Peoples Daily Online

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 10 No. 7

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Jonathan may lose 2015 election — Asari Dokubo

. . . putting the people first

Safar 22, 1434 AH

N150

John Mahama: PDP BoT: Opposition boycotts Odds favour Anenih swearing-in

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NNPC borrows N240bn to pay fuel debt ...15,000 bpd of oil as collateral

By Aminu Imam, with agency report

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has obtained a $1.5 billion (N240 billion) syndicated loan to help it pay debts to international fuel traders, a senior banking source with knowledge of the deal revealed yesterday.

The deal, which was struck at the end of last year, is seen as crucial to easing the burden on big commodity traders, who were facing the prospect of painful multimillion dollar write-offs, oil trading sources told Reuters.

The loan, provided by several Nigerian and international banks and brokered by Standard Chartered, will be paid back over five and half years. The NNPC has put up 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of its oil production as collateral, the source said.

Standard Chartered and the NNPC declined requests for official comment, according to Reuters.

Had Nigeria defaulted on these loans it could have restricted the future borrowing capacity of Africa's second largest economy and would have worried credit agencies like Fitch and Standard and Poors, which recently upgraded Nigeria, said Reuters.

Standard Chartered and the NNPC declined requests for official comment.

When Peoples Daily reporter attempted to contact the NNPC’s Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Mr. Fidel Pepple, to comment on the loan, he neither Contd on Page 2

L-R: Nasarawa state Governor, Alhaji Umaru Tanko Al-makura, presenting a plaque to Chief Executive, Martin Press Services Ltd, Mr. Lawrence Martin, during the latter's visit to the governor yesterday in Lafia.

Families of crash victims on Dana’s test flight

By Lawrence Olaoye and Suleiman ldris

Reps query clearance, to reopen inquest next week

couple of families of victims of the June 3, 2012 Dana air crash were among the few passengers who braved the odds to fly with the airline at the weekend when it

resumed flight operations in the country, Peoples Daily checks have revealed.

This is just as the House of Representatives has queried the clearance given to Dana Airlines

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to resume flights, raising concerns over safety issues among others. The House has also resolved to reopen its inquest into the crash when it resumes session next week.

Further checks yesterday at the five points of sales occupied by the airline at the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA2), Lagos domestic wing indicated that Dana will have to deploy the

best of persuasive marketing messages to get travelling Nigerians to return to the airline noted for its excellent customer relations before the unfortunate Contd on Page 2

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

CONTENTS News

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

Fire guts INEC headquarters

By Richard Ihediwa

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here was pandemonium yesterday at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, as staff ran in different directions following a fire that began in a section of the head office complex.

The development which was described as a “minor fire incident”

by INEC Director of Public Affairs, Emmanuel Umenger affected the Voter Registry Department of the commission.

Umenger in a statement said the fire incident started at about 10.30 am but was quickly put out by a combined team of fire fighters from the Federal Fire Service and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Abuja.

The fire destroyed documents and other valuables including office equipment and personal effects of the Voter Registry Director, Engineer Emmanuel T. Akem.

Umenger said the incident would not in any way affect the operational capacity of the

Commission. He said the cause of the fire was being investigated and the outcome of the inquiry would be made known in due course.

However, there are speculations that the fire might have been caused by close circuit.

Speaking to journalists at the commission’s premises, INEC Director of Information Communication Technology, Engineer Chidi Nwafor, assured that no vital document of the commission was affected.

“There was a fire incident this morning,” he said. “Most of us that

were around that time had to use the normal fire extinguisher to try to stop the fire and at the same time we called the fire service and the fire service came, as did NEMA. “As I am talking to you now the fire has been quenched; no more fire now. It was only one office that was affected.”

Yesterday’s fire was the second in 18 months; the fire razed the office of the Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega, causing destruction in the visitors’ room and the computer sections.

S/Report

24-25

Supreme Court cautions UNILORIN 49 over demands

Defence

26-27

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

Agric

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he Supreme Court yesterday cautioned the reinstated lecturers of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), to stop making excessive demands of the institution.

The lecturers, referred to Unilorin 49, were sacked in February 2001for participating in a nationwide strike called by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Supreme Court, on December 11, 2009 reinstated them and asked the university to pay their accumulated salaries and allowances.

However, the institution returned to the apex court yesterday to complain that the lecturers had obtained a Federal High Court order to withhold N302 million in its First Bank account.

The lecturers, according to the university, are demanding that

Contd from Page 1 responded to calls nor text messages sent to his mobile phone.

It is recalled that NNPC owes major commodity trading houses, including Glencore and Mercuria, around $3.5 billion in unpaid fuel supply bills, according to a report last year commissioned by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

OPEC member, Nigeria is among the world's top 10 crude oil exporters but has insufficient refining capacity to meet its domestic fuel needs and is heavily reliant on imports, on which it pays costly subsidies to keep a lid on retail petrol prices.

President Goodluck Jonathan attempted to end fuel subsidies in January, 2012 but backed down after it sparked widespread protests against higher fuel costs.

Decades of mismanagement and corruption have left NNPC heavily indebted, several audits have shown.

A list of creditors published in an oil report earlier this year showed there were 35 firms still owed for fuel.

Trading companies have been battling for months to recoup the money and some have since stopped supplying Nigeria with fuels. But they have mostly remained in the country partly because of huge opportunities in the upstream sector, reports Reuters.

The list showed that Glencore was owed $138 million, Vitol was owed $198 million and Trafigura was owed $53 million. In reality, debts for some individual trading companies are widely thought to

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their earned leave allowances for the period-over eight years-that they were at home be monetized.

They are also asking for sabbatical allowance even though they were not at work while some of them already engaged by other institutions at the time.

They also want the institution to return about N200 million deducted at source from their money and paid as reward to the institutions that had engaged them before they were

reinstated.

Unilorin’s lawyer, Malam Yusuf Ali (SAN), urged the apex court to clarify whether its 2009 decision covered the demands made by the lecturers.

When the matter came up yesterday, a panel of justices of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Mahmud Mohammed expressed concern that the lecturers misinterpreted the judgement of the court to justify their “excessive” demands.

NNPC borrows N240bn to pay fuel debt Addressing transport problems of expectant mothers in rural areas, Page 4

Feature

30

Int’l

31-34

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-46

Leisure

47

Columnist

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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

be much higher due to exposure via subsidiaries and partner firms.

For example, Bermuda corporate registration documents showed that Calson, owed $115.11 million by NNPC, was using Vitol's Geneva address. Similarly, Napoil, owed $75.6 million, is a partner of Trafigura, its website showed.

Last month, President Goodluck Jonathan requested The National Assembly to approve a supplementary budget totalling N161.6 billion “to settle accumulated fuel subsidy arrears owed local oil marketers.”

The President expressly stated that that the supplementary budget was needed “following the forensic audit carried out, the provision for fuel subsidy in the

2012 budget was underestimated.”

The supplementary budget approved by the National Assembly, which stirred another controversy, would bring the total fuel subsidy budget for 2012 to N1,041,881,608,594.

The NNPC also in December bowed to pressure to make public its annual estimate as the agency unveiled a budget of $13.48billion (about N1.9trillion) for the 2013 fiscal year.

The corporation, at a stormy session with the Senate Committee on Petroleum, told the lawmakers that it had so far spent $104 billion out of the $12,78 billion it requested for its operations in 2012.

The figure, according to the NNPC, represents 61 percent performance of the 2012 budget.

Families of crash victims on Dana’s test flight Contd from Page 1 crash.

Our reporter who visited the terminal observed that few passengers visited the sales points to purchase flight tickets unlike what it was in its hay days. The airline’s staff on duty at the counters were very courteous, warmly welcoming those who visited the stand.

The airline resumed domestic operation last Friday with a private flight that had some dignitaries including journalists and families of some of the victims of the crash for a Lagos and Abuja round trip which the airline’s spokesperson, Mr. Tony Usidamen, described as successful.

Some other passengers who were expected to fly with the airline at the weekend were said

to have developed cold feet midway and subsequently missed their flight.

While it has continued to fly passengers from Lagos to Abuja in the interim, a report shows that the airline is leaving no stone unturned to facilitate flight resumption to other parts of the country, especially Uyo, Calabar and Port Harcourt.

But kicking against the flight resumption by Dana, the House of Representatives in a statement by the Chairman of the Committee on Aviation, Rep Nkiruka Onyejeocha, said it was highly disturbed that issues related to the crash, especially those bordering on safety, have not been resolved.

Consequently, the House has decided to reopen an inquest into

the crash immediately it resumes sitting next week. The statement reads: “The Committee on Aviation, House of Representatives notes the displeasure and concerns of Nigerians over the resumption of flights by Dana airline.

“The Chairman of the Committee Hon. Nkeiruka C. Onyejeocha is particularly worried that all issues relating to the crash has not been resolved, including issues of compensation to victims, air safety and sundry issues. The chairman, however advises Nigerians to be patient as the House of Representatives is committed to the safety of our airspace.

“The Chairman promised that as soon as the House of Representatives resumes next

week, this issue will be looked into.

The concerns, displeasure and opinions of Nigerians will not be brushed aside. She appealed for patience and restraint,” the statement read.

It would be recalled that the Dana crash which killed over 160 passengers on board last year had attracted a probe by the House.

The Green Chamber had in the report, submitted by the committee, recommended the sack of the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren.

The House equally alleged the Dana crash was traceable to human error and recommended that the airline be sanctioned according to international best practices.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

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Jonathan may lose 2015 – Asari Dokubo

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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R-L: President Goodluck Jonathan congratulating President John Mahama of Ghana, after his inauguration yesterday at the Independence Square in Accra, Ghana.

enowned Niger Delta activist and the president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, has stated that given the way President Goodluck Jonathan is going, the South-south where Jonathan hails from might fail in a second term bid.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Asari-Dokubo expressed worry that there is nothing on ground to ensure victory for President Jonathan in 2015, emphasising that nothing is happening.

According to him, “nothing is happening. That is the truth and it must be said without mincing words. You cannot continue to keep quiet when nothing is happening”.

He regretted that the East-West Road has remained a death trap, while the coastal roads that late President Musa Yar’Adua spoke

Boko Haram: Police beef up security as residents flee Gboko From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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he Benue state police command has intensified security across the state to avert the intrusion of persons suspected to members of the Boko Haram sect and other criminals.

This move followed the raid at the weekend of a hideout of a suspected Boko Haram leader simply identified as Jalingo by security operatives from Abuja.

Jalingo was said to have escaped during the raid while his

rented apartment in Gboko South was demolished.

Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ezeala who confirmed the incident in a telephone chat with our reporter, said the state’s police commissioner, Christopher Katso, has charged DPOs in the state to ensure adequate security in their domains.

Meanwhile, residents of Agase, behind Islamic Primary School, Gboko South in Benue state are fleeing the area following the raid, weekend, of security operatives

from Abuja on the rented apartment of a suspected Boko Haram leader, Jalingo.

Our correspondent gathered that the residents are afraid of a possible attack or another raid of the area by security operatives, maintaining that the manner they raided the area, shooting sporadically with bullets hitting homes of people, scared them.

A resident, Uker Madugu lamented that the stories he has heard of the activities of the sect, makes him and others afraid that

they may come back or the security operatives could return and bombard the area.

“We are scared because we have heard and read a lot about the modus operandi of the sect.

Also, the way the security operatives stormed the area leaves a lot to desire and so we are fleeing for our dear lives”, Madugu said.

It could be recalled that Governor Gabriel Suswam had during a church service raised the alarm that members of the Boko Haram sect were after his life.

PDP BoT: Odds favour Anenih

By Lawrence Olaoye

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here are indications that the chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, will emerge the new chairman of the body as members decide today.

A source in the PDP BoT who craved anonymity said majority of the members have decided to endorse Anenih because President Goodluck Jonathan and other important stakeholders in the party believe he should occupy the position.

Although there have series of reports indicating that the President may be at loggerhead with his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on who becomes the BoT chairman, investigations reveal that most members of the body may have resolved to back Jonathan because of the provisions of the PDP constitution.

It was gathered that though Obasanjo has been canvassing for the candidature of the former PDP chairman, Chief Ahmadu Ali,

…interim chairmanship for plan B

some members feel that having Ali as the chairman would amount to turning the apple cart.

Ali, according to a source within the BoT cannot become the chairman of the body because he hails from the same geo-political zone as the body’s secretary, Senator Walid Jibrin. Most of the body’s members, according to our findings, reasoned that having Ali as the chairman would stir further crises in the party.

But, there are indications that a plan B has been put in place should it be difficult to persuade other stakeholders to support Anenih. It was gathered that members may have resolved to settle for an interim chairman that would pilot the affairs of the board pending the time the disagreement would have been resolved.

Our source disclosed that the alternative plan is to have an arrangement where there would be an interim chairman to run the body until such time when the substantive chairman would emerge through consensus.

The source added that both

Jonathan and Obasanjo would prefer the emergence of a consensus candidate as conducting election for the position among the 98 member PDP BoT, they reasoned, would create a bad blood capable of doing incalculable damage to the party.

The source, who is also a BoT member, said “It is dicey. There should be a middle way to this. But, it is unlikely that we go for election because the collateral effect of doing

so will not be well for the party. You know our national chairman and the national secretary emerged by consensus and there has been peace in the party thereafter. I think the same method would be used. But, in this logjam, we may not be able to come up with a BoT chairman this night; I think the popular idea is for us to have an interim chairman pending the time the rough edges would be smoothened”.

about when he was president have also been thrown away, asking where the Ledum Mitte Report is since it was submitted.

Speaking further, he said that Jonathan may not be able to meet the yearning of the Ijaw people, adding that people are becoming very impatient.

While saying that Niger Deltans will still give the President a benefit of doubt, Asari-Dokubo pointed out that overtime, if it is clear he does not share the same aspiration with them, they will abandon him.

“And it would come to that because people are becoming impatient, they have started asking questions. The Boko Haram people are becoming bolder now.

They think we have been subdued, and this is not what we can take.

He is our brother, but we cannot sacrifice our freedom for him”, he stated.

Unimaid student wounded as insurgents attack JTF From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

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he Joint Military Task Force in Borno state, said yesterday that a student of the University of Maiduguri was wounded, when suspected insurgents attacked its troops in Gwange Ward.

The JTF did not disclose the identity of the affected student, saying the victim was hit by stray bullet in gun duel between soldiers and the attackers.

Spokesman of the task force, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, in a statement issued to newsmen, said: information at the disposal of the JTF, revealed that at about 5:50 am, a JTF location at Gwange Ward in Maiduguri metropolis, was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists, leading to shootouts. A taxi was however caught in the cross fire; unfortunately a stray bullet hit one of the passengers who is believed to be a student of the University of Maiduguri".

According to the statement, the injured student in the taxi was escorted to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, (UMTH), where he is being treated.

10 Katsina CPC MPs to know fate today

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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Federal High Court in Abuja will today deliver judgement in the suit brought before it by a faction of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) lawmakers from Katsina state challenging the withdrawal of their certificates of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Court sitting before Justice

Gladys Olotu had in December last year fixed judgement but could not deliver it and told parties in the matter that the judgement was not ready and the court would notify them whenever the judgement was ready.

Two Senators and eight members of the House of Representatives dragged INEC, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Clerk of the National Assembly, CPC and 10 members of the National

Assembly before the court over INEC’s action which saw them ousted from the National Assembly.

The plaintiffs, in the suit filed on their behalf by Yahaya Mahmood, asked the court to nullify the certificates of return issued by INEC to Senators Abubakar Sadiq Yar’adua, Abubakar Hadi Sirika and eight members of the House of Representatives, who are 5th to 14th defendants in the suit.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Addressing transport problems of expectant mothers in rural areas

By Rabiu Sani

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mina Adamu, 25, was in labour for about 20 hours at the “clinic” of a traditional birth attendant at Falgeri village in Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa.

She was unable to give birth, despite the herbs administered on her by the traditional birth attendant, while her condition deteriorated. Adamu, Amina’s husband, wanted her to be moved to an orthodox hospital but there was no means to do so immediately.

The hapless man finally secured an ox-driven cart to convey her to a hospital, some17 kilometres away. The night journey was difficult due to the condition of the road and poor visibility The cart driver was forced to stop at a nearby village, as the animal could not move further due to poor visibility. Succour, however came, as a commercial bus driver ferried her to a maternity home in a nearby village, where she gave birth to a baby boy safely.

However, Amina’s plight aptly exemplifies the problems usually encountered by women in labour in Jigawa State’s rural communities, and such problems partly account for the high maternal mortality rate in the state. Statistics from the Jigawa State Ministry of Health indicate that 2, 000 women die out of 100, 000 live births. The ministry, nonetheless, identifies bad roads and poor means of transportation as major factors responsible for the high maternal mortality rate in the state.

To redress the trend, the Ministry of Women Affairs, in collaboration with National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Partnership for Reviving Routine Immunisation (PRINN), initiated a free transport service for expectant mothers. The programme was particularly designed to provide free transport service for expectant mothers in rural areas. Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmad, the Secretary of the Jigawa chapter of NURTW, said that the programme was to reduce the high incidence of maternal mortality in the state. He said that the union had directed its members in all the 27 local government areas of the state to offer free transport services to expectant mothers across the state.

Besides, Ahmad said that the union was working in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs to identify communities without nearby health facilities. “We are focusing our attention on areas where there are no health facilities; this will enable us to assist and convey women in

Transport Minister, Senator Idris Umar labour in those areas to the nearest clinics. “The gesture is to complement government’s efforts in enhancing safe motherhood and reducing maternal mortality,” he added.

The NURTW secretary said that four volunteer drivers had been selected in each of the 27 local government areas to facilitate the smooth implementation of the programme. Ahmad said that the volunteer drivers were trained on special driving techniques and first aid, adding that more than 500 women had so far benefited from the free transport service.

Hajia Aisha Ahmed, a consultant with PRINN, said that her organisation had sensitised communities to how they could key in into the free transport service scheme. She stressed that the communities were encouraged to provide volunteer drivers and contribute money for fuelling the vehicles which would convey expectant mothers to hospitals during emergency periods. Ahmed also said that Muslim clerics would be engaged in the campaign to reduce maternal mortality in

the state. “Statistics show that maternal mortality rate is high among young married women in Jigawa due to factors such as ignorance and

illiteracy.

“The data also reveals that most pregnancy-related complications are due to the nonpatronage of antenatal centres

Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu

by expectant mothers. “We, therefore, want to engage Islamic clerics in the campaign to facilitate proper education on safe motherhood and encourage husbands to allow their wives to attend antenatal clinics,” she said. Isa Haruna, one of the volunteer drivers in the free transport service scheme, expressed joy over the programme. “I am happy because the initiative provides us a good opportunity to serve humanity and address one of the major health problems affecting our society,” he said.

Malam Isa Adamu, whose wife was recently conveyed to the hospital via the free transport scheme, commended the initiators of the programme.

“The free transport service for pregnant women is good; it saved the life of my wife. “If not for the assistance we received from the bus driver, we could not have made it to the clinic; and maybe, my wife and the baby could have died. “Many families in my village and adjourning villages have also benefited from the scheme,” Adamu noted. It appears that the scheme has started producing the desired fruits, as Dr Aminu Danmalam, the Director of the State Primary Health Care, said that the maternal mortality rate in the state had dropped.

He attributed the development to the various mobilisation programmes carried out by the government, in collaboration with other organisations, on the Safe Motherhood Initiative. “The initiative has greatly improved the maternal mortality rate positively. The rate, which was initially very high, has reduced drastically.

‘However, this may not be verified until a maternal mortality survey is conducted by the National Planning Commission and the Bureau for Budget and Statistics,” Danmalam added. All the same, Dr Sabo Bashir, a medical practitioner, underscored the need for the government at all levels to replicate the free transport scheme in their respective domains. “It is good to replicate the free transport service scheme by government at all levels. “It is also desirable to provide good road networks as well as health facilities that are equipped with the state-of-theart equipment and qualified personnel,” he, however, added.

As Bashir suggested, the free transport service for expectant mothers ought to be widened as it would aid efforts to reduce the high incidence maternal mortality, particularly in rural communities.

Source: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

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Insecurity: Passengers, commuters endure harrowing police checks From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

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ommuters to the Lagos airport from Ikeja (under the bridge) and the LagosAbeokuta expressway end had a harrowing experience yesterday as they waited endlessly for close to four hours to either get to work or catch their various flights in the morning no thanks to activities of the Police Anti-bomb Unit.

As early as 6am, according to passengers, a detachment of mobile policemen had mounted a road block at the front of the domestic wing while explosives experts randomly searched incoming vehicles. The situation created a web of traffic gridlocks around the various streets inside Ikeja.

Our reporter who was also caught in the holdup noticed four pick-up vans from the Lagos state security outfit (Operation Attacks)

Food poisoning wreaks havoc at agency From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

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eported cases of food poisoning rocking the Integrated Data Services Limited, (IDSL) Benin, Edo state is causing apprehension in the company, following the slow pace of investigation into the matter.

Scores of staff of IDSL, a subsidiary of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were said to have been hosted to an end-of-year bash in honour of retirees by management of the company on December 13, 2012.

Confirming the incident, the company’s manager, Public Administration Department, Yemi Dare, said the medical unit was investigating the matter.

It was learnt that most of those affected were treated at the NNPC Staff Clinic, Benin.

Dare however denied that any personnel died as a result of the incidence.

He confirmed a certain Ela Catering Services was contracted for the food needs at the occasion.

But was however unable to provide address of the catering outfit.

He said: “IDSL held a send-off reception in honour of its retirees on 13th December 2012. At the occasion, which witnessed valedictory speeches, refreshments, including foods and drinks which were contracted out to a renowned caterer in Benin City, were served by the caterers.

packed at different locations along the less than one kilometre road from under the bridge opposite the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to the Forte Petrol station beside the roundabout at the entrance to the airport.

Traffic gridlock stretched up to Sheraton Hotel along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, extending into Oba Akran and also affected those along Obafemi Awolowo Way inside Ikeja while Oba Akinjobi road, the entrance from the GRA, Olowu Street, Medical Road and the entrance from the Lagos Abeokuta expressway were not spared.

Commuters, most of them travellers, lamented the crude method employed by the security operatives to screen vehicles coming into a sensitive facility like the airport.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters was gutted yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Fake drugs task force raises alarm over death threats in Kano From Edwin Olofu, Kano

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he task force on fake, counterfeit, adulterated drugs and unwholesome processed food products in Kano, has raised alarm over threats to the life of its members and members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria by unknown

persons.

Speaking to newsmen in his office, chairman of the task force, Ali Adamu said the members had “in recent days received anonymous calls and text messages threatening to exterminate them for their role in the closure of the Sabon-Gari drugs market by Kano state government”.

Adamu stated that the threat came barely a week after the taskforce enforced the closure of the drugs market at Abubakar Rimi Market located inSabon Gari after the expiry of the six months notice earlier issued.

Adamu said: “We have equally informed the police and several other security agencies in the state

including the state government and therefore deemed it fit to bring in it to the knowledge of the general public.

Adamu called on their members to be cautious of their safety and report suspicious movements around their places of abode to the nearest police station for immediate action.

Nasarawa to partner with UK Kick BATN out of media merit firm to upgrade printing press awards, ERA tells organisers From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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orried by the poor quality of work at the state-owned printing press, Governor Umaru Tanko Almakura of Nasarawa state, has disclosed plans to partner with a United Kingdom (UK)-based firm to reposition the facility toward optimal utilisation.

Al-makura stated this in an address to a delegation of the UK firm which visited him in Lafia, the state capital.

The governor noted that when his administration took office, it discovered that the press had serious challenges as most of the machines were obsolete and could not meet up with the demands of government printing jobs.

He stated that the dilapidated state of the press prompted the state

government to source for credible technical partners that would help to upgrade and increase its capacity to international standards, adding that the upgrade would ensure that the press would not be restricted to the statutory responsibility of printing only government documents but would venture into commercial printing and publishing.

Al-makura expressed satisfaction with the credentials of the firm in printing services spanning over 40 years, adding that the government would carefully study their proposal to see how it would collaborate with the firm.

On his part, Lawrence Martin, leader of the delegation, told the governor that with the technical abilities of the firm and the facilities it would bring into the state, it would do a good job and the upgrade would create employment and prosperity.

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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nvironmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), has called on the Board of the Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA) to reject the yearly British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) “Best Industry Reporter Endowment” presented at the annual event to save the awards from becoming a mockery to public health.

The call came on the heels of the 2012 NMMA last December at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Lagos where several categories of honours were accorded journalists, including the Best Industry Reporter sponsored by BATN. The NMMA is organised to celebrate and reward distinguished journalists and organisations on a yearly basis.

The organisers said over 1, 800 entries were received for the 2012

awards, and winners unveiled from the 51 categories of awards during the grand presentation programme reputed to be the largest gathering of practitioners, veterans and stakeholders in the Nigerian media industry.

In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN described the BATN endowment as a tactic for muzzling the media and suppressing critical editorials that expose the dangers of tobacco use and the activities of tobacco firms.

“This is simply an affront on public health and the noble practice of journalism in Nigeria.

An industry promoting a lethal product cannot at the same time also ingratiate itself to society’s watchdog, talk more of sponsoring an endowment on industry reporting,” said ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi.

Kwara govt seeks less dependence on FG allocations From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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overnor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state has reiterated the state government’s desire to ensure that the state is less dependent on what he referred to as "the increasingly inadequate federal allocation".

Governor Ahmed who stated this while speaking at a five-day retreat for the newly recruited staff of Harmony Holdings Limited, said government's collaboration with the private sector in the running of its business enterprises was to ensure that such companies boost the internally generated revenue

(IGR) of the state and shift emphasis from dependence on federal allocation.

Governor Ahmed explained that the Harmony Holdings' public private partnership approach was to benchmark against global best practice to ensure that the company and its subsidiaries are

properly run.

“A new sense of work culture of being target driven is necessary to meet the plethora of challenges as federal allocation alone cannot sustain the development of the states. Any state that will survive must come up with ingenuity in its operations".

The chairman, Board of Directors of Harmony Holdings, Prof. Halidu Abubakar in his remarks, said the enterprise would be run as a gateway for the attraction of local and foreign investors by ensuring that the holding company and its subsidiaries become a world class institution.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Yobe earmarks N100m for vulnerable groups From Uche Uche, Damaturu.

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L-R: Cote d'Ivoire President, Alhassan Ouattara; former Ghanaian President John Kuffour; and Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, during the inauguration of the new Ghanaian President, Dr Dramani Mahama, yesterday in Accra, Ghana.

Unilorin plans accommodation for 34,000 students From Olanrewju Lawal, Ilorin uthorities of the University of Ilorin have signified readiness to provide 34,000 students studying in the institution with accommodation within the premises of the school for proper security and monitoring.

Vice Chancellor of the Institution, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali who disclosed this during interaction with Journalists in

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his residence in Ilorin said three foreign private developers have shown interest to construct hostel under a memorandum of understanding.

The Vice Chancellor who said the current accommodation facilities could only contain 3,000 students, explained that the management of the institution wants a better control of students in the campus.

“So, we still want to encourage more developers to come, if they were within the

campus, they would be within our control. Of course, we are planning to provide light, electricity, water and water for our students 24 hours.”

Ambali disclosed that the water project embarked upon by the management has reached completion stage, stressing that the university dam would be providing 24 hours water supply in the next three months.

He noted that the University Council has approved undisclosed fund for the

completion of the project which would not only serve the university community, but friends of the institution.

On the infrastructure, the Vice Chancellor disclosed that the construction of the faculty of Education, Art and Multipurpose hall of the university would take off this year adding that, the federal Ministry of Education has approved the fund meant for the projects expected to complete within the shortest period.

adherence to due process in police activities and operations”.

Police said the launch of the code “is meant to generate the needed awareness among Government Officials, members of the Force and the general public; and to formally announce the enforcement of the “Code” both as a guide for all personnel of the Force, as

well as an instrument for monitoring the conduct of individual Police officers in the daily performance of their duties, by the Police High Command and the public”.

Dignitaries expected at the event includes President Goodluck Jonathan, the leadership of the National Assembly, Federal Ministers,

Executive Governors from the 36 States of the Federation, Service Chiefs, Senior Government Officials, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Senior Police Officers, etc.

The event has been scheduled to hold this week on January10, 2013 at International Conference Centre, Abuja.

obe state government has set aside the sum of N100 million for the support of orphans, widows and disabled groups in the state.

The state governor, Alh. Ibrahim Gaidam who disclosed this in his 2013 budget speech said government has laid down plan for the construction of the Damaturu modern amusement park and recreational center, and enlightenment campaign on girl-child education among others.

He said the state government during the 2013 fiscal year, would make further drive at enhancing the well-being, upliftment and empowerment of the womenfolk, children, orphans, widows, the destitute and other vulnerable groups through skill acquisition training, reactivation of cottage industries and rehabilitation of women development centers in the state.

To achieve this, he said, funds would be provided for the purchase of industrial and training materials, construction of pediatric and Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) wards at the Maryam Abacha Clinic and support towards self-reliance by orphans.

New Police code of conduct for launch Jan. 10 NPA

By Lambert Tyem

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olice High Command yesterday hinted that the new “Code of Conduct” for its personnel scheduled to be launched this week are set rules collated and formulated under the leadership of the InspectorGeneral of Police MD Abubakar to guide and regulate the behaviours of policemen in Nigeria, both on or off duty.

The authorities said the code basically contains standard of policing rules in line with contemporary international best practices as available in various United Nations Conventions, the Nigeria constitution, Police Act and Regulations and other domestic statutes.

Spokesman of the force, Frank Mba noted that the Code is intended to be used by police officers in determining what is right and proper in all their actions.

“The Code is designed to promote efficiency and effectiveness of Police services by promoting transparency, accountability and a deeper sense of civilian oversight on police activities.

“It is further intended to promote discipline, professionalism and strict

2013 year of reward for Oyo workers - Ajimobi From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan overnor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State yesterday assured workers in the state of his administration’s readiness to give them handsome rewards and add value to their lives this year for their commitment and dedication to work.

He gave this assurance while addressing civil and public servants at an inter-religious prayer session organised to usher in this year at the Governor’s Office car park, secretariat, Ibadan.

The governor noted that he had, since assumption of office, subjected the workers to series of challenges and created some stormy sessions, all aimed at getting the best out of time and making them more serviceoriented.

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“For you to have been able to withstand the pressure that we have brought to bear on you; for you to have survived our closemarking approach, shocking treatment and the pyramid of checks and balances, be assured that this year will be a year of reward for you.

