Peoples Daily Newspaper, Friday March 9, 2012

Kidnapped Briton, Italian die in botc hed rrescue escue mission in Sok oto botched Sokoto

Vol. 7 No. 91

Friday, March 9, 2012

Rabiul Thani 16, 1433 AH

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N150

INSIDE

Call your men to order, Kano Emir, tells Army chief >>PAGE 7

Again, Dangote is Africa’s richest man

NEITI queries NLNG over N528b dividend

>>PAGE 19

PDP chair: Plot to stop Bamanga thickens

>>PAGE 19

>>PAGE 37

Osunbor may dump PDP for Oshiomhole >>PAGE 38

Diplomatic spat

Why South Africa begs Nigeria

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

T

he South African government yesterday ate humble pie by tendering an “unreserved apology” to its Nigerian counterpart over the deportation of 125 Nigerians over the weekend, which resulted in a diplomatic spat between the two countries. The South African government sent an official apology letter to this effect to Nigeria.

Peoples Daily investigations revealed that the South African government, which had earlier adopted a hard line stance over the Yellow fever card imbroglio, was forced to retreat primarily to protect its economy and the business interests of some of its top citizens domiciled in Nigeria. Aside being the biggest market for South Africa’s mobile telecoms operator, MTN, Nigeria is also a strategic hub for South Africa’s Shoprite as well Contd on Page 2

Northern governors explore alternative revenue sources From Agaju Madugba, & Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna

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overnors of the 19 states in the North yesterday rose from a meeting in Kaduna with a resolve to explore alternative sources of revenue that would help lift their respective states out of the current economic quagmire.

Similarly, the governors, under the aegis of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) resolved to monitor the implementation of Federal Government’s White Paper on the Boko Haram phenomenon.

In a communiqué at the end of the group’s meeting, the NSGF announced the setting up of a committee under the leadership of the Contd on Page 2

L-R: Edo state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and former Governor of the state, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, during the governor's visit to Professor Osunbor in his country home, yesterday at Iruekpen, Edo state. Osunbor lost his bid to secure the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) ticket to battle Oshiomhole in the state’s governorship election scheduled for July.

WWW.PEOPLESDAILY-ONLINE.COM

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PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

CONTENTS News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-17

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

S/Report

24

Religion

26

Interview

27

Issues

28

Newsxtra

29

Diplomatic spat: Why South Africa begs Nigeria Contd from Page 1 as Standard Bank Group, the parent of StanbicIBTC, all of which have profitable operations here.

A reliable source in one of the South African firms in the country told our reporter yesterday that investors in his company, some of who are members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa had to pressure the government of the country to see reason why allowing the diplomatic row to linger would hurt their own nation more than Nigeria.

This, the source said, “played a significant role in getting the SA government to backpedal from its earlier position on the matter (yellow fever card feud)”.

The MTN Group’s financial result as at December 2010 showed that its total revenues globally for that year stood at N2.57 trillion (115 billion rand), while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) stood at N1.07 trillion (48 billion rand).

A break-down of the Group’s results showed that MTN Nigeria, which remains its biggest operations, contributed the most to its revenues and profits in 2010.

MTN Nigeria made total revenues of N749 billion that year, which was 29% of the Group’s total revenues in 2010.

In offering the unreserved apology to the Nigerian government over the saga, Deputy

Foreign Minister of South Africa, Ebrahim Ismail, flanked by two Nigerian diplomats, told a news conference yesterday in Pretoria, that his country’s officials had acted in a way the “government believes could have been handled better”.

He also described the first deportation incident as ‘regrettable’.

“The governments of South Africa and Nigeria view the development in a serious light.

Accordingly, the two countries have, through diplomatic channels, consulted at the highest level on the ways of avoiding a recurrence of such development.

He said that the two countries have a long standing bilateral relationship and “share a common commitment to the unity and prosperity of African continent as well as a just and equitable world.

“We will continue to work together at various levels to achieve this common objective, notwithstanding the recent unfortunate events involving immigration matters which may have created contrary impression,’’ Ebrahim said.

He said both countries were considering implementing a variety of measures to strengthen the historic bilateral relationship between the two sisters African countries.

Ebrahim said the two countries had agreed that the

Nigeria- South Africa Bi-National Commission should be revived as soon as possible so as to forestall future occurrence of such disagreement.

The two sides also agreed that the Immigration Working Group under the Commission be revived to iron out consular issues.

He said it was also agreed that South Africa’s National Health Department and the Gauteng Health Department should consider re-opening the vaccination clinic at the Oliver Tambo International Airport so that passengers without the yellow fever card could be vaccinated upon arrival at the airport, instead of being deported.

According to him, the two nations’ health authorities will also exchange vaccine batch numbers and details of the official institution that administers the vaccine for verification at the port of entry.

“This information would also be made available to our missions in Lagos and Abuja who issue visas based on the proof of a yellow fever certificate. The airlines will also be informed about the verification process”, he said.

Ebrahim said further that the two sides had agreed that their immigration officials should be first

to deal with passengers at the port of entry and if they experience any challenge they could invite officials of other units for assistance.

He said where there was a need for mass deportation of Nigerians from South Africa senior officials of the department should be consulted.

He said if fully implemented these measures would “address the current immigration challenges affecting citizens from the two sister African countries and help us avoid a recurrence of the regrettable incidences we have seen recently’’.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru yesterday announced the nation’s acceptance of the apology by South Africa.

It will be recalled that Nigeria avenged the poor treatment of its nationals by deporting at least 84 South Africans back to their country from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, causing further damage to the already strained relationship between the two countries. The South African authorities had earlier deported 125 Nigerian nationals, including a serving senator, for allegedly trying to enter the country with fake vaccination certificates called the Yellow fever card.

Northern governors explore alternative revenue sources Salami applies to join perjury suit, Page 4

International 31-34 Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-47

Columnist

48

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

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

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

Contd from Page 1 Katsina state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema to develop other sources of revenue especially through the development of agriculture and allied activities.

A recent report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) placed ranked mostly states in the North among the poorest in the country.

This, coupled with the rising security challenges in the region, compelled the northern states to demand for a review of the Revenue Sharing Formula of the federation, which they said is currently skewed in favour of their counterparts in the South.

This however attracted strident criticism from the governors in the South, particularly some if the 11 oil producing states in that region.

Reading out the communiqué of the one-day meeting to newsmen yesterday, Chairman of the NSGF, who is also the Governor of Niger state, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, explained that “northern Nigeria being predominantly agrarian in nature, the Forum resolved to develop a lasting and sustainable source of income from agriculture, and its allied activities.

“This endeavour is aimed at providing gainful employment to youth and reducing social tension which would lead to more peace, security and harmonious prosperity.

“In order to actualise this objective, a committee, chaired by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Katsina state and with their Excellencies, the Executive Governors of Sokoto, Borno, Adamawa, Kwara, Plateau, Kaduna and Taraba states, as members was constituted to proffer recommendations on means of

improving agricultural production, storage, processing and access to local and international markets and other allied activities”.

Dr. Aliyu had earlier in his opening remarks described poverty as the greatest challenge currently confronting the northern states.

According to him, “undoubtedly, the North is facing one of its worst challenges, ever growing poverty amidst growing expectations and dwindling economic resources to meet the needs of the people thus giving rise to frustration, despondency and the spate of insecurity problems that have almost taken over our states.”

On the second committee, which is to monitor the implementation of the Federal Government’s White Paper on security challenges in the North-east zone, Aliyu listed governors of Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Adamawa and Plateau states as members.

The committee is equally expected to adopt a pragmatic, holistic and integrated regional approach to combating crime, through collective effort of all security agencies and also adopt common policies and programmes, build confidence among the people, to promote economic prosperity in the North.

The communiqué noted that the Chairman of the northern Traditional Rulers’ Council, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar as well as officials of the World Bank, DFID and other development agencies briefed the meeting.

“The meeting was addressed by the Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto,

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar CFR, who recounted the unprecedented challenges, especially in the North, in terms of rising trend of insecurity which have deprived democratic liberty, freedom and economic prosperity in the region.

“His Eminence expressed the resolve and readiness of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council to collaborate with the Northern State Governors, who should be the mouth piece of the north to restore enduring peace and harmonious co-existence and development in the region for the benefit of all.

“The Forum was briefed by officials of the World Bank, DFID and other development partners on the need to facilitate the development of critical sectors in the North such as health, education, social protection, water and agriculture, commerce and public financial reform.

“The officials highlighted their new approach in partnering with states through knowledge sharing and direct budget support to those States that are committed to Public Financial Management and service delivery.

“The Forum, after in-depth deliberation, constituted two separate committees of three governors each with a view to approaching the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance for more consultations on the matter in order to benefit from the programmes of the development partners.

“The Forum received brief from National Primary Health Development Agency on the

prevalence of wild polio virus in the northern states.

“The Forum extensively deliberated on the issue and commended the Federal Government for additional funds for eradication of Polio and resolved to strengthen the State Task Force on Polio Eradication in each member state by making it more functional and to prevail on local governments chairmen in the northern states to continue to support polio programmes particularly through sustained enlightenment campaigns.

“The Forum extensively deliberated on the alarming rate of insecurity in the northern states. It noted that the region needs an integrated approach towards tackling these unfortunate new realities.

“The Forum extensively deliberated on the resuscitation of Kaduna Textiles Limited (KTL) and set up a Committee of five governors headed by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kwara state with governors of Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi and Borno states as members.

“The Committee was mandated to look at the whole gamut of KTL and proffer recommendations on the way forward.

“The Forum noted the similarity between the abbreviation of the Northern Govrnors’ Forum (NGF) and that of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

It therefore resolved to change the name of the Forum to be known henceforth as Northern States Governors’ Forum.”

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

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Gunmen kill DPO, four others at Ashaka From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe

A

Divisional Police Officer (DPO), three policemen and a civilian were killed while a police Inspector was shot on the leg by unknown gunmen during a night attack on a police station and two banks in Gombe on Wednesday.

The Police Area Commander in charge of the zone, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olumide Kayode made this known while briefing the Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police in charge of Air

wing, Mr. Ilesanmi Aguda, around Zenith and FinBank as well as the Ashaka Police post.

Assistant Police Commissioner, Mr. Olumide Kayode said that the unknown suspected gunmen followed the deceased DPO Abbubakar Sadiq to his official vehicle and shot him dead along with his driver.

According to him, one of the policemen was shot dead at the road block leading to Ashaka Cement Company while other policemen were killed while on guard at Zenith bank.

The Assistant Police Commissioner further explained that the civilian killed in the attack was a staff of the Zenith bank who was shot while standing in the premises.

He pointed out that when the suspected gunmen bombed the Ashaka police post, they also made away with three motorcycles belonging to the police on duty which they used in moving around to launch more attacks.

An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that the suspected gunmen,

numbering over 10, came in a Hilux Toyota pick-up van while some came in a Golf car.

However, our correspondent who visited the scene of the attack could not ascertain if the suspected gunmen were able to cart away money from the two banks as there were still explosives in the premises waiting to be detonated by the Police Anti Bomb Squad unit from Yola.

While Ashaka Cement Company has taken responsibility of the medical bills of the Police Inspector who was shot on the leg and was now on admission at the Federal Medical Centre Gombe, all other banks and shop owners have refused to open for business around the Ashaka Cement gate.

L-R: Kano state Governor, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Kaduna state Governor, Mr. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, and Zamfara state Governor, Alhaji Abdulazeez Abubakar Yari, during the NSGF meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Kaduna.

FG set to stop importation of foreign security equipment

By Lambert Tyem

A

s part of its development agenda, the Federal Government will soon stop doing business with any foreign firm dealing on security equipment that has no production outlet in the country.

Government said its action is aimed at stopping the country

from becoming a dumping ground for foreign substandard products, especially security gadgets.

Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade disclosed this when he met with representatives of Mekahog Limited, manufacturers of military and security equipment in his office.

According to the Minister,

apart from the measure which is to ensure that what is produced meets the nation’s expectations and needs, it would also open a lot of opportunities in terms of jobs.

Olubolade commended the management of Messrs Mekahog for offering to establish a production plant for armoured personnel carriers and other security hardware in Nigeria and

promised to facilitate whatever would be required to achieve it.

The Group President of Messrs Mekahog, Chief Ikedi Ohakim informed the Minister that the plant which will produce the Springbok brand of armoured personnel carriers and other security hardware, would also provide employment for more than 2,000 Nigerians.

FG threatens delinquent power contractors with revocation

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

W

orried by the poor performance of contractors that handle power transmission projects across the country, the VicePresident, Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo has directed that any power transmission and distribution contractor who fail to meet 50 per cent completion of their contract by June this year would have his contact

terminated.

Vice-President Sambo, who is also the Board Chairman of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), gave the directive to the supervising consultants yesterday, at the 21st Board Meeting of the NDPHC, saying “any company which could not reach fifty percent completion by June, its contract would be terminated and given to another company that can deliver on the project.”

He further directed the

management of NDPHC to make a list of delinquent contractors and consultants and that any of them that could not complete its project by the end of the year would be sanctioned.

Before giving approval to some of the requests by the management of NDPHC, Sambo warned that the Board would no longer approve any new projects and they must concentrate on the urgent delivery of existing contracts.

The Board gave approval for the payment of P.B. Power/Jiyoda invoices transferred by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to NDPHC in respect of project consultancy services for the construction of Alaoji Phase 1 power plant. It also approved the Interim Operations and Maintenance Services for the 451MW Sapele power station in favour of Messrs Marubeni Corporation and Oloronsogo power station.

Pension probe: Senate orders arrest of task force chairman

By Ali Alkali

T

he table was turned yesterday against the chairman of the Pension Review Task Team (PRTT), Mr. Maina Abdulrasheed, as the Sen. Aloysius Etuk-led Senate Joint Committee on Establishment, states and local governments, which is probing pension management in the country ordered for his immediate arrest.

“We the committee have decided that the Inspector General of Police should arrest and deliver the chairman of the PRTT tomorrow at 10am,” co-chairman of the committee, Senator Muhammadu Goje (PDP Gombe) declared.

Reading from a prepared text, Goje said “pursuant to the powers conferred on us by section 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (1999 as amended) a warrant is hereby issued by the Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and States and Local Governments Federal Republic of Nigeria for the arrest and compelling of attendance of Mr. Maina Abdulrasheed of PRTT before the committee at 10am tomorrow at the National Assembly, this conference hall.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Maina Abdulrasheed told the committee that officials at the police pension office were falsifying documents to withdraw N24 billion from the Budget Office for the payment of pension that required only N3.5 billion.

Plateau LG workers accept half of minimum wage

L

ocal government workers in Plateau state have accepted to collect half of the N18,000 minimum wage owing to paucity of funds, according to Mr. Jibrin Bancir, the state's Nigeria Labour Congress chairman.

Bancir told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Jos that the local governments have, however, agreed in principle to pay the new wage.

“We have seen the monthly subventions of the councils from the federal allocation and have noticed indeed that the money is not enough to pay the minimum wage.

"What we have agreed with the council managements and the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs is that the councils should be paying 50 percent of the increment pending when their revenue status gets better.''

The NLC chairman commended the state government for implementing the new minimum wage for its workers from October 2011. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

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Woman escapes letter bomb From Iliya Garba, Minna

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omb blasts in Niger state has taken another dimension with the introduction of a letter bomb, intercepted and detonated by the police anti-bomb squad at Tudun Wada Division in Minna, the state capital yesterday.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that the suspected letter bomb was discovered within the premises of a welder’s workshop around Abdulsalam Garage, Tunga, Minna with the envelop carrying the logo of a second generation bank. One Emmanuel Emogon received a call directing him to deliver the parcel to the Director of Total Filling Station Tunga, Minna, Mrs. Justina Udeh.

Our correspondent further gathered that, Mrs. Udeh had also received a call that a letter was

given to the welder to deliver to her.

She was said to have directed the Total Filling Station Manager to collect the letter.

It was gathered that the director who received the letter told the manager that “we have no account with this bank” and asked him to return the letter to the bank.

The bank disowned the letter and chased off the manager. Upon report of the shabby treatment he received at the bank, Mrs. Udeh directed that the letter be taken to Tudun Wada Police Station.

However, when the police eventually opened the letter, there was a loud blast from the envelop.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Mr. Richard Oguche, said despite the bang akin to a knockout, no policeman was injured but that the state CID had taken over the case.

Train crushes 38year-old man in Ilorin From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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38-year-old man identified as Emmanuel Joseph, has been crushed to death in his Honda Accord vehicle by a train along Offa-garage road in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

According to eyewitness accounts, Joseph was crossing the railway line leading to his house when the train which had not given any warning ran over the

victim’s vehicle.

When the deceased was making efforts to come out of the vehicle, the train just compressed and mangled him completely.

Speaking to our reporter, a member of the Word Assembly Church, Mr. Anthony said “Joseph is my colleague in the church; he left the church immediately after service at about 11 o’ clock in the morning and rushed home to eat.

“He had escaped death twice in recent times due to health breakdown; nobody expected that he would survive those illnesses before he now met another one that eventually claimed his life on the glorious day.”

Also confirming the incident, Mr. Murtala, a refrigerator technician lamented that the victim owed him the sum of N7,000 which he promised to settle on Monday.

17 persons arraigned for impersonation From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

1

7 persons out of the 49 recruited into the police training school, Yelwa in Bauchi state have been charged with criminal conspiracy and impersonation and arraigned before the Chief Magistrate, Court 8, Bauchi A statement issued and signed by the Bauchi state Police Command Police Public Relations

Officer, ASP Hassan Mohammed and made available to newsmen in Bauchi, stated that the action taken was in line with the Federal Government’s police reform agenda The 17 suspects were accused of using other people’s school certificates to gain entry into the school.

PPRO said investigation was still on going on the remaining 32 students in custody.

L-R: Executive Director, AMBISSA Nigeria Limited, Comrade Tar Ukoh, with Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Benue chapter, Comrade Abba Yaro, during their visit to Peoples Media Ltd head office, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

NGOs call for action against rape of children Salami applies to join perjury suit

By Maryam Garba Hassan

A

s part of event to mark the 2012 International Women’s Day, a coalition of NGOs yesterday called on the Nigerian government to take urgent action to combat the menace of child rape in Nigeria.

A statement issued by Dr. Emilie Secker, Advocacy Officer at Stepping Stones Nigeria, said the group had documented an alarming number of cases involving the sexual abuse of the girl-child in the country over the last six months as part of its Niger Delta Child Rights Watch (NDCRW) Project, which covers Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa and Rivers states.

According to the statement, the coalition also includes the Nigerian NGOs Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRC), Centre

for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) and Stepping Stones Nigeria Child Empowerment Foundation (SSNCEF).

The statement further explained that Michael Gbarale, NDCRW Child Rights Officer in Port Harcourt, revealed that he had personally investigated 18 cases of rape including a girl of 13 who was raped by a group of boys, a man who sexually assaulted sisters aged 6 and 3 years and a girl of 10 who was raped at gunpoint, confirming that only two of the 18 cases had been charged to court.

Gbarale, said the key problem was the lack of government welfare services for Nigerian children, who therefore became dependent on NGOs to provide medical care and counseling needed following such horrific ordeals.

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

S

uspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami wants an Abuja High Court to join him in the suit filed by former governor of Ekiti state, Chief Segun Oni seeking to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to prosecute him (Salami) over an alleged perjury.

Salami said in the application he filed before the court that he had already filed a suit to nullify the report of the committee of the National Judicial Council (NJC) upon which Oni based his case for mandamus to prosecute him.

He said he would be prejudiced by whatever decision the court reached, if not joined in the suit.

The trial judge, Justice Peter Affen directed him to file argument in his support of his application and

CP sues for peace in Tafawa Balewa From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

T

he Bauchi state Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechwuku Aduba has appealed to the warring factions in Tafawa-Balewa local government to sheath their swords over recurrent crisis in the area and embrace peace and unity.

The commissioner made the

plea when an NGO, Bauchi State Youth Empowerment and Peace Initiatives Forum (BSYEPI) paid him a courtesy call in his office, saying that people should accord citizenship more priority than indigeneship.

He said “Nigeria is a secular state which comprises different ethno-religious backgrounds that have every right to leave wherever

you want” regardless of religious, cultural and political backgrounds.

According to him, there is no development where chaos, violence and fracas was the order of the day, and sought the support of youths who are custodians of every meaningful development not to allow themselves to be used by selfish individuals.

serve it on all the parties and slated March 15, 2012 for hearing.

The judge had earlier given leave to Oni to apply for an order of mandamus to compel the AGF to prosecute Salami for allegedly giving false evidence on oath.

Oni had argued that, “It is in the interest of justice, fair-play and the rule of law to prosecute the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, for giving false evidence as the prosecution borders on an issue of national interest, public concern, social justice and equality before the law.”

In the application which was filed ex-parte, the former governor is seeking an order of the court granting leave to him to apply for mandamus directing the AGF to institute criminal proceedings against Justice Salami, “for giving false evidence contrary to Sections 156, 157 and 158 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory.

Alternatively, Oni wants an order of the court directing the AGF to issue a fiat to him to institute criminal proceedings against Justice Salami.

Oni gave 26 grounds upon which the order of mandamus was being sought, and supported the application with a three-paragraph statement of facts as well as a threeparagraph verifying affidavit he personally deposed to.

Also in support of the application, Oni attached four exhibits, which

include Salami’s affidavit in support of his Motion on Notice of February 7, 2011, affidavit in response to the allegation of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu dated March 31, 2011, report of the NJC Panel of August 10, 2011 and a copy of his (Oni) letter of January 19, 2012 to the AGF entitled: Request for the prosecution of Hon Justice Isa Salami for perjury.

He averred that Salami deposed to facts in his affidavit of February 7, 2011 and March 31, 2011, about the existence of a state of affairs which were later shown not only to be false, but also to have been made knowing those facts to be false, with the aim of misleading conclusion in a judicial proceedings in contravention of S156, 157 and 158 of the Penal Code Laws of the Federal Capital Territory.

In a related development, the immediate past Governor of Osun state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has kicked against Salami’s reinstatement.

Oyinlola, in letter dated March 6, 2012 addressed to NJC Chairman urged the council to put on hold the possible, planned reinstatement of Justice Salami, pending determination of suits involving him (Salami) which is likely to be heard by the appellate court.

The letter which had been served on the NJC accused Salami of unethical behaviors in the discharge of his duties as the president of the Court of Appeal.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 5

Briton, Italian die in botched rescue bid in Sokoto

NHRC slams discrimination against women

By Julius Ogar, with agency reports

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

Briton and an Italian abducted by gunmen in Nigeria last year have died in a failed rescue attempt, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced yesterday.

He said it appeared Chris McManus - from north-west England and Franco Lamolinara had been "murdered by their captors before they could be rescued".

British forces supported the Nigerian-led operation, the Prime Minister said.

Gunmen had abducted the two engineers from their lodgings in Birnin Kebbi city, in northwest Nigeria, on 12 May, 2011.

Mr. Cameron said authorities had decided to go ahead with the rescue operation after receiving "credible information about (the men's) location".

“A window of opportunity arose to secure their release. We also had reason to believe that their lives were under imminent and growing danger,” he said.

The prime minister said it was “with great regret” that he had to announce that Mr. McManus and Mr. Lamolinara had lost their lives in the subsequent operation.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later confirmed the men were killed in Sokoto state, to the North-East of Birnin Kebbi, where they had been taken from.

There was a major incident that scared off residents of Mabera in Sokoto state where the abductees were suspected to have been killed.

However, Nigerian security agencies refused to comment on the incident, though the State Security Service (SSS) pledged to address newsmen on the issue today.

Reacting to the incident, President Jonathan said that the men's captors had been seized and "would be made to face the full wrath of the law". He described them as being from Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group that has carried out a number of attacks on police, politicians and clerics who oppose it.

In a statement yesterday, the President extended his “heartfelt condolences to the families of the bereaved and the people and government of Britain and Italy”.

T

he Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof.

Bem Angwe has stressed the need for a holistic approach to the social, economic and cultural discrimination against women.

In a statement in Abuja yesterday, the NHRC boss lamented the multiple forms of discrimination

against the womenfolk, which he noted arose from complex interplay of factors at the family, community and social levels.

As Nigerians celebrates the International Women’s Day, set aside by the international community to recognize, respect and appreciate the women for their economic, social and political accomplishments, he said, it was imperative that decision makers

re-examine the involvement of women in the planning and execution of the nation’s development programmes.

“As an institution that promotes, protects and enforces the rights of Nigerians, especially women, the National Human Rights Commission uses this opportunity to salute our womenfolk for their doggedness and commitment in spite of inherent

handicap”, the statement added.

According to Prof. Angwe, the United Nations’ theme for this year’s celebration, “Empower Women – End Hunger and Poverty”, was apt as “Nigerian women, like their counterparts in the third world have limited access to and control of productive resources.

Institutionally imposed sexual division of labour in which women are accorded lower status or social importance, inhibits their mental and physical mobility”, the statement concluded.

R-L: Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, with Delta state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, during a meeting of Niger Delta Power Holding Company, at the State House, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

LG autonomy is for development, Lecturers want more women in govt to further champion the cause of Nigeria has been suffering in the From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos says NULGE women in the society hands of governors who disallow From Bala Nasir, Kano

T

he president of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Kano state branch, Alhaji Safiyanu Isa Rogo has said that the current enlightenment campaign for the autonomy of local governments in the country embarked upon by the union, is in the interest of local government administration and the people in general.

He told Peoples Daily that insinuations from some quarters in the state that he is leading a campaign against some people in Kano was misleading.

According to him it has become apparent that local government administration in

democracy from thriving at the local government level.

He identified the state and local government joint account as the tool used by state governors to deny local governments the use of their own funds to better the lives of the people.

The campaign for autonomy, he said, was organized by NULGE and that a formal flag off of the campaign would soon to be announced by the national leadership of the union.

Local governments, he said, remained the closest to the people especially those at the grassroots and need all the funds meant for them to execute meaningful projects in their respective domains.

T

he President, National Association of Women Academics (NAWACS), University of Jos chapter, Dr. Rahila Gowon has accused government of insincerity in the implementation of the 35% Affirmative Action.

She said some state governors appoint few women into government just to please foreign countries advocating equal opportunity for women.

Speaking at the NAWACS international day celebration held the ASUU secretariat of the University of Jos, Dr. Gowon called for networking among the womenfolk both at the local, state and international levels in order

This is year’s celebration which has its theme “leaving legacy for the younger ones”, the President said they are mentoring and inspiring the young girls who are the future mothers so that the girls would achieve what the present mother could not and to compete favourably with their male counterpart.

“Government should the enrollment of girl-child in school because there is no there better thing that government would do to empower the girl child than to encourage them to enroll in schools. By the time the graduate and become something in society they will compete favourably with their male counterparts”, she said.

DFID mobilises media, others on good governance From Lawal Sa'idu Funtua, Katsina

T

he British Department For International Development, DFID, has initiated ways of mobilising the media, civil society groups and the state Houses of Assembly on good governance and accountability.

The Katsina state coordinator of the programme, Malam Ahmad Zulkiflu Rufa'i told newsmen, yesterday in Katsina that these stakeholders were expected to play prominent roles in the project.

Rufa'i noted that the programme which has a six year life span started in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Enugu and Lagos states

three years ago while in the last one year it was extended to Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara states.

He added that since the commencement of the programme in Katsina state, the office had organised series of meetings with the state House of Assembly and the civil society groups.

Similarly, the coordinator

added that the office was now reaching out to the media due to their unique role in carrying the messages of all stakeholders to targetted audiences.

Accordind to him, the programme was not aimed at challenging any organ of government but intended to provide a platform where people’s

voices and interest would count in governance.

He therefore stressed the commitment of the DFID in partnering all stakeholders in ensuring the success of the programme, adding that this would alert people on civic responsibility and strengthen the democratic process in the land.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Corruption more in private sector- Sen. Adamu

By Richard Ihediwa

F

ormer governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Abdulahi Adamu has taken stock of the prevalent rate of corruption in the country and submitted that the problem appeared to be more in the private sector than in the public sector.

Adamu, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, described as unfair, insinuations in some quarters that all government agencies and public office holders are corrupt, insisting that corruption was more prevalent in private sector.

The lawmaker, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, was

reacting to series of revelations from several investigative hearings by the National Assembly during which there were revelations of underhand dealings involving private concerns in collaboration with some government officials.

According to him, "it is unfair to take a swipe on every government agencies and public officers, when their counterparts in the private

sector who may be wallowing in corruption are made to look like saints."

The former governor noted that waivers enjoyed by a few privileged private sector operators were being abused, adding that such persons who enrich themselves through abuse of waivers are celebrated as heroes while public office holders are stigmatized and embarrassed by the day.

SNC: We don’t need FG’s approval- Tony Uranta From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

C

L-R: Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, with Corps Marshal/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Osita Chidoka, during the public lecture on the sustained efforts to stimulate more consciousness on road safety in Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

ontrary to the Senate President, Senator David Mark's opinion that only the National Assembly has the power to convene a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), the executive secretary of the National Summit Group, Mr. Tony Uranta has said that the group does not need Federal Government's approval to convene the conference.

Speaking with selected newsmen in Lagos yesterday, Tony Uranta said the National Assembly members are custodian of the sovereignty that reside in Nigerians as their representatives but cannot take all the sovereignty from the people.

"You cannot give sovereignty to the people, people give you sovereignty.

So, we are not waiting for the President, Senate President or Speaker of the house to give any recognition or confirm legitimacy of the conference when Nigerians have decided to hold the conference."

Speaking on the purpose of the conference, Uranta said that the National Summit Group realised that to avoid anarchy in the nation, people

Jonathan commends Suswam’s water project From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has commended Governor Gabriel Suswam's effort in the provision of potable water to Benue people.

The President, who said this yesterday at the commissioning of a N2.5 billion Otobi Water Works in Otukpo local government area, noted that the project would address water-related diseases like diarrhoea and cholera in the area.

President Jonathan observed that most water projects in the country do not survive after commissioning due to poor maintenance, noting that the Otobi project had the capacity to stand the

test of time and even exceed the 25-year lifespan given by CPC Nig. Limited, the contractors that handled the project.

He also seized the opportunity to thank Benue people for voting him in the last presidential election.

Senate President, David Mark thanked the President for

the support he gave Governor Suswam, adding that the mini water project would serve as a big relief to the people of Otukpo.

Suswam, in his remark, said his administration had made it a deliberate policy to embark on projects that would impact on the lives of the people positively.

of Nigeria needed to sit together and agree on how to live together and fashion out what to do to rescue the nation from imminent collapse.

He continued: "Contrary to the opinions of the conference critics, we are not planning the breaking up of Nigeria because we believe in peace, unity and progress of the country but the value of unity cannot be compared with justice and equity.

"The conference is however to prepare a platform for Nigerians to be well and largely represented from every geopolitical zones and talk their mind without putting or throwing words into nobody mouth.

"The national congress that we held which led to the conference was a success and was well attended by eminent Nigerians except the northerners because the congress clashed with the Eidel-Maulud," he added.

