their positive characteristics to Europe... but you can't do Europe a la carte."

The French president's speech comes two days before a summit on the EU's seven-year budget, which is likely to be marked by sharp differences between the leaders.

The UK is pushing for a spending freeze while most other EU members want either to maintain or increase the proposed budget.

President Francois Hollande

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 35

New Zealand parrot robs tourist of ÂŁ600 P

eter Leach, a former Royal Navy employee, was driving around the South Island of New Zealand in a campervan last week, when he stopped to take pictures of the scenery.

He pulled in at a rest area along State Highway 73 to take in the views at Arthur's Pass and, while there, took a picture of a kea (a species of parrot native to New Zealand) that had stopped nearby.

As he strolled around the area, the bird reportedly flew into the open windows of his campervan and lifted $1100 of the local currency from the dashboard inside.

According to the Scottish Daily Record, Mr Leach was unaware of the theft until two fellow tourists pointed it out.

"A Canadian couple walked by and said, 'We've just seen that bird take something out of your van.'," Mr Leach said.

He said all that remained was the equivalent of ÂŁ20 in his front pocket. He reported to incident to police, but the chances of retrieving the currency remain slim.

"The officer was very serious for the first few questions," Mr Leach said. "Then he said, 'Do you mind if I just stop to laugh?' I suppose I can't blame him."

Four years ago, another Scottish tourist in New Zealand

had his passport stolen by a kea.

The birds are known for their intelligence, and have also been blamed for vandalising cars,

including breaking off wing mirrors and stripping rubber from windscreens.

The zoologist Mark Cawardine

Y

determined to continue on his travels, with friends apparently loaning him money for the rest of the trip.

The birds are known for their intelligence, and have been blamed for vandalising cars.

'Intimacy 2.0' dress turns transparent when you get sexually aroused ou don't get to choose whether this dress is revealing or not -- your carnal instincts do.

The 'Intimacy 2.0' dress, designed by Daan Roosegaarde, is getting a rise out of the fashion world because its opaque fabric becomes

describes them as "a devilish mountain parrot feared by hire car companies."

Mr Leach, however, remains

transparent when you get aroused.

Finally, all the cards will be on the table. You'll have your date saying, "Is your dress disappearing, or are you just happy to see me?"

The already barely-there garment features ribbons of leather and opaque "e-foils," which can detect

the model's heartbeat, the Daily Mail reports.

In other words, you're going to be showing a lot more than sideboob when you dance, walk briskly, witness a fender-bender, eat a grape, or engage in any other mildly heart-thumping activity.

John Lennon arrests: police in Brazil bust three people named for beatles legend

P

olice in Brazil are going through a bad case of Beatlemania after arresting three people -- and finding one other dead -- in recent weeks, all sharing the name John Lennon, The Sun reported.

Having a hard day's night? Here's the rundown: On Dec. 19, police in Belo Horizonte arrested John Lenon Camargos Gomes, 22. The convicted drug trafficker is accused of five murders and two attempted murders.

On Jan. 8, John Lennon Fonseca Ferreira, 22, was caught in an alleged robbery attempt. On Jan. 9, the body of 18-year-old John Lennon Sebastiao da Silva was discovered in his vehicle, possibly the victim of a revenge attack.

Last Friday, police busted John Lennon Ribeiro Siqueira for an alleged lottery shop robbery.

Authorities "Imagine" the trend is

They couldn't just give peace a chance. due to the popularity of the British band in Brazil, which prompted a slew of newborn "John Lennons" following the music icon's murder in 1980, according to the New York Daily News. Three decades later, the little rock stars are growing up.

Bubble wrap saves falling construction worker in Boston 1-"Intimacy 2.0 is a fashion project exploring the relation between intimacy and technology," Roosegaarde said. "Technology is used here not merely functional but also as a tool to create intimacy as well as privacy on a direct, personal level which in our contemporary tech society is becoming increasingly important."

2- Another caveat: Though Roosegaarde has said he's "in talks" to produce a ready-to-wear line of Intimacy clothing, the current dress is only a prototype and a project.

Would you wear this thing?

J

ust one week after Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, a Boston construction worker was saved from a gruesome fate when his 30-foot fall was broken by the stuff, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department told WCVB. Footage of the scene indicates the lifesaving "bubble wrap," as the spokesman called it, was not the familiar poppable packing material, but an off-white material used to cover scaffolding at the building where the man was working Monday.

The 38-year-old, whose name has not been released, landed on a pile of the material on the ground.

The fall's impact left him stuck in the bubble wrap, and firefighters had

to cut him out. He was checked into a hospital for shoulder and back injuries.

Bubble wrap -- in any form -- does a lot of good for this world. Last week, high school students in New Jersey set a new Guinness World Record for most people simultaneously popping bubble wrap, and, in doing so, raised money for the Sandy Hook Elementary School fund in Newtown, Conn.

In December, an Italian artist set out to rid Milan of stress by creating "anti-stress" bubble wrap-popping stations at bus stops.

In case all this talk of bubble wrap has you jonesin' for a popping fix, here's a link to some virtual bubble wrap.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Why men find it harder than women to read emotions in your face C

By Fiona Macrae

haps, the next time the woman in your life yells at you for not knowing what she's thinking, here's your answer.

You can tell her she's right - but you can't help it.