“We have demanded a lot from you and you have given us; and for those of you who have survived the tsunami of change which was aimed at instilling discipline in the system and make the civil service serviceoriented, you will be adequately compensated,’’ he told the civil servants who thronged the venue of the programme.

While giving glory to God, the civil servants and the entire people of the state, Governor Ajimobi said but for God, his efforts at transforming and repositioning the state would

have paled into insignificance.

He stressed the need for the workers to be Godly and to rededicate themselves this year, pledging that his administration’s package for them for 2013 would be among the best in the South-West zone.

The governor also promised to build housing estates and arrange mortgage for the workers to enable them own the houses without any stress.

He urged religious leaders in the state to continue praying for his administration so that it could deliver on its promises and take the state to greater heights.

The Head of Service, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu had earlier in his welcome address, urged civil servants to key into the blueprint of the government for the successful implementation of the laudable programmes of the Ajimobi administration.

expects 85 ships in three weeks

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he Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday said that 85 ships were expected at the various terminals in Lagos ports between January 7 andJanuary 29.

The NPA’s daily publication, “Shipping Position’’, made available to newsmen in Lagos said the ships were carrying fish, wheat, rice, petroleum products, new and used vehicles, steel products, base oil, sugar and malt.

The document indicated that 19 of the ships were laden with petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel.

It said that seven ships were already waiting to berth and discharge petroleum products at the various oil terminals.

The document said two of the ships were laden with petrol, two with kerosene, two with aviation fuel, while one will discharge diesel. “Eleven ships are also waiting to discharge rice, bulk wheat, new vehicles and fertiliser,’’ it said. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 9

NSCDC trains 500 personnel on firearms handling in Kwara N

o fewer than 500 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Kwara have been trained in firearms handling in the state.

The state NSCDC Commandant, Mr Gana Yerima, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in IIorin on Sunday.

Yerima said the 500 personnel trained by the Nigerian Army on firearms handling had been deployed to various parts of the state.

He reaffirmed the determination of the corps to continue collaborating with

other security agencies toward eliminating crime in the state.

The commandant warned those carrying firearms against accidental discharge, loss or

damage of the firearms.

He further warned that the corps would deal ruthlessly with any officer found wanting.

“You are not carrying arms

for the sake of carrying it, use it for the protection of lives and property of the law abiding citizens,’’ Yerima said.

He said the corps would

continue to protect infrastructure belonging to Federal, State and Local Governments in the state.

The commandant urged the people of the state to always give useful information and suggestions that could assist in the elimination of crime in the state.

He said that 2012 was a year of success for the corps in the state and expressed optimism that 2013 would be better. (NAN)

FG set to end illegal logging next month

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he Department of Forestry, Federal Ministry of Environment, on Sunday in Abuja said it was working earnestly to end illegal logging of the nation’s timber products by next month.

The ministry’s Deputy Director, Forest Utilisation, Mr Thomas Fameso said that the country would soon sign a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU).

He said as a result of this the stoppage of illegal logging of timber products would likely take effect from February 2013.

VPA regulation empowers the EU to sign legally-binding trade agreements with timber-producing countries.

The regulation also prohibits placing timber on the EU market if the timber is illegally harvested.

Fameso gave assurances that the Nigerian forest management, through the agreement, would abide by the terms of agreement to improve on the nation’s forestry production.

He said the agreement, when in force, would also improve on forest conservation in the country, just as it would engender global best practices in forestry administration.

“The EU timber regulations prohibit placing of timber on the EU market if the timber is illegally harvested, especially when no VPA is signed. So, for countries like Nigeria that have not signed a VPA, timber is still allowed into the EU. But the importers must demonstrate that they have complied if there is significant risk of the timber coming from illegal sources and assure mitigation of the risks.

“The VPA will engender adequate forest production in Nigeria as we are going to abide by the terms of its agreement,’’ the ministry official said.

The deputy director also said that the EU regulations were essential to the preservation of matured forest due to its role in mitigating the effects of climate change. (NAN)

L-R: Minister of National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman; Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama; and VicePresident Mohammed Namadi Sambo, during a meeting on demographic database for the whole country, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

CPC to regulate ‘park and pay’ operations in Abuja

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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onsumer Protection Council (CPC) has directed the operators of ‘park and pay’ in the FCT to harmonise their operations.

Director General of the Council, Ify Umenyi who said this over the weekend in Abuja, said the agency would engage the FCTA over the issue with a view to bringing solution to the excessive nature of the operations.

The DG said the charge became necessary in view of the different complaints by motorists over incessant harassment by different operators manning the parking zones in the city.

It would be recalled that in February last year, the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) licensed two firms.

Integrated Parking Services (IPS) and Platinum Parking Management Services (PPMS) to run a park-and-pay system on major streets of the city under a public/private partnership.

Later in the year, the third operator, Automaten Technik Baumann (ATB) was brought on board the scheme.

Under the policy, designated parking spaces were created on busy highways, marked out in white lines, and motorists parking on these spots are charged a fixed fee per parking, raging between N50 for 30 minutes and N850 for 12 hours.

The parking spaces were shared among the operators who sold their cards or tickets to motorists parking in the areas.

Defaulters are slammed with N5,000 or N10,000 penalty.

Cars are clamped (locked) until the fine is paid. “(But)some motorists complained that after buying the park and pay recharge card from an operator, they still find it difficult to park in any of the areas in the city manned by another operator without being asked to pay, failure to which they will have their cars clamped”, Umenyi said The excuse of the operators, according to her, was that they could not accept another

operator’s card in their area of domain because they don’t yet have the means of reconciling the account.

The DG said the council was the concerned that motorists are tactically forced to buy cards from all the operators to enable them park anywhere in the city, implying that a motorist should carry three cards at a time.

The situation strangulates the consumers, she said.

The DG who urged the operators to unite and resolve the issue, believed that motorists who buy cards from any of the operators should be able to park in any of the parking space in the city without hindrance.

Ex-Gov Muazu: Group petitions EFCC over N9bn LG fund From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi political group under auspices of Congress for National Democrats (CND) has called on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to re-visit the case of embezzlement against former Bauchi state governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu over N9 billion belonging to 20 councils in the state.

Chairman of group, Alhaji B B Dogo, stated this in an interview with newsmen in

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Bauchi at the weekend, saying the move was to safeguard the nascent democracy from being hijacked by few self-serving individuals and to ensure sanity and accountability towards economic development.

Dogo queried the EFCC on why Mu’azu should be allowed to walk freely following series of petitions forwarded to it and other appropriate authorities over the disappearance of N9bn access crude oil funds meant for 20 councils in the state.

Umenyi said the operators should have a centralised system whereby cards issued by the different agencies could be harmonized and used by motorists in any part of the city without hitches just as ATM cards are used in various banks.

The Council also called on the operators to have a clear demarcation on their operation to avoid a situation where two operators man a zone and create confusion for motorists.

She said the accredited companies undertaking the implementation of traffic management in the FCT should have clearly defined areas of operations.

“We can’t afford to fold our arms watching innocent people being hampered by abject poverty and that informs our decision to urge the EFCC to revisit the case file against former governor Mua’azu to ensure justice and equity to serve as deterrent to others”, Dogo fumed.

He maintained that the adverse effect of Mua’zu’s squandering of N9bn council fund still remain green in the annals of development in the state and charged the EFCC to reinvestigate and recover the money from the former governor to facilitate effective development.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Kogi gov’s wife urges mothers to be role models

By Augustine Aminu

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L-r: Oyo state Deputy Governor,Chief Moses Adeyemo, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Senator Ayo Adeseun, and Chief Judge Of the state, Justice Badejoko Adeniji, during an Interdenominational New Year service for Oyo state civil servants, yesterday In Ibadan.

Photo: Nan

Why we retired Perm Sec, Oshiomhole explains From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin City

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do state governor, Comrade Adams O s h i o m h o l e , yesterday, explained why the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Alassan Ikhelowa was retired, just as he advised civil servants in the state to provide creative leadership in their various ministries.

The governor who held a meeting with permanent secretaries in the state at the Government House, Benin City, urged them to reflect on the challenges of providing good governance in the state.

He said the retired

ife of the Kogi state governor, Hajia Halima Wada has urged mothers to be good example and role models to their children and to avoid harmful practices that could be inimical to the growth of their children and the environment.

Wada made the remark at a visit to the Federal Medical Center to usher in the first baby of the year and to identify with distressed persons at the hospital.

Halima was also at the Kogi state specialist hospital to identify with the 2nd and 3rd babies of the year.

A statement signed by the chief press secretary to Wada, Adams Aikoye and made available to Peoples Daily said the first baby came in at about 3:25am and was born to the family of Mr/Mrs Ako from Kabba, while the second baby came at about 4:45am and was born to the Mr and Mrs Moses Ojo. Wada who was represented by his special adviser governor on health matters, Maimuna Umar eulogised the wife of the governor for her love for children and urged mothers to take good care of their babies as they are future leaders.

She urged mothers to play important roles in the lives of their children, stressing that child upbringing was an aspect of family life that should not be taken for granted.

The chief medical director of the Federal Medical Centre, Dr. Eleshin thanked the wife of the governor for her magnanimity and prayed for the fast and full recovery of the governor.

Cash as well as baby and household items were presented to the families of the new babies.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Public Utilities gave out the Kings Square premises in the heart of the city to a multinational company to do business for 31 days at a ridiculous rate of N300, 000 throughout the duration.

“I have a duty and obligation to explain why we had to retire the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment and hope that this will guide you on how you manage your own ministries. We are all at the mercy of the Edo people and we would have our jobs secured to the extent that we are able to competently manage our various portfolios in a way our people get maximum benefit”, he

noted.

According to him, “while going round in Benin City you will agree that in spite of all investments we have made, the city has remained substantially unclean. We have refuse in so many places, our walkways have been taken over by all manner of persons, people are parking vehicles on the roads we have expanded thereby denying our people free flow of traffic.

“I have even seen people converting highway to permanent garage where they sell vehicles and you find things like vehicle for sale as if we have expanded the road to serve as a permanent motor park. Public places like the Oba Ovonranwen Square have been turned to

refuse dumps and across the state the markets are unclean and I have had series of meetings with the Ministry of Environment to take their job a little more seriously”, he added.

The Governor also informed the permanent secretaries that in the next few weeks, they would be accounting officers of their ministries until the appointment of Commissioners in February and pleaded with them to take their job seriously.

“In 2013 we cannot do things exactly the way we did them in 2012 or in the past, we must revisit our attitude to work and take the state as their own by doing their best to keep the state going,”he added.

In his response, the commissioner of Special duties Alhaji Bappah Azare said the state government had saved millions of naira through direct labour in executing projects across the state.

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), over the weekend, organised a prayer session for peace and stability in the country, with promise to restrategise and improve on its record of last year.

Speaking during the session, the Corps Commandant General, Dr. Ade Abolurin, said the country needs the prayer of all the citizens so as to reposition the country for the better .

"The country belongs to all of us. There is no need to allow government to do everything. It is our collective responsibility as the citizen of the country to assist government and the

various security agencies to stamp out militancy in the country. The activities of disgruntled elements in the country has really affected our progress. However, we should to team up against evil in 2013 to create a country that all of us

will enjoy", Abolurin said.

He also assured that the corps would reposition its focus towards combating criminal activities in the country . "We are aware of our responsibility to the law abiding citizens of this country. We are wielding gun to

protect those who do not have and not to embarrass them.

We will continue to motivate our staff and ensure that they have the best motivation to do the job they are meant to do", he assured.

colleague to take it as an act of Allah who knew why it happened.

However, he said, “all Nigerians are happy that God averted what would have been another tragedy following the death of the late Governor of Kaduna State, Ibrahim Patrick, we want to join other Nigerians to wish His Excellency a quick recovery and speedy return to office”.

On the late ADC, the Bauchi State governor told his Kogi State counterpart that the

young man died in active service as a hero and would not be forgotten in a hurry having paid the due price of service to humanity.

He prayed Allah to grant him Aljanat firdaus and his family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Similarly, the governor paid a condolence visit the family of elder statesman, Muhammadu Bello Kirfi who lost his wife last Thursday in Bauchi

Bauchi Assembly queries gov over direct labour From Ahmed Kaigama Bauchi

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auchi State House of Assembly has queried the Bauchi state government over projects execution through direct labour in the state.

The executive resolved to execute some projects in the state through direct labour by the state ministry of Special duties.

But the lawmakers want the ministry to present the laws that allowed government give out contracts and execute developmental projects through direct labour.

Chairman of the Assembily’s budget and appropriation committee, Abdulkadir Umar Dewu who gave directive during budget defense by the ministry argued that the state procurement law did not make provision for the way government execute projects through direct labour.

Car crash: Yuguda visits Wada From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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auchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda yesterday paid a sympathy visit to the Kogi state governor, Idris Wada, wishing him quick recovery from the injury he got from a fatal auto crash recently just as he condoled with him over the death of his late ADC who was killed in the accident.

Yuguda, who visited the governor in his Abuja residence, described the auto crash as most unfortunate and told his

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8,, 2013

Lessons from financial crisis can help your future planning

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here are several lessons to derive from financial crisis, which can strengthen your personal finance and help you

mitigate future occurrence.

As it were, many people are experiencing sleepless nights, stomach cramps, increased nail

biting, and just above all stress as a result of the negative financial pictures posed by today's financial economy.

Experts say there are two lessons to learn from the financial crisis. Firstly, those countries that were better prepared in advance of the crisis have been better able to deal with its effects. Secondly, more countries should endeavor to adjust their policies so that they are prepared, or better prepared, to deal with the inevitable global crises of the future, including through the adoption of countercyclical measures.

Furthermore, the financial crunch is the breakdown in the securitization markets which has cut off the flow of easy credit to consumers and businesses. The credit-freeze has caused a sharp drop in consumption level of most families, auto sales, furniture, electronics, travel, global trade etc. in fact, every sector of the economy has been hammered.

According to Adewale Adeleke, managing partner, WA Professionals, Lagos, the fall of US

investment bank Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 unleashed shock waves that shook the financial markets and destroyed trust in the banking system. The crisis lead to unprecedented government intervention in the markets as it developed into the worst global recession since World War II. Talking about lessons learned from the financial crisis, he affirmed that financial crisis has shown that markets (both capital and money) can fail and such failures have huge costs.

In the aspect of capital market and money market he said "we all witnessed the crash of stock market in Nigeria and the ripping effects on businesses and families.

At the market place he said "the economic systems are interwoven. Everybody must be a watch dog. Reckless way of life in a sector, without check is currently affecting other sectors.

And in the banking sector, he stated that it has been revealed that ordinary bank customer relationship in terms of loan could

have criminality if not done within the ambit of the law.

Borrowing money from bank to buy its share is criminal in nature".

To apply these lessons to strengthen personal/family finance and to avoid or mitigate future crisis, Adeleke advised families to learn to live within their means as people want more than they can afford. "There is need for financial plan B in case A is not working; we can easily switch to B. Family should always seek professional input in making financial decision because it may go awry."

"We should all learn not to put all our eggs in one basket.

Cut down on spending as much as possible and invest rightly.

Seek experts' advice before investing.

We are in a difficult time which calls for more attention into the way we look for quick money.

There is need for caution in our investment options," he instructed.

Put cash to work It is important to have sufficient money on deposit to cover day to day needs and a little extra for emergencies however, with savings rate being so low, large amount of money should not be deposited in the bank. We have to make our money work by having a spread of investment.

Although women tend to be

more cautious and can shy away from investment, they should realise that there are interest based investment i.e. low risk and shares in single companies with wealth of investment in between. To make our money work, we can invest in long-term assets which will not keep up with inflation thereby adding other asset such as equities, which

offers you a better opportunity in wealth accumulation.

Making a Will Most women think that they do not need a Will because they do not have that much to leave.

However, making a will is attached to a wide spread of investment. We have to lay aside every fear to step into the world of investment. There is a common saying: "you cannot

give what you don't have." It's advisable to have a written will so as to ensure your children's future but this cannot be done without having secured properties. Let's erase the mindset that making a will is for men only; women should begin to take responsibility for their children's future in order to give their children a secured life when they are no more.

Women: Supporting the home, creating a secured future Pensions hese days, most women have neglected their pension arrangements, relying on their partners to build up sufficient pension rights for their old age.

In retirement, everyone has their own individual personal allowance. So it's advisable for women to also retire with a significant amount as it makes sense for both to have an income that makes the family comfortable after retirement.

In order words, women should not be too carried away with the responsibilities at hand, as it might still get to affect the family if there is no secured future.

Protection Death is inevitable, if a mother dies whilst her children are still very dependent, the emotional affects are bad enough but if that woman works and her income stops then the financial consequences are even greater.

In today's world, a woman is responsible for the majority of the child care, the shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, nursing, booking of doctor and dentist appointments, organising holidays, birthday parties and presents- am sure you get the idea. To employ someone to provide for each of these services and pay for them at a going rate would be exorbitant but many women has failed to insure themselves.

The best protection you can give your children is insuring a stable income, investing in real estate and also teaching your children how to save for rainy days.

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If you did not look after today's business then you might as well forget about tomorrow - Isaac Mophatlane

Look beyond your spouse for financial security

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hat makes a home is combination of effort.

The spouse should both strive to contribute to the family purse for the expected financial freedom. Unfortunately, many women have taken this for granted and its effect has been colossal. If you are a woman who refuses to plan, and rely solely on your husband for financial security, then you should have a rethink, say experts.

Remember that death is inevitable and if eventually you are turned a widow, what happens to your finances?

For instance, the case of blessing James, a victim of 2011 Jos massacre should be a lesson to those who entrust their finances to their spouse.

She was earning enough to support her late husband who was then a marketing manager in an oil company. They were living in a rented four bedroom apartment at Opebi in Lagos.

Her husband had almost completed his own house, a duplex in Lekki when he accidentally died. Her misfortune started when her brother-in-laws moved in with her and her eight children and pretended to be nice with them.

Unknown to her they sold her late husband's property at Lekki secretly and travelled to USA, living her and the children with nothing.

The question is why do so many women delegate their financial security to a spouse or any other people and allow divorce or death to plunge them into poverty? Why do so many women spend more than they earn and become mired in debt?

Experts say you should not rely on someone else, like a husband or boyfriend, for your financial security.

Rather, educate yourself about money management and investing.

For many people, money is an emotionally charged issue. It may represent power, or love, or control, especially in relationships. Your belief about money and your emotional attachments to it strongly influence the way you spend and handle money.

Financial planners say if you are not where you should be financially, then, you should examine what drives you emotionally when it comes to money and try to figure out the psychological stumbling blocks that keep you from becoming financially independent. They outline ten of the most important things women can do for themselves and their financial future.

First of all, set goals because it's key to financial success. You should not use money to make yourself feel good because that type of high is fleeting. Instead, do

things that promote self-respect and creativity so that you do not have to seek those feelings through spending money.

Experts say that you have to build an emergency fund.

Without emergency fund, losing your job or incurring a large unexpected bill could force you to take on heavy credit card debt, and could put you into a financial hole that will be difficult if not impossible to dig your way out.

Time to re-examine your goals Today's independence anniversary celebration may not require beating drums and making fanfare when you look at the country's achievements in terms of welfare of the citizens.

Consider, a rich country endowed with abundant natural resources yet its citizens still wallow in poverty, lacking the necessary amenities such as shelter, electricity, portable water, good roads, good medical care, etc.

Our attention today should focus on redefining our goal as a nation, and on individual basis we should also look back and ask ourselves questions‌ are our personal goals also right?

As an individual or a family, you may have had a lot of goals you wanted to achieve before a certain age. For instance, you intended to achieve a certain level of professionalism, build a beautiful house, own a car, travel

abroad, set up an enterprise, and even marry and have children among others.

One thing to note is that achieving a goal is like building a house. There is a specific order in which you must work. You cannot put the front door on a house before you build the foundation.

Those who do not follow the order get disappointed on the way.

For instance, you can achieve your goal by first of all setting a realistic but challenging or inspiring goals, you then plan ahead, brainstorm ideas, define your goal, are positive, and make contingency plans.

S o u r c e : www.moneyning.com

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

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EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

INEC: Wielding the big hammer on political parties

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owards the end of last year, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began the phased de-registration of moribund political parties in the country, anchoring its action on the strength of section 78 (7) of the Electoral Act. The section provides that INEC "shall have power to de-register political parties on the following grounds: (i) breach of any of the requirements for registration" and "for failure to win presidential or governorship election or a seat in the National Assembly or the state House of Assembly."

Accordingly, the commission has so far delisted 35 out of the 63 parties that contested the 2011 general elections. A look at the affected parties showed that none of them complied with section 78 (7). Based on this, it is expected that before the 2015 general elections, only about seven parties may escape the electoral umpire's big stick.

Expectedly, the exercise has continued to generate controversy with the chieftains of the affected parties insisting that regardless of the provisions of section 78 (1) of the Electoral Act, INEC does not have powers under the constitution to delist political parties.

The affected politicians have headed to the court to get INEC to reverse its decision, basing their

argument on the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of association. As it is, the court has scheduled March 6, 2013 for ruling on the case.

But those in support of the delisting see it as a welcome development that would help decongest the electoral space and

“

While not trying to play the umpire, we see any effort to sanitise the political space as a welcome development sanitise the polity.

On its part, INEC, which relies on the imprimatur of the law,insists that its aim is not necessarily to decongest the political space but to ensure that all the parties meet the requirements of the law. It has also expressed a willingness to register new parties that meet the requirements.

While the nation awaits the decision of the court, we at Peoples

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”

Daily hold the belief that, in the first place, registering of political parties is as much anathemic to democracy as funding them from the public till. In the democratic world, parties come into existence only on the strength of their electoral performance, and derive operational funds from their members' contributions.

The operational grant given by government was responsible for the proliferation of political parties in the country with not a few of them only existing for the periodic grants.

Apart from the grants, the nation bears additional costs of capturing all the parties on the ballot papers as well as monitoring their activities even when their focus is anything but serious electoral business.

With the removal of the grants, some of the parties, in the quest to survive, become ready tools in the hand of bigger parties that plot to scuttle electoral processes when they lose. There are many instances of frivolous court cases filed by these parties at the behest of the losing candidates of bigger parties.

While not trying to play the umpire, we see any effort to sanitise the political space as a welcome development. We believe that if a party must exist, then it must start by winning something.

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, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

By Charles Chikezie

T

hat the National Good Governance Tour has been successfully conducted in the North Central zone of Nigeria, starting from the Federal Capital Territory, through Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States in that order, is not news anymore. Kogi State could not be visited, consequent upon the deadly flood that affected the state, with already known myriad of problems for the citizens, the State and the nation at large. Happily the flood has receded and Kogi State is to be visited early this Year.

The rationale for the tour which, in a nutshell, is to expose to the people of Nigeria what their leaders have been able to do with the resources at their disposal, thereby cross-matching their words with their actions and gaining their buy-in into programmes, cannot be faulted.

And so it was that a large number of media executives, reporters and Correspondents, representatives of Civil Society Organisations, and security personnel, led by the Minister of

PAGE 13

‘Good governance tour’ as boost Information, Labaran Maku, enthusiastically set out for the national expository tour despite the logistics and funding constraints associated with the tour.

Indeed, besides infrastructure and on-going projects spread all over the place, the tour has revealed a lot, most important of which is that the typical Nigerian, irrespective of tribe or religion, yearns for peace and actions by government that will improve his life and that of the generations coming after him. It became crystal clear that the people intently look up to their leaders for real governance and tangible development.

The Good Governance Tour has given credence to the inviolable truth that leadership, translated into governance, is a trust held on behalf of the people (the electorate) by the few that the same people freely elected, based on promises of quality services to be rendered (manifestos), made by the elected officials, to manage the people’s

resources and direct courses of action in a manner that would be beneficial to the majority of the people. That is the beauty of democracy!

The Jonathan administration, being so mindful of the imperative for alignment with the growing universal trend of open government, which impacts on the consideration and rating of countries in the comity of nations, instantly approved the tours and gave the Minister of information a strict charge to see all and say all.

The courageous inclination to embrace and adopt the open governance concept, which has been the hallmark of his tenure, has seen to several revolutionary actions and pronouncements in governance which will be the subject of another write-up. Open Governance implies that elected officials cannot run the affairs of state in cavalier manners from their idiosyncrasies and fancies, or transmute into Imperial Majesties or Autocrats such as would no more relate freely to the people,

who they regard condescendingly, arrogantly think for, and who must do their biddings even at “point of pain” or mass inconvenience. Imperial Majesties, whether military or civilian, do what they please.

Evidently, democracy which Nigeria practises since the departure of the military in 1999, and which has continued to grow appreciably both in political institutions and structures that have been set up as well as in our psyche, demands openness. That is the emerging world governance order, which demands accountability from leaders as much as it demands regular consultations and explanations between the Governors and the governed, not just to convey plans but even the stages and processes of arriving at such plans, decisions, programmes etc.

The Good Governance Tour through the instrumentality of the session termed “Citizen’s Forum”’ has brought the leaders and the people on the same page.

The Forum which is broadcast live on Nigerian’s major news channels and is also streamed live on the social media channels, puts a stamp of authenticity to the interactions. The flair has been that besides the members of the public who comes from all walks of life to attend the Forum and raise issues that bother them, questions have equally come in unhindered, from the near and far end of the world and have covered virtually all subject areas.

The thrill is that the raw, unedited questions and the spontaneous frank answers propel democracy to higher levels, as both the people and their leaders get to appreciate where they are coming from, share sincere feelings, reason together and work towards the common good of the people, their state and the nation. Thus, democracy is boosted and Nigeria is the better for it.

Chikezie is the Director, Public Communication, Federal Ministry of Information

Building enduring businesses in Nigeria I

By Chuba Oraka

read the article, ‘Why Nigerian family businesses fail” in a national newspapers

by Lekan Sote (December 18, 2012). It took me back to the many ruminations of the same subject that has been broached in several forums. The questions asked may come in different forms – Why do many businesses fail in Nigeria?

Why do family businesses fail? Why do businesses founded in Nigeria scarcely last beyond the death of the founders?

Why is it that businesses founded in Nigeria do not grow beyond sole proprietorship? etc – but the common denominator is a common fear of long term viability and growth of businesses owned by Nigerians.

While I listened to a popular radio program, the topic raised was why Nigerian businesses do not become multi-generational like the Procter and Gamble example given by Mr Sote. Callers into the program were asked to give their own opinions. The opinions and suggestions were similar to what was suggested by Mr Sote. They focused mostly on the founder – he had too many wives, he did not leave a plan for the future of the business, he did not get his children involved with the business, he did not dream the business would go beyond feeding himself and his family, etc.

There is value in a lot of the suggestions but since many of the multinational businesses also had founders with the same or similar failings, I thought that a lot of the suggestions were both off the mark and symptomatic of the real reasons Nigerian businesses do not endure. I wanted to call into the program or text in what might be considered a contrarian or even simplistic and impractical suggestion in Nigeria – Nigerian businesses fail to endure because

we do not have a properly regulated stock exchange in the country – but the network problems prevented that. I was really hoping to redirect the debate beyond what it became but was unable to. I would explain more about my view as the article progresses.

There are many challenges peculiar to the Nigerian environment to starting and growing a business, and they are well known to all. The difficulty in raising capital, corruption and bad law enforcement that ensures losses due to pilfering and bad practices are not punished, unstable government policies even on importation that favour only big business owners with strong political connections, multiple taxation by different government agencies, lack of electricity and infrastructure like roads that make transport more expensive and the product less marketable than imported products, insecurity of lives and property, lack of antitrust laws and implementation thereof to protect small businesses from bad business practices of big business. This of course would have an additional challenge of ethnic interpretation of every implementation in Nigeria. But even for businesses that survive these challenges, the fact that a lot of them do not last beyond the founders is poignant. This adds to the declining job security in the land. So it is right for Nigerians to wonder why big Nigerian businesses do not last.

Businesses in all environments face challenges with changing times and new technologies and innovations. Only the most adaptive and innovative businesses survive for long periods.

True, nothing lasts forever.

Businesses and empires lasting centuries have eventually failed at one point throughout history, so it would be silly to expect any business

to last forever. But even in these cases, they often fail in the face of new competition that create jobs which cushions the effect of job losses following the failing of old businesses. In Nigeria, on the other hand, the failure is usually due to falling standards after the exit of the progenitor. The founder keeps all company secrets to himself because he does not trust any employee, and he is afraid of giving any of them too much sway in the affairs of the company because of many others who get robbed by the same employees.

The fact that such infractions rarely get prosecuted and punished given our bad judicial system adds to this problem. This is why many Nigerians would suggest only the children of the founders should be involved with the running of the businesses. But this adds more problems of its own.

What if the founder died without having children? Or, as is the most regular case, the children he left behind are spoiled and irresponsible? And the talk of the founder leaving directives on the management of the company to his children is a flawed solution as he cannot plan for the business in the future and anticipate all challenges no matter how much acumen he has.

The reason many family businesses fail is because they remain family business long after the management is taken over from the founder. The culture of nepotism that family businesses encourage goes against the principle of rewarding merit and hard work, principles that any business that is serious about recruiting and retaining qualified, hardworking and loyal staff should be guided by. Many of the businesses that have lasted generations started as partnerships or family businesses but were turned to publicly-listed companies, most of them before the

passing of the founders. Nepotism and favouritism does occur in businesses listed on the stock exchange but it can more easily be fought against and criticised – along with all other retrogressive company policies – than in a nonlisted company, and is therefore kept to the lowest level possible. A case in point was the outrage of shareholders of Shoprite when the majority shareholders Christo Weiss and Whitney Basson decided to appoint their sons as directors in the company.

The attitude of an average Nigerian to seeing someone else progress in their career or life in general is negative. An average Nigerian employer does not see or understand that an employee also has need for self actualisation.

They expect the employee to be hard at their work, satisfied with whatever salary and position they choose to place that employee, and be loyal to the company. They do not imagine that employee having shares in the company or even eventually owning their own company. This is why many family-owned businesses are reluctant to go public. This is also why a lot of Nigerians see succession in terms of handing over their companies to their children, even if such children have shown no interest in the business. Some say it is risky to hand the management of a business to “outsiders” as they can pilfer from the company and run it down; I say if the “outsider” had a stake in the company, if they had bought shares and shown commitment to the company over time, would they would not try to run the company down.

Steve Ballmer[the Microsoft MD] took loans and bought shares in Microsoft and had been in the company for many years. It is no wonder that he declared in one of his presentations, “I love this

company!”

A practical solution to having long lasting businesses in Nigeria would be to encourage economic democracy. More stock exchanges should be allowed to spring up with different philosophies and management styles, even privately-owned stock exchanges.

