Peoples Daily Newspaper, Monday 10, December, 2012

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 9 No. 86

Monday, December 10, 2012

. . . putting the people first

Al-Muharram 26, 1434 AH

N150

OCTOBER 1 BOMBINGS

SSS plotted against IBB, el-Rufai, others – Okah

By Lambert Tyem

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letter written by Charles Okah, the elder brother of the principal suspect in the October 1, 2010 bombings in

Abuja, Henry Okah, has revealed a new dimension to the sordid event.

Charles, who said he has been in solitary confinement at Kuje Prisons, Abuja, since 2010 had in

a letter to the Archbishop of Lagos, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, given details of how officers of the State Security Service (SSS) severely tortured him to get him to implicate former military

President Ibrahim Babangida, former FCT Minister, Malam Nassir el-Rufai, current Governor of Delta state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, former Governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, and

Chief Raymond Dokpesi, owner of Daar Communications in the bombing.

In the letter dated November 19, 2012, Charles alleged that he Contd on Page 2

50 unemployed graduates from Borno state at Kasetsat University, in Bangkok, Thailand for three months train-the-trainers courses on different aspects of modern agriculture under the Borno State Agricultural Transformation Programme. The trainees are expected to train 10,000 farmers on return in February, 2013.

Gunmen kidnap Okonjo-Iweala’s mother

By Richard Ihediwa

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2-year old mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, Prof.

Kamene Okonjo, was yesterday abducted from her home in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta state by daredevil gunmen who allegedly disguised as palace guards.

Prof. Okonjo, who is a retired

Professor of Sociology at the University of Nigeria (UNN) Nsukka, Enugu state, is the wife of His Majesty, Prof. Chukwuka Aninshi Okonjo Agbogidi, the reigning Obi of Ogwashi-Uku kingdom.

Police in Delta state confirmed yesterday that she was kidnapped at about 1:30 pm at the Obi’s palace at Ogbe-Ofu quarters by eight gunmen who

JTF arrests 28 suspected insurgents in Kano >> PAGE 2

stormed the palace in two Audi cars.

Already, the police has mounted a massive manhunt for the abductors with the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer,(PPRO), Mr. Charles Muka, saying the his command already has information that will lead to the arrest of the assailants.

“Yes, we (police) have got the

Mahama set to win Ghana poll >> PAGE 3

information on the kidnap and we have also got information that will lead to the arrest of the hoodlums”, Muka said.

However a man said to have led the kidnappers to the palace is said to have been arrested and is now in police custody.

Sources close to the palace said the kidnapper who pushed their victim into one of the Audi Contd on Page 2

New case of typeone wild polio reported in FCT >> PAGE 5

PD INDEX

9th Dec., 2012

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

BUYING 154.76 249.412 202.24 0.2892 41.266

SELLING 155.76 251.02 203.54 0.3092 41.53

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

BUYING 207 255 42 157

SELLING 209 256 44 158

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

CONTENTS

SSS plotted against IBB, el-Rufai, others – Okah Contd from Page 1

News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

14

Letters

15

Opinion

16

Metro

18-20

Business

21-24

S/Exchange

25

Education

26

S/Report

28

Health

36

Transformation Agenda: Debt without development, Page 4

Int’l

38-41

Digest

43

Politics

44-47

Sports

48-53

Columnist

54

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

and his son, who came visiting from the United States, were arrested in their Apapa GRA, Lagos residence by men of the SSS who accused him of being the suspected spokesperson for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), using the pseudonym, “Jomo Gbomo”.

MEND, it would be recalled claimed responsibility for the attack through Jomo Gbomo.

Charles, whose younger brother Henry has been detained in South Africa where he is also facing trial for the attack, said the security officers offered him lucrative contracts to implicate his brother and the others and was severely tortured and threatened when he refused.

The letter read: “At the SSS Headquarters Abuja where we were flown blindfolded with our legs and hands bound, my ‘cooperation’ was solicited for something completely different to my surprise. My captors threw me a lifeline; offering me freedom and a lucrative contract in exchange for false testimony against my younger brother Henry, who is resident in South Africa. I was to write a false statement claiming to have been told by Henry about the bomb plot and naming the following persons as his conspirators: Former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Malam Nasir El Rufai, Chief Timipre Sylva, and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan I bluntly refused.

“To maintain pressure on me, I was told that my son would be implicated in the bomb matter, my containers of legitimate imports then at the Tin Can Port would be impounded and my business

destroyed. I still did not budge, tossing their lifeline back with royal disdain.

“When they realized I was not going to connive in their scheme, they became formal and reverted to the main reason for my arrest. I was asked for the MEND password, which I told them I did not know.

They bound me in a chair, took off my trousers and clamped a device to my penis. My legs were then put inside a basin of water. The device when turned on passed a high voltage of electricity to my body and I lost consciousness.

“This was on Monday October 18 at about 6pm. When I regained consciousness, I discovered I was at the National Hospital emergency room. I remember the doctors asking why I had trauma marks on my chest where the SSS doctor performed Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The SSS operatives were evasive in answering questions at the hospital. That night I was released and taken to rest for the night at the State House Clinic. That was the last time a torture was carried out on me”, he said.

Charles said his son was released at the intervention of human right lawyers, Mr. Femi Falana but lamented that he has since been in solitary confinement with his property impounded and bank accounts frozen. He sad the SSS stopped asking for MEND password after “Jomo Gbomo’ made another statement while he was in detention but bemoaned that he was still detained even when in the ongoing trial in South Africa, the SSS is also accusing Henry of being the same Jomo Gbomo”.

The letter went ahead to allege double standard against him in

Kuje prisons were according to him, the authorities directed that he and two others detained for the attack be given special treatments, including solitary confinement, to stampede their trial “On December 24, 2010 we were remanded in Kuje prison as a result of our application to be removed from the SSS detention cell. Unknown to us, the SSS passed instructions from “above” to the prison authorities to carry out “special treatment” in order to stampede us into a trial towards conviction. For 2 years we have been locked up in solitary confinement, are not allowed to exercise or get sunlight outside and are forced to sleep on the floor when bunk beds are available. Even a court order by Justice Gabriel Kolawole to the prison for a change in our confinement style was ignored after it was superseded by an ‘order from above.

“In late 2011, while locked up inside our cellblock, prison officials clothed in protective apparel, facemasks and gloves carried out fumigation without opening us to wait outside. Our protests fell on deaf ears and by the time they were finished we were in distress. The Youth Corper doctor on call tried her best within her limits to the emergency she was confronted with.

“The poisonous gas and barbaric action reminiscent of the Nazi concentration camp infamous gas chambers, eventually led to the death of one Francis Osuwo, aka Gboko, also roped into this case by the SSS and a man I have never met before.

Interestingly, the four persons in detention were strangers to each other except for one Obi Nwabueze

JTF arrests 28 suspected insurgents in Kano …as gunmen kill two cops, injure five in Borno From Edwin Olofu, Kano Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

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ecurity operatives under the umbrella of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) and the police in Kano, arrested no fewer than 28 suspected insurgents yesterday, in separate dawn raids carried out in the commercial city.

According to a source who pleaded anonymity, the raid was carried out at different locations in Yankaba, Rijiyar Zaki and Kurna Asabe within the metropolis, following the series of attacks by suspected terrorists in the state.

Our reporter gathered that the assault in Yankaba area where two teenage students, Chukwuemeka Ebuka, 16 and Daniel Nwachkwu, 17 were gunned down last Thursday,

12 suspected insurgents were rounded up while six were picked up in the Kurna Asabe operation.

The source added that the 12 arrested suspects in Yankaba just arrived Kano from in Yobe state, adding that they acted on intelligence report.

Also, it was learnt that another team of security personnel, also acting on a tip off, raided a compound in Rijayar Zaki, where another group of 10 suspects were also arrested.

Among items recovered from the suspects were military uniforms and other incriminating items.

In another development, two policemen attached to the Borno state Police Command, were killed yesterday afternoon when unknown gunmen attacked their patrol along Hausari ward

in Maiduguri metropolis.

The incident caused serious commotion in the area as residents were forced to stay indoors, while shops and other commercial centres were shut down for several hours.

This came barely 24 hours after a similar attack in which three persons, comprising a teacher in one of the private schools were gunned down at Polo area of the city.

In yesterday’s attack, two other policemen and three passers-by, sustained gunshot injuries in the ensuing gun duel between the attackers and security agents.

The identities of the cops could not be ascertained as at press time. However police spokesman, Mr. Gideon Jibril, confirmed the incident, saying the victims comprised of an inspector and a sergeant.

who is a family friend and close associate of Henry.”

He also claimed that while they were denied access to the outside world, suspected Boko Haram inmates were allowed to worship in the prison mosque and enjoyed privileges such as cable television, radio, liberty to move within the prison walls, bunk beds to sleep on and phone calls to their families.

He also alleged double standard by the court citing the granting of bail to Senator Ali Ndume, who was accused of being a financier to Boko Haram while he and his cotraveller have been denied bail.

Charles also alleged double standard in the polity and wondered why the were not allowed to go and placed on watch list just like the Police did on those suspected to be Boko Haram sponsors. He urged church leaders to come to their aid and not leave issues concerning their followers to remain in the hands of corrupt and selfish politicians.

However, reacting to the issue last night, SSS Spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar told Peoples Daily that the Service does not know anything about Okah’s allegation.

She said since the suspect is a detainee, enquiries should be made to the prison authorities on the issues raised.

Gunmen kidnap OkonjoIweala’s mother Contd from Page 1 cars and driven to an unknown destination.

It was gathered that the man had informed the housemaid that he was in the palace to take the queen mother to somewhere in the town for a traditional event. Mrs. Okonjo was however seized by the kidnappers when she and her maid came down to offer refreshments to some men working to fix the palace gate.

It was said that as soon as the lady stepped out of the main building, heading towards the gate, the kidnappers moved in from the gate, and pushed her into a waiting car and sped off.

Eyewitnesses said the assailants were heavily armed and had ordered the workers at the gate who were fixing interlocking tiles in the palace, to lie face down.

“Immediately they saw our king’s wife, the Queen Mother who was coming towards the gate with her maid to serve the workers soft drinks, she was seized and thrown into a waiting car while another car was parked outside”, a palace resident who pleaded anonymity told newsmen.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 3

The Nation Reporter assaulted at Gov Akpabio’s birthday From Mike Etim, Uyo

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et again, journalists in Akwa Ibom state were harassed and beaten by overzealous security personnel.

This time, the victim was The Nation Newspaper’s reporter, Kazeem Kayode, who was beaten to stupor at the event centre where Governor Akpabio was having a church service and reception for guests invited to his golden jubilee birthday.

Trouble started when journalists who were invited to the occasion where barred from entering the newly constructed five thousand capacity hall specially build to host the event after they were cleared by the chief press sectary to the governor, Pastor Anietie Ukpe.

An attempt by The Nation reporter who gained entry into the hall to explain to the SSS that he was a journalist was met with a slap from one of the security operatives.

Other security men numbering 10 joined in beating

and kicking which led to the reporter fainting.

The chief press sectary to the governor who was at the scene of the assault, moved to save the reporter but was rebuffed by the security operatives who even threatened him.

Even after explaining himself that he was the chief press secretary to the governor and the journalist beaten was known to him, the security operative replied by saying, “who are you, it takes anybody to be a chief press secretary but it takes people with intelligence to be SSS”.

Barely two months ago, when President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state, not only were journalist barred from entering the hall where the president and the governor were to make their speeches even when they were cleared by the commissioner for information and communication, the state NUJ chairman was harassed and thrown out of the event.

L-R: Former Head of State; General Muhammadu Buhari, former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Gambo Jimeta, VicePresident Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Alhaji Lema Jibrilu, Kaduna state Governor, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, and others during wedding Fatiha of the vice-president’s daughters, on Saturday at Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Mahama set Customs man accuses pastor of willful damage to property to win Ghana poll From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

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customs officer, Mr. Obi Chidozie has in a petition addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), alleged willful damage to his uncompleted storey building situate at Oyebanji Street off Ijegun in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos.

In the petition made available to our correspondent, Chidoze had claimed that the land on which the structure was situated, was an inherited property from his late father whom he said, duly bought and paid for the half plot from the Kuaru family who are the original owners of the land in 1996 and that all necessary documents inter-alia, purchase reciept, deed of agreement/title were handed over to his late

father.

Narrating further, he said to his consternation, on the 15th November this year, he was reliably informed that his neighbor, a clergyman whose name was simply given as Pastor Anthony, had personally pulled down the fence and the gate leading to the structure and had forcefully ejected the guard from the premises and instead erected a wall thus preventing any one access into his land.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police when contacted referred our correspondent to the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), one Inspector Uzo who confirmed that indeed the matter was reported to his office by the customs officer, assuring that the petition is still being studied and that contact is being established with the Pastor with the view to inviting him as to hear his own side of the story.

Constitution review: Ekweremadu c’ttee seeks best practices on federalism

By Richard Ihediwa

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he Senate Committee on Constitution Review has assured that it will recommend the inculcation of the best practices in federalism and democracy across the world to Nigerians in the expected constitution review exercise.

Deputy President of the Senate and Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, stated at the closing of a two-day study on “The American Federalism” by selected members of the committee at the weekend in Washington DC, United States

of America (USA).

Ekweremadu said that the study tours, which had earlier taken some committee members to Canada and currently to the USA and India, were being co-sponsored by development partners, namely the United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP), United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the European Union (EU) to help Nigeria benefit from international best practices towards the strengthening of her federalism and democratic governance.

By Adulkadir Isa with agencies

I

ncumbent President John Mahama is set to win the presidential elections as results so far declared tip him for a return.

Mahama, flag bearer of the National Democratic Party had as at press time yesterday, polled 5,032,002 votes or 50.39 percent with his closest rival – Nana Addo polling 4,797,297 votes or 48.4 percent.

With 50 percent votes already in his kitty, the possibility of a re-

run is eliminated preparing Mahama for an overall victory.

More results were still being expected from 22 constituencies, seven of which were in the Greater Accra region, five from the Northern region, four from the Brong Ahafo region, three from the Central region and one each from the Eastern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

Approximately 1.3 million votes are expected in the outstanding constituencies with turnout generally at 81 percent.

Meanwhile, the top opposition party- New Patriotic Front, has

accused the governing party of fixing the results. It claims connivance between the ruling party and electoral officials.

“The ruling NDC conspired with certain EC staff in constituencies across the country to falsify the election results and thereby abuse the mandate of the people of Ghana”, the party said.

The party claims to have concrete evidence to back the transposition of votes for Nana Akufo-Addo of the NDC in favour of Mr. John Mahama of the ruling NDP.

FG Sure-P spend IBB, Abdulsalami receive N9bn on railways centenary award from Alma Mata From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

From Illya Garba, Minna

he Federal Government has spent about N9 billion in restructuring of the dilapidated rail sector under its Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (Sure-P), saying Lagos to Kano route will re-open before the end of the year.

A member of the Sure-P committee Mr. Chika Okogwu speaking at the weekend during an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos, said the fund is for the rebuilding of railway lines across the country.

According to him, Western railway line from Lagos to Kano and Eastern lines, linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri have been constructed under the SURE-P. Okogwu added that the Federal Government would soon revive railway vocational centres, stressing that those that would be trained through the centre would be absorbed to work in railway. This according to him would go a long way to create job opportunities for many people.

he former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, were among the old students who received a distinguish award on Sunday as their Alma Mata, Government College Bida, marked its centenary celebrations.

Also awarded were the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Muhammadu Inuwa Wushishi and the President of the Bida Old Students Association (BOSA), Col Sani Bello (rtd) who was also made the life President of BOSA just as the new constitution was adopted.

Others who received honorary awards included: the Emir of Suleja, Malam Awwal Ibrahim, as well as a posthumous award on the 9 th Estu Nupe, Alhaji Muhammad Ndayako and late Ambassador James Kolo who was billed to

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deliver the centenary lecture but died a few days before the event.

The BOSA President, Col Sani Bello said the centenary celebration is aimed at keeping the legacy of the school alive and commended individuals and corporate bodies for their donations toward the rehabilitation of the school structures.

Speaking on behalf of the recipients of the various awards, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, commended BOSA for the honour done them and pledged on behalf of other recipients that they would continue to work and keep the college legacy alive.

Government College Bida was established in 1912 to meet the educational needs of students from the northern part of the country and has produced two former military rulers, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and a host of top military brass.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

U

nder President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal Government has borrowed a total of N2.57 trillion.

Thus, the Federal Government’s debt profile rose from N4.18tn as of June 30, 2010 to N6.75tn as of June 30, 2012. According to the Debt Management office (DMO), most of the debt accumulated in the past was mainly by state governments and their agencies.

Jonathan was sworn in as Nigeria’s Acting President on February 10, 2010 following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua and was later sworn in as the elected president on May 29, 2011.

Records obtained from the DMO show that four months after Jonathan became Acting President, the total debt profile stood at N4.18tn (as at June 30, 2010). But by June 30, 2012, the debt profile has ballooned to N6.75tn.

This shows that within a period of 24 months, the Federal Government debt profile has risen by 61.48 per cent.

An analysis of the debt increment within the period under review shows that the Federal Government has borrowed an average of N107.08bn every month for 24 months or a total of N1.285 trillion per annum. This translates to N3.52 bn daily.

This debt profile is exclusive of sub-national governments’; state and local governments.

While the DMO put the external indebtedness of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory at $2.21bn (N344.96bn) as at June 30, 2012; their domestic debt profile could not be obtained as the data is still to be determined by the DMO. As at June 2012, the states’ external debt profile constituted 36.7 per cent of the nation’s foreign indebtedness while the Federal Government accounted for 63.3 per cent of the external debt portfolio.

Although DMO has put the domestic indebtedness of the Federal Government as at September 30, 2012 at N6.34tn, the external debt profile of the states has yet to be determined.

The combined external debt of both the states and the Federal Government, which stood at N7.33tn in September, has not yet been split between the two tiers of government.

A further analysis of the local debt component shows that as at June 30, 2010, Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds accounted for 63. 97 per cent (or N2.41tn) of the domestic debt component.

Nigeria Treasury Bills accounted for N901.02bn or 23.93 per cent while Treasury Bills accounted for N392.07bn or 10.41 percent. Development Stocks, on the other hand, accounted for N220m or 0.01 per cent while Promissory Notes accounted for N63.03bn or 1.67 percent.

For June 2012, FGN Bonds accounted for N3.71tn or 60.37 per cent; Nigerian Treasury

Transformation Agenda: Debt without development Although the Jonathan Administration has made a sing song of its so-called Transformation Agenda, there is still pretty little on the ground to justify the nation’s ballooning debt profile, writes Aminu Imam.

President Goodluck Jonathan Bills N2.08tn or 33.88 per cent; and Treasury Bonds N353.73bn or 5.75 percent.

While the external debt profile increased by 18.03 per cent within the two year period, the domestic component increased by 63.48 per cent.

The trend in the past seven years reveals a preference for borrowing from the domestic market.

Most of the domestic debts had not been tied to any specific project but had been raised to finance budget deficits.

This development has been agitating the minds of many Nigerians who lament that a few years after the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had taken Nigerian out of the clutches of the Paris and London clubs, the country ‘s debt profile is again assuming a worrisome dimension.

Section 19 (1) and (2) of the DMO Act of 2003 stipulates that the country’s borrowing programme for every succeeding year must be approved by the National Assambly , while section 47 (3) of the fiscal responsibility Act of 2007 prohibits state governments from borrowing directly from external sources.

However, what is happening now is in breach of the provisions of these acts.

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo

Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Iweala, has not hidden her preference for foreign borrowing as she has insisted that the Federal Government was crowding the private sector from the local debt market.

This means that with the Federal Government active in the local debt market, lenders would always prefer to lend to the government to the detriment of the private sector operators that also need money to develop their businesses.

Although Okonjo-Iweala championed the nation’s exit from foreign debt crisis between 2004 and 2006, her return in government as the Coordinating Minister of the Economy has seen the Federal Government becoming more active in the foreign debt market.

The Federal Government has recently presented to the National Assembly a plan to borrow $8bn from external sources for infrastructure development. The move will balloon the Federal Government’s foreign debt to $13.91bn.But plan has met steep opposition from some members of the National Assembly.

While presenting the 2012 budget proposal to the National Assembly, President Goodluck Jonathan has lamented that the domestic debt had been growing at an alarming rate in recent years.

The clearest evidence of this is that in 2012, the Federal Government had earmarked N560bn for debt servicing.

The President spoke of curtailing domestic debt but he also gave room for the government to accumulate more debt by saying that the debts should not go beyond 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Debt.

At the moment, the debt to GDP ratio is slightly less than 20 per cent. With latitude of 30 per cent debt to GDP ratio, the government can add up to 50 per cent of the current debt level.

Nonetheless, the Federal Government still plans to borrow N633.85bn from the domestic debt market in 2013.

The amount proposed for servicing total domestic debt would increase to N543.38bn, reflecting the increment expected in the volume of domestic debt in 2013.

The pertinent questions to address are: Do we have the capacity to repay this money considering our yearly revenue profile? What is the future value of the total debt in the years to come?

The Executive should focus on borrowing to finance gaps in budget that are largely recurrent, because the debt profile is more than the Federal Government’s yearly budget as its external component translates to 2.76 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

and its domestic component translates to 17.53 percent of the GDP. Elsewhere, term loans are tied to specific projects such as dams, mass housing schemes, educational infrastructure, mass transit, etc.

There is also the need for government to embrace PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) through adequate legal framework, and the National Assembly to look at the DMO amendment Bill, which it has rejected due to inadequate information on the provision for Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The National Assembly needs to revisit this issue as well as the others that were rejected so as to give the necessary backing to debt management.

Furthermore, the Federal Government should strengthen the operation of the DMO in such a way that state governments would not have easy access to foreign and local loans. In addition, while revisiting the monitoring mechanism of the DMO, policies that could promote macro-economic stability, acceleration of non-oil growth and concentration on growth enhancing infrastructure, as well as expanding the sources of internally generated revenue (IGR) and improvement of the efficiency of revenue collection process, should be intensified and encouraged.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 5

NEMA blames climate change for Nigeria deadly flood From Ayodele Samuel with agency report

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L-R: Member, Board of Trustees (BOT), Al-Khulafa'ur-Rashidun Foundation, Alhaji Ismail Umar Sifawa, Sarkin Kurudu, Alhaji Haliru Bako, Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters' Central Mosque, Sheikh Nura Khalid, Member, BOT, Al-Khulafa'u, Malam Mannir Dan Ali and Acting Chairman, BOT of the Foundation, Alhaji Inuwa Bakari, during the Foundation's 1st annual general meeting (AGM), yesterday in Karu, FCT. Photo: Mahmud Isa

New case of type-one wild polio reported in FCT T he FCT Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB), has said a case of type-one wild polio virus had been reported from Jahi One District, Gwarimpa, Abuja Municipal Area Council.