Scientists have confirmed that men really do find it harder to read others' emotions.

Edinburgh University researchers showed a group of men and women photographs of faces, then asked various questions about them.

Their brains were scanned as they came up with their answers, and their responses were timed.

When asked whether those in the photographs were male or female, or how intelligent they seemed, there was little difference in how the men and women performed.

But when asked to decide how approachable the people in the photographs were, the men took longer.

And, despite eventually coming to the same conclusion as the women,

Everything all right love?: Men really do find it harder to read other people's emotions, according to a study they seemed to find it more difficult to formulate their opinions.

Brain scans showed a rush of blood to the region known

to be involved in making judgments about emotions.

This, the researchers said, suggests that the male brain has to work harder to

make social decisions, to compensate for the fact that it naturally finds these sort of judgments trickier.

Professor Stephen Lawrie,

attention and staying focused had reduced heart risk when older.

The US researchers said more work was needed to understand the link.

Their study looked at 377 adults who had taken part in research as children. At seven they had undergone several tests to look at emotional behaviour.

They compared the results from this with a commonly

used risk score for cardiovascular disease of participants now in their early 40s.

After controlling for other factors which might influence heart disease risk, they found that high levels of distress at age seven were associated with a 31% increased risk of cardiovascular disease in middle-aged women.

For men with high levels

of distress in childhood which included being easily frustrated and quick to anger - the increased risk of cardiovascular disease was 17%.

For 40-year-olds who had been prone to distress as a child, the chances of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years increased from 3.2% to 4.2% for women and 7.3 to 8.5% for men.

The researchers also looked at positive emotional factors such as having a good attention span and found this was linked with better cardiovascular health, although to a lesser degree.

Other studies have linked adversity in childhood with cardiovascular disease in adults.

And research in adults as linked poor e m o t i o n a l wellbeing with higher levels of cardiovascular disease, the researchers pointed out in the

who led the study, said it was designed to give the men enough time to come up with the correct answers. But, faced with snap decisions in real life, they might start misjudging others' thoughts.

The results, published in the journal PLoS ONE, could lead to new treatments for people with autism, as they often have difficulty in reading faces and in distinguishing between different emotions.

When the researchers carried out the same study with men who had a condition related to autism, the rush of blood to the emotional judgment area of the brain was even greater.

Professor Lawrie said: 'Our findings suggest that men have developed strategies to cope with their lesser natural empathy by over-activating the parts of the brain that understand social cues.

'As this pattern is also seen in people with autism-linked conditions, it suggests we could devise new tools to help patients lea r n s o c i a l r u l e s and enhance their skills for engaging with other people.'

S o u r Dailymail.co.uk

c

e

Unhappy childhood linked to heart risk in later life

E

motional behaviour in childhood may be linked with heart disease in middle age, especially in women, research suggests.

A study found being prone to distress at the age of seven was associated with a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease in later life.

Conversely children who were better at paying

Storing up heart problems?

:

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Study leader Dr Allison Appleton, said more research would now be needed to work out the biological mechanism that may underpin the finding.

"We know that persistent distress can cause dysregulation of the stress response and that is something we want to look at."

Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said it was already known that a child's health could often have a bearing on their future wellbeing.

But she added that more research was needed before it could be clear that any possible link existed between emotions in childhood and the risk of cardiovascular disease in later life.

"There are positive steps parents can take to protect their child's future heart health.

"What we learn when we're young can often set the tone for our habits later in life, so teaching children about physical activity and a balanced diet is a great place to start."

Source: BBCNews.com

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 37

Suswam urges Appeal Court to strike out Kakih’s appeal From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

G

overnor Gabriel Suswam has urged the Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi to strike out the appeal of Hon. Terver Kakih who contested the PDP primaries against him for being filed out of time.

When the matter came up yesterday, counsel to the governor, Jubrin Okutepa, told the court that the appeal was filed out of the 14 days mandatory period given for filing appeals.

He also contended that it was on record that Kakih did not indicate any interest to raise a counteraffidavit to their application to bring additional witnesses, adding that all the issues were contained in his final written address which he adopted before the court.

But Kakih’s counsel, Sam Kargbo, alleged that he was not given fair hearing by the Federal High Court in Makurdi in his case against Governor Gabriel Suswam.

The five Justices of the Appeal Court who raised the issue asked Kargbo to explain the consequences that led to the lower court denying him fair hearing.

Kargbo told the court that he filed a counter-affidavit opposing the application by the governor and PDP to call more witnesses but surprisingly he was never allowed to move the application while the application of the governor was granted.

“I protested and told the judge that it should be put on record that I was not heard and he said yes. The sequence was faulty. I was supposed to move my counter-affidavit before them and not for the court to grant their applications together with mine”, he queried.

Earlier while adopting his brief, Kargbo urged the court to set aside the judgment of the trial court and allow the appeal to go on. He insisted that the judgment had nothing to do with INEC and WAEC since they did not have evidences and asked the court to expunge them from the appeal.

The appellant, who cited the case of Governor Timpre Sylva Vs PDP, argued that the fact remained that his client was an aspirant and has the right to complain at the Federal High Court over the way and manner the party’s primary was conducted. He also harped on the qualification of Governor Suswam, noting that he did not present any credential to contest the primary.

“It is a constitutional requirement to present certificate as enshrined in section 177 but he did not do so”, Kargbo claimed.