The fact that the Nigerian Stock Exchange was able to get the government to shut down the Abuja Stock Exchange is the reason they have monopoly on stock market operations and there is no alternative in the country to their shoddy management. Of course starting businesses in Nigeria should also be made more attractive both to foreigners and locals. This would entail fixing the judiciary, updating and upgrading infrastructure, fighting corruption in the government and the private sector, providing security to lives and property, streamlining the tax code and giving tax incentives to small business owners.

All in all, our democratic system would have to be strengthened if there is ever going to be a chance of our politicians feeling sufficiently beholden to the electorate and therefore able to fight against vested interests and powerful people resistant to change. This would limit or challenge the influence oligarchs have on government policies. The current political impasse on the leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would be more quickly resolved in the interest of the country and not special interest groups in a stronger democracy and better regulation of stock exchanges would encourage enlistment of businesses on the exchange. This way we would not be talking, as we are now, of compelling multinational companies to list their shares on the Stock Exchange.

Chuba Oraka is on Twitter

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Between govt’s 2012 scorecard and the masses

By Shedrach Idi

O

n Monday 31st December, 2012, the Federal Government, through the minister of information, Labaran Maku released what is described by many as the scorecard of the present administration in 2012, calling on Nigerians to commend the Goodluck administration instead of buffeting it with condemnation.

The minister claimed that the Federal Government has improved the standard of living of Nigerians through power generation and plans to raise oil production to four million barrels per day with the expected passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

According to him, there is an average of about 15 to 18 hours per day of constant power supply in the country. This assertion pierces me like a sword, and I quickly flashed back to 2012, all I can recall was days and weeks of total blackout in my poor area and the sounds of “ I pass my neighbor” generator from every door in the area blowing its dangerous smoke upon the helpless masses.

I recalled several times when my housemates quarreled with

one another due to constant of ongoing project that have never Nigerians the benefit of such disturbance from generators. The been completed. The minister projects than just leaving us in the truth is that poor Nigerians are yet should therefore avoid propaganda dark.

He also opined that the Federal to enjoy 12 hours of uninterrupted of “ongoing projects” and “proposed power supply, talk less of 15 to 18 projects” and face realities on Government has put in place several programmes and projects hours as claimed by the minister. ground.

But I agreed that areas such as The minister added that for job creation and wealth generation among G R A s , youths, such as Commissioners “You-Win”, which quarters, is targeting legislative Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text 80,000-110,000 quarters and jobs both for youths the so-called messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written and women. This is “Millionaires contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 true but Mr. quarters” words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and Minister should across the a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed understand that nation and the to: most of these like are programmes are enjoying 18 The Editor, basterdized by hours and Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, political big-wings more of power 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. from Abuja thereby supply.

Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com denying the Mr Maku common man any also said that SMS: 07037756364 chance of t h e benefiting. rehabilitation On security, the minister of power generation and government has proposed a power the security distribution infrastructure across and gas financing package which acknowledged the country is ongoing. “Already, includes proposed infrastructure challenges in some Northern states, saying: “The Federal work is ongoing at the Kainji Hydro bonds of about $1 billion, and $150 Power Station to generate more million external funding from the Government has remained power, while a contract for the African Development Bank (ADB) relentless in its efforts to bring this ugly chapter to an end; the Federal routine maintenance of the Shiroro to support the continued gas Hydro Power Station has been supply and the liberalization of Government has stepped up awarded.” It sounds good, but the power sector. The minister investment in security through Nigeria Masses are tired of hearing should come down to explain to poor the provision of logistics and

WRITE TO US

training and deployment of security personnel to the affected states”. These approaches have not averted the security situation in the affected areas because both the security officials and the hoodlums are constantly wasting precious lives of poor Nigerians. Therefore dialogue should be considered.

I am not angry with Mr. Maku because, like any other rational being, he is doing the job he is being paid for, and I am not saying he had completely lie to Nigerians or the federal government has achieved nothing within 2012 but the truth is that the masses of Nigeria are far from enjoying the claims of the minister. Instead of exchanging words with oppositions and soliciting for commendation from Nigerians who voted for the government, who fund it and anticipate growth and development of our dear nation, the minister and the entire government should solicit for prayers and apologize for their inability to fulfill their campaign promises as well as brace up for further challenges in the new year.

Idi is with the Mass Communication Department of Taraba State University, Jalingo.

Re: Shema's wife sacks councillor over row with LG boss's wife

By Lawal Ahmed Matazu

Y

our report of Monday, January 7, 2013 published on page 5 of Peoples Daily that the wife of Katsina state Governor, Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim Shehu Shema "has ordered the sack of the supervisory councillor for water

and sanitisation in Matazu Local Government, Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim" was not correct. Mrs. Shema is not on the staff of Matazu Local Government, does not get involved in local or state administration and never ordered the sack of any councillor.

The story said "Mrs. Shema

gave the directive to sack Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim". It is possible that your reporter was not even present at the function where the councillor in question assaulted the Matazu LG chairman's wife. Mrs. Shema was only at the event and did not order the sack of anybody.

Somebody somewhere wanted to

rope in the First Lady.

We are surprised that a staff of Matazu Local Government would stoop so low as to issue that directive when everyone knows that he does not take his instructions from Mrs. Shema.

The Katsina state ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs is already

investigating and you will hear more from them.

We hope you will publish this clarification.

Thank you.

Lawal Ahmed Matazu, is the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Office of the Governor, Katsina state

have been referred to as “mere opinions” by the presidency without any sanctions. The threats by the national assembly have turned out to be just pitiable bluffs.

They had demanded 100 per cent implementation of the 2012 budget by September, 2012 or some sanctions would be delivered by it on the executive. Besides being unreasonable to demand 100 per cent implementation of a budget only in the third quarter of a year, and when the commencement of implementation was supposedly in the second quarter of the same year, the national assembly ridiculed itself again as that deadline came and passed without as much as a whimper from that supposedly august body of serious lawmakers. The Nigerian people have spent so much of their resources and expectations on the national assembly with nothing to show for it. They have become an assembly of weaklings whose words mean nothing.

There is no democracy without an effective and productive legislature. What victories has the current national assembly won for the Nigerian people since May, 2011? Trillions of naira have been spent on “fuel subsidy” by the executive without

appropriation, yet the national assembly has failed to react strongly. The Nigerian people were forced, in spite of the lame protestation of the legislature, to pay 50 percent more for petrol in 2012, yet, the senate, toward the end of 2012, approved additional N 161.6 billion for Jonathan to spend on fuel subsidy payments, bringing the total expenditure on fuel subsidy in 2012 to N 1.06 trillion! The national assembly only whines about amounts that the executive requests it to approve for funding; but in the end, they are approved, however indefensible! They have failed to punish; they have failed to bite.

They are simply the rubber stamps of the executive. When the national assembly grandstands publicly, it is only a matter of time before the legislators defer to the lusts and greed of the executive.

The 2013 budget has passed without any significant mopping up of the fatty inclusions by the executive that added no real value. I agree that the recurrent expenditure has been pruned down by N 100 billion, and the savings have been assigned to capital expenditure. I agree that the crude oil benchmark has been raised from $ 75 to $ 79, which has reduced deficit spending from

N 1.03 trillion to N 887 billion.

But what is strange is that nothing in either the budget proposal by the executive or the budget appropriation by the legislature has addressed a huge source of bleeding on the commonwealth. There is no provision in the budget for building of refineries.

If in spite of the reduction of fuel subsidy spending in 2012, Nigeria spent more than one trillion naira on the subsidy, it should be a matter of concern to the national assembly that Nigeria does not own refineries that can refine both for domestic and foreign markets. It is not a secret that some legislators and the executive would like the scrapping of fuel subsidy because of “corruption in its implementation.” This is an open confession of the incompetence of the Jonathan government. If a government cannot defend the people against economic predators then it has outlived its usefulness. Should the 2004 pension act be abrogated and pension payment outlawed in Nigeria only because of the corruption that has been perpetrated in the management of the pension fund? Should government departments where

corrupt practices have been established be scrapped then?

What is the philosophy that guided the formulation of the 2013 budget? I heard that President Jonathan was hopeful that 2013 would be “better than 2012”, with the assurance that jobs would be created. If jobs are going to be created, we should find evidence in the 2013 budget: All federal roads in Nigeria are in a terrifying state of disrepair.

Road contracts in Nigeria are inflated beyond shame or restraint of natural conscience. A road that is less than 100 kilometers long could be awarded for N 100 billion!

Well, going by this obscene tradition of contract costing, the N 1.6 trillion voted for capital expenditure in the 2013 budget cannot complete even 2000 kilometer-length of roads (Do pardon the many kilometers I have stated). This should be considered against the background that there are about 30,000 kilometers of federal roads in Nigeria, almost all of which are dotted by yawning craters, broken bridges, and sharpedged polygonical ditches.

Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of mathematics with the American University of Nigeria

Govt’s ‘zero development budget’ ritual

By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

I

n 2013, the sum of N 4.987 trillion shall be spent by the federal government of Nigeria.

The capital expenditure is a paltry N 1.6 trillion, which is 32 per cent.

But more worrisome is the established tradition of woeful implementation of budgets by the PDP governments since 2007. If the capital component of budgets in Nigeria was prudently implemented the country would have efficient public development infrastructure such as roads, railways, electricity, water supply networks, refineries, etc., which could drive down the cost of production, expand capacity utilization of manufacturing industries, preserve life, and reduce unemployment rate. The Nigerian on the street finds nothing or little to cheer in the yearly rituals.

This is a trend that must be pointed out. The Nigerian legislature has joined the choir of national lamentation rather than check the excesses, impunity, and negligence of the executive. The lawmakers do not presently retain the respect of President Jonathan and his government. The resolutions or motions of either the senate or House of Representatives are treated with disdain. They

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

N

igeria is derided by some as a banana republic. A nation where anything goes. Particularly the ridiculous, the outlandish, and the outrageous. And it is not difficult to comprehend why. For evidence, witness the crying foibles of many of our so-called leaders.

One of the latest cases in point is the alleged scandalous indulgence of Hajia Fatima Ibrahim Shema, wife of the Katsina State governor.

Apparently intoxicated with that potent brew called power, the Katsina First Lady reportedly issued a decree sacking a LGA Councillor.

With reckless abandon. Just like that.

The stranger-than-fiction melodrama had started penultimate week. Wife of the chairman of Matazu LGA of Katsina State. Hjia Bilkisu Sani Haliru, had set the ball rolling when she stormed the council’s secretariat to fight the poor councillor. Her grouse, according to reports, was that Councillor Hadiza Ibrahim spurned her in the “sharing” of certain patronage.

Apparently determined to prove that hell indeed hat no fury like a woman scorned, the Matazu LGA chairman’s wife went haywire. She allegedly beat Councillor Hadiza mercilessly.

Hadiza, Supervisory councillor for Water and Sanitation, was consequently hospitalised.

The dust raised by that pigheaded action was yet to settle when “Her Excellency” Hajia

PAGE 15

Shocking story from Katsina in officialdom. Corruption, for example, is one of the “bouncing babies” of executive recklessness.

When someone like the Katsina First Lady, someone who has no official business in government; when someone like her constitutes herself into the complainant, prosecutor, jury, and judge rolled into one, and acts accordingly, then we are headed for complete chaos.

It is a pity that there is no six-year-old girl in Katsina to admonish Madam that being a governor’s wife does not make her an empress.

She should be called to order without further delay. Katsina State asonde@yahoo.com may be backward in 0803-2159-249 (SMS only, pls) terms of socio-economic development; it may be Those who had thought that bleeding silently in the vile grip executive rascality ended with of an emperor who has little or military dictatorship, now know nothing to show for so many years better. Hajia Ibahim Shema and in power, but the world must not Co. have catapulted impunity to be made to believe that a certain another level by marching where woman has executed a neither soldiers nor their “bloody” constitutional coup here. wives ever ventured to tread. And Rather than allowing herself at the rate Her Exellency is going, to become intoxicated with few would be surprised to hear in imaginary power, the tin-god of future that she has sacked the Katsina should borrow a leaf from deputy governor or even the her counterparts in different Katsina State House of Assembly. parts of the country. Most of them Nigeria is stuck in the are dutifully involved in sundry lamentable situation that has humanitarian endeavours, using Non-Governmental been our lot for so long, due their mainly to the lawlessness and Orgonisations (NGO) to pursue culture of impunity that reigns their noble cause. If the “Iron

Lady” of Katsina has nothing to do, let her not do it in Government House.

converge as a single entity and defeat PDP in the forthcoming 2015 general elections. This is after considering two factors; enormous influence of Buhari and his interest in CPC, his party, which is highly enmeshed in crises across all its stronghold in one hand and that of interested parties in ANPP/ACN on the other hand.

My fear is that when opposition come as a single body they risk being an easy prey to the ruling PDP. Whenever PDP used hammer at the right position, it will wound the opposition and may even killed it. It is simpler for it to confront an enemy with gigabytes of internal liabilities and local problems. But if a working relationship was build between various fronts and which is sustainable, even if PDP was able to penetrate through backdoor the impact will be minimal and can be tackled from many angles.

Shekarau’s committee and other party leaders should developed a frame work for the opposition parties to retain their states and formed an alliance through these suggested scenarios. Firstly, the parties should concentrate on finding a suitable presidential candidate from North West geo-political zone and his running mate from South West Zone. This is because CPC is very popular with the conservative Northern

electorate, it is also easier to cheap on its popularity. Similarly, since South West zone have the culture of voting en bloc conceding vice presidential candidate to the area will translate to huge votes and patronage.

Secondly, established opposition parties which are not in government of the state and who are willing to participate in the merger should collapsed all their structures and people in the party of the government. What in intended to show is DPP, CPC, ANPP, APGA, LP in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Edo and Osun should collapses into ACN. But if there happen to be a strong candidates of either NASS or state assemblies from other parties than the leading government of states then should be given chance to run on the platform of ACN. This arrangement should apply in Nassarawa state for CPC and also for ANPP in Zamfara, Borno and Yobe states, LP in Ondo state. If its effected, the other parties should use their energies, resources and give their full support to the success of the leading opposition party in the state. But this should be with a proviso that when successful, a unity government will be formed were all will participate in the development of the state.

Bello Muhammad Sharada resides in Kano and can be reached through mbsharada@yahoo.com

Fatima Shema stepped into the fray. She allegedly dismissed the poor councillor with immediate effect. The infantile deed was reportedly done through a letter with reference number GH/KTS/ GWO/41/C. Since the story broke – a story which neither Hajia Shema nor officialdom had denied, at least as at press time – not a few posers have been begging for answers. Who gave the governor’s wife this dictatorial power?

Who made her the General Officer Commanding (GCO) of Katsina public office holders? Has she contested, let alone won, any election in recent times to justify her baseless arrogance?

It was bad enough that the Matazu council chairman’s wife had taken waywardness to a shameless level by engaging in that “roof-rofo” fight with the hapless councillor. Some may mitigate her infamous conduct with the excuse that ‘after all, she is just someone in a “bush” village.’ But what of the wife of a whole state governor; a certain “Her Excellency” who has dwelled at Government House Katsina since her husband mounted the saddle in 2007?

The power-fuelled drunkness on parade in Katsina mirrors the sort of executive rascality that has been the bane of our motherland for so long. Those in officialdom who ought to embody “lawfulness” and due process usually resort to self-help and sundry illegality. This culture of impunity festered like an open sore during the days of military rule.

presidential elections, ACN the party which sweeps all Yoruba dominated states and ANPP which had controlled many states in the North since 1999.

The aim of the fusion and the idea of single entity with national outlook is for progressives to come together to push out Jonathan government and end the misrule and bad governance of the PDP, which according to them has failed Nigerians in all sectors.

There is no employment for the youth, no security, and no power and above all the rate of corruption has increased and highly placed Nigerians can’t even be touched.

Now the vexing question is, which option is better for the oppositions in true sense, a strong and formidable alliance or total merger? Joe Igbokwe spokesman of ACN in Lagos says “The merger is at an advanced stage, it is going to work and all the needed measures have been put in place to ensure it works.” Also in one of the several interviews he gave to press, National Chairman of ANPP, Chief Ogbonnoya Onu said “ The whole thing is on the table, you come, we discuss, though the ultimate thing is for us to get a merger. But if we can’t get merger, then coalition or alliance, as some people may call it.”

But Shekarau, the Chairman of National Re-building and Inter-Party Contact Committee of opposition parties has move

further in foreclosing any option of alliance. “ The merger plan will be concluded not later than the first quarter of 2013 so that we would have at least two years to go into every nook and cranny of the country before the 2015 general elections” According to him the new identity of the merger is to be unveiled in 2013 taking a symbol, a flag and any other identity from the parties, so that every party will have a sense of belonging or all will just forget their identities for a new one.

It seems former Kano state governor and presidential flag bearer of ANPP Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has accepted the idea of merger hook, line and sinker.

Likewise ACN leaders and strongmen of CPC. Even though, there are insinuations in some quarters that in the first, second and this republic experience has proved that alliance is not the best option.

But looking closely we will noticed that all previous coalitions were built on shaky foundations culminating in their failure. Also taking into cognizance our democratic past during these periods all efforts at alliance were only marriage of convenience both NPC/NCNC after elections in the first republic, there was no similar alliance before elections in the presidential experience of the NPN era in the second republic and the PDP rule in the fourth.

That is why I doubt much in the feasibility of these forces to

SONDE’S DIAR Y DIARY

By Sonde Abbah

Something from Stanbic Bank I was a year older on January 2, 2013. Guess who was the first to send me a warm birthday wish?

Stanbic IBTC bank. The bank I had “divorced” many years ago following my departure from LEADERSHIP, my then employers.

Conversely, nothing was heard from any of my two current bankers, First Bank and Unity Bank. None of them bothered about something as mundane as the birthday of one their most insignificant customers.

Come to think of it, Stanbic IBTC has always been there for “me” season after season, despite that unilateral divorce back in 2007. At Xmas, New Year, Sallah, Easter, Independence Day and other such moments, this bank unfailingly demonstrates, even if in a token way, that it cares.

Thank you, Stanbic IBTC, for making one feel so special every now and then. Your human relations and CSR are, in my view, second to none. Not a few other corporate organisations need to borrow a leaf from you.

Challenges before opposition parties

By Bello Muhammad Sharada

B

efore the 2011 elections Nigerian opposition parties have made serious efforts to form a united alliance to dismantle PDP from 16 years on the grief of power. These efforts did not yield desired result, eventually they all parted their ways.

After 2011 elections proper, it became clear had the opposition articulate their positions and galvanized the goodwill of Nigerians across various strata and divide, they could be able to at least forced INEC to conduct for the first time a run-off of elections in Nigeria.

In the current dispensation the opposition are at the helm of affairs in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Edo, Ekiti, and Osun in the former Western region. And controlling Imo and Anambra in the Eastern region. And Yobe, Borno, Nassarawa and Zamfara states in the North. Virtually holding sway in one third of the country.

In less than a year after failing to capture power at the centre, the opposition is now gearing up early to forged a common front and re-engineer their platforms to have an alternative and effect a positive change to the current political set up in the country.

The parties apparatchiks are making headway to formed a new party between CPC, the party that came second in the last

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Abuja workers return from Yuletide, New Years holidays

By Etuka Sunday

I

Young boys entertaining guest at a function in Yardua Centre, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Fulani, Gbagyi clash: Police arrest seven more suspect’s

By Josephine Ella Ejeh

S

even more suspects have been arrested in connection with the communal clash which rocked Gwako village in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 10 days ago, precisely December 29, 2012, in addition to 19 others arrested earlier.

The crisis between the Gbagyi’s and Fulani herdsmen in the area had left in its wake two dead, destruction of 27 Fulani settlements, while 1500 persons were displaced and taking refuge at the University of Abuja presently.

Chairman of a 19-member ministerial committee earlier set up by the FCT Administration to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the crisis, Mr. Aderenle Shinaba who is also the FCT Police Commissioner, disclosed this while presenting the report of the committee yesterday to the administration.

“Arrests were made at the scene and more persons have been arrested. They are helping us out in our investigations. We have up to 25 people in our custody as I talk to you. We are still making more arrests,” he

said.

The Police Commissioner had earlier last week told journalists that eighteen suspects had been arrested in connection with the recent clash.

Responding after receiving the report, the FCT Minister, said the report would be looked into in a manner that would ensure justice is done.

This was as he reiterated that sanction would be meted to those found wanting.

He thanked the committee, made up of security agencies and other related agencies for carrying out the task as he advised the

warring communities to sheath their sword.

“There is no need to fight.

The FCT is large enough to accommodate everybody,” he added.

In a related development, the minister also inaugurated a nine-member committee for implementation of the report with the Permanent Secretary of the FCT, Engr. Anthony Ozodinobi chairing the committee.

Other members of the committee cuts across National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), security agencies among others.

Only 3 per cent fibroid cases result in infertility, says gynaecologist

D

r Prosper Igboeli, a gynaecologist, yesterday said most women with fibroid did not require treatment for it to get pregnant.

Igboeli, the Managing Director of M and M Hospital, Fertility and IVF Centre, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that only three per cent of fibroids caused infertility.

He said the treatment options were having correct diagnosis and the restoration of fertility by preserving the integrity of the endometrium.

Igboeli said endometrium is the lining of the inside of the

uterus during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.

He said the endometrium becomes thickened in preparation to accept an embryo should conception occur.

Igboeli said if pregnancy occurs, the endometrium undergoes a process called decidualisation.

“People believe any woman with fibroid will not get pregnant; the truth is, most women with fibroid don’t require treatment for fibroid to get pregnant.

Correct diagnosis is the key to proper management of infertile women with fibroid. The first

consideration should be restoring fertility by preserving the integrity of the endometrium,” he said.

He described infertility as when a woman or man is said to be sterile, which implies that some absolute factors preclude conception.

According to the doctor, different studies have given different reasons for the development of fibroid while the older one becomes, the more likely one may have it.

Igboeli said other factors associated with fibroid include never having been pregnant (nulliparity), obesity, cigarette smoking, prolonged menstrual

cycles and African-American ethnicity (almost three-times as likely as white women).

“Risk factors for development of fibroid are race, age, family history, nulliparity,” he said.

He said that fibroid could only cause infertility when large ones were located in the lumen or the wall of the uterus.

Igboeli added that it could distort the shape of the uterus or fill the lumen thus interfering with implantation.

He said that multiple small fibroids, especially those in the wall of the uterus, could also distort the uterus leading to infertility. (NAN)

n a bid to avoid been caught in the euphoria of the celebration and lose their jobs, workers in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday resumed work fully with renewed vigor to contribute their quota to ensure a better year 2013.

Our reporter who monitored the state of affairs within Abuja metropolis discovered that almost all the offices were fully opened for work as some of the workers were sighted working to show that the break given by the Federal Government has elapsed.

Speaking, Musa Emmanuel said, the celebration has come and gone therefore there was need for him to resume work to avoid been kick out of his office. He expressed confidence to achieve more this year by dedicating his time to work and personal businesses.

Amina Abubakar, a civil servant, in like manner resumed work to avoid query and unnecessary punishment.

She promised to work harder this year for the growth of the economy and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to keep his own promise of better 2013.

Also speaking, Mr. David Job Sunday of the Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS) Mabushi Office, Abuja said: “The break was hectic and full of surprises because as VIO officers and we were shared into various locations during the festive period doing our work. We started our work from 20th to this day, so it has been a busy period.

“We are hoping to do more this year since we’ve been encouraged by our director during the festive period. Our incentives have been given to us so we now have a renewed vigor to do our best in ensuring a better service especially in the area of road traffic management.

“Of course there is need for improvement in traffic management and people need to appreciate the work of the officers and men of the VIO by helping them to promote safety behaviours on Nigerian roads.

The Federal Government should ensure that incentives are duly given to the officers on time for effective performance,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

INSIDE FCT COURTS Man, 20, jailed for breach of trust, theft

A

Karu Upper Area Court, Abuja, has sentenced Ibrahim Alhaji of Kuruduma Village in Asokoro, Abuja, to six weeks imprisonment for criminal breach of trust and theft.

The Presiding Judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, however, gave him an option to pay N10,000 fine.

Kagarko also ordered the convict to pay N70,000 in compensation to the complainant.

Police Prosecutor, Philip Akogwu had earlier told the court that Idoko Ameh of No. 21, Justice Sowemimo Street, Asokoro, Abuja, reported the case at the Asokoro Police Station on January 2, 2013.

Akogwu said that Ameh entrusted Alhaji, his servant, with his property at his site in Kuruduma Village and later discovered that some gear box parts, wheelbarrows, and the rim of a truck valued at N70,000 were missing.

He said the suspect sold the rim for N3,500 to a scavenger of no fixed address and that the offences contravene the provisions of Sections 314 and 289 of the Penal Code.

Alhaji pleaded guilty and begged for leniency, saying it was the work of the Devil. (NAN)

Police arraign man for allegedly robbing embassy employee

T

he Police in Abuja have arraigned one Ahmed Abdulkadir of Gangis Street, Maitama, Abuja, before the Karu Upper Area Court for alleged conspiracy and attacking Lindsay Barber of the U.S. Embassy.

The Prosecutor, Sergeant Abiola Oyewusi, told the court that on November 4, 2012, Abdulkadir committed the offence along with Muzalo Sa’ad and one Ibrahim, who are now at large.

“Abdulkadir and the two others robbed Barber of 1 blackberry cell phone and also inflicted injuries on her head,’’ he said.

Oyewusi said the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 79, 240 and 296 of the Penal Code, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

The Judge, Malam Umar Kagarko, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000 and a surety in the like sum.

Kagarko adjourned the case to March 13, 2013 for hearing.

(NAN)

PAGE 17

Teenager allegedly stabs man with cutlass A

19-year-old boy, Mujitafa Yakuba of Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja, has been arraigned before an Abuja Senior Magistrates Court for allegedly stabbing another man on the head with cutlass.

Yakuba is also standing trial for joint act and theft, contrary to the provisions of Sections 79, 242 and 287 of the Penal Code.

Police Prosecutor Udeh David told the court that the accused was reported at the Zone 3 Police Station by Dr Shamsudeen Mohammed of War College

Estate in Gwarimpa, Abuja, on January 2, 2012.

David said the accused and four others, now at large, came out from under the Zone 4 Bridge, Abuja, and stabbed Mohammed on the head while he was walking along the bridge.

He added that the accused stole the complainant’s cell phone and N12,400 cash in the process, but the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Dickson Omaiye, urged the

court to grant his client bail.

He also asked the court to assume that the accused was innocent until it was proven otherwise as contained in Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution.

He prayed the court to consider Section 341(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code and grant his client bail, and gave assurance that he would not interfere with police investigation.

Omaiye also told the court that the accused was discharged from the hospital on

Picking up passengers at Lugbe on Airport road, Abuja.

Friday morning and needed to go for further treatment.

Magistrate Aliyu Shafa said the court would have refused the bail but for the health condition of the accused.

Shafa granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with a surety in like some.

He said the surety, who must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court, must be a civil servant on Grade Level 03 and above.

Ashafa adjourned the case to January 28, 2012 for further hearing. (NAN)

Photo: Joe Oroye

Housewife held over job scam

T

he Police have arraigned Rose Elaigwu, a housewife, before an Abuja Senior Magistrates Court for her alleged involvement in employment scam.

The accused is also standing trial for joint act, criminal breach of trust and cheating.

Police Prosecutor Abdullahi Adamu told the court that the accused was reported at the Wuse Zone 3 Police Station on January

2, 2013 by Umar Abdul of the Nigeria Postal Service, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.

Adamu said the accused connived with one ‘Madam Cash’ and one Mohammed, both now at large, to collect N300,000 from the complainant under the pretence of getting work for him at the Nigeria Customs Service.

He added that the accused went further to issue an appointment letter to the

complainant, which he later discovered to be fake.

The counsel to the accused, Mr Oni Julius and Mercy Jugu, urged the court to grant the accused bail, citing Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that a person is assume innocent until he or she is proven guilty.

Oni said the accused would not interfere with police investigation, and urged the

court to grant his client bail in liberal terms.

Senior Magistrate Nefisat Ibrahim granted the accused bail in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum.

She said the sureties, one of whom must be on Grade Level 9, must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction, and adjourned the case to January 22, 2013 for further hearing.

(NAN)

Tanker driver docked for diversion of petrol worth N3.2m

A

48-year-old driver, Stephen Agbonlahor, of Benin City has been arraigned at the Karu Upper Area Court, Abuja, for allegedly diverting 33,000 litres of petrol worth N3.2 million.

Police Prosecutor, Abiola Oyewusi told the court that on November 26, 2012, Agbonlahor, a driver with A.O Iyere Motors, carried 33,000 litres of PMS, which he was supposed to deliver to NNPC Depot in Suleja, Niger.

“While in transit between Abaji and Kwali Area Councils in Abuja, he dishonestly sold the fuel and converted the money to his use,” he said.

Oyewusi said the offence contravenes the provisions of

Sections 288 and 312 of the Penal Code, but the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Presiding Judge, Mr Umar Kargarko, adjourned the case to January 11, 2013 for bail consideration. (NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Governor Shettima: Between governance, humility and weakness

By Isa Umar Gusau

T

here are some persons within, around, and not too far from the corridor of power in Borno State that are desperately putting pressures through numerous ways demanding that Governor Kashim Shettima changes overnight, from being very humble to turning stubbornly arrogant; from being extremely kind to being very wicked; from being extraordinarily democratic and highly consultative to being ruthlessly autocratic and unilateral; they want him to change from being generously polite to being so mindlessly harsh.

They want every government official from top to bottom, to have running stomach on sighting the Governor's face in the morning. They want him to be more feared than admired. Simply put, they quickly want 'a Pharaoh out of Moses'.

These people are even frustrated that the Governor's characters haven't changed one bit from his years as a senior banker controlling 20 branches with thousands of staff, to his years as commissioner of finance, education, agriculture, local governments and chieftaincy affairs and health, at different times, to his current position as executive governor of Borno State in May, 2011.

To these people, though, they have their own line of argument. They feel that Governor Shettima has given so much liberty to his deputy, Zannah Umar Mustapha, making him the free st, most powerful, most honoured and most comfortable deputy governor in Nigeria. They do not like it that the Governor involves his deputy in every decision as he governs the state; the so hate it that the deputy walks in to see his boss, the Governor, any where, any day, any time without the slightest fear.

They feel the deputy could begin to see himself as a governor also thus abusing his bosses simplicity. For that assumption, they want the boss to put some breaks on his able deputy. The people equally don't like it that top government officials: the Secretary to the state government, Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, the chief of staff, Abubakar Kyari, Commissioners and some special advisers and some key personal staff freely walk into the Governors office to see him with issues. They also do not like it that the Governor always invite and admit his deputy, the SSG or Chief of Staff depending on the most senior official at a point in time, to sit by his side and drive in convoy. To these people, such atmosphere of liberty is too strange in corridors of power.