T

he National Executive Council meeting of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has been scheduled to hold in Ogun state between today and Sunday March 11, 2012.

A press statement by the

Ogun state chapter of NAWOJ signed by chairperson, Folake Ade-Adeniji indicated that the official opening ceremony would hold on Saturday March 10, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.

According to the statement, the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun would declare the meeting open while

By Muhammad Sada

T

he World Bank has said it is in the process of creating a global forum to enhance total commitment to the rule of law and the development of legal and justice departments across the globe.

The World Bank's Deputy General-Counsel, Knowledge and Research, Vice Presidency, Legal, Mr. Hassan Cisse, who stated this in an address at the World Bank office in Abuja yesterday, said the Bank would do so by reaching out across the world and meeting with stakeholders in the various countries' legal and justice departments, in order to learn about the major challenges being faced and the right direction to take in correcting them.

Mr. Cisse explained how the organisation had embarked on a mission to create a global forum for proper dispensation of the rule of law globally and the development of the legal and justice department.

He said that the creation of the forum was in tandem with the Bank's objective of having a worldwide coalition of institutions who are concerned with the development of the rule of law, so as to support each other in upgrading the current status of the judicial process as well as the enhancement of finding lasting solutions to the problems affecting the development of justice and legal departments.

‘Investing in rural women key to eradicating poverty’

By Maryam Garba Hassan

T

he Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has said that investing in rural women is key to eradicating poverty and hunger, which are the prerequisites for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) The minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Elizabeth Emuren, at the great African women achievers/ Men of great vision awards, organised by the

NAWOJ to meet on violence against women From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

Global forum on rule of law underway, says W/Bank

the chief judge, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade would deliver a lecture on “violence against women’s right”.

The release explained that the meeting was an avenue for women journalists from the 36 states of the federation to brainstorm on issues relating to their profession and the development of the country.

publishers of Women Sentinel International magazine yesterday in Abuja.

According to her, the event which coincided with the 2012 International Women's Day celebrations, seeks to recognise, highlight and celebrate the important contributions of women to the socio- economic development of societies all over the world.

Hajiya Zainab stated that this year's International Women's Day would be celebrated in Nigeria on the 13th of March, 2012 and called on government at all levels, civil society groups and the private sector to rededicate themselves to gender equality and women empowerment.

She commended the efforts of the organisers of the event for providing a platform to recognise the giant strides of women in national development and for building a Centre for African Women study, which she said is expected to serve as a centre for the documentation and research on great women achievers.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 7

Call your men to order, Kano Emir tells army chief From Edwin Olofu, Kano

T

he Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, has appealed to the new Brigade Commander of the 3 Motorised Brigade of the Nigeria Army Kano, Brigadier General Iliyasu Isa Abba to instruct his men to stop maltreating the citizens of the state.

The Emir who made

the request in his palace yesterday when the Brigade Commander paid him a courtesy call, said he has personally received several complaints from his subjects about arbitrary violation of human rights by the military personnel in the state.

The monarch made reference to a particular

complaint from an unnamed senior councilor of the emirate who he said was assaulted by soldiers.

He advised the military not to be applying corporal punishment on the people even if the people break laws, stressing that such people should be handed to the police and be charged to court

accordingly if found guilty after investigation.

“We have been receiving complaints from the people of the state about your men maltreating our people.

We are not happy about this because your men are working for the people therefore they should treat them with dignity.

There is a particular

responsibility for providing financial assistance to elderly persons in Nigeria; and National Social Welfare Commission to be charged with the administration of benefits and assistance to disadvantaged persons, particularly children, women, the handicapped, the sick, the aged and the

unemployed.

According to one of the sponsors of the bills, Senator Domingo Obende (Edo North) “A social welfare system is a veritable tool for engendering the bond between government and its citizens. The aspect of social welfare these bills seek to protect, when

enacted as an act of the National Assembly, includes security of lives, shelter, food, guarantee of minimum living wage for workers, care of the disadvantaged citizens, education, healthcare for children and senior citizens, unemployment benefits and welfare for the disabled.”

complaint I received from one of my senior councilors; the story is dehumanising, how they threw him into drainage along the road. In some situation we are told they force people to do frogjump and so on.

“We are not saying if our people break laws they shouldn’t be punished, they should, but not

meting out physical punishment on them just like that. We are equally calling on the people to support the security agents because they are here to protect them.”

Earlier, the Brig. Gen. Abba said he was in the palace to pay homage and seek royal blessings as he embarks on his duties in the state.

Senate canvasses for social welfare scheme Lamido commissions

By Ali Alkali

T

wo related bills seeking the establishment of National Social Security Agency and National Social Welfare Commission simultaneously passed second reading at the floor of the Senate yesterday.

The bills seek to provide protection for citizens from the evils of want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness that destroy basic foundation of life and create political and economic instability.

When passed into law, the bills will provide the legal ground for the establishment of National Social Security Agency to be charged with the

Security is everyone’s concern, says Bauchi Emir From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

T

raditional rulers at all levels have been called upon to show more commitment to the restoration of security in the country.

Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyaminu Othman made

the call while fielding questions from newsmen in Bauchi yesterday saying that since insecurity was nationwide, it must be addressed at all cost by traditional rulers who must constantly sensitise the people on the importance of peaceful coexistence among

themselves.

Othman said: “Everybody in this country now has a stake as far as insecurity is concerned.

Security agents, government, stakeholders in the country and even the common man is now involved in the issue of insecurity, because it affects everybody. I can recall vividly, when polio was very prevalent in Bauchi state, traditional rulers got involved in the fight against the disease that was destroying the future of our young generation. Today, because of the commitment that traditional rulers in the country had shown towards the eradication of polio, there are no cases of polio in the state. Likewise, I urge traditional rulers to face insecurity with all seriousness, just as they did in the issue of polio.

new NYSC camp From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse ver 460 of the 2012 Batch A youth corps members deployed to Jigawa state reported to camp as Governor Sule Lamido commissioned the orientation camp situated in Dutse, the state capital.

This was disclosed by the state’s NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Grace Abba yesterday in her speech during the swearing ceremony of the Batch A corps members at the permanent site of the orientation camp.

Mrs. Abba explained that out of the total number of 1, 958 corps members deployed to the state 1494 have reported to the camp, adding that “out of the said number, 930 were males while 564 females”.

She commended Governor Lamido for the construction of a befitting permanent orientation camp for the NYSC in Dutse which had not happened since the creation of the state over 20 years back.

She described the facilities in the camp as first-class and called on other state governors to come to Dutse and emulate what Governor Lamido has done to provide

O

conducive environment for sound orientation for the corps members.

She also assured parents that their Youths would get adequately protected against the recent security challenges across the country.

Abba appealed to Governor Lamido to increase the hostel blocks because with the increase in the number of corps members posted to the state, the boys hostel is inadequate.

The Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Babandi Gumel, said it became expedient to give students of Government Secondary School Gumel a break from the disturbance in their academic pursuits due to the fact that their school has been used over the years as temporary orientation camp three times every session leading to poor academic performances.

He pointed out that the government decided to commit about N800 million into the construction of the permanent orientation camp in Dutse to save the students unnecessary disruptions in their academic calendar.

Government must alleviate hardship of Nigerians-Ben Murray-Bruce

By Jamila Nuhu Musa

G

overnment at all levels has been urged to make sustainable development, good governance and poverty alleviation priority in order to move the nation forward.

Former Director General of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, gave the charge yesterday, at a send forth dinner organised in his honour by the NTA management in Abuja.

He expressed concern that Nigerians are going through a lot of hardship and it is binding on governments to improve their lot for the benefit of the country.

Murray-Bruce, who is

also Special Adviser to Bayelsa state governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, noted that “there is so much poverty in the land, there is no food, no water and other basic amenities, so people in government should do their job”.

He indicated that because Nigerians elected the public officers into the various positions, they had the right to demand to be served appropriately. In his words: ‘You have an obligation to fight the system so as to improve it for the benefit of all”, he maintained.

The former DG of the NTA, who thanked the management for the honour, observed that manning the authority is a

Herculean task and commended the Usman Magawata led administration for adding value to broadcasting in Nigeria.

While urging the staff to give the present DG the necessary support to excel by putting in their best, he also enjoined them to learn skills that would be beneficial to them in the long run saying, “If you do not learn skills, when you leave the NTA, what would you do?

In his remarks, serving DG of NTA, Malam Usman Magawata, said MurrayBruce when he held sway as DG, gave visionary leadership to the authority hence, he deserved accolades for his leadership qualities.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 8

Ogun suspends headmaster over illegal fees From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta he headmaster of the United Primary School, Efire in Ogun Waterside local government of Ogun state, Mrs. C.W Akinbuwa was yesterday suspended by the state government for allegedly collecting illegal fees.

The Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Segun Odubela made this known in a statement issued in Abeokuta, and made available to journalists, saying the head teacher’s suspension was indefinite.

He explained further that the erring teacher was also in the habit of sending pupils out of school if they failed to comply with her illegality, adding that government’s step was to serve as a deterrent to others.

“Any principal that collects illegal levy or sends students/ pupils out of school henceforth, will be summarily dealt with”, he warned.

It would be recalled that the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun had in his inaugural address on May 29, 2011 declared free education in both primary and secondary schools throughout the state.

Amosun at the ceremony held at Moshood Abiola International Stadium, also abolished all illegal fees and levies in the schools and declared that any reported violation of his order would be appropriately sanctioned.

T

Ex-Kwara NBA boss counsels FG over S/African deportees From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin he former Kwara state Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Barrister Salman Jawondo has urged the Nigerian government not to simply fight the South-African government over the deportation of some Nigerians but rather investigate the matter before taking action.

While speaking with our correspondent in his office, he noted that there were many things Nigerians take for granted which other countries would not overlook.

“There is no doubt that Nigerians should not be subjected into unwarranted embarrassment especially within the African continent. I want the federal government to investigate the issue very well and then, take its decision. We should not retaliate with another error by also deporting citizens of South Africa.”

He explained that in the past, many Nigerians used to collect one yellow- card at the airport but the document are now being purchased by travellers at various points in the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.

T

Similarly, in fulfillment of his promise to allocate at least 20 percent of the annual budget of the state to education, the

By Etuka Sunday with agency report

E

xperts from AU member states met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday, to review and validate the 2012 Report on Assessing Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa.

According to the report submitted to African Press Organisation (APO), the meeting was for cross fertilisation of ideas on the best practices for the achievement of the MDGs. The Acting Head of the Statistical Division (Economic Affairs) of the African Union Commission, Mr. Yeo Dossina,

governor in the state’s 2012 budget earmarked a total of N41billion, representing 22 percent for education.

The governor recently kicked off the presentation of free textbooks to pupils with assurance that school bags

would also be provided, insisting that education was a social service not to be treated as a purely profit-making venture.

MDGs: Experts meet to review progress said the report is to be presented during the upcoming Fifth Joint Meeting of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to be jointly hosted by the African Union and the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) which will be held in Addis Ababa. The report is also expected to feature on the agenda of the AU Heads of State Summit of early July 2012.

The Report on Assessing Progress towards the MDGs in Africa is a joint initiative of the AU Commission (AUC),

UNECA,African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The main goal of having a joint report is to give it more relevance, comprehensiveness and quality. Each institution is in charge of reporting on 2 of the 8 MDGs. For the AUC, those goals are MDG 4 (Reduce Child Mortality Rates) and MDG 8 (Develop a Global Partnership for Development). The report is being reviewed by experts coming from member states and other

organisations, so that the version submitted to the Ministers of Economy and Finance would be an improved one.

The invited speakers of the opening session were Mr. Emmanuel Nnadozie, Director of the Economic Development and NEPAD Division of the UNECA, Mr. Kokil Beejaye, Manager of Economic and Social Statistics Division at the AfDB and Mr. Eugene Owusu, Resident Representative of UNDP in Ethiopia.

They acknowledged the progress of the continent towards the achievement of the MDGs. They noted that African countries are working in the right direction and gave examples of successes such as the increase in the number of women in parliaments in Sub Saharan Africa.

SIRA urges Nigeria, S/ Africa to settle differences

By Morufat Ojulari

T L-R: Benue state governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam , President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, and Interior Minister, Comrade Abba Moro, during the commissioning of Otobi Water Works by the President, yesterday in Otukpo, Benue state.

Photo: NAN

Minister tasks ECOWAS legal experts on freedom of expression

By Etuka Sunday

N

igeria’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has urged legal experts from ECOWAS member states to work towards bequeathing to the Community an acceptable common legal regime on the freedom of expression and right to information, as fundamental rights in the region.

The minister who was represented by the Federal Attorney, Mrs. Victoria Umoren at the opening of the meeting of the ECOWAS Technical Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs, said the Draft Supplementary Act on the Uniform Legal Framework on Freedom of Expression and Right to Information in West Africa, submitted for adoption by the legal experts was a step in the right direction.

“The Draft Supplementary Act seeks to provide a uniform framework to protect freedom of expression and the right to information within the context of improving the environment for democracy and good governance in the region.”

The President of ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, represented by the VicePresident of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Toga Mcintosh, said the new Code when adopted, would replace the existing one which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 1999, and which governs all contractual obligations related to procurement within the Community institutions and between the Community and Third Parties.

“The new Procurement Code, if adopted, will indeed avail the institutions of the Community

with a more efficient and effective procurement system for their procurement requirements,” said Dr. Mcintosh.

“It provides common expansive and libertarian legal framework for free expression including media freedom, and for the right to information thereby setting the condition for the reform/repeal of anti-free expression legislations in ECOWAS Member States.”

The Uniform Legal Framework on Freedom of Expression, he said, would ensure that Member States maintain the standards agreed to and set in many international Conventions as well as serve to entrench the independence of the Media and Media Professionals within the legal jurisprudence, and regulate operations of the Print and Broadcast Media in the region.

he Society for International Relation Awareness (SIRA) in Lagos, on Wednesday held an assembly to deliberate on the various issues concerning the society and the nation as well as foreign relations.

This is coming amidst the current disagreements between the countries, which SIRA observed, would cause distractions from Africa’s main challenges and foreign powers may seek to profit from the disagreements.

As such, SIRA called on both countries to meet urgently and resolve their differences in the interests of their citizens and the continent.

The meeting was held to tackle the deteriorating relations between the two most powerful countries in the continent; Nigeria and South Africa now at loggerheads following the deportation of 125 Nigerians and the retaliation by Nigeria. The deportation of Nigerians from South Africa and vice versa was prompted by the disagreement between both nations over differences on several important African and global issues.

SIRA recalled that South Africa has over the years treated Nigeria and its citizens with contempt even at its High Commission in Nigeria while defenseless Nigerians have been victims of racist attacks in South Africa.

SIRA also urged the Nigerian government to extend the measure to other countries that treat Nigerians with disdain as Nigeria would no longer tolerate shabby treatment.

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PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Emergency rule: LGs accuse 3 skills acquisition centres FG of withholding allocations for widows in Plateau From Nankpah Burakan, Plateau

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he Chief Whip of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Golu Timothy, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to order the immediate release of the monthly allocation meant for the four local councils that are currently under a state of emergency so as not to compromise the fundamental objectives of the emergency rule.

It could be recalled that on 31st of December 2011, the President placed 15 council areas in Plateau, Borno, Yobe and Niger states under emergency rule as a measure to restore security in the affected areas.

Just last week when the councils, who have not received their financial allocations in the last two months went to collect their monthly allocations, they were denied, prompting calls on the Federal Government to reverse its actions.

In a statement signed by Golu and made available to correspondents, the lawmaker said the action remains illegal as the affected councils have not committed any financial or economic crime to be starved.

“I want to believe that the President is not aware of the action taken by the Federal Ministry of Finance or the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation

and Fiscal Commission as he could have stopped them because it does not add value to democracy or the step he has taken to improve on the security of the affected councils. Without funds, the security situation will be compounded as the capacity and capability of the affected areas to contain the situation will be drained.

“Even when former president Olusegun Obasanjo sacked the structures in Plateau state some years ago illegally, he did not stop the funds coming to the state.

Instead he gave extra money in addition to the regular statutory allocation to the state which helped in arresting a situation.

From Bayo Alabira, Jos

T

he Commissioner of Women Affairs in Plateau state, Barrister Olivia Dazyam has decried the rate at which young girls are being withdrawn from schools and forced into marriages that often crash, leading the girls into serious crises and frustration.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Jos to commemorate the World International Women’s Day celebration with theme; “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures” , Barrister Dazyam said the 2012 budget has a lot for women such as sensitisation

programmes on girl-child education and knowledge on HIV/AIDS respectively.

She added: “Violence against women, widows rights protection, women and peace development, loans and grants for women in business, setting up of skills acquisition centres in the state for all these programmes our first lady, the wife of the Governor Ngo Talatu Jonah David Jang is greatly supportive even through her pet project the Women in Agriculture and Youth Empowerment (WAYE).

She said, even though girls enrolment in school has been rated good in Plateau state, retention over the years has been very poor due to poverty and economic issues, early marriage, forced marriage, teenage pregnancies, cultural and religious misinterpretations prevented girls from going to school, stressing , “please let us speak against these vices wherever we find ourselves”.

NGO advocates corruptionfree-Nigeria, attitude change

By Mohammed Kandi

I

L-R: Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto state Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, chief mourner, Malam Yahaya Mahmood (SAN), yesterday at the Kaduna residence of late Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Mohammed Maccido Dalhat, who died on Wednesday.

Photo: Agaju Madugba

New Media Education: UNESCO, DW-AKADEMIE to support schools of journalism in Africa

By Etuka Sunday

I

n a bid to ensure professionalism and quality in journalism education in Africa, Deutsche Welle’s International Centre for Media Development, Media Consulting and Journalism Training in collaboration with UNESCO, is organising a Train-

the-Trainer Course for young lecturers from African journalism education institutions in Rabat, Morocco.

According to African Press Organisation (APO), journalism educators from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia will share their teaching experiences with a

focus on new media and multimedia. In the first week, participants will concentrate on developing their pedagogical skills through a Train-the-Trainer course that emphasises new teaching methods: more interactive, participative and practice-oriented, thus allowing students to apply newly acquired

skills and knowledge directly. In the second week, the group will concentrate on the use of new media, which can play an important role in development in Africa.

The Head of Institut Supérieur de I’information et de la Communication, Issiali Aarab said, “The region has witnessed major change with the recent political and social movements, and media have largely reflected these trends.

n a bid to entrench responsible and positively responsive government in Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, Nigerians United against Corruption (NUAC), has bemoaned the high rate of corruption in all facets of the country’s sociopolitical development.

The NGO, which gave the indications at its two-day general assembly meeting, noted that citizens must redefine their destiny through collective efforts to address the menace of corruption in the country, if the nation is to move forward.

A communiqué jointly signed by the group’s Senior Labourer, Dele Olawole and VP Media and Information, Lanre Ogundipe, identified the civil service as the nucleus that sustains corruption in the country, especially, the ministries of Health, Education, Power as well as the security networks.

NIMET, NAMA caution pilots on adverse weather, constructions From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

T

wo of the airspace safety regulatory agencies in the country, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) have reiterated calls for the pilots flying in and out of Nigeria to adhere to safety rules and warnings from the weather

agency and the Air Traffic Controllers as the rains draw near.

Both bodies advised that construction works going on at different airports in the country and thunderstorm expected to commence this March should be a safety concern to pilots in determining when to fly their aircraft hence the need to get clearance from the control

towers.

NIMET has predicted a favourable weather condition for flight operations this year and warned pilots to watch out for heavy thunderstorms between March and October.

Director General of the agency, Dr. Anthony Anoforum explained that climatic conditions which are expected to feature pockets of thunderstorms in March

would heighten by June and October.

On its part, NAMA said the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja is to remain closed to air traffic between the hours of 11.00pm to 5.00am daily until June 30th this year.

The agency said this closure would pave way for the apron expansion work and up-grading of the approach lighting system

being carried out on the runway 04/22 from category 1 to category 2 to meet with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard.

General Manager, Public Affairs of NAMA, Mr Supo Atobatele reiterated the warning just as an Air Nigeria aircraft disregarded the instruction and had difficulties landing in the Abuja airport last Sunday.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Customs move to checkmate smuggling From Muhammad Abdullah, Sokoto

T

he Customs Area Comptroller in-charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara command, Alhaji Bello Usman has said “the command has adopted strategies to curtail the nefarious

activities of smugglers in the zone”.

Speaking to our correspondent in Sokoto yesterday, Usman said the command will ensure adequate border patrols to nip in the bud of the menace of smuggling. According to him, all hands must be on deck to ensure that seizures of contraband goods

are done. He also explained that officers had been directed to ensure adequate patrol of border towns and villages to curtail the menace of smuggling. He said all goods would be properly checked to prevent the importation of illegal arms into the country.

Usman noted that with the

level of insecurity in the country, the activities of nefarious individuals who engage in illegal arms would be tracked.

He expressed the determination to surpass the N720 million yearly targets given to him by the custom headquarters. He maintained that with the strategies put in place, the

command will surpass the monthly target of N60 million.

The custom boss appealed to license agents to ensure prompt payment of duties. He also appealed to the resident of border communities to assist the command in tracking the hideout of smugglers in the zone.

Kidney consultants make case for renal failure patients From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

A

L-R: Special Adviser to the President on Ethics, Mrs. Sarah Jubril, former Sports Minister, Mr. Damishi Sango, and former NIM President, Dr. Sally Bolujoko, during honouring of members, friends, elected and appionted public officers by the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

non-governmental organisation, Kidney Consultants International, yesterday, called on the National Assembly to formulate a policy that will cater for all kidney patients, health professionals and the society.

The organisation’s operations director, Mr. Adebayo Sokunbi said this in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital at this year’s World Kidney Day, noting that most patients suffering from renal failure were those in their economically active years.

Sokunbi added that sustaining their health would translate to sustaining the Nigerian economy in the long run, just as he further pointed out that other countries with an active policy on kidney disease were already assisting patients with renal failure urging the Federal Government to emulate such.

He said: “In neighbouring Benin Republic, it takes three

Minister commends local medicinal company

By A’isha Biola Raji

T

he Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate has expressed his delight in the efforts and achievements of the Nigerian Medicinal Plants Development Company.

Speaking in Abuja when the Managing Director of the company, Hajia Zainab Shariff paid him a courtesy visit, the minister promised that the ministry will give the company the technical assistance it requires to achieve its objectives of making

sure Nigeria gets her share of the 5 trillion dollars global market in medicinal plants.

The company, she said, was set up by the Federal Government in 2007 with the initial limited mandate which was reflected in its name: Artimisinin Development Company.

She said the government later expanded the mandate of the company to include the development of other medicinal plants, hence necessitating a change of name for the company to Nigerian Medicinal Development Company.

She said, “The initial motive

was to use the company to realize the government’s commitment to roll back the malaria programme.

But with its new directive, the company is working to develop health indices through nutritional and incorporation of herbal medicines into the national healthcare delivery system and also to improve the living standards of people through jobs and wealth creation thereby ensuring a conserved and sustainable environment”.

She said six medicinal plants have been identified to be developed for commercialisation and the well

being of Nigerians. The plants according to her were selected based scientific and economic values and their commercial viability since the selected plants are sources of raw materials for food, drugs and cosmetics. According to her, they can be produced in commercial quantities with relatively low cost of cultivation.

She named the selected plants as moringa oleifera (zogale), verononia amygdalina (bitter leaf), telfaira occidentalis (ugwu), hibiscus sabdariffa (zobo), ocimum gratissimum (scent leaf), zingiber officinale (ginger).

Demolition exercise renders 1,000 Benue students homeless From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

T

he Benue State Urban Development Board has demolished over 100 houses and displaced more than 1000 students of the Benue State University, BSU. The demolition exercise which was carried out on Wednesday saw the destruction of the entire houses as well as St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Ityav and some road-side shops, in ‘preparation for the . The affected area is mostly settled by students of the Benue State University.

Items worth millions were totally destroyed while students, priests and Reverend Sisters, residing at the church premises as

well as shop owners wept bitterly as they managed to remove some of their belongings that were not caught up by the bulldozer.

A 300 level student of Mathematics and Computer Science, Ahula Thomas and a house wife, Mrs. Angbiandoo Ujom, inbetween sobs told our correspondent

that only few months ago, their landlady assured them that the demolition was not going to affect the compound.

They appealed to the state government to adequately compensate them for the damage.

The General Manager of Benue State Urban Development Board,

Barrister Musa Ujor Suleiman confirmed that over 100 houses were destroyed.

Mr. Ujor said the board had earlier issued a notice to the residents over the exercise, adding that an actual compensation of about N40m was paid to those whose houses were demolished.

Ensure good job or be dealt with, Yari warns contractors From Salisu Zakari Maradun, Gusau Contractors in Zamfara state who were awarded various contracts have been strongly warned to ensure they execute the job. He warned further that they should also ensure a qualitative job,

as the government will not accept poor jobs and will deal ruthlessly with any contractor who fails to meet the standard of the contractual agreement.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari gave the warning in Gusau the state capital while awarding contracts to the indigenes of the state under

Universal Basic Education Commission.

Addressing the contractors, the governor said “we have our enough funds which we kept aside for these jobs. We do not want anymore of you to cry over shortage of funds in respect of the contract awarded to him”.

months to put patients on official discrimination and the government contributes to renal patients’ fees,”. He noted that the world kidney day was an avenue to sensitise the populace on the harmful but treatable nature of the disease.

In his speech, Dr. Abimbola Ajomale, a nephrologist highlighted some of the major symptoms of renal failure to include bloody urine, difficulty in breathing, swollen face, and getting tired easily.

Similarly, he also advocated a proper renal policy which according to him, would include a renal registry with a proper data bank system. He advised people to live healthy and exercise properly just as he advocated a “national fund” where wealthy individuals can contribute to for sufferers of the disease.

New commander takes over Kontagora Artillery Corps From Mohammed Adamu, Kaduna

T

he newly appointed commander, Corps of Artillery, Major General Amnon Kalayi Kwaskebe, has taken over command following his promotion as the Commander of the Corps in Kontagara, Niger state.

This was contained in a press release signed by the Army Public Relations Officer, Corps of Artillery, Captain Sani Tsafe Uba yesterday in Kaduna.

According to the release, “the outgone corps commander, MajorGen. Emmanuel E. Bassey handed over office to his successor, MajorGen. Amnon Kalayi Kwaskebe in a colorful formal handing and taking over ceremony”.

In his remarks, the newly appointed corps commander said he was happy to once again take over office from his predecessor having done the same two years back as the Director of Administration at the Defence headquarters.

Kwaskebe is a member of 22nd Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy. He has held the following appointments among others; Commander 34 Artillery Brigade, Director Training Army Headquarters, Director (Administration) Defence Headquarters and recently, Director (Peace Keeping Operations) Defence Headquarters before his appointment as the Commander Corps of Artillery.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Journalists to partner KDSG on peace initiatives From Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna

T

he Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) has pledged to partner with the Kaduna state government on the restoration and promotion of peaceful co-existence in the state.

The state chairman of the association, Malam Muhammad Suleiman Tola, said this during a familiarisation visit by officials of the state Bureau for Religious Affairs (Islamic matters) to the MMPN office in Kaduna.

Tola expressed members' worry over the spate of violence in parts of the country and Kaduna state in particular.

The chairman said the group had proposed to engage media practitioners in the state for two days to evolve strategies on how to tackle the security challenges and achieve sustainable peace for the development of the state.

“Specifically, Article III of our constitution directs members to promote the spiritual advancement of Muslims in particular and Nigerians in general.

“It also enjoined members to promote literacy and intellectual pursuits, and foster fraternity among Muslims and between Muslims and other believers”, he said.

According to him, the association was open to all Muslim journalists as it is non-political, with no ethnic, sex or age discrimination.

Earlier, the Leader of the delegation and director of administration and finance in the bureau, Mr. Hassan Lawal, said the visit was to facilitate a partnership between the bureau and the association.

PAGE 11

FMC Abeokuta staff cleared of alleged N88m fraud From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

T

he Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, Dr. Dapo Sotiloye has regained freedom alongside other top management staff of the hospital who were quizzed by the operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged

N88million embezzlement.

Sotiloye, who addressed a press conference at the conference room of the hospital yesterday, debunked allegation that he and other top management staff invited by the ICPC were involved in fraud.

It would be recalled that the hospital boss and others were quizzed by the commission on Tuesday following a petition alleging they had defrauded the

centre of funds meant for the welfare of the members of staff of the hospital.

Clearing the air on the controversy, Sotiloye said “I do not have any skeletons in my cupboard and I am ready to open any book that any person wishes to examine”.

While admitting that he was quizzed by the commission along with some other top officials of the hospital, the Medical Director stated:

“I just want to use this medium to let you know that we were never arrested, we were never detained.

We were there, they interrogated us and after the interrogation, they allowed us to go”.

The CMD who stated that they neither knew the origin of the petition nor were given a copy of such, however, stressed that there was really nothing they could hold on to as the subject of the invitation

by ICPC.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lagos state Command, Mr. Adams Audu (right), answering questions from journalists after the State Security Council meeting with the state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday at the Lagos House, in Ikeja. With him are Brigadier-General Pat Aken (middle), and Navy Commodore Mio Njoku (left).

Benue community calls for panel to investigate Fulani attacks From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

T

he death toll in the renewed Fulani invasion of GwerWest local government area of Benue state has risen from 30 to 43 even as prominent indigenes of the area have called on the state and Federal Governments to as matter of urgency, set up an independent judicial commissions

of enquiry to investigate the invasion so as to bring the culprits to book.

The concerned indigenes who made this appeal in a communiqué at the end of a meeting held yesterday in Makurdi, also called for adequate compensation for the people in form of relief materials for the monumental losses they have

suffered.

Leader of the group, Dr. Joseph Kerker, addressed a press conference at the NUJ House, describing the act as ‘cruel and barbaric’ while expressing regrets at a situation where their neighbours Nasarawa state with whom they share close political, social, economic and cultural affinities have become the base

where coordinated attacks on their people are organised and executed.

“We are peace loving people and we wish to live in peace with our neighbours. However, that notwithstanding, we cannot be intimidated by some Fulani people to surrender our land to them. It is on this land that we live and earn our livelihood; hence we cannot

accommodate people who do not accept and appreciate our occupation which is farming.

Mr. Kerker noted that in spite of efforts by the state, local government and security agencies to curb its re-occurrence, the Fulanis have displayed superior military capabilities to overcome and overwhelm the communities.

Partner with govt, minister urges banks Edo govt tasks butchers on public health

By Emmanuel Iriogbe

T

he Minister of Defence, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, has called on financial institutions in the country to shift from the traditional bank/customer relationship to a relationship anchored on partnership especially with government.

This admonition was given by the minister when the acting Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Alhaji Ismaila Galadanchi made a donation of two Toyota buses of 24 and 18 sitting capacity to the ministry on behalf of the bank.

The permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr. Linus Awute who spoke on behalf of the minister, advised banks to look into the actual demands of national

economic growth by fishing out partnership opportunities that are inherent in most institutional mandates of ministries and agencies of government to achieve a winwin result for both the banks and government.