Okutepa said the authority of PDP and Sylva was decided by the Supreme Court which held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit as the issue of nomination is strictly a party affair.

L-R: Secretary, ANPP North-West Zone, National Rebuilding and Inter-Party Contact Committee, Mr George Moghalu, Chairman, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, and former Zamfara state Governor, Senator Ahmed Sani, during the meeting of ANPP North-West National Rebuilding and Inter-Party Contact Committee, yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

ANPP begins North West zonal tour

By Nasiru Mu'azu Isa

T

he committee on National Rebuilding and Inter Party Contact of the ANPP has commenced North West zonal tour in Kaduna.

The National Chairman of the committee and former governor of Kano state, Mal. Ibrahim Shekarau, in his speech at the event said the committee was in Kaduna after visiting four other geo political zones to interact and discuss with key players of the party across the country.

Shekarau said the committee has visited North Central zone, the South East, South West, North East and now the North West and in two days will be in

Benin for the South-South zone.

He disclosed that the terms of reference of the committee include: recommending ways of making the party more attractive; discussing issues of party funding and making recommendations; entering into merger discussions with other political parties and civil society groups; identifying key political actors across the country to join the party to mention a few.

Shekarau observed that his party will not play second fiddle to any party but will take part in merger talks with other political parties as a party that is standing on its own. In reference to the comments made by Gen. Muhammadu

Buhari to his party committee on the merger talks to discuss with only ACN, the Chairman said the ANPP will go into talks with other parties as an equal and without any conditionality.

Senator Sani Yarima, former governor of Zamfara state, a member of the committee and chieftain of the party, reassured members of the party and his supporters that he has no plans to decamp from the party as being variously speculated.

Yarima observed that he was not willing to join words with rumour mongers but felt it necessary to assure his party and supporters of his commitment to the party. He assured all that as a pioneer member of ANPP he will do his

utmost best to ensure the party stays strong and relevant as one of the best parties in the nation.

President of Civil Rights Congress and special guest at the event, Comrade Shehu Sani, said the ANPP has demonstrated over the years that it is a party for the people, by the people and of the people.

Sani observed that the party has risen and grown as a great political party and unlike other parties, it can't be identified with a single personality as proprietor. He observed that the party has shown over the years that it is capable of solving its problems as such it is ideally placed to provide succor to the nation and Nigerians.

FG urged to protect Nigeria’s wetland for the sake of water availability

By Nasiru Mu'azu Isa

T

he Federal Government has been urged to ensure adequate protection for the nation’s wetlands for the sake of water purification for human consumption.

The advise was given by a former member of House of Representatives and currently, International President for Wetlands Environmental Protection Initiative, Bolere Elizabeth Ketebu, in a statement issued yesterday.

Ketebu noted in the statement that “wetlands play an invaluable

role in water filtration and purification as well as storage of surplus surface water and replenishment of underground water”.

The former parliamentarian noted that the invaluable contribution of wetland to availability of potable water is being threatened by the range of pollution ongoing across the world, noting that Nigeria must not allow itself to fall into the trap.

“The greatest threats to wetlands globally are known to emanate from human induced abuses for agricultural, housing, infrastructural development and

natural resource exploitation purposes to mention but a few.

“Without specific policy framework and or legislation to protect wetlands and ensure that they are utilized within their individual capacities, wetlands fall prey to indiscriminate dredging, damming, industrial and domestic waste disposal including sewage culminating in their degradation and or loss.

“A cursory look at Wetlands in Nigeria today show ominous signs of degradation and biodiversity loss: examples include the Nguru lakes Wetlands which have shrunken with loss of about a third

of the original size, the Lake Chad that is fast disappearing, the pollution in the Niger Delta wetlands on account of exploitation for crude oil to mention a few”.

In view of the importance of wetlands, the United Nation (UN) expressed its worries over the its abuse with the adoption of the ‘RAMZAR CONVENTION’ in 1972 and designated 2nd February of each year ‘world wetlands day’.

The day is marked each year with a specific theme to create global awareness on the value and situation of wetlands.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

CACOL carpets Lagos govt. for prosecuting beggars

L-R: Member, National Caucus, People Democratic Movement (PDM), Otunba Oluponnle Ebo, National Chairman of PDM, Senator Abubakar Mahdi, and immediate past National Chairman, Chief Bode Ajewole, during the PDM National Steering Committee meeting, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

T

Constitution amendment: Youth want immunity clause removed

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he youth under the platform of the National Youth Democratic Movement yesterday condemned the trend of corruption going in the government and therefore called for the removal of the immunity clause from the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The movement in a release issued yesterday on it National Conference slated for next Sunday, 10th, February, 2013 in Abuja expressed concern about the high rate of decadence orchestrated by monumental and high level corruption going in the society.

In a release signed for the movement by John Aderogba, the group stated that there is no doubt

that the level of corruption in government and recent judgment at the Federal High Court in Abuja on the pension fund is a clear indication that the future of the country is uncertain.

According to the movement, “Corruption has eaten deep into the marrows of government officials as a result of our weak institutions (Judiciary and Law Enforcement) in the country. The socio political and economic problems in Nigeria are as a result of corruption made possible due to lack of independency of the Judiciary and corrupt nature of the Nigeria Police force”.