The people also hate it that Governor Shettima invites every person around to join him for lunch or dinner since he mostly closes from office at 10pm. The people suspect that whereas the governor has granted a very rare privilege out of his uncommon simplicity, some officials could eventually take what they get for granted by for instance, smuggling in their mobile phones into the Governor's office against security and protocol concerns which require every person, no matter how highly placed, not to take in a phone, camera or any storage device into the Governor's office unless so directed by the chief executive.

The people also have this fear that there some political actors that could find it easier to betray a simple boss during political scheming ahead of elections; they fear that in some cases, political field workers only operate selflessly in dealing with electorates on behalf of a candidate, when the field politicians fear a ruthless repercussion in the event they betray trust. These people, refer to the late Mala Kachalla, some of whose subordinates, allegedly held on to campaign materials and their likes, ignoring electorates, resulting in Kachalla's failure to secure a second term in office in 2003, loosing to Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.

But then, these people forget how intelligent Shettima is and his style of supervising every activity he puts in motion. Beside that this is someone that is determined to change the face of politics to that of working for the common and handing over his affairs to God. The man is simply not desperate about 2015 even though he is very particular about the stability of the ANPP at the State and local government levels and he is really popular with the party structure. He, it is, who has now accorded the highest respect by any Governor, to party officials in the State.

I can say that the Governor is aware that some people want him to go very tough and even ruthless. One day, i spoke to him about the issue and after his explanation, i realised that indeed, the Governor thinks far ahead of most of us, from the top most officials down the line.

"Isa, i believe that leadership is about being able to

Borno State Governor

KASHIM SHETTIMA persuade people to work in achieving your goals, leadership is but a means to an end and not an end in its self. Then, you see, it is Allah that gives power, no amount of machiavellian tactics guarantees power otherwise there are some people that would have been Presidents in Nigeria long before now is mainly strategies give power. Then, it is far easier to frustrate people than to win them. To win people, you have to do so much persuasion, ideas sharing, compromises here and there, tolerance, vision sharing, personal interactions, courtesies etc towards your those you work with while frustrating someone could involve a single sentence you say towards that person or a single action you exhibit.

For me, i regard everyone from His Excellency, the deputy governor to the SSG, Chief of staff, Commissioners, advisers and everyone working with him as a team member while i lead that team. I am from the banking sector, i believe in team work, that is how you get results, that is how you make people key into your goals and as you work with them you carefully pencil down those that are really ready to work towards your goals and then, you keep them with persuasion, rewards and some tactical sanctions and believe me, you get result at the end. I believe in a win-win situation, not i win, you loose, because after i get you terribly hurt, you loose even if i win by making you do what i want. As per the deputy governor, whether one likes it or not, the deputy governor is the second in the system, if you refuse to carry him along in what you are doing while you are in charge, you cant stop him if you fall dead as a governor or if you become incapacitated. My elder brother, Governor Gaidam of Yobe was a deputy governor, his boss died, no one expected it, today he is a Governor, the Governor of Kaduna was a deputy, today he is governor, no one expected Sir Yakowa to pass on now but he did; the deputy governor of Taraba State is currently acting owing to the health of his boss; one or two governors are not feeling very fine, their deputies are handling things, so, you see, one will be foolish to mal treat his deputy just because he is the governor today. When you mal treat him, first, he sabotages you from within, secondly, you possibly create a division in your government with some being pro-you and some pro- deputy, people come to you and use the limited time you ought to use in tackling the challenges of your state

“

I also believe, like many would, that Governor Shettima's style is seriously working for him giving the numerous successes recorded in less than two years especially on massive jobs creation and skills provision to combat security challenges, aggressive agricultural programmes, the overhaul going on in the education sector, the complete transformation of the health sectors beside so many rural and urban roads infrastructures

to discuss your deputy because he will become the subject and then others also go to him daily to make you the subject and by the end of the day, both you live in distractions sometimes, you do not even know you have lost focus; you end up breeding suspicion between both you, even if you dont steal, he thinks that's what you are doing, you no longer feel comfortable attending to key issues outside the state that may be of so much importance to the citizens mainly because you do not want your deputy in charge, and when you do not respect your deputy, ofcourse no one will respect him, not even his security details so how can he manage the state in the event you are not on ground and there is a desperate situation that he must handle? In addition, you suffer in silence when you are sick, pretending to be fine because you think the deputy must never have a feel of power, ofcourse, you die at the end, he takes over with so much disgust for your soul, so what is life all about? So long as you are there, you are the governor no matter what rights and privileges you ensure for your deputy" Governor Shettima said to me.

He went further to speak on his relationships with his appointees: "Making your appointees panic require one thing, that is to make them to feel unsecured in terms of their seats, making them believe you can just wake up and sack any of them or even dissolve the cabinet but when you do that, you may see it one way on one part, that you have instilled jitters into them but there are other angles to the matter because you might end up making them desperate, diverting public funds since they believe they can go anytime, you end up turning an otherwise transparent persons into stealing for fear of the unknown, you end up slowing the zeal of your committed partners that should help you achieve your goals because they are not even sure of what announcement you will make tomorrow. And you see, you are not God, so you can not do everything, subordinates must handle issues in any case that is what the law says that a state executive council members have to sit to take decisions and approve releases and these releases come from submissions by ministries approvals. In addition to that, we have challenges in Borno State, one of our commissioners was even brutally killed, some are being trailed to their houses, this means that the commissioners along with advisers are sometimes faced with psychological difficulties and so if i as the team leader is not receptive towards them to regularly stabilise them , give them hope, courage and build their confidence, where do they turn to? That will be a situation they become scared at home and scared around me, how could we have achieve so much that we have accomplished so far despite the challenges?"

Shettima also said.

But while Shettima maintains his position, the people wanting him to change carry on with their campaigns, speaking to anyone that can talk the governor to make him wear emperor's regalia. Funny enough, some of the advocates, actually enjoy the Governor's current simplicity by having access to him when they have issues, yet they hate it when others get similar disposition.

I think some people mix humility with weakness.

Governor Shettima consults widely, accepts good ideas and politely reject others, initiates good policies and programmes, religiously supervise projects and programmes, mostly pays unscheduled visits; remains his own man with his ideals, shows transparency and live integrity, gives orders to everyone from his deputy to the SSG, Chief of Staff, Commissioners, advisers etc and the instructions are promptly carried out and so when a leader is this in charge, i think is basically a humble but competent one. I also believe, like many would, that Governor Shettima's style is seriously working for him giving the numerous successes recorded in less than two years especially on massive jobs creation and skills provision to combat security challenges, aggressive agricultural programmes, the overhaul going on in the education sector, the complete transformation of the health sectors beside so many rural and urban roads infrastructures and importantly, the relative stability he brought about in the state as against what the crisis situation was, in the build up to the 2011 elections.

My verdict, please, is no to autocracy; i am sure the Governor does not even need this advise to remain Kashim Shettima.

Gusau is Special Adviser on Communications to Governor Kashim Shettima and he wrote from Government House, Maiduguri, Borno State.

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

By Abdulwahab Isa

A

suggestion by an interest group in the maritime sector advocating for the rejection of the amended Customs &Excise Management Act (CEMA) by the Senate has been described as self-serving.

The National President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Mr. Eugene Nweke, while canvassing this position in an interview with newsmen described the suggestion as not only self-serving but smacks of lack of national interest.

A group, purported to be

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

Lagos to begin oil production by 2014

Mob: 08033644990

Customs Bill: ‘Ignore self-serving interest group’ stakeholders in maritime sector was quoted in the media appealing to the President and members of the senate to reject the amended CEMA bill recently passed by the House of Representatives, as according to the group, the process leading to the passage of the bill at the House of Representatives was shoddy and not reflective of all the interest groups.

The NAGAFF leader described the submission attributed to some interests in maritime sector as not only mischievous but self-serving.

He said the passage of the bill by

the House of Representatives followed an extensive public hearing conducted and all the stakeholders in maritime sector were given unfettered opportunity to air their views both in oral submission and in written , thus wondering why the sudden voltface by so-called stakeholders.

He counseled the interest group to allow the Act to be put in to use in maritime sector at least for five years to observe its potency, after which they can call for its review.

“In Nigeria today, anybody

and everybody can chose to come under any guise or group to make pronouncements because the freedom of expression guarantees that. The CEMA clearly sets out how to democratize the board of customs. I think it should be put to test for five years after which if there are issues it can be taken care of”, he affirmed.

On the granting of six months extension to four contracted firms engaged to undertake destinations inspection of imports to Nigeria, he said government need not extending the contract because men of Nigeria Customs have been adequately trained to perform the task.

“The Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) has undergone tremendous improvement lately that bringing these expatriates to take over the job of Customs is as good as rendering over 10,000 young Nigerians currently recruited by the Service in

preparation for this type of service delivery amount to idleness. The 1 % of FOB is just the attraction.

Does their engagement add value to the system? Our shippers will continue to pay through their noses”, he said.

The Federal Government through Finance Ministry last week approved a six month contract extension for four firms handling destination inspection of imports in to the country. The firms are, Cotecna, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), GlobalScan System and Webb Fontaine.

The contract was first singed by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Federal Government in 2005 and was to come into effect on 1st January 2006 and to terminate on December 31st, 2012.

The extension has drawn criticisms from various interest groups.

CBN extends acceptance of legacy banks’ cheques

By Abdulwahab Isa with agency report

T

L-R: Manager, Kaduna International Airport, Alhaji Garba Ringim, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Yakubu Dati, and Head of Operations, Kaduna International Airport, Mr. Liman Kutigi, during the inspection of Kaduna International Airport project, yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

ITF opens 37 industrial skill centres, trains 37,000 youths

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

T

he Industrial Training Fund, (ITF) is to establish 37 Industrial Skill Training Centres in the six geo political zones of the country.

Director General of the fund, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja at the weekend, said the Fund also had plan to train 37,000 youths in different skill acquisition areas.

Wapmuk said the decision to embark on the establishment of the centres was part of the funds’ efforts at addressing the obvious shortage of skilled manpower acquisition in the country.

Wapmuk explained that the centre would enhance Apprenticeship Scheme as well as the training of young entrants and other skill workers thereby reduce over dependence on government.

The DG who said the fund had already established three centres in Ikeja, Kano and Jos stated further that the agency is in collaboration with ITEE in Singapore to establish a model

skill training centre in Abuja.

According to him, the centre in Abuja will embark on the training of candidates on technology, electrical/ electronics, ICT, Mechatronics and Culinary, adding that the agency is also floating a skilled manpower development programme initiated under a collaborative association with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

The project, he said, is tagged: “Technical Skills Development Project TSDP”.

He hinted also that the Fund is also developing job specification documents, saying that at the moment 110 staff of the Dangote Cement Group are being trained in a long-term programme.

The ITF boss who disclosed that the agency is also coordinating and sponsoring a National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), which has taken off in 10 states of the federation under its first phase, said however that 10,000 youths are currently being trained.

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have yielded to pressure from members of the banking community with the extension of the deadline on the acceptance of cheques that emanated from legacy banks to March 31.

The affected banks included Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc, ETB Limited, Oceanic Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Finbank Plc and Spring Bank Plc. This implies that such cheques can still be presented for transactions and clearing.

Following the new directives, some of the affected institutions began passing the information to their respective customers and contractors last week, in a bid to douse tension.

The apex bank had in November last year directed all Nigerian banks and other financial institutions not to honour or present for clearing cheques from legacy or liquidated banks from January 2, 2013.

Following the CBN’s intervention of 2009, where eight banks adjudged to have failed a joint test conducted by the CBN and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation

Management Tip of the Day Create dramatic tension to persuade your audience

A

ll good presentations — like all good stories — convey and resolve some kind of conflict. The sense of discord is what makes audiences care.

Create conflict by juxtaposing what is with what could be.

Begin by describing life as the audience knows it. People should be nodding their heads

in recognition. This creates a bond and opens them up to hear your ideas for change. After you set that baseline, introduce your ideas of what could be. The gap between the two will throw the audience a bit off balance, and that’s a good thing — it creates tension that needs to be resolved.

Continue to alternately build tension and provide release by toggling back and forth between the status quo and a better way — finally arriving at the “new bliss” people will discover by adopting your proposal.

Source: Harvard Business Review

(NDIC) were taken over by the CBN, some of the affected banks were immediately acquired by healthier bigger banks, while three others lost their identities to three new financial institutions.

However, some banks, in an SMS to their customers disclosed that the “CBN has announced the extension of the deadline for the acceptance of legacy bank cheques to March 31, 2013. This implies that such cheques can still be presented for transactions and clearing.”

The CBN had been under intense pressure especially by some contractors of the legacy banks who had been shortchanged by the initial deadline, which expired in December last year. Some of the contractors include those presented with post-dated cheques or those with cheques, which could not be honoured by the new institutions that emerged from the ruins of the legacy banks.

It was also gathered that some of the contractors had petitioned the CBN especially as some of the cheques issued by the banks at the twilight of their operations had repeatedly bounced, a consideration said to have largely informed the latest deadline extension.

A banking industry source explained that the apex bank had no choice but to bow to pressure mounted by some contractors of the legacy banks, who had threatened to institute legal actions against the banks.

“Besides, some of the banks that acquired those troubled banks are back on their feet, so there is no excuse for them not to honour the cheques given the fact that they have acquired both the assets and liabilities of the affected institutions,” the source said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS

EBRD and AfDB

T

he European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and African Development Bank (AfDB) have initiated moves to discover untapped investment and development opportunities in the continent.

The Secretary-General of EBRD, Enzo Quattrociocche, disclosed this during a meeting between the two multilateral development banks recently, in Tunis, which involved the board of directors of both institutions.

Already, EBRD has started operations in three North African countries – Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, in an attempt to annex the business climates in the continent and tap from the investment and development needs that arose from the Arab Spring.

Standard Alliance

T

he Group Chief Executive Officer of Standard Alliance Group, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor has added more feathers to his cap as he was last week decorated with three awards at separate events in Lagos and Abuja for his contributions to the growth of the nation’s economy.

Emerhor, who was decorated along with other eminent Nigerians at the AES Excellence Cub’s third Annual CEOs Dinner/Awards Nite held in Lagos, received an award as The Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012.

Speaking at the presentation of the awards, Dr. (Mrs) Nike Akande, a former minister of Industries and chairman of the Club, noted that “we have carefully been following Emerhor’s giant strides in business and his crucial contributions to the growth of the nation’s economy and the only way we can encourage him to continue with the good work is to recognise him today as our Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012.

Miss Insurance

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he 2012 Insurance Queen, Miss Onyeka Adigwe has empowered youths recently in her pet project theme Youth empowerment with officials of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) held at CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos.

Miss Insurance, together with educationists and Insurance practitioners, held series of interactive sessions with the students on various issues contributing to failures in their academics, dangers of drug abuse, as well as, benefits of insurance as a profession and a way of life.

Lagos to begin oil production by 2014 Stories by Muhammad Nasir with agency reports igeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, which is popularly known as ‘Eko City’ is set to actively join the league of oil-producing states in Nigeria by the year 2014, as oil is expected to be produced offshore for the first time from the Aje gas and condensate field.

The Aje field, by topography

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is situated along the plateau, which has the capacity of production between 50,000 and 80,000 barrels per day, while the water depth level is in the local and region of 3,000 feet.

The Oil Mining Lease (OML) 113, which is designated for the oil project, covers an area of 960 square kilometres and has huge and great prospects including the oil fields Jubilee and Tweneboa.

It was also revealed that the OML 113 was formerly known as oil operating license 309 and was initially given out in 1991 to Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, to boost the local content capacity of the oil and gas sector in the country.

Discovery of the Aje oil field dates back to 1996, by that time the oil well flowed at a momentous capacity of 2,389 barrels of oil per day in terms of

NNPC records N686 bn from sale of refined products

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it made about N686 billion, from the sales of refined products from the three refineries in the country last year.

This has been seen as a positive development for a company, that has come under various criticisms of non-performance and inefficiency, resulting to the hope that it has found its path towards becoming a key player in the Nigerian economy.

In a budget presentation made by the NNPC to the National Assembly, the corporation stated that its projected earnings from the sale of refined products was N802.88 billion for the year 2012, and that it had realized N455.3

billion as at September last year.

The Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) however frowned at the report on the refined products sale , as the Chairman Senator Magnus Abe said it did not give a comprehensive analysis to what each refinery earned at the end of last year.

Also, the NNPC in its breakdown said that it generated the total amount of N868.44billion, while its operating expenses for the year 2012 gulped a total of about N654.23 billion. For its capital expenditure in the last Fiscal year, the Corporation said it spent N13.9 billion.

For the year 2013 , the NNPC said it was projecting a

revenue of a whooping N1.003 trillion, with a corresponding total expenditure, that includes operational and capital expenses of about N953.05 billion.

It blamed the shortfall on its projected 2012 revenue on the under performance of the plants, and said it believed that with necessary infrastructure now in place, the operations will improve this year and that the corporation will experience a huge boom in its sales.

The Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) is expected to resume from its break next week, to clarify and scrutinise the budget presentation of the NNPC for 2013.

A typical oil rig

Oando shops for N54.6bn from capital market

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ando Plc has concluded plans to raise N54.6 billion right issue through the issuance of 4,548,236,276 ordinary shares of 50 kobo at N12.00 per share.

According to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the right issue, which opened on December 28, 2012, on the basis of two new ordinary shares for every ordinary share of 50 kobo each held as at the close of business on Friday, October 19, 2012 is for those shareholders whose names appear on the register of members and transfer books of the company which are

maintained in Nigeria, as well as, shareholders, whose names appear on the register of members and transfer books of the company, which are maintained in South Africa as at the close of business on the Friday prior to the issue opening date, January 4, 2013.

The Rights Issue exercise, according to the report opened on Friday, 28 December, 2012 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and January 4, 2013 on JSE Limited. It would close on Wednesday, February 6, 2913 on both Exchanges.

The lead issuing house is

Vetiva Capital Management Limited, with FBN Capital Limited and FCMB Capital would act as Joint Issuing Houses.

The company explained that the proceeds from the Rights Issue, will be used for the Part-payment of N60 billion syndicated loan used to fund the acquisition of upstream assets and swamp drilling rigs, part-financing of acquisition of upstream and midstream assets by Oando’s upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources as well as investment in working capital to support increased level of business.

production, capacity and operations.

Drilling operations in the Aje oil field was comprehensive and its commercial value prospects started in 2009, with an extensive reservoir structure that aids effective operations for prospective oil and gas firms.

For the operational structure plan, a total of six producers are planned for the field, and will be connected to the subsea well heads and flowlines of about 320-feet water depth. The contingent gross level is estimated at 380 million.

From the analysis, 52 percent is gas, 28 percent oil condensate and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LNG) 20 percent.

Oil prices record biggest weekly gain in three months

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rude oil prices capped the biggest weekly advance in three months, after U.S employers hired more workers than expected in December.

Prices increased 17 cents after the US Labour Department said payrolls rose by 155,000 workers last month, exceeding the 152,000 forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Brent for February settlement dropped 83 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to end at $111.31 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The North Sea grade was $18.22 more than WTI, compared with $19.22 on Thursday.

Equities advanced following the jobs report, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) poised for its biggest weekly rally in 13 months.

Oil settled at a three-month high on January 2 after U.S lawmakers passed a bill on January 1 to undo automatic tax increases and spending cuts that had threatened growth in the world’s biggest oil -consuming country.

President Barack Obama signed it into law on January 2.

Futures fell in intraday trading on Friday after the Energy Department said gasoline stocks rose 2.57 million barrels to 225.7 million in the week ended December 28, the most since March. It exceeded the median forecast for a 2.2 millionbarrel increase in a Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts.

Gasoline for February delivery dropped 1.2 per cent to settle at $2.7643 a gallon on the Nymex. Heating oil for February delivery fell 0.2 per cent to $3.0177 a gallon. Crude stockpiles dropped 11.1 million barrels to 359.9 million.

Oil stockpiles have decreased during December for the past six years because of inventory shifts for tax and accounting purposes.

Companies in Gulf Coast states minimize supplies at the end of the year to reduce local taxes.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

ICT: Sector's lackluster performance leads to investor/consumer apathy – IT Expert Dr. Armstrong Takang is a practicing computer scientist with a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from The University of Hull, UK and a Higher Education Teaching Certificate (HETC) from the same university. He has worked with KPMG Consulting and his alma mate. He is currently a technology advisor with at least 17 years of experience in ICT consulting, banking and financial services, transportation, health, and education. He has served as chairman, task force National Software Development , Committee on Nigerian ICT for Development (ICT4D) strategic action plan and authored several publications on software maintenance. He spoke to Chris Alu on the challenges of ICT in Nigeria. Excerpts:

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ould you explain why Nigeria is lagging behind in the use of

ICT? The truth is that Nigeria is lagging behind the use of ICT just because it happens to be one of the various areas that reflect a more systemic and pervasive problem we are facing. I will therefore answer the question in two steps. The first is that there is a general development problem in the country that sets us behind in the use and exploration of technology and the other issue is that we have specific issues with the use of ICT as a people.

So what are these general, systemic problems? We lack, on a general scale, the exploitative and entrepreneurial instinct required for building sustainable ICT firms, largely due to the stage of economic development we are in as a country.

Whereas the developed economies are now operating a "knowledge" economy, we are still in the nascent stages of an industrial economy.

So, we are not quite well positioned to leverage ICT as ought. There are also the more general problems of awareness, infrastructure and perceived returns on investment on ICT. The truth is, the benefit derived per dollar on our investments on IT as a country is far lower than from other parts of the world. A good case in point is Internet service provision, where you pay exorbitant and really ridiculous sums to get ineffective and utterly erratic Internet services.

This lackluster performance of our ICT sector leads to investor/ consumer apathy.

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s an expert and a consultant in ICT, why are ICT equipment, training and learning very expensive?

Price, as you know, is a function of market forces in any capitalist system. So, I think the problem here is one of demand and supply. Price is also a function of how risky the business is, a risky business commands a premium on price.

Risk, ultimately, is a manifestation of the degree of information (quantity and

quality) possessed. There is still a paucity of tangible information and knowledge in our industry. There are not so many people who know hence the few who know come at a premium.

This problem however is not peculiar to Nigeria.

In the US, at the moment, there is intense competition for employees (people who know) amongst the tech giants. Face book poached many engineers from Google in the past five years forcing Google to increase the base salary of their employees by 10% at the end of the day, So ultimately, it comes to the price of knowledge which determines what people are willing to pay for training and learning.

ICT equipment on the other hand are not expensive, in fact equipment are cheaper now than they've ever been and this is due to the fact that manufacturing technologies are now pervasive and equipment are now commodities.

What is expensive are services and applications that run on these equipment and we already considered some of the reasons above.

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an you describe the challenges of ICT in Nigeria?

In general, we see challenges as stepping stones to where we are headed as a business. In every challenges there is an opportunity waiting to be leveraged. However, from an industry point of view there have been a good number of challenges.

First, access to capital at reasonable cost and terms is a major hindrance to our business especially with respect to driving the uptake of low cost technology platforms where the customer is particularly sensitive to prices. The interest charges and other fees eventually put the products out of the affordability range of those being targeted.

Secondly, the existing laws do not provide sufficient protection for intellectual property, which is a key asset for professional services firm.

This discourages innovation but encourages plagiarism and mediocrity.

Thirdly, there is need for a national strategy on how to

bandwidth and power.

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ould you explain why ICT is not yet included in our secondary schools curriculum?

Dr. Armstrong Takang engage multinational technology firms as partners particularly those from the East. This is even more critical when the said firm has strong backing from the government of its home country.

Failure to do means we are simply creating a very vibrant set of consumers for their goods and services and creating jobs in other countries while our youths are roaming the streets looking for work. This, in turn, will weaken the ability of the local firms to compete favourably and thus make it much more difficult for government to achieve its economic and development objectives especially those related to private sector contribution to Vision 202020.

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any countries are leveraging on ICT for job creation; when will Nigeria start thinking along these lines?

Nigeria for a fact has started to think along these lines and we have a few companies and individuals who are beginning

to make investments in ICT. However, based on our population, our unique position in Africa and considering our full potential and capabilities then we have only begun to scratch the surface.

One strong deterrent to entrepreneurship in technology is infrastructure and capital. In the US as at 5 years ago, a startup might require between 10 and 50 million USD to get off the ground due to the massive infrastructure requirement (cost of bandwidth, servers, licenses etc). The cost has been reduced to a fraction of that now, due to the fact that startups now leverage the infrastructure of companies such as Amazon and Rack space to deploy their solutions.

High profile startups such as Quora, Foursquare, Reddit, Heroku, SCVNGR, Hootsuite, Wildfire, and Livefyre are all hosted on the Amazon cloud. The cost of running these services would have been daunting (nearly impossible) some years back. In Nigeria however, there are still major infrastructure constraints, specifically Internet

There has been some effort by the Federal Government to include ICT in the school curriculum particularly at the secondary school level.

However, this has not had much impact on the knowledge and skills acquired by the students coming of the schools. There reasons for this situation are not far fetched.

First, the government policy on the inclusion of ICT in school curricula and ensuring compliance by schools still needs a lot of work.

At the moment, the inclusion of ICT in the curricula followed schools is still discretionary and varies between private and public schools, between rural and urban schools, etc. Second, many of the schools do not have the infrastructure such as computers, communications networks, Internet access, etc. required for effective delivery of ICT courses. In the case where the infrastructure exists, it is usually underutilized or totally insufficient for the student population. And thirdly, this is a fall out of the other challenges that our education sector is currently facing.

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igerian leaders have not started including ICT on their agenda, could you explain why it is so, as a stakeholder?

The simple answer is I don't know, but I can hazard a guess and say maybe, because they don't understand it and it is always politically expedient to leave out what you don't understand. However, the ICT industry has to work harder to ensure that ICT is put on the political agenda.

Once there is political capital to be gained from engaging in ICT projects, the situation will change to the extent that the demand might actually exceed the capacity of the industry players. The good news is that we are likely to see some changes. A few of our leaders now have their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts and the degree of ICT engagement is higher than in the past. So, it is only a matter of time.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

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Internet celebrates 30th birthday

By Chris Alu with agency report he Internet, a global system of interconnected computer networks that has transformed the lives of billions of people across the world, turns 30 on January 8th, 2013.

The computer network, which has contributed in reshaping the lives of individuals, government, nations and multinational corporations through communications, business transactions and friends with just a click, was born to replace previous network said Cert.VP. It was the day ARPANET network fully switched from the older Network Control Program (NCP) protocol to the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) communications system, which now underpins the entire Internet.

The reason for the switch was that ARPANET had roughly 1,000 computers connected on

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the network at the time, and it was growing fast, so to handle the larger and increasingly complicated network ARPANET needed a new protocol.

The Chief internet Evangelist Cerf,VP who is a team player that helped to develop the Internet computer communication protocol, and is also regarded as ‘godfather of the Internet’, said that the main emotion he remembers looking back on that day was relief’ According to him, the designed was specifically to support connection among different packet-switched networks .

“With hindsight, it’s obvious it was a momentous occasion. On that day, the operational Internet was born”, he stated.

English computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee also used the new Internet protocol to host the system of interlinked hypertext documents he invented in 1989, known as the World Wide Web.

January 1 marked the 30th anniversary of the switchover of all computers on ARPANET but the handover and documentation was on the 6th of January 1983 at the US White House, where the Internet’s predecessor was transferred to a technology called TCP/IP. TCP is short term for “Transmission Control Protocol,” and IP “Internet Protocol.”

Together, these two technologies work together to route Internet data traffic — or “packets” — from one Internetconnected computer to another”, Google’s vicepresident and “chief Internet evangelist”, Vint Cerf, who cocreated TCP/IP, said.

Each network will used its own communications technology to transmit packets, and there was no way to transmit these bits of information between networks, he stated.

Expert calls on CBN to direct banks to give preference to mortgagees

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he Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Mr. Olajugba Oluropo, yesterday called on Federal Government to direct commercial banks to give preference to mortgagees to grow the real estate industry.

Oluropo, also a real estate consultant, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that commercial banks were well positioned to develop the real estate sector. He said that a directive from the apex bank to all commercial banks to give loans to builders and real estate entrepreneurs would help to plug Nigeria’s housing deficit.

According to him, involvement of commercial banks in the mortgage finance market would invigorate the real estate sector. ”Commercial banks in Nigeria are not providing enough mortgage financing, instead they offer short and mediumterm loans with stringent conditions to all customers”, he stated.

“Nigeria does not yet have a law that ensures that banks give preference to businessmen in the real estate sector in matters of taking loans.

Meanwhile, it is a known fact that mortgage finance market is the foundation of the real estate industry and cannot exist without vibrant commercial banks’ involvement. I believe that developing countries like Nigeria can provide adequate houses for their citizens through well organised mortgage system,” he further said.

Oluropo said that Nigeria needed to put in place a sound land tenure system and property ownership rights as well as laws to move the real estate business forward.

“Foreign investors are ready to invest in Nigeria’s real estate sector if there is conducive environment, `` he said.

Oluropo urged commercial banks in the country to “get on board the train to turn the house ownership fortunes of Nigerians around”. (NAN)

Investors stake N8.51 bn on FGN bonds in one week ….as capital market indices rise by 1.6%

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DANA Air ticketing officers waiting for customers, during the commencement Lagos-Abuja -Lagos flights operation, yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, in Ikeja, Lagos.

Photo: Bolaji Olasunkanmi

Keystone ahead of the adopts ‘directorate structure’ to revitalise business From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

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eystone Bank Limited has embarked on a realignment of its corporate goals to enable it realise its objective.

The bank, in a statement on Friday, said the Board also approved a new corporate structure, which was a hybrid of regional and functional components to drive business forcefully in 2013 and beyond.

The statement said, “The new structure will be supported by the executive directors of the bank as follows: Lagos and West Directorate, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei; Abuja and North Directorate, Mallam Shehu Abubakar; South Directorate, Mrs. Sally

Uwechue-Mbanefo; and Operations and Technology Directorate, Mr. Ademola M. Adewale, while the Acting Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Shehu Muhammad, will remain the fulcrum of this highly responsive team.”

The bank also said the move was to deliver consistent superior performance and ensure that it remained focused in the New Year.

It also said it had promoted 16 senior employees in keeping with its culture of rewarding and celebrating commendable performances and excellence.

It added that it also provided the opportunity for about five per cent of its workforce to take advantage of early severance

package.