Mr. Awute added that by donating the buses the bank has not only strengthened a long standing relationship with the Ministry of Defence, but has also keyed into the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda as this will serve as a complementary palliative for staff in view of the immediate effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

Earlier in his speech the Ag Managing Director, Alhaji Ismaila Galadanchi, thanked the ministry for patronising Unity Bank.

From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

E

do state government has said it would no longer tolerate any activity by butchers who pose dangers to the health of the people.

Senior Special Assistant to the state governor on Environment and chairman, Taskforce on Environment, Major Lawrence Loye (rtd) gave the warning in Benin City while addressing butchers over the arrest of some of their members by health officials.

He said the unhygienic manner in which butchers burn goats alive using motor tyres may cause health problems to consumers, adding that slaughtering without cutting the goat’s neck was worse and detrimental to human health.

Loye said the butchers should have

feelings for their fellow human beings and urged them to be of good conduct.

Chairman of the state Goat Butchers Association, Pastor Sunday Egbo, said they have been in business for over four decades and were worried by the recent action of the state government in arresting their members.

He promised that there will be improvement in their operations and expressed remorse that they never knew all these years that the act of using tyres to roast goat was injurious to the health of consumers.

He noted that the association has now set up a task force to help fish out those who are involved in the unwholesome act, adding that anyone caught should be arrested and prosecuted and appealed to the state government to withdraw all cases in court involving his members.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2012

N

igeria yesterday joined the rest of the world in the celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD).

Inaugurated in 1911 by people who campaigned for women to get the suffrage (the right to vote), March 8 has been consistently observed globally in celebration of the “economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future”. Some countries including China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria have even upgraded this day to a national holiday.

The global theme of this year’s IWD is “Connecting girls, inspiring futures” while the United Nations’ theme is “Empower rural women: End hunger and poverty”. The two themes are only different in the areas they have chosen to put an emphasis on. They both mirror the problems confronting women mostly in the developing world.

Politically, women generally have seen their place in decision-making grow over the years. From just getting the right to vote, they now can stand as candidates in their own right in elections. Today there are women presidents in Argentina and Brazil, both in Latin America. In Africa, women form a quarter of Rwanda’s parliamentarians. And this is a country that only recently emerged from dark years of genocide. In Nigeria, we have women in state and federal legislatures as well as in executive positions. For instance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former

managing director of the World Bank, holds the positions of Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy which make her a de facto prime minister.

On the economic front, women have taken giant strides too to the very top.

In Nigeria in particular, there are women that are captains of industry.

There are success stories of women achievers all over Africa. However, the achievements of women in both the

“

there is no shortage of government programmes to empower not only the rural poor but also the downtrodden in the cities. However, the problem is that such programmes are too many and corruption eats up all the resources put at their disposal political and economic spheres pale in significance compared to their numbers. In Africa, women make up more than two-thirds of the countries that form the continent. The factors that work against them are economic, political and cultural.

In reverse order, there are cultural practices in some African countries that are manifestly against the

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

opposite sex such as that which insists that boys be sent to school before girls.

This initial setback is likely to dog the girl child all through her adult life.

This is the disturbing picture we see in most rural settings on the continent.

This is why we find both themes of this year’s celebrations very apposite to the occasion, but particularly so is the UN’s “Empower women: Ending hunger and poverty”.

In Nigeria, the problems of the rural woman are compounded by conflict situations and other security challenges like the Boko Haram insurgency. Often it is women that bear the brunt. If they are not themselves killed, over night they are turned into breadwinners of their families as a result of the death of their husbands. They are also victims of land-grabs by our very powerful political elites. Sometimes, government’s agricultural policies over-expose rural women, who are mainly subsistence farmers, to the vagaries of the weather and distortions in the international economic system such as a blip in the pricing of agricultural commodities.

To be sure, there is no shortage of government programmes to empower not only the rural poor but also the down-trodden in the cities. However, the problem is that such programmes are too many and corruption eats up all the resources put at their disposal.

This suggests a strong need to rationalize them and make their operations transparent.

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CHAIRMAN MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE EDITOR, DAILY AHMED I. SHEKARAU

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ACTING EDITOR, WEEKEND RICHARD IHEDIWA

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PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 13

Yuguda, Okorocha: Building bridges of unity across Nigeria

By Michael Adeyemi

T

here is no better time to preach the gospel of peace, unity and tolerance among Nigerians than now, considering what the country is going through in comparison to the gruesome over two years of civil war it went through in its 52 years existence as a sovereign nation called Nigeria. This is to put a perspective on the security challenges including the Boko Haram menace, the Niger Delta agitation and others confronting the country.

All these crises have led to the deaths of many innocent Nigerians regardless of where they came from as well as not minding the religious beliefs of the affected people as the perpetrators do not care for all these given the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, the illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta

as well as senseless killings across the country.

Just when Nigerian leaders were looking for a way out of the deadlock in order for Nigerians to live in peace, the Boko Haram sect declared that all non-Northerners should vacate the North and head for their various regions, a development that further had a negative impact on the peaceful co-existence of Nigerians thereby sending shivers down the spines of all, including the Northerners considering that Nigerians are found everywhere across the country in search of what to keep body and soul together.

It was the search for a lasting peace and unity among Nigerians that made the Bauchi state Governor, Isa Yuguda to host his Imo colleague, Owelle Rochas Okorocha in Bauchi to talk about peace, a development which did not come as a

surprised as they agreed on the urgent need for Nigerians to live in peace so as to witness the much desired development, prompting the different ethnic groups in Bauchi state to roll out their drums to welcome Owelle Okorocha.

On arrival at the multipurpose sports hall in Bauchi, venue of the “peace talk”, Governor Okorocha and his host, Governor Yuguda, met the different ethnic groups in the state who turned out en masse to listen to Okorocha’s peace treaties. The event started with prayers from both Christian and Muslim representatives and followed by the traditional Igbo kola nut breaking tradition, signifying peace in Igbo land, by the Ezeigbo 1 of Bauchi, Igwe Jude Umezike, who presented same to the visiting governor.

He also commended the IsaYuguda-led Bauchi State government for its relentless

efforts in ensuring peace in the state and thumbed up security agencies in the state for their tireless efforts in ensuring peaceful coexistence of all in the state and called on Nigerians to shun rumour-mongering and live in peace with one another, saying that most of the challenges facing Nigeria today was as a result of rumour-mongering.

While agreeing with the Igwe Umezike’s assertion that Bauchi State had remained peaceful in the face of security challenges in the North-East zone, the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu, declared that the state was very peaceful, calling on residents in particular and Nigerians in general, to ensure peaceful co-existence as well as to tolerate one another, their religious and ethnic affiliations notwithstanding.

The first-class traditional ruler, who is the chairman of

the Bauchi State Council of Traditional Rulers, emphasised that without peace, there could not be any meaningful development in the country. In his welcome address, Governor Yuguda was full of praises for Owelle Okorocha for his peace initiative and commended the Imo State governor for supporting President Goodluck Jonathan’s move to have a united and peaceful Nigeria.

“As you go round the country preaching peace, we will join you in doing that because this is not a political programme, it is about our own responsibility as governors,” Yuguda declared and admonished governments at all levels in Nigeria to ensure the adequate protection of lives and properties of not only Nigerians but also everyone living in the country.

Yuguda minced no words in Continued on page 15

Ibori: When the table is turned against EFCC

By Ifeanyi Izeze

A

t every given opportunity, especially under the dispensations of its former bosses Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Mrs Farida Waziri, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would want everybody to hear how the judiciary has been sabotaging its effort at effectively prosecuting alleged corrupt government officials.

The agency had even convinced many Nigerians that judges collaborate by receiving tangible part of the loot from the thieves to subvert the law.

However, from revelations of the rigour the British authorities went through in its investigations before it could establish culpability or otherwise in the case of James Ibori, the former governor of Delta state, it was very clear where to place the blame for letting corrupt Nigerian government officials off the hook.

At the instigation of the EFCC which invited officers from the British Specialist Crime Directorate 6 (SCD6), a unit of the Metropolitan Police, to Nigeria, “Operation Tureen,” the code name for the investigation against Ibori kicked-off in March 2005. The unit was especially set up to deal with anti-corruption issues by politically exposed persons.

Whether the EFCC likes to hear this or not, the shabby manners in which corruptionrelated cases against political and other public office holders have been handled in the Nigerian courts were simply because the anti-graft agency usually ignored the need to carry

out thorough investigations before rushing to the courts for prosecution simply because it wants to score cheap political points. So the real problem is with the prosecutor, in this case the EFCC. The agency hitherto was more interested in satisfying the aspirations of whosoever sits at the helm of affairs as the president of the federation rather than doing a honest job of digging beyond the surface into alleged cases of corruption and misappropriations of public funds.

Until today and except it changed this morning, the EFCC only relied on mere politically – motivated petitions as its evidence to rush to court for prosecution without any serious effort to establish facts and actual figures to boost any of those cases.

The agency for whatever reasons also has deliberately corrupted the concept of plea bargain in our law. EFCC has turned Plea Bargain into a concept of dishonesty and the very corrupt public officers and some members of the EFCC are parties to the dishonesty. In advanced countries where plea bargains are used, they not only help in saving costs for the authorities, but the criminals cooperate with the authorities, by confessing to other unknown crimes the criminals were involved with and also to nail other offenders. But in Nigeria, it’s not to be so.

Like in the Vaswani Brothers, Halliburton, Igbinedion amongst other cases, the EFCC could not be allowed to proceed with the cases because the Attorney General of the

Federation then was convinced that the evidence the EFCC was hanging the cases on were not sufficient for effective prosecution and this was how we got the plea bargain scenario in those cases.

Truth be told, the EFCC as it is today pathetically lacks the capacity to honestly and thoroughly investigate corruption cases brought before it. Either it does not know how to generate facts or it deliberately muddles cases for whatever reasons.

There is no single difference between the way EFCC does its investigations and what we see all over the police stations across the country. And we cannot just continue like this if we are serious at stopping people in public offices from stealing monies that belong to all of us.

Of course, how do you expect EFCC operatives to do honest job of investigating corrupt government officials when on their own, their lifestyles also deserve to be investigated. At every opportunity, they become

part of the corruption case because either by carelessness or outright design, they get ingrafted into the very evil they were supposed to fight. It has been alleged that EFCC officials even guide accused persons to wriggle out of the mess. This is the pathetic situation Nigeria has found itself.

Most Nigerians deliberately overlooked in their criticisms the fact that the British authorities could spend over 14 million pounds (about N3.5 billion) investigating a single case. It shows the serious they attach to the war against stealing of public funds.

What is the annual budget of our EFCC? It was just about N300 million, slightly over one million British Pounds and this covers overhead and costs of whatever investigations to be carried out; and prosecutions of the bouquet of corruptionrelated cases. And as if the budget does not look deprived enough, the agency at the end of the fiscal year may just get only about 60-70 percent of the

“

Until today and except it changed this morning, the EFCC only relied on mere politically –motivated petitions as its evidence to rush to court for prosecution without any serious effort to establish facts and actual figures to boost any of those cases

amount proposed.

Which government agency in Nigeria can the EFCC go to take funds for its investigations?

None! And even if it exists, the money would be outrightly stolen or blown even before there is any genuine need for it. This is the truth.

So how could Nigerians even well-informed ones view the latest twist and turn in the trial of the former Delta state governor at London’s Southwalk Crown Court as huge indictment of the nation’s judicial system?

As in the case of Ibori, the facts before the British court were not available to the Nigerian court.

You cannot rush to court over a case of misappropriation and stealing when you have not even established what was stolen and how it was done. The British investigating authorities painstakingly generated facts to support their case before proceeding with prosecution.

So in fairness to the Nigerian judge in the Ibori case, “maybe and maybe” he ruled based on the evidence presented to him as the EFCC rushed to court without a single tangible piece of evidence to substantiate their case.

Lest we forget, the London prosecutors also dropped the corruption charges which Awokulehin had shot down for want of evidence. Ibori’s plea bargain was not for corruption charges as they could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt but money laundering charge which the London police preferred to stay on because it could be proved by inference.

This is my point.

Ifeanyi Izeze is reachable at iizeze@yahoo.com

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Job creation in the FCT, Abuja

By Mohammed Awwalu Ibro

U

nemployment is known to impoverish and cause untold sufferings in countries facing this problem. One of the implications of the high unemployment rate in Nigeria is that the percentage of the populace living in absolute poverty, that is those who could afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing, rose to 60.9 per cent in 2010, from the 54.7 per cent it was in 2004.

There is an estimate given by the National Bureau for Statistics which also warned this trend may have increased further in 2011 if the potential positive impacts of several anti poverty and employment generation intervention programmes were not vigorously pursued.

It is this pestilence posed by unemployment that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Minister is using a multi-faceted approach to tackle. He has already attracted investment from within and outside the shores of Nigeria that is put at an aggregate of $10 billion dollars since April 2010 when he assumed office. This includes funds from the United States-based Balkan Development Centre of Dallas for the building of Abuja Town Centre valued at $2.6 billion, the construction of a World Trade Centre by the Churchgate

Group which is valued at $1 billion, districts including Katampe, Some of the Task Force members mass housing projects by foreign Maitama Extension and Kagini 1, were recruited from surrounding and local companies. Also Innoson covering 777,231,798 hectares communities of the FCT; this is to Group from Nnewi is constructing altogether. The new districts will give the task force a community an ultra-modern automobile consist of more than 10,000 plots, base in the fight against degradation. manufacturing and service centre thus ensuring accommodation for environmental in Abuja; the list is endless. All this the ever increasing population of Before the commencement of work goes to show that the FCT is fast the FCT and a promise of over by the task force, its members were becoming the best and biggest 30,000 jobs to help towards subjected to training and investment hub in Nigeria because financial empowerment of the induction by a combination of the of the secure atmosphere for doing teeming unemployed in the country’s security forces. The new look task force is business now more effective provided by than ever and it is the Bala visible all over the Mohammed capital city on a 24 Administration Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text hour basis, 7 days h a s messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written a week, enforcing guaranteed. contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 the city’s T h e s e words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and environmental investment a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed code. prospects hold to: Some of the out the beneficiaries of the promise of The Editor, FCT Ministry’s more than Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, employment 10,000 new 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. creation initiative jobs. share their T h e Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com experiences. Garba r e c e n t SMS: 07037756364 Haruna narrates g r o u n d the circumstances breaking symbolizes the official launch of Federal Capital Territory and the that brought him to Abuja: “I was a student of Nasarawa Polytechnic engineering infrastructure that decongestion of the city.

Abuja Environmental but due to financial constraints I will in its totality provide 70,000 kilometres of a road network of Protection Board is another became a drop-out. I lost my father diverse categories inclusive of department that is being used to in 2007. I am 22 years old, an bridges and culverts; drainage create jobs; this has to do with the indigene of Katsina state”. He says systems, water, electricity and Environmental Task Force unit he had been residing in Abuja, which recently recruited over 400 jobless for 2 years, until Senator telecommunication points.

This infrastructure expansion jobless persons to enforce Bala Mohammed gave him a has led to the creation of new environmental laws in the FCT. chance and today he is employed

WRITE TO US

as a labourer in a construction site.

“I can now eat well, clothe and house myself. I have also started saving money with the hope of returning to school”.

A similar story is told by Angela Ugochukwu, who had to resort to prostitution when she could not get a job. She said: “I came to Abuja three years ago but had to resort to prostitution as a means of survival when I could not get a job”. She adds that “my life as a prostitute was full of danger and risks; sometimes I got arrested by police and harassed by thugs”. Now she no longer has to practice prostitution that is very demeaning and this is thanks to the new FCT employment creation programme. She now operates a restaurant in one of the districts that were recently opened in the FCT. She has about 5 persons working for her, and she can now support herself, and her siblings back home in Anambra state.

The job creation programme is based on the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformational agenda which demands an increased creation of jobs for the teeming unemployed in the country who are mostly youth, in the context of a rising spate of crime and security challenges.

Mohammed Awwalu Ibro can be reached at lipsog@yahoo.com

New Inspector General of Police: More of the same?

By Lagun Akinloye

M

ohammed Dahiru Abubakar, Nigeria’s new Inspector General of Police, is candid in his assessment of the police force: “our special anti-robbery squads (SARS) have become killer teams engaging in deals for land speculators and debt collection.” He has set challenging goals for himself, promising to “purge the system of corruption, which cripples and frustrates every honest effort at reforming the police”. He will have his work cut out.

Over the years the police force has witnessed a deterioration in professionalism and operational competence. The majority of Nigerians baulk at the motto “The police is your friend”. And the recent killings by the violent Islamic sect Boko Haram have only served to further expose its weaknesses.

The farcical escape from police custody of Kabiru Sokoto, the suspected mastermind of the Christmas Day church bombings, and January’s devastating attacks in Kano state that claimed more than 200 lives, forced Abubakar’s immediate predecessor Hafiz Ringim into early retirement. Abubakar is former head of the Lagos State Police Command. But will this change in guard bring about the transformation required in an underpaid and under-trained police force? Or do the problems lie deeper; are those clamouring for the total overhaul of the police

system justified by saying that no positive change can be achieved with the current structure still in place?

Among the rank and file, Abubakar seems the perfect choice for the position - he has hit the ground running and maintained the posture of a man eager for change. So far he has set about tackling excesses and unnecessary extravagances. He has already ordered the dismantling of all highway check points, infamous for police extortion. Police escorts attached to ‘VIP’s’ and corporate bodies have been told to return back to their stations or risk dismissal. And a directive limiting the detention of suspects to a maximum of 24 hours has also been handed down to police commissioners.

These moves represent a positive initial step. However, the scale of reforms will have to mirror the scale of institutional decay. Similar promises have been made in the past, but implementation has always been a problem.

To combat this, Abubakar has created a monitoring team to ensure his list of directives are implemented. However, some reforms have attracted controversy. By suspending all training programmes for police personnel in 2012, no new police trainees will work this year. The move has an undercurrent of logic, with Abubakar preferring instead to concentrate on sanitising existing problems without creating new ones. As he explained

during the proposal: “Our training institutions are bad enough.”

In attempting to project the image of a reformer, the start to his tenure has not been without its difficulties. The Justice Niki Tobi Commission of Inquiry examining the 2001 Jos crisis reportedly indicted Abubakar, at the time a commissioner in Plateau State, for taking sides in the sectarian violence which led to the death of hundreds. It was not until the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade cleared the air that Abubakar was finally allowed to assume his position. At a time of heightened ethnic tensions in the country, his ethno-religious affiliations have caused problems.

Rumours have persisted over alleged links to Islamic radicals, even though there has been no evidence to corroborate the claims. And there are some who believe a Muslim should not be head of the police force during such a testing time for the country.

In his first address to state commissioners at the police headquarters in Abuja, he stated “it is an incontrovertible fact that discipline and professionalism, which is the bedrock of the force has been on a steady decline for a while”. However, historically there has never been a “gilded age” of policing. Postcolonial civilian governments have never had a chance to settle down long enough to engineer a successful transition from a colonial policing system into a civilian one.

Successive military coups and Nigeria’s stop-start democracy created a duality of roles and priorities between the army and police, and this led to the usurping of police powers. This was particularly visible during the regime of military head of state General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), where frequent clashes between the police and army occurred over what the police claimed were deliberate efforts to reduce their pay and contain their effectiveness. To date, the effects of this marginalisation are visible.

The Nigeria Police Force is still one of the worst paid police forces in the West African region.

Numerous panels and committees have been created over the years to reorganise and rejuvenate the force yet none have been implemented. The blame may lie at the helm, with a lack of continuity in the Ministry of Police Affairs which has seen four Ministers appointed in the last two years. A desperate situation has been created due to poor funding, inadequate training and no clear developmental polices.

In contrast, corruption and illegality have been allowed to thrive. Can this all be changed simply by appointing a new IGP? The N922bn ($5.8bn) put in the 2012 budget for security must be used effectively to tackle the security problems that have engulfed the country in recent times. The chain of command has proven to be a big problem. The IGP and state commissioners have

to answer to the police service commission and the president, and this compromises their independence. This has allowed the police hierarchy to lose sight of their actual objectives - serving the people, rather than those in the seat of power. The duplicate functions of the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Police Service Commission clearly hinders the effectiveness of the police force and the Inspector General in particular and any reforms should make clarity in the roles of each service a priority.

This finds representation in another topical issue – the call for state police. Many have argued that the diverse needs of each state will be better catered for with a more localised crime fighting network. Those against it fear possible political hijacking by state governors, who might turn their state police into their own personal armies.

Nigerians must come to terms with the fact that terrorism has now found its way into everyday life and the police must be trusted if they are defeat threats of extremism, such as Boko Haram.

If a clear cut policy and developmental programme are put in place there is no reason why the Nigeria Police Force cannot be one the best on the continent.

What is clear at this stage is that if Abubakar stands any chance of success, it will depend on his actions rather than rhetoric.

Lagun Akinloye is reachable at lagun.akinloye@thinkafricapress.com

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 15

Yuguda, Okorocha: Building bridges of unity across Nigeria Continued from page 13 declaring that any government which failed to protect its people was shying away from its primary responsibility and as such was not worth to be called a government. “The first item on our Oath of Office and allegiance as governors is to protect lives and properties of citizens, any governor who cannot do that has no business being a governor,” Yuguda said.

While lamenting the wanton destruction of life and property in the country, Governor Yuguda stated that “there is no where it is written in the Qur’an or the Holy Bible that one should kill in the name of religion. People are usually indoctrinated through the teaching of some criminals to perpetrate evil. These criminals do not wish the country well and we must not allow them to destroy what our forefathers laboured hard to build.”

Then, it was the turn of Governor Okorocha to address

the gathering. In his speech, Owelle Okorocha said peace was as an expensive commodity which every Nigerian had to seriously pursue at all cost.

He informed that he always wept each time there was a breakdown of peace in any part of the country, attributing religious intolerance to lack of communication among faithful of the religious groups in the country.

“Lack of communication among Nigerians from different ethnic groups and religions is what has fuelled hatred and religious discrimination in the country.

When I see the killing that is going on every day, how we are losing our children, husbands, wives and our future generation, I weep. I weep because if the issue of peace is not addressed now, I fear that what may befall our great country in the future may be very disastrous.

“Many dead bodies were brought to Imo State lately and I took it upon myself to take

this message of peace to every part of the country, particularly the North, where security challenges thrive. We must stop the bloodshed and if we don’t act now, the generation yet unborn will be destroyed,” Governor Okorocha admonished.

“If any fanatic thinks that reprisal attacks among ethnic groups in the country is an attack on Christians and Muslims, such person,” Okorocha said, “should know that it is rather an attack on Nigeria itself and this must be urgently addressed.”

According to him, “vengeance will never solve the problem in the country because vengeance belongs to God. So, we should not allow religion or ethnicity to divide us because we are one nation.”

Speaking an impeccable Hausa, Governor Okorocha assured that there would not be any reprisal attack on Northerners living in Imo State and other states in the South-East geopolitical zone as a result of the killings being perpetrated by those he

described as terrorists. He stated that his mission to Bauchi and other parts of the North was not to seek political relevance but to preach peace for a united Nigeria, submitting that, “We are not here for political gathering, neither are we here to seek political relevance. We are here to address the same matter that bedevilled our nation, because a nation that is faced with danger should seek the wide course of action not convulsion.”

He explained that unless Nigerians acted quicklyon the present situation they found themselves in they might be destroying the country which their forefathers laboured to build and he appealed to the people to continue to pray for peace to reign in the country, saying that without peace, there would be no development in the land.

Describing Governor Yuguda as a bridge builder, Owelle Okorocha urged government officials across Nigeria as well as other Nigerians to emulate the

Bauchi governor’s peace initiative for a better and more united Nigeria.

Speaking further, he said that despite the spate of violence in the North, especially in the North-East geopolitical zone, Bauchi has remained peaceful with everyone, their religious backgrounds and ethnicity notwithstanding, doing their businesses freely without any molestation from any quarters and went on to describe Bauchi state, which prides itself on being the Pearl of Tourism as a home of peace.

As a mark of honour, the Yuguda administration named the newly constructed Industrial Avenue, Bauchi, road Owelle Rochas Okorocha Avenue. The road project, which construction began late last year by the Yuguda government, was inaugurated for use by the people of Bauchi State by the visiting Governor Okorocha.

Ishola Michael Adeyemi is the Chief Press Secretary to Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda

Budget 2012 (8) - Paramilitary nation Continued from back page Since then, the immigration department has gone through many mutations, and today, is a paramilitary service headed by a Comptroller-General, assisted by deputies in charge of three departments, supervising eight zonal offices, 37 state commands and offices in each of the 774 local governments of Nigeria.

The proposed budget of the NIS for 2012 is N37.4bn made up of N33.56bn for personnel costs, N2.03bn for overheads and N1.8bn for capital investments. Some interesting provisions in the budget include N153.9 million as “security vote”, N175 million for domestic travel, N200 million for border patrol vehicles, N100 million for surveillance, communication and intelligence-gathering equipment, and N35 million for purchase of arms and ammunition! Others are N412 million for reactivation of aircraft, N37 million for solarpowered boreholes and N38 million for solar generators.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was established by the National Assembly in 2003. Prior to this, it started simply as a civil defence organization during the war as Lagos Civil Defence Committee to sensitize citizens about conduct during air raids, bomb attacks and so on. The NSCDC is now headed by a Comptroller-General who is assisted by four deputies, and eight zonal assistant CGs overseeing 37 state commands.

The Corps work with other law enforcement and security

organizations in a complimentary role, but in the opinion of many, simply duplicate the functions of, and divert resources that should properly go to agencies like the Police and SSS. The proposed budget of the NSCDC for 2012 is N56.2bn, comprised of N52.5bn for personnel costs, N2.7bn for overheads and N1 billion for capital projects. Just like the NIS, the budget includes N158 million as “security vote”, N105 million for “publicity and adverts”, N50 million for ambulances, N47 million for anti-riot equipment, N40 million for mobile baggage scanner, N15 million for VSAT communications solution, and N55 million for arms and ammunition!

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) is the fourth “paramilitary” organization under the Minister of Interior, and it is a strange animal indeed. Fire fighting and control are local or at best state matters, and not properly federal. Indeed, a cabinet committee under former SGF, Chief Ufot Ekaette had in 2006 recommended its conversion into a regulatory commission and the hand-over of its assets in Abuja and Lagos to the relevant state administrations.

It is only the policy reversals of the Yar’Adua-Jonathan administration that has enabled it to still exist intact.

Though its budget is a modest N3bn, including a N10 million security vote, N89 million for adverts, and N490 millon to build a ‘National Fire Academy’! It is time to revisit the Ekaette Committee report, restructure the FFS into a slim

regulator and save this annually wasted amount. The FFS as currently organized has no place in our federal system.

The rest of the budget of the Ministry of Interior consists of the Ministry (N2.5bn), Civil Defence, Immigration and Prisons Board (N204 million), Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office with N1.3bn under the Ministry and another N8.6bn as a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, that is a total of about N10bn.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) was founded in 1988 by the Babangida administration with Professor Wole Soyinka as the founding chairman, with the mandate of accident prevention and loss reduction on our federal highways. Its enabling law has gone through several amendments and reenactments into the national organization it has now become, situated in the

presidency and supervised by the SGF. The FRSC is headed by a Corps Marshall assisted by eight deputies overseeing departments and in charge of 12 specialized units, 12 zonal commands and 164 sector commands all over the country. The proposed budget of FRSC for 2012 is N28.9bn made up of N26.5bn for personnel cost, N1.5bn for overheads and N849 million for capital projects. I was relieved not to find any “security vote” in the FRSC budget, most of the spending priorities and provisions were sensible and did not appear to duplicate provisions in the budgets of the Police and other agencies.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) began life in 1891 headed by a British Director-General before becoming the department of customs and excise in 1922.

The Customs and Excise

“

For the past 8 weeks, we have looked closely at the amounts proposed to be spent by all the agencies charged with protecting our lives and property.

Combined they will cost us at least N3.1 billion daily, including weekends in 2012.

We are therefore entitled to expect to sleep well, but we don’t

Management Act (CEMA) 1958 established the department under the Minister of Finance.

Between 1986 and 1992, the department was placed under the supervision of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Today, it is an autonomous paramilitary organization headed by a Comptroller-General, assisted by four deputies supervising 25 area commands all over the country.

The main job of the NCS is trade facilitation, checking smuggling and earning revenues for the government through the oversight of imports and exports. The NCS is funded off-budget via a 7% deduction on revenues collected - an incentive system that has led to rapid increases in revenue collection. The budget of the NCS this year will be between N52bn and N70bn!

With the implementation of ASYCUDA++, installation of scanners, intensive training and incentivizing of personnel, it is expected that the NCS will discharge its statutory functions better, for the benefit of Nigeria.

For the past 8 weeks, we have looked closely at the amounts proposed to be spent by all the agencies charged with protecting our lives and property. Combined they will cost us at least N3.1 billion daily, including weekends in 2012. We are therefore entitled to expect to sleep well, but we don’t. Some of them have become greater threats to our freedom and peaceful coexistence than the insurgents that we fear. They must re-strategize to protect us better, and justify what we spend on them.

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

AMAC budgets N6billion for 2012

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Administration in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) yesterday revealed the Fiscal framework of 2012 proposed budget ,estimated at Six billion ,Two hundred and Twelve Million, Two hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Six hundred and Ten (N6,212,266.610.00).

The Chairman of the council, Hon Micah Y. Jiba while presenting the budget to the legislative council, gave the breakdown of the projected revenue to include; an opening balance estimated at N3,609,206.00, Statutory Allocation N2,783,02,606.00, VAT N978,554,798.00, Excess Crude N857,000,000.00,10% of the FCT Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) , N740,000,000.00 while AMAC Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) is N850,000,000.00.

Micah explained that the proposed expenditure for the year is worth N6,204,276,351 and recurrent expenditure put at N2,770,326,351.00, personnel Cost N1,484,176,351.0nd the Over

Head Cost is N3,433,950.000.00 bringing the Total Capital Expenditure at N3,433,950.000.00,while the Fiscal Surplus is put at N7,990,259.00.

The chairman suggested that the budget which is a consolidation of the gains of the 2011 budget is expected to make positive impact on the lives of the electorate through the provision

of good roads, agriculture ,market development, scholarships, construction/ rehabilitation of primary schools, portable drinking water, electricity, personal/overhead cost as well as general aspects of rural transformation which are areas of focus.

"Our pre-occupation is to entrench good governance in the Area Council by ensuring that every income is used for grassroots development", he said.

Lassa fever: Abaji chair tasks residents on sanitation

By Adeola Tukuru

T

FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed (2nd right), with Minister of State for FCT, Ms Olajumoke Akinjide (left), Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi (2nd left), and Managing Director of Setraco Nigeria Ltd, Said Khalaf (right), during the commissioning of Guzape- Sunrise-Nyanya road bypass, yesterday in Abuja.

Market demolition: Gwagwalada traders plead with FCT minister

By Adeola Tukuru

G

wagwalada Main Market Traders Union (GMMTU) has called on the FCT Minister to intervene inthe demolition exercise in the market by Gwagwalada Area Council.