“No Nation can progress in judicial system where the highest bidder gets “Justice” and the Police are biased to enforce

the law against corrupt officials”, he added.

The movement added “The solution to Nigeria socio political and economic problems is not a bloody revolution but a revolution of the Institutions. The National Youth Democratic Movement condemn in strong terms, advocates of violence or bloody revolution as a solution to our common problem in Nigeria.

We strongly believe in the unity and indivisibility of our Country.

In our population lies our strength as a Nation”.

“The youths of this great country are now aware of the devices of our leaders to divide us along the lines of ethnicity and religious believes. We have come of age and must not allow all these

to continue to divide us as youths against our common enemy who have impoverished us over the years”.

“The need therefore for a conference of Nigerian Youths under the auspices of the National Youth Democratic Movement.

The objective of the conference is to jointly take a position on the formation of a Political Party that will focus on the interest of the poor people of this great country” it stated.

The Movement however called for the reformation of the judiciary and law enforcement system in Nigeria; reformation of the civil service and other public sectors and the development of the nation’s agricultural sector.

Group plans workshop in Yero’s honour

By Nasiru Mu’azu Isa

A

group under the aegis of Dynamic Forum for Yero has unfolded a plan to hold a workshop to commemorate the one hundred days in office of Dr. Mukthar Ramallan Yero, Executive Governor of Kaduna State.

The group spoke through its Chairman Engineer (Dr) Philip Joseph while chatting with newsmen in Kaduna. According to

Engineer Philip Joseph who was a former governorship aspirant in the state, the group is peopled by men and women who are committed to the positive development of the state as well as the peaceful co-existence of the citizens. He added that the membership of the group is devoid of political, religious, tribal or ethnic considerations.

The chairman of the group said Yero’s government, apart from

being a government of continuity as proclaimed by the governor himself, has demonstrated that it is capable of taking Kaduna state to greater heights as evidenced by the achievements it has recorded since assumption of office.

Joseph further disclosed that the workshop will feature participants drawn from the twenty-three local governments of the state and will witness the presentation of various gifts and assistance to the

participants in commemoration of Yero’s hundred days in office.

On the 2015 governorship election in Kaduna state, Joseph said he does not forsee any serious opposition to Dr. Mukthar Ramallan Yero if he elects to contest because of his disposition to issues of participatory governance. He assures that the group will work assiduously to ensure the success if the governor joins the race.

Kogi Assembly Speaker pledges quality legislation From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

I

n its determination to render quality legislation for improvement of live in the state, Kogi House of Assembly, which resumed plenary yesterday said it went into three weeks recess to pave way for proper scrutiny and approval of the 2013 budget The Speaker, Hon Lawal Momo Jimoh disclosed this yesterday at the

plenary stressing that presently the local government councils were not being managed by elected officials which has put further burden on the Assembly to fill the gap.

He noted that the recess was to give the Joint Committees and Public Account, Local government and chieftaincy affairs and Finance to carry out the all important assignment.

Jimoh assured that the report of

the joint committees would be ready soon based on reports he had with him, stressing that the people of the state would appreciate the good work done so far.

While congratulating the executive for its one fruitful year in office, the Assembly said it was proud of the purposeful and responsible leadership as well as achievements made so far for the state even as he promised continued unalloyed

support, cooperation and collaboration with the governor and his cabinet for success of his transformation agenda.

The maintained that the victory of the governor and PDP at the Appeal Court in Abuja has further demonstrated that power belongs to God and He gives to whosoever He chooses without consultation with anybody, urging the opponents to give peace a chance by accepting in good faith God’s verdict.

he Coalition against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has carpeted the Lagos state government for the prosecution of 39 beggars at the Special Offences Court in Alausa, Ikeja, for soliciting alms.

The Lagos state government has claimed that the beggars constituted public nuisance and were parading themselves as disorderly persons without viable means of livelihood, thereby committing an offence under the Criminal law of the state.

Reacting to the action of the government, the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran described the arraignment and the imprisonment of the beggars as incongruous and heartless.

"If the government has not failed in its duties at federal, state and local levels, we should not have beggars on our streets in the first instance. It is failure of our government at all levels to make life conducive that plunged many into begging business. It is absurd for a government to arraign beggars and sentence them to jail. Before the Lagos government could arrest beggars, they should have done their homework well. They should provide vocational centres and rehabilitation homes for the beggars with allowances for these beggars to deter them from going back to the street. The Lagos government has shown that it is more interested in the elites and the rich in Lagos State than the mass of Lagos people.

"It is preposterous for the government to imagine that rather than embarking on projects to alleviate the afflictions of the masses, it could result to the use of force to deter people from street-begging. That is another show of self-centredness and elitist governance. The apathetic attitude of the present government in Lagos state to issues that pertain to the Lagos masses has caused much havoc in the state resulting in the dwindling popularity of Fashola government, and care must be taken so as not to engender the anger of the masses. You can never make a city mega until you have made the welfare of its people mega," Adeniran averred.

The human rights activist maintained that arraigning beggars in the law court may not eradicate street-begging except the needful is done. He however advocated that the Lagos government should drop the charges against 39 beggars and make provision for necessary modalities needed to rehabilitate them in order to make them useful for themselves, families and the society at large.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Bill to repeal Ogun statistics law scales second reading

A

bill for a law to repeal the Ogun Statistics Law 2006 yesterday in Abeokuta scaled through its second reading in the state House of Assembly.