The Executive Secretary of the board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, who visited the district yesterday, said the report had been confirmed.

Mohammed said there was no reported case of polio in the FCT

since 2010, but that one child had just been confirmed to have the type one polio virus.

The executive secretary said that the second case had not been confirmed.

He said that the faeces of the second child suspected to be infected had been taken to University College Hospital, Ibadan for proper laboratory checkup to ascertain the disease.

Mohammed said: “We have

started media jingles and community dialogue on measures to tackle the situation. We want to cordon off the area because we don’t want it to spread to other areas in the FCT. “The one confirmed case can transmit the disease to 200 children, so we have to cordon off the area, therefore we are going to carry out a two-day immunisation in that area”.

Mohammed said the board had

received 50,000 doses of polio vaccines from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to be given to children in Jahi community.

He said that youths in the community would be mobilised and trained on how to administer the vaccine, adding that the immunisation would be done from house to house.

He warned that dirty environment was a key factor to the spread of the disease, adding that a child with the virus could easily spread it to other children who had not been vaccinated.

He advised parents to take their children for routine immunisation, stressing that it was key to disease prevention.

(NAN)

Corruption: Judge decries plea bargaining ormer chairman, Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal in Oyo state, Justice Waheed Olaifa (rtd), has described pleabargaining as a bad compromise encouraging corruption as well as eroding the integrity of the judiciary.

Olaifa, who spoke with journalists shortly after he bowed out from the bench, noted

that plea-bargaining was a strange element in the Nigerian legal system.

He said “Plea bargaining is not in our own law. Instead of allowing plea bargaining and releasing accused persons, government can let corrupt officials put down some of the stolen money and still be tried in the court of law.

“In criminal cases we recover items allegedly stolen and still punish the offenders. It should be

double jeopardy for the person found guilty. However, they can ameliorate their jail term having recovered the stolen money. The present situation is such that encourages corruption because the corrupt person will put his mind on settlement having stolen more than enough”.

Meanwhile, he explained that the use of old legal apparatuses were responsible for slow dispensation of justice in the

country. He said, “We are still using some of the old rules. The police always face hard times bringing accused persons to court. Usually, they complain that they don’t have enough money to bring suspects to court.

Olaifa advised that rather than streamlining the number of judges to which anti graft cases were assigned, all judges should be involved with close monitoring by the National Judicial Council.

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri overnor Kashim Shettima of Borno state has advocated the total empowerment of traditional rulers at all levels, in order to contribute their inputs in crime prevention and control.

The call was contained in a statement issued to newsmen yesterday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communications, Isa Umar Gusau.

According to Gusau, the governor made the remarks, while inspecting the project site of the new palace of the Shehu of Borno at Doka Crescent, in Kaduna metropolis.

The statement quotes Shettima as saying that the Shehu of Borno deserved a befitting accommodation in Kaduna, following the absence of a functional palace unlike other northern traditional rulers.

The governor noted that the project was part of his government’s determination to empower traditional rulers so as to offer meaningful contributions to the promotion of peace and unity in the North and the nation at large.

According to him, government felt duty bound to demolish the ruined palace and build a befitting one with guest rooms, living rooms and offices in view of the importance of the traditional system.

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

emulate him”.

He charged the new Talba to be committed in his duties as one of the titles holders in the emirate, adding that he should not betray the confidence the emirate has on him.

The Emir also appealed to the other title holders in the emirate to guide the young Talban Bauchi on the activities and responsibilities of traditional title holders in the emirate.

In his response, Tahir Ibrahim said “As a proper Muslim I feel most grateful to Almighty Allah for the blessing He has bestowed on me by giving me the chance to serve as the new Talban Bauchi.

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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Shettima calls for empowerment Tahir’s son succeeds father as Talban Bauchi of traditional institutions

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he Emir of Bauchi, Dr. Rilwan Suleimam Adamu, has turbanned Tahir Ibrahim Tahir, the first son of late former Minister of Internal Affairs and Talban Bauchi, Dr. Ibrahim Tahir, as the new Talban Bauchi to succeed his late father.

35-year-old Tahir, was turbanned last Saturday at the Emir’ palace amidst a crowd of relatives’ friends and well wishers. Speaking at the occasion, the emir called on the new Talba to emulate his late father “even though you cannot be like your father but try and

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has attributed climate change to the worst flood disaster witnessed in Nigeria this year.

The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi disclosed this at the end of the 18th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP-18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar.

Speaking at the event, SaniSidi said the climatic condition and drastic change to whether pattern contributed to massive flooding witnessed in the most states in Nigeria where lives were lost and sources of livelihood worth billions of naira were destroyed.

He said: “We are now living witnesses to the reality of climate change and global warming where areas considered as dryland in the northern part of the country witnessed excessive and torrential rainfall while some communities in the South were also submerged.

NGO demands explanation from Diezani over link with oil coy

By Augustine Aminu

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Transparency Group – Good Governance Network (GGN), has called for an immediate explanation from the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke, over her alleged links with an oil servicing company – West African Ventures (WAV) Limited, in line with the transparency posture of the government.

The group expressed concern over the continual use of the minister’s pictures in WAV’s advertorials and her continued silence over the matter.

Addressing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, co-ordinator of the group, Bamidele Akande, said: “We have observed overtime the use of the minister’s picture alongside officials of WAV in paid advertorials on the pages of newspapers. The latest of which appeared on page 51, The Guardian of Tuesday, December 4, 2012 and page 12H, Thisday of Tuesday, December 4, 2012".

Akande further said information at the disposal of GGN indicate that officials of WAV which have a subsidiary - Sea Trucks Group, which allegedly uses the name of the minister to intimidate other players in the petroleum industry to secure juicy contracts because of the minister’s perceived link with them.

Efoorts to seek the position of the minister on the subject were not responded to.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Benue commission warns LG staff against corruption From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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he chairman, Benue state Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Richard Gbande, has warned that the commission will not hesitate to sanction any local government staff found engaging in acts contrary to local government laws.

Gbande who gave this warning during the conferment of Transparency Award on him by the Coalition of Civil Society for Transparency in Governance, said the commission had in the past months disciplined erring local government staff as well as carried out promotion and transfer of many others.

He maintained that local governments are the hub of any government and are supposed to be manned by people of integrity and urged the new local government chairmen to be productive.

Gbande appreciated the group for the honor bestowed on him and pledged that it would spur him to promote transparency in the discharge of his duties.

Leader of concerned Benue Youths also known as G10, Mr. Philip Agbese stressed that they would remain in the forefront against corruption, adding "we are committed to good governance.

What we are doing is based on fairness and devoid of ethnic coloration".

National president Coalition of Civil Society Organisation for Transparency in Governance, Comrade Ibrahim Alih, said the coalition took into consideration Gbande's selfless service to humanity especially at the third tier of governance where many workers who were hitherto denied promotion in the past have been rewarded.

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle), First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan (right), and wife of late MeniJonathan (left), during the burial of the President's younger brother, on Saturday at Otuoke in Ogbia local government of Bayelsa state.

Harmattan: Kano residents go for second hand sweaters, blankets A s the harmattan season sets in, residents of Kano now patronise second hand clothes' markets in the metropolis in large numbers to obtain fairly-used sweaters and blankets.

Some of the dealers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, expressed satisfaction with the high demand for the wears, and hoped that it would be sustained.

Malam Ali Saidu, who operates a "bend-down boutique" at the famous Kofar Wambai Market, attributed the high demand for the materials to the harmattan season that has just started.

He said, ''Most people don't usually

go for new clothes because of the high cost involved.''

Another dealer in second hand clothes, Abubakar Musa, said he had been recording high sales since the turn of the season.

"I sell about two bales of sweaters every day to retailers from neighbouring states", Musa said.

Malam Habu Ali, a customer, said that the high cost of new clothes was forcing them to patronise fairly used ones.

Ali said that wearing sweaters was now necessary to protect the body against cold.

He said that he bought four pieces of sweaters and blankets for his

household for just N7, 500.

A house wife, Mrs. Femi Olajumoke, told NAN that she opted for second hand clothes because she could not afford to buy new sweaters

Demolition: Oyo identifies new locations for market construction From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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o fewer than 27 new locations suitable for market construction have been identified by the Oyo state government across the state, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has disclosed.

The governor made the disclosure in

Physically challenged woman turbaned for charity work

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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physically challenged woman, Miss. Omotunde Thompson, was crowned the"Sarauniyan Guragun Karu", for her charity work through her nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Center for Advocacy for People with Disability (CAPWD).

Turbaning her at the weekend in Karu, the "Sarkin Guragu" of the area, Malik

Sarki, said the award was necessary considering her hand of fellowship to those in need.

Sarki said: "She is like a mother to us. She comes to our aid whenever we need her assistance. We do not have any other thing to give her apart from this kind gesture. We are also very happy that she is one of us".

Similarly, the chairman of the cripples association in

Karu, Comrade Maikasuwa Magaji, commended Thompson for the work she has been doing for the disabled in the community and the country at large, saying that the coronation was a token of appreciation for her good deeds.

Responding, Miss.

Thompson who also received another award of excellence from the Institute of Development Finance and Project Management (IDFPM)

said she was delighted to be honoured for what she is doing for the society.

"I thank The Almighty for this day and what He has been doing in my life. People with disability like me need your help. They have potentials in them but they rely on others to harness it. I would like all those who are capable in the society to assist them so as to make our society better", she pleaded.

Primus Hospitals cut medical fees, offers free consultancy from Dec 10

By A'isha Biola Raji

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rimus International Super Specialty Hospital has announced a downward review of medical charges by 25 percent, including offer of free consultancy from December 10 December 20, 2012.

The hospital management said the decision to reduce its fees was part of its corporate social responsibility to open its services and state-of-the-art equipment to

Nigerian patients, majority of whom cannot afford to go abroad for treatment.

It will be recalled that, Nigerian patients who travel abroad for treatment is reported to cost the nation $300 to $400 million in foreign exchange annually.

The Hospital's Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Umaru Jibia, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said "Drugs from our pharmacy will now attract 25 percent downward review,

laboratory investigation 30 percent, radiological investigation 30 percent, CT scan and MRI 50 percent and EGG/ECHO/Treadmill 30 percent.

Our reporter's investigation shows that dual knee replacement surgery (for instance), which costs $9, 000 overseas and which is performed by Primus for $5,400, is being further reviewed less 25 percent.

"From December 10 to December 30, 2012, we are also offering free

for her three children. ''There is no need wasting my money on new materials, when I can get them cheaper here,'' she said.

(NAN)

consultation in addition to the downward review of our fees, because we believe that at this time, Nigerian patients should have easy access to excellent health services at our hospital, no matter their economic conditions" he added.

Primus management stated further that the hospital would offer free consultation for patients in the area of joint replacement, spine surgery, arthroscopic surgery, internal medicine and diabetic, general surgery, plastic and cosmetic surgery and dental health.

Ibadan at the week-end while accepting some decampees into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the party secretariat in Ibadan local government area of the state.

Among the several thousands of decampees were the former governor of the state, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo and Alhaji Tajudeen Balogun.

He said that all the identified locations would have modern markets on them with a view to putting an end to road side trading in the state.

The governor explained that traders were being asked to vacate the main road to reduce accidents and to maintain environmental sanitation in the state capital, adding that this measure would also put an end to flood disasters in the state and serve as a form of attraction to foreign investors.

Governor Ajimobi however appealed to all traders within Ibadan metropolis to bear with the government over the demolition of illegal structures in the state capital, saying it was an exercise that would benefit the entire people of the state.

While commending the decampees for their decision to join the progressive camp which he described as the friend of the masses, the governor called on ACN members to embrace new ones to move the party to greater heights.

Speaking at the occasion, Olunloyo called on Governor Ajimobi to expedite action on the markets being constructed for displaced traders, adding that the governor should also continue the demolition of structures that had been constituting nuisance to the aesthetics of Ibadan and the entire state.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 7

Kogi Assembly to take critical look at budget From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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or the budget proposal presented to Assembly by the governor Capt Idris Wada, to function effectively, Kogi State House of Assembly has unanimously resolved to critically take a look at the proposals.

The decision came on the heels of the second reading by the majority leader, Hon Yakubu Yunusa representing Ofu constituency, stressing that every committee should swing into action to give the budget a speedy passage to allow the executive work.

The House blamed itself for

not carrying out oversight to evaluate budget performance in the past, promising to take a holistic approach to ensure that the right thing was done.

It however commended the budget proposals for having a focus on capital expenditure, which he said, was a complete departure from budget proposals ever presented in the state since creation.

According to the Speaker, Momojimo Lawal, if the executive could follow the proposals to its letter, Kogi state would not regret voting Wada explaining that this was the first time debt servicing had been played down in a budget.

IPC to coordinate ICFJ’s exchange programme From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he International Press Centre, IPC, Lagos-Nigeria, has been appointed as the Nigerian coordinating organization for an Exchange Programme for Media Professionals from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and the United States, by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

The exchange is a four-part, two-way media programme run and funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The multi-phase programme would run over an 18-month period, with 20 African media professionals and 20 of their U.S. peers participating.

Ten journalists would be recruited from Nigeria and the three other African countries in a competitive process and would be divided into two groups.

The first group of five journalists from each country would travel to the United States in the spring of 2013 while the

second group would make the trip in the fall of 2013.

The selected journalists will spend approximately four weeks with American media organizations for practical fellowships and related programming. They will also join other Professional Fellows for a three-day Professional Fellows Congress in Washington, DC. Following the visit by the African journalists, a group of ten American journalists will also travel to the partner African countries to work with African media establishments.

The role of the International Press Centre as ICFJ’s partner include assisting with the participant’s recruitment, screening, selection and orientation; the participants’ posttravel activities and debriefing by the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the US Embassy in Nigeria.

Interested Nigerian journalists can apply online at ICFJ’S website www.icfj.org or via the link site at IPC’s website,www.ipcng.org.

The deadline is January 15, 2013.

Media rating agency to debut in Kaduna

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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rack and Field Radio Index, a media ratings, monitoring and market intelligence platform is taking off in Kaduna this week, to provide independent, authoritative and effective measurement of media content.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Executive Officer, Rabiu Ibrahim, adding that the outfit which is the first of its kind in Northern Nigeria, would also be aimed at penetrating audience data usage and universally accepted statistical methods and tools.

It also said that the monthly empirical survey of radio stations’ audience, would be published every 10th of the month beginning in December 2012 with initial focus on Kaduna

state, and the vast Northern market eventually.

Ibrahim said the report of the monthly survey, would consistently circulate among all radio market players, notably media buyers and agencies, the stations’ operators, and other industry stakeholders.

“The Track and Field Radio Index is expected to stimulate competition, deepen content development and awaken radio stations to their SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) on a regular basis for the purpose of planning and repositioning.

The Index will also put radio stations in direct purview of media buyers and advertising agencies to which the Index serves as authentic, scientific advisory for media budget spend” Ibrahim said.

L-R: Commandant, National Defence College, Rear Admiral Thomas Lokoson, presenting a souvenir to Akwa Ibom state Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, after the governor delivered a lecture at the college, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Group urges FG to stop Zamfara lead poisoning T he Nigerian Youth Climate Action Network (NYCAN), yesterday, appealed to the Federal Government to release the money meant to solve the problem of lead poison in Zamfara state.

A statement issued in Abuja

by Mr. Hamzat Lawal, the NYCAN Advisor, after a social media campaign in collaboration with Human Rights Watch, stated that the poisoning had left thousands of children to die or face lifelong disability.

He said that the release of the fund would enable the clean-up of the lead-contaminated areas in the state.

“If President Jonathan does not release the fund right away, children in Bagega will be forced to continue to live in poisoned homes.

“Children in Bagega are dying. If we wait for another year to clean up the poisoned areas, more children will die or become permanently disabled.’’

The statement quoted Mr. Babatunde Olugboji, the Deputy Programme Director; Human

Rights Watch, as saying that more than 400 children had lost their lives to the mayhem.

“More than 400 children in Zamfara have died from lead poisoning and unless the promised funds are released immediately, clean up of the contaminated areas won’t start until after next year’s rainy season and more children are at risk.’’

The statement noted that artisanal gold mines were found throughout the state, adding that high levels of lead in the earth and the use of rudimentary mining methods had resulted in an ongoing epidemic of lead poisoning among children.

It said children were particularly susceptible to the harm caused by lead and high levels of lead exposure could cause brain, liver, kidney, nerve, and stomach damage, as well as permanent disabilities.

The statement said that a research by Human Rights Watch in Zamfara in late 2011 found that children were exposed to lead when they process ore in

the mines, when their miner relatives’ return home covered with lead dust, and when the lead-filled ore is manually or mechanically crushed at home.

Children could also be exposed to toxic lead in contaminated water and food.

“We have reached a crisis point in Zamfara. Thousands of children live in toxic environment and are in urgent need of treatment.

“President Jonathan needs to make good his promise and release the promised funds before the window of opportunity before the rainy season closes. But he needs to act fast.’’

The statement also quoted Human Rights Watch researchers in May as saying that the government pledged close to US$5 million to clean up the contaminated areas.

It said that the Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), an independent international organisation for medical humanitarian aid had provided life-saving treatment to more than 2,000 children in Zamfara. (NAN)

Blame govt for surging crime rate – NAHCAN From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

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he National Handicap Carers Association of Nigeria (NAHCAN), has blamed the rising crime rate in the country on the federal, state and local governments.

It made this observation public during the activities to mark this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities which held at the Airport Hotel, Lagos.

In his welcome address, President of the association, Mr. Adewale Adeyanju noted that the

situation confronting Nigerians and persons with disabilities in particular informed the choice of the theme for this year’s event, adding that crimes usually provoked by poverty, caused disability, displace people, jeopardize life and are responsible for poverty and backwardness.

Continuing, he said, government all over the world allocates enormous resources in fighting crime and to protect the citizenry thus making crimefighting a big time business, lucrative and growing more

complex as science and technology continues to modernise technological devices being introduced on regular basis.

However, he said, criminals have also become very sophisticated in their operations, outwitting the security agencies and the government as they spread their dragnets and networks over many countries.

Adeyanju accused governments in Nigeria of responsibility in the absence of a viable welfare policy tilted towards alleviating the poor masses pains.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER, 10, 2012

SACA distributes 3m condoms at carnival village in Calabar

Kaduna State Distributors/ Vendors Association, in a group photograph with management of Peoples Media Limited, during the management meeting with the association, recently in Kaduna.

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Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kwara LGs to face prosecution over unauthorised loans O From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

ut of 16 local government areas of Kwara state, 10 would face prosecution for taking "unauthorised loans" to run their councils.

The affected councils according to state government, in a letter to the Speaker, Kwara state House of Assembly, was also alleged to have involved in unnecessary employment while they could not meet up its obligation.

In the letter to the Speaker, Barrister Razak Atunwa which was read on the floor of the house, The state

governor, Alhaji AbdulFattah Ahmed said two local governmentsKaima and Baruteen- were on clean bill.

"The state government has for sometime now been having a running battle with local government councils in the state over maladministration occasioned by reckless spending which culminated in mass discontent and above all the inability to pay staff salaries and fulfil statutory obligations", the governor stated.

"However, as the situation continued to degenerate unabated and assuming a chaotic and

calamitious dimension, government had to intervene quickly by setting up a committee to look into the matter and advise as appropriate. High points of the committee's observations and findings include:"that the internally generated revenue of all the local government councils is abysmally low and cannot effectively complement other sources of revenue, such as the regular inflow of the state 10 percent to local governments and that local government councils should scale up their revenue drives, that the local government councils are experiencing dwindling inflow from the federated account,

"That local government councils obtain loan from banks and other unauthorised sources without official authorisation and due clearance from constituted authority-with Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Offa, Edu, Ifelodun, Ekiti, Irepodun, Oke-Ero ad Asa local government councils being the worst culprits, that only Baruten and Kaima local government councils presented clean bills of health in this regard.

"That all chairmen found culpable particularly in obtaining unauthorised loans should be sanctioned to serve as deterrent to others", he said.

said that prices of "retouching, washing and setting, and blow drying" had been reviewed upward.

Osipitan said that prior to this period, retouching a hair with relaxer cost N300, but the price had increased to N600.

She disclosed that the Yuletide was period for hair stylists to showcase their skills and justify their importance to the society.

A hair stylist at the Iyana-Oba

Market, Mrs Ifeoma Ujunwa, said that the period she spent in fixing a customer's hair would determine the fee to charge.

"During yuletide, I hardly have time for myself. Everyday, I attend to a large number of customers.

"Sometimes, I attended to more than six customers daily without even having time to eat," Ujunwa said.

She said that she was charging

N4,500 for the "million braids" hair style as against N3,000.

A male hair stylist at the Alaba Market, Mr Taiwo Usifo, said that he had been booked by some clients throughout the Yuletide.

Usifo who claimed to have been in hair dressing business since 2010, said to fix a normal "weave-on" now cost N800 as against N300 charged two weeks ago", he said. (NAN)

Yuletide: Lagos hairstylists experience boom

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ome hair stylists in Lagos on Sunday said they were experiencing increase in patronage and boom ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The hair stylists said they were having more customers and earning more money compared to the same period in previous years.

Mrs. Rokibat Olagoke, a hair stylist at the Ajangbadi Market, told NAN that hair stylists had increased their charges because of the increase in customers ahead of the yuletide.

Olagoke, who said that some customers have started booking for "complicated hairstyles", were optimistic that more people would patronise them in spite of the economic hardship in the country.

She said that there had been a slight increase in hairdo prices since the first week in December.

Olagoke said that at present the cost of fixing a "lace wig" hair style ranges from between N4,000 and N5,000 against N2,000 in November.