It said, “The promotion of the senior staff follows similar exercise that elevated considerable percentage of other cadres of the bank’s staff in March, 2012. The promotion as approved by the Board is effective January 1, 2013 and affects senior members of staff that have shown consistent high performance during the period under review. The members of staff were eligible for this promotion as at July 31, 2012.”

Muhammad congratulated all the employees on the promotion list and encouraged them to remain inspired to deliver higher levels of performance.

ransactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) re-opened yesterday on a positive trend, as some blue chips recorded huge price gains.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the All Share Index (ASI), which opened at 28,538.05 appreciated by 448.14 points or 1.6 per cent to close at 28,986.19. Similarly, the market capitalisation grew

by N143 billion or 1.6 per cent to close at N9.264 trillion as against the N9.121 trillion recorded on Friday.

The Over –The –Counter (OTC) market for FGN bonds last week recorded a turnover of 972.737 million shares worth N8.509 billion in 13,745,compared to total of 571.077 million shares valued at N5.246 that exchanged hands on the preceeding week.

NewGold recorded the

highest price gain of N15 to close at N2,510 per unit. Total trailed with N6.02 to close at N126.59 per share, while Guinness and 7UP grew by N3 each to close at N276 and N45 respectively.

OkomuOil appreciated by N2.23 to close at N46.85 per share.

On the other hand, Lafarge Wapco led the losers’ chart with a loss of N4 to close at N54 per share. Beteglass followed with 52k loss to close at N9.98 per share, while Pharma-Deko Plc dipped by 12k to close. Mayer & Baker lost 7k to close at N1.63 per share, while Neimeth depreciated by 5k to close at 95k.

NAN reports that in all, investors exchanged 457.72 million shares worth N3 billion in 5,826 deals. This is against the 233.81 million shares valued at N1.6 billion traded in 2,875 deals on Friday. (NAN)

NPA expects 85 ships in three weeks

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he Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday said that 85 ships were expected at the various terminals in Lagos ports between Jan. 7 and Jan. 29.

The NPA’s daily publication, “Shipping Position’’, made available to newsmen in Lagos said the ships were carrying fish, wheat, rice, petroleum products, new and used vehicles, steel products, base oil, sugar and malt.

The document indicated that 19 of the ships were laden

with petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel. It said that seven ships were already waiting to berth and discharge petroleum products at the various oil terminals. The document said two of the ships were laden with petrol, two with kerosene, two with aviation fuel, while one will discharge diesel. “Eleven ships are also waiting to discharge rice, bulk wheat, new vehicles and fertiliser,” it said.

(NAN)

PEOSPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Report as at Monday, January 7, 2013

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

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FCT resident doctors’ wake-up call With population explosion starring the FCT in the face, the need to hire more medical personnel, particularly doctors is paramount, says Association of Resident Doctors’ Secretary General, Dr. Amos Maiguru. Miriam Humbe reports….

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n December 6, 2012, the Association of Resident Doctors, Abuja chapter held elections and elected a new exco who are expected to oversee the affairs of the association for the next two years. Shortly upon resumption of office, the new exco headed by Dr. O. A. Etim plunged themselves into their official roles. Their primary assignment was to embark on a tour of all the 12 hospitals owned and managed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA. Their mission was to get a firsthand knowledge of the working conditions of these establishments and their challenges so as to be able to seek the improved welfare of their colleagues.

Shortly after a visit to some of the hospitals, our reporter had a chat with the Secretary General of the

association, Doctor Amos Maiguru who had been on the tour inspecting some of the 12 government hospitals located within Abuja. He revealed that one of their findings showed that there was a shortage of medical personnel, especially medical doctors in hospitals in the territory, and urged the FCT administration to employ more doctors.

The doctor said with human population growing in Abuja in geometric progression, it was not helpful that the doctor to patient ratio was pegged at one doctor to 2678 patients as against the usual practice of one doctor to 1000 patients in an ideal situation. According to him, this rather preventable development leads to the doctors working under extreme fatigue.

“One thing we discovered was that most of the doctors

were fatigued due to the fact that there is shortage of doctors. You see one doctor taking at least 14-15 calls per month and the resultant effect is that they are fatigued and not liable to give their best”, he said.

Going by his analysis, at least 10 thousand people come into Abuja on a daily basis. Of this number, on the average, seven thousand are more likely to stay back while the other three thousand may travel back only to visit again later. These persons entering into Abuja on a daily basis also come with various medical needs. With this population explosion therefore, the doctors and nurses working in these hospitals are grossly inadequate when compared to the number of patients they have to attend to every other day.

While the World Health Organisation, WHO

President, Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Asuquo Etim

Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu

recommends a ratio of one doctor per population of 1000 persons, the FCT bulletin on health published in 2011 put the Doctor to patient ratio at one Doctor to 2678 patients.

This is a far cry from the ideal situation and what ought to be and a sure reason some doctors are said to be abandoning the services of the FCT Health and Human Services for greener pastures.

Dr. Maiguru said before they embarked on the tour of these hospitals, there were agitations from the hospitals that the past exco who had stayed in office for three and a half years did not bother to visit these hospitals. “When we came into office, we felt the first thing to do was to tour all the 12 hospitals under the FCT. We actually started with those hospitals in the periphery like Rubochi General Hospital. When we got there, what we saw was shocking”, he said.

He said although the medical facilities were in place

Entrance to Abuja National Hospital in the hospitals, the staff were grossly inadequate. “We met a doctor who, because the nurse who was supposed to have been on duty with him had to run two shifts, but because she was fatigued and couldn’t come to work, that same doctor who was on call was the one who actually took delivery of the baby, bathed and clothed the baby. He had to do all these as a doctor in the absence of a nurse on duty. It’s not really that the nurse was absent but she was simply over

worked.

The general perception at all the hospitals is that they are under staffed.

It’s as if there are no staffs at all”, the Doctor lamented.

He also decried the unwholesome activities of the local chemists operating in suburbs under the fake identities of doctors when in the actual sense, they are quacks.

“This problem has been there for very long. What my association intends to do, the actual body that regulates the

“

This problem has been there for very long. What my association intends to do, the actual body that regulates the activities of these calibre of persons is the Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria.

They are supposed to be the ones who should kick these people out of practice. They are actually the kind of persons who cause lot of problems for most people, thereby complicating their health FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed

activities of these calibre of persons is the Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria.

They are supposed to be the ones who should kick these people out of practice. They are actually the kind of persons who cause lot of problems for most people, thereby complicating their health”, he said.

The scribe lamented how these fake medical practitioners convince people into patronising them when in the real sense; they are quacks who are not supposed to operate at all. “But we don’t know the body that has permitted them to operate up till this time. My association will have to liaise with the Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria to check the activities of these quacks that are causing harm to the people who patronise them.

We as a body, we don’t have that power. The body that can regulate them is the Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria and we expect them to do something about it”, he

said.

Not a few FCT residents who spoke with our reporter also echoed the medical practitioner’s clarion call. One of them, Madam Helen Ochigbo a resident of Kubwa, said that in view of the ever growing population of this city, it is about time something was urgently done about the issue of having more doctors to attend to patients and also, more policemen and police stations for our security.

Another resident, Mr. Joseph Chia of Gwagwalada said the thought of going to the hospital and spending the whole day because of the crowd of people scares him away causing him to patronise the nearby unregistered chemist shops for mild ailments like malaria and cough. He ascribed the situation to the few number of doctors who have to attend to a large number of patients at the same time.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 26

by Joy Baba

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he Chief of Army Staff(COAS) Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika has said the Nigerian Army is doing all it can within its reach to meet the challenges facing the nation in all its ramification in line with the transformation agenda of the present administration.

The Army Chief stated this in Abuja yesterday while commissioning some newly built transit accommodation for officers and soldiers at M o g a d i s h u Cantonment.

Ihejirika said the provision of accommodation for officers and soldiers is yet another mile stone in the army's quest to provide befitting place of residence for officers serving in Abuja considering the a c c o m m o d a t i o n problem in the Federal Capital.

According to him " This project was put in place in line with my vision of transforming the army to meet c o n t e m p o r a r y challenges because I believe strongly that for us to get the best out of the troops, their place of residence must take priority to impact positively on officers and their families" He further said that the project was implemented through direct labor by the Army engineers thereby saving huge amount for the Army and the nation at large.

Ihejirika also assured the officers that his administration will continue to strive to tackle their accommodation and

Army striving to meet contemporary challenges- COAS • urged new generals to put in their best

L-R: Chairman, Senate C’ttee on Defence, Sen. George Sekibo, Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba and representative of Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal A.A Ogunaike at the commissioning of newly built transit accomodation at Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja.

Photo: Joy Baba other welfare needs aggressively.

In his speech, special guest of honor of the occasion and chairman, senate committee on Defence and Army, Senator George Sekibo said he was impress by this giant stride by the Army and assured them that his committee will do all it can to provide for the army through budgetary allocation that will enable them become a reputable force within the West African region.

He further urged officers and their families that will be occupying the newly

built accomodation to ensure proper maintainance.

At the decoration of newly promoted Colonels to the rank of Brigadier Generals, the Army chief urged them to see their promotion as a recognition for hardwork and a demonstration of confidence on the part of the leadership that they still have much more to offer the system.

According to Iherijika “do not see your new ranks as any title or chieftaincy titles as is common in Nigeria, but see it as a reward for hardwork, honesty and forthrightness”.

L-R: Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika, Brigadier- General Lanre Bello, his wife, Mrs Blessing Bello, during the decoration of Lanre Bello as one of the newly promoted Brigadier-General, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

He also urged them to put in their best as that is all that's required to overcome the challenges facing the nation and the army in particular.

Also speaking at the decoration ceremony, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku congratulated the newly promoted officers, saying that every promotion is a call to higher service to the nation, renewed conmittments and better vigour to defend the nation.

Nigerian Army according to Maku is the best and most deciplined army in the world.

A total of 14 Brigadier-Generals were decorated, 3 from Defence headquarters, 6 Army headquarters, 1 from Defence Intelligent Agency (DIA), 2 from National Defence College and 2 from Intelligence Centre.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012

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Army to increase officers’ incentives to boost morale Stories by Joy Baba

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he Chief of Army Staff, (COAS) Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika has said that Nigerian Army under his leadership is planning to increase incentives for officers and staff of the force to boost their morale of living.

Ihejirika, who was represented by the Director, Nigerian Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Major General Charles Maduegbunam at the graduation ceremony of officers from Nigerian Army College of Logistics (NACOL).

He further stated that the African Study Tour recently approved for the college will commence with the next Logistics Staff Course in 2013.

He also enumerated the many achievements of NACOL since its inception in 2002.

According to the COAS “The numerous achievements the college has garnered for herself with respect to trainings, seminars and various research inputs to Nigerian policy is highly commendable. I am personally very happy and

satisfied with the progress being made in this college. I have been well briefed about the numerous problems confronting the college, and I assure you that your problems will be adequately addressed’.

At the moment when security challenges appear to have gone a step beyond police and is currently facing the armed forces the Nigerian Army is not resting on its oars. It devises tactics and means, from time to time, to get at the route of the challenges precisely is what the Nigerian Army College of Logistics, under the leadership of Major General A. A. Martins, who is the commandant, has braced up to do.

“Just as year 2012 was riding to the end, the college turned out 18 students who had successfully undergone the year’s Logistics Management Course 10/2012. They were in the ranks of lieutenant colonel and its equivalent in the navy, the police and civil service, he said.

At the event, it was emphasised that what the college had done was to add to the

Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Azubuike Iherijika

logistics required by the armed forces in the country to nip all sorts of internal and external terrorism in the bud. This was to first upgrade the training impact in the officers and staff of the forces regarding Logistics Management Course 10/2012 and Logistics Staff Course 9/ 2012, which have so far been achieved.

In his welcome address, the Commandant of the college, said that continuous training of officers was an integral part of the force’s professional life geared towards better understanding of roles of the officers and staff.

The graduation ceremony was graced by eminent people from among the armed forces and the civil society including the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Security Matters, Major Tunde Panox (rtd); Oba of Lagos, His Majesty Oba Rilwan Akiolu I ably represented; Rear Admiral Joe Aikhomu, Head, Naval Standards and Evaluation Branch and many top military chiefs.

Navy nabs foreign oil thieves JTF impounds vessel with stolen crude

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he Joint Task Force, (JTF) operating in the Niger Delta area has impounded a vessel suspected to be carrying 1, 000 tonnes of crude oil off the coast of Bonny Island in Rivers.

The Commander of the 2 Brigade and Sector Two of JTF, Tukur Buratai, represented by Michael Etete, the 2 Brigade Army Public Relations Officer paraded nine suspected crew members of the vessel before journalists in Bonny recently.

According to Buratai ‘the Nigerian registered vessel was impounded while illegally tapping crude oil from a pipeline’ noting that the nine male crew members, who were arrested during a raid, are Nigerians.

“Following military intelligence report on Saturday, December 29, 2012, troops of Sector two deployed in Bonny arrested a vessel registered MT

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba

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igerian Navy said it has arrested twenty two vessels for various act of illegality, ranging from oil bunkering and illegal entry into the nation’s waters within the last 12 months.

Among the ships arrested were: MT Onne, MT B Cupid, M Barge, MT Ortkoyi, MV Chijioke, MT I Hinosen, Tug Boat Alk, MT Ezi, MT Rockfish, MT Aegle and MV God Time.

Others are MV Aths Milandros, Barge Princess Sophie, MT St. Vanessa, MT Ina and MT Peyor.

Others are MV ATHS MILANDROS, BARGE PRINCESS

SOPHIE, MT ST VANESSA, MT INA and MT PEYOR. Also arrested were: a wooden boat, Light II, a wooden tugboat, Oyah II and Tug Boat, Ramat II, among others.

One of the ships, MV Myre Seadivers, arrested by the Western Naval Command in October 2012 was discovered during search to be carrying assorted arms.

According to spokesman for the Western Naval Command, Lieutenant Commander Jerry Omodara, all 15 man crew members are Russians and would be handed over to the Police for prosecution.

JTF members

Atlantic Star illegally tapping crude oil from a pipeline,” he said.

The commander also said as at the time of the arrest, the vessel had loaded about 1, 000 tonnes of stolen crude oil.

In his words “Further investigation is on-going and the suspects will be handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution.

“JTF restates its commitment toward stamping out oil theft, oil bunkering and other criminal activities within its area of responsibility in-line with its mandate,” he added.

Buratai called on the public and organisations to support and provide useful information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of oil thieves in 2013.

While responding to questions from press men,

Captain of the vessel, Rauf Rasak, said the vessel was hijacked by six gunmen, who threatened to kill the crew members if they refused to corporate.

Mr. Rasak claimed that the gunmen immediately took over navigation of the vessel and anchored it in Bonny and loaded the vessel with the illegal crude oil.

“The gunmen had threatened to kill us if we didn’t corporate; we had no choice than to obey.

“While loading the vessel with the crude oil; men of the JTF approached us and the gunmen fled the scene,” he said.

The captain further said the crew members are innocent of the charges brought against them by the JTF noting that they were under duress from gunmen to load the vessel.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 28

By Mohammed Kandi inister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has contested the recent media reports that the ministry was planning to expend a huge amount of N60 billion for the procurement of mobile cellphones for farmers in the country.

The minister, in a statement issued by one of his aides, Dr. Oyeleye Olukayode, disproved the information saying such was “absolutely incorrect”.

“My attention has been drawn to the issue of 60 Billion Naira to be spent on phones for farmers, reported in some media sites and papers. The information is absolutely incorrect. My Permanent Secretary was totally misquoted out of context. There is no 60 Billion Naira for phones anywhere,” he stated.

“As a responsible Minister, who takes public accountability and probity very seriously, there is absolutely no way in the world that I will even contemplate or approve such an expenditure. All our focus as Government is on creating jobs in Nigeria, not exporting jobs elsewhere,” he explained.

“The policy the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is promoting is to get mobile phones to farmers, as part of its agricultural transformation agenda, to connect farmers to information, expand their access to markets, improve their access to savings and loans, and help them adapt to climate change dynamics that affect them and their livelihoods,” Adesina explained.

On why the ministry chooses to use the cellphones to reach out to farmers, the minister said: “Nigeria has 110 million cellphones, the largest in Africa.

But there is a huge divide: the bulk of the phones are in urban areas. The rural areas are heavily excluded.”

“For agriculture, which employs 70% of the population that means the

M

FG refutes allegation on N60bn cellphones for farmers farmers are excluded and marginalized.

In today’s world, the most powerful tool is a mobile phone. As Minister of Agriculture, I want the entire rural space of Nigeria, and farmers, to be included, not excluded, from advantages of mobile phone

revolution,” he said.

“From 2013, government intends to distribute 10 million phones, so we can reach more millions of farmers with the GES scheme for subsidized inputs.

We expect to reach at least 5 million farmers in 2013 with GES for access to

subsidized inputs,” he said.

“So, farmers who get mobile phones will be registered and we will use their biometric information to reach them with electronic vouchers for seeds and fertilizers,” the minister stressed.

“The distribution of the phones will be supported through a MoU signed between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communications Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with the Ministry of Women Affairs,” he stated.

Dr. Julius Odeyemi, representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, applauds as Ondo state's Commissioner of Agriculture, Engr. Ademola Olorunfemi, hands over free cocoa pods to Pharm. Dayo Omoniyi of Temade Farms, a beneficiary, at the flag-off ceremony of federal government's distribution of free cocoa pods recently at Owena, Akure.

2012: Agriculture in retrospect

By Salisu Na’inna Dambatta

T

he Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku addressed his last Press Conference for 2012 on Monday, December 31, 2012. The conference focused on the achievements and activities of the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012.

One of the key areas that featured prominently at the Press Conference by the Honourable Minister of Information, unsurprisingly, is the agricultural sector. This is simply because the sector is vital to Nigeria’s economy, its social stability and central in the Administration’s drive to transform the lives of Nigerians. The Minister listed several contributions made by the Agricultural sector, which generates around 44 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to the overall achievements of the Administration of President Good Luck Jonathan last year.

The contributions by the sector, the Minister said, include the reduction of wheat import bill by N200 billion as a result of the introduction of High Quality Cassava Flour in the baking industry, with cassava bread gaining acceptance and popularity in Nigeria and outside our shores.

The creation of 2, 000, 000 jobs, the export of dried cassava chips worth US$118 million for the first time in the history of Nigeria, the introduction of

the Growth Enhancement Support scheme (GES) or e-Wallet, for delivering subsidised critical agroinputs to small-holder farmers were additional areas through which the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development made contributions to the achievements of the Administration in 2012.

The Growth Enhancement Support scheme is designed to facilitate easy access to agro-inputs by 20 million farmers in four years. So far 1.1 million farmers have benefited from the scheme. It will cost the Federal Government N400 billion in subsidies, but will generate income in the region of N680 billion for Nigerian farmers.

“The programme is worthwhile as the benefit/cost ratio is 16:1,” a document on the programme released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Mr. Labaran Maku also listed the development of Stable Crops Processing Zones, the termination of corruption in the procurement of fertilisers and the determination to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production as part of the contributions to Nigeria’s economic growth from the Agricultural sector in 2012.

The Minister of Information said that the initiative to achieve selfsufficiency in rice production is yielding results: “Through the initiative high quality local rice is now being processed in the country in commercial quantity.

They include the Ebony rice, Ashi rice, Sarauniya rice, Mikap rice, Umza rice and Ofada rice. The new commercial rice processing mills in the country produce the best rice in the world, far better than any imported rice.”

The on-going dry season intensified rice production in ten states, namely Kano, Sokoto, Kogi, Niger, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Zamfara, Katsina and Kebbi for which the Federal Government has registered 178, 490 farmers to plant rice on 232, 609 hectres of land is designed to consolidate the achievement recorded in the rice subsector as highlighted by the Honourable Minister of Information. To drive the programme, the Federal Government is providing incentives to the farmers: three bags of subsidised fertilisers, free improved rice seeds, a Guaranteed Minimum Price for the commodity and extension services. The various state governments are giving additional incentives to the farmers.

These achievements became possible because the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan mustered sufficient political will to formulate and introduce the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), which is re-defining the purpose and thrust of the sector. The ATA is being implemented under the guidance of the duo of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Bukar Tijani, the Minister of State for Agriculture and

Rural Development. The two are driving the sector to achieve the clear goals set by the President, who chairs the Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council (ATIC).

In addition to the successes recorded by aggressive implementation of the Agenda as catalogued by the Minister of Information, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also created an awareness of the necessity to re-orient agriculture from its largely subsistence outlook in which farmers are struggling to feed themselves, to a business venture, which can make farmers rich, materially comfortable and empower them to live the poverty line.

The ATA is also designed to encourage women and youth to embrace agriculture to not only replace the aging corps of Nigerian farmers, but also to deploy their energy toward increasing food production, providing raw materials for agro-allied industries and contributing in steering the country away from avoidable food importation by attaining self-sufficiency.

The Agricultural Transformation Agenda is unlocking the sector’s potentials by focusing on the development of the Value Chains of key commodities in which Nigeria has comparative advantage: Nigeria is working in an organised, deliberate and scientific manner to retake its position as the leading Cocoa producing nation in Africa; it is reviving Cotton

production for the Nigerian textile industry; it is revitalising the Oil Palm sub-sector by introducing millions of high-yielding palm species to new and old palm estates and it is also turning around the Aquaculture sub-sector in order to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production.

Indeed the Agricultural Transformation Agenda is moving Nigeria steadily toward ending the wastage of N360 billion annually on the importation of foreign rice. The Agenda is equally a strong platform for minimising unemployment and combating poverty. The Agenda has raised the consciousness of Nigerians regarding the multi-uses of cassava, which Nigeria produces more than any other country in the world.

Another notable achievement of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in 2012 was the adding of an estimated 8.1 million metric tons of food to the national food stock in the 2012 harvest season; the timely release of 40, 000 Metric tons of assorted foods from the National Strategic Food Reserve silos to families affected by flooding on the orders of the President; formulating the Flood Recovery Food Production Programme to expand food production and empower farmers affected by flood to return to their business.

Salisu Na’inna Dambatta is the Director of Information in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 29

Borno govt to distribute 90,000 vegetable seeds to farmers

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orno State Government has said that it was planning to distribute 90,000 vegetable seeds to farmers for dry season farming in the state.

Governor Kashim Shettima said this while inspecting the new 25hectare Konduga Irrigation Scheme in Konduga, headquarters of Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

Shettima said that the idea was to ensure mass production of vegetables in the state this year, adding that, “Government is poised to ensure the return of the past glories of agriculture in the state.”

“I urge all our farmers to key into the government agenda to ensure that agriculture takes its pride place in the scheme of things,” he said.

Also speaking at the occasion, Alhaji Usman Zanna, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, said that the Konduga Irrigation Scheme was set up as part of government’s efforts to ensure full realisation of the state’s agricultural potential.

Zanna said that about 100 households were expected to benefit from the scheme. He said that the government had spent about N14 million to procure three lister pumps for the scheme to ensure hitch-free operation. (NAN)

By Mohammed Kandi

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inister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government towards creating at least 3.5 million jobs for Nigerian through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) programmes.

“At the core of the transformation agenda of the Government is the need to diversify the economy. The agriculture sector is leading this drive with the launch of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) which was launched just one year ago,” Adesina said in a statement issued by one of his media aides, Dr. Oyeleye Olukayode.

He said: “The goal of ATA is to add 20 million MT to the domestic food supply, or 5 million MT per year, by 2015, and to create a total of 3.5 million jobs by 2015.”

The Ministry, the statement stated, began what is being termed as the biggest effort of government to grow agriculture in the country one year ago, saying “Our approach is a major departure from previous approaches, with a sharp focus on agriculture as a business.”

His words: “We will transform agriculture to grow food, create wealth and generate jobs. The focus is on expanding domestic food production, reducing import dependency and expanding value addition to locally produced agricultural products.”

“The Minister set out to eliminate decades of corruption in the fertilizer and seed sectors through radical policy reforms,

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akin Adesina with Chairman, Famag Jal Farms, Jikwoyi, Abuja, Tafida Mafindi, during the minister's recent visit to the farm. With them is the ministry's Director of Federal Livestock Department, Dr. Joseph Nyager.

Agric ministry to create over 3m jobs before 2015 reduce the role of government and expand incentives for the private sector to drive the transformation and modernization of Nigeria’s agriculture,” he said.

“The Ministry set a clear goal to make the country self-sufficient in rice production by 2015 and

end the N 356 Billion currently spent on importing rice annually, as well as replace up to 40% of the wheat imports for which the country spends over N 635 Billion annually, by 2015,” he explained.

On investment drive, he said; “to achieve its goals, the Ministry

embarked on the most radical reforms of the agricultural sector in decades. It ended the businessas-usual approach of the large public sector crowding out private sector investments in the sector.”

The minister also said: “We will industrialize the agriculture

sector and make it a new money spinner for farmers and the country’. New fiscal incentives, including zero tariff and duty on agricultural machinery and equipments were announced by the President, to drive the agricultural transformation.”

Flood: Kogi farmers want more assistance

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armers in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi state have appealed to the Federal Government to provide seedlings and relief materials to cushion effects of the 2012 flood disaster.

The farmers, in separate interviews in Ibaji recently, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they lost all their crops and granaries to the disaster.

NAN reports that Ibaji Local Government Area was the worst hit area in the state by the 2012 floods.

This had led the Federal Government into evacuating all residents to Idah town in the state.

The area is a border riverine community between Kogi and Anambra, comprising no fewer than 34 villages with farming as the major occupation of inhabitants.

Mrs Eke Emeje, a farmer at Odeke village, told NAN that she left grains she recovered from her granary behind during evacuation of

the area because rescue boats refused to carry goods. “I waited for three days with some grains I took from my granary, but the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) refused to take any goods.

So, I had to leave everything to save my life.

“At the camp in Idah we were not given enough food and when the flood receded we came back home to see that all our farms and granaries had been washed away.

“Now, we are hungry and there is famine in our land. The farming season is approaching and we have no seeds to plant. “Most of our houses collapsed and we are living in danger. Government should save us from starvation,” she pleaded.

Pastor Jude Atta of the Glorious Faith Ministry, Idah and a cassava farmer at Ugwoda, told NAN that he lost about five hectares of cassava farmland to flood. He said he presently has no cassava stems to plant in the new cropping season.

“We were expecting a bumper harvest then, but the flood came overnight and destroyed everything.

I lost crops spanning over five hectares. “Our granaries were washed away, and seedlings are a major problem we are now having,” Atta said.

He said one Mr Dave Ogwu, out of goodwill, had distributed seedlings to a few farmers in the area to alleviate their sufferings.

Atta however noted that the seedlings could not reach all the farmers. He called on the Federal Government to rescue the community by providing seedlings and relief materials to assist the inhabitants in agricultural activities.

Another farmer, Pastor Peter Oyaka of Grace of God Mission at Enweli, told NAN that he lost both crops and economic trees to the flood. He expressed regrets that relief materials did not get to some farmers

and appealed to government to come to their assistance.

“There is no hope for the planting season because our seedlings were washed away and we thought we were going to get improved seeds from the government.

“We heard of the relief funds but it did not reach the real farmers because what was meant for us were diverted.

“It is very appalling and disheartening and I have been crying every day since the floods, hoping I can meet President Goodluck Jonathan to tell him the plight of farmers here,” Oyaka said.

Mrs Lilian Amabi, a farmer at Unale, told NAN that her family escaped being wiped out at the farm settlement when their house collapsed.

“Government said we should not take anything but now we have returned to nothing. How can we survive the hardship if government does not help us?” she demanded.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 30

Lead poisoning: Causes, effects and remedy

Site of illegal mining in Zamfara state

By Gregory Mmaduakolam

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n recent times, deaths arising from lead poisoning have continued to pose a great challenge to health experts. The experts are concerned about the recent UN report that more than 400 children in Zamfara died from complications arising from lead poisoning. They are even more worried about an aspect of the report which indicated that more than 18,000 Nigerians were believed to be at risk of contracting lead poisoning.

Their anxiety is also reinforced by a media report which revealed that lead poison was discovered during an annual immunisation programme in Zamfara when visiting doctors realised that children in some areas of the state were dying in unusually large numbers. What then are the causes of this lead poisoning? Medical experts say that lead poisoning could be caused by informal gold mining in lead contaminated areas.

In rather simple terms, Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, describes lead poisoning as a medical condition caused by increased levels of metal lead in the body. While poison interferes with a variety of body processes; it is also toxic to many organs and tissues, including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys as well as reproductive and nervous

systems.

However, the general belief is that the poison gets into these organs through polluted air, water, soil, food and consumer products, while the symptoms of the illness manifest themselves in abdominal pains, headache and irritability, among others. Medical experts say that in severe cases, lead poisoning could result in coma and subsequent death of the victim. In view of its mode of spread and other effects, concerned citizens, therefore, express concern about illegal gold mining activities and inappropriate mineral ore processing techniques of the local miners. Irked by the development, Alhaji Musa Mohammed Sada, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, immediately directed that measures should be taken to protect the people’s lives in the mining areas.

He said that the Federal Government had decided to formalise the operations of the artisanal miners, apart from the provision of 15 water boreholes and medical facilities in hospitals across Zamfara State. Sada, however, warned the public against illegal gold mining, stressing that the health implications associated with it were very grievous. Besides, the minister urged artisanal miners in state to organise themselves into mining cooperatives, as part of

strategies that could enable them to get grants from the government. He, however, bemoaned the alleged complicity of local authorities in encouraging illegal gold mining, saying that efforts would be made to discuss with appropriate local authorities on ways of curbing the menace.

To prevent the recurrence of lead poisoning, Sada said that the government had embarked on an enlightenment campaign to sensitise the people to the dangers of illegal mining activities. In a renewed effort to tackle the menace of illegal mining activities in Zamfara, the Federal Government recently set up an eightman panel to probe the death of nine illegal miners at Dogon Daji village in Maru Local Government Area of the state.

The minister said that the panel was set up in line with the provisions of Section 85 of the Nigerian

Minerals and Mining Act of 2007.

Sada said that he had information that the persons died while mining gold illegally at the site. He stressed that since the citizens’ lives were precious to the government, it would no longer condone unwarranted loss of lives through illegal mining operations. He also said that the ministry had issued a suspension order on mining activities in Zamfara State until further notice.

Sada said that due to the prevalence of illegal mining activities across the country, the Federal Government would establish some minerals procurement centres which would not require the issuance of mineral titles.