The assembly's Majority Leader, Israel Jolaoso, said the bill seeks to establish a bureau where adequate numerical data which would aid planning and development could be found.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the law will allow for the establishment of the state's statistics system and the Bureau of Statistics.

Jolaoso said the bill's passage would enable Ogun to join the list of states which have the law in operation. ``It will afford government the opportunity to know the number of people in the state, its natural resources and income,'' he said.

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Akanbi Bankole, said there was the need for the bureau's establishment in enhancing the state's development.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, later asked for the bill to be referred to the Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative input.(NAN)

PAGE 39

PDP endorses N4 billion AFLPM budget, berates ACN, CPC for criticism

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday endorsed the N4 billion budgetary proposals for the construction of the African First Ladies' Peace Mission (AFLPM) project in Abuja by the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA).

The party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, berated the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) for deliberately misleading the people with their claims that the fund was meant to construct the First Lady's office.

According to the party, the project on completion is to host the AFLPM which has the backing of the African Union as an instrument for championing women and youth

development. "The Peace Mission House is a public institution, a building in the likes of the Women Development Center, Nigerian Cultural Center among others which the law empowers the FCTA to build and operate in provision of facilities for the advancement of its development efforts," he stressed.

According to him, the publication made by the opposition parties was fallacious, wicked and meant to deceive the people and discredit the PDP. The party stated " It is however clear that this coalition of disparate forces are at their usual homage to deceit and bare-faced lies aimed first at misleading Nigerians and whipping up public anger against the PDP. It is unfortunate that the leadership of these political parties among whom are elders whose 'silver hairs' we thought, would avail the nation virtues to paraphrase

Shakespeare in Julius Caesar, have turned to merchants of cheap lies in an attempt to slur the integrity of our leadership of the nation."

"For the avoidance of doubt," the statement continued, "there is no provision for the construction of the Abuja City Gate in the FCT 2013 budget and there is nowhere the FCT earmarked N5 billion for the rehabilitation of commercial sex workers in the said budget. We challenge the parties to prove us wrong."

"The truth is that the FCT administration has nothing to do with the proposed Abuja City Gates.

The project is one of the items making up the Centenary City to be financed by the private sectors in earnest of corporate social responsibility towards the Centenary Celebrations. Neither is the FCTA connected to the Centenary City nor to the City

Gate, as such does not exist in its budget."

It added, " the FCTA did not provide the sum of N5 billion for the rehabilitation of commercial sex workers in the 2013 budget.

What is public knowledge however that is the overall budget of the Social Development Department of the FCTA is N4.7 billion out of which the FCTA slated only N150 million for routine enforcement and general management of the rehabilitation centers including training and empowerment of rehabilitated sex workers. In fact, the budget was reduced from N225 million budgeted last year.

Therefore, to tell Nigerians that the FCTA budgeted N5 billion for the rehabilitation of prostitutes when it is clear that only N150 million was budgeted for the sub-head under which it falls is to say the least despicable."

Jigawa Assembly shifts debate on 2013 budget

T

he Jigawa House of Assembly yesterday shifted continuation of debate on the proposed N115 billion appropriation bill to Feb. 12.

The house had earlier fixed Jan. 31 for the passage of the bill, but deliberation on it was postponed to Tuesday due to the inability of the Appropriation Committee to submit its report.

The situation followed the adoption of a request by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Babangida Muhammad, who sought for some days' extension.

Muhammad, who spoke at the House plenary session, said the committee could not finish its work on the bill and sought for one week extension. ''The appropriation committee could not finish its work. I hereby move a motion for the bill to be submitted to the house on Feb. 12. ''This is necessary to enable us to complete work on the bill,'' he said.

The house, presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Sule Udi, unanimously adopted the motion and fixed Feb. 12 for the submission of the committee's report.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that Gov. Sule Lamido had on Dec. 31, 2012, presented the budget for 2013 to the law makers.

Lamido also submitted a N57 billion budget for the 27 local government areas of the state for consideration. (NAN)

L-R: Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Akintoye Albert, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Warman Ogoriba, and Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Victor Ogene, during the committee's interactive meeting with ministers of Niger Delta Affairs, yesterday at the National Assembly in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Reps call for introduction of entrepreneurship training in secondary schools

By Umar Muhammad Puma

C

oncerned by the grim consequences of unemployment amongst youths and the dearth of young capable hands that can take charge of their own livelihoods without much dependence on government, the House of Representatives, yesterday, mandated its Committee on Education to liaise with the Federal Ministry of Education to work out modalities for the introduction of Entrepreneur and Mentorship as a subject in the curriculum of secondary schools nationwide.

In a motion read by Eddie Ifeanyichukwu (PDP Imo state), the

House said entrepreneurship drives the economy of most developed nations and as such, government should introduce numerous incentives to encourage and empower the youth to seek selfemployment rather than depend on the civil service for job

placement.

He stressed that if entrepreneurship and mentorship training is introduced in the secondary schools curriculum, it will turn vocational and technical skills into sustainable businesses capable of boosting the economy.

"In Nigeria today, job placement is a major problem for many young people thereby increasing the rate of unemployed youth that is capable of creating instability in the country", he said.

The motion was passed by the House unanimously.