Mrs Yetunde Osipitan, a hair stylist at Okokomaiko Market,

Moro, Bakare, Omeri to lead national security parley From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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ational Orientation Agency (NOA) Director General Mr. Mike Omeri, Interior Minister Comrade Aba Moro, and Convener, Save Nigeria Group( SGN)Pastor Tunde Bakare, will on Friday, December 14, be leading discussant on issues affecting the nations security.

The topic: Treating the Threats to National Security: Socio-political Cum Ethno-religious Perspectives, would be discussed at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, by 9am.

Expected audience includes: secondary school students, undergraduates, corps members and working class adults.

The twin aspect of the event is the unveiling of a book titled: Cry for Change, an artistic work on sociopolitical and ethno-religious crises in Nigeria.

Other speakers include: Director General, Professor Bola Akinterinwa, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Director General, Barrsiter Omodele Ibrahim, Managing Director, Lands and Records Company.

Mr.Sam Omatseye, Editorial Board Chairman, The Nation newspapers,

Mr.Weyinmi Jemide,certified Master Coach and Founder, Weyinmi Jemide LLP and Yomi Odunuga, Abuja Bureau Chief, The Nation newspapers.

According to the author and convener of the event: BiodunThomas Davids, a journalist and crusader, others includes Chief Mrs. Opral Mason Benson, Mr. Dimeji Owofemi, Executive Vice Chairman, Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc, Dr Fidelis ayeabae, Chairman, Fidson Health Care Plc,Mr. Remi Bello, Manging Director and CEO, CritallHope Nigeria Ltd and Basorun Folarin Sotubo, Chairman Folsot Nigeria Ltd.

he Cross River State Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS (SACA) has acquired more than three million condoms for distribution at the Christmas Carnival village in Calabar.

The Director General of the agency, Dr Irene Aniyom, said at the village in Calabar yesterday that the measure was to create more awareness on HIV and check the prevalence level.

She explained that the youths were targeted in the distribution of condom because they were the active participants at the annual carnival.

She added that SACA and her partners would also offer free counselling and test on the scourge during the 32-day event.

Aniyom advised youths against using the festival as avenue for sexual activities, cautioned that "even if they should indulge in such practise, they should ensure that they use condom".

She said that Calabar South Local Government Area and Calabar Municipality Local Government had the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence.

She said that 244,106 persons in the state were currently living with the HIV and AIDS. (NAN)

You are wrong, NAPPTON tells PSN From Sam Egwu, lokoja

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he National Association of P h a r m a c e u t i c a l Technologists and Pharmacy Technicians of Nigeria,(NAPTTON), has condemned the antagonistic posture of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, (PSN) to its programmes.

In a statement issued by the National president of NAPTTON, Alhaji Yusus A. Hojapa and made available to journalists in Lokoja, he faulted the call by PCN for the stoppage of programmes run by the National Board for Technical Education, (NABTB) for its members.

While describing the recent communique issued by PSN as not only selfish and ill motivated, he said their claim that the programmes only exist in Nigeria was untrue and exist in Ghana.

"Pharmaceutical Technology Programme, (ND/HND) operates freely in Ghana and other climes hence we wondered why PSN should try to pull wools on the face of the Honourable Minister of Education", the statement noted He called on the PSN to emulate the good virtues of members of Nigeria Medical Association, pharmacists from Ghana, Kenya and other countries, who he said, have jettisoned selfish interest for real national growth and development.

He stressed that the PSN ought to take a lead among medical scientist, by evolving realistic drug formular for Nigeria like their counterparts in India, Malaysia and Pakistan instead of being egocentric and distractive.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 11

10 ways to help increase your cash flow A s any small business owner knows, maintaining smooth cash flow requires juggling nearly every facet of a business, from staying on top of accounts receivable, to extending lines of credit, to managing inventory. The essence of successful cash flow management is regulating the money flowing in and out of your business. Increasing your cash flow reduces the amount of fixed capital that you need to support the given level of your business. An increased, consistent cash flow also creates a predictable business pattern, making it easier to plan and budget for future growth. Here are 10 things you can do to increase your cash flow: Organize your billing schedule The faster your receivables turn over, the more capital you'll be able to spend on growing your business.

To help you bill early and often, put yourself on a billing schedule with an accounting software program like Daceasy or Peachtree Software's Peachtree Complete Plus Time & Billing. These two programs can automatically classify the age of accounts receivable, fewer than 30 days old, between 30 and 59 days, between 60 and 90 days, etc. This kind of automated flagging system allows you to act immediately on overdue accounts.

Stretch out your payables Take the maximum amount of time allotted (often 60 or 90 days) to pay your suppliers. Think of these terms as an interest-free line of credit from your supplier. It gives you sufficient time to collect receivables without spending money on short term credit lines.

Take advantage of early payment incentives If your suppliers offer you a discount for paying early (usually within two weeks of receiving the bill), take them up on it. Think of it this way: a 2% on a 30-day invoice is equal to a 24% annual return if the money was invested. If your suppliers don't offer this kind of incentive, ask for it; they may be willing to offer the discount in return for speeding up their receivables.

Balance your client base Many service and professional companies -- such as advertising or PR agencies, accountants, lawyers, real estate management firms, etc. - work with certain clients on a projectby-project basis. Look for ways to convert some of these clients to a retainer relationship, where they pay you a set amount of money per month for a certain number of services. You might want to offer them some kind of incentive -- valueadded services, a discount -- to encourage them to shift to a retainer.

Quote Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight.

– Henry R. Luce

This might reduce your profit margin, but it will help make your cash flow more predictable.

Check your pricing Have your prices kept pace with your rising costs? When was the last time you raised your prices? Many small businesses hesitate to increase their rates because they're afraid they'll lose customers. However, customers actually expect their suppliers to institute small, regular price hikes. Also, be sure to check out your competition on a consistent basis.

If they're charging higher prices, you should too.

Don't buy all in one place You can save money by splitting your business between suppliers.

Closely examine where you need to pay for added service, and where you can save money by paying commodity prices. For example, you might want to buy your computer hardware from a value-added reseller who can help you choose the right system to meet your business needs, while you can purchase other items - such as printer cartridges, cables, or off-the-shelf software -- from a mail order catalog or other price merchant.

To make certain you're paying competitive rates, you can compare prices of supplies through internet search engine or various advert papers or publications.

Form a buying cooperative Save money on supplies by rounding up a few colleagues and

buying supplies like floppy disks and printer paper in bulk, then divvying them up amongst yourselves.

Renegotiate your insurance and supplier policies Are you getting the best possible deal on insurance, phone service, and other regular business expenses?

Review each of your insurance policies annually and get three quotes for each to ensure you're getting the most for your money. Keep a close eye on price sensitive services such as your long distance phone service or your Internet access service.

Regularly examine these bills and call around to make sure you're getting the lowest available rate.

Tighten your inventory Overstocking inventory can tie up significant amounts of cash.

Regularly gauge your inventory turns to make sure they are within industry norms. You can do this by

calculating your inventory turnover ratio (cost of goods sold divided by the average value of your inventory). Avoid buying more than you know you need when suppliers lure you with big discounts; this can tie up cash. Periodically check your inventory for old or outdated stock and either defer upcoming orders to use that stock or sell it at cost to improve your liquidity.

Consider leasing instead of buying Leasing generally costs more than buying, but these costs often can

be justified by the cash flow benefits.

By leasing computer equipment, cars, or other tools you need to expand your business, you will avoid tying up cash or lines of credit that might better be used for running your business day-to-day.

Lease payments are also considered a business expense, so the tax benefits are maintained even though the items are not purchased.

S o u r c e : wealthmanagementexchange.com, www.smetoolkit.org.

6 things to watch out for when renting a house

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y friends, who I have been waiting on God for, have finally started getting married. Before i got married, it never occurred to me that i could let my Husband know i didn't like our place because it was not close enough to my work place? Not that it was, but that I COULD actually say it? A friend of mine informed her fiancé she would not work at Anthony and live at Iba. So they got a place at Festac that was fresh and new, but needed a lot of fixing up, which was a challenge for a young couple. On the plus side, it helped them grow together as they built their first home.

Anyway, while I never chose it, I loved my post-wedding flat, still do, three flights of stairs and all. However, the moral of the story is, sometimes people need to move. And the urgency of the need might make one not take into cognisance some salient points. So here's a checklist to mark off when you go house hunting next Saturday so you don't end

up renting a white elephant.

• Look out for Open Heavens: No, not the devotional of the RCCG church or the outpouring of spiritual blessings, but the physical drops of rain that come from your leaking ceiling and rouse you very roughly from a deep pleasant sleep; that "open heaven".

When you go hunting do look carefully at the ceiling and walls for water marks, they look like brown maps of countries on the wall. However, if your house was freshly painted, apply faith that for the landlord to have enough money to paint, he had enough to fix the roof.

• Sahara Status: You come into an empty flat and it's all spic and span, you can just see how you'll place the couch and the beds, and you keep your hands behind your back the whole time, except for when you open the doors, and sometimes your agent might do all the door opening for you, so all you do is ask questions and take the answers given.

Then you move in and find out your

shiny taps don't even make that irritating belchy sound when you turn them. Wonder of wonders, the water isn't running. Then you call the agent and he tells you he'll get right on it, 'Ah, these things were working before oh.'

We hear. Endeavour to test the taps in the kitchen and toilet when you come into the proposed flat, every single one.

• A fixer- upper or not: Some landlords just do the barest minimum to spruce a place up and make it very enticing eye candy. But scratch a little below the surface and what do you get?

Empty spaces where the kitchen drawers should have been, floors not properly floated (we are not even talking about floor flex or tiles, in this 21st century), and then mosquito netting torn in enough places to guarantee an unlimited supply of insects. Before you say the magic words, 'We'll take it,' it is important to find out just how much work you need to do to make your new home inhabitable by humans. And if possible, strike a bargain with your landlord on how to offset the cost of developing the place. In my experience I have found that the Bible didn't err when it said, 'you have not because you do not ask.' Discuss with your landlord and find out some creative ways to reduce your development burden.

• Bills Bill Bills: Nigerians landlords are well known for letting their last tenant leave without alerting the utility companies (PHCN, LAWMA) that the accommodation is now unoccupied and so they should lay off sending bills, especially PHCN. So a new tenant usually faces the dilemma of having arrears of utility bills for months that the house has sat empty being lumped into their current bills. The solution to

this? Request for the current bills before paying the rent. And a verbal or written commitment from the Landlord-to-be that all outstanding utility bills will be cleared by him would go a long way.

• Finding 911: We know that for the most part, we don't bother calling the emergency number if there is a crisis situation; we just scoop up the victims and rush them over to the emergency ward. Yes, to avoid spinal cord injuries do not move an injured victim (your family doctor can explain this better).

But for anything else, rush them over to the medical centre. But how do you do that when your house is deep in the bush and the nearest hospital is miles away? To make matters worse you may not have your own vehicle. Ensure there is a health clinic or hospital close to the place you intend to rent that can deal with sudden emergencies. Of course after you pay your rent it would be a good idea to register at the medical facility, in case of said emergencies.

• Security: You will have to ask the agent and prospective neighbours a lot of questions. Does the area you are moving to have a reputation for violence? Does the community have a private security arrangement (military, mobile police, vigilantes, OPC, you name it)? Is this an area with gates or is it a thoroughfare for robbers? How are the locks on the doors and windows?

How about the alternative exits? They are used for more than fire emergencies, you know. And if you are picking a flat or a first floor building, how's the burglary proofing? A friend of mine in the military once told me, security lies in fear, so endeavour to check on all the things that cause you security nightmares.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 14

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

Nobody is above the law, ‘Honourable’Okwu T

wo weeks ago, a member of the House of Representatives, Samson Okwu, who was arrested by Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) in Abuja for breaching the traffic law, reacted in a manner that is everything but parliamentarian. Indeed, he acted in a way that a self-respecting motor park tout would be ashamed of.

Upon his arrest for driving against the traffic at the Games Village junction in the federal capital, the lawmaker, who represents Uju/Obi federal constituency in Benue state, refused to be taken before the traffic offenders’ mobile court, claiming that some public officials are exempted from obeying certain rules.

Trying to intimidate the VIOs who arrested him, he reportedly told them that “in a government there are people that are allowed to bend some of the laws. There are rules, I explained to the gentleman, but he wanted to use his rank to intimidate me, but my car is carrying a government number that is why they gave me that number. So if he is using his uniform as government personnel, I am using my number.

“You know, in law there is an exception; that is why you see

ministers use siren because you have exigencies. I am going to attend a function with the minister of finance this morning. You don’t expect me to remain there because I do not have a siren!”

We are amazed that a federal lawmaker could make such a declaration elevating the individual over and above the institution that is the basis for his recognition. Abusing the law in such a blatant manner by a

“

Without the law to moderate and regulate the conduct of everybody in the society, the so-called important people would be the biggest losers as everyone would be on their own lawmaker reduces the worth and esteem of the lawmaking institution of which he is part and the country at large. Such an attitude only reinforces the suspicion that the hallowed chambers of the Second Estate of the Realm is home to all manner of characters, some of who appear more qualified as guests of the state than its ranking stakeholders.

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”

The legislature, as we are all aware, is the least enduring of the three arms of any government, especially in coup-prone climes where politicians who suffer from the attack of exaggerated self-worth and redeeming virtues often make democracy barely less obnoxious than the military dictatorship it replaces. For this reason, our leaders, especially lawmakers, should be more decorous and circumspect in their comportment, conduct and utterances.

There is no gainsaying that it is people with highly inflated ego, such as “Honourable” Okwu, who make it all the more necessary to enforce the law dispassionately.

Without the law to moderate and regulate the conduct of everybody in the society, the so-called important people would be the biggest losers as everyone would be on their own.

Therefore, the leadership, we dare say, ought to be the first line of defence for the law, for the rest of the society to take a cue from.

All said, being a lawmaker is no licence to break the law, and the earlier our “honourable” and his ilk realize that nobody is above the law, the better for our ill-governed country. Laws are made to be obeyed, otherwise they are not worth the paper on which they are written.

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

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

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

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

By Lewis Akpogena

T

hank God not everything they say is true, says Philip Yancey in his writing on this subject.

For a tribute edition, I am updating the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, which I coauthored with the late Dr. Paul Brand in 1980. During that process, I reviewed a passage spelling out the huge gap between developed countries and the developing world. I had recently seen an anonymous e-mail message floating around the Internet indicating that little has changed since 1980. It reported that 80 percent of the world’s people still live in substandard housing, 70 percent are unable to read, and 50 percent suffer from malnutrition.

My curiosity piqued, I spent several days tracking down statistics from authoritative sources, only to find that the e-mail is downright wrong. In fact, the world has made major strides in the last few decades.

In the last decade, abortions declined by almost half. According to best estimates, 25 percent - not 80 - of the world’s population live in substandard housing. Thirty years ago the global literacy rate was 53 percent; now only 20 percent of adults cannot read. The percentage of people suffering from

By Adewale Stephen

W

hen the controversial Central Bank Governor of Nigeria Mallam Sanusi Lamido took his habitual gooffing a step further by insulting the intelligence of the Nigerian masses at the Second Annual Capital Market Committee Retreat in Warri, Delta state, last week, by stating that “at least 50 per cent of the Nigerian entire workforce should be sacked”, many people believed that Sanusi had touched the tail of a tiger and he must take the consequences. According to the governor, Nigeria spends up to 70 per cent of its earnings in paying salaries and emoluments to civil servants. Cutting public workers by half would free up money for infrastructural development, he argued.

In all the events that have happened since Sanusi’s provocative and anti-people statement, this writer has been proved right. Strangely, the only unexpected twist that has since been added to the drama was the entrance of the Congress for Progressive Change that lambasted NLC leadership over its call for Sanusi’s removal. To the party, the CBN boss is just an individual who cannot influence any policy within the Executive. This statement only shows the level of intellects of those that made up the CPC and it also indicates that in terms of policies, all the present capitalist political parties in Nigeria are birds of a feather. But how could anyone fault the CPC’s position? After all, its leader is Muhammadu Buhari, a man who declared in one of his 2011 presidential debates that there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian Educational sector. To him, ‘everything is just perfect’.

Beyond this, however, Sanusi’s tirade and the CPC’s diatribe are reflections of the erosion of NLC’s leadership’s hypothetical intimidating credentials. It portrays them as the paper tiger that only appears scary but cannot exhibit the

PAGE 15

Doubting the doomsayers malnutrition has dropped by more than half, to 20 percent. Three of four people used to have no access to clean water; now three of four people have it.

Perhaps the most significant change has occurred in population growth. In 1968 Paul R. Ehrlich predicted in The Population Bomb that huge famines would occur in the 1970s and 1980s, with hundreds of millions of people starving to death. They simply did not happen.

Population experts once forecast that world population would hit a high of 20 billion, causing an intolerable strain on Earth’s resources. That prediction was lowered to 15 billion, then 11 billion, then 9 billion. Some experts predict that the number will peak around 2050 and maybe even decline.

The birth rate has fallen so dramatically that in Western Europe, Russia, and Japan, experts are now warning of the dire consequences of an aging population unreplenished by younger generations. Worldwide, the average woman used to bear

six children; now she bears three.

As developing countries improve economically, the birth rate drops.

Thirty years ago, one in eight children died in their first year of life; now half that proportion dies.

(Just over a century ago, four in five children died of disease before they reached the age of five.) AIDS currently presents a major health challenge, especially in Africa, and yet we dare not minimize health triumphs: smallpox, a disease that in the 19th century killed 500 million people, has been eradicated.

The feared disease of polio has nearly disappeared, and leprosy has seen huge declines, in part thanks to dedicated Christian workers like Dr. Brand.

A huge economic gap remains between the developed world and developing countries. Half the world’s citizens still get by on less than two dollars a day. Even so, the World Bank estimates that the percentage of those living in absolute poverty has been cut almost in half, and per capita income has risen 60 percent. Ten million entrepreneurs

have improved their lives through microenterprise loans.

According to the U.N., overall conditions in the developing world improved more in the second half of the 20th century than in the previous 500 years. Repressive regimes dominate the news.

Meanwhile, according to Freedom House, in recent years 71 more nations have become free or partly free.

Politicians and preachers decry the decline of sexual morality in the United States. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the teenage birthrate has declined by 30 percent in the last decade, while our abortion rate declined by almost half. Many surveys show that on sexual issues teenagers are more conservative than their parents.

Such good news rarely captures the attention of the media, which continue to portray the world as teetering on the brink of cataclysm.

Nor does it get much play from relief and development agencies, which have learned that donors respond best to crisis appeals.

As a journalist who often travels internationally, I am well aware of the major problems that face our planet: global warming, income disparity, terrorism and wars, SARS, AIDS and other diseases. At the same time, I find it genuinely heartwarming to learn of the progress that has occurred during my lifetime.

A century ago, theological liberals rightly complained that conservative Christians cared for souls but not bodies. Liberals led the way in social reform. Now, evangelical organizations such as World Vision, World Concern, and Opportunity International are among the most prominent and effective dispensers of “common grace” to a needy world.

After several days of research, I paused to give thanks for this remarkable progress. I have learned not to believe everything I read on the Internet, and not to believe everything I hear from doomsayers. (Source: Philip Yancey, Christianity Today).

Dr. Lewis Akpogena is reachable on akpogena@yahoo.com

Diminishing relevance of Nigerian unionists real traits of a true tiger. In a capitalist’s clime, the name of organised labour is enough to intimidate any oppressive strata of the ruling elite, even the president of a country cannot just say that workers are irrelevant. Ditto for political parties; the control that the labour leadership should have over the masses is enough to compel these political parties to always hold the NLC leadership in such a high reverence.

But in our case, reverse has been the case. That a political party which is still relying on the goodwill of the people for relevance could tell the NLC leaders to go to hell and ‘stop being hypocritical’ is a sad statement about the NLC’s popularity. Sanusi may be anything but daft: he knows that Nigeria is the only country where a government agent could make such a statement and still be allowed by the labour unions to remain in power. In another setting, his tenure would have become history by now. But our own NLC is just a paper tiger whose threat doesn’t go beyond the pages of newspapers.

In its hey days, trade union leadership played an inestimably productive task in the progression of Nigerian society. It organized the masses and promoted their interests against exploitative, manipulative and unfair civil relations. It participated vigorously in the decolonization process, and struggled against neo-colonial regimes to gain concessions so as to protect the socio-economic interests of the downtrodden. It often opposed laxity, negligence and corruption in the management of the affairs of the state, and pursued a relatively nationalist and unifying project in contrast to the highly divisive politics of the post-colonial Nigerian ruling elites.

Ironically, the same cannot be said of the current crop of leadership.

As the Nigerian situation continues to worsen by the day, the little gains

of the labour movement to improve the living conditions of the workers have been eroded; workers are now more agitated, disconcerted and perturbed, and they are looking forward for their leadership to proffer a concrete way forward; but the leadership are either not just there or are busy romanticizing and dining with the ruling elite. The disappointing manner in which the NLC ended the mass protests of January is still very fresh in the minds of the masses as the union leaders maintained that it agreed to this because the Jonathan administration had promised to implement some programme that would ease the plight of the working masses. Unfortunately for the Labour leaders, the outcome of the whole drama points out the futility of being a gentle-compromising man in an encounter with a rascal. For barely two months after, the same government openly suspended the implementation of the limited ‘palliatives’ proposed in this respect while the fuel price is presently being sold, albeit unofficially, at the rate of N120 in many states across the land.

The result of such betrayal is the declining authority of NLC over industrial unions, stirring of discontent among the rank and file, declining popularity of labour officials and increased worker apathy and droopiness. When a sizeable number of state NLC were

locked up in battle with their state governors over the nonimplementation of N18, 000 minimum wage, there was no concrete response from the national leadership; when the workers’ casualization became the major policies of many state across the Southwest and even the federal government with its proposed Uwin, the national leadership bluntly refused to fight against this evil of capitalism. And while university administrations across the land are raising their school fees to astronomic levels beyond the means of the common masses and progressives unions are being proscribed, the NLC, with its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, is simply looking the other way.