He recently gave the assurance when he recently received a delegation of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or “Doctors without Borders’’ in Abuja. While commending the MSF for its efforts

“

In a renewed effort to tackle the menace of illegal mining activities in Zamfara, the Federal Government recently set up an eight-man panel to probe the death of nine illegal miners at Dogon Daji village in Maru Local Government Area of the state

to control the effects of lead poisoning in the country, the minister, however, noted that more than 10,000 affected persons at Njega village in Zamfara had received medical treatment. In his remarks, Mr Ivan Gayton, the Conference Coordinator of the MSF, solicited collaboration between his organisation and the Federal Government in efforts to prevent lead poisoning.

He stressed that lead poisoning could be avoided via the adoption of safe mining procedures. Gayton said that the MSF had treated more than 2,500 victims of lead poisoning in Zamfara State, adding that not less than 1,500 children were expected to be treated. The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, however, attributed the growing menace of lead poisoning to the continuous activities of illegal miners in the some villages in Zamfara. Addressing a news conference in Abuja recently, the minister called for the adoption of safer mining practices by miners in the areas so as to reduce human exposure to lead contamination.

Commenting on the lead poisoning, the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Mohammed Danbaba, called for an active collaboration among all stakeholders in the health sector in efforts rid Zamfara State of the menace of lead poisoning.

Source: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

ANALYSIS

By Camilla Toulmin

2

012 brought home some hard truths about the difficulty of building a fairer, more sustainable future. But there are some glints of sun shining through the sombre grey sky.

Here's my pick of the big events and non-events from this last year that could have long-term repercussions on the sustainable development of our planet.

1. Hurricane Sandy. With the tragic loss of more than a hundred people, and damage running at over $30 billion, how many hurricanes like Sandy will it take to build a groundswell for change in US climate policy?

Some pundits tell us that there was a significant shift in opinion in the days following the hurricane, but such new perceptions tend to flag once the TV no longer shows the battered homes and devastated neighbourhoods.

Did the Midwest drought that cut harvests by a third in 2012 help change minds, and encourage North Americans to understand that global warming brings powerful and uncertain weather patterns?

Some say that attitudes are formed less from evidence and far more from what your friends and neighbours believe, which suggests that it won't be hurricanes or droughts alone that help change minds.

While homes around the world are vulnerable to climate change, if you're homeless through flooding you'll do better in America, with budgets of $60 billion offered to help compensate for the damage to property and to build new flood defences.

It's a very different story if you're from Bangladesh, arguing for compensation for loss and damage from global warming caused by others.

And what about the UK? Will the exceptionally wet weather over the last nine months help shift minds as well? Most parts of England had the wettest year on record, and damage runs into billions of pounds.

As I write, some parts of the country are still knee-deep in flood water. At some point, I hope, people will see the rising costs of doing nothing to cut greenhouse emissions, and will press government to cut carbon from our systems.

2. The Chinese leadership handover. Even for novice Chinawatchers, it has been a fascinating time observing the dance of political princelings and populists as they seek to hold centre-stage.

Maintaining a polite façade, there's been a fight in the wings between the main factions, from which Xi and Li have emerged the winners. AsIsabel Hilton notes, we're almost back to the 1970s, when unfortunate politicians disappear and get air-brushed out of the official record.

What difference will it make for China's willingness to address environmental and social issues domestically? As Selena Wang Thomas outlines, we're unlikely to see a big shift in direction from the new leadership.

After a decade of rapid

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Africa: Five moments that could spell change for the planet

Delegates at the COP18 Summit in Doha calling for a seal on reducing Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions. economic growth, accompanied by increasing inequity and damage to the nation's ecological integrity, there's room for a major change in direction. But with Xi in charge, given his reputation for caution, that's unlikely to happen.

This means that change must come from people at the bottom demanding greater accountability from politicians, bureaucrats and business leaders. The growth of n o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l organisations, social media and protest groups could offer the means to call for it.

3. The successful elections in Senegal. After 14 years of President Abdoulaye Wade, the overwhelming vote for Macky Sall was a "great victory for democracy in Africa". Why is this so important? At 50 he is relatively young and the first West African born after colonialism to be elected into office. Sall has offered a very welcome contrast to Wade.

Rather than seeking to extend his power further (as Wade had tried to do, through arguing for a third term), Sall has cut the presidential term from 7 years to 5 years, and seeks to re-establish an accountable state that works for the people.

The country's stability and peaceful electoral transition contrast sadly with the lack of good

governance and conflicts plaguing many other neighbours in West Africa. For example, GuineaBissau, which has historically been plagued by coups, experienced another in April 2012. It resulted in a takeover by the military, a sizable increase in drug trafficking and disruptions to the country's cashew nut trade, which is hitting farmers hard.

For Senegal's eastern neighbour Mali, 2012 has also been, according to Malian politician and mediator Tiébilé Dramé, a true annus horribilis.

The south of the country is stuck in a vacuum, with a weak government and meddling military, while tenacious jihadists in the north impose sharia law on a suffering people. Half a million people have fled the conflict into refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

It seems likely that 2013 will bring a UN military intervention to dislodge the Islamists, but, given the size of the country and its huge open spaces and frontiers, many people fear Mali could become the next Afghanistan.

3. Obama's re-election. While Romney and his Republican backers would have been terrible for the environment, many environmentalists are

“

disillusioned with U.S. President Barack Obama's lack of action on climate change.

However, nominating John Kerry as Secretary of State indicates Obama might be getting more serious about climate change.

In a strong speech before the Rio+20 summit, Kerry contrasts the vision and energy shown 20 years ago by the then-US President George H. Bush, with today's paralysis:"How dramatic and sad it is that 20 years later, shockingly, we find ourselves in a strange and dangerous place on this issue - a place this former President wouldn't even recognize. When it comes to the challenge of climate change, the falsehood of today's naysayers is only matched by the complacency of our political system...We should be compelled to fight today's insidious conspiracy of silence on climate change - a silence that empowers misinformation and mythology to grow where science and truth should prevail."

With Kerry supporting a much more visible and engaged climate change policy, perhaps we can build momentum into the currently moribund global process.

4. The non-events: hot air global summits. We've seen several global summits during the past 12 months that have generated lots of

It's a very different story if you're from Bangladesh, arguing for compensation for loss and damage from global warming caused by others.

hot air but no significant progress such as the Rio+20 summit in June, and the COP18 climate talks at Doha in December.

A ray of hope for the poorest countries most vulnerable to climate change - as outlined by Saleemul Huq, IIED's senior fellow with the climate change group was an agreement to look at setting up an international mechanism that would compensate vulnerable communities for the loss and damage caused by the effects of climate change in future.

But it has become clear that most governments are run by people with little appetite for collective global action. The financial and economic crisis has exhausted whatever political energy and capital they had in store.

Senior climate researchers in Germany argue that we should abandon a process which delivers nothing other than an agreement to keep talking. But if we're not going to make progress through a UNconvened Congress of the Parties (COP), what other arenas remain, in which rich and poor nations can seek collective solutions?

Our work has shown that members of parliament country by country - can help to break the international stalemate on climate change action by using national legislation, and we are carrying out long-term capacity-building programmes to catalyse these processes.

At IIED, we'll be carrying out important work such as this, and finding answers to these and other dilemmas over 2013.

Source: allAfrica.com

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

John Mahama: opposition boycotts swearing-in Libya's liberal group boycotts national assembly

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ibya's main liberal coalition has withdrawn from the national assembly to protest against delays in drafting a constitution for the post-Gaddafi era.

Liberal National Forces Alliance (NFA) MP Souad Sultan told the BBC the assembly was failing to meeting the nation's aspirations.

The assembly was elected in July, nine months after longserving ruler Muammar Gaddafi was killed.

But its MPs are deadlocked over how a constitution should be drafted.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in the capital, Tripoli, says the NFA wants voters to elect a 60-member committee to draft the document.

However, other groups want the 200-member assembly to choose the committee.

The NFA, which is the largest bloc in the assembly, also cited chaotic proceedings and a lack of security at the assembly for withdrawing its MPs. MPs have been assaulted on several occasions in recent months after protesters stormed sessions of the assembly, our reporter says.

An MP from the minority Front Party, Mohamed Addarat, said the NFA's withdrawal "doesn't make much of a difference".

The assembly would continue with its work, he said.

Ibrahim al-Gheriani, who heads the NFA bloc, said they were deeply disappointed with the assembly's performance, AFP news agency reports.

However, the NFA hopes to return to the assembly, he said, AFP reports.

"It is a temporary withdrawal until our demands are met," Mr alGheriani is quoted as saying.

Libya has been hit by instability since the overthrow and killing of Col Gaddafi in October 2011.

The government has been battling to disarm the militias who battled his government.

Last week, unknown gunmen kidnapped the acting head of the criminal investigation department in Libya's second city, Benghazi, officials have said.

Abdelsalam al-Mahdawi was abducted at traffic lights on his way to work.

In September, the US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other officials were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

G

hana's main opposition party has boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of President John Mahama following last month's disputed elections.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) said Mr Mahama won the election fraudulently.

Official results gave Mr Mahama 50.7% of the vote, enough to avoid a run-off against the NPP's Nana AkufoAddo, who won 47.7%.

Ahead of his inauguration, Mr Mahama called for unity in Ghana seen as one of Africa's most stable democracies.

Mr Mahama was Ghana's vicepresident until the unexpected death of President John Atta Mills in July.

He has served since then as acting president.

In his speech, the president told Ghanaians: "I will not let you down," reports the Citi FM radio station.

"The promises that I have made are the promises I intend to keep," he said.

On Friday, Mr Mahama appealed to members of parliament to work together.

Thousands of Mr Mahama's supporters packed Independence Square in the capital, Accra, for the ceremony.

The stage is beautifully designed

in the shape of the black star of Ghana, he adds.

Mr Mahama was sworn in before several African heads of state, including South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan.

Former President John Kufuor attended the ceremony, in defiance of the wishes of his party.

Ghana's privately-owned Joy FM radio station reports that about 40 NPP supporters besieged the home of former President Kufuor to prevent him from attending the ceremony.

"Anybody who says that I have betrayed the NPP by attending President Mahama's inauguration is only following his emotions. Leading a nation is not easy so where I have

reached, I am more of a statesman than mere party person," he said, Joy FM reports.

The party's MPs, however, did not attend the ceremony.

The NPP filed a petition over the election result at the Supreme Court in late December, saying it had found irregularities including unregistered voters casting ballots.

President John Mahama taking the oath of office at the independence square in Accra.

CAR leaders rebels to hold talks

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elegations representing Central African Republic's government and the rebels who now control much of the country's northern region, are

meeting in Gabon to hold peace talks.

The peace talks, which will begin on Tuesday in Libreville, Gabon, come a month after fighters from several armed groups began their rebellion

Supporters of President Bozize gather in Bangui pledging to guard the capital against rebels attacks.

against a government that has wielded little power over its vast and sparsely populated north.

A spokesman of the rebel alliance, collectively known as Seleka, reiterated calls on Monday for the removal of President Francois Bozize, saying he has "lost all credibility" to lead the country.

"He has to leave power," Eric Massi, a rebel spokesman, said in an interview with Al Jazeera from Paris.

But even before the talks could start, Massi already rejected Bozize's offer to form a coalition government with the rebels.

Instead Massi called for a "peaceful transfer of power, in order to preserve the peace and security of all the citizens of the capital".

"If he [Bozize] had it at the beginning of the conflict, it would have been a great solution," Massi said, adding that now that the rebels are close to the capital, it might be too late

for the president to make the offer.

Massi confirmed that rebel groups have already advanced as far as 10km from the buffer zone between rebels and the forces from Chad.

While the rebels have halted their advance towards the capital Bangui, a city of 700,000 people, they now hold a dozen communities.

The rebellion has posed the greatest threat to Bozize's presidency since he himself seized power in 2003.

Some residents of this nation of 4.4 million have little faith the government will be able to reach a lasting agreement with the rebels, especially given that multiple peace accords already have been signed over the years with multiple groups.

While the rebels had vowed to halt their advance pending the negotiations, residents said two communities were seized over the weekend.

Zambia's Sata says high maize meal price could spark riots

Z

ambian President Michael Sata said on Monday he feared riots if the price of the staple maize meal remained unaffordable for the majority of people in Africa's top copper producer.

The price of maize meal has almost doubled to 80 kwacha ($15.21) per 25 kg bag from 45 kwacha ($8.56) two months ago and the government says the sharp increase is

unjustifiable.

"If you don't remember, Kenneth Kaunda's government was overthrown because of food riots and I don't want food riots," Sata said at a meeting with government officials, referring to the Zambia's former president.

Sata said last week his government was considering reintroducing price controls on maize meal.

Curbs on its price could garner wide political support.

The government, which subsidises maize production, has been selling maize to millers cheaply and expecting them to pass on the lower costs to consumers, he said.

"I am going to meet the millers from here and I want you, the permanent secretaries and the ministers in provinces, to try and protect the people," Sata said.

President Michael Sata

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Asia and Middle East

J

ournalists at a major Chinese paper, Southern Weekly, have gone on strike in a rare protest against censorship.

The row was sparked last week when the paper's New Year message calling for reform was changed by propaganda officials.

Staff wrote two letters calling for the provincial propaganda

Richardson, Schmidt arrive in North Korea

PAGE 33

China newspaper journalists stage strike chief to step down. Another row then erupted over control of the paper's microblog.

Supporters of the paper have gathered outside its office, reports say.

Some of the protesters carried banners that read: "We want press freedom, constitutionalism and democracy".

"The Nanfang [Southern] Media Group is relatively willing to speak the truth in China so we

need to stand up for its courage and support it now," Ao Jiayang, one of the protesters, told Reuters news agency.

Police were at the scene but "security wasn't tight", a former journalist of the Southern Media Group said.

"They tried to ask those holding placards to show their ID cards," he said, adding that many had refused although "there wasn't much argument".

People were continuing to arrive by mid-afternoon when he left the scene, he added.

Southern Weekly is perhaps the country's most respected newspaper, known for its hardhitting investigations and for testing the limits of freedom of speech, says Martin Patience in Beijing.

Chinese media are supervised by so-called propaganda departments that often change

Iraqi troops fire in air to disperse protesters

I

F

ormer New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt began a controversial private mission toNorth Korea on Monday that will include an effort to secure the release of an imprisoned American.

The trip comes after North Korea carried out a long range rocket test last month and as the reclusive state continues work on its nuclear testing facilities according to satellite imagery, potentially paving the way for a third nuclear bomb test.

Footage from North Korean state television showed Richardson and Schmidt at the Pyongyang airport on Monday evening.

"We are going to ask about the American who's been detained. A humanitarian private visit."

Richardson said.

The delegation comprised Schmidt, his daughter, Richardson and Google executive Jared Cohen, according to South Korean news media and it arrived in Pyongyang on a flight from the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The mission has been criticized by the White House due to the sensitivity of the timing. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea and the isolated and impoverished state remains technically at war with South Korea.

South Korea is in the midst of a transition to a new president who will take office in February, while Japan, another major U.S. ally in the region, has a new prime minister.

A U.S. official said the trip's timing was particularly bad from the Obama administration's point of view because it comes as the U.N. Security Council ponders how to respond to North Korea's December 12 missile launch.

"We are in kind of a classical provocation period with North Korea.

Usually, their missile launches are followed by nuclear tests," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"During these periods, it's very important that the international community come together, certainly at the level of the U.N. Security Council, to demonstrate to North Korea that they pay a price for not living up to their obligations."

Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, has made numerous trips to North Korea. The reasons for Schmidt's involvement in the trip are not clear, though Google characterized it as "personal" travel.

content to align it with party thinking.

The row erupted after a New Year message which had called for guaranteed constitutional rights was changed by censors into a piece that praised the Communist Party.

In response, the newspaper's journalists called for the Guangdong propaganda chief's resignation, accusing him of being "dictatorial" in an era of "growing openness".

Supporters of the newspaper gathered near its offices in support.

raqi troops fired in the air to disperse Sunni Muslim protesters on Monday as more than two weeks of unrest threatened to unravel Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki 's fragile cross-sectarian government.

Thousands of anti-Maliki protesters have taken to the streets in Sunni strongholds across Iraq, increasing fears that turmoil in neighboring Syriamay help tip Iraq back into sectarian violence a year after the last U.S. troops left.

In the northern city of Mosul, troops fired shots above the heads of hundreds of protesters trying to gather in a public square, and in the Sunni heartland province of Anbar, at least 5,000 people demonstrated peacefully.

"Security forces opened fire and used batons to disperse demonstrators," said Atheel alNujaifi, governor of Nineveh province, which includes Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.

He said one demonstrator had been hit by a security forces vehicle and others had been wounded.

Ghanim al-Abid, a protest organizer in Mosul, told Reuters that at least four people had been wounded by security forces.

Indian gang-rape suspects appear in court

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (R) and Google Executive Chairman, Eric Schmitz (L) arrive at the airport in Pyongyang.

Protestors in Ramadia wave the Iraqi and Kurdish flags in their protests against the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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ive men accused of the gang rape and murder of an Indian student have appeared in court to hear charges against them, but the trial magistrate ruled the media will not be allowed to cover pre-trial hearings.

Namrita Aggarwal, the magistrate, upheld the prosecutor's request that the media be barred from Monday's proceedings, according to Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman.

The defendants appeared in a Delhi court with two of them offering evidence possibly in return for a lighter sentence, Rajiv Mohan, a public prosecutor, told the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan, reporting from Delhi, said: "The prosecutors say they have a very, very tight case against them. People are watching closely to see what happens to those accused."

The five, including a 17-year-old who will go to a juvenile court, are accused of raping the 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a bus in New Delhi, inflicting fatal injuries on her.

She died two weeks later on December 28 in a Singapore hospital.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas Bolivia accuses US of plotting against Morales

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olivia has "irrefutable evidence" that the US has been working to destabilise the government of President Evo Morales, a senior minister has said.

Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana said proof of improper activities involving the US embassy would be given to President Obama.

Mr Morales expelled the US ambassador in 2008 after accusing him of plotting against his government.

A charge d'affaires heads the embassy in La Paz. Mr Morales has had an uneasy relationship with the US, ever since he came to power in January 2006, because of tensions over drug enforcement and the nationalisation of many foreign companies.

In 2008, Mr Morales accused the US of fomenting anti-government protests in a dispute that led to the expulsion of ambassador Philip Goldberg. US officials denied any wrongdoing.

The two countries agreed in 2011 to restore full diplomatic ties but have not yet exchanged ambassadors.

The Bolivian government's latest accusations also single out the US embassy. It had been involved in "a permanent war" against the president's policies since 2006, said Mr Quintana.

"We have been compiling all the evidence to present it to President Obama," the minister told reporters.

"We want to tell him: cease all hostilities against the Bolivian government, stop the political ambush of our government."

Mr Quintana said the US had failed to acknowledge advances in social justice, democracy and the fight against drug trafficking and corruption under Mr Morales.

On Friday, Mr Morales himself accused the US authorities of using the controversial arrest of an American businessman in Bolivia to tarnish the image of his government.

The businessman, Jacob Ostreicher, was kept in jail for 18 months, accused of money laundering and drug trafficking.

He was placed under house arrest last month, after accusing government officials of demanding money to have him released. Several officials were arrested.

Berlusconi and Northern League in election pact I

taly's former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is to join forces with the controversial Northern League party for next month's elections.

Mr Berlusconi said the League and his own People of Freedom movement would try to form a

centre-right government.

He also suggested he might not be the bloc's candidate for prime minister.

The Northern League, recently mired in a corruption scandal, opposes immigration and wants greater fiscal autonomy for

Silvio Berlusconi (L) and Roberto Maroni (R) have been allies in parliament before.

Berlusconi's previous government, until the long-time leader of the League, Umberto Bossi, pulled his support and made Mr Berlusconi's position untenable at the end of 2011.

Mr Berlusconi resigned and the technocrat, unelected Mario Monti took over.

Mr Bossi himself was later forced to resign as head of his party as he was engulfed in a financial scandal. He denied allegations of misusing party funds.

Mr Berlusconi signed his new deal with the League's current head, former Interior Minister Roberto Maroni.

Mr Berlusconi said the two sides had not yet decided who to nominate for prime minister.

"We will decide if we win," he said, adding that he would prefer to be the economy minister with his party ally Angelino Alfano as prime minister.

An opinion poll published on Sunday suggested the PDL and Northern League would win 28% of the vote, with the centre-left about 10 points ahead, and a centrist bloc backing Mario Monti taking about 15%.

Coalition is steadfast and united, say Cameron and Clegg

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ledges on childcare costs, help towards care costs for the elderly and infrastructure investment are expected to be announced later, as part of the PM and his deputy's mid-term review.

They will insist the coalition is "steadfast and united" and its shared purpose has "grown over time".

Labour have dismissed the review as "another relaunch".

Described by Downing Street as a "stock take", the mid-term review will also look at how successful the government has been in meeting its coalition agreement promises and commits them to further reforms.

The full document was presented to the cabinet for the first time on Monday morning.

"We are dealing with the deficit, rebuilding the economy, reforming

welfare and education and supporting hard-working families through tough times. And on all of these key aims, our parties, after 32 months of coalition, remain steadfast and united," Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg write in a joint foreword to the review.

"Of course there have been some issues on which we have not seen eye to eye, and no doubt there will be more. That is the nature of coalition.

"But on the things that matter most - the big structural reforms needed to secure our country's long-term future - our resolve and sense of shared purpose have, if anything, grown over time."

The review is expected to pledge to help families with their childcare costs amid speculation

working parents with children under five will receive financial support.

It is also expected to pledge to

"provide dignity in old age" with an improved state pension and help towards the cost of long term care.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are to unveil a series of initiatives to mark the halfway point in their government.

Honduras police seize $50,000 gold-plated AK-47 rifle

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Evo Morales, a former coca producer, is Bolivia's first president of indigenous origin.

northern Italy.

Polls suggest the combined bloc is still some way behind the centreleft coalition headed by Pier Luigi Bersani.

The People of Freedom (PDL) and Northern League were coalition partners in Mr

The signature 'Versagi' on the expensive rifle is believed to be its designer's.

he authorities in Honduras have seized a gold-plated, jewel-incrusted AK-47 assault rifle, complete with two silver magazines.

The gun, estimated to be worth more than $50,000 (ÂŁ30,000), is believed to belong to drug traffickers.

Following an anonymous tip-off, police also found a number of weapons, along other military equipment and passports.

Two security guards were detained during the raid at a ranch 300km (186 miles) from the capital, Tegucigalpa.

Honduran authorities said the gold-plated rifle had an engraving associated with the Malverde drug gang - which is allegedly connected to Mexico's Zetas cartel.

"It's an exclusive design and a fine carving," said police chief Leonel Sauceda.

More than 30 other weapons were found, including assault rifles, grenade launchers and grenades, night-vision kits, bayonets and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Police also found bullet-proof vests and 11 cars and two carremoval lorries.

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, according to a UN ranking, with nearly 92 killings per 100,000 habitants in 2011.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 35

Idaho inmates sue wine companies, convicts claim alcohol led to their crimes

Inmates in a Garden planting for the Idaho Foodbank.

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ive inmates State Institution national beer companies for

at the Idaho Correctional are suing and wine $1 billion,

claiming that alcohol was responsible for their crimes, the Associated Press reports.

The civil suit alleges that they were not sufficiently warned

Hot chocolate tastes better in an orange cup - study

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cientists have discovered that orange-colored cups makes hot chocolate taste better, proving once again that color influences taste buds.

Researchers at Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain and Oxford University studied 57 participants, each of whom tasted four samples of hot chocolate from cups of the same size but different colors -- white, cream, red and orange. The results showed that subjects thought the beverage tasted better in the orange and creamcolored cups, LiveScience reported.

"These results are relevant to sensory scientists interested in how the brain integrates visual input (such as color), not only from the food itself, but also from the container, packaging or plateware from which it is being consumed," the report said.

The study, published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, adds

to the body of research that says people's perception of taste is influenced by many factors that are unrelated to the actual food.

For example, fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Subway are decorated in yellow because the color stimulates the appetite. Also, food taste better when served on a white plate, while food served on a blue plate suppresses the appetite.

Researchers are hoping the results are helpful to marketers in the food industry.

"These results should hopefully help stimulate chefs, restaurateurs and those working in the food and beverage packaging sectors to think more carefully about the color of their plateware/ packaging and its potential effects on their customers' perception of the taste/flavor of the products that they happen to be serving/delivering to market."

about alcohol's addictive properties.

The inmates, who do not yet have an attorney, drafted the litigation themselves.

Keith Allan Brown, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to voluntary manslaughter, filed the suit on Dec. 10, according to the Kansas City Star. The 52-year-old wrote that over the course of his life, he has spent almost 30 years in prison, and that alcohol has "played a major role" in most of the situations that landed him there.

"At no time in my life," the suit states, "prior to me becoming an alcoholic, was I ever informed that alcohol was habit forming and addictive."

Brown's co-plaintiffs are Jeremy Joseph Brown, Cory Alan Baugh, Woodrow John Grant and Steven Todd Thompson as co-plaintiffs.

Jeremy Joseph Brown, 34, is serving a 20-30 year sentence for a 2001 shooting that left his victim seriously injured. In his affidavit, he claims he never would have started drinking had he known alcohol was habit-forming. He was drunk when the shooting occurred, his affidavit states, and if he had not been an alcoholic, it "never would have

happened."

Baugh, also 34, and Thompson, 44, are both serving 3-7 years for grand theft and drug convictions, ABC news reports. Grant is serving up to 7 years for drug and aggravated battery convictions.

Grant wrote that he "fears the day" of his release, because he does not know if he will be able to "control the desires and craving to use alcohol."

The companies targeted by the lawsuit are Miller Brewing Company, Anheuser-Busch Co., Adolph Coors Co., BrownFurman Co., American Brands Inc., Pepsi-Cola, RJR Nabisco, Gallo's Winery, Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo. None of them have yet responded to the suit.

Boise attorney Joe Filicetti points out that despite the inmates' claims, the addictive properties of alcohol aren't exactly a secret.

"I think it's pretty common knowledge that it's addictive," he told KIVI. "It's well known to be something that causes you to reduce your inhibitions and to do things you otherwise wouldn't do."

Floridian asks mom for ride home after foiled robbery attempt

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Florida man called his mother for a ride home after the store he attempted to rob had an empty cash register, according to The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

The man was arrested on Dec. 29 on one count of robbery after he attempted to rob a Thumbs-Up Convenience Store in Niceville at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 22, Th e O k a l o o s a County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Zachariah Dalton Howard, 22, told police it wasn't his intention to rob the store originally but that he "came up with the idea" while walking there.

Once inside, Howard, dressed in a long black jacket, a hoodie and blue jeans, told the cashier that he had a firearm, but never s h o w e d a weapon. The clerk

Howard said it wasn't originally his intention to rob the store. then showed Howard an empty register drawer, forcing the would-be robber to leave empty-handed.

He then went in a nearby Winn-Dixie supermarket where he called his mother and asked for a ride home.

Man allegedly punches 6year-old boy for name-calling

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Scientists say hot chocolate sipped from an orange cup tastes better.

n Arizona man has been arrested after allegedly punching his girlfriend's six-year-old son in the chest at a daycare center in Mesa, Arizona.

Javier Dwayne Rouse, 33, of Mesa, Arizona, allegedly hit the boy after the child called another kid "an unacceptable name," according to court documents obtained by AzCentral.com.

According to the police report, surveillance video of

the incident shows the child flying "approximately four feet in the air" before landing directly on his buttocks and sliding up the wall, Geobeats reported.

Rouse was arrested last week on suspicion of aggravated assault on a vulnerable child.

Police said he admitted hitting the child, but "didn't think he punched the child hardlike an adult would be hit," according to Hot1047.com.

Javier Dwayne Rouse, 33, of Mesa, Arizona, is accused of punching a child at a daycare center.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Quitting smoking ‘reduces anxiety’ S

mokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say.

The British Journal of Psychiatry study followed nearly 500 smokers attending NHS stop smoking clinics in England.

It found a “significant” decrease in anxiety levels among the 68 smokers who had quit after six months.

The effect was greater among those who had mood and anxiety disorders than those that smoked for pleasure.

The researchers - drawn from several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Kings’s College in London - said the findings should be used to reassure smokers attempting to quit that concerns about increased anxiety levels were unfounded.

However, the study did suggest

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ieters are underestimating the effect of alcohol weight loss, with few realising that a pint of lager has the same number of calories as three chocolate biscuits.

The World Cancer Research Fund says forgetting the calories in booze is one of the top reasons for diet failure.

Yet cutting down on drinks could help people lose weight which, in turn, could reduce their cancer risk, it says.

Being overweight is the biggest cancer risk factor, after smoking.

Drinking as little as one pint of beer every day increases a person’s risk of liver cancer and bowel cancer

Researchers followed nearly 500 smokers attending NHS stop smoking clinics

that a failed attempt to seemed to increase anxiety levels by a modest degree among those who had mood disorders.

For those who smoked for pleasure a relapse did not alter anxiety levels.

The researchers said it seemed that smokers - particularly those that smoked to cope - were more likely to have a cigarette soon after waking up to stave off withdrawal symptoms, which include anxiety.

By quitting, they removed these repeated episodes of anxiety and felt less anxious as a result, they added.

It comes as the government has launched a graphic anti-smoking advertising campaign, which features a cigarette with a tumour growing from it, and as many smokers prepare to quit as part of their new year resolutions.

Source: BBCNews.com

The secret to weight loss?

Ditch the booze, dieters told by about a fifth.

In the UK, more than 20,000 cases of cancer a year are linked to alcohol.

Now, the charity has produced an online alcohol-calorie counter which equates drinks to an easily understandable comparison.

For example, two 175ml glasses of wine is 248 calories - the

For example, two glasses of wine is 248 calories - the same as eating three chocolate biscuits - and would take 52 minutes of walking to burn off, say experts

Diet disaster: Few of us count 'liquid calories' when we're trying to lose weight, despite their high calorie content

same as eating three chocolate biscuits - and would take 52 minutes of walking to burn off.

Two pints of cider equals six chocolate biscuits - and would take one hour and 42 minutes of walking to burn off.

Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: ‘The calories in alcoholic drinks account for a significant proportion of a drinker’s calorie consumption while providing little, if any, nutritional benefit.

‘Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.

‘Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don’t include them when calculating their daily

consumption.’

She added: ‘This is important from a cancer perspective because, after smoking, being overweight or obese is the biggest risk factor.

‘There is also strong scientific evidence that alcohol itself is a cancer risk factor, possibly through damaging our DNA, in cancers of the breast, bowel, mouth, oesophagus and liver.’

While fat contains nine calories per gramme, few people know that pure alcohol comes a close second with seven calories per gramme, she noted.

Drinking alcohol has long been known to have a protective effect on the heart, but doctors say this is only really a benefit in men over 40 and post-menopausal women -

and not in those who are overweight.