ACN chieftain scores judiciary high on war against corruption

A

former Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Imo, Mr Collins Nwachukwu, says Nigeria's judiciary has improved ``tremendously'' in its services in the recent time.

Nwachukwu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt yesterday that a court's

decision to remand Rep. Farouk Lawan and Mr Boniface Emenalo, was a demonstration of supremacy of the law. ``The detention, in my view, is perfectly in order because a vocal and trusted personality like Farouk shouldn't have messed up his admirers,'' Nwachukwu said.

He decried the degree of corruption in the country, adding that it was common among the ruling class.

Nwachukwu, who called for prosecution of all culprits of corruption, blamed the prevalence of corruption on compromise and selective justice. (NAN)

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013 With Sonde Abbah 0803-2159-249 (SMS only) asonde@yahoo.com

Abba Moro: Now that scapegoat is gone‌

Comrade Abba Moro

Prior to the unceremonious exit of the immediate past Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, was in the eye of the storm.

Moro, in fact, was one of the prominent public officials fingered in the employment and promotion scandals that rattled the Nigerian Immigration Service to its foundation recently.

Barely had the poor woman been axed in the heat of these scams, however, than she was conveniently made a scapegoat. Moro and Co. now find it expedient to haul verbal grenades at the ex- Comptroller General. All that has been wrong with the Interior Ministry in general and the Immigration Service in particularsince only-Godknows when were unscrupulously attributed to her.

Question: now that that the fall guy has gone, who will Moro and Co. blame again for the rot in his Ministry and agencies?

Who will now carry the can for the alleged corruption, favouritism, injustice, and sundry "mago-mago" and "wuru-wuru" that reportedly reign supreme at the ministry and its outfits? Ghosts?

Imaginary foes? Satan? We shall see.

Gov Yero's ego trip to Abuja T

he other day Governor Muktar Yero dragged a 'battallion' of Kaduna State indigenes to the presidential villa in Abuja.

Their mission? To pay a socalled solidarity visit to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Solidarity? Nonsense. What sort of solidarity? In a serious

clime the motley gang from Kaduna would have been frogmarched home with immediate effect. Rather than settle down to face the serious task begging for his attention Yero is gallivanting about wasting his state's scarce resources on such a pig-headed, ego-massaging adventure.

‌.and Aminu Sule Lamido's trip to Gulag

N

emesis seems to have caught up with Aminu Sule, the eldest son of Jigawa State strong man, Sule Lamido.

The youngster, who indulged in some infamous escapades recently, was remanded in prison custody following his arraignment by the EFCC for

??????????

alleged money laundering.

The same Aminu, it would be recalled, had killed a man near Kano barely a few weeks ago following a tragic car crash.

From money laundering to manslaughter, then to jail. All in the twinkle of an eye. Did I hear you say it serves the guy right?

Governor Muktar Yero

CBN Governor, Sanujsi Lamido Sanusi

Will the 'real' Sanusi forward?

T

alk is cheap. Any nincompoop can blow hot air. Walking the talk is something else. Not a few big talkers usually ereeze when it is time to translate their "big mouth" into action.

Consider Sanusi Lamido.

The CBN governor's penchant for blunt talk is legendary. He never tires of admonishing bankers and public office holders to be above board. He projects the image of a quintessential champion of virtues like accountability, transparency, courage, integrity, and godliness.

Which may explain why all eyes were riveted on Sanusi when he was called to account recently. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, had challenged Sanusi to disclose his salary and sundry other entitlements. Pretty easy, right?

After all, everybody knows the annual salaries of the president, state governors, ministers, etc.

But, alas, this simple test seems to overwhelm our man.

So much so that he ducked.

Courage apparently deserted Sanusi when he needed it most.

The best he could do was to disclose only one of his multitude of entitlements: a princely N25,000 per night for local trips.

What about his salary?

What of the allowances he earns for foreign trips? How many domestic servants does he have, and how much does the CBN pay them? To these and many other pertinent posers, Sanusi demurred, proffering some sanctimonious excuses. The "real" Sanusi Lamido was too lilly-livered to stand up.

So much for so-called accountability and integrity.

Here is a little bit of unsolicited admonition for the Kano prince: if you lack the courage to endure a simple scrutiny, then dismount the moral high horse. 'Naija' is mortally tired of cant, chicanery and hypocrisy in high places!

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

By SONDE ABBAH 0803-2159-249 (SMS only) asonde@yahoo.com

Abba Moro: Now that P scapegoat is gone‌

rior to the unceremonious exit of the immediate past Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, was in the eye of the storm.

Moro, in fact, was one of the prominent public officials fingered in the employment and promotion scandals that rattled the Nigerian Immigration Service to its foundation recently.

Barely had the poor woman been axed in the heat of these scams, however, than she was conveniently made a scapegoat. Moro and Co. now find it expedient to haul verbal grenades at the ex- Comptroller General. All that has been wrong with the Interior Ministry in general and the Immigration Service in particularsince only-Godknows when were unscrupulously attributed to her.

Question: now that that the fall guy has gone, who will Moro and Co. blame again for the rot in his Ministry and agencies?

Who will now carry the can for the alleged corruption, favouritism, injustice, and sundry "mago-mago" and "wuru-wuru" that reportedly reign supreme at the ministry and its outfits? Ghosts?

Imaginary foes? Satan? We shall see.