Compromise under the guise of consultation is rapidly replacing labour’s established method of confrontation; the specious strategy of settlement is speedily supplanting the ideologically rooted principles of struggle as a tactic; the social relevance of trade unions is becoming lowered to zero and the political relevance of labour union leaders has been whittled down. The condition is even more disconcerting at the state levels as many chairmen are simply parading the state parastatals and the governors’ houses seeking appointment and contractual slots to swell their own purses. Arguably,

“

That NLC’s intervention is pivotal to the growth and sustenance of genuine development of Nigeria is not in doubt. But NLC’s ability to play active roles in promoting these principles as well as serving as a genuine mouthpiece of the masses has been severely weakened in the last five years. For the NLC and TUC to be taken seriously by both the state and the employers, their leaders need to reflect seriously in their actions

the Nigerian trade unions have never had it this bad.

The workers’ goals cannot be realized by a set of leaders who will say one thing in the open but say something else in secret; it cannot be actualized by that set of leaders who will yell all the principles of socialism from the rooftops only when they want some pecuniary reward. The present NLC and TUC leadership are no more giving direction. And now that the financial hit-man of the Nigerian ruling elite has spoken, NLC must not be deceived that Sanusi is speaking all alone. He has tactically revealed what the Jonathan government has in the pipeline for the Nigerian masses after 2015 election: Labour and the masses had better get set for the battles ahead.

That NLC’s intervention is pivotal to the growth and sustenance of genuine development of Nigeria is not in doubt. But NLC’s ability to play active roles in promoting these principles as well as serving as a genuine mouthpiece of the masses has been severely weakened in the last five years. For the NLC and TUC to be taken seriously by both the state and the employers, their leaders need to reflect seriously in their actions.

Finally, while it is envisaged that the current leadership of the unions will learn to do things better with time, a deliberate inconsistence which is almost becoming the order of the day will not only spell doom for the union; it will erode the confidence which the entire masses had in it. The present leadership of the union, therefore, need to shape up or in the alternative remain stagnant, not only to its peril but also to the peril of the masses that are looking forward to the union as their saviour.

Adewale Stephen is based at the Department of History, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

PAGE 16

By Attah A. Ibrahim

G

rowing up in the village it was impossible for me to fully appreciate the enormous effect government policies had on us. First of all, we were in the village and far from the centre of power (the state capital) and very young.

However, I can’t forget how we worked ourselves to frenzy the day classroom desks and chairs were supplied to our LEA Primary school. Of course we didn’t know what benevolent being or spirit was responsible.

For us it was goodbye to sitting on logs.

This was the point where I began to form the notion in my mind that there is someone, a higher authority somewhere who made it possible for us to have these desks. The second significant thing that I still remember was a particular year that we nearly had a drought situation. For what so ever reason, the rain our main source of drinking water failed to fall and the communal streams dried up. Finding water became a daily survival quest with fights everyday as people scavenged for water. Relief again came when some people came with an unusual truck to dig a borehole.

I now know that it was the government that intervened and brought succour to my school and village years back.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

A nation in free fall

This happened in the old Benue their lives under mysterious died did so in vain, those who state during the IBB regime and circumstances. lost their bread winner/loved the Military Administrators I believe that many who ones suffered an unnecessary where David Jonah Jang and risked their freedom, limb and life collateral loss and the same Yohanna Madaki. But on the flip in the face of the repressive applies to those who were jailed, side, in the adult political world regimes of yesteryear were of the time spent behind bars in fear that was far bigger than I can conviction that democracy was was for nothing. If what we have imagine, things were not as rosy a better alternative to military today is what was fought for, as providing desks and digging a rule. That it will bring back the then it’s all in vain. borehole just in O u r time to meet the expectations needs of some as a people rural school and that have village.

The longed for Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text history of this era p o s i t i v e messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written is well known to change have contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 all and in public been dashed words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and domain. b e y o n d a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed The promeasure and to: democratic there seems to movement was be no end in The Editor, in full gear sight at the Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, fighting the m o m e n t . arbitrariness Nigerian’s 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. and high held their Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com handedness of breath as SMS: 07037756364 military rule.

Abacha drove The road to the us to the edge; return to democratic rule that we rule of law, uphold the sanctity we came out of it miraculously have today from 1983 to 1999 is of life and human rights, provide saying ‘never again’ and littered with the bones of many the type of environment that is thanking God for His who were scarified or who laid needed for the cross fertilization intervention. Today, Nigerian’s down their lives to bring sanity, of ideas, the type that is needed are gasping for air as we are off transparency and accountability for rapid and sustainable the edge on a free fall of doom to governance. Many who raised development. without a parachute. their voice against injustice and Unfortunately their hopes Those who were at the violation of human rights ended were dashed, looking at the forefront of the struggle resorted up having their rights violated, charade we run today in the to self help immediately they locked up, maimed and even lost name of democracy. Those who were entrusted with power

WRITE TO US

pulling down any discerning voice that tries to remind them of where we ought to be headed.

We have seen a lot of opportunists usurp our common dream for a better Nigeria using divide and rule tactics while they also feather their nest. Sycophants and charlatans are now having a field day at the expense of our common good and the labour of our hero’s past. Everything has been sacrificed at the altar of greed, corruption and directionless. What we have today is failed governments, institutions, leadership and follower ship, decline in every known human developmental index.

All this will continue until the day we stand up for what is right. Until the day we reject the regular charade called elections both at intra and inter party level. We will know no peace and development until the day we stop selling our votes for a cup of salt, rice and wrapper during election time. Until we insist on selecting our own representatives and reject imposed candidate, novice and opportunist. The sad experiences we are having after all these years of toiling is because we have allowed servants to ride on horse backs while princes trek.

The right people must be in the right places for this country to move forward.

Attah A. Ibrahim is on twitter@attahai

Nigeria’s forgotten corner stones

By Farouk Martins Aresa

M

ost of us have seen young men and women working in the markets and by the roadsides on our way to and from work. Some of these folks are even as young as our children. They work from dawn to dusk most days of their lives. They work so hard, they get nothing but pay taxes to government; no mercy from heaven that helps only those that help themselves acquire jets. They clean houses, sell food, drive cars and tend to us when in sickness. Since all they do is work, they can’t learn how to improve their odds.

Yet every entrepreneur, businessman, professor and inventor wants government to help them make a success out of their ideas. While others borrow money from friends and relatives, these people are always crying to government for help. No country can survive on government help alone. Most private investments must stay private while the role of government should remain what individuals cannot do; concentrating on infrastructure.

Think about who the real conservatives, libertarian or republicans are. Those whose big defense contracts, construction contracts and private prison contracts depend on the governments or the poor that have never benefited from government all their lives?

Conservatives chide the poor for expecting too much from government with a straight face and then turn around to lobby the same government for billions of contracts.

Entrepreneurial reliance of poor on one another to start small business is the bedrock of progress in a mixed economy. What is lacking is education to turn their endeavors to big business. It is one of the reasons most businesses in Africa and Nigeria in particular do not survive their owners. Dantata, Ojukwu and Odua groups are the exceptions.

The few that survived have children educated in many fields to take over. US Italians started as construction workers, but their children became architects, surveyors, engineers etc.

There must be a role for God and Government to educate poor hard working folks. All of us cannot be lawyers, engineers or accountants. Based on individual skillful talent, our manual labor must be respected and channeled.

There are children with gifted fingers or biceps like Kilwe but others with different talents to manage. Africans have all of these but we have failed miserably as managers of our own talents and resources. 69% of Nigerians on less than 300 naira daily are denied opportunities by children of looters.

Lack of appreciation for hardwork: easy return on what they did not invest and outright looting of the treasury, started in

their younger days as a cultivated habit. They pass it to their children denying poverty in the Country. Some even argue that there are no dumps Tai Solarin used to talk about hard labor in Europe but it never sank in. He was one of the first principals of a school to make students cultivate school’s agricultural farm. Some hated his school for that and made sure we avoided Mayflower School.

There might have been some high school teachers that warned us of hard work overseas: that by the time you get home from school and work, you would be so tired, your burning food would wake you up, if you did not burn down the house. It never registered.

Many of us in full time school were also working full time in those days abroad. Factory work was back breaking prompting many of us to swear to stay in school so that we do not have do such manual labor for the rest of our lives. It was so hard and hot in one factory that a couple of us missed work the following day.

But we had to stay in school.

Security was one of the best jobs, especially the night shifts where we got to study so that we could stay awake. One of our friends did not like it because it was minimum wage. So he got lucky and got a construction job.

He was asked if he could handle one of those road breakers. No problem he said, he did it for many years in Nigeria. Liar! Liar!

Somehow, he handled it well. But

when he got home, he kept crying that his body could not stop shaking. He tried to sleep, all parts of his body was still vibrating.

Another one got the job of a cleaner and was asked if he could handle the rotary swinging machine. No problem, he told them that he did it for many years in Nigeria. When he was given the machine, the machine swung him into the wall. When he came home he told us he was knocked unto the wall by the damn machine.

Getting back home, our eyes became open that there were people in Africa working day in and out harder than Europeans.

It was not that we did not see them before we left home. I.K Dairo song did not sink in about high school graduates working night and day shift in factories at Apapa and Ikeja. We started to appreciate the contribution of people and their hard labor to the economy. Just as Americans want manufacturing jobs back.

We used to have a bus in Surulere running from Barracks to Yaba. Lagos hired some men to clean the gutter and they would pile the dirt by the side of the road while another truck would transport the rubbish away. There was this handsome sturdy man doing his daily work but soiled by the dirt. Some people in the bus were disgusted and claimed nobody could pay them to do such work.

Someone then asked them:

would you respect him if he knocked your door with a gun?

Well, this may have been years ago but that was how we turned our young men into kidnappers, robbers and our young ladies into prostitutes hunting us.

Unfortunately many of those that went to school for free throughout their lives and never participated in the dignity of hard labor raise children and others to loot our Country into oblivion.

On the other hand were those of us that did not know when to stop at one job. Some had two or three jobs after graduation from college. We had professional job in the day and not so professional after hours. Many social workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers and nurses work over 18 hours from one location to the next; to build another house or pay school fees.

It actually killed a few of us because they did not know what age to stop.

There was a friend that was an accountant in the day, taxi driver later and also a store owner as he had to beg his children and wife to help out. One day, stressed as usual with high blood pressure, he was restocking his store when he died of a heart attack.

He had houses everywhere but he did not get enough friends to sit him down, and tell him that he was no longer a young man. These are the ones looters outshined with no sweat.

Farouk Martins Aresa is reachable on Twitter

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 17

US Africa policy will remain imperialistic

By Abayomi Azikiwe

W

ith the re-election of Barack Obama as president of the leading imperialist state in the world, the foreign policy orientation of the second administration will continue along the same trajectory of exploitation of the labour and resources of oppressed peoples and the intensification of militarism in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and other geo-political regions. The Obama administration enhanced the role of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), started under the Bush presidency, and led the war of regime-change against the oil-rich nation of Libya, resulting in the brutal assassination of martyred leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

During the campaign and debates, Obama claimed that he had ended the war in Iraq and was winding down the occupation of Afghanistan. Yet there is never any discussion over the unjust character of both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the social impact of these military operations on the people in Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula.

The upsurges in Egypt and Tunisia during 2011 shook up the US and its allies in the region, however, the governments which have come to power have not fundamentally changed their relationships with imperialism.

Palestine is still under Israeli siege despite a new government in Egypt and the regime in Tunisia was compelled to turn over the former prime minister of Libya to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) installed junta in Libya.

Under the Obama administration the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia has become an outpost of US imperialism. With a military base in neighbouring Djibouti at Camp Lemonier, the Somalia Contd. from back page

The Arewa House meeting’s communiqué specifically mentioned reengineering the political fortunes of the North towards 2015. For a forum which was graced by a lone (host) governor at the opening ceremony, one view will suggest that governors and northern political groups, elders and professionals do not appear to see much value in each other. Either governors feel that their political fortunes are not contingent on the support, goodwill or muscle of northern politicians, academia and professionals, or even elderly politicians; or they have developed such profound fear of outings to fora of this nature that they will rather avoid them at all cost.

On the other hand, it is conceivable that the dozen or

nation is the staging ground for military operations against the Islamist resistance movement Al-Shabab.

At present over 17,000 USbacked troops from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) are stationed in Somalia. These troops are trained and financed by the Pentagon with full political support of the White House.

Somalia is a source of growing oil exploration.

In the breakaway northern region of Punt land, oil is already being extracted by Canadian and British firms. In fact throughout the entire regions of East and Central Africa, new findings of oil, natural gas and various strategic minerals are fuelling the increased presence of transnational corporations and military forces from the US, Britain, Israel and the European Union. Under the guise of fighting ‘terrorism’ and ‘piracy’, flotillas of warships, drones and fighter aircraft are flooding into the area.

The presence of US and other imperialist states in Central and East Africa has not stabilized the political situation at all. The plight of the people has actually worsened under the Obama administration with widespread dislocation in Somalia and Ethiopia as well as the spreading of the war into Kenya which has deployed several thousand of its defence forces in southern Somalia at the behest of the US administration. The southern Somalia port city of Kismayo has been seized by the Kenya Defence Forces and AMISOM. In Sudan, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed the country in late October. A military factory was targeted at the same time that Sudan and Iran were engaging in joint military exercises around Port Sudan.

This was not the first time that Israel had bombed Sudan. These provocations are also designed to send a clear message to Iran, that Israel can strike the

country. Sudan is still under sanctions imposed by the US and other imperialist states.

Formerly the largest geographic nation-state in Africa, Sudan has been partitioned between the North and the South and other efforts are on-going to breakaway the Darfur region in the West of the country.

Last October 2011 at the height of the Occupy Movement across the US, the Obama administration announced the deployment of at least 100 Special Forces and military trainers to four states in Central and East Africa. Uganda, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were the named countries where the Pentagon would be operating. These US military forces were purportedly dispatched to hunt down Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). A campaign known as “Invisible Children” was launched on the internet through social media. The entire operation was merely designed to deflect attention away from the mass demonstrations taking place throughout the US and the world against Wall Street financiers and the impact of their policies of exploitation and oppression. It was also aimed at creating confusion about the role of the US military within Africa and other parts of the world.

In West Africa, the imperialist are planning an intervention in Mali to put down

a rebellion in the north of the country by the Tuareg people.

The Mali crisis is partly related to the Pentagon-NATO destabilization of Libya with thousands of Tuaregs being displaced as a result of the 2011 war. Despite the fact that the US has maintained close ties with the Malian army through AFRICOM training and joint manoeuvre projects, the armed forces inside the country staged a coup against President Toure in March. The coup leaders said that the military takeover was related to the failure of the government to quell the Tuareg rebellion in the north, nevertheless, the situation in the north worsened after the coup leading to a declaration of independence by the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and other Islamist groups based in the region.

In November the United Nations Security Council announced that some 3,300 troops provided by the memberstates of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be sent into Mali with the aim of putting down the Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country. However, it will be the Pentagon and EU military forces that will provide the logistics and funding for this operation which will inevitably benefit imperialism in its drive for resources and profits.

In South Africa the rising

“

As the economic conditions of workers and the oppressed inside the US and the imperialist countries grow more desperate every day, the aggressive military actions against the peoples of the so-called developing states will intensify

tide of the labour movement is challenging the transnational mining industry. The outbreak of wildcat strikes is weakening the neo-liberal policies of the ruling African National Congress and their allies within the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). A broad based debate within the national liberation movement in South Africa is taking place over the future of the struggle which after 18 years has still not reached the objectives outlined by the Freedom Charter. The South African Revolution must move towards socialism or it will face even greater contradictions and internal strife.

In Zimbabwe, the ruling ZANU-PF party has consolidated the comprehensive land redistribution program and is moving toward greater control of the mining industry which is linked with the same sectors in neighbouring South Africa.

Throughout the Southern Africa region, the former liberation movements are once again enhancing their dialogue and political coordination.

The anti-war and antiimperialist movements in the US must follow the situation in Africa very closely. These movements in the West must be prepared to politically defend the various movements and states that are under threat by imperialism. As the economic conditions of workers and the oppressed inside the US and the imperialist countries grow more desperate every day, the aggressive military actions against the peoples of the so-called developing states will intensify.

Consequently, the workers and oppressed of the West must form closer alliances in order to coordinate political actions with their counterparts in the developing and oppressed nations.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of Pan-African News Wire, an international electronic press service

Another look at the North so groups of northerners with considerable experience, varied backgrounds, influence and resources which run around lamenting the current state of the North have an exaggerated idea of their capacities. Both the groups and the governors have thinly-veiled contempt for each other. Many governors think many members of the groups merely want their seats, and will do exactly what the governors do in their places. On the other hand, members of northern political groups think they can by-pass governors and create political momentum and platforms that will radically alter the nature of the northern political environment by

tapping into the anger of the population and appealing to the need for change alone. As at now, there are no effective bridges between the two.

There is however, another set of people who recognize the value of both the governors and political groups, professionals and academia. These are politicians and elders who see the 2015 battle involving a synergy of incumbent governors and the intrinsic value of marginal political assets and muscle, which the groups represent. They were not in short supply at the Arewa House event. Above all, President Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo could not have failed to notice that the Arewa House meeting was

a declaration of sorts. It said very clearly that 2015 will represent a major attempt by northern politicians to take power away from him. It signaled a fresh and public admission that the foundations of political unity which had been eroded and exploited will be rebuilt before 2015, and the dangerous splits along religious lines will be vigorously addressed.

It signaled a willingness to go beyond lamenting the damage wrought on the economy, politics and social structure of the North by the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunnah Didiawati Wal Jihad (a.k.a. Boko Haram). For the most senior northerner in the administration, the Vice President, both he and the

meeting appear to agree that he has no political ambition that relate to leading the North.

There is still a long way to go in assessing the value of the efforts being made by northerners to address the problems of the region. At this stage, only those who do not represent solutions to its problems are known.

Governors and President Jonathan are in this category.

Those who will be active in providing alternatives to its current state will have to work very hard to sustain the tempo of interest and the momentum for change. They will not find it all smooth sailing, because the weaknesses of the North is the strength of others.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Polio outbreak: Board embarks on mop-up immunisation exercise

By Josephine Ella Ejeh

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n outbreak of wild polio virus has been recorded in Jahi 1, a village in Abuja Municipal Area Council(AMAC)of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), two years after the FCT recorded the last case of the virus in Dobi village, Gwagwalada Area Council.

The Executive Secretary, FCT Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, who disclosed this during the monitoring of a mopup polio immunisation exercise in the area, said out of the two cases at hand, one has been confirmed while the other suspected case would be

Three charged for conspiracy, forgery, impersonation

subjected to a test this week.

According to Mohammed, a case of weakness of limbs in a child of 2 years and six months, Yusuf Haruna was reported to the board which confirmed the infection.

He further disclosed that during investigation in the area, similar symptoms were noticed in another child, adding that faecal samples from the suspected case had been taken to Ibadan for testing and confirmation.

In order to ensure that all children in the area, which comprises of all villages in Gwarinpa ward are captured and inoculated against the virus, he said the board had received about 50,000 doses of vaccine from the National Primary Health Care Development Board to be used for the twodays mop-up immunisation exercise in the area, which commenced yesterday.

The Executive Secretary disclosed that cases of polio ever recorded in the

FCT were from people who migrated to the territory from other places.

“The last case recorded in Dobi was from a migrant farmer from Minna, in Niger state and the one we just got now is also from people who migrated from Katsina state, one of the states with high polio prevalence. This latest case brings the number of reported cases of polio in the country this year to 112; 94 cases of type 1 and 18 cases of type 3 polio virus,” he explained.

Dr. Mohammed said the FCT had so far attained about 80 per cent coverage of polio immunisation, stressing, that the administration was working out a strategy to carry out immunisation of children under five years old in markets and motor parks across the territory.

This, he said was to ensure that all children not captured in routine immunisation are immunised, even as he said

the FCT administration would mobilise law enforcement agencies to arrest all those who reject immunisation in the FCT, forthwith.

On her part, the State Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), FCT, Dr. Idang Ebong attributed the upsurge in polio in the FCT to poor routine immunisation and untidy environment.

Ebong, who lamented that despite the location of a health centre less than 500 metres from the village, the villagers often fail to immunise their children against harmful diseases, noted that the virus is faecal oral.

In his remark earlier, Village Head of Jahi 1 community, Alhaji Adamu Dogo commending the administration for its efforts at eradicating the virus.

He assured that the traditional institution in the community would give the necessary support to see to the success of the immunisation exercise in the community.

By Beauty Amaike

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he Police have arraigned three persons, Adeugba Baba, Afalabi Samuel and Mujidat lawal, all of Jikwoyi, before an Abuja Chief Magistrates Court for criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, forgery and impersonation.

Police Prosecutor, Egor Oghene Karo told the court that on October,24, 2012 one Mr. Edamisan Tikolo of NPC Microfinance Bank Abuja reported the case at Jikwoyi police station which was later transferred to state CID police command.

According to him, the accused impersonated themselves as customers of the bank also an account holder of the bank, after that the first accused fraudulently applied for a loan of hundred thousand naira, three hundred thousand for the second accused person.

Karo said that after they withdrew the money and handed over to Afalabi Samuel and Mujidat Lawal for his transportation and converted the remaining sum of money and other customers money about five hundred and fifty six thousand naira to your own use.

During police investigation the accused admitted committing the alleged offences.

He said that the offence was contrary to Sections 97, 314,364, and 132 of the Penal Code respectively.

Chief Magistrate Okeagu Azubuike granted the accused bail in the sum of 500,000 each and two sureties in like sum.

He adjourned the case to January, 25, 2013 for hearing.

Faithfull Muslim cutting the grass, yesterday at Mararaba cemetery.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Man, 24, arraigned for alleged theft

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ne Bala Mohammed, of Nitel Junction, Wuse II, Abuja, has been arraigned before an Abuja Chief Magistrates Court for alleged theft.

Police Prosecutor, David Ude, told the court that one Aliyu Tika, of Bridge Magazine, Utako, Abuja, reported the matter at the

Wuse Police Station on November 29, 2012.

Ude said that the accused person attacked the complainant opposite the Yar’ Adua Centre, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, and forcefully collected his Nokia phone, identity card and N1, 200.

The accused person pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Magistrate Bashir Alkali granted the accused bail in the sum of N50, 000 and a surety in like sum.

Alkali said that the surety must be of a traceable address and must fix a passport photograph on the bail bond.

He adjourned the case to December 13, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

Wife sues husband for alleged abandonment

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housewife, Hauwa Mohammed of K a r a m a j i j i , Abuja has sued her husband, Zubairu Mohammed, before a Grade One Area Court, sitting in Wuse for alleged abandonment.