Meanwhile, Cancer Research has found that almost four out of 10 people break their New Year’s resolutions within a fortnight, while only one in 11 sticks it out to the six-month mark.

And yesterday the British Liver Trust warned a quarter of us may be suffering from the early signs of liver damage.

Liver disease, now the fifth biggest killer in the UK, has increased in the past year as British culture continues to embrace the daily consumption of alcohol and unhealthy food choices, combined with a sedentary lifestyle.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 37

Dakingari swears in new Kebbi Chief Judge

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he Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari, yesterday in Birnin Kebbi swore in Justice Bala Mairiga as the new Chief Judge of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) reports that Mairiga had been in the office on an acting capacity for the past three months following the retirement of his predecessor, Justice Ibrahim Umar.

The governor also swore in

Justices Sabi’u Bala and Farouk Bunza as High Court Judges.

Performing the ceremony, Dakingari said the swearing-in of Mairiga was in line with the provisions of Section 271(1) of the Constitution. According to

him, it is also on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and confirmation by the state House of Assembly.

He said that the appointment of the new chief

L-R: Enugu State Chairman of PDP, Chief Vita Abba, Enugu state Acting Governor, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, the State Speaker of House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odo, and other Executive Council members, during a New Year prayer session, yesterday in Enugu. Photo: NAN

judge was expanded to allow different shades of opinion and a broad-based decision on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council. “We can proudly say we have brought democracy at play in most unprecedented and progressive manner. “The appointment of Justice Mairiga was the first since the state was created and was the most transparent and most robust for any candidate for appointment as chief judge or public servant.

“My administration would uphold the judiciary in high esteem in line with the principles of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary that had kept the fabric of democracy intact,’’ he said.

Dakingari assured that support would be provided to the judiciary “in areas that require strengthening including improvement of case management system and general functioning of the courts to improve access to justice for all.’’ He said that modalities for the establishment of a Federal High Court in the state had been concluded in consultation with the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in the first quarter of 2013. (NAN)

Katsina lacks misrepresentation in National Assembly- Good Governance Forum

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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group, Katsina Good Governance Forum has decried the recently disputed Katsina National Assembly election, which it described as really taking a negative toll on the people of the state.

The President of the forum, Alhaji Farouk Ismaila stated this yesterday said the forum is expressing the frustration of the people of Katsina state against what it called 'the grand injustice against popularly elected Senators and representatives of the people'.

"As Katsina indigenes, the current happenings in the state as regards the disputed Katsina National Assembly seats is really taking its toll on the people of the

state.

According to him , "During the general elections that took place on the 9th of April 2011, we the people of Katsina in our quest to bring about change decided to vote in favour of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Our decision to opt for change was evident in the National Assembly elections where we voted massively for such candidates as Sen. Abdul Yandoma, Sen. Sani Stores, and Hon. Abba Sada etc.

"Our decision to vote for change was as a result of our appreciation of the efforts of the Sen. Yakubu Lado faction's selfless struggle especially during the late Yar'Adua's ill-health and the controversy that ensued while others who want to reap where they did not sow were busy taking

care of their personal and selfcentered ambitions.

"It was then surprising that at the eve of the gubernatorial election, the Court of Appeal in its judgment gave the ticket to Hon. Masari, who never worked for the success of the party in the state.

The result of the judgment was very evident in the massive failure recorded by Hon. Aminu Masari at the polls.

"After the inauguration of the members of the National Assembly, we were at least contented that those whom we voted for at the general elections of April will protect our interest while we await 2015 to correct the mistakes of 2011.

"This joy was set back by the Leadership of the National Assembly in conspiracy with the

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which based its decision on a Supreme Court judgment that was never consequential, removed members of the National Assembly whom the people voted en masse for, in favour of opportunists who on their own, wouldn't have won at the general elections", Alh. Isma'ila said.

"We, at the Katsina Good Governance Forum believe that such evil action of the Leadership of the National Assembly and INEC must be corrected. We thank Almighty Allah that the case is before the Federal High Court for interpretation and we believe also, that the Judge will look at the merit of the case to bring smiles back to the people of Katsina because as it is today, we lack representation at the National Assembly.

The president said the National Assembly had envisaged such situation that led to the emergence of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state, hence their decision to amend the electoral Act in 2010. "Does it not amount to eating ones vomit by the Leadership of the National Assembly to swear in people who intend to benefit from the Rotimi Amaechi scenario?", he queried.

"We believe in the judicial process to bring about justice not to a selected few, but to the generality of the people. But while this case lasts, we at Katsina wish to state that we have never had a worse kind of representation as evident in the usurpers and opportunists occupying the seats in the National Assembly today", he further stated.

Speaker urges journalists to avoid sensational reporting

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he Speaker, Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Mr Samuel Ikon, has urged Journalists in the state to avoid sensational reports and political intrigues in the course of their duties.

Ikon gave the advice in Uyo yesterday while interacting with newsmen on the activities of the assembly. He lamented that in certain cases, the press would not

cross check issues to ascertain the facts before publication. “I want to appeal to the press to rise above sentiments and intrigues especially as we approach another transition period. “It is important that the press plays its role as it should be. It should eschew partisanship and avoid being used negatively,” he appealed.

He recalled that few months

ago, there were may publications about his removal and impeachment which never happened in the house. The speaker observed that even when the issue was not confirmed, many media houses went ahead and “lavishly published the issue.”

He explained that there was nothing wrong with the members of the house adding

that, they were not against the leadership that would warrant any impeachment. The speaker said that there was no time the 26member assembly decided to change its leadership. “We never had crises before and disagreement was not there because we are like a family.

“It was unfortunate that we see headlines, “Speaker to be impeached,” and “Speaker to be

removed.” “I must state that I was not happy with such write-ups which never happened.” He also advised journalists to exercise restraints in writing about negative things in the state and the country but concentrate on the positive developments.

“Let us pipe down on the issues that are not helping us to grow and issues that are not factual,” he advised. (NAN)

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PDP chieftain, 3000 others join CPC in Nasarawa From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

A

head of the local government elections in Nasarawa state expected to hold during the first quarter of 2013, over 3000 former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including its immediate past state Publicity Secretary, have renounced their membership of the party and have pitched their tents with the ruling Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

In an elaborate ceremony held at the weekend in Ningha’ah ward of Akwanga local government area, thousands of former PDP

loyalists were received into the CPC fold by the state Deputy Governor, Dameshi Barau Luka, who expressed his appreciation over the turnout, stressing that if the local government elections should hold, the outcome will be worse than the 2011 general elections for the PDP. Luka observed that the composition of the membership of the PDP in the state has since lost its credibility, explaining why many are ditching the party for the CPC, which he said has so far executed meaningful projects to convince the common man.

Earlier in a speech, the immediate past Publicity

Secretary of the PDP, Hassan Abubakar II, traced the beginning of the collapse of his former party to 2007, when he alleged that, “the harmonious relationship that existed between the state government and the party executives was sacrificed on the altar of crass egoism and self-centredness.” This, he said, resulted in perhaps the most inept administration ever produced in the history of the state.

Hassan said he was jettisoning his former party for the CPC “because of my strong conviction that the CPC, because of its ideals and principles, is undoubtedly a

better, and perhaps the best political platform where the yearnings of the ordinary people can be met.”

“As you are aware, I have been a pioneer official of the PDP, and had remained in the state exco since 1999, and later elected an ex-officio member, North Central zone. But I’m neither fascinated nor carried away by the privileges of such offices”, he observed.

He pledged his loyalty to Governor Umaru Tanko Almakura, whose achievements in less than two years, he said, has restored the state on the path of good and accountable governance and prosperity.

Ekweremadu wants President Mahama to run inclusive government

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he Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday called on the newly inaugurated Ghanaian President, John Mahama, to unite all political interests in Ghana and run an inclusive government.

Ekweremadu, who is Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, made the call in a goodwill message to the Ghanaian president on the occasion of the Mahama inauguration. In a statement signed by Uche Anichukwu, his Special Adviser on Media, Ekweremadu described Mahama’s emergence as a “rendezvous with destiny’’.

He described Ghana as “a great inspiration for democracy in the West Africa sub-region.

“You have a divine opportunity to be a statesman and true leader to Ghanaians, irrespective of political and other leanings. “It is an opportunity to carve a niche for yourself in the footsteps of your predecessors, who left indelible marks in the struggle for liberty, democracy, peace, and development in the entire black race.

“History, therefore, beacons on you to consolidate democratic values and rally your great countrymen and women on the path of unity and prosperity,” He said.

Ekweremadu urged Mahama to take another look at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Foreign Investment Act, 1994. He appealed to him to ensure the protection of the businesses of West African nationals in the spirit of integration and relevant ECOWAS Protocols. (NAN)

L-R: Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Philip Aduda, Senator Andy Uba, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, and Secretary to Niger State Government, Hon. Daniel Shashere, during the elevation ceremony for Onaiyekan as Cardinal, at the weekend in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Politicians canvass early release of e-voter cards

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ome politicians yesterday in Lagos appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure an early distribution of the electronic voter cards in 2013.

The politicians, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), agreed that if this was done, it would ensure early detection and correction of mistakes that could arise thereof. NAN reports that Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman, said in Nov. 2012 that the commission was ready to issue permanent electronic voter cards that would be valid for 10 years.

He said, “with the design of the card and specifications, it will serve for an average of 10 years, as it could also be used for the 2019 elections.” The INEC chief said the electronic voter card would eliminate fraud and ensure credible and transparent polls.

He made the pledge at an INEC/civil society dialogue, on plans and progress towards the 2015 elections in Abuja.

A former National Chairman of the defunct Progressive Action Council (PAC), Chief Charles Nwodo, expressed dissatisfaction over the commissions’ readiness to conduct credible election in 2015. ``As far as we are concerned, we are still far from free, fair and transparent elections in this country. ``Since INEC announced the readiness of the electronic permanent voter cards, nobody has seen it and they have not started distributing it. ``We expected that the conduct of other elections should involve the use of that electronic permanent voter cards. ``This will confirm the authenticity of the card with a view to discovering mistakes, so that it will be amended before the 2015

elections,’’ he said. Mr Damian Ogbonna, the National Chairman of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), also urged INEC to commence the distribution of the cards early.

“The Ekiti election is by the corner; I expect that INEC should sample the permanent electronic voter cards. `We expected that after the announcement of INEC, that distribution will commence so that every mistakes will be corrected before the next elections,’’ he said.

Ogbonna said a situation where INEC rushed through things was wrong, adding that nothing would be done properly and the whole process would be a mess. He said that no good would come out of any election that was done in a rush.

Ogbonna urged the commission to provide those cards to the electorate, if they were indeed ready for use in the 2015 elections. (NAN)

Anglican Bishop, workers pray for Gov. Chime’s safe return

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he Anglican Bishop of Enugu State, Rt Rev Emmanuel Chukwuma and workers yesterday held a prayer session for the safe return of Gov. Sullivan Chime.

Chime has been out of the country since Sept. 22, 2012.

Conducting the prayer session at the Government House, Enugu, Chukwuma prayed God to heal the governor and grant him sound health to enable him to continue with the transformation of the state.

“God, you know who he is in this government; forgive his sins in the name of Jesus; grant him health and heal him in the name of Jesus. ``We pray that your son, Sullivan Iheanacho Chime will come back, hale and hearty to continue where he left off.

“Father bless those he left behind here to continue the task of running the state; he will come back alive to meet them; he will not come back here dead in the name of Jesus. ``All the health challenges, God take control; take control of him; take control of his family; take control of this government; and let your will be done in this State; in the name of Jesus.”

The cleric also prayed for politicians and civil servants in the country, noting that the success of every government depended on God. In his speech, the acting Governor of the state, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, called on workers to be loyal and hardworking in the discharge of their duties. · Cue in audio ``With the prayers offered today, we will have peace this year.

For us in government here, government is moving the way it should. “We should take our duties more seriously, come to work early, do the assignments you are given so that files are not delayed on your table. ``I believe if you keep yourselves busy, you will have less time for rumour mongering. I want to assure you that government will continue to give priority to the welfare of workers of Enugu State.

“You will continue to receive your salaries as at when due and you receive your promotions when you are due.’’ · Cue out audio Some of the workers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the prayer session was commendable. They expressed the belief that God would ensure the safe return of the governor to the state.

NAN reports that the session was attended by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo, Chief of Staff to Governor Chime, Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo, and all the members of the state Executive Council. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 39

Igbomina state: group cautions agitators over disunity From Olanrewaju Lawal,Ilorin

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he Socio-cultural group, Omo Ibile Igbomina Organization, comprising of people of Osun and Kwara South Senatorial district has cautioned agitators behind the creation of Igbomina state to be careful of the steps taken to avoid disunity and bad blood in the affected areas.

The group in a communiqué at the end of its Annual General Meeting signed by its the National Publicity Secretary, Julius Ishola, Omo Ibile Igbomina said it issociates itself from the wrong approach and method adopted by a group claiming to be championing the cause of Igbomina state which if not checked could create frictions among the Igbomina and and other social-cultural groups.

“The organization pledges support for any genuine cause for the Igbomina people that are transparent, honest and sincere; unanimously adopts a motion for the organization of proposed national unity conference of all Omo Ibile Igbomina to deliberate on the way forward for its people; agrees that any levies charged by any group or individual under the guise of Igbomina, and approved by the National Executive Council of the group should be disregarded; that the unity, peace and progress of Omo Ibile Igbomina is paramount and must be pursued by all; that the Omo Ibile Igbomina both at home and in the Diaspora resolved to back and support all government activities aimed at improving the lives of the people especially on economic empowerment and called for the execution of peopleoriented projects in the Igbomina areas of the state.

“Specifically, the meeting applauded the initiative of the construction of a 10-bedroom self-contained guest house complex in Igbomina House to boost the internally-generated revenue of the association.”

L-R: Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, explaining a point to Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, during the latter's inspection of projects executed by the state government, recently in Asaba.

CPC accuses PDP of running capitalist govt. in Kwara From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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he Congress for P r o g r e s s i v e Change (CPC), Kwara State chapter , has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s government in the state as that of a capitalist which does not believe in the service to the people but to its members.

The state executive council’s members led by its Chairman, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, in an interactive session with journalists yesterday in Ilorin noted that most of the capital projects executed by PDP government did not have direct impact on people of the state.

Speaking through his Public Relation Officer (PRO), Olusoji Alase, the party said “General

…as thugs invade its offices Muhammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for corruption. Our ideology lies on that. By the grace of God, if we emerge as the ruling party in 2015, corruption will be the issue of the past. There will be tremendous improvement when we govern Kwara in the area of infrastructure. We are going to embark on agriculture policy. The product of our farm will not be like that of Zimbabwean farm. You will see our rice, chickens in the markets”.

The party which expressed displeasure over huge debt incurred by Dr Bukola Saraki’s administration on capital

Crisis rocks Omala local govt. in Kogi From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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he lingering political tussle in Omala local government area, Kogi state, has become a source of serious concerns in the state, as even the former governor withdraws his support from Liaison Officer 1, Aminu Atabor.

The current problem emanated when the Liaison Officer refused to pay salary to the workers even as the celebration for Christmas and New Year continued everywhere in the country.

The ugly situation, it was

learnt, when the present LO1 who has been disowned by the former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, was alleged to have been recruiting thugs to cause mayhem during forthcoming party primary in the state.

At a meeting staged-managed

by Atabor, the Liason Officer 1, in Lokoja, on Sunday, former governor told him that the people of the local goverment have refused his nomination and therefore could not support his aspiration to be Chairman.

It was gathered that even when the present administration of Capt

Idris Wada abhors thuggery in the state, Atabor was alleged to be buying knives for thugs and arming them with dangerous weapons.

In Abejukolo, Omala local government area yesterday protesters against the Liason Officer 1 took over the secretariat and major street chanting “Aminu must go, no salary no nomination”.

The meeting with NULGE executive yesterday in Lokoja ended in a deadlock as the representative of the workers refused to shift ground insisting on the payment of their salaries.

projects said it would discontinue such legacy and rule according to the need of the people. CPC observed that Aviation College, Cargo Terminal, Shonga farm, Diagnostic Centre among others were not having positive impact on the lives of people of Kwara state.

The party PRO, who disclosed that he went to many markets within Ilorin but could not find any product of Shonga Farm which was established from N30 billion bond sought by Saraki’s administration said the era of capitalism would be over in 2015. He added that the ideology of PDP leaders in the state was “ input and output”, stressing that CPC political ideology was service to the people.

Meanwhile, about ten suspected political thugs believed to be working for ruling party in the state have been allegedly linked to the attack and destruction of the CPC’s proposed office in Ilorin.

The party in a letter to the Commissioner of Police yesterday signed by state chairman and the Public Relations Officer allegedly invaded the premises of the party office and carted away party signpost.

“Party faithful, who witnessed the orgy, informed us,

and we verily believed them, that the said suspected anarchists were chanting People Democratic Party(PDP) victory songs and publicly boasted that they are the foot soldiers of the PDP in the state.

“The suspected anarchists not only sporadically shot into the air to scare away passers- by, but also threatened to prevent any further replacement of the said stolen signpost. This is no doubt a sad commentary in the annals of the country’s giant leap into democracy. It is sad reminder of the dark days in the history of Nigeria, where the sanctity of life and property was a mirage”.

The party, which said it accepted the incidence as part of continued sacrifice for nationhood and survival of nation’s democracy, want sthe Commissioner of Police to thoroughly investigate and arrest the suspected anarchists and bring them to justice. “ Sir, we believe that a swift and decisive response of the Nigerian security agencies will not only stem the tide of political violence, aggression and hooliganism that is fast enveloping the metropolis but also send a strong signal to other social misfits who may harbor similar criminal tendencies in their minds.”

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Yero applauds security agencies for tackling insecurity

G

ov. Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State yesterday applauded the efforts of security agencies in tackling the security challenges bedeviling the nation.

Yero gave the commendation during the launch of the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem in Kaduna. “ The

activities of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day should, therefore remind us of these sacrifices and the need to alleviate the sufferings of all those who laid their lives so that we may live.

“While we pay tribute to the fallen heroes, our profound gratitude also goes to the living heroes.” The governor appealed

to various military formations, the private sector and wealthy individuals to support the legionaries due to their immense contributions to peaceful coexistence in the country.

He advised the ex-service men to establish profitable ventures and to utilise the state poverty alleviation scheme in order to improve their living

condition.

Earlier, the Chairman of the ex-servicemen, Col. Haliru Ibrahim (rtd) said the legionnaires had played vital role in the maintenance of peace and unity in the state.

Ibrahim appealed to the state government to allocate a piece of land for the building of a permanent secretariat, a vehicle and sponsorship of

Budget: Bauchi Assembly calls for fiscal prudence

L-R: National Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and industrialist, Chief Pius Akinyelure, (back), during the inauguration of the new Ghanaian President, Dr Dramani Mahama, yesterday in Accra, Ghana.

T

2015: CPC to acquire bio-data capturing machine -Momoh

By IkechukwuOkaforadi

C

ongress for Progressive Change (CPC) has said that it will soon begin data collation on its members nation-wide, using a bio-data capturing and registration machine soon to be endorsed ad acquired by the party.

The National Chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, said this yesterday just as he added that

conducting the exercise would enable CPC to ascertain its strength in terms of support and membership across the country.

According to him, ``the registration is overdue to start, but we have to endorse and acquire some equipment for the registration. `` He further disclosed that every member will have to register with N200 only in all parts of the country, to enable the

party streamline things during electoral processes in 2015.

Momoh also said that the Board of Trustee (BOT) had approved merger plans and endorsed the bio-metric data registration, pointing out that the registration would also help the party during the process of merger with other parties.

While maintaining that opposition parties had to be able to discharge their major

responsibilities to Nigerians, he emphasized that the merger talks have been on and will materialize in the middle of 2013.

"Nigerians will have very positive results on the merger talks. We are going to give Nigeria one political party, which will emerge before June and confront the future confidently to provide an alternative government for Nigeria," he said.

CNPP advocates for transparency in governance

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he National Publicity Secretary, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Mr Osita Okechukwu, yesterday advocated transparency in governance.

Okechukwu made the call in a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja.

The CNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, noted that there were too much

members to pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that about N5 million was realised during the launch of the emblem, with the state government donating N2 million naira and N1.5 million

by Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). (NAN)

secrecy surrounding the way and manner government had been carrying out its activities. He was reacting to the controversy stirred by the posters, which donned Abuja streets indicating that President Goodluck Jonathan had begun his campaign for 2015 presidential election.

“We need a break from the cacophony of voices emanating from the PDP on

this issue, as we are not bothered that the president has launched his campaign or not.

He urged the president to allow the electoral process to be transparent and free of any kind of manipulation in the 2015 general elections.

He said: “All we demand is a transparent, free and fair election in 2015”.

Okechukwu stressed the

need for the electorate to exercise their franchise without let or hindrance in deciding their leaders in 2015.

“We are least concerned about who becomes the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and, therefore, the intra-partypower tussle should not pollute our political landscape,” he said.

he Bauchi State House of Assembly has called on the state ministries, departments and agencies to be more prudent in their expenditure.

Alhaji Abdulkadir Dewu, Chairman House Committee on Budget, made the call yesterday in Bauchi during the 2013 budget defence of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

He said that restricting expenditure to projected estimates would be the best way of ensuring prudence, transparency and accountability. Dewu said that more programmes and projects could be implemented this way. He commended the SSG office for maintaining its budget programmes, saying that it was the only office that had a balanced book among all the other agencies that had appeared before it.

Responding, Alhaji Shayibu Dankama, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SSG, assured the members of the committee that the office would continue to abide by the financial regulations of the state at all times.

In a similar development, the committe also commended the credible way the execution of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) projects in the state. The committee members said that they discovered that most of the MDGs projects were completed across the state when they were performing their oversight function. They, however, called for more collaboration between the House and the agencies in the formulation and execution of projects in their various constituencies.

Alhaji Sambo Jumberi, MDGs Permanent Secretary, disclosed that all their projects were executed through policy guidance and sought more cooperation from the local governments to achieve more progress.

(NAN)

PAGE 46

In the days before Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane, the darling of French football fans everywhere was Raymond Kopa. Small in stature (1.68m) but massively gifted, the prolific playmaker with a knack for beating defenders helped take Reims to the summit of the French game before tasting European success with Real Madrid in 1957, ’58, and ’59.

Player of the tournament at the 1958 FIFA World Cup Sweden, despite the thrilling emergence of a certain Pele, Kopa shone alongside team-mate Just Fontaine and also won that year’s Ballon d’Or. The legendary former player spoke to FIFA about his glorious career, from his early days at Angers to his time with Reims and Madrid, and shared his thoughts on the game today.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Real Madrid in my era were as good as Barcelona of today, says Kopa

R

aymond, could you start by telling us what you are up to nowadays?

Everything’s going well. At the moment, I’m spending my retirement back and forth between Corsica and Angers.

I’m a happy man. All that matters these days, given my age, is staying healthy and everything’s fine on that front, both for myself and those around me.

Do you still have a passion for football?

Naturally I keep a very close eye on football news, though I must admit that I’ve always preferred to follow my passion by playing rather than watching. Still, that doesn’t prevent me from being the honorary President of Stade de Reims. They’re my club in France.

Your name is indelibly linked with Reims, of course. What has it been like seeing the club back in Ligue 1 after a 33year absence?

It’s given pleasure to a lot of people not just me but our many supporters as well. Of course, I was there to celebrate the promotion.

We started the season well and were even fifth at one point, and everything was going well. Then we lost five out of seven matches and quickly found ourselves in trouble.

In your own heyday, Reims were a real powerhouse of the game. You won several French titles with the club and played in a

European Cup final, but what is your most cherished memory of those years?

It’s still my arrival at the club being discovered by them at a time when I’d been playing for two years with SCO Angers in Ligue 2. Reims offered me the opportunity to play at the highest level for a good ten years.

They were an exceptional club and provided more players to the France team than any other side.

After Reims, you played for Real Madrid.

What was the background to your transfer?

Transfers like that were rare at the time. I was sold at a very high price – 52m francs.

I don’t really know how much that would be today, but at the time it was the equivalent of three houses. Either way, Reims benefited from that money: they strengthened even more by buying three internationals in Just Fontaine, Roger Piantoni and Jean Vincent.

So I managed to be of some use! I say that because there were people who criticised me, saying that I’d abandoned Reims. I loved Reims, though, and at the time they were the second greatest club in Europe.

Real were the only team ahead of them, so my decision to leave was logical. And it was the right one too, because I spent three wonderful years in Madrid.

You joined the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Francisco Gento.

Which player impressed you most?

My idol has always been Ferenc Puskas. I found out about him very early on, while I was at Reims.

When we finished as champions for the first time in 1953, the club’s officials gave us a trip to London to watch the match between England and Hungary.

It was our reward for having won the league and that’s when I discovered Puskas. He found things tough when he first arrived in Madrid.

He needed to settle in, of course, but the Spanish journalists were impatient and quickly started to criticise him. I used to say, ‘Just wait, talent doesn’t d i s a p p e a r My Real team o v e r n i g h t . ’ Everyone knows were at least as what happened after good as this that.

He was the top Barça side. We scorer in Spain.

Every goalkeeper were, quite began to tremble frankly, whenever he got within 35 metres of unbeatable at goal. He didn’t just the time. have a superb shot, he could also strike the ball with incredible precision.

Raymond Kopa But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten Di

“

Stefano either. In fact, he’s the one people still talk about the most over there.

My Real team were at least as good as this Barça side. We were, quite frankly, unbeatable at the time.

You won the Ballon d’Or in 1958, three European Cups, two Spanish titles and several trophies in France. Which honour means the most to you now?

To win the Ballon d’Or was a real high point.

It’s the trophy that’s dearest to me because it capped a year filled with other trophies. I never would have received that magnificent honour without my Spanish title win, the European Cup and my third place at the World Cup. 1958 was my year.

As a former Madrid player, do you still follow Spanish football?

Of course. I’ll be particularly interested to see who wins the FIFA Ballon d’Or because it’s between three La Liga players.

I think [Lionel] Messi will win it, but you mustn’t forget that he doesn’t do what he does alone. To play well, you need quality players around you. That was true for me and it’s also true for Messi.

The similarities between yourself and Messi do not end there either. Like you, he is not especially tall, but his dribbling skills and eye for goal often make the difference.

Yes, there are similarities. We’re exactly the same height, and my strong points were dribbling, speed and precision.

It’s an honour to be compared to him. Some people also say that the Barcelona team of today are a little like the Reims team of old, but I can tell you that my Real team were at least as good as this Barça side.

I only lost one match in three years with Madrid. Yes, it was the worst possible one to lose because it was a 1-0 loss to Atletico, but we were, quite frankly, unbeatable at the time.

What are your thoughts on the rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona?

Real is still a notch above! I think that Barça must wait a few years yet before they can match Real’s list of honours.

I have to admit that the Catalans play the better football at the moment, but that didn’t stop us having a magnificent season last year.

Things don’t look great for us right now, though 16 points between the teams is a lot.

Given that you refer to them as ‘us’, you seem to still be a Madrid player at heart.

Absolutely. I still love going to Madrid. I get on the plane as soon as I receive an invite. I always feel that the people there are happy to see me.

What do you think of the current France side?

For me, the most important thing is how you carry yourself. What’s happened in the France ranks in recent years has been unacceptable, and I’ve been the first to criticise it.

But France still have players who are capable of great things on a pitch, as they’ve proved recently. I hope with all my heart that that continues.

Over the years, France have been lucky enough to have yourself, Michel Platini and then Zinedine Zidane pulling the strings. Who do you see filling that role next?

I couldn’t have done what Platini or Zidane did on a pitch, but then again they couldn’t have done what Kopa did. Either way, I was a big admirer of those players. For me, the next in line hasn’t been born yet.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 45

L A I AL R I R T OO I CC T P I P 1/ Brendan Rodgers admitted Luis Suarez's matchwinning goal should not have stood, but defended his striker after Liverpool's 2-1 victory at Mansfield in the FA Cup.

1

2/ Shane Warne gets a one-match ban and is fined after a clash with Marlon Samuels in Australia's Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

3/ Frank Lampard will leave Chelsea at the end of the season, his agent Steve Kutner has confirmed less than a week after denying exit rumours.

4/ FIFA president Sepp Blatter has urged footballers not to leave the pitch if they are subjected to racial abuse.

2

3

4

5

5/ Heather Watson and Laura Robson are the first two British women to be ranked in the top 50 for more than 25 years.

6/ Mike Blair, Scotland's most-capped scrum-half, announces that he is stepping down from international rugby.

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PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

2013 Nations Cup finals

Ghana drops Ayew from squad

Yobo set to equal Kanu AFCON record

Super Eagles trim Afcon squad

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he Chief Coach Super Eagles Stephen Keshi has dropped more players from their pre-AFCON camp in Faro, Portugal.

The four players are Rabiu Ibrahim, Papa Idris, Henry Uche and Kalu Uche.

On Saturday, Rizespor forward, Uche Kalu ruled out himself from the Africa Cup of Nations after struggling to overcome a groin injury.

“Head coach, Stephen Keshi has left out three players from his plans for the Nations Cup. The players are Rabiu Ibrahim, Papa Idris and Henry Uche.

“We have more than 23 players in camp and the chop had to take place somehow. So apart from Uche Kalu who had been excused due to injury, these three will leave camp.

“Interestingly, the players left out are still part of the plans of the coach for the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers that will be played this year.

So Rabiu, Papa Idris and Henry Uche are still in the team,” spokesman of the Nigerian squad said.

However, there are still 27 players in Nigeria’s pre-AFCON camp and four more players are expected to be dropped this week from the Super Eagles’ squad.

Keshi has said his 23-man squad for the AFCON will be announced on Tuesday, a day before Caf’s submission deadline for the participating teams.

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hana coach Kwesi Appiah has dropped Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew from his squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

Ayew failed to report to a training camp in Abu Dhabi for a hamstring injury to be assessed

by Ghana’s medical team.

The midfielder was released by French club Marseille so he could travel as requested by the Ghana FA. “I’ve decided to exclude Andre Ayew from the Ghana squad for the African Cup of Nations,” Appiah said.

“In line with my vision of taking only fit players for the Africa Cup of Nations, I have decided that to work only with the players currently in camp.

Appiah now has a provisional squad of 25 players and must drop two for tomorrow deadline for naming final squads for the Nations Cup. Ghana begin their Nations Cup campaign on 20 January against DR Congo before facing Mali and Niger in Group B.

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agles Captain Joseph Yobo will equal a six-AFCON finals appearance record held by Nwankwo Kanu at the tournament in South Africa.