BLAME GAME: Abba Moro

Gov Yero's ego trip to Abuja T he other day Governor Muktar Yero dragged a 'battallion' of Kaduna State indigenes to the presidential villa in Abuja.

Their mission? To pay a socalled solidarity visit to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Solidarity? Nonsense. What sort of solidarity? In a serious

clime the motley gang from Kaduna would have been frogmarched home with immediate effect. Rather than settle down to face the serious task begging for his attention Yero is gallivanting about wasting his state's scarce resources on such a pig-headed, ego-massaging adventure.

‌.and Aminu Sule Lamido's trip to Gulag

N

emesis seems to have caught up with Aminu Sule, the eldest son of Jigawa State strong man, Sule Lamido.

The youngster, who indulged in some infamous escapades recently, was remanded in prison custody following his arraignment by the EFCC for

ON THE SPOT: Aminu heads to jail

alleged money laundering.

The same Aminu, it would be recalled, had killed a man near Kano barely a few weeks ago following a tragic car crash.

From money laundering to manslaughter, then to jail. All in the twinkle of an eye. Did I hear you say it serves the guy right?

EGO TRIP: Governor Yero

LILY-LIVERED? Lamido Sanusi

Will the 'real' step Sanusi forward?

T

alk is cheap. Any nincompoop can blow hot air. Walking the talk is something else. Not a few big talkers usually ereeze when it is time to translate their "big mouth" into action.

Consider Sanusi Lamido.

The CBN governor's penchant for blunt talk is legendary. He never tires of admonishing bankers and public office holders to be above board. He projects the image of a quintessential champion of virtues like accountability, transparency, courage, integrity, and godliness.

Which may explain why all eyes were riveted on Sanusi when he was called to account recently. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, had challenged Sanusi to disclose his salary and sundry other entitlements. Pretty easy, right?

After all, everybody knows the annual salaries of the president, state governors, ministers, etc.

But, alas, this simple test seems to overwhelm our man.

So much so that he ducked.

Courage apparently deserted Sanusi when he needed it most.

The best he could do was to disclose only one of his multitude of entitlements: a princely N25,000 per night for local trips.

What about his salary?

What of the allowances he earns for foreign trips? How many domestic servants does he have, and how much does the CBN pay them? To these and many other pertinent posers, Sanusi demurred, proffering some sanctimonious excuses. The "real" Sanusi Lamido was too lilly-livered to stand up.

So much for so-called accountability and integrity.

Here is a little bit of unsolicited admonition for the Kano prince: if you lack the courage to endure a simple scrutiny, then dismount the moral high horse. 'Naija' is mortally tired of cant, chicanery and hypocrisy in high places!

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

PAGE 47

Yesterday’s solution

SUDOKU

Say what?

Some Interesting Facts •According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying.

•Actor Tommy Lee Jones and former vice-president Al Gore were freshman roommates at Harvard.

•Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

•All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

•All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.

•All porcupines float in water.

•Almonds are a member of the peach family.

•Almost a quarter of the land area of Los Angeles is taken up by automobiles.

•America once issued a 5-cent bill.

•America's first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by 3 men.

•Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.

•An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

•An average person laughs about 15 times a day.

•An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.

•An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

•Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy.

•Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always all the same sex.

Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

•Aztec emperor Montezuma had a nephew, Cuitlahac, whose name meant "plenty of excrement."

•Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under is cap to keep him cool. He changed it every 2 innings.

•Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.

•Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day.

•Back in the mid to late 1980's, an IBM-compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

•Bank robber John Dillinger played professional baseball.

•Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.

•Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

•Ben and Jerry's send the waste from making ice cream to local pig farmers to use as feed. Pigs love the stuff, except for one flavor: Mint Oreo.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Hungry: The enormous lioness let out a roar as she stared at the rapt seven-year-old boy from behind the glass of her enclosure at a zoo in US. Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

SPORTS

LA TEST LATEST FIFA threatens World Cup expulsion over racism

B

ulgaria and Hungary could be expelled from the 2014 World Cup qualifiers if they appealed FIFA sanction against them for racism Both lost their appeals against sanctions handed down

by FIFA following racist incidents involving their supporters, and warned both countries that a repeat could lead to expulsion from World Cup qualifying.

Both nations must play their next qualifiers for Brazil 2014 behind closed doors after they unsuccessful challenged the decision to the FIFA's appeals committee. The Hungarian FA has been fined £28,000 and the Bulgarian FA £24,000.

FIFA said in a statement: "The appeals lodged by the Hungarian Football Federation and Bulgarian Football Union were both rejected and the decisions of the FIFA disciplinary committee rendered on 20 November 2012, are confirmed in their entirety.

Jonathan charges Super Eagles to bring back trophy

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday charged the Super Eagles to beat the Eagles of Mali in today's semi- final clash in the ongoing African Cup of Nations in South Africa and return with the trophy.

The President, who had a 15minute live chat with members of the team via Skype, said the government would reward accordingly, “if they bring back the trophy home.”

"Just last Night we kicked off our centenary celebration. We believe that you will bring the cup to your fatherland this year. We are very hopeful we are all proud of you, we are all happy with what you have done and we want you to do more,” Jonathan said.

He later spoke with the individual players. Firstly, with Captain Joseph Yobo, who assured the president of victory, and then all the other players.

The President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari also spoke in the same vein and promised to return with the trophy.