The Chairman of the Union, Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar, made the Call in Gwagwalada in an

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interview with newsmen and said the demolition was not in the best interest of members.

According to him, the union members are the original owners of the shops that were legally allocated by the area council about 20m years ago. ``If the council is allowed to go ahead with the demolition and prices of shops to be built thereafter fixed at N2.5million, we will be

thrown out of the market because we cannot afford it. ``So, our appeal is for the minister to intervene and order that the original owners of the shops with genuine documents be allocated shops first at an affordable rate," he said.

Abubakar had denied allegations by the council before the police that prostitutes and criminals were being harboured in

the market.

He said every effort by the union to enter into peaceful negotiations with the council has yielded no meaningful result following the rigid posture of the council's administration.

The union chairman had faulted the demolition on the ground that an order of a court restraining the council from the demolition was violated.

he Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Alhaji Yahaya Mohammed, has tasked residents in the council on cleanliness through evacuation of waste and materials that could harbour rats in their houses.

Mohammed stated this in Abaji at the opening ceremony of a community awareness sensitization program on prevention of Lassa fever organized by the council.

The council boss represented

by Dr Basil Magaji, Head of Health Department of the council said the awareness program became necessary following reported cases of outbreak of Lassa fever in the country.

He said the program was part of the council administration's commitment to ensure clean environment and healthy living among residents.

Mohammed therefore called on residents to take advantage of health facilities across all the wards of the council for routine immunization to prevent child killer diseases.

FCT minister donates N2m to accident victims, awards scholarship From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

T

he Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory(FTC), Oloye Jumoke Akinjide has promised to set up a scholarship fund to the children of traders at the Bola Ige International Business Complex, Ibadan who lost their lives in a motor accident last month.

The minister also donated N2 million on behalf of Oyo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to assuage the plight of the

victims of the unfortunate incident who sustained injuries and were hospitalised and receiving medical attention. She also promised that the party would assist in the development of the market.

It would be recalled that, seven traders from the market were reported to have died in a ghastly motor accident on their way from Aba Market in Abia state while about 14 others were injured in the accident.

Speaking during a visit to the market recently to

commiserate with the board of trustees and traders Akinjide said "in my personal capacity I want to set up a scholarship fund to educate or train in business the children left behind."

Akinjide, who was received by hundreds of traders and PDP supporters who prayed for her success as the minister representing Oyo state in the federal cabinet, said she was pleased to learn that the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi as well as the Action

Congress of Nigeria (ACN) senator from Oyo Central Senatorial District also visited the market to commiserate with the traders.

Recalling how she said had been enthusiastically received by the traders on the two occasions she visited the market during the campaign for the 2011 senatorial election, Akinjide, who was accompanied on the visit by a former deputy governor of the state Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, said it was sad to return to the market to

condole with the traders on the untimely death of their colleagues.

She assured the traders of Federal Government assistance in terms of developing the market, pointing out that the traders supported their families, the economies of Oyo state and the nation through their trade.

Alhaji Y.K. Abass, a market leader, on behalf of the traders, thanked Akinjide for her visit and prayed for her success in all her undertakings within and outside the state

FCT HOTELS GUIDE POLICE HOTLINES IN FCT Abuja Sheraton Hotel & Towers Ladi Kwali Way, Transcorp Hilton Hotel P.M.N 143, Abuja Maitama District, Tel: 09-5230225-224 P.O. Box 51, Abuja, Fax: 09-5231570-1 Tel: 09-5231811-40 Chelsea Hotels Plt 389, Cadastral Zone A Central Area, P.M.B 487, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: 09-2349080-98 Fax: 09-2349074

Maitama - 08038485123 Central Police Station - 08033568389 Lugbe - 08077657371; 08037882321 Wuse - 08053088102 National Assembly - 08065777706; 08045317637 Asokoro - 07028134449 Nyanya - 08046115181 Utako - 07055888119; 07038621264 Karshi - 08023565354

Wuye Karu Gwarimpa Karmo Garki Life Camp Kubwa Gwagwa Zuba Dutse Alhaji Bwari Kuje

- 08023314440 - 08036249825 - 08059113555 - 08033773129 - 08033560903 - 08058036613 - 08036134478 - 08035537989 - 08075804475 - 08053089999 - 08075804475 - 07030800531

Kwali Ruboci Gwagwalada Abaji

- 080 33062496 - 08060568342 - 08057467369 - 08037209328

FCT HOTLINE AEPB 09 - 4603600-9

08065560315

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

ABUJA DIARY with Josephine Ella Jomarch4@yahoo.com 08065327178

Lassa fever outbreak: How combat ready is the FCT? (I)

I

n the last two weeks, most national dailies in the country have been inundated with one scary story or the other on the recent outbreak of Lassa fever, the epidemic has sent palpable fears to Nigerians especially those in the 13 states where the disease is raging presently.

This is not the first recorded time of the outbreak of the disease, but it's rapid spread this last two weeks and the attendant number of deaths was enough to cause panic in the land.

The Federal Ministry of Health recently confirmed and reported the outbreak of the disease in states, which included Borno state, where it was first discovered, Gombe, Yobe, Taraba, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Edo, Lagos, Ondo, Rivers and Anambra with 455 suspected cases out of which 90 were confirmed and 46 deaths recorded as at February 24, 2012.

Like many others, when I read about the outbreak on the pages of newspapers, the first thing I did, out of trepidation was to place phone call to some close relatives and friends to inform them about the outbreak of the disease and how best they can prevent it , based on my little knowledge of the zootomic disease, transmitted from rats of the genus Mastomys.

Findings have shown that many people, especially those living in rural communities are mostly at risk of being infected with the disease and because they are not well informed about it, they fall easy victims.

Since the recent outbreak, the Federal and state governments through relevant agencies and ministries especially in states where

the disease is prevalent and even where there are not recorded cases, have swung into action in order to take proactive measures to curb the disease.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which shares border with Nasarawa, one of the affected states, has put in place certain steps to avert spread of the disease in the territory.

I must confess that some of my colleagues and I were oblivious of the fact that the FCT recorded suspected cases of the Lassa viral haemorrhagic fever, so it came as a shock to us when the Secretary, FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Demola Onakomaiya revealed last week while briefing the press that three suspected cases of the disease have been reported in the FCT. At the press conference, intended to intimate the public on steps being taken by the administration to stem the outbreak of the disease, the Health Secretary, allayed fears that there have been no confirmed death resulting from the outbreak of the disease.

Two of the cases reported in the FCTwere said to have been confirmed from the Abuja University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, while the other was reported from the National Hospital, Abuja.

The number of suspected cases in the FCT so far recorded is minimal no doubt, but the fearful reality is that like other states in the country, the FCT is not immuned against the disease.

This revelation therefore, becomes a wakeup call for swift action on the part of the administration and residents on the need to be proactive by taking

PAGE 17

necessary precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

So far, as part of the effort of the administration to prevent, control and ensure effective management of lassa fever, the secretary disclosed that the Public Health Department of the secretariat has sent alert letters to all the six area councils to step up security surveillance and community sensitisation.

Similar letters, it also said have been sent to all FCT secondary health facilities and private health facilities to alert clinicians on the need to report suspected cases.

C o m m u n i t y sensitisation and mobilisation through health education on the disease in public places such as markets, motor parks, mosques, churches, and secretariats are also other efforts in progress at the moment according to Dr. Onakomaiya.

In addition to public enlightenment in electronic media, the secretariat has also alerted the Abuja E n v i r o n m e n t a l Protection Board (AEPB) to step up its efforts towards environmental sanitation in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading in the FCT. In a swift response to the alert, the AEPB, Tuesday, called a press briefing to sensitise the public over the disease, where lectures were delivered on how best to prevent it.

The Deputy Director, Environmental Health and Safety of AEPB, Mrs Aishat Adebayo said that the board had commenced a househouse inspection at Bissau Street, Wuse Zone 6 as part of precautionary measures to get rid of the disease. She informed that the exercise would end in one week so it can move to another area.

The director was however silent on efforts being made to curtail the disease in rural areas of the six area councils of the FCT. She even refused to respond satisfactorily to a question I put to her on the matter as it affects rural dwellers.

This is rather worrisome since she admitted that officials may not be able to go round the entire FCT to effect the just inaugurated house-house inspection which the board said replaced the monthly sanitation exercise.

Improve your budget performance, Reps tell Kuje chair

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he House of Representatives committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has called on the Chairman of Kuje area council, Hon Danladi Etsu Zhin to improve on his budget performance status for the benefit of the people in the locality.

Speaking during the inspection of some projects in Kuje recently, acting chairman of the

committee, Honourable Hamisu Mailatarki, said the members were in Kuje on an oversight function to assess some projects and added that the committee was satisfied with those inspected.

He however advised the area council to ensure proper implementation of its budget and adhere strictly to whatever is approved for them in the interest of the locals.

Chairman of the council, Danladi Etsu

Zhin, told the committee that the council tried its best despite challenges faced in execution of projects. He listed some of the projects embarked upon within the period under review to include construction of a comprehensive health centre at Kiyi, Dafana and Gudun Karya, purchase of tractors, drilling of boreholes, environmental sanitation, rural electrification projects among others.

A van fully loaded with rice turnble at Mabushi, on Tuesday, in Abuja, Photo James Bature

Jayi health centre to be commissioned soon, says chief

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he recently built and completed Health Centre in Jayi Village of the Abuja Municipal Area council(AMAC) will soon be commissioned by the government for effective medical attention to the people in the area.

This was disclosed by the chief of Jayi Village ,Alhaji Adamu Dogo.

Revealing this to Peoples

Daily, he emphasized the importance of the centre to his people explaining that by the time the centre becomes fully operational the community's medical needs would have been met.

He appealled for a calmn within his community as he used the occasion to refute allegation that he unilaterally sold some plots of land in the village to people.

The traditional ruler

who claimed that most of the basic social amenities in the village were through the community effort also showed a brand new transformer purchased in the area to complement the existing ones to our reporter.

On the recent demolition of some structures and houses in his community, the traditional ruler said the issue was over as all his subjects that were arrested have since been released

Court orders landlord to pay N1,500 fine for mischief

A

n Abuja Area Court in Karmo, FCT, on yesterday ordered a landlord, Zafanaya Ibrahim, 30, to pay a fine of N1,500 after he pleaded guilty to mischief.

The Area Court Judge, Mr Abdul Mohammed, gave the order after Ibrahim pleaded guilty to the offence and prayed for leniency, adding that he was a family man.

"I am a family man and the only person taking care of my younger siblings.

They will suffer if am not there, therefore, I pray for

leniency,'' Ibrahim told the court.

The Police Prosecutor, Inspector, Egwu Clement had told the court that Miss Margaret Onyebuchi, 25, of Dape village, FCT reported Ibrahim on March 1 at the Life Camp Police Station, Abuja.

Clement said that Ibrahim, who was Onyebuchi's landlord, had gone to her apartment and removed the door, window and also stole N20,000.

He said Ibrahim was being arraigned for mischief, which he said contravened

Section 326 of the Penal Code.

In another development, Miss Margaret Onyebuchi was on yesterday remanded by an Abuja Area Court for giving false information to the police.

Mohammed also directed that the accused be remanded in prison pending her bail application.

The Police Prosecutor, Inspector Egwu Clement had told the court that on March 1, Onyebuchi lodged a complaint against her landlord, Zafanaya Ibrahim at the Life Camp Police Station. (NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Email: amunuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

MTN Nigeria to spend N208bn....

Mob: 08033644990

FAAC allocation for the month of January 2012 shared in February, 2012 S/N

BENEFICIARIES

SUB-TOTAL (N bn)

1 2 3 4

173,447 87.974 67.825

5 6 7

FG (52.68%) States (26.72%) L/govt Councils (20.72%) Derivation (13% of Mineral revenue-oil/gas) Value Added Tax (VAT) Augmentation for the month Refund by NNPC

8

Grand Total

614.604

38.940 51.111 187.090 7,617

Aliko Dangote is still Africa’s richest man- Forbes

By Aminu Imam with agency report

P

resident, Dangote Group of companies. Dangote remains Africa’s richest man, with a total net worth of $11.2bn is ranked 76th in the world.

According to a Forbes magazine report yesterday, he is the only African in the list of 100 richest people worldwide.

The source of Mr. Dangote’s wealth was described as “sugar, flour, cement.”

He fell two places from last year’s ranking which put him in

Flight schedule AIR NIGERIA (MONDAY - SUNDAY) LOS-ABJ : 07.15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.20, 18.30.

ABJ-LOS: 07.00, 09.30, 10.30, 11.15, 16.15, 19.15, 19.35 ABJ-KANO: 18.40 KANO-ABJ: 08.35 ABJ-SOK (MON ): 09.35 ABJ-SOK (F RI): 10.10 ABJ-SOK (WED/SUN): 11.20 SOK-ABJ (MON): 11.35 SOK -ABJ (F RI): 12.00 SOK-ABJ (WED/SUN): 13.20

AEROCONTRACTORS (MON - SUN) LOS-ABJ: 06.50, 13.30, 19.45 LOS-ABJ (SUN): 12.30 LOS-ABJ (SAT): 16.45 ABU-L OS: 07.30, 13.00, 14.00, 19.00 ABU-LOS (SUN): 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 ABU-LOS (SAT): 18.30

DANA AIRLINES (MON - SUN) LOS-A BJ: 07.02, 08.10, 12.06, 15.30, 17.10 ABJ-LOS: 07.20, 09.36, 13.05, 14.40 ABJ-LOS (SAT/SUN): 13.05, 18.00 LOS-KANO : 08.10 KANO-LOS: 11.25 KANO -ABUJA: 11.25 ABUJA-KANO: 10.08

IRS AIRLINES

the 74th position in the world. His fortune has also dropped by $2.6bn down from the $13.8bn it was in 2011.

The report by Forbes describes the billionaire as “Nigerian commodities titan,” saying he is “Africa’s cement king.”

In February, Alh. Aliko Dangote announced the opening of a new $1 billion Nigerian cement plant. The launch of the cement plant in Ibeshe, Ogun state, was attended

by President Goodluck Jonathan; Ibikunle Amosun, the Ogun state Governor; and other top public officials at Federal and state levels.

The cement plant is expected to increase the Dangote cement production in Nigeria by 40 per cent.

Mr. Dangote is a major financier of political parties in Nigeria, particularly the PDP. He was one of the largest donors to the elections of late President Umaru Yar’Adua and also Mr. Jonathan.

Some of his donations include $1bn to the re-election of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, N200bn to the Obasanjo library project, N3bn to the PDP secretariat among others.

In November 2011, he became the first Nigerian non-public official to be decorated with the second highest national honour in Nigeria, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

Mr. Dangote is believed to have benefitted immensely from Federal Government directives and patronage which prompted the U.S. embassy in a cable to Washington released by Wiki leaks to state among others that “it is no coincidence that many products on Nigeria’s import ban lists are items in which Dangote has major interests.”

EXCHANGE RATES

CBN CFA • £ RIYAL $

LOS -ABJ: 9.45, 11.45, 2.45

SELLING 0.3185 207.8147 248.7073 41.5667 155.9

PARALLEL RATES

ABJ-LOS: 11.30, 3.45, 4.45 LOS-KANO: 6.15 LOS-KANO (SAT/SUN): 16.30 KANO -LOS: 07.30 KANO-LOS (SUN/SUN): 10.30

1st Mar, 2012 BUYING 0.2985 206.4817 247.112 41.3001 154.9

• £ RIYAL $

BUYING 210 255 40 158

SELLING 212 257 42 159

L-R: Chairman, Institute of Directors (IoD), Abuja chapter, Mr. Tunji Tolani, German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Janetzke Wenzel, and Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Dr. Mansur Ahmed, during the IoD meeting on Nigeria-German business relationship, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

NEITI queries NLNG over claim of N528bn dividend payment to NNPC

By Muhammad Nasir with agency report

T

he Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) yesterday accused the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Cavendish Petroleum and Shebak Petroleum of non-compliance and lack of transparency in their operations within the oil and gas sector.

In a statement by the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Mrs. Zainab Ahmed at the workshop on ‘Understanding Audit Template’, in Lagos, the NLNG had refused to clarify the ambiguity in its records relating to remittance of $3.3 billion ( about N528 bn) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

She disclosed that in the last audit reports, the organisation had some issues of non-compliance with the three firms, saying: “We have activated section 16 of the NEITI Act of 2007; we had informed these companies of their non-compliance and we will sanction them accordingly.

“The NLNG issue is a very weighty issue because the NNPC reported that it received $3.3 billion as dividend from the NLNG and we requested the NLNG to confirm this but they did not. We also requested the NNPC to confirm the remittance of this dividend to the Federation Account.”

The NEITI boss, however,

informed that the agency had commenced 2009, 2010 and 2011 audit of the oil and gas sector, putting the cost of the entire exercise at N226 million.

She maintained that the audit of the oil and gas sector from 2009 to 2011 is coming at a time when the attention of both national and international stakeholders has been drawn to the sector perceived largely to be opaque and corrupt.

“We have engaged the services of indigenous auditors who understand the nittygritty of the industry. The need for stringent measures to carry out the assignment with all honesty, fairness, competence and integrity cannot be overemphasised,” she said.

The relevance of the projects could be found in providing adequate and reliable information on the amount of money that companies paid to the Federal Government as tax, royalties, levies and bonuses.

She stressed that nonpassage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was also a challenge to good governance and transparency issues in the sector.

The NEITI boss said: “Provisions of the PIB, as were initially intended, were to strengthen the fiscal regime that is obtainable in Nigeria to improve on the capacity of the regulator and to correct the

anomaly of the NNPC being the regulator and an operator.

“It intends to break the NNPC into various business units. The PIB also has provision that states that all operators that are trading in the industry are expected to conform to the tenet of transparency and accountability as enshrined in the NEITI Act. “If the PIB has been passed, most of the remedial issues as contained in our reports would have been corrected,” she stressed.

However, when Peoples Daily contacted the NNPC to respond to the allegation, its Group Managing Director,Public Affairs, Dr. Levi Ajounuma said the NEITI report is outdated and it’s behind time. “Some of those things have been corrected since from 2008 to 2012”, NEITI should try and wake up. It’s not a current Audit, he stated.

Meanwhile, the Director of Legal, NEITI, Mr. Peter Ogbobinne, stated that the challenges faced by the agency was lack of fiat to prosecute erring covered entity.

Ogbobinne said the Act stipulated that the Attorney General of the Federation must approve the fiat to sanction and penalize every defaulting company.

He however urged stakeholders to comply and grant NEITI access to the necessary information needed to conduct the audit, stating: “As you are aware, the NEITI Act of 2007 makes it compulsory, legal, and has spelt out severe sanctions for noncompliance.”

Management Tip of the Day

G

To reduce stage fright, prepare

ood preparation reduces performance anxiety.

Next time you need to present to an audience, follow these three steps: Be confident in your topic.

Your audience already believes that you’re the expert, so don’t try to bluff. If the people you’re

presenting to feel you’re unsure of your material, they’ll lose trust in you.

Imagine questions people might ask. Construct answers before you give your speech.

Either incorporate the answers into your presentation or be ready to provide them during Q&A.

Memorise the first minute of your presentation. You experience your greatest anxiety at the beginning of a speech.

Knowing the opening of your presentation will give you a good start.

Source: Harvard Business Review

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS 3% Nigerians hold Insurance policies, says expert

O

ut of 167 million Nigerians, only 3.8 million, amounting to three percent of the nation’s population, hold one insurance policy or the other, an expert, Sallau Hamman said on Tuesday. According to him, this abysmally low insurance practice in the country is as a range of issues - ignorance, high level of poverty, among other factors.

Niger Insurance makes profit projections on growth strategies

U

MTN Nigeria to spend N208bn on expansion From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

M

TN Nigeria is to spend about N1.3billion (N208billion) on its expansion in the country, going by the figures from the Group’s Full Year (FY) 2011 results released day.

Going by this figure, MTN Nigeria’s capital expenditure exceeds that of other West African countries put together, a development which analysts expect will create more jobs for Nigerians.

The Group said its revenue was due to sound growth in Nigeria, South Africa and Iran of 4.1percent, 7.7percent and 20.1 percent respectively. It also earned R38.597billion from

South Africa, and R11.050billion from Iran. Other countries that contributed to the MTN group’s revenue include Ghana (R5.941billion), and Syria (R6.463billion).

In the result made available yesterday, MTN Group said its Nigeria operation faced a challenging year “as the entire market was negatively affected by the process of SIM registration.”

“Aggressive price competition had a negative impact on gross connections and network quality again became a focus area for the regulator, as higher elasticity from lower pricing impacted traffic demand across almost all of the major networks.

Notwithstanding these challenges, the company

increased its subscriber base by 7.7 percent to 41.6 million and ended the year with a more stabilised market share of 50percent,” it stated in the results.

There is no clarity on the deadline for SIM registration although the regulator has initiated a process to form a central database of registration records. At the end of the year, MTN Nigeria had registered 83 percent of the subscriber base,” it further stated.

Furthermore, the group said in Nigeria, the total naira revenue increased 9.6 percent mainly driven by a 54.5 percent increase in interconnect revenue.

It stated: “This was a result of continued changes in traffic patterns during the year, as

nderwriting firm, Niger Insurance plc determined to remain above board in income and profit growth up to 2014 based on recognizable facts of at least a relatively conducive business environment and new opportunities opening up in the economy.

HP ploughs N960bn into R&D to eliminate counterfeit products

A

s part of its commitment to deliver quality genuine products such as toners inks and printers to its dealers and customers, Hewlett Packard (HP) says it has ploughed in $6 billion ( about N960 billion) in a bid to enhancing its research and development (R & D) so as to ensure peak performance of all its products.

Operators call for crash in prices of smartphones in emerging markets

T

he CEOs of Bharti Airtel, VimpelCom and Telefónica Latin America have called for the industry to drive down the cost of smartphones so as to trigger the greater use of mobile data. In the last two years, smartphone prices have crashed, but average cost is still about $100.

Vitafoam Nigeria reports N168.55m worth of unclaimed dividend in 15 years

V

itafoam Nigeria Plc has recorded about N168.55million worth of unclaimed dividends, evidenced in its 15 years dividend and unclaimed dividend record.

L-R: Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe, CEO DStv Media Sales, Mr. Chris Hitchings, Regional Director, DSTV Media Sales, Mrs. Busola Adeogun-Philips, and Chief Financial Officer, DSTV Media Sales, Mr. Gert Van Wyk, during the DSTV Advert Sales Media Showcase to the Advert industry in Nigeria, recently at Radisson Blu Hotel, Victoria Island, in Lagos.

Lagos to register hotels, partner tourism institute in manpower development

By Miriam Humbe

T

he National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), and the Lagos state government are to partner in the development of manpower for the tourism industry of the state as a measure to reposition the state as a tourism hub of the country.

According to a press statement issue by the Institute, signed by its Assistant Director, Public Relations, Ahmed Mohammed Sule, the Lagos state commissioner for Tourism and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Disun Holloway, disclosed this over the weekend, when he received the Director-General of the Institute, Munzali Dantata,

in Lagos.

He said the state is interested in the economic importance of tourism, rather than the usual visiting of places and promotion of festivals without any economic gain to the people or the government.

Holoway therefore said that this informed the development of social infrastructure in the state, adding that they are looking forward to developing more destinations in the state.

“What we have in Nigeria are just potentials; look at what happened to Yankari. Here, we don’t have attractions. We have decided to create few destinations in Lagos, we want to build a resort in Epe, and we want to collaborate with Nigeria

Conservation Foundation (NCF) on having a park for families,” he stated.

Responding, Dantata thanked the Commissioner for the cooperation NIHOTOUR has been receiving from Lagos state since he assumed office five years ago.

He said there are much for both the state and the institute to benefit in the proposed collaborative package, disclosing that NIHOTOUR has embarked on vigorous training programs, including a train the trainer programme in collaboration with Utalii College in Kenya, in which staff have been sent outside the country to improve on the training skills in various sub sectors of the tourism sector.

cheaper off-network prices were offered tactically by the competition. More competitive tariffs by MTN in the second half of the year have partially stabilised the traffic mix. Data revenue (excluding SMS) grew 105 percent as more data packages were introduced to the market.

MultiChoice set to launch MRC in Osun, Delta states From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos ultiChoice Nigeria; the nation’s leading pay TV subscription management company is set to launch another set of the MultiChoice Resource Centres; a Corporate Social Investment (CSI) project aimed at empowering both teachers and students with skills in information and communication technologies (ICTs), in Osun and Delta states.

Speaking on the upcoming launch in these states, Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe said that his company is determined to contribute a meaningful quota in improving cognitive and other forms of learning in public schools in the country by leveraging on its assets and expertise to contribute to the overall development of the nation’s educational sector.

He said that it is only through concerted efforts by public and private stakeholders that the country can positively turn around the reins of education Mr. Ugbe explained that beneficiary schools of the resource center will have access to the Special MultiChoice Education Bouquet, which includes: Discovery Channel, National Geographic, BBC Knowledge, BBC World, History Channel, Animal Planet and Mindset Learn, at no cost. “In addition to our decoder, we will also provide each school with a DVD recorder, a TV set, a power generating set, tables and chairs, among other accessories”, he said.

MultiChoice Nigeria’s Head; Corporate Communications, Mr. Segun Fayose, noted that the project which commenced in 2004 in Lagos and Abuja has since been launched in 21 states across the country in 201 schools. He says that MultiChoice Nigeria aims to take the resource centre to all the states of the federation at the shortest possible time. He said the company is buoyed by the positive feedback it got from a recent tour of centres to assess the impact of the project on learning and development on the students and teachers Deputy National Director, SchoolNet Nigeria, the implementing partner to the project, Mrs. Ronke Bello said: “Osun and Delta states has demonstrated its readiness to move to the next level in educational development by accepting the MultiChoice Resource Centre facilities in their states.

M

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 21

First Community opens Islamic investment banking subsidiary F

irst Community Bank on Wednesday launched Kenya’s first fully-fledged Sharia-compliant investment bank— FCB Capital.

This came as the capital markets regulator announced plans to set up an Islamic financial products advisory body.

FCB Capital, a whollyowned subsidiary of First Community Bank, will enter collective investment schemes (CIV) industry through the First Ethical Opportunities Fund.

The fund has been approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

FCB Capital becomes the first intermediary to tap into CIVs that target Islamic capital markets.

CMA chief executive Stella Kilonzo said Islamic finance holds huge potential, adding: “As an Authority we are keen to promote new capital markets products which will help us to expand into growth areas such as Islamic capital market products.”

CMA said it has been working with stakeholders on market education, tax harmonisation and formulation of policy and legal frameworks.

But Kenya lacks a central sharia advisory board which would oversee uniform application of Islamic law.

Mrs. Kilonzo, however, said the regulator was consulting

Customers outside a First Community Bank branch in Eastleigh, Nairobi with other stakeholders over the setting up of the National Shariah Advisory Board . Each Islamic financial product currently relies on the advisory board of the issuer.

An audit manager at a local firm, Ahmed Bulle, said without standardisation there was fear that an investor could buy a product that is not sharia-compliant. This is blocking local issuers’ access to

a pool of potential buyers.

A National Shari’ah Advisory Board would ensure uniformity and a single board for the religous-based firms, enabling them to go into mainstream business such as transaction advisory services but with an advantage over competitors.

“There are many top companies who would not want their valuations done by

transactions advisors who are not Sharia-compliant because of the conservative nature of their businesses,” said Mr Bulle.

He said most of these companies are liquid and that this would be an opportunity for Sharia-compliant consultants to offer sory services on listing and issuing of bonds (sukuk).

At a banking forum in July

last year, London-based firm King and Spalding, said by introducing Shariah-complaint bonds, issuers could have access to $1 trillion dollars— courtesy of higher-than-budgeted oil prices of the time.

Rizwan Kanji, a partner at the firm at the time said all the excess liquidity was only accessible to firms selling dharia-compliant products.

(Source: Arab News)

British embassy, Muslim banker harp on merits of Islamic banking

T

he global financial crisis that weakened US and European economies actually presented emerging markets, like the Philippines, an opportunity to take a shot at $1 trillion worth of Shariahcompliant assets, an Islamic banking expert and a British official said Thursday.

The way to tap into such a wealth of fund is to relax the tax and regulatory system by putting Islamic banking in the mainstream, they said.

The perception that Islamic banks are a conduit financial instrument of terrorist groups is an obstacle to the entry of investments and their accompanying growth, the experts noted.

Restrictive regulations and tax rules are also parts of the wall that keeps the Islamic banking system from pouring money into the Philippines, according to them. They added that such investments have fuelled growth in many countries like Britain and Malaysia.

By mainstreaming Islamic

banking in the Philippines, growth and development in the provinces of Mindanao can be achieved, said British ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie at the sidelines of the British embassy forum on “Enabling Islamic Finance in the Philippines” in Makati City’s Mandarin Hotel.

Many Filipino Muslims are excluded from Philippine financial activities, a situation that contributes a lot to making

poverty worst in Mindanao, Lillie noted. 10% of Philippine population is Muslim “There is an increasing opportunity for Islamic banking in the network of international economic relations,” according to the ambassador.

“This is one way to tap liquidity from the Islamic world,” he added.

Ten percent of the Philippine population is

Muslim, according to AlAmanah Islamic Investments Bank of the Philippines. The Zamboanga City-based bank, with nine branches across Mindanao and one in Makati, is the only Islamic bank in the country.

Established in 1990, AlAmanah is now undergoing rehabilitation. head of accounting and finance of Al-Amanah, Maharlika Alontosaid the lack

Egypt to get $1.2bn financing from Islamic trade group

E

gypt signed an agreement to borrow $400 million a year for three years from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corp. to help fund purchases of fuel and wheat, the state-run Middle East News Agency said, citing International Cooperation Minister, Fayza Aboulnaga.

The funds will be provided to the state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. and the General Authority for Supply Commodities, which imports wheat for the North African country, Aboulnaga said at a press conference in Cairo today, according to MENA. It carries an interest rate of 3.75 percent,

she said.

Aboulnaga said the loan would help alleviate fiscal pressures on the country, including the depletion of foreign currency reserves.

Those reserves plunged to $15.7 billion last month from $36 billion at the end of 2010.

(Bloomberg)

of legal and regulatory framework for Islamic banking is a major block in mainstreaming Islamic banking in the Philippines.

She cited the case of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) — plagued with lingering poverty and Muslim extremism — to brush aside the perception that “Islamic finance system is… a means to Islamic extremism.”

Philippine banking laws and regulation have to be harmonized with global measures to mainstream Islamic financial system before the momentum of liquidity in the Islamic economy can be gained, said Alonto.

So far, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has no detailed provision on Islamic banking system that could unveil the Islamic window for investments, she noted.

As such, Alonto said there is a need to establish a National Shariah Advisory Council in the Philippines, pushing for Islamic banking similar to Malaysia.