She told the court that her husband stopped caring and providing for her after she got pregnant.

“He should tell me before the court if he is tired of the marriage, then we will both go before my family and he will divorce me in their presence because he is not taking good care of me,” Hauwa said.

She threatened to leave the marriage if her husband did not provide for her basic needs.

“I need N20,000 monthly and food items for me to be comfortable, or else I will leave the marriage,” she told the court.

In his response, Mohammed said he still loved his wife but accused her of not being serious with the marriage.

“Whenever we have a quarrel, she behaves like a kid and parks her things to stay with her aunt. She still goes out with friends, gossips and spends time chatting on phone.

“She is very stubborn and does not listen to me when I talk to her. She likes to compare herself to others a lot,’’ Mohammed said.

He said he could not afford to give Hauwa N20,000 monthly and also give her food items. “ I will give her what I can afford but I promise to take care of her if she stays in my house because currently she is not in my house. I can only afford N7,500 monthly,’’ he said.

The Judge, Quaseem Muhammad, after listening to the parties, ordered Mohammed to pay his wife N20,000 monthly to cover her needs including feeding.

“You know her state and how expensive the cost of living is, so you have to give her N20,000 monthly to cover all her needs and you are to give her N5,000 for this week as soon as you leave the court now,” the Judge ordered.

He also advised him to meet with her family members and settle his differences with her.

Muhammad adjourned the matter to December 14, 2012 for continuation of hearing. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

AMAC, Kuje, Kwali, others to get fish farm estate

By Josephine Ella Ejeh n order to improve fish production in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) the FCT Administration has approved the establishment of fish farm estates in the six area councils of the territory.

The Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, who disclosed this in Abuja, explained that the FCTA, under the Fish Farm Estate arrangement, would provide the land and basic infrastructure while the private sector would develop the plots of land in accordance with approved guidelines. ”The contribution of the fisheries sub-sector to food security and poverty alleviation in Nigeria and FCT in particular is not in doubt. ”This sector has become a high employer of labour with over one million FCT residents relying on fish nutrient and a good percentage of this number in fish production, processing and marketing,” she said.

She disclosed that the Federal Government had through its National Fisheries Policy mandated all the states of the Federation, including FCT, to implement policies that will enhance sustainable production of fish to meet the needs of their populace and for export.

It would be recalled that last week, the administration commissioned a fish farm estate in Bwari.

Akinjide during the commissioning, noted that about 500 tonnes of table-size fish would be produced annually from the Bwari Fish Farm Estate which, according to her, would close the gap between fish demand and supply.

Other councils in the territory, she disclosed, would have similar fish farm estates soon, as an approval has been given to this effect.

PAGE 19

FCTA considers replacement of Wuse market with secondary school

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A typical market scene

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he Federal Capital T e r r i t o r y Administration (FCTA) is considering the removal of Wuse Market and replacing it with a secondary school, Alhaji Isa Shuaibu, Director, Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB), said on Saturday in Abuja.

Shuaibu dropped the hint while the board was on a raid of illegal hawkers within the market premises.

According to him, the long

Entertainment centre prepares for Christmas

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s Christmas, usually celebrated every December 25, is fast approaching, Silver Bird Cinema, Abuja branch, said at the weekend that preparations had reached advanced stage to ensure that its customers got value for their money in the yuletide season.

Chioma Ezani, Secretary of the cinema, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a lot of activities had been lined up for the Christmas to ensure its numerous customers got a better deal.

Ezani said that the activities lined up included the lighting of a Christmas tree, carols and parties.

According to her, other activities have also been lined up to usher in Santa Claus, popularly known as Father Christmas, who

is scheduled to arrive the cinema from Rome.

Commenting on the security arrangements put in place to ensure the safety of customers during and after the celebrations, Ezani said security agencies had been deployed to the cinema hall.

“We have beefed up security in the arena, safety of our customers is a priority to us,” she said.

The secretary said that the management of the cinema had also taken steps to ensure a hitchfree human and vehicular movement.

Meanwhile, NAN also visited some of the shops within the cinema premises and reports that they were beehive of activities as customers were seen trooping in and out of the shops in preparation for Christmas. (NAN)

Photo:NAN term solution to the problem of hawking in the area is the removal of the market.

“The market attracts a lot of trading activities, especially through hawking, which has been prohibited by the FCT authorities. The authorities will have no choice than to comply with the original concept of the Abuja master plan, which originally planned for a secondary school to be located here.

“The minister is considering the removal of the market as I speak to you; he has set the plan in motion, though it will take a long time but definitely the

market will be removed,’’ he said.

Shuaibu also bemoaned the existence of some informal markets in the FCT, adding that those markets constituted threats to a clean city.

He said the cost of keeping the city clean around market premises was high, adding that the existence of informal markets was not in the Abuja master plan.

The director said the board would continue with the enforcement and would sustain it throughout the month of December to rid the city of hawking.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AEPB in collaboration with officials of the National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), jointly carried out the raid.

Mr. Kalu Eze, one of the hawkers, who spoke to NAN, decried the high cost of shops in the market.

Eze appealed to the FCT administration, to make provision for the less privileged, to enable them trade for survival. (NAN)

Printer arraigned over alleged criminal breach of trust, misappropriation

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he Police has arraigned a 35-year-old printer, Hassan Joel of Greater Tomorrow Street, Mararaba, Nassarawa state, before an Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court for alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.

The Prosecutor, Christian Munonye, told the court that on December 6, 2012 one Godwin Udu of shop 1, Garki International Market, Abuja, reported the accused at the Garki Police Station.

Munonye said that Udu gave the accused person N260,000 in April to do a printing job for him, adding that the accused collected the money from Udu but failed to

do the job until he was arrested.

The prosecutor noted that the accused had during investigation admitted collecting the money from Udu but could not account for it.

The offences of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation contravened Sections 312 and 309 of the Penal Code, he said.

However, the accused denied diverting the money to his personal use.

He told the court that he was yet to deliver the job to Udu, due to technical problems his printing machine developed.

“I have started the job but somewhere along the line, I could

not finish it as my printing machine developed a fault and I sent the job to someone else at Asaba to complete it,’’ he explained.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr Chukwuemeka Ubani, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 and a surety in like sum, who must be a civil servant of any grade level.

He added that the surety must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and must present the original copy of his last pay slip as evidence to the court.

Ubani adjourned the case to Jan. 15 for further hearing.

(NAN)

PAGE 20

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Infrastructural development: FCTA signs MoU with 13 investors

By Josephine Ella Ejeh

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s part of the efforts towards infrastructural development in the Federal Capital Territory( FCT), the FCT administration has signed a Memoradum of Understanding (MoU) with 13 Land-Swap investors to immediately commence the opening up of eight new

districts in the city.

While signing the MoU on behalf of the administration, the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed (CON expressed joy over the realization of this vision which he noted would expand the infrastructure of the city.

He disclosed that each of

the investors had paid the sum of N350 million to the FCT administration being fees for survey maps, detailed land use plan, engineering design, demographic reports, legal documentation and other ancillary services to qualify.

According to him, due diligence was properly carried out, and all the investors have technical capability with

Federal secretariat car park overtakes refuse, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

robust financial plans that will bring in over N300 billion investment from banks in and outside the country.

He disclosed that all these investors have technical partners in Europe and Americas and have proved to have the muscle to pull through the arrangement.

He further revealed that 15 investors indicated interest, 13 of them were able to conclude the process, one of them was given extension while one of them has backed out.

The companies which signed the MoU include Rosehill Group, Afri-International Projects Limited, Bolmus Nigeria Limited, Ridley Group, CRCC Nigeria Limited and Hongye Group. Others are AMPM Global Network Limited, Urban Shelter Infrastructure Limited, Gilmor Engineering Services Limited, First Aries Petroleum & Crude Oil Production, System Properties & Development Consortium Limited; PIMA International Limited, Ketti Infrastructure Limited. Dangote Group got extension while Adkan Services Limited did not respond.

Speaking on behalf of the investors, the Chairman of Rosehill Group, Suleiman Yahaya appreciated the speedy way the administration responded.

This was as he promised that they would meet the expectations of the Federal Government to deliver these districts speedily to the people of Nigeria.

Businessman docked for alleged theft, mischief

Cleric tasks Christian leaders, followers on humility

he Police have arraigned a 40-year-old businessman, Emmanuel Chukwu, of Jos North Local Government Area in Plateau, before an Abuja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing N228, 750.

Police Prosecutor, Corporal Simon Emmanuel told the court that one Kolade Yakubu of Fish Market, Abuja accompanied by Mr Collins Ezeh lodged the case at the Life Camp Police Station, Abuja on November 19, 2012.

Emmanuel said the accused and three others now at large came into his shop pretending to buy fish feeds but in the process distracted him and stole N228,750.

He gave the names of the three accused at large as Taduguma Gboko, Malam Usman and Alhaji Wajaga all of Makurdi, Benue.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 322 and

By Amaike Beauty

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288 of the Penal Code.

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

The prosecutor also objected to granting bail to the accused, arguing that granting him bail would jeopardise police investigation as the accused was a visitor and did not have a defined address.

However, the Magistrate, Mrs Jacinta Okeke, overruled the prosecutor and granted bail to the accused in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Okeke said that the surety must be a businessman or woman or a civil servant not below grade level 09 and must live within the jurisdiction of the court.

She added that the surety must attach evidence of identification, current utility bill receipt and adjourned the case toDecember 11, 2912 for further hearing. (NAN)

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cleric, Pastor Issac VictorAshio of Shepherd Court International Ministry has called for humility among Christian leaders and followers.

Ashio, who made the call made in Abuja at the weekend during the ordination service of five members of Abiding Faith Gospel Church, Aso Pada, Mararaba, in the neighbouring Nasarawa state said the house of God should operate like one functional body.

Speaking on the theme; “The Dynamics of Christian Service”, the guest speaker noted that modern day Christians see the religion as a comfort zone, pointing out that the gospel of Christ should be preached to all the inhabitant earth to serve as a witness before the end of time. ”Early missionaries who came with Christianity left their comfort zone in Europe and came to Africa to liberate the continent in spite of the hash climatic condition.

“Regrettably, modern day Christians do not give hope to their host communities. A true child of God has a responsibility not only to his family, but to all those around him even non practicing Christians,” he stressed.

Earlier, the host pastor and General Overseer of Abiding Faith Gospel Church, Pastor Paul Udoh called on the ordained persons to see the event as a call to service, even as he tasked those not ordained to support those called to the altar of God. Speaking to our correspondent shortly after the ordination service, one of the ordained ministers of God, Deaconess Kate Elemue said: “I see the ordination as a call to God’s vineyard and it behoves on me to do what God has in stock for me”.

Others ministers of God ordained include Deaconess (Mrs.) Joy Aigbedion, Pastor Prosper Boi, Deacon John Chukwu and Evangelist Jeremiah Musa.

NGO trains 25 youths on entrepreneurial skills, urges them to create jobs

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o fewer than 25 youths h a v e i n Abuja, graduated from a youth mentoring programme known as “Develop for Development Initiative’’. (DDI) The programme was organised by Afrigrowth, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).

The graduating youths were in the last batch of 100 youths mentored for eight weeks apiece by the organisation for 2012.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Dayo Keshi, the President of Afrigrowth, urged the youths to put into use the knowledge acquired thereby creating jobs for other youths.

According to her, the NGO does not have the resources to reach out to all the youths in society, hence the need for the graduands to mentor their peers.

She said: “We have given you an edge over others, therefore, you can create jobs for yourselves and for others out there.

Your generation is demanding that you change and work with the times, there is no free launch anywhere”.

In his comments, Dr Carlos Torres, Nigeria Monitoring and Evaluation Management Services, said that giving back to the society was the greatest source of self satisfaction.

Torres urged the youths to develop themselves further to build their capacity to enable them garner requisite experience in managing projects.

“Knowledge, helping society, helping your peers, these are the greatest sources of happiness,’’ he said.

In his remarks, Mr Zubairu Attah, National Coordinator of Lawyers Without Borders, advised the graduands to always carryout research and apply their resources wisely.

According to him, it is not about intelligence, but knowing how to apply the knowledge.

One of the graduands, Mr Shodeinde Otolorin , told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he had been enabled to apply classroom knowledge to real life experience.

Another beneficiary, Isaac Egboja, said the training was inspiring as he was better equipped to be an entrepreneur and face the challenges of life.

Egboja appealed to the NGO to expand the programme to accommodate more youths.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of certificates to the gradands and the inauguration of Afrigrowth Alumni Association. (NAN)

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 21

INSIDE

- Pg 22

We’ve built an institution that outlives any individual – PenCom DG

Mob: 08033644990

AfDB, Kenya sign million dollars loan agreement to finance hydroelectric Power Project Abdulwahab Isa with agency report

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he African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed two loan agreements with the Government of Kenya amounting to millions of dollars to finance a major regional hydroelectric power project and the enhancement of the country’s higher education system.

The first loan totaling US $115 million will finance the construction of the multinational electricity highway between Ethiopia and Kenya, consisting of about 1,068 km of high voltage direct current (HVDC) 500 kV transmission line and associated AC/DC converter stations at Wolayta-Sodo (Ethiopia) and Suswa (Kenya) substations, with a power transfer capacity of up to 2,000 MW. The project will be commissioned in November 2017.

The second loan of US $43 million will go towards improving the quality and relevance in engineering faculties in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 priorities for science, technology and innovation (STI) and human resource aspirations of the East African Community (EAC) integration.

The project aims to contribute to an increase in qualified and skilled engineers from 6,350 in 2012 to almost 12,000 by 2017 to drive the key sectors of Vision 2030. The project will target six university constituent colleges and two universities whose core mandate is STI in line with the Kenya Engineering Registration Board (KERB) recommendations.

The loan agreements were signed by Gabriel Negatu, AfDB’s East Africa Regional Director, and Kenya’s Finance Minister Robinson Githae.

Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, Negatu said, “Following the successful completion of the Thika Super Highway last month, the AfDB is today embarking on another highway – an Energy Super Highway that will facilitate energy trading within the East Africa region. It is also the first step to enabling affordable energy from the region to be traded through the East Africa Power Pool, as far North as Egypt and as far South as SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries, by connecting with the Southern Africa Power Pool.”

He reiterated the Bank’s commitment to working with the Kenyan government to enable it to deliver and make an impact on its development activities for the well-being of the Kenyan people.

L-R: Oyo state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Managing Director, Lafarge/Wapco Cement, Mr Joe Hudson, chairman, board of Directors, Chief Olusegun Oshunkeye, and managing director, Oodua Investment Ltd, Mr. Adebayo Jimoh, during a visit of Lafarge/Wapco Cement team to the governor, recently in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN

Blue chips drag down investment by 0.072 From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

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nvestments loss in some blue chip companies on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) last weekend led to 0.072 depreciation in the value of listed equities.

About 1.144 billion shares worth N11.239 billion in 18,947 deals was recorded compare to a total of 1.216 billion shares valued at N8.886 billion that exchanged hands in 18,902 deals the previous week.

The Financial Services sector (measured by turnover volume) accounted for 872.712 million shares valued at N6.803 billion traded in 11,398 deals. The Consumer Goods sector followed with 75.609 million shares valued at N3.117 billion traded in 3,812 deals.

Analysis of the market reviewed that the Banking subsector of the Financial Services sector was the most active during the week (measured by turnover volume); with 645.733 million shares worth N5.555 billion

exchanged hands by investors in 8,257 deals. Volume in the Banking subsector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the two banks accounted for 196.229 million shares, representing 30.39 per cent, 22.49 per cent, and 17.15 per cent of the turnover recorded by the subsector, sector and total turnover for

the week, respectively.

Also traded during the week were 611 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) valued at N1.591 million exchanged hands in 5 deals in contrast to a total of 550 units valued at N1.462 million transacted last week in 5 deals.

Also, 4,650 units of FGN Bonds valued at N5.008 million were traded during the week in 12 deals. However, there were no

Pension fund asset hits N2.4trn — DG

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he Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Mr Muhammad Ahmad, says the total value of pension fund asset as at December, 2011 stands at N2.45 trillion.

This is contained in the 5th Annual Report of the commission for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011 “The total value of pension fund assets, based on unaudited valuation reports, increased from N2.03 trillion on Dec. 31, 2010 to N2.45 trillion as at Dec. 31, 2011,indicating 20 per cent growth.’’

He said the value of pension fund asset of Retirement Savings Account (RSA) was N1.29 trillion as at December 2011.

“This marked an increase of 31.93 per cent from the N980.29 billion recorded in 2010,’’ Ahmad said.

The director-general said that the average monthly contributions by RSA holders was N19.08 billion in 2011 as against the monthly average contribution of N10.79 billion in 2010.

He attributed the increase to the registration of more workers.

Management Tip of the Day

N

The one person every network needs

ot all contacts are created equally. When you know someone from more than one context, that person is called a "multiplex tie." Because these relationships are richer than those rooted in just one setting (the office, for example), they come with a higher level of trust and you're likely to tap them more

transactions in the State/Local Government Bonds and Corporate Bonds/Debentures sectors.

The NSE All-Share Index appreciated by 0.67 per cent to close at 26,671.72.

Also, Market Capitalization of the listed equities increased by 0.67 per cent to close at N8.522 trillion.

Five of the sectorial indices appreciated during the week.

frequently. Invest in these multiplex ties to get the most from your network.

Examine your strongest professional relationships and identify which ones overlap with work, civic, religious, school, neighborhood, or childhood ties.

Reach out to colleagues whose children go to school with your

kids, for instance, or people you've trained with for a marathon.

If you don't have many of these types of connections, create them.

Invite people you work with to join your volunteering efforts or strike up a conversation at your next school event.

Source: Harvard Business Review

Ahmad said that RSA holders increased by 8.4 per cent from the 4,542,250 registered in 2010.

He said also that the average monthly contribution of private sector contributors increased by 15.96 per cent from N8.59 billion in 2010 to N9.96 billion in 2011.

He noted that the value of the pension fund asset of RSA funds increased by 47. 99 per cent from N127.31 billion in 2010 to N175.30 billion as at Dec. 31, 2011.

The DG noted that Approved Existing Scheme (AES) assets grew marginally by N1.75 billion, from N571.81 billion in 2010 to N519.57 billion in the year in review.

He said that Closed Pension Fund Administrator (CPFA) fund assets had a net growth of N50.27 billion, increasing from N404.37 billion in 2010 to N454.64 billion in 2011.

Ahmad noted that the pension industry operated in an atmosphere of robust and sustained macro-economics policy stance during the year under review. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY,MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 22

We’ve built an institution that outlives any individual – PenCom boss G

iven the eight years of contributory pen sion scheme administration in Nigeria, what are the prospects and challenges?

Basically, we started an industry that never existed.

There are three issues that we need to focus on: one, we had a pension reform that intended to establish a scheme fully funded and privately managed in a more efficient manner; scheme that was to replace old schemes, particularly at the federal, so that we would have a more transparent scheme.

The reform provided that it should be managed by a regulated entity but beyond that it should be regulated and supervised by a government agency called the National Pension Commission. Today, it has taken off fully. Some of us have been associated with the scheme from thebeginning and hopefully by the end of December, we are exiting and new people would take over from us.

There are challenges. For instance, have we been able to explain to Nigerians what this reform is all about? I want to say that with the support of the media we have been able to make a modest progress, but we are far from where we had wanted to be. As an industry, precisely as a regulator, we decided to focus oneducating and enlightening Nigerians to have their buy-in because if they buy in, you will have voluntary compliance. They know what you are doing, they know the benefit and so they will voluntarily comply. But beyond that is the fact that we needed to go to the next level, if not people would not want to comply. The next issue is compliance- private sector compliance. Do they get their employees registered? Are they contributing? For the formal sector of the economy, the majority of the actors or stakeholders are complying. Either they have got their staff registered and are paying regularly or, at least, their staff are registered and the payments are not regular. But the bulk of employers are actually in the informal sector, given the fact that we are looking at the employment of five people. How do you capture that group? Historically, in an economy like Nigeria's, managing the informal sector is very challenging, whether you are looking at tax issue or compliance issue. The reason is that you don't have a structure.

Businesses are not properly registered. Today, you cannot go to any agency or office in this

Having taken a hitherto inchoate industry to an enviable height, the Director-General of National Pension Commission (PenCom), Malam Muhammad K. Ahmad, is due for retirement this December having spent eight years in the saddle. In an interview with journalists recently in Abuja, Ahmad reflects on the state of pension industry. Our Abdulwahab Isa was there. Excerpts: scheme. What measures have you put in place to build and sustain confidence in the new scheme?

D-G, PenCom, Malam Muhammad K. Ahmad country where you can pick a list of active registered businesses or employers of labour.

The third issue has to do with the states. The states are supposed to establish their own pension schemes. We have been working on the states to do so. Lagos is the flagship; it has a very effective contribu-

tory pension scheme. We have about 21 states that are at different stages of compliance, but unfortunately, the compliance is a bit slow. The reason is that it is not mandatory for them; they enact their own laws.

Ideally, their laws should have compelled them to do that but you know the way we comply

“

There are even calls that we should reform the Pension Act to make it mandatory for states to comply because they control a certain number of employees in the country.

with and obey laws in this country. Some of them that started thescheme have either stopped or are paying the contribution haphazardly.

We will continue to engage them. Sometimes it has to do with financial discipline. Some people may be too difficult to pin down to get them to pay.

Payment of salary and every other thing is secondary, but in the long run, this is the scheme that generates income after retirement.

It is likesaying if I need N5, 000 next week, let me start saving N5 every day. The moment I default I am not going to get my N5, 000 at the end of the week. Discipline is the challenge. There are even calls that we should reform the Pension Act to make it mandatory for states to comply because they control a certain number of employees in the country.

T

he old pension scheme was plagued by many unresolved issues, and people are scared of the new

At the federal level, prior to 2004, we had what we called defined benefit, Pay-As-YouGo. In other words, the Federal Government never set aside money for the payment of pension. On an annual basis it had an estimate of X number of people that would be retiring, let's pay pension. Funds were not being made available, that is one reason. The second reason is that it was a defined benefit based on final salary.

Come rain come shine, the employer had agreed that when I retired I was going to get 80 percent of my salary for the rest of my life. This was how it was structured but it was not funded.