Yobo has already eclipsed Kanu’s record as the most capped Nigeria star with 89 caps and he could add to this tally on Wednesday against fellow 2013 Nations Cup finalists Cape Verde in an AFCON warm-up game.

“I have been blessed. Words cannot quantify God’s blessings on me.

Attending my sixth Nations Cup will be great and we will give it our best shot,” Yobo said.

The 32-year-old Fenerbache star defender has featured at the 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010 Nations Cups, same as the legendary Musa Lawal now of blessed memory.

He managed a third-place medal at four of these appearances and now said he wants to go for the top prize in possibly his last tournament.

“It’s not going to be easy (to win the trophy). But we will give it our best shot.

We therefore urge Nigerians to keep praying for us and believe in this team,” he said.

Joseph Yobo Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew

Bafana sharpen AFCON squad with Norway test

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outh Africa will continue their preparation for the looming 2013 Africa Cup of Nations when they take on Norway in an international friendly at the Cape Town Stadium today.

This will be the team’s first outing since coach Gordon Igesund named his 23-man squad for the continental tournament and, along with the upcoming friendly against Algeria, represents final opportunities to test out players, tactics, combinations and formations ahead of the big kickoff against Cape Verde on January 19.

Playing European opposition prior to an all-African tournament may seem an

inappropriate warm-up on paper, but Igesund points-out that Bafana Bafana’s Group A opponents will not necessarily play with a stereotypical ‘African’ style.

“It is good to be playing Norway as part of the AFCON 2013 preparations because if you look at the style of play of both Morocco and Cape Verde, it is European orientated,” explained the coach at a press conference in Cape Town.

“So this match will help me a great deal. And I must emphasize that while winning is good, that is, however, not everything we are looking for. We need to gel and be ready for the tournament, which is the bigger picture.

“There is no point winning against Norway and Algeria and

Siphiwe Tshabalala

then not deliver on the 19th (January) when we face Cape Verde. This is a very new team and we have some different combinations we need to work on. So these two matches are crucial in that they will help the team to become a unit so that by the time the AFCON kicks off we will play as a unit.”

Bafana Bafana and Norway have met in two previous friendlies, both in 2009. South Africa defeated the Europeans 21 in March 2009 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium thanks to goals from Bernard Parker and Siphiwe Tshabalala, while later in the year Norway gained revenge with a 1-0 win in Oslo thanks to a strike from Kjetil Waehler.

Ivory Coast set to justify favourite’s states

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Didier Drogba

he situation is all too familiar for the footballers of Ivory Coast less than two weeks before the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in South Africa.

For the fifth consecutive tournament, Captain Didier Drogba and a star-packed squad must carry the burden of favoritism, which they failed to justify in Egypt, Ghana, Angola and Gabon/Equatorial Guinea.

They have come agonizingly close twice; losing penalty shootouts to hosts Egypt in Cairo

seven years ago and to Zambia in Libreville last year, and the other two attempts ended in semifinals and quarterfinals exits.

South Africa 2013 represents the last throw of the Africa Cup dice for ageing Drogba, who blazed a regular-time penalty well over the crossbar to help Zambia achieve a maiden title.

Ivory Coast have conquered Africa once, defeating Ghana in Dakar 21 years ago in another final settled by penalties, but that was long before the

emergence of Drogba, Kolo and Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora and Emmanuel Eboue.

“Coming to South Africa for the 2013 Cup of Nations will be special for me,” Drogba told Ivorian reporters. “We have twice come so close to winning this tournament.

Not only have they been put in Group D wth former champions Algeria and Tunisia and a Togo team with all to gain and nothing to lose, but tradition suggests potential trouble for the title favourites.

Ivory Coast have lost two of three previous Africa Cup meetings with Algeria, lost the only meeting with Tunisia, and have managed only one win in three meetings with Togo, a team used to carrying a rankoutsiders tag.

While Ivory Coast are undoubtedly the team to beat, there are many other teams capable of collecting the $1.5 million first prize, including Zambia, Algeria, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 43

Strong winds stop Tournament of Champions for third day

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evere winds forced play to be abandoned for the third straight day at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Scores were scrapped on Friday because of gales and heavy rain, while no play was possible on Saturday.

Just over an hour of golf was possible on Sunday before organisers called a halt and then scrapped the round.

Plans are for a fresh start with 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday to get a counting 54-hole event completed.

“It’s unfortunate but it started off bad and got worse,”

said Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and operations.

“At the start it was 25mph, gusting 30mph, and that was OK but when it started gusting over 40mph we couldn’t get the balls to stop on the greens so we couldn’t play.”

Ian Poulter is the only Briton in a 30-man field that also includes Masters Champion Bubba Watson, 2011 US PGA winner Keegan Bradley and defending champion American Steve Stricker.

Hutchins diagnose with Hodgkin’s lymphoma

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avis Cup player Ross Hutchins has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer.

The 27-year-old Londoner tweeted: “Unfortunately I will be away from tennis for a while as I was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Hutchins and playing partner Colin Fleming are world ranked 28 and 27 respectively in doubles.

The pair won titles at Eastbourne and Delray Beach in 2012 and also teamed up

for Team GB at London 2012.

They won their first doubles title together in October 2011 and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year.

Hutchins, who is receiving treatment at the Royal Marsden specialist cancer centre in London, added: “I look forward to getting over this hurdle and getting back to the ATP Tour and full steam ahead with my tennis career.”

Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper said: “Everyone in British tennis is behind Ross. He is a true ambassador for the sport, both on an off the court, and I have no doubt he will overcome this setback.

Hutchins is the son of former British Davis Cup captain Paul Hutchins and made his debut in the competition in 2008.

In Hutchins’s absence, Fleming played with fellow Scot Jamie Murray at the Brisbane International this week.

“I don’t know what that is. You can’t pull a trigger.

You’re taking 20 practice swings because you can’t stand up. I guess what we’ve done is shown everyone it’s unplayable. “In some respect, at least we hit a couple of shots. Three days of sitting in the hotel is not good. At least I’ve warmed up for something. I’m just not sure what I’ve warmed up for.”

Second-round scores were scrapped after play was suspended because of high winds at the Women’s British Open at Hoylake last year.

Blair retires from Scotland duty

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Mike Blair

ike Blair, Scotland’s mostcapped scrumhalf, is stepping down from international rugby.

The 31-year-old made 85 appearances for Scotland over 10 years and skippered his country on 14 occasions.

Blair, who moved to Brive from Edinburgh in the summer, scored seven international tries.

“A place in the squad at the World Cup in 2015 is not a realistic personal target and, with that in

mind, it’s right for Scottish rugby and the Scotland team, that other players gain experience in a pivotal position,” he explained.

“However, it’s a combination of reasons that’s led to my standing down from international rugby, not just one factor.

“I have enjoyed immensely representing my country for more than 10 years and will miss that exhilarating feeling of running out to a capacity crowd with the whole country behind you.

“The noise when leading the team out for the first time as captain at Murrayfield against England in 2008, when we won 15-9, still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I think about it.

Blair toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2009 and was nominated for IRB World Player of the Year in 2008.

He made his Scotland debut against Canada in 2002 and last played in November’s defeat to South Africa at Murrayfield.

Warne banned, fined after Samuels clash

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hane Warne has accepted a one-match banned and fined after a clash with Marlon Samuels in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

Warne, captaining Melbourne Stars against city rivals the Renegades, hit Samuels with the ball as he attempted to return it to the wicketkeeper.

In return Samuels, 31, threw his bat in the 43-year-old spinner’s direction before an angry exchange at the MCG. “I’m disappointed at some of my actions last night as captain and as a player, but I’m also very disappointed at the severe penalty I received.”

Warne had been angered by West Indian Samuels pulling back David Hussey when the batsman was turning for a second run during the Stars’ innings.

Former Australia spinner Warne was fined 4,500 Australian dollars (£2,900) by Cricket Australia, with part of that for using obscene language in a match the Renegades eventually won by nine wickets.

Warne will now miss the match against Sydney Thunder on Tuesday as his side aim for a place in the semi-finals.

Samuels was also charged following the incident although his case has not been dealt with yet as the player was injured during the match.

His innings came to an end when he top-edged a delivery from Lasith Malinga into his face and suffered an injury to his eye.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

Watson, Robson in top 50 rankings

Ross Hutchins

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PUBLIC NOTICE

H

eather Watson and Laura Robson have become the first

ARCADIA MEWS ESTATE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART 'C' OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. MR. 0MOROGBE EKE, CHAIRMAN 2. KANAYO MBA 3. JUMOKE ADEKEYE, SECRETARY 4. SYLVESTER IDUSERI 5. NKECHI UJU 6. AYOOLA JOHNSON 7. UCHE ONWUBUYA AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. TO CATER FOR THE WELFARE OF ESTATE MEMBERS. 2. TO FOSTER FRIENDSHIP AND PEACE AMONG MEMBERS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: GILBERT OKOH. 07084041637 (LEGAL PRACTITIONER)

Heather Watson

two British women to be ranked in the top 50 in the world at the same time for more than 25 years.

Watson is 47th and Robson 50th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings.

Victoria Azarenka, from Belarus, is the world number one and will be the top seed for this month’s Australian Open.

In the men’s rankings, Andy Murray remains the world number three, behind number one Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, and Switzerland’s Roger Federer.

Jo Durie and Sara Gomer were the last two British women to have been ranked in the top 50 at the same time, in 1987.

The latest rankings are career highs for Watson -

Shane Warne

who broke into the top 50 for the first time in 2012 and 18-year-old Robson.

Watson, 20, is hoping to be fit for the Australian Open, which begins on 14 January, after withdrawing from warmup event the Moorilla Hobart International with an elbow injury.

She has targeted a place in the world top 20 after becoming the first British woman to win a WTA singles title in 25 years when she won the Japan Open in October.

Robson has raised 81 places in just over a year after reaching the fourth round of the US Open in September.

Durie reached number five in the world and was a semi-finalist at the French

and US Opens in 1983 while Gomer’s highest ranking was 46.

Laura Robson

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Toure hospitalized in Abu Dhabi

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eigning African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure is currently receiving treatment for cough and fever at a clinic in Abu Dhabi where Ivory Coast are fine tuning for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

The Ivorian delegation arrived in the United Arab Emirates capital on Saturday from Paris,

Yaya Toure

where the group joined officials from Abidjan before their final trip.

Toure was exempted from their inaugural training session on Sunday, while the team’s medical staff said all hands were on deck to restore the player’s health but refused to say when he would probably be fit to return to training.

NOA to donate flag for AFCON

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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he National Orientation Agency (NOA) is to donate Nigerian flags to the National Sports Commission (NSC) for the forthcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa.

Director General of NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri gave the hint in a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary of the Agency, Paul Odenyi.

Omeri said it had become a sustained tradition of the Agency to support contingent with what he referred to as “national identity spirit”, just as he encouraged the teeming Supper Eagles’ supporters to show their patriotism by also acquiring Nigerian national flags to distinguish Nigerian supporters during matches.

“We are identified as a people by our national symbols of which the national flag is one of them and from which we draw inspiration of togetherness. We at NOA are supporting this worthy cause by donating flags to our

The Elephants opened workshop on Sunday afternoon at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium under the direction of coach Sabri Lamouchi, who said he was confident of his outfit’s experience and improvisation but that the players’ physical form was worrisome.

Team captain Didier Drogba was excused from

the session after he suffered a light headache, which Lamouchi said played down on when the group returned to their Rocco Forte Hotel at the end of the session.

Ivory Coast will play a friendly match against Egypt on January 14 before flying to South Africa two days later for the showpiece set for kick off on January 19.

contingent and officials of NSC”, he said.

While calling on Nigerians residing in South Africa to come out en-masse to cheer up the Super Eagles’ players, Mr. Omeri asked them to identify themselves with the national flag by buying it from stands and sales outlets across South Africa.

He said: “Arrangement has been concluded with Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria with a view to making Nigerian flags available across stands and outlets where our supporters can buy”.

Meanwhile, Mr. Omeri advised supporters to exhibit high level of discipline as he told them to obey rules and regulations in and around the stadia of the host nation.

Kano Pillars gear up for Super Four

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Papa Idris

he Nigeria Premier League (NPL) champions, Kano Pillars have confirmed their readiness for the coming Super Four.

Kano Pillars, who are the current top flight holders, will be the hosts of the tournament which is expected to hold between January 9 and 13 at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofarmata, Kano.

The pre-season tournament is meant for the four club representatives that will campaign in the African club competitions this year.

They are Kano Pillars, Enugu Rangers, Heartland, and Lobi Stars.

Delay in the commencement of the 2012/13 Premier League season prompted the NFF to arrange the tournament which is aimed at keeping the nation’s campaigners in the Caf competitions in good shape.

Enugu Rangers, who were last season’s runners-up in the NPL will open the competition against Lobi Stars from 1pm Nigerian time, while champions, Kano Pillars will lock horns with Cup holders, Heartland from 3pm in the second duel on Wednesday, January 9.

The draws for the 2012/13 NPL season will also be made in Kano on Sunday, January 13 which is the last day of the Super Four.

Kano Pillars’ head coach, Baba Ganaru is optimistic that his wards would win the Super Four.

“The Super Four is good and it comes at the right time which will give me the opportunity to access my players.

“We lost the pre-season championship last year in Kaduna, but this time, we are ready to win the Super Four to boost our morale for next month’s Caf Champions League,” Ganaru said to supersport.com.

The former El-Kanemi Warriors’ coach also expressed dismay with the February 16 date set for the start of 2012/13 NPL season.

“We are not happy with that date and I would be glad if something could be done because of our Champions League campaign,” he concluded.

Kano Pillars were on Sunday forced to a goalless draw by NPL returnees, El-Kanemi Warriors in a friendly tune up game decided at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofarmata.

The Sai Masugida will kick-off their Champions League campaign on the weekend of February 15, 16 and 17 against Olympique de Bangui of Central African Republic while the return leg holds in fortnight.

‘Romario’ joins El-Kanemi

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idfielder Shehu Abdullahi has been signed on by El-Kanemi Warriors following their return to the Nigeria Premier League (NPL). Abdullahi, who is also known as Romario for his silky skills on the ball, joined Warriors last week on a one-year contract after leaving relegated Niger Tornadoes.

“My club future has been sorted out as I will be playing for El-Kanemi Warriors in the coming season. I’ve been training with the squad and hopefully we can achieve a lot as a team when the season starts, “ Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi has been handed squad number 25 for the 2012/13 NPL season.

The midfielder featured for 88 minutes in El-Kanemi’s goalless draw with Nigerian champions, Kano Pillars in a pre-season tune-up game.

Shehu Abdullahi

Issoufou Alhassane

Niger picks final AFCON squad

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iger has named a final 23-man squad for the AFCON after they dropped three players including Asec Mimosas midfielder Mohammed Wonkoye.

The others are Idi Sabiou of Akokona and Ibrahim Benjamin, who is a midfielder with AS Garde Nationale.

Niger FA technical director Garba Lawali informed MTNFootball.com of the dropping of the three players.

“We are now flying to South Africa with our final 23man squad for the Nations Cup,” Lawali informed.

This means Nigerian-born defender Lucky James, who has yet to be capped by Niger could well make his international debut in South Africa. He was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Togo in an AFCON warm-up game in Niamey.

Skipper Moussa Maazou, who features for Tunisian club Etoile du Sahel, will therefore lead a squad of players who were also at the 2012 Nations Cup in Gabon.

These players include the experienced Issoufou Alhassane ‘Dante’, Daouda Kassaly, Mohammed Chicoto, Kofi Dankwa, Williams N’Gonou, Issiakou Koudize and Issoufou Boubacar.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

Adepoju cautions Eagles against distraction from Zambia’s defeats

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ormer Super Eagles player, Mutiu Adepoju, has said that the Super Eagles should not be distracted

by Zambia’s poor results ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Eagles are pitted in Group C alongside the defending champions, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

The Chipolopolo have lost three consecutive international friendly matches in their build up to the tournament against Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and

Mutiu Adepoju

recently to Angola by 2-0.

Adepoju said that every opposition at the Nations Cup would be tough, saying that Zambia’s defeats were in mere friendly encounters and should not be taken for granted.

“Zambia is a good side, they are the defending champions and the Eagles should not be swayed by the strings of defeats they’ve suffered in their friendly matches.

“Every opposition would be tough and what I expect from the Super Eagles is to concentrate on their own build up and avoid distractions,’’ he said.

He expressed the hope that the team could win the Nations Cup because they had what it takes to emerge as champions of Africa.

“Anything is possible. We should be preparing to win because we have the capacity to win. We have won it twice and that makes us a worthy contender.

“We have to keep building up and keep working hard to achieve that and I believe the players we have can do us proud, “he said.

Only qualified referees get preseason seminar — NRA

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he Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) has said that only referees who passed the fitness test held in 2012 would participate in the 2012/2013 pre-season seminar in Abuja.

The President of the association, Ahmed Maude, who disclosed this in Abuja, said that the two-day seminar would hold one or two weeks before the kick-off of the 2012/2013 Nigeria Premier League (NPL) season re-scheduled for Feb. 16.

“The seminar will hold one or two weeks before the commencement of the season so that the referees will be prepared for the league,’’ he said.

According to him, the seminar is to acquaint the referees with the new amendments in the rules of the game.

“The seminar will be on the new amendments in the laws of the game and its essence is to keep the referees up-to-date before the league starts.

“This is to ensure that the referees are able to give a good account of themselves when the league starts and to make sure that they are able to stand up to their peers across the globe.

“This is to certify that we have the best of our referees to officiate the league when it starts and we don’t want to find any of them short of our expectations,’’ Maude said.

The NRA in November 2012 conducted a fitness test for referees during which 394 out of the 528 that participated passed. A total of 113 referees failed while 21 were disqualified.

Eagles await camp commandant

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s the countdown to the Nations Cup championship draws near, the Camp Commandant of the national team, Lt Col Rabiu Yandoto, has yet to resume with the team and officials here say they are in touch with him as he awaits clearance from authorities of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Team Secretary Dayo Enebi Achor, says he has been in constant touch with the Spartan army officer and he has assured that once he gets his clearance

from the Chief of Army Staff, he would immediately join the team for the Nations Cup tournament.

The Commandant is usually in charge of maintaining camp discipline and order, especially among the players in camp and keeps a close eye on the activities of the players for maximum output at major tournaments.

“We are expecting Col Yandoto any moment from now and the Head Coach and the NFF Leadership is aware of the situation”, Achor said at the weekend.

PAGE 41

Eagles drop more players in Faro camp Stories by Albert Akota

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he process of whittling down the number of players in the Super Eagles camp in Faro, Portugal began on Sunday night during dinner when four players were dropped from the team ahead of the naming of the list of 23 players for the South Africa 2013 AFCON championship.

The four dropped players include injured Rizespur of Turkey striker, Uchenna Kalu, Rabiu Ibrahim who recently moved from Celtic in the Scottish Premier League to Kilmanock FC, Enyimba’s Henry Uche and Papa Idris of Kano Pillars.

The four players left camp on Monday morning for their various clubsides and Nigeria.

Head Coach Stephen Keshi had during Sunday morning training session hinted that some players will be asked to go in the evening time, admonishing such players to take it in good faith as it did not mean that they are not good but that the coaching crew cannot take everybody to South Africa for the tournament.

Even before the players were asked to go, three coaches, Sylvanu Okpala (MON), Ike Shorunmi and Hyoundonou Valere took the players to a section of the dining hall for special counseling and

words of encouragement and assured them that they are still part and parcel of the team and will be recalled once the team returns from the Nations Cup championship and starts hostilities in the World Cup qualifiers.

All the players appreciated the sincerity and fatherly disposition of the coaching crew and promised to keep their heads high at the various club sides to earn future recall to the national team.

Kalu said he was personally pained that injury denied him a place in the team and promised to bounce back in the coming months for the national team.

John Mikel Obi cools off during training with other players in Faro

We’re not owing Eagles’ coaches N48m – NFF

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he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday slammed newspaper reports alleging that the nation’s football-governing body is owing coaches of the Super Eagles the sum of N48 million.

Speaking in Abuja, Chairman of the NFF Finance Committee, Dr. Shehu Adamu said the reports were not only in bad taste, but calculated to put the Federation in poor light and cause unnecessary tension in the National Team’s camp.

“The reports of NFF owing Eagles’ coaches the sum of N48 million is

Aminu Maigari

not only incorrect, it is mischievous. Today is the seventh day of the month; even if you add up this new month that we are yet to get one quarter of the way, the amount we are owing them is not up to N48 million.

“It is sad that at this time that all fair-minded and noble football stakeholders are supposed to be working together with the Federation and the team to see that we do the country proud at the Cup of Nations in South Africa, some persons are bent on creating undue anxiety through false reporting.”

Also in Abuja, NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu dismissed insinuations that there is unease in the Super Eagles’ camp as a result of the simulated debt.

“It is unfair for people to go to town with these untrue statements at a critical time like this. There is absolutely no tension in Faro; everyone is fine and the coaches and players are looking forward to bringing glory to Nigeria in South Africa.

“Why have people not asked questions on how the NFF was able to raise money to finance the team’s camping in Abuja, take the team to Faro and arrange for

friendly matches? Instead, people are coming with diversionary falsehood.”

Amadu also lampooned reports that Chairman of the NFF Technical Committee, Barrister Chris Green has been at loggerheads with the Super Eagles’ technical crew over selection of players.

“This is another falsehood.

Barrister Green has a very cordial relationship with the Head Coach and other members of the technical crew. They have respect for him and he also respects them.

There has never been any disagreement between them because Barrister Green is a gentleman and does not impose himself unnecessarily.

“Barrister Green is a very hardworking and diligent person and is not in the business of over-reaching his territory.

“I want to charge our good friends in the media to be positive and supportive at this very crucial time, and work towards the same positive goal with the Federation, the players, the coaches and all those involved in Nigeria’s imminent campaign in South Africa,” Amadu concluded.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

PAGE 47

Say what?

Some Interesting Facts * If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side * If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off. * Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying. * Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it. * The Mercedes-Benz motto is 'Das Beste oder Nichts' meaning 'the best or nothing'. * The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

SUDOKU

* The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

Getting Started Each sudoku puzzle is a 9 by 9 grid of horizontal and vertical rows, evenly separated into 9 squares with 9 spaces each.

Instead of word clues, each puzzle’s solution is determined by the pattern of the numbers already filled in you. You solve the puzzle by filling in the missing digits so that, when completed, each row and each square will have all the number from 1 to 9; each number will appear in exactly nine spaces within each puzzle.

* The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night. * Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. * Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day. * Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Yesterday’s solution

A drunk plane passenger was ducttaped to his seat after he attacked a woman and screamed the plane was going to crash.

Source: TheSun.co.uk

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

. . . putting the people first

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

Messi, Wambach, del Bosque, Sundhage triumph at FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012

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rgentina’s Lionel Messi collected a recordbreaking fourth consecutive title of best player in the world when he was awarded the FIFA Ballon d’Or, while US player Abby Wambach claimed her first FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala held at the Zurich Kongresshaus this evening.

Vicente del Bosque, the Spanish national team coach, and Sweden’s new women’s national team coach Pia Sundhage (former USA coach) were the winners of the FIFA World Coach of the Year awards for men’s and women’s football, respectively.

Aged 25, Messi concluded 2012 by scoring over 90 goals.

He also finished top scorer in the UEFA Champions League 20112012 season with 14 goals.

Meanwhile, Vicente del Bosque added the European title to his 2010 FIFA World Cup crown when leading Spain to victory at EURO 2012.

In women’s football, 2012 was the US national team’s year.

Sundhage and Wambach led the US to its second Olympic gold medal in London after defeating the Japanese team in the final and thus exacting revenge for the FIFA Women’s World Cup final the previous year, which Japan won for the first time in their history.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or was awarded for the third time tonight following the amalgamation of the FIFA World Player of the Year award with the France Football Ballon d’Or in 2010.

Lionel Messi won the FIFA Ballon d’Or after polling 41.60% of the votes, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo on 23.68% and Andrés Iniesta on 10.91%.

Wambach, winner of the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award, led the USA team to the title at the London 2012 Olympics, where she also won the adidas Golden Ball as the best player of the competition and the adidas Golden Boot for her five goals. She collected 20.67% of the votes, ahead of Brazil’s Marta and Alex Morgan from the USA, who received 13.50% and 10.87% respectively.

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE No religion preaches or encourages violence. The two major religions in our land preach brotherhood, love and peaceful co-existence which are their foundation.

— President Goodluck Jonathan

Yerwa: Terror in the metropole A

lthough I do not hail from Yerwa (“Yerwa” being a Kanuri epithet for the city of Maiduguri), my extended stay in that beautiful city would leave me with fond, lovesome memories that would enduringly remain etched in my mind.

It was in Yerwa I completed my secondary education, and it was in Yerwa that I earned my university degree. It was also in Yerwa that I made permanent lifelong friends, many of whom I am free to call family. In essence, Yerwa is my home away from home. The story of my life, whenever I choose to write it, cannot be complete without Yerwa, the stunning, radiant capital of Borno in northeastern Nigeria.

During my sojourn in Yerwa, Borno was everything peaceful; it was all free of war, violence, commotion or disorder. We lived our lives full of cheers and in good spirits. At no time were people intimidated or terrified as they carried out their day-to-day lively chores and other everyday activities; it was cheers and merriment all the way! In Yerwa, life was full of vigor yet very pacifistic both during the days and in the nights. It is utterly agonizing that today, the least that can be said of Yerwa is to try to contrast it or its surroundings with the word peace.

At present it is thoroughly toilsome to accept that Yerwa—the city that gave me too much of a good thing—is on the verge of a finish; it is not only a scene of destruction but could pass for a theater of war, au fait. What is backbreaking is the thought that at the moment, citizens, be they highly placed or found in the rank and file, cannot even get on with the daily endeavors of their lives without the fear of a portending, brewing devilment. One shudders to wonder, could this be the Yerwa that used to bear that popular “home of peace” moniker?

My extended stay in Yerwa would start when my family relocated to the city on one cold, dusty morning in January 2000, and at the time I would never know that I was foreordained to live in Yerwa for the next decade of my life. After spending the first few years of the altogether ten years of my stay in Yerwa, I suddenly acclimatized and was accultured to all the good things that the city offered as a spur of its moment. I found the locals of Yerwa very amiable, sociable, everwelcoming, and downright neighborly. The good-humored, buddy-buddy, engaging wit of the people was so magnificent and greathearted that local families

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GUEST COLUMNIST Mohammed Dahiru Aminu mohd.aminu@gmail.com

Gov. Kashim Shettima customarily brought out and ate their foods in the open, at the good feeling of the outside of their houses, so that every passing stranger is invited and welcomed to join and eat the food. It was only in Yerwa that cooked food loses ownership.

Among the brisk, invigorating particularity of Borno is its geographic multeity (if diversity).

I can vividly recollect the streaming, eye-catching geographic spheres of the once peaceful Borno as I travelled through the state on holidays.

Without fear or funk, I could take a trip through Borno’s deserts making spectacular dives into Monguno or the nearby historic Kukawa, or much further into Baga where I could catch a glimpse of its famous Doro Fish Market. On other occasions I would swing by Damboa, the Biu Plateau, Hawul, or Kwaya Kusar, where I would

appreciate its thrilling geologic formations. I could equally deflect into another part of Borno’s countryside, where I would more easily afford to veer past Pulka, Gwoza, and Limankara as I appreciated all its breathtaking sceneries, doing all these in a peaceful state of mind; without angst or despair.

Blessed with extreme temperatures in both seasons of scorching heat and/or seasons of the dry, dusty harmattan, neither its heat nor its harmattan could rub off the promising enchantment with being in Yerwa! Whether in moments of heat or in moments of cold, Yerwa was up and doing. The magnanimous gesture of peace that the city offered was enough to cushion its otherwise displeasing climatic conditions. Against all the odds, it felt as though Yerwa was the most tranquilizing of places.

It was in Yerwa that we had great neighbors in both the two neighborhoods that my family lived; first in Lagos Street, and second in Damboa Road. Because of our amicable unity with the neighbors, I could as a teenager, go to the neighbor’s house where we ate, played, and prayed together. I could spend several days sleeping in our neighbor’s house without my parents having to worry.

When I was admitted into the University of Maiduguri after completing my secondary education in the same city, I would come in contiguity with yet another marvelous experience.

UNIMAID, by daily grind, has got a consuetude of being very

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Today northern Nigeria and indeed Nigeria, suffers from a murderous ideology that sprung up from nowhere but the once peaceful Yerwa. Yerwa and, by involvement, the North have qualified as an axis of terror

cosmopolitan in nature. It was, and perhaps still is, a university that accorded bait to students from all across the country. UNIMAID could only attract such a diverse demography of students because of the peace that Yerwa, its host city afforded. As undergraduate students in UNIMAID, the least of our problem was insecurity.

Everyone felt much secured irrespective of the time of the day.

In UNIMAID, we walked from “Acada” to “Complex” (thanks to the “OAU Walks”) regardless of what time it was. We could return to sleep in the hostels whenever we felt we had exhausted ourselves reading; and we did this without a jot of panic or a whit of cold feet.

But as we all enjoyed the fun of living in a peaceful Yerwa, we couldn’t foresee that even amidst a joyous tranquility, a deadly predicament that would subsequently exalt a boundless war was in the making. Soon we would hear that a group had declared war on western education. This disastrous declaration would do nothing but to jilt on Yerwa a calamitous crisis. Like wild fire, it even went far-off, beyond the horizon, and like a climacteric catastrophe, it sparked a war that seems without end.

Today northern Nigeria and indeed Nigeria, suffers from a murderous ideology that sprung up from nowhere but the once peaceful Yerwa. Yerwa and, by involvement, the North have qualified as an axis of terror. On daily basis, we are engulfed in news that is not only loathsome, but also horrible. We face, without end, the seemingly amaranthine news of either death, destruction of properties, or in most cases, both.

Yerwa, and the North, reels in bombs, assassinations and slaughters.

It is harrowing that with a Yerwa turned beastly or a Northern Nigeria turned barbarous, the Nigerian government is lacking the adequacy to contain the horrid situation, and sad is the fact that our inane government sees the need to exculpate itself from its harebrained, multilayered culpabilities by building up conspiracy theories to help cover for its ineptitude. It is a shame that the leadership of Nigeria, with all its controlling instruments of power, among them the means of production, coercion and persuasion, could not deploy a prudent, necessary stratagem that can help rescue its citizens from these dire straits. May Yerwa be peaceful! May Nigeria be peaceful!!

Mohammed Dahiru Aminu wrote in from London, United Kingdom.

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