(Source: GMA News)

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

The electronic billboard revolution in Nigeria D

igital billboards are popping up on many h i g h w a y s , intersections and roadsides in some cities in Nigeria and in other major cities the world over.

The electronic signs are fast changing the world of advertising with most digital billboards flashing messages showing full motion videos, scrolling text messages and other visual effects. These days, products and events are advertised on them in captivating and persuasive manners that leaves most producers of products and events planners’ wanting to key into this new means of advertising goods and products.

It is fashionable these days for events such as seminars, workshops, wedding ceremonies, political statements and movie premiers to be advertised to the general public using electronic billboards, which is gradually taking the place of traditional billboards.

It is pertinent to note that billboard can say little, as any important information must be written in large enough print to be read from afar. This means that massages are often conveyed through pictures, which also help to keep the advertisement interesting, however, the more “artwork,” that is included, the more costly the billboard

Electronic or digital billboards are fast gaining grounds in the country. They are no doubt more effective than the old fashioned traditional billboards. Aside its function of selling products and services faster, they also beautify the environments with their lighting and visual effects. However, there are questions concerning safety hazards they may cconstitute to motorists plying routes where they are mounted. Maryam Garba Hassan examines the pros and cons of having them in Nigeria. becomes.

Another reason digital billboard is believe to be more effective than the outdated ones, is that people do not get tired of adverts placed in such medium since they change every few seconds and also because they are huge eye-catchers considering its use of bright lighting and colours which are always difficult for passersby to ignore.

The digital roadside billboards are often placed at strategic locations on busy roads in the FCT, Lagos and other cities in the country.

For those coming into the FCT for the first time and who have not seen these electronic billboards before, it catches their fancy instantly which might make them to stay glued to this wonders in mindful of on-coming traffic and other hazards their action might cause.

Another worrisome aspect of these electronic billboards is that they come with the

dangers of distracting drivers which brings about a new concern beyond cell phones, one of the world’s major causes of accidents on the roads and also considered as weapons of mass distraction.

The changing colors, lights and catchy music can effectively distract drivers as most digital billboards are usually mounted on busy highways and roads where traffic is likely to be heavy. If a driver’s attention falters and he loses concentration for a few seconds, he is at much higher risk of getting involved in an accident.

These safety hazards associated with electronic bill boards have made many countries in the world to start a debate on their suitability or otherwise.

As a matter of fact, in the United States, about a quarter of the states there, have passed laws prohibiting roadside electronic billboards.

Chief Executive Officer of sound and light Multimedia

outdoor advertisement agency, Mahmoud Tahir, had this to say about the new advertising trend; “the world of digital billboards is changing and growing at a very fast rate.

New sophisticated billboards can even communicate with cell phones and the computer systems in some cars. Some billboards can change the display based on text messages from drivers passing by. Some even have the capability to intercept radio signals from passing cars.

“Using this information, the digital billboard may change the display to attract the attention of drivers, based on what they are listening to in their cars.

This communication can lead to an increase in the tendency to send text messages while driving”.

On associated danger, Tahir said; “of course everything in life has its positive and negative sides. I

have heard this question asked regularly and I always tell people that it is something good to have such technology but what is worrisome about it is that this country is a place where people most times, motorists, break traffic rules.

Tahir asserts that there is no research indicating that billboards cause road accidents and notes that the signs do not use video or animation.

“If you notice the light from the billboards within the FCT, they are mostly placed where they will be seen and by the road sides and are not bright enough to cause temporary vision impair or blur motorist’s sights at night.

Amos Philip, a banker in the FCT, said digital billboards on busy intersections has the possibility of distracting

pedestrians as well as drivers.

“People crossing the street may focus their attention on a digital billboard and fail to notice an oncoming vehicle and could get hit or cause bigger accidents because oncoming vehicles have to stop suddenly or change course to avoid hitting the pedestrian.

When it is dark, the flashing lights on a digital billboard can also confuse some pedestrians who may misinterpret traffic signs’, he said.

A 56 year old self employed bus driver in the FCT, Mr. Ubong Imoh said, though he bad sighted and was distracted by the electronic billboards at the Wuse market junction the first week it was erected, but that he eventually got used to it a week after.

‘There are times I stop to look at the images displayed on the screen when I park opposite the billboard to pick up

passengers. I don’t think it is a bad idea to have it in some parts of the city, it means we are moving from the local means of advertising to a more advance stage” Imoh declared.

The lights on a digital billboard can be too bright, especially during the night.

If the billboard is located too close to a traffic sign, it can confuse oncoming drivers, especially the elderly or those with vision problems.

The bright glare of the billboard can lead to confusion between red, green and yellow, especially if the billboard itself is flashing a colorful advertisement.

Some time ago, Michigan lawmakers held hearings on legislation, the first of its kind that would impose a two-year moratorium on the construction of new billboards.

As digital

An electronic billboard in Abuja with vehicles passing by. Are motorists not distracted by these colourful ads?

billboards begin to pop up around the country, questions about whether to regulate the emerging technology are being asked in other states as well, and by federal officials.

In 2007, the agency ruled that the free-standing digital billboards did not violate the rule and recommended, among other guidelines, that adverts on these billboards stay in place at least four seconds and that they must not be unreasonably bright.

The billboard industry argues that the new signs are part of a larger technological and economic shift to a paperless society which means no more crews hoisting and removing advertisements from

billboards and that they give advertisers more flexibility.

On the safety of electronic billboards within the FCT, the FCT Commandant, Federal Road Corps Service, Mr. said that the Commission has not received any news of accident caused by such billboards so far.

“Our men are more committed than ever and get to accidents scenes in time, if there was any accident caused by such electronic billboards I would have been informed”.

The FRSC boss enthused.

The public relations officer (PRO) of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council in charge of mounting of billboards, Mr Infeanyi Ughamadu, said the department ensures that all

“

In the beginning, we entertained the fear that the country was not ripe for such technology because it has the possibility of distracting motorists, but gradually that fear is ebbing because we have to move with the world as a developing nation Technology at its best? A billboard advertising a brand

Beauty personified

out- door advertisement firms follow due process before they are allowed to mount any billboard in the city. “They are mounted in strategic locations to pass the message they carry”.

In the beginning, we entertained the fear that the country was not ripe for such technology because it has the possibility of distracting motorists, but gradually that fear is ebbing because we have to move with the world as a developing nation.

He said that with the introduction of electronic billboard, signboards of shops and offices that were indiscriminately planted by the roads side leading to roads and streets within the FCT have been cleared.

“Such traditional billboards make streets look dirty, giving way to all sorts of posters to be placed on them”.

No matter the stance of anybody on the issue of electronic bill boards, the fact remains that with technology taking over the world, these innovations to the advert business has come to stay. May be with time, man would be able to develop a means to eliminate the danger element inherent in them.

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Good manners: Significance and the repercussion of otherwise Allah says: “Ye have indeed In the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is In Allah and the final Day, and who engages much In the Praise of Allah.” [al-Ahzab: 21] The Apostle of Allah said: “The most complete in faith are those best in their character, those who are easy to socialize with, and those who get along with others and others get along with them. There is no good in the one who cannot get along with others and others cannot get along with him.” (alBukhari and al-Tirmidhi)

I

n the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All Praise is due to Allah, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds.

Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, is His servant, and messenger. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon His last and final Apostle, his Household, his companions and all his followers until the end of time.

Today I will be talking to you on something very vital, but which a lot of people take for granted to the extent of discarding it for a while. Here I want specifically talk on the main causes of the deterioration and lagging behind of the northerners, most especially the Muslims lot. I want to talk on good manners and conducts generally amongst Muslims particularly of the northern extraction. Long before the occupation of the slave hunters; the so-called colonialists, the north was a better place to live and die! People here are measured and honoured, not by the heap of wealth they stashed or hoard, the number of estates in choice areas they owned, but the consistent of the good manners and characters they demonstrate. Families are respected here because of their ability to conduct themselves in a refined manners envied by all; they were loved and adored because of their interpersonal relationship.

Some of these traits were not that difficult to take after them; not at all!Our parents lived with their parents in a manner that was governed with tenderness and respect.

They also honouredtheir neighbours, displaying that acceptability and

openness, assuring them safety direct influence of their belief; and protection. There was that Islam! Their outer expressions feeling of trust, security and were the correct translations of reassurance, regardless of tribal the their inner feelings. They or religious leanings. There was exhibited utmost pity. The cordiality and trust when buying or selling with all and sundry.

The Yoruba and the Igbo pagans

By Husain Zakariyya then, were very Yawale confortable to conduct their +234-8052952900 (sms only) trading with islamexplained35@yahoo.com a n y northerners; the Hausas and the Messenger of Allah was once Fulanis who were the largest asked was asked about piety, and residents then. he replied, "Piety is to show good Let me go directly to the main manners." (Muslim) He was causes of the their influences and asked about the deed on account to some extent their domination of which most people will enter

marched from Arabia to Indonesia, which is now the largest Muslim country in the world population wise. Islam reached Indonesia through M u s l i m merchants not through the Muslim military ( a n o t h e r evidence to debunk the Islam spread by the sword theory). It was only the good manners of the M u s l i m merchants that impressed Indonesians and drove them to appreciating and embracing Islam. It was all because of the honesty, integrity and professionalism of these Muslim

emirs or Ulama'as that has the willpower and determination to defend them.

If we truly want regain our place in this millennium, we still can do; re-tread the same path of our predecessor of good tradition and habit.

The Qur'an says: “Because Allah will never change the Grace which He hath bestowed on a people until They change what is In their (own) souls: and Verily Allah is He who heareth and knoweth (All things).” [al-Anfaal: 53] And: “…Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until They change it themselves (with their own souls). but when (once) Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will They find, besides

of other minorities living with them either as natural neighbours or as good settlers.It was the moment and space perfectly described by Allah in His book, thus, “Allah sets forth a Parable: a City enjoying security and abundantly supplied with sustenance from every place: yet was it ungrateful for the of Allah. so Allah made it taste of hunger and terror (in extremes) (closing In on like a garment (from every side), because of the (evil) which (its people) wrought.” [al-Nahl: 112] Those were the days when the northern Muslims were exemplary Muslim in all their dealings and behaviours. The days when Muslims in this part of the world were proud to be called or described as Muslims.

Their dresses and conducts were

traders.

Similarly, Islam did not fight the non Muslim during the Dan Fodio revivalism. He fought and brought back the pseudoMuslims into the realm of the true Islam. And it was their change in both orientation and behaviours that made them raised their heads above all Nigerians at that time. Anything less than that is tantamount to destruction and second class placement.

Today the north, especially the Muslims, have become worse than their slaves during the slavery days. They have become herds without shepherd; a leaderless big community with no savior. It is unfortunate that today despite all the trashes that are stacked on the Muslims, no one from the so-called leaders or

him, any to protect.” (ar-Ra'ad: 11) Thus, we must not fill haughty to return to Allah and practice Islam as taught by both the Qur'an and the Sunnah, thinking that it is too late; nay!

Allah is ever willing to accept our repentance and to align us onto the path of recovery and eventual grip to both power and glory, once more, and for as long as we can keep the promise.

Hence, we are in need of emulating the Prophet (SAW) in his character when we deal with both Muslims and non-Muslims so that we may win them over, in addition, the non-Muslims can be educated about the true message of Islam.

May Allah in His infinite mercy guide us aright to the path of good manners and behaviours, again! Amin

ISLAM EXPLAINED

paradise, he said, "Fear of Allah and good manners." (al-Bukhari and al-Tirmidhi) Having seen this, we can easily understand thatgood manners are essential to be able to win over people including your enemies. But as soon we change our behavior contrary to the teachings and Sunnah of our Prophet, we will not only dislocate our superiority, but we will plummet to the bottom of all affairs. We must not change our glorious days of our history as a nation with empty fame and materialism. Bad manners are the exact outcome of sinful and iniquitous life.

We need to work hard to change ourselves and personify the good manners of Islam.

History has documented that there were no Muslim armies that

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

On November 2011, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state disbursed a total sum of N1.6 billion for the execution of various developmental projects across the 17 local government areas of the state. By the end of February, barely four months after the disbursement, a project monitoring committee set up by the governor to ensure the execution of the projects, headed by Mohammed Lamin, Commissioner for Energy and Transport has completed inspection tour of projects sites in the local governments. In this Interview with Peoples Daily’s Godswill Uche, Lamin spoke on what they saw among other issues.

Excerpts:

I

t has been 4 months since Governor Gaidam disbursed sums of money to the chairmen of local governments for the execution of some developmental projects. As chairman of the project monitoring committee set up to ensure that these projects are executed what are your observations?

Yes, our job is to make sure that these projects which were originally planned by the local governments themselves were actually executed at the various places indicated for them. We have gone round, we have seen and I can assure you that the local governments have kept to their original plans. They have constructed several health dispensaries and clinics and we appreciated the quality of works done, and those we are not satisfied with, we told them openly about our misgivings. We then showed them how they should go about executing the mandate and they have followed our guide lines We are glad to inform that many of these projects have been completed and being put to use by the people.

Looking at the time frame these numerous projects were initiated and some already completed, what is the prospect for government in the state delivering on dividends of democracy to the people by the present administration?

Honestly, if these programmes are sustained for the remaining tenure of Gaidam’s administration in Yobe, which is about three years from now, I can confidently tell you that there will not be a village in any of the local governments without a project

PAGE 27

Gaidam out to improve on the lives of Yobe citizens –Commissioner executed to the delight and benefit of the people in that community. This is because the projects are spread across the entire state and by the end of Gaidam’s present tenure in office, there will be no village or settlement that have a population of 100 people without a health clinic, dispensary, school and portable water which remains major demands and concern by the people.

Maintenance culture has remained a big challenge in not only Yobe state but the entire country. What are your recommendations to the local government chairmen on how best to safeguard and maintain these facilities?

There are two aspects of this.

Firstly, we go out to tell the people in the localities where these projects are located that the projects remains their properties and that they should not allow anybody to tamper or damage them because if this happens, they will be the ones to suffer from the loss. They listen to us and accept our recommendations to the extent that some of them are already contributing money to guard against vandalisation or destruction of these facilities by individuals or group of people.

On the part of the local governments, we have been telling them that with time, there will be wears and tears of these facilities and that they should be ready to take care of these facilities by way of repairs in cases of breakdowns or damages in future and they have agreed. We have equally assured them that the state government will assist them to maintain these facilities so that the people they are meant to benefit would reap the benefits at the end of the day. So I believe that as time goes on, we may not find ourselves committing our funds into new projects of this same nature. We will be concerned only with the maintenance of the existing ones.

One of the water pumps constructed in Gujba local governmet area of Yobe state Now the communities in the local governments will soon have schools, clinics and dispensaries. It is one thing to construct and provide facilities and another thing to make them functional for the full benefit of the people. What is your advice to the governments concerned?

We have been telling the local governments that all these facilities should be furnished and put to use and to be frank with you, during the course of our inspection tour of the local government areas, we have seen drugs purchased and being distributed to the various dispensaries and health clinics across the local governments and we praised and urged them to continue with what they were doing. They will be rendering

A dispensary in one of the remote villages under construction

these services to the people and we on our part will continue to maintain the purchase and distribution of drugs in line with Governor Gaidam’s directive that women, especially pregnant ones and children below the age of five are given these drugs free of charge, and I am happy to tell you that the local government chairmen are obeying this directive.

It is on record that in order to continue with the policy of free medical services to pregnant women and children below the age of five, the state government made a standing payment of N20 million monthly and in this regard a total sum of about N480 million have so far been expended since the inception of the free drugs programme. When it comes to road construction, government

has within just about nine months of assumption of office, awarded contract for the construction of roads amounting to N19.7 billion. In education, government has paid the sum of N700 million as school fees for students of Yobe State origin in the Turkish International Colleges located in Kano, Abuja, Mamudo in Yobe state and the Universities in which Yobe students are studying in Turkey.

It is also on record that from the inception of this administration to date, about 5,000 unemployed youths have been trained at the General Sani Abacha Institute of Youth Development Centre, Kano on various productive skills and trades such as Computer studies, fashion design and tailoring, furniture making among others.

What does this interest and concern for the provision of infrastructure and social amenities across the state tell about the personality of Governor Gaidam?

They are proofs that he is a kind-hearted individual who puts the betterment of the lives of his people first. Someone who is very eager to improve on the lives of the citizens by way of providing health care facilities, education to their children, constructing roads to make lives easier for the people especially in the rural areas, empowering the youths in the state to make them gainfully employed or fully self reliant in whatever they do.

Indeed, he has tried and continues to do his best to assist the people of Yobe state.

All his actions and utterances are all geared towards giving a better life to the average citizen of Yobe state

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Nigeria’s battle for stability (III)

By John Campbell

B

oko Haram is often translated from Hausa, a major West African language, to mean "Western education is evil." Originally, the name referred to followers of Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic Islamic preacher who was murdered by police during a 2009 uprising. (The group generally referred to itself as The Movement for Sunna and Jihad.) Now, the term "Boko Haram" is used mostly by the media and security services to label loosely organized groups in northern Nigeria waging war against the federal government.

What appears to hold these groups together is support for sharia and, for some, a millenarian version of Islam. However, the label implies more coherence in this grassroots movement than probably exists.

Daily attacks on politicians, soldiers, police, bars and churches, particularly since Jonathan's inauguration in May 2011, have led British prime minister David Cameron and AFRICOM commanding general Carter Hamm to suggest counterterrorism assistance.

They are concerned that Boko Haram may establish links with alQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab in Somalia. Suicide is cultural anathema in West Africa.

Hence, to many, a suicide bombing indicated influences from outside the region. There is also concern about Boko Haram's apparently new access to sophisticated weapons and bomb-making technology.

Waves of radical, eschatological and millenarian Islamic revival occur intermittently in northern Nigeria, especially during periods of alienation and hardship such as now. Until recently, this anger normally has been directed against the indigenous, corrupt political and religious establishment that exploits the poor and is perceived as un-Islamic. Some militants seek to establish the kingdom of God on Earth and justice as defined by sharia law. In their efforts to achieve such an outcome, uprisings can be quite bloody. The Maitatsine uprising centered in Kano during the early 1980s, which claimed five thousand lives, superficially resembles aspects of Boko Haram.

This tradition animates Boko Haram, its founder Mohammed Yusuf and his followers.

Yusuf, a young, charismatic Islamic preacher based at the Railroad Mosque in Maiduguri, initially led a somewhat pacifist community of thousands of university graduates, high-school dropouts and political figures, as well as the impoverished and uneducated. Like many, he and his followers welcomed the imposition of sharia law in 1999 in twelve Nigerian states. But they were disappointed and disillusioned by its lackadaisical enforcement by secular authorities. In 2009, Yusuf launched an insurrection against the secular state, ostensibly prompted by the killing of some of his followers in a dispute with police. Hundreds, if not thousands,

Boko Haram leader, Late Mohammed Yusuf were killed on both sides before the army suppressed the insurrection.

The army captured Yusuf and turned him over to the police. The police then murdered him and his father-in-law while they were in custody. Yusuf's surviving followers went underground and turned to field preaching.

Probably small in number, these groups appear to have won much wider public support.

When they can, they murder government officials and members of those parts of the Islamic establishment that they see as allied with Abuja. They attack venues of un-Islamic behavior, especially bars and brothels, and rob banks to distribute the proceeds to the poor (doubtless keeping some for themselves).

Yusuf's disciples have repudiated the sultan of Sokoto and the emirs of Kano and Zaria because of their support for Jonathan in the 2011 elections.

They have also claimed

responsibility for the murder of the brother of the shehu of Borno, the second-ranking Islamic traditional ruler. In addition to the UN bombing, people claiming to be Boko Haram spokesmen also took credit for a June 2011 bomb attack on the Abuja headquarters of the national police. They have never attacked schools, despite their hostility toward Western education. In the past, they attacked churches and murdered clergy, but most of their violence has been perpetrated against other Muslims. However, attacks on Christian churches appear to be escalating; a few months ago a church in an Abuja suburb was bombed on Christmas Day and similar attacks occurred elsewhere during the Christmas-New Year holiday.

Since Mohammed Yusuf's death, his followers have had no charismatic leader. They appear to be part of a wider, highly diffuse structure composed of religious

Inspector General of Police, Mohammmed Dahiru Abubakar

fanatics, criminals and political thugs with no politburo or other governing body. Their stated goals include punishment of Yusuf's murderers, recompense for property destroyed by the security services and establishment of Islamic law throughout Nigeria. In the aftermath of the April 2011 elections, some may have links with parts of the traditional establishment and possibly some mid-level political figures that fear marginalization. The security services' heavy-handed response to unrest in Maiduguri and elsewhere, resulting as it did in many deaths, doubtless swelled the ranks of Boko Haram groups.

Indeed, violence and unrest have become widespread enough in the North to look like something of a popular insurrection, but it does not seem to be centrally organized or tied to international terrorism. Yusuf's disciples and other radical millenarian Islamic groups in northern Nigeria are inward looking. Their concerns are local, and their hostility is toward state governments, Jonathan's secular federal government and brutish police behavior.

They feed off bad government and the collapsing economy.

With its oil, ongoing peacekeeping efforts and robust population growth, Nigeria continues to be an important international player despite dangerous North-South polarization, sectarian conflict and simmering insurrections.

Given this reality, the Obama administration should continue, and perhaps even enhance, its normal diplomatic dialogue with Abuja. But the administration must recognize the reality that Nigeria is a weak state with a largely unresponsive government that faces significant domestic opposition. The result is that it has only a very limited ability to serve as a diplomatic partner.

That is why the United States must maintain good diplomatic relations with a predominately southern, Christian administration without appearing to favor one religious, regional or sectarian group over another. In Nigeria, there is the presumption that Jonathan was Washington's candidate, which he fostered with his electoral base. He displayed a campaign billboard showing him standing next to President Obama with the slogan, "Yes We Can, Sir!" The United States should work to dispel this presumption and cease seeming to court Jonathan, who has been received twice by President Obama since becoming acting president. The White House should also drop its rhetoric about the virtues of the 2011 elections, which are often overstated. They grate on Nigerians who know better and alienate many in the North.

In addition, the Obama administration should engage in targeted outreach to Nigerian Muslims. To begin, it should treat Muhammadu Buhari, the most credible opposition leader in Nigeria, as it does the leaders of the opposition in other friendly states.

He should be publicly received in

Washington at an appropriately high level. Despite the costs and risks, the United States should proceed to establish a consulate in Kano, the metropolis and cultural center of the Islamic North, where it can build a stronger relationship with a region that has received too little Western attention in the past.

Affiliation with Nigerian security agencies should be treated extremely carefully. Just as alQaeda has fed off the resentment of many Saudis over the U.S. military presence in their country, Nigerian radicals in the North likely would do the same.

The administration also should be outspoken about security-service abuses against civilians and publicly raise questions about official investigations of postelectoral violence-especially if there are signs of a cover-up.

Nevertheless, support for training of the army and the police, especially improving their ability to conduct investigations and interact with the communities in which they work, could, over the long term, reduce animosity between security services and Nigerian civilians.

Nigerians often identify corruption as their nation's greatest challenge. Many of the most notoriously corrupt have residences and other assets in the United States, and they value their ability to visit, often for long periods.

The Obama administration should make greater use of the visa-sanction tool against those who use their official position for personal gain.

Such an approach would be highly popular with Nigerians, most of whom are struggling to feed their families rather than shopping on Rodeo Drive.

For the first time since the 1967-70 civil war, Nigerians in all parts of the country-not only in the North-are questioning whether their country can hold together. It is very much in the U.S. interest that it does. A fragmentation of Nigeria would likely lead to ethnic and religious clashes and shifts in population that would constitute a humanitarian disaster, perhaps recalling the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan or the more recent breakup of Yugoslavia. It would be inherently destabilizing for Nigeria's small and weak neighbors. It would certainly provide a new scope for the operations of international terrorism. In the words of the supporters of the federal government during the Nigerian civil war: "It is a task that needs to be done, to keep Nigeria one." True, given commitments elsewhere, a weak economy and a divided government, the United States faces limits in its ability to influence events in Nigeria. But U.S. policy makers should look at the long term and cultivate close relations with those working to keep Nigeria together and on a path to democracy.

Concluded.

John Campbell is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He served as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 29

The day Prince Harry beat Usain Bolt in 100m sprint in Jamaica W

hen you are facing the fastest man who has ever lived in a 20 yard dash then there is only one thing for it.

Cheat.

Not the most sporting option, admittedly. But the grin on Prince Harry’s face as he crossed the finishing line ahead of world record holder Usain Bolt in Jamaica yesterday said it all.

The two men met at an athletics track in the capital Kingston on the first of a four day visit to the Caribbean Island on behalf of the Queen.

Harry had already privately admitted to being slightly nervous at the showdown with Bolt, who is royalty in his home country. And with good reason.

The poster boy of athletics holds five world records and three Olympic golds.

His 9.58 second time in the 100m is unlikely to be beaten for some time – if ever. He also holds the world record over 200m of 19.9.

Called to the starting blocks to limber up, Harry – who was sportingly wearing a tracksuit, running top and trainers in the Jamaican national colours of black,

gold and green – took a cheeky sidelong look at his rival and then sprinted off before the officials could even utter the words ‘ready, steady go’.

To Bolt’s astonishment, he jumped the gun and hared down the track roaring with laughter, flinging his arms out in triumph as he crossed the finish line - and leaving one of the finest athletes the world has ever seen jogging helplessly after him with his hands in the air in mock indignation.

Aides insisted that the race hadn’t been stunted. ‘It was just a spur of the moment thing,’ said one.

‘Prince Harry just went with it.

That’s what he is like.’

Fortunately the champion’s ego wasn’t remotely dented and the pair hugged and slapped each other’s backs as they walked, laughing, back to the start.

To make up for his trick, Harry good naturedly agreed to mimic the track star’s famous ‘lightning Bolt’ pose for the cameras.

‘Come on man, let’s do it,’ the prince laughed.

Afterwards Bolt told the Mail: ‘Yeah, man, he cheated. He knew he couldn’t beat me but wanted to go

Taking gold: Prince Harry leaves Usain Bolt in his wake as he races him in Jamaica

All systems go: Both Harry and Usain burst out of the traps

Ready: The Prince Harry concentrates in the blocks against Usain Bolt at the University of the West Indies

This is how it's done: Bolt shows Harry how to pull off his trademark celebration

back to London saying he did. I’ve told him I want a rematch at London 2012 but Harry said ‘I’m busy’.

‘It was good, though. He cheated, but it is good, he was cool.

He is very down to earth and charming. It was an honour and a pleasure to meet him. He is a really laid back guy, a wonderful person.

He is professional but no like a lot of the dignitaries you meet.

‘I’m the still the fastest man in the world, so he still has a long way to go.

‘I told him that he better make time for a rematch. Because it’s on.’

Harry is half way through his first week-long visit on behalf of the Queen, to mark her Diamond Jubilee, and has already taken in Belize and the Bahamas.

He was visiting the Usain Bolt Track at the University of the West Indies to pass on the monarch’s best wishes to the Jamaican national

team ahead of the London Olympics.

In a question and answer session before the race, Harry and Bolt appeared to get on famously, teasing each other mercilessly.

Bolt told the prince that he had been told to let him win, while Harry, 27, on learning that the athlete was two years younger than him, replied: ‘Yeah, well I was in my prime at 25.’

The prince also wished the Jamaican team luck and promised to meet them in the Athlete’s Village over the summer, saying: ‘You should be massively proud of your country and of him.

‘I know that when I was at school sport was the best thing, being stuck in a classroom wasn’t. I probably shouldn’t have said that!

If you have got talent use it and don’t go running off to America because you have a clear talent your country needs.’

Pointing to Bolt and rolling his eyes he added: ‘And they tell me that this man hasn’t even reached his full potential yet.’

It was clear that Harry is something of a fan of the champion as, after the race, he pulled out a giant poster of a horse for him to sign.

Aides revealed that the prince has bought a 100th share in a racehorse with some friends that he has, amusingly, called Usain Colt.

The three-year-old bay male – whose sire is Royal Applause - won its maiden race at Newbury last October and is being trained by Richard Hannon, one of the Queen’s trainers.

The syndicate which owns the horse includes Harry’s pals Guy Pelly, Jake Warren (son of the Queen’s racing manager) and folk star Marcus Mumford.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Insight: Nigeria oil corruption highlighted by audits J

olted by a public outcry since the start of the year, Nigeria’s government has announced a series of measures to address oil industry corruption in the world’s eighth biggest producer. It is an issue that may come to define Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency.

An important supplier to the United States because of the oil’s high gasoline content, Nigeria has attracted billions of dollars of investments from the world’s top oil companies. Yet poverty in Africa’s second biggest economy is rising, with almost 100 million people living on less than $1 a day, data released last month shows.

The percentage of Nigerians living in absolute poverty - those who can afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing - has risen to around 60 percent.

Two recent audits of the oil industry reviewed by Reuters show billions of dollars in irregularities despite years of government promises to clean it up.

In January hundreds of thousands of Nigerians took part in the biggest protests in the history of Africa’s most populous nation. Sparked by a hike in statesubsidised petrol prices, the protests were fuelled by anger at the graft that has for decades channeled oil wealth into the pockets of a minority. Corruption has left oil-dependent Nigeria unable to cater for its basic health, infrastructure or education needs.

Goodluck Jonathan won a presidential election last year that observers said was Nigeria’s cleanest since the end of military rule in 1999. Many voters had hopes that he would root out corruption. Amongst the actions announced by Oil Minister Diezani Allison-Madueke in January was the hiring of two accounting firms to audit the industry.

But even as the minister was announcing the new measures, auditors working for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) a government-funded watchdog were winding up another investigation into the oil industry.

That study, examining the period 2006-2008, was sent to the relevant government authorities at the end of January. A copy reviewed by Reuters is likely to add to the pressure on Jonathan for reform. It lists discrepancies and shows billions of dollars missing from Nigeria’s oil revenues.

THE MISSING BILLIONS Getting a clear picture of how much money Nigeria has lost to corruption over the years is almost impossible. The system is hemorrhaging cash in so many places that accountants often struggle to make sense of it all. The state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), does not measure its output. The government estimates that

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke

NNPC GMD, Austen Oniwon

average output is 2 million to 2.6 million barrels of oil a day, making Nigeria Africa’s biggest producer.

“Right now, no one can tell you exactly how much of our crude is extracted from our soil,” said Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who sits on the board of directors of NEITI. “We depend on records from the oil companies. That clearly has to change.”

The NEITI audit shows some startling gaps: $540 million missing from $1.675 billion in signature bonuses - these are advance payments to develop fields, a standard producer country demand. Then there’s 3.1 million barrels of oil missing from NNPC declarations about its joint ventures compared with the figures released by NNPC’s international partners. That equates to 0.25 percent of the output. NNPC also received $3.789 billion in dividends from Nigeria LNG, a liquefied natural gas venture over the 2006-2008 period, but there is no record of those dividends being paid into the federal accounts.

An NNPC spokesman did not respond to requests to explain the irregularities listed in the report in detail. The firm denies malpractice. When asked about corruption last month, NNPC managing director Austin Oniwon replied that the issue was overblown. “Corruption in NNPC is in the imagination of some people,” he said.