Pension departments were established, and government paid money to them to pay pensioners, they placed the money in banks. The Federal Government disbursed money to the pension departments, they opened bank accounts, kept the money in fixed deposit accounts, as result of which people who were retiring were not put on the payroll; those on the payroll, their names were on and off; every year there was a verification exercise; the administration was not transparent, it was cumbersome, you had to come to Abuja for the verification. It appeared those in charge of pension administration took advantage of the internal weakness. At the end of the day, you had the government making payments and somebody in between was getting the benefit.

On the other hand, the contributory pension scheme ensures it is fully funded. In other words, funds must be set aside on a monthly basis. You don't need to wait for budgetary allocations. Two, an employee must open a retirement savings account (RSA) into which his collection is paid. It is an account owned by an individual and can be traced. If somebody touches that account, there are appropriate sanctions. The money is managed by licensed institutions that are regulated by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) with specific rules and regulations. They are Continued on page 21

PEOPLES DAILY,MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 23

•••we have been able to achieve a lot today by engaging all stakeholders – PenCom boss Continued from page 20 monitored and supervised and therefore you can easily challenge them. eyond that is the fact that you have two institu tions- the administrators and custodians. The administrator that manages the fund does not have access to the fund and each one of them is supposed to report to PenCom. Clearly, there is separation of duties and even in the event that there is a hiccup, the shareholders or the custodians are obliged to make good whatever fund that might have been lost either as a result of funds trapped in any of the banks or financial institutions.

B

H

ow many has the scheme taken care of in terms of social security?

People started retiring under the new scheme in July 2007, which is five years ago.

In the last five years, how many have retired? As at September this year, 54,000 contributors have retired and close to about N150 billion has been paid as a lump sum to those in the public and private sectors.

However, there is another challenge - the challenge of those that have retired under the federal and the state governments. We have arrears due towards the end of last year to the middle of this year. Section 29 of the Pension Reform Act provides that the federal government should be remitting 5 percent of its bill into a pension fund account to be managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the purpose of redeeming such liability for those who are retiring under the new scheme.

However, the 5 percent was not being paid. The reason was that appropriation was made by the Budget Office, but it took us a long time to convince the National Assembly that this is a statutory requirement. The funds were not building up at a much faster rate.

H

ow are the pension as sets invested, where and at what ratio?

Investment management is the most critical aspect of the contributory pension scheme.

We contributed over a period and therefore the returns on investment are supposed to go into our savings. What we do, is to ensure that the investments are managed in a more transparent manners. What we did was to issue investment regulations.

Generally, there are two options: you either allow the investment manager to decide

Pensioners queuing for verification because he is a professional and as a transparent person, he can take a decision on your behalf.

Most developed countries have that because they have a more transparent process. The other option is a restrictive regulation, a clearly defined bucket.

These are the areas for you to invest in and these are the requirements.

There must be rating- performance base mark and there is also a limit. You cannot invest more than X percent of your portfolio in particular class of asset or in a group of assets. The last time we did a comprehensive work was in December 2010. What we did was to see how you diversify investment instruments. As at today, there are basically three in-

struments where pension assets are invested - federal government bond which takes about 60 percent; t came down from about 80 percent to 60 percent. Then there are interbank placements(money market instruments) and the equity market.

For the money market I think it has dropped to about 14 percent and for equity it is about 12 percent. The reason why you have a substantial portion of the assets being en invested in Federal Government Bond is because they are sovereign risk and they offer the highest yield. PFAs naturally move there, otherwise they will not return better yields for their contributors. As long as bonds provides higher yield, they will remain there.

“

It is not an unnecessary expense. It is unfair, immoral for somebody to work for you and leave that organization without been paid. We hope and pray that we have been able to establish a process. What we are trying to do is to build an institution not around individual but an institution that will survive individual that participated in building that institution.

Unfortunately, they are short term in nature, but they have to remain there for them to ensure that there are fair returns and also provide returns over and above inflation. We have other classes of assets. Corporate bonds are not been issued by corporate. We engaged them in various fora. We also introduced infrastructure funds and infrastructure bonds. The idea is to see how to channel pension assets into long term funds for the development of the Nigerian economy. Today no infrastructure fund or infrastructure bonds have been issued. As at today, we have about N3 trillion pensions that have been contributed. The growth rate per annum is about 25 to 30 percent annual growth of pension asset.

Hopefully in the next five years you can estimate what that means. It is a gradual process and it has been consistent so far.

The private sector has been contributing significantly to that.

W

hat is the level of compliance?

As of today, we have over 180,000 employers of labour that have joined the new scheme. As for registered employees, there are about 5.3million. It is still far from what we want. We have gone beyond naming and shaming, we have published their names. The industrial court has been assisting in ensuring that people pay up.

We have also appointed lawyers

and accountant and they are going to ensure they recover the principal as well as interest. The law is very clear.

W

hat would like to be remembered for?

As Nigerian, we came to implement a reform, a social reform. It went through a very controversial legislative process, where various interest groups feel they don't need it and therefore the thing cannot work. And in an environment where you have a lot of policy summersault.

Things are introduced and changed at will. Without been immodest, we have been able to achieve what we get today by engaging all these stakeholders by making sure that we carried people along. We explained to NLC, TUC etc that what we are discussing is about human being.

That they worked for an employer and therefore entitled to be paid benefits and that benefit will be available when he retired.

It is not an unnecessary expense. It is unfair, immoral for somebody to work for you and leave that organization without been paid. We hope and pray that we have been able to establish a process. What we are trying to do is to build an institution not around individual but an institution that will survive individual that participated in building that institution.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 24

Report of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, Nov 2012 (IV) Scope and Work Done 3.1.

Work Approach

The Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, in order to fulfil its Terms of Reference, carried out the following activities: • Set up a Virtual Project Management Office (PMO) managed by BGL Plc; • Confirmed the engagement of Bode Ososami as our Adviser and liaison with other Task Forces set up to consider other aspects of the oil and gas industry.

• Confirmed the engagement of PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited (PwC) as consultants to the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force; • Selected Industry Stakeholder Groups that were invited to address the Special Task Force.

• Prepared and adopted a Work Plan that covered the scope of the assignment, delineating areas of critical focus, scheduled meetings, presentations and interaction with the Stakeholders; and • Received briefings and presentations from the following organisations: Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) Shell Nigeria Chevron Nigeria Trispec Schlumberger Sahara Group NNPC Finance and Accounts Directorate, Crude Oil Marketing Division, IT Department and other Divisions National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) Pipeline Products and Marketing Company Limited (PPMC) Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Inspection Agents (Cobalt International Services Nigeria Limited, Services, Robinson International and Gulf Inspection Services) Monitoring Agents (Swede Control Intertek and Q & Q Pre – Shipment Inspection) DFID’s Facility for Oil Sector Transparency (FOSTER) KPMG Professional Services on the Process and Forensic Review of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

HSBC Global Banking

Steve Oronsaye and Markets ANS Energy • Visited and reviewed selected operators and agencies of government covering the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2011.

This exercise covered the Agencies and Parastatals of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries, International Oil Companies (IOCs), Local Oil Companies (LOCs) and other relevant parties.

Our detailed review, supported by the Task Force’s consultants covered an in-depth examination of the various revenue streams of Government across the various responsible agencies. The review period covered was from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2011 in line with the Statute of Limitations. However, where it was deemed necessary by members of the PRSTF, the scope was extended. The review carried out at the NNPC covered a period of ten(10) years instead of seven (7) to enable the PRSTF determine key trends in the determination of the FGN’s revenue and carry out better analysis of the status quo.

• Set up Two (2) Ad- Hoc Subcommittees namely NNPC Review Subcommittee and the DPR Review Subcommittee to conduct an in-depth review and onsite consultations with these two key agencies responsible for

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala the management of revenues from the sector.

Set up Five (5) • Standing Subcommittees with detailed ToRs emanating from the Task Force’s mandate. This was to enable the Special Task Force follow up on the assertions made by the various stakeholders and organisations.

See Section 3.3. for the membership and terms of reference of the Task Force’s constituted Subcommittees.

• Two workshops were held in the month of May 2012 to further assist the Special Task Force in the information gathering process. These were the: (1) Workshop on Metering and Measurement in the Oil & Gas Sector Value Chain, and (2) Workshop on Security in the Oil and Gas Sector.

• In pursuance of ToR 2, the Task Force through the Security and Enforcement Subcommittee liaised with relevant agencies to validate the status of outstanding debts identified in the course of the forensic review, and to demand payments where deemed necessary.

Limitations Constraints

and

The Task Force encountered some limitations in the course of executing our terms of reference, which in some cases constrained the depth of the review or access to desired information.

The key limitations are as follows: o Disputes between agencies on crude oil production data leading to difficulty in

GMD, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu

ascertainment o Timey implementation of the country's production data repository said to be at pilot stage. o Some of the companies invited or circularised with information requests did not respond to the letters sent by the Task Force requesting information. o Given the time allocation for the Task Force's work, the review and findings were constrained owing to the large number of companies and agencies that required review.

However, the Task Force made all necessary efforts to ensure a full execution of its mandate and our findings are presented in the report. o For crude oil sales, a lot of the supporting documentation and information was provided towards the end of the mandated time stipulated for the review.

In fact, information was still trickling in as at the time this report was being concluded. It is key to note that the information was primarily paper based which would have required further extensions to conclude the reviews of certain Domestic Crude Oil Revenue Drivers. o In the course of the work of the Task Force, information received was not sufficient to carry out a complete assessment of the cost versus the proceeds of sale for the entire 445,000bbls domestic allocation by the FGN. Therefore, we cannot come to a meaningful conclusion in this regard. o As at the time of reporting PPMC had not provided the Task Force with schedules of crude volumes that

was delivered to the refineries and monthly analysis petroleum products available for sale (import and refined). This would have facilitated an analysis of utilisation as well as an estimation of expected generated revenues from sale. o The nature and scope of work was complex and varied leading to several related challenges o Given the volume of contracts under review from execution of FGN contracts (through the NNPC) with Contractors (Oil Companies) including JOA, PSC a further time period would have been of benefit o Differences of opinion between NNPC and DPR. o Timely access to the records of NNPC's strategic subsidiaries - Napoil, Calson, Hyson, NPDC, NGC etc. o Information available from NNPC and NAPIMS in respect of the gas pricing model as well as natural gas production/sale contracts with the various contractors was deemed inadequate by the Task Force. o The Task Force was not provided with the gas supplysales agreements between NLNG, NNPC and NGC. o Reconciliation of the list of concessions and the concessions per the detailed schedule of concession rentals. o The exact status of Royalties due created some disagreement between agencies o The sector wide need to independently track gas volumes produced, sold and flared by the operators.

PAGE 26

We have failed the younger generation - Rector From Sam Egwu, lokoja

R

ector of the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Dr. Pius Salami, said over the weekend that his generation has failed to live worthy legacies for the younger generation of Ebira extraction.

Salami who was the chairman of the 11th Ebira Youth National Summit, organised by the Ebira Youth Congress,(EYC), held in Okene, berated the application of clannish sentiments as the basis for the conduct of the affairs of the land.

Emphasising the place of education in nation building, he called on the EYC to embark on the sensitisation of the people on the need to give proper education to their children.

He said if things must change; there must be proper education and value re-orientation of the youths who he said are the future leaders for effective and efficient service delivery.

According to him, the building of an enduring society that can respond positive to societal challenges was the responsibility of all the citizenry, hence the need for collective efforts in moving the area forward.

He noted that if the people must overcome their present problems, they must devote more time to the things which help to unit them rather than the things which divide them.

Earlier, the president General of EYC, Comrade Gomina Kadir, in his speech said the various tragedies which has befallen the people has cumulatively put Eniraland in distress.

He called for concerted efforts by the people and a more proactive approach by the security agents to bring permanent solution to the security problems in the land.

The summit featured lectures on the security challenges in the area and the problems associated with local government administration, even as the congress calls for Local Government autonomy.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

FCE Yola degree programme feasible, says UniMaid DVC

By Maryam Garba Hassan

T

he Deputy Vice -Chancellor Academic Services of the University of Maiduguri, Professor Ibrahim A. Njodi , has expressed optimism that degree programme at the Federal College of Education (FCE) Yola is feasible in view of its current facilities.

A statement signed by the college Public Relations Officer, Bashir Abdullahi, said Professor Njodi who stated this after inspecting structures in the

College, said he was impressed by the structures put in place in preparation for the commencement of the programme, which is expected to be affiliated to the University of Maiduguri.

The DVC Academics, who was accompanied during the visit by the Director of Affiliated Colleges, David W. Bwala, after going round the School of Languages Complex said the College was really gearing up for the undergraduate programme.

“I am happy with the

T

he Kogi State Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, (SUBEB) Alhaji Usman Jibrin, has stated that with the level at which the present administration is, the lost glory of public education in the state will be restored.

Jibrin said problems with the public schools in the state are gradually identified adding that schools constituting a clog in the

of the institution to redouble efforts in standardising laboratories and libraries in the College as well as providing members of the staff the comfort they deserve to perform optimally, the statement added.

On his part, the Deputy Provost of the College, Mr. Felix Anyawu, who stood in for the Provost, Professor, AbdulMumin Sa’ad, assured the DVC that the College management will continue to improve on the facilities identified for upgrading.

R-L: National Co-ordinator, Nigerian Royalty Awards, Omooba Kenneth Aigbegbele, presenting 'NRA Nigeria Woman Of Distinction Academia Award to Proprietress of New Capital School, Asokoro, Chief Vera Ogechukwu Oguejiofor, recently in Abuja.

Group organises National Quiz competition for students

By Etuka Sunday

G

roup known as Scripture Union Nigeria, at the weekend organised a national quiz competition for secondary school students as part of its efforts to encourage scripture reading and promote literacy in the country.

The group which is also a non-denominational fellowship group to promote scripture reading among students also has a vision to nurture children and youths following Jesus and transforming Nigeria.

Speaking to newsmen at ECWA Church Headquarters, Wuse II, Abuja, the venue of the

We have restored confidence in public schools, says Kogi SUBEB Chairman From Sam Egwu, lokoja

buildings coming up. I will recommend that we take over this complex for the undergraduate programme.

This is because for a degree programme, we need a befitting environment like this.

According to the statement, Njodi said, “If we are starting a degree programme with say 300 students, this will be good for a start. I can see the department of English here and other departments. We don’t have any problem here in terms of facilities.

He call on the management

wheel of progress in the 21 local government areas in the state will be flushed out to create room for functional education.

In an interview with journalists in the state, the Chairman said the restoration of public confidence in government schools through renovation of dilapidated school buildings, competitive condition of service for teachers, promotion of teachers as at when due and regular payment of salaries were the thrust of the

present administration in the state.

“It is no longer business as usual as the policy thrust of the present administration towards education is to key into transformation agenda of qualitative and functional education for our youths and children yet unborn”, Usman noted.

He further reiterated that his dream was to see the children of public schools attain excellence “as it was in our days”.

competition, the Regional Coordinator, Scripture University of Nigeria, Mr. Mark D. A Osang, said the quiz was organised to motivate, encourage and nurture the youths to know God and become better citizens of Nigeria.

According to him, Nigerian youths have not lived up to expectation therefore, there was the need to make a difference by impacting their lives positively.

Osang said the focus of the Union is also to promote Church unity and oneness hence the students were drawn from different denomination-ECWA, Deeper Life, Anglican, Catholic, Assembles of God Church and the likes.

He said the 4th edition of the quiz was organised for the students at the Secondary Schools, adding that the Union has the plan of extending it to higher institutions in the country.

Also speaking, the National

Co-ordinator, Youth Ministry, Scripture Union Nigeria, Mr. Philip Odelano disclosed that out of the 2115 students who participated in the quiz, only 12 persons made it to the finals.

He said that the competition was organised at the local government level, states and geo-political zones before the finals, explaining that among the 12 persons that came first and second were from the six geo-political zones of the country.

At the end of the competition, Deekor Precious from Port Harcourt, representing Assembles of God Church and South South geo-political zone emerged the overall winner, followed by Owonam Godwin Sunday from Cross Rivers and Iwuamadi Izuchukwu from Benue state, representing North Central Zone.

The winners were each given laptop in addition to other gifts.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 27

AUN President Ensign named to Rwandan University task force

By Maryam Garba Hassan

A

fter a vote by the Rwandan national parliament, Dr. Margee Ensign, Americanborn President of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), was named to a task force establishing a new university system in Rwanda.

According to a statement signed by the deputy president information, Abba Tahir, the Rwandan Minister of Education, Dr. Vincent Biruta, said that the task force would take steps toward the realisation of the University of Rwanda by September 2013.

Biruta said Ensign’s nomination is based on her

expertise and broad knowledge of developments in East African nation.

He said the new task force is expected to improve coordination among existing public institutions, encourage innovation and flexibility in the delivery of higher education and research, foster strengthened partnerships with external organisations and improve accountability in the operations of public higher education as well as to improve the quality of higher education in Rwanda.

The statement further explained that Rwanda has 14 scholarship students enrolled at AUN in the Fall 2012 Semester and has promised to sponsor at least

20 every year.

It added that President Ensign will be in Rwanda mid-December to sign an MOU with Minister Biruta for the scholarship students where she is also expected to give two keynote speeches on genocide prevention and transformational leadership and nation building.

Responding, Ensign said she is am honored to have been chosen for the important task force adding that she look forward to the vigorous exchange of ideas and experience and the chance to help in the continued remarkable growth and transformation of Rwanda, the statement said.

New Oyo varsity to fill missing gap in other institutions - Ajimobi From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

G

overnor Abiola Ajimobi, of Oyo State has said that the State Technical University was established to fill the gap in courses that are missing in other universities in the country.

Ajimobi said that three local and international companies had already indicated interest to cite their industries in the university, saying that this would further help in achieving the goal behind the setting up of the institution.

The governor disclosed this while formally collecting a letter of recognition of the new institution from the Executive Secretary of the National Universities (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, in Abuja, at the weekend.

“What makes this university unique is that we are focusing on courses that are not readily available in

other technical universities in Nigeria, such as mechanical electronic, aircraft technology, robotics, cyber space security and others.

“What we are doing is marrying classroom with industries through the curriculum, which will be engineering and technology based,’’ he explained.

Ajimobi said that the university was modeled after other technical universities in Asia and Europe, adding that he hoped to encourage entrepreneurship and engineering studies.

He, however, said that the establishment of the university, which he said would take off in September 2013, would not affect the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), jointly owned by Oyo and Osun States.

The NUC Executive Secretary, while presenting the letter to Gov. Ajimobi, charged the governor to

ensure that the new institution survives.

Okojie however, expressed dissatisfaction with the manner with which some state universities are politicised, which he said leads to their eventual collapse adding that the most difficult institutions to run are state owned institutions.

He attributed the problem to change in leadership and politics of ethnicity, adding that, “we cannot play politics with university education’’.

Okojie, who also said universities of technology in Nigeria had lost focus, noted that the system was failing because there were no industries to translate theory into practice.

He said universities had big roles to play in ensuring the advancement of technology in the country, especially through constant researches and commitment to quality education.

NGO gives scholarship to 11 orphanages

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

A

Karu based nongovernmental organisation (NGO), known as Alkhulafa’urRashidun, has through its education initiative sponsored the education of 11 children, comprising of 8 girls and four boys in the year 2012.

Concerned by a recent report indicating the upsurge in the number of orphanages in the country, the NGO has also resolved to increase the number of beneficiaries of the foundation’s education endowment scheme from the present 12 to at least 25 as from the next academic session. This was part of the annual report of the foundation presented by the

NGO’s Secretary General, Ahmed I. Shekarau, during the first Annual General Meeting of the NGO held at Ahlul Badr Islamic Centre, Karu site, Abuja yesterday.

The report further stated that the scheme would be propelled through education of beneficiaries, which “recognised the need for both formal and non-formal education, given that some of the beneficiaries may be adults who would be too old to go through formal education but can acquire some skills through vocational training”.

Shekarau however explained how the NGO is collaborating with other agencies to provide relief assistance to the needy in the society.

“For instance, we collaborated with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to assist 47 disabled persons within Karu with Wheel Chairs. Apart from that, AlKhulafa’ur-Rashidun Foundation also contributed to the feeding of over 100 poor and weak Muslim residents of Kurudu village also in the FCT during the last Ramadan”, he said.

Alkhulafa ur-Rashidun focuses on instilling hope to the “socially deprived persons” through the provision of education development and vocational training and is committed to promoting the wellbeing of the poor and needy especially orphans and widows in the area.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 28

PAGE 29

Nigeria: Death stalking lead-poisoned children

Social media campaign seeks President’s release of promised cleanup funds

M

ore than 400 children in Zamfara State have died from lead poisoning according to official estimates. Unless the promised funds are released immediately, cleanup of the contaminated areas won’t be able to start until after next year’s rainy season, leaving thousands more children at risk of death and permanent disability.

Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director (Abuja) – The Nigerian government’s failure to produce promised funding to address the worst lead poisoning outbreak in modern history is leaving thousands of children to die or face lifelong disability, the Nigerian Youth Climate Action Network (NYCAN) and Human Rights Watch said today. The organizations opened a social media campaign on December 6, 2012, urging people to post comments to President Goodluck Jonathan’s official Facebook page, asking him why he has broken his promise to release funding for the cleanup of lead-contaminated areas in Zamfara State.

“More than 400 children in Zamfara State have died from lead poisoning according to official estimates,” said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “Unless the promised funds are released immediately, cleanup of the contaminated areas won’t be able to start until after next year’s rainy season, leaving thousands more children at risk of death and permanent disability.”

In May, the government pledged close to US$5 million to clean up areas that had been contaminated with lead during artisanal gold mining operations because of high levels of lead in rock ore. The funds were also to be used to put safe mining practices into effect, such as introducing processing equipment that reduces the risks of lead exposure.

In the village of Bagega, the most seriously contaminated town in the area, since Human Rights Watch researchers last visited in May, the family featured in a Human Rights Watch video that had already lost 10 children to lead poisoning, has seen another child die from lead poisoning.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), an independent international organization for medical humanitarian aid that has provided life-saving treatment to more than 2,000 children in Zamfara, cannot

Nigerian immigrants appreciate Danville The Aziaka family, from left, Victor, 19, Faith, 13, Neele and his wife Olubumni, Promise, 16 and Hope, 10, at their home in Danville.