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE Nigerians are expecting that if I am bringing in ministers at this time, they must be people who will strengthen the team and score more goals than we are already scoring.

— President Jonathan while swearing in two new ministers on Monday, Feb. 5

A nation finds its moral compass O

ne lesson that must not be missed from the enormous outrage that followed the light sentence given to John Yusuf Yakub, the pension funds thief, is that government must take prompt action to bring appropriate punishment to bear on officials who steal money in billions and trillions of Naira. If they fail to do that, the public would have no recourse but to start lynching those thieves.

Yusuf's sentence, which was no more than a slap on the wrist, came to Nigerians like a bad joke.

A man convicted for stealing 23 billion Naira was asked to go to jail for two years or pay a fine of N750,000 which amounts to no more than 0.003 percent of the stolen funds. Pronto, he settled the fine and walked home a free man.

Well, a free man until the outrage of the conviction hit the roof and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, came back for him.

They have since instituted another charge before the courts on account of which he was ordered to be kept at Kuje Prisons pending trial. When he heard the ridiculous verdict, a returnee Diasporan in my neighbourhood, a man whose most productive life was spent in the United States of America, joked that he was ready to go to prison for five years, not two as given to Yusuf, if they would allow him to keep all that money at the end of it.

For quite some time, the Nigerian courts have inherited and continued to dispense, willynilly a justice system that is skewed in favour of VIPs. Ordinary citizens on the other hand continue to groan under it, their weariness growing with each incident. But the recent conviction of Yusuf seems to task their patience beyond limits. They seem no longer prepared to take the insults. The public seems to want a retributive justice that should assume a form as violent and demonic as the crime it is meant to punish.

This anger against the skewed justice system became manifest with the two-year prison sentence of the former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha in 2007 following his conviction for money laundering. Nigerians' anger against this did not, however, crystallize until the time it was provoked by the Federal High Court in Enugu, which sentenced the former Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion to a six months imprisonment or a fine of N3.5million. This was following his conviction on a onecount charge of misappropriation of money in excess of N3 billion. As with many things in Nigeria, the storm that rose with these

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MUSINGS By

Garba Shehu garshehu@yahoo.co.in

Chief Justice Mariam Alooma Mukhtar incidents died down after a little while.

In 2009, the then Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George got a 30-month jail term following his conviction on 47-counts charge on contract splitting and inflation as Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA. In the following year, the Managing Director of the defunct Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru got a six months prison sentence for 25 counts charge of Bank and Securities fraud.

Nigerians were angered and thought these men and women deserved harsher prison terms than the courts had issued. The collective rage Nigerians felt over the years burst out in a flare

following the recent conviction of Yusuf and in their groups and numbers, they have been screaming to be heard in their calls for stiffer punishment for theft and corruption- related offences.

Two things in the view of many explain why things are the way they are. One, and principally, is the law itself. As eloquently stated

by Mr. Okey-Wali, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, the devil is in the law, not the trial judges. While it is true that we need trials by the learned and impartial judges in all cases, there is little or nothing a judge can do to punish a culprit outside the provisions of the law. The way to handle this issue is to have the government and the National Assembly look at the Penal and

“

While it is true that we need trials by the learned and impartial judges in all cases, there is little or nothing a judge can do to punish a culprit outside the provisions of the law. The way to handle this issue is to have the government and the National Assembly look at the Penal and Criminal Codes and give them the kind of bite that this situation warrants, keeping in view the public opinion and the voice of conscience

Criminal Codes and give them the kind of bite that this situation warrants, keeping in view the public opinion and the voice of conscience. This has to be done quickly in a proper, firm and just manner or else our children and grand children will ask:"what did you do when these things were happening?"

Secondly, the country needs to build upon the massive reactions following these controversial decisions. It is significant for the country that there is a growing sense of collective responsibility and a sense that crime and its punishment mustn't just be left to government but also involve the civil society. To exorcise official theft, bribery and corruption, this country must rediscover and hold the moral fabric that ties us together. Each citizen has a duty to do. After World War II, when the atrocities of Nazi holocaust came to light, the German people were saddled with the moral burden of what they called "collective responsibility".

This country had gradually lost the community sense of shame.

This appalling state of affairs reflects fully from a open declaration by a former head of state that he felt so sense of shame.

This was a leader whose son filed a statement before a judge indicting him of the worst possible moral corruption charges there can be.

In traditional Igbo Society, that elder would have been banished to the forest, never to to return to the community till he or she dies. But Nigerians high and low still hug that man.

The story of Bode George's ceremonial public reception, live on TV following his completion of the prison term has been well told.

Chief George has since been reengaged at the highest echelons of the country's leadership. In India where the Press Council has penal powers, a journalist who publishes a lie is fined 50 Rupees, which is no more than one Naira. The issue here isn't the amount paid as fine.

It is the shame of conviction that goes with it that is the real blemish.

Elsewhere, the fear of public exposure is known to serve as a far more effective deterrent against crime than actual conviction.

Today in this country, there is no shame.

My hope is that the momentum gained fighting this issue by civil society groups, notably the NBA, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the Political Parties (minus PDP) and the mass media must be carried to the next level, to ensure the necessary amendments are made to the laws to make them more effective. This is if we must prevent the lynching of culprits.

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: +234 805 727 9862. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141