The NEITI report says foreign oil majors may have underpaid royalties “of $2.33 billion arising from subjective interpretation of

declared full in order to claim subsidies but are really half empty, having sold to Nigeria’s neighbours where prices are higher.

“Some of the issues that were revealed were shocking,” the head of the House of Representatives fuel subsidy probe, Farouk Lawan, said. He added government officials had understated NNPC payments by billions of naira. Daily consumption of petrol is 35 million litres, yet importers were being paid for 59 million litres a day.

“That means subsidy is being paid on 24 million litres but is not being consumed by Nigerians,” he said. “Either those products were not brought in or they were brought in and diverted or ... smuggled out. Most likely a combination.”

Asked about the KPMG report in January, President Jonathan pointed out that he had set the investigation in motion. “If there are queries, we further those queries to them (the NNPC) to answer. If people have been found to be corrupt, the law will take its own course.”

INVESTIGATION, INACTION At Nigeria’s annual oil and gas conference in Abuja at the end of last month, oil men traded business cards with Nigerian politicians. The talk was all optimism, offshore oil platforms and new pipeline technologies.

“Corruption is on everybody’s minds but nobody’s lips,” said Bismarck Rewane of Lagos consultancy Financial Derivatives.

Asked at the conference about corruption, Oil Minister Allison-

volume, pricing,” and grading variables. “We are questioning the basis of those calculations,” Orji explained. “They are not calculated on the basis of empirical fact. And there is connivance by officials.”

Foreign firms also seemed to have underpaid petroleum profit tax by over $1 billion, NEITI said.

The report recommended a review of the tax returns of Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Exxon officials were not immediately available to comment. A Chevron spokesman said the firm “complies with all laws and regulations in the locations where we operate, as a matter of long-standing policy Chevron does not release specific financial details.”

The NEITI audit has only just been delivered to the government.

Another audit, this time by KPMG and focusing on the state oil firm, was delivered to the oil ministry in Nov 2010. The government has not published it. A copy reviewed

by Reuters shows similar practices. It notes that NNPC invoices for domestic crude in U.S. dollars but pays the government in naira and that “exchange rates used by NNPC were lower than (those) ... published by the CBN (central bank)”, causing a loss of 86.2 billion naira to the treasury from 2007 to 2009.

KPMG also said fuel subsidy claims were based on unverified declarations of fuel imported or refined rather than actual retail sales at pump stations. Analysts say this highlights a scam: fuel import ships - operated by private importers, not just the NNPC - are

Madueke said the government was “mindful of the challenges still within the sector ... financial leakages and other deep-rooted inefficiencies,” and that “there is undoubtedly a need for change.”

Nkem Onyikawa, managing partner of one of the firms involved in a new oil audit, Sada, Idris and Co. said the work would be finished within nine months.

Allison-Madueke has also set up three committees to look into bottlenecks to oil reform, including one to hurry up an oil bill seen as vital to transparency that has been stuck for years.

“Several panels and committees have been set up to reform the petroleum industry, and over the years many of these efforts have been stalled,” AllisonMadueke said in a recent speech.

Graft has not deterred oil firms from doing business in Nigeria.

Last month Exxon signed a 20year license on a field that makes up nearly a quarter of Nigeria’s output.

A foreign oil executive summed it up thus: “Ideally what you want is a clean and transparent oil business, but failing that you want a business where you know the rules and how to play by them.”

Last week James Ibori, the former governor of an oilproducing state, pleaded guilty in a London court to corruption, a development many Nigerians welcomed but which highlighted something: No such successful prosecution of a senior figure has happened on home soil.

Source: Reuters

PAGE 31

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Syrian government will engage in a national dialogue with unarmed patriotic opposition- Envoy INTERVIEW

T

he world dominant and largely western media portrait of Syria is one of inhabitable human carnage. What is the real and current situation in Syria?

Such carnage can only exist in the minds of those who are fabricating it; and who used to commit carnages against the peoples of the world, or those who repress their own people and prohibit them from organizing a small peaceful demonstration. Everybody remembers the history of colonialism, and everybody knows that some royal Arab regimes consider any demonstration as a mischief on earth and an abomination deeds from Satan. Therefore, those are not qualified to talk about Syria, and if they persist to talk we just ask them to be a little objective and honest.

The situation generally is not as negative as what some satellite channels broadcast, those channels are funded by well-known countries (which are not only) part of the problem in Syria, but also a key complicit of what’s going on.

These satellite channels like Aljazeera, Alarabiyah, BBC, France 24, CNN etc do not work with professionalism and honesty in describing the events in Syria, rather they always exaggerate the events, and they completely biased to the extremist religious armed groups.

During interrogation with some of the people who provide false information about the events in Syria, they confessed that they always exaggerate about the real situation, and telling lies, accusing the Syrian Law Enforcement Units with committing violence, based on the request from these satellite channels, which in return provide them with satellite phones to enable them carry out their media misinformation; however, some of them confessed about fabricating pictures of demonstrations in some countries, and claim it’s done in Syria, while some of them confessed that they always accuse Law Enforcement Units with violence, killing and mutilation, which was carried out by the religious armed groups.

The situation currently in Syria is going in two interconnected ways: Apursuing the reforms program according to the road map which was introduced by President Bashar Assad, and up-to-date the

Since March, last year when Syrians demanded for Political reforms, many waters have passed under the bridge. Armed groups have hijacked the original peaceful protests, while Western powers in concert with their regional allies have continued to exert heavy pressure by mobilising military support for the armed insurgents as they did in Libya, with an open agenda of regime change in Damascus. In the first ever media engagement, the Syria’s embassy head of mission in Abuja, Dr. Abdulhamid Salloun spoke to special correspondent, Charles Onunaiju on the current situation in his country and other issues, Excerpts:

President Bashar al-Assad

following have been achieved: • Abolition of emergency law • Passing a law on media • Passing a law of political parties • Passing a law of local administration.

• New constitution, which was approved during a referendum carried out on 26/ 02/2012 with about 89.4% B. extending the state authority in every inch of Syria, especially those areas described as hot zones, where extremist religious armed groups operate, among them Alqaeda which was responsible for suicide bombing attacks in Damascus and Aleppo; the Americans also acknowledged that.

These hot zones are exclusively in Homs which is close to Lebanese border, and in Idlib close to Turkish border, where armed groups carried out all acts of violence, killing, kidnapping, bombing, destroying the infrastructure, and the Syrian people really appealed to the Govt. to put an end to these armed groups that spoil their lives, and it’s the state responsibility to protect its citizens.

You’ve just held a

referendum on the new constitution which was overwhelmingly approved

by Syrians yet the armed groups remained uninterested. What measure will you take to bring them on board of the inclusive agenda?

Yes, as I mentioned, a new modern constitution that’s unparalleled, unprecedented, in any other country in the region, has been agreed upon.

Moreover, the new constitution provides a multiparty and political system, in addition to two terms only for president, who is to be elected directly by the people, and based on this new constitution there will be a multiparliamentarian election

before summer; which was preceded by a local administration elections took place couple months ago in a free, fair and very transparent manner. Things like this can never be found in any country in the region. As for the armed groups, these are committing all vicious and criminal acts, not only to abort the constitution and reforms, but even to destroy the whole state of Syria; and it’s agreed upon that whoever raises arms against state or government anywhere, should be confronted by the same way.

The Syrian Government is counting on the peaceful unarmed patriotic opposition who reject all kinds of foreign interference in the Syrian

“

The new constitution provides a multi-party and political system, in addition to two terms only for president, who is to be elected directly by the people

internal affairs whatsoever, to hold national dialogue with, for solving the problem, and not on the armed groups led by foreign parties hostile to Syria.

What in your view is the West, Arab League and Turkey’s strategic interest in plotting and orchestrating regime change in Damascus when the dust of such convolution have not settled in Libya These parties that you mentioned are implementing a premeditated agenda to blow Syria, and they think by doing so, it will be easier to strike Iran and subsequently obliterate the resistance in Lebanon and in Palestine, and thus redraw new political realities in the region which will put an end to all Arab issues in favor of Israel and its supporters in the region and beyond.

Most of Africa is rather watching events in your country with distant interest. What obvious lessons can they learn from the unremitting pressure of your country?

Syria shares with the African brothers a long history of struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination, and was always a stubborn supporter of Africa in the UN, in their struggle for liberation and independence. I think the lesson that can be learned is that colonial powers cannot be trusted, and they might do anything at any time for their own interest and agendas, they don’t have permanent friends, they have permanent interests.

Nigeria and Syria have stable even though modest bilateral relation. In times like this for Syria what does Damascus expect from Abuja Nigeria is a very important country in Africa, and it can play a role through its position in the international organizations by calling on the non-interference in the Syrian internal affairs, and by calling the armed groups to stop violence as a way of change, and also calling the Syrian opposition to accept dialogue for reaching a peaceful solution, as the problem in Syria cannot be solved but through political dialogue.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 32

Senegal’s presidential runoff set for March 25

S

enegal's presidential round runoff between the incumbent Abdoulaye Wade and his former prime minister Macky Sall will be held March 25, the country's electoral commission has announced. Under the constitution, the second round must take place on the third Sunday following the last date for publication of the result.

Wade, who has been in power for 12 years and is bidding for a third term in office a move that has triggered weeks of sometimes deadly protests, won 34.8 percent of the vote in the first round, according to provisional results.

President Wade won 34 percent but failed to secure an outright majority in the first round of his much disputed third term bid.

His former premier-turnedchallenger Macky Sall, 50, won 26.5 percent. Turnout stood at 51.5 percent.

The poll-linked violence has claimed between six and 15 lives, according to various sources. The Senegalese Red Cross said it had treated 153 people for injuries in less than a month.

However; both candidates have

already started conversing for votes from political groups, but analyst says it would not be an easy ride for Wade who bid has been rejected by anti -government protesters and civil society organizations.

Ivorian PM, Soro, resigns – Source

I

vory Coast's prime minister resigned yesterday to make way for the formation of a broader coalition government, an official told Reuters.

The departure of Guillaume Soro will allow President Alassane Ouattara to keep his campaign promise by appointing a prime minister from the former ruling PDCI party of Henri Konan Bedie, who backed him in the second round of the 2010 election.

Soro's Forces Nouvelles rebel group and former president Bedie backed Ouattara in the aftermath of the disputed election and the fourmonth post-election conflict which ended in April last year with the capture of former leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo is being held at The Hague's international crimes tribunal where he faces war crimes charges.

"The entire government will resign today," an adviser to Soro said, requesting not to be named.

Local media and the government's newspaper said it will resign after a cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

Soro, 39, has held the position of prime minister for five years, first under a unity government with Gbagbo.

He is expected to take the helm of the national assembly - the second most powerful position in the country after the president following his election as member of parliament in December.

Tribal clashes leave eight dead in South Sudan The campaign for the run-off vote will start as soon as final results have been published, or Thursday at the latest.

Three killed in Burundi attack: police

G

unmen shot dead two policemen at a checkpoint near Burundi's capital late on Wednesday and one attacker was killed in an exchange of fire, police said, the latest in a series of incidents stoking fears of a new insurgency.

Burundi, a small coffeegrowing central African

country, has enjoyed relative peace since the Hutu rebel group, Forces for National Liberation (FNL), laid down its weapons and joined the government in 2009 after almost two decades of war.

The attack took place in the western district of Gihanga, about 20 km (13 miles) outside the capital Bujumbura, not far

from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Armed men with the intention of looting houses opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing two of the security officers," said police spokesman Elie Bizindavyi. "In the exchange of fire, one of the attackers was also killed."

Viral video shines spotlight on hunt for Kony

A

n online video drawing attention to the case of alleged war criminal Joseph Kony has gone viral, and provoked lively debate over the activities of the US-based group which made it.

The 30-minute film, which calls for the Ugandan rebel leader to be arrested, had attracted more than 15 million views yesterday

just three days after it was uploaded.

A hashtag promoting the video was also trending worldwide on Twitter, with US celebrities Rihanna and P Diddy and Australian cricketer Shane Warne among those posting links to the film.

KONY 2012 was posted by Invisible Children, a US non-profit organisation based in San Diego,

The LRA chief Joseph Kony, left, remains at large though his rebel army has been virtually defeated (EPA)

California, but with offices in northern Uganda, where Kony's Lord's Resistance Army has waged an armed campaign for more than two decades.

Kony, who started an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in the late 1980s, has been accused of abducting and forcing children to join the LRA, charges that led to his indictment by the International Criminal Court in 2005.

The film opens with the statement: "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." The video depicts the use of child soldiers in conflicts and the suffering they have to endure.

Although 802,562 viewers said they liked the video, 23,483 said they did not - and the success of the film has cast renewed scrutiny on Invisible Children's work.

On its website, Invisible Children says it "uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony's rebel war and restore LRAaffected communities in central Africa to peace and prosperity".

T

raffic along Juba-Ministry road ground to a halt for about two hours Tuesday as hundreds of people in Juba, mainly women demonstrated against what they say is the government's failure to provide adequate security to its citizens. The government says at least eight people were killed in the protests.

At least 8 people died in the three day tribal clashes between the Bari people and apparently Dinka and Nuer people, four of them from one family. Military personnel surrounded the parliament building as some of the demonstrators tried to force their way inside.

"The four babies die and the mother is killed with a knife and the rest are in hospital now and the rest we don't know somewhere that's why we want to meet the speaker," Rose said with tears rolling on her face on a scorching Juba sunshine.

Asked why she came to the demonstration, the sobbing Rose

Benjamin said: "We want the parliament to come for us to meet with us to solve this problem; we want to be separate with these people Dinkas and Nuer. We are fighting because of the problem of land."

The government has not given an official explanation of what started the clashes. South Sudan got its independence July last year after an early referendum in which almost a unanimous vote of Southerners decided to part ways from the Khartoum government. The countries are now in a hot row over oil revenue prompting the South where oil is mined to shut the pipelines.

But the demonstrators accused the government of failing to do anything to end the tribal clashes.

A member of NGO Justice and Democracy Blaise Tombe Fiorentiono who lost four members of his family says soldiers should not be allowed to shoot guns at unarmed citizens.

Women cried and chanted as they walked from Juba'S teaching hospital to the parliament house while the youth carried caskets of their dead to parliament. Demonstrator Rose Benjamin says she came out to tell the government to end the demonstrations.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 33

Syria’s deputy oil minister ‘defects’

A

deputy in Syria's oil ministry, Abdo Hussameldin, has announced his defection in a video posted by activists on YouTube.

If confirmed, Hussameldin would be the highest-ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad's government since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago.

"I, Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in the video.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately

confirmed by Al Jazeera.

Rami, the activist who shot the video and posted it on YouTube yesterday, told the AFP news agency in Beirut that the opposition helped arrange Hussameldin's resignation. He said the video had been shot on Wednesday and that Hussameldin has now gone into hiding, adding that the location of the filming would not be revealed.

Hussameldin denounced Russia and China for backing the regime, saying they were not "friends of the Syrian people, but partners in the killing of the Syrian people".

He said he had served in the Syrian government for 33 years and did not wish to end his life "serving a criminal regime".

"That is why I have joined the right path, knowing that this regime will burn down my house, hunt down my family and fabricate lies," he said.

He advised his colleagues to abandon "this sinking ship".

George Jabbour, who served as an adviser to Assad's father, the former President Hafez al-Assad, told Al Jazeera that Hussameldin's resignation was a "minor phenomenon". He said there were at least 100 deputy ministers in Syria's government and that

Hussameldin was not well known.

"One should not exaggerate the importance of the dissention of the assistant minister of oil," he said.

Assad appointed Hussameldin, 58, through a presidential decree in 2009. Hussameldin said the country's economy was "near collapse". There was no mention of the defection on Syrian state media.

According to the United Nations, more than 7,500 people have died in the government crackdown to put down the revolt that erupted last March.

"I say to this regime: you have inflicted on those who you claim are your people a whole year of sorrow and sadness, denying them basic life and humanity and driving Syria to the edge of the abyss," Hussameldin said.

Wearing a suit and tie, Hussameldin looked relaxed as he looked directly into the camera in a tight head and shoulders shot, appearing to read from a prepared statement on his lap as he sat on a dark grey chair against a yellow background.

Deadline looms for Greek debt deal

P

rivate holders of Greek debt have until later yesterday to decide whether they will take part in a debt-cutting deal to save the country from bankruptcy.

Greece needs at least 75 per cent of bondholders to agree to take a 53.5 per cent cut in the value of their holdings by a 2000GMT deadline, if it is to receive a second bailout.

The package Greece is expected to receive from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) is worth $171bn.

However, Greece first needs the creditors to agree to the debt swap on the $270bn worth of Greek bonds they hold.

Bondholders are also being asked to accept a lower interest rate and give Greece more time to repay them.

Those who hold debt issued under foreign law have until April 11 to decide.

Greece would like to see 90 per cent of private creditors take part, and says it will not go through with the

deal unless at least 75 percent do so.

The offer to exchange the old Greek bonds for the new ones expires late yesterday but some investors are still holding out in the hope that they can find a better deal for themselves.

The EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn has urged private holders to sign up to the debt swap deal.

"It is important that all investors recognise that Europe has committed the maximum funds available to this voluntary debt exchange and that full participation is necessary for the Greek programme to move forward," said Rehn.

Late on Wednesday, the Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents private creditors, said only about half of the creditors had agreed to the debt-cutting deal, even though details of the unprecedented swap have been hammered out during six months of talks between the Greek government and its creditors.

Syria's deputy oil minister, Abdo Hussameldin, announced his resignation in a YouTube video

Australian collar-bomb hoaxer pleads guilty

A

n Australian man has pleaded guilty to chaining a fake bomb to a young woman's neck in an extortion attempt last year.

Paul Douglas Peters' lawyer pleaded guilty on his behalf in a Sydney courtroom yesterday, to a charge of "aggravated break and enter and committing a serious indictable offence" by knowingly detaining 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver.

"Mr. Peters deeply regrets and is profoundly sorry for the impact that this incident has had on Ms Pulver and her family," Kathy Crittenden, the lawyer, told reporters after the hearing.

Peters, an investment banker, appeared in court by video from prison yesterday. He showed no reaction when his lawyer entered the guilty plea.

Pulver was alone studying in her family's Sydney home on August 3 when Peters, wearing a ski mask and wielding a baseball bat, tethered a bomb-like device around her neck.

It took police 10 hours to remove it, but it contained no explosives and Pulver was not injured.

Peters, 51, left behind a note demanding money, along with an email address.

New South Wales state police have said surveillance footage showed Peters in several locations where they believe he accessed the email account.

Peters, who travelled frequently between the United States and Australia on business, fled to the US and was arrested at his former wife's home in Louisville, Kentucky, almost two weeks after the incident.

He was extradited in September to Australia, where he has remained in custody.

US federal court documents show Peters once worked for a company with links to her family, but the Pulvers have repeatedly said they do not know him.

Madeleine Pulver was in court with her parents to hear the plea.

Her father, Bill, thanked police, prosecutors and members of the public for their support, and said the attack remains as mysterious and as "random to us in our minds as it did back on August 3."

Anti-austerity rallies have been common in Greece, since the government introduced severe budget cuts (Reuters)

Madeleine Pulver was detained in her home by Peters with a fake explosive strapped to her neck last year (Reuters)

PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Clinton: UN soldier brought cholera to Haiti?

T

he UN's special envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, said on Wednesday that a member of the global organisation's peacekeeping force was probably responsible for bringing cholera to the Caribbean country, but may not have known that he was doing so.

Clinton was asked after a hospital tour if he agreed with a statement by Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, about holding accountable those who brought cholera to Haiti.

Studies have suggested that peacekeepers from Nepal probably introduced the disease to Haiti for the first time, months after the January 2010 earthquake.

"First of all, the United Nations has spent a great deal of money in Haiti," Clinton told reporters.

"Secondly, I don't know that the person who introduced cholera in Haiti, the UN peacekeeper, or soldier from South Asia, was aware that he was carrying the virus."

Clinton added: "It was the proximate cause of cholera. That is, he was carrying the cholera strain. It came from his waste stream into the waterways of Haiti, into the bodies of Haitians."

But Clinton added that what

Bill Clinton "really caused" the cholera outbreak was the country's lack of proper sanitation.

"Unless we know that he knew or that they knew, the people that sent him, that he was carrying that virus and therefore that he could cause the amount of death and misery and sickness, I think it's better to focus on fixing it," Clinton said.

The former US president made the remarks after he toured a new hospital in the Central Plateau region.

The UN responded to Clinton's comments by saying: "The

Secretary-General set up a panel of experts regarding the cholera outbreak. Their conclusion was that it was not possible to be conclusive about how cholera was introduced into Haiti, that the cholera outbreak was caused by a confluence of factors, and was not the fault of, or deliberate action of a group or individual."

Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and one of the lawyers who has filed claims against the UN on behalf of cholera victims, put the blame on the UN.

Fidel Castro meets with Japanese Peace Activists

T

he leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, held a meeting yesterday at Havana's Conventions Palace with some 770 members of the Cruise for Peace, including ten survivors nuclear attack on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, who visited the Caribbean island as part of an annual world tour in support of peace and denuclearization.

During the meeting, participants heard the harrowing testimony of a victim of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that of a university professor in the Japanese city of Fukushima, which recently witnessed a tragic nuclear accident following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Were also closely followed the experiences of Cuban doctor Julio Medina, who is the Director General of the Hospital in Tarara for the treatment of victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, particularly children.

Also, the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro praised the efforts made by the Japanese activists in disclosing the horrific consequences of the aggression against Hiroshima and

Colombia: Cuba to miss Americas summit

C

Juan Manuel Santos told reporters Washington had insisted Cuba should not attend the OAS summit in Colombia (EPA)

olombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said Cuba will not attend a summit of Americas nations in Colombia next month, following talks with Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana.

The issue of Cuba's possible attendance had threatened to overshadow April's Cartagena summit, with the US insisting that Cuba should not attend, while a Venezuela-led bloc of leftist states said they would boycott the event if Havana was not represented.

The Americas summit usually involves nations who are members of the Organisation of American States (OAS), from which Cuba was

suspended in 1962 because of its communist system.

The OAS voted to lift the ban on Cuban membership in 2009, but Cuba has not rejoined because it says the organisation is heavily influenced by Washington.

But Santos, making the first visit to the island by a Colombian leader in a decade, said Cuba's agreement not to attend had averted a diplomatic showdown.

Santos, who will chair the summit, thanked Castro for saying that he did not want to "create a problem" for Colombia.

"Colombia wants the situation of Cuba and its

participation to be discussed in a constructive manner at the Cartagena Summit," said Santos, whose country is considered Washington's strongest ally in the region.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa had proposed that members of the left-leaning ALBA block of Latin American and Caribbean nations, which also includes Bolivia and Nicaragua, boycott the conference in protest if Cuba was formally excluded.

The leaders of 34 countries in the hemisphere, including US President Barack Obama, are expected to attend.

Annan warns against use of force in Syria

K

ofi Annan, the Arab-UN envoy tasked with finding a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Syria, has warned against military intervention in the country, saying it risks making the conflict worse.

Speaking to reporters at the Arab League in Cairo yesterday, the former UN secretary-general said the solution to the worsening conflict "lies in political settlement" and must be "Syrian-led and Syrian-owned".

He said military intervention had made matters worse in other regional conflicts, though he didn't mention any by name.

"I hope no one is thinking seriously of using force in this situation," Annan said. "As I move to Syria, we will do whatever we can to urge and press for a cessation of hostilities and end to the killing and violence."

Annan is set to arrive in Damascus and begin negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad's government on Sunday.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said clear divisions remained among Arab League countries, some of whom support armed intervention.

"Some have a hawkish stand, Saudi Arabia or perhaps even Qatar, when it comes to arming the Syrian opposition," Rageh said. "If you arm the opposition ... you exacerbate the possibility of an all-out civil war and the biggest risk, of turning Syria into a proxy battlefield for wars in the region."

The United Nations estimates that at least 7,500 people have died since protests first broke out a year ago. The regime responded brutally, enlisting paramilitary militias to attack demonstrators and assaulting opposition neighbourhoods with tanks and artillery. Civilians took up arms and joined with defected soldiers to form rebel units that are now engaged in guerilla warfare with the government.

Valerie Amos, the United Nations' humanitarian chief, said she was "struck" by the devastation she saw during a visit to the shattered city of Homs on Wednesday. Amos was allowed

access to the former rebel district of Bab Amr after the Free Syrian Army withdrew in the face of a nearly month-long artillery barrage and a major government ground assault.

Armed rebels were driven out of Homs but hold other parts of the country (REUTERS)

Nagasaki.

He likewise called to continue the global fight against nuclear proliferation and militarization of nuclear technology, which all agreed is essential to ensure peace and the survival of the human species.

The Peace Cruise, of the Japanbased international organisation Peace Boat arrived in port of Havana on Thursday and will set sail for Europe on Friday.

This is the 15th visit the Peace Boat pays to Cuba since 1990, despite U.S. pressure to avoid the ship from docking in Cuban ports.

UN warns of humanitarian crisis in Yemen

T

he UN envoy to Yemen has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country and also condemned recent al-Qaeda attacks in the country.

Jamal Benomar said on Wednesday that about three million people were in need of immediate assistance and urged international donors to help the Arab world's poorest country.

Up to 6.8 million Yemenis have been left without enough food during months of political turmoil that has allowed alQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to gain ground, he said.

"There is a growing humanitarian crisis in the country," Benomar told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.

The UN humanitarian appeal for $446m for Yemen is only 15 per cent funded, he said.

Benomar said Yemen had the second-highest rate of chronic child malnutrition in the world and said that 500,000 children were likely to die from malnutrition or suffer life-long consequences this year if adequate support was not provided.

Benomar's comments came as al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a weekend assault on a military base in southern Yemen, which officials say left almost 200 soldiers dead.

The attack was the deadliest the army has suffered in a nearly year-long campaign against the movement in the south.

The Security Council late on Wednesday issued a statement strongly condemning recent attacks.

"They expressed their deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the victims of these heinous acts and to their families, and to the people and Government of the Republic of Yemen," the statement said.

Benomar said that Yemen's political crisis had "caused state authority to collapse in a number of areas around the country, benefiting al-Qaeda, of course, and this is going to be a major challenge in this new phase".

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 35

Heart-breaking plight of the Chinese man who has spent his life locked in a wooden cage

A

mentally disabled Chinese man has spent almost his entire life locked inside a wooden cage because his family cannot afford to look after him.

Tragic Wei Yun, 23, who lives in Gongchuan village, in southern China's Guangxi Province is unable to walk or talk and can only crawl.

As a young child he was allowed to crawl around the home but at the age of two he knocked over a pot of boiling water and almost died.

From then on his parents began to lock him in a wooden cage for his own safety.

Wei's father works away from home and rarely has the time to visit, meaning there is no one to watch over Wei while his stepmother Nong is out working during the day.

Because of this she is forced to lock him away in the small cage all day while she is out.

A neighbour commented: 'It's a hard choice for her as she on one hand has to take care of Wei Yun but on the other she has to do field work and other odd jobs to support the family'.

Many of China's mentally ill people are forced to live in

the most appalling fashion especially in rural areas where poverty is rife and there are no state facilities to care for them.

Wei Yun's plight echoes

that of 40-year-old Tang Zuhua, whose 76-year-old mother has kept him locked in a ruined barn in Chongqing, southern China for 23 years.

Fast learner: A Chinese youngster catches up on a bit of homework while riding on the back of his father's scooter

Tragic: Wei Yun, 23, who lives in Gongchuan village, in southern China's Guangxi Province has been locked inside a cage for almost his entire life

Plight: Wei's father works away from home and rarely has the time to visit, meaning there is no one to watch over him while his stepmother Nong is out

Parents of girl, 3, only realise she is Homework, Chinese style: Youngster puts school run to missing after seeing her featured in good use as he puts finishing touches to his class work he only lesson this at out of school, the Chinese billion it pays to have that little news reports around 4pm with a large party of Chinese youngster needs ethic is far different and not something extra so you stand

A

3-year-old girl was left behind by her parents at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant and they only realized that they had forgotten her when they saw a report about her on the evening news.

Restaurant workers only knew that the girl, identified only as Harmony, was in need of help when she went up to a restaurant worker around 8.30pm Monday night saying that she was thirsty.

The staff members told police that she had arrived at the Bel Air, Maryland childrens restaurant

'Missing': Police said three-yearold Harmony was 'inadvertently' left behind at a Chuck E. Cheese

about 10 family members.

Her parents were among the adults at the party, and they reportedly left her behind thinking that she was with her other relatives when they left the restaurant.

One report says that Harmony was with the group as they were leaving Chuck E. Cheese's around 8pm, but then she spotted a stray token and ran inside to play another game.

Because they had not made a reservation and paid in cash, there was no way to contact the family directly.

Restaurant workers contact the Hartford County Sheriff's Office, and officers waited with Harmony until Child Protection Services arrived.

In an effort to find her parents, police officers made contact with local news stations who agreed to broadcast her picture and the story on the 11pm news.

Almost immediately after her picture aired, both of Harmony's parents- who share custody of the girl- called the police identifying themselves, and one report says that the father's name is Jesse.

The girl was then released into the custody of her mother.

Given the accidental nature of the incident, the police do not expect that any charges will be filed in the case.

The sheriff's press release said that the 'investigation determined that Harmony was inadvertently left behind at the restaurant, by family members who thought she was in the company of other family members'.

T

is one in road safety.

Keen to secure top marks, he didn't let the fact he was perched on the back of his father's scooter put him off finishing his homework.

While British parents often have trouble getting their kids to do their studies once they are

even the obvious hazard of clinging to a moving vehicle while facing backwards can thwart his ambition.

Chinese parents are renowned for putting pressure on their children to get a top education and well paid jobs.

With a population of 1 1/2

out from the crowd.

And it looks like this little chap is determined to set the wheels in motion to go all the way to the top and not even a hectic journey perched on the back of a motor scooter is going to slow him down.

Source: Dailymailmail.co.uk

Fast learner: A Chinese youngster catches up on a bit of homework while riding on the back of his father's scooter

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PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

How eating more cheese and milk could make you brainier A

re you feeding your brain the right kind of fatty diet?

Dairy products such as cheese and milk are among the most reviled of foods, with many experts saying their links to heart disease and obesity mean we should shun them when possible.

But new research has caused controversy by suggesting that, in fact, dairy food could be essential for a healthy brain.

The study, by U.S. and Australian researchers, involving 1,000 adults, found those who regularly have dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt score better on tests of mental ability than people who never, or rarely, consume dairy.

Although the research, published in the International Dairy Journal, needs followingup, as it did not conclusively establish the link between dairy and fatty diets and brain power, it highlights an intriguing line of research.

It follows another U.S. study, involving 104 pensioners, where scientists found older people with higher levels of beneficial fats in their blood had less brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer’s disease. These beneficial fats — omega-3 essential fats — are found in foods such as oily fish. The research, published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, is key, as it measured the levels of different fats in people’s blood, rather than simply relying on their reports of what they tended regularly to eat.