E

A young boy sits on a stack of ore sacks in the mining processing site in Bagega village. treat the thousands of children who remain in urgent need until environmental cleanup has been completed because treating children when they are still actively exposed to lead makes their bodies more susceptible to the harms of lead poisoning.

Over the last three years, TerraGraphics, a US-based company, has worked with local Nigerian staff to clean up seven villages in Zamfara and has provided initial support to clean up Bagega, which has about 8,000 residents. The environmental cleanup of Bagega, which will only happen if President Jonathan releases the promised funds, must begin by mid-January to ensure it can be completed before the rainy season begins.

“If President Jonathan does not release these funds right away, children in Bagega will be forced to continue living in poisoned homes,” said Hamzat Lawal, co-founder of NYCAN and a technical adviser to the group. “Children in Bagega are dying. If we wait another year

Children involved in illegal mining activities to clean up the conditions that are poisoning these children, more children will die or become permanently disabled.”

Lawal is also national coordinator of African Youth Initiative on Climate Change – Nigeria (AYICC-Nigeria) and

is overseeing the Follow The M o n e y (www.followthemoneyng.org) campaign to ensure transparency and accountability for any funding released for the cleanup of Bagega.

Artisanal gold mines are found throughout Zamfara State. High levels of lead in the earth and the use of rudimentary mining methods have resulted in an ongoing epidemic of lead poisoning among children.

Children are particularly susceptible to the harm caused by lead, and high levels of lead exposure can cause brain, liver, kidney, nerve, and stomach damage, as well as permanent intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Research by Human Rights Watch in Zamfara in late 2011 found that children are exposed to lead when they process ore in the mines, when their miner relatives return home covered with lead dust, and when the lead-filled ore is manually or mechanically crushed at home. Children can also be exposed to toxic lead in contaminated water and food.

“We have reached a crisis point in Zamfara,” Olugboji said. “Thousands of children live in a toxic environment and are in urgent need of treatment. President Jonathan needs to make good on his promise and release the promised funds before the window of opportunity before the rainy season closes. But he needs to act right away.”

Source: AP

ven though they keep their Nigerian customs alive for their four children, the Aziakas remind themselves every day how fortunate they are to live in America.

Family members include Neele Aziaka and his wife, Olubunmi; Victor (Barieeba), 19, Promise (NornuBari), 16, Faith (Baridakara), 13, and Hope (DornuBari), 10.

The young family came to Danville, Illinois, 16 years ago to escape their alleged human and political rights violations in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.

They became citizens 10 years later after extensive studying and examinations.

Even though the family lived in a Nigerian city where conditions were fairly good, they continue to appreciate the opportunities and freedoms of this country.

“We have lived in both worlds,” Neele said, “and we all agree that you can’t put a price on freedom. Many people living in the United States don’t realize what life would be like if their liberties were taken away.”

Promise said, “I feel that God smiled on me by allowing me to grow up in this wonderful country.

Teenagers living in America today don’t realize how good they really have it.”

He said that people’s religious beliefs are what keep them going. “Religion is a way of life . it determines how you treat people,” he added.

Victor is a student at Danville Area Community College and hopes to go into criminal justice someday.

Promise, a junior at Danville High School, is in show choir, chess club, drama club, and on the math team.

He also plays flute in the marching band. Promise hopes to attend the University of Illinois someday and major in his true passions: science and math.

Faith, an eighth-grader at North Ridge Junior High School, is in the Red Coats show choir, and she plays soccer.

Hope is in fifth grade at East Park Elementary School, where she is in the MATS program and the choir.

The whole family is deeply involved in Danville’s New Life Church of Faith, where Neele serves as associate minister.

Everyone in the family except Neele is a member of the church choir, and the boys play in the church band. They attend prayer meetings and Bible study, and Olubunmi belongs to the Women of Wisdom group.

“Our religion is the core of everything,” Olubunmi said.

“We truly believe that when a family moves to a new environment — like we did — that their religion helps keep them focused on what’s important.”

In order to preserve their African heritage, the Aziakas take frequent trips back to their homeland to visit family. The two boys have also spent long periods of time in Nigeria with their own educational pursuits.

The family still wears brightly colored traditional clothing to church and when they get together with other Nigerians. In fact, Promise often enjoys wearing his Nigerian clothes to classes at DHS. They also appreciate Nigerian food, and everyone in the family — even the men — take turns at cooking. Some of their favorite dishes include tilapia fish, boiled yams,

plantain (fried bananas and scrambled eggs), black eyed peas, casaba (stiff mashed potatoes) and melon soup.

Both Neele and Olubunmi were practicing nurses when they lived in Nigeria. After coming to Danville, they both went on for their degrees at Lakeview College of Nursing.

Neele has his master’s degree in patient safety and leadership from the University of Illinois in Chicago. He works at Provena United Samaritans Medical Center and the Danville Correctional Center.

His wife has her bachelor’s degree in nursing and works in the emergency department at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System.

The couple met in nursing school in Nigeria, and before they were married, Olubunmi converted from Islam to Christianity. It took several years before her Muslim parents and family would sanction their daughter’s marriage to Neele.

The couple finds it more satisfying to practice nursing here in the United States than at any hospital in Nigeria.

“Since there is no health insurance over there and

everything is private pay, many people cannot afford the care that they need,” Olubunmi said.

She added the health care available in the United States is far superior to the technology and medicine available in her homeland.

The family has traveled extensively and has visited many beautiful places around the world. “But when it comes to living and raising our children, we are very happy right here in Danville,” Neele said.

“My love for my kids makes me want to spend as much time as possible with them,” he added. “I can get to work in 15 minutes by living in a small town like Danville.

I don’t want to waste several hours every day on a long commute.”

Neele reiterated that he and his family are very pleased to be living in the United States.

“We all need to pray for our country and the people in authority,” he said, “but if you have the knowledge and you are willing to work hard, then you’ll most likely succeed here in America.”

Copyright The Associated Press

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Making healthcare accessible to the grassroots via e-health different states simultaneously, could lead to a waste of resources due to the unnecessary duplication of efforts.

He insists that the adoption of a

By Olayemi Okeniyi

A

pregnant woman shuffles into a primary healthcare centre; a short distance from her home and as she sits down to catch her breath; she is informed that the doctor will attend to her shortly.

Sitting at his desk in a faraway urban centre, the doctor receives a message that his next patient has arrived in the clinic.

Using video conferencing, the patient and the doctor interact and discuss antenatal progress.

Based on his observations and the patient’s complaints, the doctor prescribes medications.

The doctor then retrieves the woman’s dossier from the hospital’s Internet database and uses all the information at his disposal to instruct the nurse on what tests to run.

When their appointment is over, the woman leaves the clinic, while the doctor attends to another patient.

The beauty of the whole story is that the doctor and his patient have been able to interact in a normal hospital setting, even though they are several kilometres away from each other.

Their interaction was made possible through the use of modern information and communication technology (ICT) and this underscores the wisdom in adopting e-health for healthcare delivery, particularly in the rural areas.

Telemedicine, one of the many forms of e-health, makes it possible for a medical doctor in a city to “physically and psychologically’ treat patients in remote rural areas.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines ehealth as the use of ICT to treat patients, conduct research, educate students, track diseases and monitor public health.

WHO recognises telemedicine as a cost-effective and pragmatic means of healthcare delivery to people scattered across different locations.

In most cases, people of rural areas often have to travel on terrible roads to get medical treatment in distant, urban or semi-urban places.

In such situations, the cost of treatment to the patient excludes the cost of travelling out to these places and allied incidental costs.

Therefore, the adoption of telemedicine in Nigeria will definitely improve the country’s healthcare delivery system, while stimulating a reduction in maternal mortality in the rural areas, some observers note.

This is because the high rate of maternal mortality in the country could be partly attributed to the lack of quality health facilities in the rural areas, says Dr. Fred Achem, the President, Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetrics of

EMR (Electronic Medical Record) Nigeria (SOGON).

The consultant however notes that Nigeria has the second highest maternal mortality in the world.

“A woman dies every two minutes in Nigeria due to pregnancy-related causes and complications; this is a high figure that should elicit the concern of everybody,’’ he says.

Achem stresses that the development is very regrettable because in many instances, maternal or child deaths could have been avoided if the victims received basic medical care.

Sharing similar sentiments, DrKassimOlumayowa, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi, says that the quality of healthcare services in the rural areas is quite low.

He attributes this to certain factors such as poor funding, dearth of facilities and equipment, ill-trained personnel, compromised standards and poor remuneration of medical personnel, among others.

“The impact of the Federal Government’s efforts to enhance the quality of tertiary health institutions is not being felt in states and local government areas.

“When you talk about healthcare delivery, you have to look at the subject holistically.

“In the rural areas where the majority of the citizenry lives, there are no federal facilities there. The health facilities in these

areas are owned by the state or local governments.

“When you go down to some local government areas, the primary health centres and comprehensive health centres there are not functioning,’’ he moans.

Olumayowa stresses that in developed countries, about 20 to 25 per cent of their annual budgets are devoted to the health sector, adding that in Nigeria, about four or five per cent of the budget is allocated to the sector.

Nevertheless, Dr. Okikiola Abideen, the Health Management Consultant of Anadach Group, a healthcare consultancy firm, insists that Nigeria has some assets which could be used to improve its healthcare delivery system.

He notes that ICT applications have made considerable impact on the ways Nigerians conduct business, citing online banking, online processing of JAMB applications and online booking and processing of airline tickets as some illustrative examples.

Abideen expatiates that the country’s healthcare delivery system will also gain a lot from ICT applications, particularly in the field of Electronic Medical Records (EMR).

EMR are patients’ medical records created by health centres to enable health care providers, including physicians, across locations to have access to a patient’s personal medical data and ensure consistency.

“The electronic management of patients’ medical data would radically improve a hospital’s capacity to treat patients.

“It also provides better patient care via accountability, reduced administrative burden and increased efficiency,’’ Abideen says.

The consultant, nonetheless, any EHR system being considered for adoption by a hospital or clinic should be able to operate within Nigeria, taking into consideration factors such as the country’s infrastructural limitations.

“It is incumbent on the leadership of the health institution to align its culture with its health technology aspirations because any misalignment can create selfdefeating chaos,’’ he warns.

Abideen, however, underscores the need to update extant laws to ensure that the patients’ privacy and security are well-protected if the adoption of EHR systems is to work in Nigeria.

Also vouching for the efficacy of EHR systems, Prof.

EyitayoLambo, a former Minister of Health, says that what Nigeria needs most is a national e-health strategy.

He stresses that up till now, ehealth issues in Nigeria only involve specific projects and pilot programmes, most of which have yet to be scaled up.

Lambo argues that the adoption of separate e-health programmes, running in

national ehealth strategy will enable Nigeria to coordinate e-health efforts and thereby, allow the country to scale up successful programmes and discontinue failed programmes.

Lambo, nonetheless, underscores the need for Nigeria to undertake a comprehensive situation analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of ehealth before articulating a national e-health strategy.

He emphasises that the National Strategic Health Development Plan Framework, which acknowledges the need to scale up ICT use in the health sector, could be used as a starting point.

Besides, Lambo says that a national e-health council should also be created, with its membership drawn from all major stakeholder groups.

“Such a council should be charged with the responsibility of providing policy advice to the government on e-health matters,’’ he says.

The ex--minister, however, concedes that even though the potential applications of e-health are virtually inexhaustible, its acceptance by patients and health workers alike could be an obstacle.

Lambo warns against the possibility of having some cynics who might not want to change from their old ways.

“Some people are used to paper work; when you suggest computers to them, they protest, arguing that a computer could breakdown, all in a bid to justify their resistance to change,’’ he notes.

Beyond that, Lambo stresses that routine investment of both time and financial resources in educating the populace on the benefits of e-health is quite essential.

Stakeholders insist that efforts to transform Nigeria’s health care delivery system via the adoption of e-health will be a mirage, unless parallel and tangible efforts are made to stimulate public participation in the initiative.

Source: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

By Shittu Ahmed Obassa

A

report by the Joint United Nations Programme On Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (UNAIDS) in 2010 has listed Nigeria as one of the 33 countries in the world, and the 22 nd nation in Africa, where the HIV incidence had declined by more than 25 per cent in less than 10,(between 2001 and 2009).

Further to this, the UN General Assembly’s Special Session Country Progress Report says that HIV situation in Nigeria has improved due to greater attention by government,even though with varying degrees of commitment in terms of political will and funding.

Experts say that in 100 males and females, 26 males and 24 females now have comprehensive knowledge about modes of transmission, myths and prevention methods, adding that the rate of HIV prevalence on the national average is about 3.6.

Analysts say that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has remained the greatest health concern since it was first detected in the United States of America(USA) among men sleep with men(MSM) in the 80’s and has killed several millions in the last three decades owing to the apparent failure to find a universally acceptable cure for the dreaded disease.

A renowned Nigerian physician, Prof. Shehu Umar, once observed that HIVand AIDS have had serious impacts on the development efforts of Nigeria and further threatens the nation’s effort at achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) by 2015.

Health analysts say the research into the pandemic has only succeeded in developing new modes of prevention and making treatment less toxic and expensive for the already infected.

Nigeria’s response to the spread of HIV include the repositioning itself towards achieving Universal Access to HIV services via the establishment of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS( formerly National Action Committee Against AIDS) in 2001.

NACA was first headed

by Professor Babatunde Oshotimehin as its pioneer Director-General. During his many years of stewardship he diligently repositioned NACA to coordinate HIV prevention and treatment, care as well as support for the victims.

The agency has also been coordinating all HIV and AIDS programmes in collaboration with the foreign donors towards the prevention of the adolescent and young people who are at the greatest risk of contracting the first type of HIV and the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) among other responsibilities.

Recently, HIV prevention among the adolescent and the young people was among issues of discourse at the 2012 UNICEF’s review and planning meeting held in Kaduna, with participants drawn from eight states and the Federal Capital Territory. The other states were Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara.

The meeting sought to take stock of the new information on situation of children and women in the states and the federal

PAGE 37

Sustaining strategies on elimination of HIV and AIDS beyond 2015 capital territory as well as review any resulting implications for the country programme of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This is for the purpose of identifying the next year’s priorities.

Under the guide of the UNICEF Specialist in charge of Children and AIDS, Dr Idris Baba, participants looked at the various strategies including demand creation through the mass media that are driving the programme components such as PMTCT,and HIV prevention with the adolescents and young people. In each of the programme components factors such as enabling environment, demand and supply and quality of service being rendered were identified as key.

And, under the enabling environment the highlighted issues included social norms, budgeting constraints (i.e no cash backing syndrome), absence of coordination of the relevant activities to make the desired impact. In respect of quality of service being rendered, there have also been encumbrances such as social and cultural barriers( especially language barrier in interpersonal communication), dearth of capable hands , lack of counselling skills among designated service providers.

A major strategy is the use of the members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the various NYSC secretariats have indicated significant efforts at building the capacity of the trainers of Peer Educators and those mentored in and out of the school system.

While deliberate efforts were made at documenting the figures in respect of the Peer Educators Trainers(PETs) both in male and female categories from the NYSC camps and those Peer Educators(PEs) mentored in the schools, statistics of those in the disadvantaged group were not made available during the brainstorming session.

The figures submitted by the Coordinator of PETs and PEs in Kebbi, Mr Rasheed Zakari were as follows: 7, 949 males and 3425 females mentored as PEs in 15 schools. Out of this figure, 10 schools were urban-based while five were located in the rural areas. These PEs had their mentoring from 152 male and 96 female PETs .

In Kaduna State, Gobe Elias’s report showed that 143 male and 82 female corps members mentored 1, 927males and 2, 293 females in unspecified number of schools. According to him, one of the PETs, Febisola Daramola, posted to Kubau Local Government Area, built one block of two classrooms and wrote a book on a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) called Heptitis B. From Kogi, the coordinator, Mrs Aminat Abikoye, said that 1,855 male and 1, 816 female PEs got mentoring from 124 male and 94 female PETs. She also noted that one of the PETs in her state renovated a science laboratory during her service year.

In all, 1,923 PETs mentored 74, 124 PEs in nine states including the FCT. Of these figures 39,258 males and 34, 866 females were in the latter

Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu category.

With the concerted effort of all stakeholders, the fight against HIVand AIDS in Nigeria is on the upswing towards the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) emphatic on halting the pandemic from getting beyond 2015.

As 2015 approaches, other efforts are now being geared towards consolidating the gains achieved through several strategies. One of these efforts is the recent formation of a nongovernmental organization, named Journalists Alliance for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (JAP).

Mr. Sola Ogundipe is the National Coordinator and his deputy is the Managing Director of Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC) Mrs Tamani Yusuf. In September, 2012, JAP held a workshop in Calabar on the need to strengthen their advocacy as a strategy that will ensure that babies are henceforth born free of HIV. In the words of Ogundipe, “The workshop is aimed at strengthening the advocacy role of JAP with the ultimate intention of influencing and attaining an effective and sustainable Prevention from Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) policy and legislation for Nigeria.”

According to him, government should own and sustain the HIV prevention programme as donors are showing fatigue and withdrawing their resources.

“We as a country must look inwards for funding”, he said.

Other participants who expressed their views after the workshop promised to create more awareness on Mother to Child Transmission especially in the rural areas.

Mr David Diai, the Publisher of Flashpoint Newspapers in Delta, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there had been lack of information on the transmission among the rural dwellers.

“The country has not created more awareness on PMTCT because the media has not lived up to its responsibility in that direction.”

In order for the media to live

up to the expectation of demand creation, Kaduna State Agency for the Control of AIDS (KADSACA) in collaboration with the C Field Office of UNICEF organized a two-day workshop for health reporters and editors in Kaduna.

At the end of the workshop held in August 2012, the participants identified the specific strategies to adopt so as to be able to fill the gaps in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the state as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

These include drama series, reporting maternal and new child health week as well as doing necessary follow ups on the activities of health facilities, documentaries, phone-in programmes in the electronic media with medical experts, discussion programmes involving religious leaders and traditional rulers, publishing human interest stories as well as community dialogue.

Kaduna State is among the very first states to address the issue of stigma and discrimination in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The state government has taken the initiative to put in place a workplace policy as well as a law promulgated on June 6, 2011.

The policy document titled,”Kaduna State HIV and AIDS Workplace Policy” seeks to eliminate stigma and discrimination in both public and private sector workplaces in order to reduce the effect and transmission of HIV/AIDS in the society; to increase access of workers to preventive, treatment, care and support services; to foster behavior change among workers and empower them to adopt appropriate behaviour that prevents further transmission of HIV in workplace and the community; to provide adequate support for workers infected or affected by HIV and AIDS and to build the capacity of workplace management and workers in handling HIV and AIDS related issues. Rights, benefits and compensations of workers under the policy have clearly been spelt out.

The state governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa says close to 400,000 persons are living with HIV, making Kaduna one of the states with highest burden of infection in the North West Zone of Nigeria.

According to him, the state effort at combating the pandemic is being challenged by stigma and discrimination being directed at persons living with HIV and AIDS among whom are very many workers Yakowa seems to recognise that the workforce is the most important factor in the production chain and that his government is collaborating with its development partners, the

civil society organisations, the private sector and the network of people living with HIV and AIDS in the state to come up with at this policy that will guide the prevention of HIV and the management of its impact in the workplace.

The 13-page document has been premised on international conventions and agreements including the International Labour Organisation Code of Practice on HIV/ AIDS and the World of Work and at the same time it is complementary to the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, the National Health Policy, labour laws and other national and state policies and laws regarding the rights and dignity of workers and development and corporate existence of Kaduna State.

The policy says HIV infection in itself does not constitute lack of fitness and therefore should not be used to determine the suitability of a person for employment in Kaduna State.

Kaduna State Law No.4 of 2011 is titled A Law to Protect Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Kaduna State 2011.

The government has even gone ahead to gazette it so as to give it the needed legitimacy to be quoted in a competent law court.

Under this law, Section 11(a) says Any employer or person who engages in any discriminatory practice under this Law is guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of less than 3 months or one hundred thousand naira fine or both; and if a corporate body whether public or private, it shall be liable to a fine of five hundred thousand or imprisonment of its directors to a term three years or both.

Section 11(b) states Any Employer or person who has been found of discriminatory practice shall in addition to a term and / or fine also refund to the employer all arrears of wages unlawfully deducted.

The purpose of the law is to prohibit all forms of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Kaduna and for other matters connected there with. Both the policy and the law have come into force at a time that discrimination and stigmatization against workers with HIV have been discouraging the disclosure of one’s HIV status.

The stigma and discrimination are also said to discourage people from seeking care, treatment and support in the state in particular.

Health analysts say that Kaduna State is being turned into a haven for the people living with HIV and AIDS, adding that it is imperative for both the policy and the law to be given the widest publicity in the mass media for the benefit of the entire society.

In furtherance of the initiative of the present administration in Kaduna State to reach out to as many citizens and residents as possible, KADSACA has started publishing a magazine called KADSACA News Magazine. The first edition of it saw the light of the day in September 2011.

Health analysts say this kind of multiplicity in approach to the eradication of HIV and AIDS should be replicated across the country.

Shittu Ahmed Obassa sent in the article from Abuja

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

On the line: Africa connects to citizen media ANALYSIS

By Cynara Vetch and Loren Treisman

A

s Ghanaians head to the polls in presidential elections, the debate over the country's leadership has been going on for at least a year.

Helping to frame that debate is Kinna Likimani. She heads Ghana Decides, a group of Ghanaian bloggers using social media to discuss the elections. The bloggers use Twitter, Facebook and Google Hangouts to discuss the election candidates, debate issues - such as womens' prospects in the country's politics - and encourage Ghanaians to turn up and vote.

But Likimani faces a huge challenge. "Most Ghanians aren't online and can't get involved this way," she explained. "There are only 1.2 million accounts on Facebook in the whole country."

Fewer than 15 per cent of the people in the country use the internet, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

But Likimani has also been travelling to "offline groups" across Ghana, and bringing their stories and observations into the online conversations.

It's a similar situation across SubSaharan Africa. Statistics from the World Bank show that, in 2011, just 12.3 per cent of people across the region had internet access.

Yet in recent years, citizen reporting and participation in governance have emerged as powerful forces, both locally and globally, coming into sharp focus during 2011's uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

Predominantly young, tech-savvy activists blurred the line between citizen participation and documentation, storytelling and political mobilisation - using smart phones and online social media platforms to tell their stories.