It’s now well established from brain-tissue studies that our mental functions depend heavily on a good supply of fat.

Our brain is composed of 60 per cent fat. The brain cells are insulated by sheaths of myelin composed of 75 per cent fat. This myelin fat needs to be replaced constantly.

Myelin sheaths are vital to the cells’ ability to communicate. It’s thought the more myelin you have, the quicker you learn new skills.

Significantly, in a disease such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheaths are damaged, affecting how messages are transmitted in the brain and causing symptoms such as numbness and paralysis.

This research on the brain confronts the common view about the dangers of dietary fat.

So strong is the negative message that studies show up to 40 per cent of all UK adults try to avoid fat for health reasons.

But, in fact, the benefits of avoiding fats might not be so clear-cut.

For example, a study of older people in the British Medical Journal found that those on lowcholesterol diets have a far higher rate of stroke, possibly because

cholesterol seems to have a protective effect in mature brain linings.

Meanwhile, a California University study published in The Lancet reports a link between low-fat diets and increased incidence of depression among men aged over 70.

It suggests this may be because low cholesterol levels shorten the amount of time the feel-good hormone serotonin is effective.

Studies also show fat in diets may help the brain to suppress harmful behavioural impulses: monkeys have been found to become abnormally aggressive when put on low-fat diets, according to a report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

But rather than investigating such discoveries further, the medical establishment has ignored or discredited them, for fear of confusing the ‘dietary fat is bad’ message.

So, which fats seem to help best?

When it comes to the benefits of dairy on the brain, more research is needed. But there’s a large body of research to show that omega-3 and omega-6 fats are vital for the brain.

You might think you knew this already. And, indeed, a few years ago there was muchpublicised research to suggest that omega-3 supplements were good for the brain. But that research has since been dismissed as unscientific (also, it’s not supplements, but getting the fats from food that counts).

Now a number of new, more authoritative studies have shown how omega-3s help by developing and protecting myelin. Our bodies cannot make these fats, so they need to get them from diet.

An important substance in these fats is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) which the body derives from omega-3. This helps preserve the brain’s health

It's what Ian Rush drinks: Dairy may be essential for a healthy brain

in older age.

The best sources of DHA are oily fish, such as salmon, wholegrains and dark green, leafy vegetables.

A study published in the journal Archives of Neurology found that people with the highest levels of DHA in their blood had a 50 per cent lower risk of developing dementia from any cause.

After nine years of followup, they were also shown to be less likely to d e v e l o p Alzheimer’s.

DHA has been found to help the brains of developing babies, too.

A study in the American Journal of C l i n i c a l Nutrition found the children of women who had high levels of DHA in their red blood cells around the Those who regularly consumed dairy performed time they better on tests of mental ability than their peers gave birth

scored above average on the intelligence tests at age six.

But, interestingly, the study says this effect resulted from the mothers eating diets rich in fish and DHA, rather than supplements.

This may help to explain why studies of pregnant women taking only fish-oil supplements have often failed to provide conclusive evidence of benefits in their offspring.

The Spanish experts behind this research speculate that this might have something to do with the way our bodies absorb and process foods that feature regularly in our diet.

Sources of omega-6 fatty acids include seeds, nuts and their oil.

So, why would fats be so crucial to the human brain? Our brains grew to their present proportions a million years ago.

Before that, our body-to-brain size ratio was similar to other primates. For years, scientists have puzzled over what caused this growth.

Dr David Braun, an anthropologist and archaeologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, has suggested the fish-eating habit of primitive humans were responsible. He says we started to eat fish about two million years ago in the Great Rift Valley in Africa, thought to

be the cradle of our species, and this enabled us to grow brains that were much bigger and more efficient than rival species.

But there’s another side of the coin. While omega fats seem crucial, they can be displaced from our brains by trans fats, found in baked and fried goods and fast food.

While the scientific case for omega fats’ dietary benefits is growing stronger, so, too, is the argument against trans fats in our diets at all.

A study of children growing up in the Avon area, for example, has shown that a diet high in processed fats may lower IQ. The study, following 4,000 children from birth to the age of eight-and-a-half, found those who ate diets high in processed fats showed significantly lower IQ scores at the older age than those whose diets had been high in healthy fats.

The results echo earlier research. For example, a study of children who ate margarine high in trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oils) every day showed that they had lower IQs than those who did not.

Meanwhile, last year’s study in the journal Neurology, which reported that pensioners who ate lots of omega fats were less at risk of Alzheimer’s, also found the reverse effect with trans fats.

People whose blood-nutrient levels showed they had junk-food diets showed more of the brainshrinkage associated with dementia.

Furthermore, studies on rats, by neuroscientist Lotta Granholm, have shown that trans fats impair memory and learning.

Granholm, the director of the Centre on Ageing at the Medical University of South Carolina, says trans fats seem to destroy proteins that help brain cells to communicate. ‘After I did this study, I didn’t eat french fries any more,’ she says.

Dr Alex Richardson, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and an authority on the impact of nutrition on the brain, is particularly concerned by trans fats. ‘They should have been banned years ago,’ she says.

‘They are toxic.’

One of the most damaging things about these fats, she adds, is that they actually stop essential fats, such as omega-3, from being absorbed in the brain.

‘There’s good evidence trans fats alter the signalling ability of the brain’s chemical messengers.

If you give these to children, you’re replacing essential fats that make their bodies and brains work properly with ones that clog the machinery.’

In order to protect our brains and those of our children, it appears that we have to become fat-headed — but only with the right sort of fats.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 37

Taraba protesters storm Abuja over PDP congress

By Lawrence Olaoye

C

hieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday stomed the party's headquarters in protest over alleged flawed congress in the state barely ten days after Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wrote the party over flawed congresses oin ten states.

In a letter of complaint obtained by newsmen, the PDP elders said Governor Danbaba Suntai told some stakeholders in the party that an open congress would not be allowed to take place in the state based on the directives of the National Executive Committee, NEC, and consequently a list of executives were compiled at the governor's behest.

"Shortly before the so-called Ward congress, governor Suntai addressed a handful of people he referred to as stakeholders from the 16 local governments at the Government House, Jalingo, where he informed them that the party directed at its NEC meeting that there should be no election due to security reasons and that everybody should go back home and co-operate with the committees to fashion out the way forward. Probably that way why governor Suntai concocted the list of all Ward aspirants in the Government House long before the date of congresses".

They also alleged that members of the party who were interested in contesting for various offices were denied the nomination forms as the governor took over all the forms as soon as they were released by the national secretariat of PDP. "Governor Suntai hijacked the Ward congress nomination forms from the state party chairman soon after they were brought from the national secretariat and hid or kept them in Government House amidst bickering, cries and complaints from most stakeholders within and outside Taraba state, most particularly the written complaints addressed to the national secretariat by the two senators from the northern and central zones of Taraba state dated 31 January, 2012.

L-R: Senator Hope Uzodinma, Senator Matthew Nwogu, and Senator Nkechi Nwogu, attending the meeting of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the Senate, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

PDP Chair: Plot to stop Bamanga Tukur thickens

By Richard Ihediwa

T

he ambition of the Chairman of the African Business Round Table, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to emerge the National Chairman of the ruling the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is now faced with stiff hurdles as 30 lawyers under the umbrella of PDP Stakeholders Forum (PSF) yesterday said they have perfected plans to drag the party to court if it fails to disqualify him for a number of alleged anti-party activities and other issues bordering on integrity and age.

Demanding that Tukur be disqualified immediately, the Forum stormed the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja with a strong worded letter to the party leadership in which it listed the

...As 30 lawyers prepare case to stop him politician as not being qualified to run for the position on the ground that he was not a bona-fide member of the party.

It also alleged that Tukur has interest in Eterna Oil, which had been accused of being one of the oil subsidy cartels responsible for the current energy crisis faced by the nation.

It was gathered that the oil company was fingered as one of the beneficiaries of the illicit fuel subsidy funds currently being investigated by an ad-hoc committee in the House of Representatives chaired by Rep Farouk Lawan.

The group also alleged that the industry chieftain was sacked as a member of PDP Board of Trustee

(BOT) for alleged anti party actions and had since lost membership of the party by allegedly failing to pay his annual dues, which it said was in violation of section 18 (2) of the party constitution Leader of the forum, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, who read the letter, alleged that the Adamawa born state business mogul failed to pay the annual membership fee of about N600 in a clear violation of Article 18 (2) of the party constitution.

He said there was no evidence at ward level to show that he had complied with the provision and as such was not eligible to vie for the position.

Members of the forum also maintained that Tukur's nomination form was invalid as

Perjury: Kwankwaso challenges court's jurisdiction From Bala Nasir, Kano

K

ano state governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano to entertain the case of perjury brought against him by one Hassan Indabawa.

The case which was filed at the court sometimes last year, is seeking the court to nullify

Kwankwaso's candidature as governorship candidate of PDP on the ground that he lied on oath.

The Governor while filling his governorship nomination was said to have stated in the form that he was never convicted.

Indabawa however, told the court that Kwankwaso was indicted by a Judicial Commission of Enquiry by the previous administration in the state under the immediate past Governor,

Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, counsel to Governor Kwankwaso, Chief Akin Olujimi filed an application challenging the competence of the court to entertain the matter prior to the substantive date for the commencement of the hearing.

Responding however, counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Abdul Adamu who held brief for K.T

Turaki (SAN) told the court that the defence counsel brought the application in order to frustrate the hearing.

The presiding judge, Justice Shehu Yahaya interceded that whenever an issue of jurisdiction comes up, it must be resolved before any other matter.

He therefore, adjourned the case to the April 3, 2012 to hear the application filed by the defense counsel.

they noted he was nominated by Habu Fari who they claimed was not a member of the PDP. Ugochinyere alleged that Fari left PDP to become the National Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP) adding that he has yet to officially return to the PDP. The group insisted that the nomination of Tukur was a violation of Article 10(b)111 of the party which stipulates that any party member who loses his membership either by expulsion or decampment may be readmitted into the party on the recommendation of his state chapter of the party and made to the National Working Committee".

The aggrieved members of the party also raised the issue of age insisting that Tukur at over 80 years would not have the physical strength and stamina to run the party.

The group said it has already received the support of a team of 30 lawyers who have perfected paper works to drag the party to court in order to stop Tukur from contesting the March 24, 2012 National Convention so as to protect the sanctity of the party's constitution.

PAGE 38

Osunbor may dump PDP for Oshiomole

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

F

ormer governor of Edo state and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Aspirant in the last governorship primaries, Prof.

Oserheimen Osunbor may have confirmed the fact that the party is heading for doom, as he tacitly backed the second term bid of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Cation Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday.

This is coming barely 24 hours after Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, boasted before the his supporters in Benin City, shortly after he obtained his nomination form, that all the rigging machines of the PDP are with him.

The former governor who lost the primaries of the PDP ticket and his teeming supporters played host Comrade Oshiomhole at his country home in Iruekpen yesterday.

According to Prof. Osunbor, the maiden visit of the governor and his entourage to his home was historic and symbolic as he noted that, "If we have a governor who is developing the state, why should we complain?.

"The reason I am in politics is to touch the people. My interest is service to the people and our people love you because that is what you are doing.

'The governor has given me the opportunity by assuring me that those projects which I could not complete while I was in office will be completed," he added.

"I am aware that you have said so many good things about me and I recall a publication in the Vanguard newspaper where you were quoted as saying that Osunbor is a good man but he is in the company of criminals."

He stated further "Our people love you as you can see them coming to welcome you.

We have a good relationship but politics has kept us at a distance. But I know that we have no personal differences."

He continued, "I hope that this relationship will be sustained and nurtured as from now on and may God give you the wisdom to complete all the projects you have started."

The Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who was given a warm reception in his remarks, said he was in Iruekpen to inspect the water project executed by the state government in the area.

"Politics aside, you are a complete gentleman. I have always insisted that we are both united with a share commitment that this state must be developed.

The governor and Prof.

Osunbor entered into a closed door meeting which lasted for about 40 minutes

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Presidency, ACN in face-off over alleged disrespect to Presidenty and person of the President in the name of opposition politics, as clearly unhealthy politics and completely tactless,'' Abati said.

Abati said the ACN spokesman had repeatedly resorted to personal attacks and disparaging remarks about the person and office of the President. ``The office of the president is a national institution that must survive its temporary occupants," he warned. ``Those who seem to be deriving childish excitement from attacking the President, under the guise of playing politics, should refrain from bringing that institution into disrepute,'' Abati added.

Jonathan's spokesperson noted that the description of the PDP as the only truly democratic party by the President, should be seen as a

wake-up call to other political parties, as well as political leaders, to live out their democratic pretensions in the full glare of the public.

Meanwhile, the ACN has rejected the characterization of its regular criticisms of the Jonathan's administration as an indication of disrespect for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, saying that was simply not the case.

The party in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary said Abati cuts the picture of a man defending his plum job and not addressing any issue in particular.

Mohammed said ''For the avoidance of doubt, we have nothing but the highest respect for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In fact, it

L-R: Speaker of Gombe state House of Assembly, Hon. Inuwa Baba Garba, National chairmanship aspirant of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, and Secretary, Rufai Campaign Organisation, Barrister Magaji Doho, during the official flag-off ofRufai’s campaign, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

is for that reason that we issued the statement in which we advised the President to refrain from making statements that will make him look more partisan than Presidential. ''There is nothing 'disparaging' or constituting 'personal attacks' in asking the President to look at himself in the mirror or to show deep introspection in his public comments, and we are sure a brilliant fellow like Dr. Abati knows that very well, if he could momentarily remove his snout from the nectar of office. ''Unfortunately, in his eagerness to be seen to be working hard in defending his boss, Dr. Abati simply echoed what we said in our statement that seems to have rankled him so much. For example, Dr Abati wrote ' The time for electioneering campaigns and trying to score cheap political points, by any means possible, must be separated from the time for delivering dividends of democracy. The occupant of the Number One office in the land is father of all and not of one party.' This is exactly what we are saying!'' ACN said.

He said the ACN should not be lumped up with other parties that have employed disparaging language in its criticism of government challenging Abati to review all its statements and ascertain the party's use of words.

Mohammed however stressed that the party would not be cowed by the warning issued by the Presidency as he promised to sustain constructive criticisms against President Jonathan's administration.

indeed in the evolution of democracy in Nigeria, that is robust, focused, disciplined and capable of consolidating the gains we have achieved since 1999. We also require a leadership that has the intellectual capacity to understand and internalize the vision of the founding fathers of the Party and the great manifesto we have. We also need a leadership with the required strength of character to ensure compliance with laid down rules by all members no matter the position they find themselves''.

Alkali also promised to be a team player in the formulation and execution of party policies and programmes. '' The PDP also needs leaders who shall be team players and who shall provide a common

succeed in their mandates of providing quality service to the people. These, in effect, form the practical summary of my agenda which are contained in my detailed vision for a greater Peoples Democratic Party''.

The PDP spokesperson who revealed that he enjoys the support of the Gombe state governor, his home state, for the office further declared that his practical experience garnered in the past four years put him at a good advantage to set the best priority for the party.

"My experience at various levels of public service especially in the University system, in government as well as Party administration places us in good stead to achieve all the ideals through collective and collaborative efforts of each and every member of the Party."

By Lawrence Olaoye with agency reports

T

he Presidency and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) engaged each other in war of words over alleged disrespect to the Office of the President and the person of President Goodluck Jonathan.

While the Presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reube Abati, alleged that the National Publicity Secretary of the opposition ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, went over-board when he stated that Jonathan was fast turning the PDP to a one man show, the ACN spokesperson described Abati as an employee striving hard to defend his means of income.

Abati said ``We consider this denigration of the office

PDP chair: Alkali canvasses for support, plans to consolidate democracy

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Rufa'I Ahmed Alkali yesterday canvassed for support in his bid to emerge as the Chairman of the party even as he promised to deepen democratic culture in the party when elected.

According to him the PDP as, the largest party in the country, has the responsibility of consolidating the gains of democracy.

At his formal declaration for the race, Alkali said ''Now that the coast is clear for the contest to commence, it is my humble submission that the PDP requires a leadership at this critical moment in our nation's history,

ground for all members to freely interact and express themselves in an atmosphere that is convivial, and in a spirit of brotherhood. The Party also requires a leadership that shall focus its attention on strengthening the institutions and various organs of the Party and ensure that the system at all levels is highly motivated for greater productivity.

"We also require a Party that shall maintain its eminent rating as the largest Party in Africa and the biggest vehicle for electoral success on the Continent. We also need to further unite the party men and women at all levels and provide the necessary political backbone for our President, our Governors, our leaders and members of the National Assembly and other elected members to

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 39

I’ll restore justice, unity in PDP, says Adamu Bello

By Lawrence Olaoye

A

frontline aspirant for the chairmanship position of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming National Congress of the party, Mallam Adamu Bello has said he would ensure justice and equity at all times if elected as the National Chairman of the party.

Bello, who is also a former Minister of Agriculture, had told newsmen when he visited the headquarters of Peoples Daily in Abuja that he plans to reflect the motto of the party in whatever he does if elected the Chairman of the ruling party.

According to him, adherence to the motto of the party would make his leadership just as independent of external influence as that would ensure that they do only that which is right at all times.

Asked how he intended to reconcile political contradictions inherent in the party as a result of its size, he explained that such contradictions and divergence in the party could be explained.

"The membership of the PDP cuts across various sections of the country; it is neither a Socialist party nor a Communist party.

The history of the party is similar to that of the ANC in South Africa. ANC was formed for the emancipation of the blacks in South Africa and the PDP was formed by various interest groups to ensure that the military was ousted. Many interest groups came together to fight the military in order to bring democracy," he explained.

He said he intended to build consensus among stakeholders in order to bring the much needed unity in the party just as he assured that he would, at all

times, uphold internal democracy in the party's selection process.

Reacting to a question that corruption is holding sway in the PDP government, Bello said corruption was a global problem but agreed that it needed to be controlled in the country.

The former Minister however declared that the PDP government has reacted to the menace by institutionalizing the fight against it. He said the creation of agencies like the EFCC and the ICPC and their sustenance by the government was a pointer to the fact that the government was serious in the fight against corruption at all levels.

Asked to clarify allegations that he messed up the procurement and distribution of fertilizers in the country while he was the Minister for Agriculture,

National chairmanship aspirant of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Malam Adamu Bello, making a point, during his visit to Peoples Media Ltd headquarters, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

S’Africa deportation is a fallout of fraudulent elections, says CPC

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

C

ongress for Progressive Change (CPC) has described the recent deportation of 125 Nigerians from South Africa over alleged possession of illegal yellow fever card, as a product of the fraudulent electoral system where the incumbent seeks to win election at all cost.

In a statement issued Wednesday in Abuja by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Rotimi Fashakin, CPC said the trend undermines the 'big-brother' status of Nigeria in the African continent.

It said that what played out was to be blamed on 'shambolic foreign policy thrust of the Nigerian state in recent times' adding that the preponderance of Ambassadorial positions had, largely, been used for

obsequious partisan patronage with no regard for professionalism and competence.

It further advocated that subsisting foreign policy of the country, anchored on Africa as its centre piece, needed to be appraised, pointing out that Nigeria and Nigerians' interests ought to be the center piece of the nation's foreign policy thrust.

The party admitted that though it is the right of any sovereign nation to make discretionary requirements for the procurement of its visa, the issuance of visa to those Nigerians by the South African Embassy in Nigeria indicated that they were already cleared in Nigeria by South African authorities.

CPC therefore lamented the haplessness and humiliation to which

Nigerians, including children on excursion, were subjected to at South Africa with 'no food', 'no water' for up to 24 hours before they were finally deported just as the party argued that the negligence should be blamed on South African embassy’s staff and not the Nigerians validly issued visa.

According to CPC, "The South African authority could have saved the day by offering inoculation service for a fee."

While commending the principle of reciprocity which the Federal Government has adopted as a potent foreign relations instrument that can assert Nigeria's sovereignty, CPC called on appropriate authorities to ensure that henceforth, intending South African visitors to Nigeria are certified free from the prevalent diseases in South Africa like HIV and Tuberculosis.

Adamu said such was not true even as he maintained the he employed the principle of transparency in the award of contracts for the procurement of the commodity.

He disclosed that the rumour about the alleged corruption in

the system came about when a certain Senator, who was also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture at that time, wanted to corner the importation deal without satisfying the required due process requirements.

SNG accuses Jonathan of pocketing INEC From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

C

onvener of Save Nigeria Group {SNG}, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Wednesday alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC} was a tool in the hand of President Goodluck Jonathan, and thus would be influenced and controlled according to the political will of the Presidency.

Bakare made this known in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, while speaking with newsmen, insisting that Nigeria would only conduct free, fair and credible elections if INEC was legally and politically independent of the Presidency.

While stating that the 2011 general elections conducted by the INEC was fraught with malpractices orchestrated by the Presidency, the cleric of Latter Rain Assembly declared that the 2011 Election exercise, which according to the INEC, was said to have been computer-based; was a waste of resources and precious time.

Bakare said the exercise which gulped more than N100billion was a means to play on the intelligence of Nigerians since the Presidency had already known where the electoral pendulum would swing.

"INEC will not be independent as long as its chairman is appointed by the Presidency, as long as the Commission is financed by the Presidency; he who pays the piper, dictates the tune," he submitted.

He however commended the people for the political consciousness and awareness in recent times.

While calling for continuous political awareness and enlightenment campaigns he urged the people to be at alert in subsequent General Elections.

Similarly, the SNG boss suggested a drastic reduction in the National Assembly expenses, saying the bulk of money which goes to the National Assembly annually in form of salaries, allowances, among other 'stupid' expenses was detrimental to the Nigerian economy.

He called on the government to look into the matter and urgently review it for the vibrancy of the economy even as he stressed that the loads of money expended on the legislature could be reviewed and diverted to strengthen the nation's economy.

Bakare equally emphasized that the National Assembly should emulate the Executive arm which announced 25 per cent cut in their salaries and other emoluments.

No feud between Dakingari and Kebbi acting governor- PDP From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

K

ebbi state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Mansiru Shehu, has declared that there was no fracas between the former governor of the state, Saidu Usman Dakingari, whose election was recently nullified by the Supreme Court and the acting Governor, Alhaji Aminu Jega.

This clarification came on the heels of speculations that Dakingari had warned Jega to desist from making any approval in the office even as it was further speculated that the former governor threatened to ensure Jega's removal as the Speaker of the state House of Assembly whenever he gets re-elected.

The PDP chieftain who disclosed this yesterday said "there was cordial relationship between these two party stalwarts; Dakingari will remain

the state governor when reelected and Jega will return to the House and complete his tenure as the Speaker of the House."

He said that Dakingari was still the party's candidate and was preferred by President Goodluck Jonathan just as he warned the people against spreading ill-fated rumours. He urged the people to vote back Dakingari in order to ensure the completion of developmental projects which he initiated in the state.

The chairman also dispelled the rumor that PDP was already planning to fix a date for the election, stating that only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had the right to do so.

Sheahu equally lauded the decampees from the CPC saying such was a good omen for the PDP as the party prepares for the governorship rerun elections.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Kogi governorship: Tribunal adjourns till March 12 From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

T

he Kogi governorship election petitions Tribunal has adjourned till March 12 to deliver its ruling on a fresh application for extension of time for scanning of ballot papers.

But it was observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, office in Lokoja, yesterday was a beehive of activities for the inspection.

Chairman of the tribunal,

Justice Suleiman Anbursa, adjourned on Wednesday after an exhaustive debate over the application filed by Charles Edosomwan Esq., counsel to the petitioner, Prince Abubakar Audu, of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Counsel to the respondents, Lateef Fagbemi, Chris Uche and Yusuf Ali, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) opposed the motion vehemently, leading to two stand downs before the final

Growing poverty level in Nigeria worrisome - ACN From Ayodele Samuel,Lagos

T

he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has raised the alarm over the worsening poverty in Nigeria, warning that the PDP-led Federal Government must act quickly to reverse the situation to avoid plunging the country into a worse social crisis than it is already experiencing.

In a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said while the government continues to beat its chest over a supposed economic growth annually it has shut its eyes to the paradox of a worsening poverty among Nigerians, as attested to recently by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the Bureau, the percentage of Nigerians living in poverty has risen from 54.7% in 2004 to 60.9% in 2010, translating to 112 million Nigerians living in poverty, despite a 7.6 gross domestic product GDP) growth in the country's economy. ''We have always warned that economic growth in itself is meaningless if it does not translate to better life for millions of our citizens living in poverty. We hate to say it, but the revelation by the NBS has proven that this is true. ''We have also consistently alerted the nation to the fact that the PDP-led Federal Government is clueless on how to ensure that economic policies impact positively on the people by helping to generate wealth and create jobs. This, sadly, has also turned out to be prescient.

''By hook or crook, the PDP has ruled Nigeria since the country's return to democratic rule in 1999. While the statistics given by the NBS reflect the situation from 2004 to 2010, we have no scintilla of doubt that if the figures from 1999 to the present were considered, the poverty level has more than doubled under this do-nothing PDP in the past 12 years. ''And instead of getting out of the hole into which it has dug itself, the so-called biggest party in the whole world has continued to dig deeper, thereby pushing more and more Nigerians into poverty. When the effects of the recent ill-advised fuel subsidy removal are taken into consideration, the figure of Nigerians living in poverty must really be staggering.

This is a time bomb waiting to explode,'' ACN said.

The party said it was particularly revealing that the poverty level in the two regions worst hit by the activities of the Boko Haram sect - the North-west and the North-east - recorded the highest

adjournment.

The Tribunal had earlier dismissed the first application filed on Monday seeking a one-week extension and an order of the Tribunal restraining the respondents from interrupting the scanning exercise among others.

Anbursa while dismissing the application said the only constitutional provision that could warrant extension of time was when there was an established case of extreme circumstance that interrupted the process.

He said that there was no extreme circumstance in the case but went further to point out that the February 8, order did not specify time limit because the application did not contain such.

He urged the petitioners to

open their case, continue with the scanning and liaise with the respondents' counsel to allow them free hand to conduct the scanning exercise.

Edosomwan frowned at the suggested arrangement saying that if it took them three weeks to scan only five Local Governments out of 18 due to planned interruptions, there was no assurance they could do 13 Local Governments in nine days.

He therefore presented another motion asking for adjournment to March 29, to enable completion of the scanning before commencement of hearing saying that the petitioners relied on the report as the arsenal to the prosecute of the case.

Counsel to the Respondent in

his argument urged the tribunal to equally dismiss the application on the ground that it was a reincarnation of the first and asked the panel to proceed to hearing stage.

One of the counsels to ACN, Abdullahi Haruna said: "The tribunal has made an order that if we must put the report of our inspection in the cause of trial, we must do that within nine days after we have opened our case.

"If we start our case today, we have nine days within which to conclude the report and it means they have put us in a position of impossibility. So, we are asking the court to please vary the order, postpone the hearing and give us one month to finish the process of inspection", he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru (2nd left), briefing the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Federal Government reaction to the diplomatic face-off between Nigeria and South Africa, on Wednesday at the National Assembly, in Abuja. With him are Ambassador Femi George (left), Ambassador Peter Mann (2nd right), and Director of Consular and Administration Service, Abdu Dankano (right).

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Edo guber poll: Oshiomhole challenges PDP to public debate

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

E

do state governor and the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the July 14th governorship polls, Adams Oshiomole, has challenged his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s counterpart, Major Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, to a public debate on programmes for the development of the state.

The governor threw the

challenge while addressing his supporters after obtaining his party's nomination form to contest the governorship election.

Oshiomole said "Giving an atmosphere devoid of strife and narrow party prejudice, we 'll dismantle Chief Aninih rigging machine."

Meanwhile, commuters, pedestrians using the airport road, workers and air travellers at Benin airport were stranded yesterday following the blank

endorsement given to the governor by members of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW. Edo state Chairman of NURTW, Mr. Odion Olaye, who described Oshiomhole as a man on a rescue mission to salvage the state from underdevelopment, said that his members decided to queue behind him for his reelection to complete on-going transformation exercise.

Edo State Oil and Gas

Producing Areas Development Commission, EDSOGPADEC, Chairman, Vincent Uwadiae said the ethnic antecedent of the PDP candidate, Charles Airhiavbere, was not a threat to Oshiomhole re-election, insisting that 'the antecedent of the man involved speaks for itself and the work carried out by Oshiomhole within the period speaks for itself, there is no comparison at all‌There is nothing like ethnic Agenda on this matter at all'.

PDP chairmanship: Jonathan yet to endorse anybody, says Abba-Aji

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonatha on National Assembly Matters, Senator Muhammed Abba-Aji yesterday denounced speculations that the President had endorsed one of the aspirants jostling for the chairmanship position of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP).

Speaking with newsmen after submitting his nomination form at the party's headquarters yesterday, the former Senator has declared that the slot is open for all the contestants at the March 24th PDP National Congress.

Abba-Aji expressed the willingness to abide by the party's decision should it decide to adopt a consensus candidate

for the position.

He said "No, I am not worried and I am not aware of that having taken place. This is an internal party process and when stakeholders and leaders in their wisdom arrived at a consensus, or opt for consensus process for the election, I will agree with that''.

He however admitted that he had sought the blessing of the President on his ambition

to lead the party. ''I have discussed my ambition with the president, but I will not tell you what we discussed''.

Also speaking with journalists while submitting his form, Ambassador Idris Waziri assured party faithful that he would turn around the party and lay the foundation for a new PDP. ''I feel very great. It is a historic moment for Nigeria. We have come to Wadata House to lay the foundation for a new Nigeria, to lay the foundation

for a new PDP, to lay the foundation for a new democracy and to lay the foundation for greater Nigeria. The journey starts today with the submission of this form. This country must change and change for better.

"We require genuine democracy in this country. I'm calling on the people of Nigeria to give me their mandate to be able to secure the future of our party. I know we can do it. I have a mission; a great mission for this country. We must change."

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 41

case filed CBN Junior Tennis: Five U- Tax against boxing champ Manny 14 players for quarterfinals Pacquiao P F

ive U-14 male players, including top seed Emmanuel Pyagbara, yesterday advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing sixth Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Junior Tennis tournament in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the other qualifiers are number two seed Chris Itodo, number three seed Olumide Ayoola and unseeded Stephen Augustine and Samuel

Damilola.

Pyagbara, 13, of Abeokuta Sports Club, spent less than 45 minutes to demolish John Adeyemi 9-1 in the pro-set format of the match.

“I am glad I have qualified for the quarterfinals.

My qualification, I believe would give me the courage to reach the final and emerge champion on Saturday.” Pyagbara who said he was sponsored to the tournament by the club, added that he looked

forward to participate in the CBN Senior Open in May. “I had promised my coach to spring some surprises at the CBN Senior Open, I crashed at the early stage last year, but I hope to be in the last eight of the competition this year.”

In other matches, Itodo beat Elegbede Tolulope 9-1, Ayoola beat Mufutau Jamiu also 9-1, Augustine beat Chris Bulus 9-6 while Damilola beat Lawal Alade 9-0.

Number two seed Itodo, expressed the hope to meet top seed Pyagbara at the final of the category, saying he would set the final upset of the U-14 category of the tournament.

NAN reports that the competitions also feature events in U-18, U-16, U-12 and U-10 boys and girls. The competitions, scheduled to end on March 10, are being organised by Godwin Kienka’s International Tennis Academy (ITA).

Keshi gets thumbs-up from Cooreman

W

arri Wolves trainer, Maurice Cooreman says Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi was spot on with his selections and tactics in the

2013 Africa Nations Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Rwanda in Kigali on February 29. Keshi started three Nigeria Premier League (NPL) stars, Ejike Uzoenyi, Azubuike

Stephen Keshi

Egwuekwe and Godwin Oboabona against the Amavubi with sections of the domestic media suggesting that the Nigeria trainer should have given more domestic stars the look-in in the Kigali stalemate.

Cooreman who has managed Nigerian clubs like Bendel Insurance, Gabros, Lobi Stars, Enyimba and Kaduna United however insists that ‘the big Boss’ was right in opting for more of the foreign professionals to start against the Amavubi.

“Keshi was right in his choice of players and his tactics. I am surprised that he has received so much criticism. Keshi is an excellent coach,” Cooreman said.

Cooreman recently completed a shock switch from Kaduna United to Wolves and he was quick to speak on his early impressions at his new side.

“Wolves are a big club and I am happy to be here.

Everything has been going well so far for us and I have no regrets so far,” he said.

Wolves, one of Nigeria’s two representatives in the 2012 Caf Confederation Cup return to NPL action on Reuben Gabriel Thursday with a home game against Wikki Tourists.

Gambia defies FIFA, refuses to blink

A

uthorities in Gambia say they will not go back on their decision to dissolve the country’s football association (GFA) amid threats of sanctions from FIFA .

The world’s football governing body on Wednesday warned Gambia of severe sanctions if it maintained its position and asked the ousted officials to report on their situation by Thursday before deciding whether to send the case to an

emergency committee chaired

by Fifa President Sepp Blatter..

However, Gambia sports ministry shot back on Thursday saying the decision to scrap the country’s football body was necessary and irreversible. .

“We believe that our action is necessary and relevant and it is irreversible because, sport in general and football in particular, should be administered in the best interest of Gambians and national

development,” Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mambanyick Njie, told a press briefing. .

“We will continue to pursue the conversation with FIFA but what must be clear in this country is that the Gambia Football Association cannot participate in any continental or international competition without the support of the government.” Sports and youths minister Alieu K Jammeh

disbanded the Gambia Football Association on Friday and installed an interim committee, which FIFA says it will not recognise..

Gambian clubs Brikama United and Gamtel, who both qualified respectively to the next stage of the Champions League and Confederation Cup last weekend, could be affected if FIFA eventually slapped the West African nation with sanctions.

hilippine tax officials have filed a criminal complaint against boxing champion and lawmaker Manny Pacquiao for failure to submit documents to investigators looking into his tax returns.

Prosecutors will now decide if there is enough evidence to bring the case to court, where Pacquiao could face up to two years in jail if convicted.

Bureau of Internal Revenue regional director Rozil Lozares says a complaint was filed March 1 after Pacquiao failed to submit the documents despite three notices and a subpoena.

He said Thursday that Pacquiao’s 2010 tax return contained “discrepancies” considering his many businesses and endorsements.

Pacquiao was ranked by Forbes magazine last year as the world’s 24th richest athlete. Calls to Pacquiao’s office went unanswered.

NFF dismisses rift over Falconets list

T

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed claims that about confusion and uproar over the team list of the U-20 women national team compiled for the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe.

Federation’s Director of Technical, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme said the claims were baseless since the players in question are within the age bracket.

“As long as they still fall within the stipulated age limit indicates that they are more than qualified to still play for the national team,” he said.

“Playing for the Super Falcons does not in anyway preclude them from representing their fatherland at the junior level,” said Ikpeme.

A national newspaper on Wednesday reported that followers of the women’s game were not comfortable with some of the players invited for the match owing to the fact that they had featured at the 2010 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

The players mentioned are Gloria Ofoegbu, Desire Oparanozie, Esther Uchechi, Esther Sunday, Ebere Orji and Blessing Edoho.

Nigeria will play Zimbabwe on Saturday March 31 at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta in the second round, first leg of the Africa qualifiers.

PAGE 42

FIFA demands more documents on Frimpong switch

T

he Ghana Football Association has been asked by FIFA to provide more documents on Emmanuel Frimpong in order to ratify his nationality switch.

Frimpong, a former England youth player, applied for a change in allegiance five months ago but that has delayed.

The Ghana FA initially provided the supporting documents required by FIFA for approval including a letter from England FA. The Arsenal midfielder-who is on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers-has also forwarded documents to the world’s football governing body.

The 19-year-old was born in Accra to Ghanaian parents but moved to London where he enrolled at the Hale End Academy at the age of 9 alongside fellow graduate Jack Wilshere.

When he turned 14, Frimpong left to focus on playing football full-time at Arsenal’s youth academy. If he is cleared before June, he could play a part in Ghana’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Junior tennis players vow to overrun seniors

J

unior tennis players, competing at the ongoing Sixth Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Junior Tennis Championship in Lagos, have vowed to dethrone their seniors counterparts soonest.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday on the competition organised by Godwin Kienka’s Lagos-based International Tennis Academy.

The tournament is a prelude to the CBN Senior Open scheduled for May and is featuring five age categories the U-18 or Future category, the U-16, U-14, U-12 and U-10.

The defending champion, Christian Paul, told NAN that his victory in the opening match on Tuesday had motivated him to intensify his preparation for the CBN Seniors.

He said that participating in the junior tournament holding at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, was an added advantage to his preparation.

“Last year, my victory over Shehu Lawal and Candy Idoko, the number one and three seeds respectively, at the CBN

Candy Idoko

Moses Micheal

Namibian dares Burns for WBO lightweight title tonight

Ghana’s Adama loses title N shot D

Story by Patrick Andrew

aniel Geale had to take the long route to beat Osumanu Adama on points in Australia on Wednesday night.

The IBF middleweight champion won the fight in Hobart, Tasmania, by scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 118-110, taking his professional record to 27-1, including 15 knockouts.

Adama, who is from Ghana but fights out of Illinois in the US, suffered the third defeat of his career, dropping to 20-3; 15.

The bout was a mandatory defence for Geale.

On the same card, IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib retained his title by stopping Eduardo Escobedo in the seventh round.

Dib, who improved to 34-1, with 21 knockouts, attacked the body of his opponent, who did not come out at the start of the seventh round. Escobedo now stands at 32-4; 23.

It was another good performance by Dib, who had Dib knocked out Italian challenger Alberto Servidei in 2 minutes and 38 seconds in November last year.

The tournament provided a minor upset when American heavyweight Travis Walker stopped Kali Meehan in the sixth round of a bout for Meehan’s IBF Pan-Pacific title.

Walker moved his record to 39-7-1; 31 when Meehan (38-5; 31) was saved from more punishment by his trainer, who threw in the towel. Meehan is ranked No 8 by the IBF.

Senior Open to reach the semi-finals has continued to give me confidence. With my performance last year, I am confident that I will do better this year at the CBN Senior Open,” Paul said.

According to him, the junior tournament has always prepared junior players well for the Senior Open and other national and international tournaments.

Michael, the runner-up, told NAN that he would be the player to beat in the Future category of the tournament this year.

Michael, who had last November,

defeated Henry Atseye, winner of the CBN Seniors, in the second round of the Dala Hard Court championship, said that he was aiming for the top.

“My victory over Atseye at Dala Hard Court has given me that confidence that I will soon overtake the top players to get there. I am very sure we junior players can do better at the CBN Senior Open this year if we stay fit and healthy,” Michael said.

Michael also agreed that the CBN junior tournament was their preparation ground for the CBN Senior Open and other tournaments.

In the first match of the Futures played on round robin basis on Tuesday, Paul defeated Babajide Ipaye 6-1, 6-0, while runner-up Moses Michael beat Ayinde Rasaq in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. The two are players from Kano-based Cofoundation Academy.

amibian, Paulus Moses, will step into the ring tonight to attempt to snatch the WBO lightweight title from Scotland’s Ricky Burns, in Glasgow.

Moses stands at 28-1; 19 while Burns at 33-2, with 9 knockouts and the duel is scheduled to meet at the Braehead Arena.

Also, WBA interim bantamweight champion Hugo Ruiz (29-1; 26) will defend his title against John Mark Apolinario (17-2-1; 4) in Los Cabos in Mexico on March 31. Ruiz is from Mexico and his opponent from the Philippines.

Indonesian Chris John, the 32-year-old WBA featherweight “super” champion, has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by the World Boxing Association.

He has made 15 successful defences of his belt and has a record of 46-0-2, including 22 knockouts.

Former American heavyweight Duanne Bobick, who twice fought in South Africa, is suffering from a degenerative brain disease, according to US reports.

Bobick lost to Kallie Knoetze, who knocked him out in the third round at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg on February 4, 1978. But only six weeks later, at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town, he stopped Mike Schutte in the eighth round.

Bobick, now 61, retired in 1979 with a record of 48-4-1; 41. He also fought Mike Weaver, John Tate and Ken Norton.

His condition is said to have been caused by “repetitive brain trauma” too many hard blows to the head.

Similarly, Zab Judah, the former WBO, WBC and IBF light-welterweight and WBC and IBF welterweight

champion is scheduled to fight in an IBF junior welterweight title elimination bout in New York on March 24.

Judah, whose record stands at 41-8, including 28 knockouts, will face Vernon Paris (26-0; 15) in a tournament in Brooklyn.

Another veteran, Tomasz Adamek, is ready to fight on the same card. Adamek, a former WBC light-heavyweight and IBF cruiserweight champion, will take a record of 44-2; 28 into the ring when he meets Dominican Nagy Aguilera (17-6; 12).

Meanwhile, Audley Harrison’s comeback bout has been postponed because of an elbow injury.

The former Olympic Games superheavyweight champion was due to return to the ring on April 14 to fight Ali Adams in Essex.

According to news reports he was injured in sparring and the fight will be held at a later date. However, his professional career was such a shambles that most British boxing fans won’t mind if they never see him in the ring again.

Harrison never lived up to expectations and to his own predictions after turning professional and may well remain retired.

A South African title fight has also been cancelled. Doctor Ntsele’s defence of his national flyweight title will no longer take place in Welkom on March 31.

Ntsele was scheduled to face No 1 contender Motswaki Moselsele but the champion’s trainer, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, and promoter Fezile Mabuya failed to agree on Ntsele’s purse.

Ntsele, whose record stands at 14-4-1; 9 won the title on July 3 last year when

he beat Xola Sifama on points. He has made successful defences against Anele Makhwelo (tko 9) and Mkholisi Bhonxa (ko 3).

Paulus Moses

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS OSHODI BOLA MARIAM, NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS AJALA BOLA MARIAM. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Ricky Burns

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 43

Karate federation says it may not hold competitions this year

T

he Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) says it may not organise any programme this year because of paucity of funds.

Clement Iyaluegbeghe, KFN Secretary, said funds were not forthcoming from the National Sports Commission (NSC), while there had not been responses from individuals and corporate organisations to sponsor the federation’s programmes.

“I will like to say it is so disheartening that the federation cannot boast of any funds to organise one

competition this first quarter and does not have any hope of one coming up soon,” he said.

The secretary explained that the federation had to postpone a refresher course for coaches and referees earlier scheduled for this month in Asaba because it could generate funds to host the programme.

According to him, the federation has tried to source for sponsorship but to no avail.

Iyaluegbeghe said the federation had made several efforts to secure sponsorships for its programmes to no avail

adding that many corporate organisations were reluctant to sponsor games other than football.

“Our marketing committee made several attempts to approach companies in Lagos, but their requests were turned down because they believe the sport is not a consumers’ delight. In fairness to the NSC, they assisted us in 2011 but we have not heard anything from them this year,” he said.

Iyaluegbeghe appealed to the NSC and philanthropists to come to the aid of the sport and prevent its untimely death.

Para-Athletic contingent departs for Dubai

T

Bolaji Abduullahi, Supervising Minister, NSC

Lagos Junior League panacea for grassroots football, says Disu

T

unde Disu, the Technical Director of the Lagos Junior League, has described the project a giant step in the quest to discover and develop grassroots football in the country.

Disu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos on Wednesday that the project has offered budding talents a viable platform to display as well as develop such talents to an appreciable level.

Though still at its infancy, the director said that the project has started yielding fruits in the the form of seven

players called up to the camp of the prospective members of the national U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, who are currently camping in Abuja.

Disu said that the players were among others in camp for trials in preparations for the 2013 African and World Cup qualifiers and listed the players as Olomu Tolib, Olajide Samson, Innocent Onobun, Rauf Bello, Mustapha Abudulahi, Rabiu Abdulahi and Aminu Abubakar.

Further, he assured of more dividends from the project when it attained its full bloom stressing that the project has

three categories comprising the Premier, and league one and two.

“This is a testimony to the efficiency and the effectiveness on the products of the project. I am proud of organising the project which so far had achieved major, if not all its objectives,” Disu, a former coach of the Flying Eagles, said.

The director said that their decision to adhere to the under20 age limit had made a tremendous impact on the project. “ This is an astonishing feat; the project has overcome the

issue of age limit problems which seemed to be an impossible mission in the country for years. The young talents have found the project an avenue to showcase, display and hone their skills week after week,” Disu said.

NAN reports that the project’s premier league will be rounded off this week, while league one ends in two weeks and league two is scheduled to end in April.

A total of 179 matches have so far been played in all categories of the league with 555 goals scored.

he Nigeria Para-Athletic Federation has said that its team departed the country yesterday for the London 2012 Paralympics qualifiers holding from today through to March 20 in Dubai.

The body’s itinerary was made available on Wednesday in Lagos in a statement signed by Frank Thorpe, the Secretary of the Paralympics Committee of Nigeria (PCN). The statement said the Nigeria’s contingent would be made up of 22 athletes and five coaches.

The athletes include Iyiazi Njideka.

Adebayo Bukola, Nnaji Patricia, Oriyomi Olaewe, Okoko Margret, Nwaozuzu Chituru, Akanni Jelili, Omojola Alinco, Hannah Babalola, Ewerem Chika, Solomon Amaraoku, Imbimon Anthony.

Others in the team are Mary Okoko, Bashiru Ayinla, Maxwell Ekenonu, Ezeh Sunday, Otoboeze Nneka and Unyime Christopher Uwak. Gbolahan Olaiya, Flora Ugwuna, Akinbole Omolola and Adebayo Monsuru Ayinla complete the list of athlethes.

Sunny Obot, Secretary Nigeria Para-Athletic Federation, expressed optimism that the team would succeed at the qualifiers owing to the fact that they had been on intensive training for the competition.

The statement said the team was expected to perform well in Dubai because of the hard work the members had put into their preparations for the qualifiers.

Thorpe would lead the country’s contingent.

Foreign clubs’ interest in Nigerian players waning, says consultant A FIFA-licensed agent, Shina Phillips, has disclosed that the foreign clubs were no longer keen on having Nigerian players in the confines because of their poor quality.

Phillips, a football consultant, said this in Lagos on Wednesday stressing the waning form of the players may have arisen from the poor standard of organisation of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL).

“Unfortunately for Nigerian players, the standard of play in the NPL has dropped thus affecting the interest of foreign clubs because the competition from other countries is stiff.

“And also, because of the bad experiences they get from Nigerian players who have travelled to play football but used the opportunity to get a visa,” he said.

According to him, if the welfare of coaches in the league is addressed by their clubs’ sponsors and a better structure put in place for the organization of the league,

performances in terms of technical and administrative would improve and thus have tremendous impact on the quality of the players.

“You will know if the coaches from a country are of good quality with the class of play in the league of that nation, which is absent in Nigeria,” he said.

Phillips said that he did not blame the home-based Nigerian professionals who sought foreign clubs because the welfare of players was not encouraging.

“The NPL is neither vibrant nor buoyant because we do not have enough sponsors, so it is only natural for players to seek a better climate where they can thrive.

“Take a look at the distances covered by these players in order to play the various matches in the league and the uncomfortable vehicles being used then you know how strenuous it is. The league is not rewarding, it is not promising thus the exodus of players,” he said.

Phillips added that it was difficult to discover talents who really loved the sport as the younger players were only interested because of the money involved.

“We have a problem here where upcoming talents only engage in the sport because of the glamour and prospect that has been displayed by successful footballers.

“This makes it very difficult to spot a natural talented player and when you have someone who is desperate for the wrong reasons, you will get the wrong results,” he said.

Finidi George, Dan Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu all spotted from the domestic league but took Europe by storm

PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

PAGE 47

Making a mockery of FIFA’s grassroots football development

N

igeria is a nation full of ironies. Seldom do her citizens thrive on international best practice, no they excel in oddities. Yes, when it comes preaching standard or producing elucidating documents on how to, Nigerian administrators are likely to outshine their contemporaries in this.

Sadly, failure to act in consonance with international best practices, which have worked perfectly well elsewhere, has led to regrettable and indeed avoidable selfinflicted wounds.

Take the matter of common name change, something other countries would have done with minimum hassles, in Nigeria even the NASS has had no compuncture denying a simple legislation needed to give legal teeth to the football

federation. And yet the bill to that effect had been subjected to necessary processes for about half a dozen years now.

Now though, and in keeping with its endemic disposition for unconventional attitude, the NFF has submitted to the trite trend: being at variance with international best practice.

Nothing, perhaps, best captures this aside from the administrative stench oozing perennially from the Glasshouse than the apparent resort to the use of over-aged players in CAF and FIFA cadet championships.

From the onset, when FIFA introduced the cadet tournaments: U-17 and U20 for both the male and female categories, implicit in its projection was using the championships as oasis for the discovering of

“

Even if the players are still within the age bracket, (which is a serious doubt) doesn't commonsense demand that we project them in the right career progression to create the needed leeway for other budding talents to come on board?

grassroots talents who would then be nurtured and groomed to stardom.

In fact, other nations have reaped bountifully from the dutiful application of the cadet championships.

They had found budding talents, taken time to chisel their roughages leaving generally finished products that within a relatively short time have taken the world by storm.

Lius Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonel Messi, Seydou Keita, Xavi and Pedro belong in this group.

Interestingly, a few participated at the Nigeria '99 FIFA World Youth Championship and few years later became globally acclaimed names.

Not so Nigeria. Since 1985 when Nigeria won the Kodak trophy in China, anyone with half a logical mind could perceive that the then NFA was less than factual with the ages of the players to achieved the feat. Little wonder, the players faded like morning due, while their contemporaries twinkled on many years afterward.

Unfortunately, because Nigeria operates a breached system with terribly faulty processes, the country has not learnt any lesson.

WATCH DOG

Or how else could one explains the p r e s e n t s i t u a t i o n where players o b v i o u s l y owoidoho_ng35@yahoo.com outside the age bracket of a particular than 70 players who were cadet championships are desperation to win at the gradually pruned to 50 deployed in a tournament expense of grassroots talent and and finally to 30. One meant to produce discovery development? Even if the wonders what on earth he prodigious talents. players are still within the had been doing since he That's obvious in the opened the camp that he, present Flamingoes. Yes, age bracket, (which is a doubt) doesn't as it seems, has been the team has been roundly serious demand unable to build a team of condemned for parading commonsense his own.

Any serious over-aged players. True, that we project them in the coach would desire nothing the allegation may not right career progression to but to build his own squad, have been proved by the create the needed leeway for impose his character and Kenyans adduced the other budding talents to come on board? delight in caving, as it were, argument.

No, something must a niche for himself by Now, consider the developing a crop of players inclusion of seven former U- have gone amiss with the that bear his identity.

20 players in the present U- technical crew and in fact The leadership of the 17 squad who will this the NFF technical subwhich NFF must arrest this weekend play Namibia in committee, retrogression and insist of 2013 CAF/FIFA qualifier. responsibility it is to make fresh blood for the The U-20 players did not meaningful and in-depth Flamingoes rather deploy only feature in the finals of technical input in all facets the services of Falconets the FIFA U-20 World Cup of the coaches' technical These players to prosecute the Finals, they had programmes. of course, championship. That way, constituted the nucleus of programmes, fresh talents would be the Super Falcons that won include players called up to found and shape for future the Africa Women the camp and even the final service. Without this, the Championship in South list of those retained for further observation and nation would continue to Africa last year. chiseling into a squad. rely on one set of tired legs And yet, they are We hear coach Edwin and more would be the downgraded to the U-17. pity for Nigeria.

Why is that, if not the Okon called up no fewer

By Patrick Andrew

World Indoor Championships

Top stars begin battle for US$2.5m in Istanbul today Story by Patrick Andrew David Rushida

Valerie Adams

W

orld and Olympics 100m champion, Usain Bolt and winner of the IAAF Samsung Diamond League 100m winner, Yohan Blake, high, long and triple jumps champions Anna Chicherova, Yelena Isinbayeva,Olga Rypakova and in fact a glut of world stars will be working assiduously to outpaced themselves for the top most prize.

The battle field is Istanbul where the likes of Mo Farah, Bernard Lagat, Liu Xiang, Meseret Defar, Keninesa Kebele, Kirani James, David Rushida, Abubakar Kaki amongst several others will equally in contention not just for individual prixes but the utmost prize: $50,000 for a world record.

In fact, a total of US$2,464,000 is on offer from the IAAF as prize

money at the 14th IAAF World Indoor Championships, Istanbul, Turkey,which begins today.

As usual, there is also a US$50,000 bonus for any athlete setting a new World record during the three-day championships.

The last edition of the World Indoor Championships in Doha witnessed a World record in the Triple Jump courtesy of Frenchman Teddy Tamgho. The 2012 indoor season has produced one World record*, Yelena Isinbayeva’s 5.01m leap in the Pole Vault in Stockholm on 23 February.

The relay is one area where a lot of fireworks are expected. At the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha the USA ended Russia’s streak of eight successive 4x400m gold medals by just 0.10 in a classic.

Of course, there will another

head to head clash between the USA and Russia for top spot on the podium.

The defending champions are bolstered by the presence of Sanya Richards-Ross, the 2009 World outdoor 400m champion while National champion Aleksandra Fedoriva will lead a powerful-looking Russian team.

Other medal hopefuls include Ukraine, Belarus and Great Britain.

American Brittney Reese will attempt to become the very first woman in World Indoor Championship history to mount a successful defence of the Long Jump title.

Reese, the reigning World outdoor champion, season’s best of 6.86m earned her only second at the US Championships. She would have to contend with Janay DeLoach -who leapt 6.89m to land gold as well as the US crown.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

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INITIATIVE FOR YOUTH AWARENESS AND DEVELOPMENT

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED 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. VINCENT OFOREGBU -CHAIRMAN 2. ADEBAYO STEPHEN -SECRETARY 3. LINUS UDEJI -FIN. SECRETARY 4. GABRIEL IGBOAMAEZE -TREASURER 5. AWUZIE ONYEOMA -MEMBER AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PROMOTE THE INTEREST OF IT’S MEMBERS ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR- GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: BARR. CHINEDU ODO

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION 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) AZUBIKE EZEPUE -CHAIRMAN (2) CAJETHAN NOUBISI -MEMBER (3) NATHANIEL (4)REMIGUS OKOYE -MEMBER (5) BARR. EMMANUEL NNAMUAH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PROMOTE VOCATIONAL TRAINING. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR- GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: BARR. JOY KELECHI IGWE 08064295845

Veronica CampbellBrown

PRIZE MONEY** at the 14th IAAF World Indoor Championships Individual events (total US$ 2,288,000): 1st US$40,000 2nd US$20,000 3rd US$10,000 4th US$8000 5th US$6000 6th US$4000 Relays (total US$176,000) per team: 1st US$40,000 2nd US$20,000 3rd US$10,000 4th US$8000 5th US$6000 6th US$4000 World record bonus US$50,000 - for any athlete setting a new World record.

Mo Farah

LOSS OF DOCUMENT This is to inform the general public of the loss of allocation letters for house 75, 201 Crescent, Kado Bimko, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja; (b) allocation letters of Efab houses; (c) C of O for flat 55b, INEC Quarters F.H.A Kubwa, Abuja (d) and other documents belonging to Dolapo A. Agboola is missing. All effort made to trace the missing documents proved abortive. If found, please contact the nearest police station. AGIS, General public to please take note.

QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function —F er ald Fitzger erald F.. Scott Fitzg

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

NFF announces Tom as technical director next week

T

he Executive Board members of the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) is expected to announce Tom Saintfiet as technical director next week follow the recommendation of the technical committee.

The technical committee of the federation held nine hours close door interview meeting yesterday in Abuja to finalize a possible replacement for the vacant position of technical director for the interest and betterment of Nigeria football.

The committee will table the recommendation of Tom Saintfiet to the executive members of the NFF next week before making it know to Nigerians.

While speaking to Peoples Daily Sports after the interviewed, the former Belgian coach said he happy to take the job as technical director of Nigeria football.

“I am not yet appointed as the technical director, but I am happy to take the job, because I am used to Africa football also played against Super Eagles of Nigeria when he was a chief coach of Ethiopia national team.

“As you may know Nigeria is the giant of Africa which every coach will desire to work with, I need the job, if I don’t want the job I won’t be here.

“I am ready to work in this beautiful country, but at the moment I am not given the job, I am a Europe guy who stayed in Africa and followed Nigeria football very well,” he said.

However, it is unclear that the NFF will name technical director for the national teams after the recommendation of its technical committee and a head coach of Super Falcons that is likely to be former Enyimba coach kadiri Ikhana who also was interview alongside Tom Saintfiet.

Tom Saintfiet

ADVERT: BUSINESS: NEWS: LAGOS:

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Budget 2012 (8) Paramilitary nation

W

e conclude our review of the security sector budget today by looking at our several paramilitary organizations, their mandates, operations and budgetary provisions in the 2012 proposals.

The paramilitary agencies are the four supervised by the Minister of Interior: the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) tucked away in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) under the Minister of Finance, and the Aviation Security Service (Avisec), an administrative creation of that Ministry, post-911.

These seven agencies combined employ about the same number of people as the Nigeria Police Force, and spend nearly as much. Apart from Avisec whose source of funding is unclear from the budget, and the NCS which gets 7% of its allocation as "internal revenue", the five agencies will consume about N195 billion in 2012. The NCS collected some N742 billion in 2011, so it is entitled to at least N52 billion in this year's budget. Indeed, the NCS is on track to collect about N 1trillion in 2012, which would raise its budget to some N70 billion. And this tally excludes the budgets of EFCC (N11bn) and ICPC (N4.2bn). When the N70 billion or so for NCS is added to the N195 billion for the other five agencies and an allowance is made for Avisec, the total of about N280bn constitutes key components of our national security spending making our country a paramilitary nation, if not a totally militarized 'democracy'!

The prisons system is a key part of the tripod that makes up every country's criminal justice system - the Police, the Courts and Prisons. The latter are established to restrain convicted offenders from being a danger to the society, rehabilitating the offenders, deterring and reforming them while in custody, and preparing some of them for reintegration into civil society. A prison system must therefore be assessed on how effectively it carries out these functions, ably assisted by the other criminal justice components.

Our nation's prisons system came into being proper in 1872 when the British Consul administering the Colony of Lagos

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NASIR EL-R UF AI EL-RUF UFAI ON FRID AY FRIDA elrufai@aol.com

FRSC boss, Osita Chidoka opened the Broad Street Prison with a capacity for 300 inmates.

By 1910, similar facilities had been extended to Degema, Calabar, Benin, Ibadan, Sapele, Jebba and Lokoja. In the then Northern Protectorate, the Emir's existing "Gidan Yari" were designated as Native Authority Prisons, and remained so until they were abolished by the Gowon administration in 1968.

Today the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) is a huge national institution with 144 convict prisons, 83 satellite prisons, 1 open prison camp, 2 borstal

institutions, 11 mechanized farms, 9 subsidiary farms, 9 cottage industries, 4 training schools, and 1 staff college, employing nearly 40,000 people in 2006. The NPS is headed by a Comptroller-General of Prisons, assisted by deputies in charge of six departments, supervising 8 zonal commands, and 36 state commands, overseeing 227 prisons nationally. All prisons in Nigeria are federally-controlled, just like the Nigeria Police Force.

The installed capacity of the prisons was about 43,915 beds in 2009, and accommodated about 40,000 inmates - indicating that there is no congestion in our prisons. This national average obscures two peculiarities of our prisons - (1) the disproportionate number of persons detained awaiting trial (ATP), and (2) the excessive concentration of ATPs in, and resulting congestion of urban prisons. For instance, in 2009, the Port Harcourt Prison with a capacity for 800 inmates had 2,500 prisoners out of which only 284 were convicts. Owerri Prison with a capacity for 548 prisoners had 1,200 out of which only 106 were convicts. A research report published by Amnesty International in February 2008 summarized the

“

The ATP problem is proof that our criminal justice system is completely broken. In Ghana, only 30% of the prison population is awaiting trial. In South Africa, it is only 30%, Even Tanzania and neighboring Cameroon are doing better at 50% and 58% respectively, compared with our disgraceful 71% in 2009! If our criminal justice system works better, we should expect to see more convictions and a rise in the ratio of convicts to total prisoner population

situation so succinctly: “Nigeria's prisons are filled with people whose human rights are systematically violated.

Approximately 65 per cent of the inmates are awaiting trial most of whom have been waiting for their trial for years. Most of the people in Nigeria's prisons are too poor to be able to pay lawyers, and only one in seven of those awaiting trial have private legal representation.”

The ATP problem is proof that our criminal justice system is completely broken. In Ghana, only 30% of the prison population is awaiting trial. In South Africa, it is only 30%, Even Tanzania and neighboring Cameroon are doing better at 50% and 58% respectively, compared with our disgraceful 71% in 2009! If our criminal justice system works better, we should expect to see more convictions and a rise in the ratio of convicts to total prisoner population. It is suggested that the report of the Presidential Commission on the Administration of Justice (2006) be revisited so that all the ATP cases be dealt with to decongest our urban prisons. This will reduce the burden on society of the time wasted, pain inflicted, stigma and loss of opportunities that those detained awaiting trial, suffer only to be found innocent.

And with this, the N56.7bn to be spent in 2012 on our prisons system may well be justified. The food ration budget this year is about N5bn. So we intend to spend N125,000 per prisoner this year (about N340 daily) to feed about 40,000 detainees. Imagine how much better the prisoners will feed, or how much more we can save if 70% of those detained are not in prisons!

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is in charge of regulating the entry and exit of persons into and out of Nigeria, including matters related to the residency of aliens, the permission to work and issuance of passports and similar travel documents to Nigerian citizens. NIS was formed initially by Ordinance in 1958 with seconded officers from the Nigeria Police Force. It came into being as an independent department in 1963 when the Tafawa Balewa government passed a law creating the department as part of the civil service.

Contd. on Page 15

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