Turi Munthe is founder and CEO of Demotix, a global news wire service based around an international network of freelance and citizen journalists.

"We have been bowled over by the content we have received from places like Iran," he told Al Jazeera.

"We get great material from the Middle East [and] South East Asia."

But in Sub-Saharan Africa, it's a different story.

"To get good content from Sub Saharan Africa right now is a nightmare," he said. "There just isn't the network connection to upload images or video there yet."

The problems that Munthe and Likimani both face seem at odds with the "technological renaissance" often portrayed in media profiles of the continent.

For example, an explosion in mobile phone ownership - ITU reported in 2011 that more than 50 per cent of Africans had a mobile phone subscription - has sparked a wave of pioneering innovation.

Kenya has led the way as an innovator of mobile services and tools.

Nairobi has been dubbed "Silicon Savannah", now hosting companies such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia and Vodafone.

The impact is spilling across Kenya's borders, and technology "hubs" have sprung up across the

Ghanaians have been encouraged to vote by media activists across a spectrum of connectivity continent - with some in unexpected places.

In Somaliland, a South African organisation named RLabs has set up a hub; the concept is to train up a group of "tech entrepreneurs" who will go on to create financially sustainable startups. The majority of the population is unable to afford internet access, but co-founder Marlon Parker is optimistic.

"There's also a big opportunity here," he said. "The population is well educated and more than 50 per cent of people are under 25. 95 per cent of people own a mobile phone and costs are the cheapest in East Africa‌ the young are passionate about driving change in their communities."

Across the continent in Libera, iLab was set up in 2011 to support the online mapping of conflict and the presidential election using the Ushahidi platform. "Our partners had difficulty using our online platform because of poor internet connectivity, computers corrupted by viruses, and unreliable electricity," said co-founder Kate Cummings.

Liberia's telecommunications infrastructure and electrical grid were largely destroyed during the country's 14 years of dictatorship. Relying on satellite internet connections and generators makes accessing the internet prohibitively expensive - and this is one of Africa's most significant challenges to technical innovation and full engagement with the continent's residents.

"We do have a network (of citizen reporters) across the continent," Muthe said. "But our contributors tend to be middle class, based in urban centres

with good broadband internet. Until internet connectivity grows we can't spread much deeper than this."

Most of Sub-Saharan Africa's 695 million mobile phones are basic models - able only to call and text. According to Informa Telecoms and Media, only one in every 30 mobiles in Africa is a smartphone.

Devices are getting cleverer and cheaper, but the fact remains that only a small portion of the population have access to them.

Many groups, however, are not waiting for internet access to catch up with mobile phone users. They're exploring other ways to connect "offline communities". Innovative technologies are bridging the gap between the traditional two-way connection of phone calls and texts with the massinvely interconnected, nebulous interaction of the web. Using voice and text messages from basic phones, social media platforms are developing products such as Speak to Tweet.

Google Africa has also recently rolled out a product that enabled users to receive emails from a Gmail account via text message, bypassing the bandwidth-sucking graphics utilised by smartphones.

Justin Arenstein is the director of digital innovation at the African Media Initiative (AMI), a panAfrican organisation that supports private and independent media.

Arenstein, himself a South African, believes that the local media environment is another factor that has prevented citizens from speaking out in the past.

“

"Traditional media here haven't tapped into citizen content the same way an Al Jazeera or a CNN iReport have," he told Al Jazeera.

"As a result of there not being a platform, I think that people haven't aspired to use the tools available in quite the same way that they have in North Africa."

This looks set to change. Large funders such as Google and the Gates Foundation are now investing heavily in media and journalism innovation in Africa.

Arenstein is the manager for AMI's African Innovation News Challenge (AINC), funded by these two organisations, among others.

The Challenge launched this year and is offering $1 million to be spilt between the 40 finalists who offer the most innovative digital solutions for the news industry in Africa.

Recently, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) set up the Mobile News for Africa project (MNFA).

Programme Director Catharine Fulton said the mobile phone "is a brilliant means of reaching communities that may be otherwise geographically or economically separated from the media".

Despite investments such as these, citizen reporting in SubSaharan Africa follows a different model to that of the US or the UK, said Arenstein.

"The majority of these people are trying to make a career of reporting, they're almost stringers or runners and want to finally be full time reporters," he said. "This is not

"Someone from the pastoralist community told us how 1,000 of his cattle were stolen during a cross border raid," said Dickens Olewe, the Star's project manager. "After a community reconciliation initiative they managed to have every one returned.

neccessarily a bad thing."

He explained: "It means we're getting a far more grassroots reporting network in place.

Reporters are now in rural areas able to report on news as it happens.

They're able to report with context on the issues, they're not just parachuting in for one story."

Traditional African media organisations are beginning to see the value of combining mobile technology with citizen reporting.

The Daily Star, a Kenyan newspaper, has developed a citizen journalism app named "Star Reports" - and it's given the paper at least one exclusive.

"Someone from the pastoralist community told us how 1,000 of his cattle were stolen during a cross border raid," said Dickens Olewe, the Star's project manager. "After a community reconciliation initiative they managed to have every one returned.

"It was brilliant because we don't have reporters up where he is, and none of the newspapers were covering it," For Likimani, "social media is a really important way of informing and engaging with people online, more and more people are coming online".

But, for now, offline interaction remains key "At Ghana Decides we come from a similar social class and have the same conversations," she said. "With our offline engagements we use the knowledge that we gather to broaden peoples' ideas of who a Ghanaian is and what their issues are."

Organisations such as hers are needed to bridge a digital divide between Africans using the latest technologies to get online and those limited to an "old school" handset.

However, with advances in mobile technology, plus a growing media interest in a vocal public, this divide is getting smaller every day.

Source: Aljazeera

PAGE 39

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Egyptian opposition: Morsi move not enough

South Sudan protesters die in army shooting

A

t least 10 people have been killed after South Sudanese troops opened fire on demonstrators angry at officials moving the seat of local authority outside a state capital, according to United Nations sources.

"The SPLA [army] opened fire" on protesters "demonstrating the excessive use of force," Liam McDowall, UN peacekeeping mission spokesman, said on Sunday.

McDowall said four people were killed in the town of Wau, capital of the Western Bahr el Ghazal state, during clashes overnight on Saturday, while six more were shot dead on Sunday.

"The situation in Wau is very tense," McDowall told Al Jazeera.

The protests started after officials said they would move the seat of local authority out of Wau to a nearby smaller settlement of Bagare.

There were conflicting reports as to whether some of the demonstrators may also have been armed.

Kella Kueth, an army spokesman, told the AFP news agency: "We are investigating the allegations of armed elements inside the demonstrations, as well as allegations of the disproportionate use of force by the army against civilians."

Troops were deployed on Saturday to remove protesters blockading roads leading out of Wau, while UN peacekeepers had been shuttling between demonstrators and the army to try to calm both sides.

"A number of protesters fled to the cathedral where th ey took sanctuary," McDowall said, adding that the army later surrounded the building and had to be persuaded back to their barracks by the Bishop of Wau. The situation was "still tense" on Sunday, with authorities issuing a curfew from dusk until dawn, McDowall added.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, is awash with weapons after decades of war with Sudan, which i t broke free from in July 2011.

President Muhammed Morsi

A

major Egyptian opposition group has said that President Mohamed Morsi's decision only to rescind a decree that gave him sweeping powers and not

scrap a referendum on a controversial draft constitution has "fallen short of expectations" required to defuse tensions in the country.

"One of our major demands is to

postpone the vote on the constitution.

Failing to respond to this will lead to more confrontation," a senior official in the National Salvation Front, a major opposition bloc, told the staterun news agency MENA on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

The president late on Saturday annulled the November 22 decree that also made all his decisions immune to judicial review, but insisted that a referendum on the draft constitution will go ahead as planned on December 15.

The opposition has repeatedly said that the constitution, drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood-led constituent assembly, disregards the rights of women and ignores personal freedoms.

"I cannot imagine that after all this they want to pass a constitution that does not represent all Egyptians," Ahmed Said, another member of the National Salvation Front coalition and head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told the Reuters news agency.

He said the Front would meet later on Sunday to make a formal response to Morsi's decision to scrap the decree.

Selim al-Awa, an official who attended Saturday's meeting between Morsi and politicians from smaller opposition groups, said that, legally, Morsi was unable to change the date of the referendum on the draft charter.

He added that, if the draft is voted down in the December 15 referendum, Morsi would call for an election within three months to pick a new constituent assembly.

Main opposition groups had boycotted the talks, which lasted over 10 hours, and called on their supporters to step up protests.

Khaled Dawood, the spokesperson for the National Salvation Front, said annulling the decree was "relatively meaningless".

"The key issue of securing the process of adopting of the constitution is done," he said.

Nelson Mandela 'comfortable' in hospital

N

elson Mandela is "comfortable", the South African government has said after the anti-apartheid icon spent the night in a Pretoria hospital, and underwent medical tests described as "consistent with his age".

President Jacob Zuma on Sunday visited the country's 94year-old first black president who was hospitalised a day earlier and said he "found him comfortable, and in good care".

The iconic leader was admitted on Saturday for what Zuma's spokesman and former Mandela prison inmate Mac Maharaj said was for tests and medical attention consistent with the nanogenarian's age.

It was the second time the 94year-old and increasingly frail Mandela was hospitalised this year and officials have moved to allay fears around his health.

The South African government said he was doing well shortly after he was taken in for "normal" tests "consistent with his age" and insisted there was "no cause for alarm".

Mac Maharaj said: "Mandela will receive medical attention from time to time which is consistent with his age."

Keith Khoza spokesman of the ruling African National Congress party, which Mandela once led, said "he is in perfect health, everything is well, it's just that he has to undergo these regular check ups".

Officials have refused to give more details about his condition and the tests he is taking.

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the country's first all-race elections in 1994, was admitted to hospital in February as well because of abdominal pain but released the following day after a keyhole

examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with him.

He has since spent most of his time in his ancestral home in Qunu, a village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province.

His frail health prevents him from making any public appearances in South Africa, although in the last few months he has continued to receive prominent visitors, including former US President Bill Clinton.

Mandela

Mugabe plans for 'resounding' election win

Z

imbabwe's long-time president says his party is geared up for a "resounding'' victory in elections scheduled for next year.

Robert Mugabe, addressing 5,000 loyalists at the end of his party's annual convention in the city of Gweru, said on Saturday that ZANU-PF will fight like a "wounded animal to reclaim the government we lost"' in 2008 elections.

Mugabe, 88, has been nominated as his party's presidential candidate. He has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980.

For the first time since independence, ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change in violence-marred 2008 polls.

No election date has been set yet, but Mugabe is

pressing for polls to go ahead as soon as possible, saying he

Robert Mugabe

has had "enough" of the coalition government with

Tsvangirai which was brokered by regional leaders to restore stability after the polls.

Mugabe Saturday warned his party's top officials to avoid any infighting because it is "dangerous'' and threatened the party's unity.

Deep divisions in ZANU-PF have emerged over Mugabe's likely successor.

The president and his party face an uphill struggle to win over voters, many of whom are disgruntled with the poor state of the economy that has forced millions of Zimbabweans to emigrate to neighbouring countries and abroad.

The economy is battling to pick up pace and Mugabe's campaign for black empowerment which forces foreign firms to give 51 per cent of their shares to locals, is only driving away desperately needed foreign investment.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Asia and Middle East

R

are protests have taken place in Vietnam over maritime territorial disputes with neighbouring China.

The protests in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were quickly dispersed by police.

Tensions are high after an incident

PAGE 40

Vietnam breaks up anti-China protests last month in which Hanoi accused Beijing of cutting the cables of a Vietnamese oil exploration ship.

Vietnam is also unhappy at a map in new Chinese passports that shows disputed areas of the South China Sea as Chinese territory.

Hundreds of people are reported to have taken part in the protests on Sunday morning against what they see as Chinese aggression and

expansionism.

But the rallies were quickly stopped by the security police - after just 45 minutes in Ho Chi Minh City and halfan-hour in Hanoi.

Protesters said that Hanoi police had detained more than 20 activists.

Nga Pham says it is the first antiChina protest in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest city, in more than a year.

Public demonstrations are extremely rare in Vietnam, where the government makes social and political stability its top priority.

Police have been trying hard to prevent demonstrations, but this time it seems public anger was too great to suppress, our correspondent says.

Tensions over maritime claims in the region have been rising.

Vietnam and the Philippines accuse

China of growing assertiveness around disputed islands and shoals.

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) said Chinese fishing boats had sabotaged one of its oil survey vessels last month in the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan have also complained to China about the new passport map, saying it is an infringement of their sovereignty.

Khaled Meshaal rallies Gazans on Hamas anniversary

H

Demonstrators in Hanoi took to the streets for a rare demonstration

amas political leader Khaled Meshaal has told tens of thousands of people marking the 25th anniversary of the Palestinian Islamist group's founding that it will not recognise Israel.

In a fiery speech during his first ever visit to Gaza, he said Palestinians would not cede any part of their land.

Mr Meshaal's visit follows a ceasefire that ended days of violence between Israel and Hamas last month.

Israel described Mr Meshaal's speech as "hateful and extremist".

Government spokesman Mark Regev said Mr Meshaal's message "says no to peace and no to reconciliation, a message that says every Israeli man, woman and child is a legitimate target".

"That sort of extremism won't help peace, the opposite is true," he added.

Mr Meshaal is due to talk of reconciliation with Hamas's

Palestinian rival, Fatah.

Hamas removed Fatah from Gaza by force in 2007 after winning elections there. Fatah governs parts of the West Bank.

Yolande Knell in Gaza City says the event was intended to send a message that, after 25 years, Hamas is a force to be reckoned with.

It enjoys support in Gaza and feels it is gaining regional political influence after the Arab uprisings brought new Islamist governments to power, she adds.

Tens of thousands of Gazans made their way to the rally at the al-Qatiba complex west of Gaza City to hear the speech by Mr Meshaal.

"As long as Palestine is ours and Palestine is the land of Arabism and Islam, we can never recognise the legitimacy of Israel's occupation of it," he told supporters.

Arab states agree on aid for Palestinians

A

Khaled Meshaal waves at supporters in Gaza

rab League foreign ministers have agreed during a meeting to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority to make up for punitive measures imposed by the Israeli government after a successful bid for recognition at the United Nations.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last month to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state, an historic though largely symbolic move.

Israel responded by withholding some $100m per month in taxes and customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Israeli government said the money will instead go to pay Palestinian debts owed to Israeli companies.

Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said that Arab states agreed on Sunday in the Qatari

capital, Doha, to make up for the shortfall.

"We agreed that Arab states activate a resolution of providing $100m per month," he said.

"The Qatari prime minister and the Arab League secretary-general will follow up the implementation of this resolution within two weeks."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, had warned that the PA could collapse without the funds. Many of the authority's employees have not received their full wages for months. "We can't pay the salaries," he said.

Also at the meeting, Qatari officials called for a rethink of the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, a long-stalled 2002 initiative which offered normalisation with Israel in exchange for a withdrawal from the occupied territories and a "just settlement" for Palestinian refugees.

Deaths in US drone strike in Pakistan

A

Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari Prime Minister

US drone attack has killed at least three people in a compound in the restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

Sunday's strike took place in Tabbi village, 5km north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, which is known as a bastion of Taliban and al-Qaedalinked fighters.

"US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound, killing three rebels," a senior security official told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

Another security official confirmed the attack and casualties but said the identity of those killed in

the strike was not immediately known.

Tabbi village, which is very close to the Afghan border, is said to be a hideout for fighters belonging to several groups including those from Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Haqqani network.

The al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, is one of the thorniest issues between Islamabad and Washington.

Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, whom the United States accused of attacking the US embassy in Kabul in September last year.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 41

Chavez says he needs US and Russian another cancer surgery diplomats Europe and Americas

meet Syria envoy

R

ussian and US diplomats have met Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN peace envoy, in the Swiss city of Geneva for more talks on the civil war in Syria, according to Russian foreign minister.

Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that the US was wrong to see Russia as softening its position, but that Russia had agreed to take part in the talks on condition there would be no demand for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

"We are not conducting any negotiations on the fate of Assad," Lavrov said.

"All attempts to portray things differently are unscrupulous, even for diplomats of those countries which are known to try to distort the facts in their favour."

Last week Lavrov met Brahimi and Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, in Dublin.

Afterwards, Clinton said the US and Russia were committed to trying again to get both sides in the Syrian conflict to talk about a political transition.

Clinton said that the US would continue to insist that Assad's departure be a key part of that transition.

Russia and the US have argued bitterly over how to address the conflict, which began with peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war.

The US has criticised Russia for shielding its closest ally in the Middle East, while Russia has accused the US of encouraging the opposition fighters and being intent on regime change.

Lavrov said on Sunday that after he agreed to a US proposal to have his and Clinton's deputies "brainstorm" on Syria, the US began to suggest that Russia was softening its position.

"No such thing," he said. "We have not changed our position."

Germany weighed in Sunday on the future of Assad's regime, with Gerhard Schindler, the Federal Intelligence Service chief, saying it would not survive, although it was impossible to say how long it would hang on.

"Signs are increasing that the regime in Damascus is in its final phase," he was quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

Meanwhile, in Syria, opposition fighters seized control of a sector of Sheikh Suleiman base west of Aleppo on Sunday, bringing them closer to holding a large swathe of territory extending to the Turkish border in the north.

The opposition fighterstook control of Regiment 111 and three other company posts located inside the base after fierce fighting overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

V

enezuela President Hugo Chavez says he will return to Cuba for more cancer surgery, and has spoken openly for the first time of a successor.

In a televised address to the nation, he named his Vice-President Nicolas Maduro as the man to replace him if anything should happen to him.

He only returned from cancerrelated treatment in Cuba on Friday.

He said thorough tests undertaken during his stay had detected more cancerous cells.

"Unfortunately, during these exhaustive exams they found some malignant cells in the same area. It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential, that I have to undergo a new surgical intervention," he said.

"With God's will, like on the previous occasions, we will come out of this victorious."But, he acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. "There are risks, Who can deny it?" he said.

Mr Chavez said his doctors had recommend he stay in Cuba and undergo surgery this weekend, but he told them he wanted to return to Venezuela first - even though the pain he is experiencing is "not insignificant".

Speaking from the Miraflores presidential palace, Mr Chavez said

President Hugo Chavez that if his health failed and a new election had to be held, his supporters should vote for Nicolas Maduro.

Mr Maduro, a former bus driver, is one of the president's closest advisers. He had been foreign minister since 2006 until he was chosen by Mr Chavez to be vicepresident following his election win in October.

"He is a complete revolutionary,

a man of great experience despite his youth, with great dedication and capacity for work," Mr Chavez said.

Mr Chavez underwent surgery for unspecified type of cancer in the pelvic region after his diagnosis in June 2011, and then had another bout of surgery last February along with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

He declared himself free of

cancer in May. He was re-elected in October for a fourth term in office, but acknowledged that the campaigning had left him exhausted and in some pain.

He left for Cuba on 27 November saying he would be receiving "hyperbaric oxygenation" therapy, which can ease ailments caused by radiation treatment.

Italy PM Mario Monti announces plan to resign

I

talian Prime Minister Mario Monti says he plans to resign after Silvio Berlusconi's PDL party withdrew its support for the

government.

Mr Monti, who heads a nonelected cabinet of technocrats, said he will try to pass a budget and financial

Mario Monti

stability law before standing down.

Hours earlier, former Prime Minister Mr Berlusconi said he will run for office again next year.

He said Mr Monti's austerity policies had harmed Italy.

Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom party withdrew its support from the government on Thursday.

A statement from the office of President Giorgio Napolitano said that Mr Monti "does not think it possible to continue his mandate and consequently made clear his intention to present his resignation".

If the law for next year's budget can be passed "quickly", Mr Monti would immediately confirm his resignation, the statement said.

Earlier, Mr Berlusconi confirmed he would lead his party into next

year's elections - now on course to be held slightly earlier than expected.

An election must come within 70 days of the government resigning.

Italy had been due to go to the polls by April at the latest.

Mr Berlusconi said he felt a "responsibility" to step back into the arena because of the severity of the country's economic problems.

Alan Johnston in Rome says that Mr Berlusconi's critics will argue he is only interested in being in a powerful enough position to protect his own business and other interests.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, resigned in November 2011 over Italy's economic troubles.

He was convicted of tax fraud in October, though he is appealing against that ruling.

Romania goes to polls in parliamentary elections

O

pinion polls suggest a win for the governing centreleft coalition led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

But the result could trigger renewed political instability as Romania negotiates a vital loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mr Ponta and centre-right President Traian Basescu have been bitter enemies since Mr Ponta's government tried to impeach the president last July.

Analysts say that, in the event of Mr Ponta's Social Liberal Union (USL) winning, the president may ask someone other than Mr Ponta to form a

government.

Nick Thorpe in Romania says President Basescu has said clearly he will use his powers to appoint a prime minister "in the national interest".

Given the enmity the president feels towards Mr Ponta, it is hard to imagine he has the leader of the Social Liberal Union (USL) in mind, he says.

But any attempt to appoint someone else may result in a constitutional crisis, our correspondent adds.

If the USL wins a clear majority, analysts say the president may ask someone other than Mr Ponta from within

USL to become prime minister, using the argument that the USL is not a party but a coalition.

If the USL falls short of a

majority, Mr Basescu could ask one of his allies in the Right Romania Alliance (ARD) to try to form a coalition.

PM Victor Ponta (L) and President Traian Basescu(R)

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Woman says implants saved her from flying bullets A

Canadian woman said her breast implants saved her life when her ex-boyfriend shot her, according to the Toronto Sun. "My implants took the brunt of the force," Likness said in court on Wednesday.

When Fernando Chora, 61, allegedly fired his 9mm handgun at her, the bullet grazed her right arm, pierced both implants and left forearm, Likness testified at Chora's trial.

Likness said she had been driving Chora around before she got tired and dropped him off. He walked a short distance and she heard what sounded like two gunshots, Likness reportedly told prosecutors.

She abandoned her vehicle after she was shot and found refuge at a nearby restaurant, Likness said. She was airlifted to Foothills Hospital where she

Implants like this are used by surgeons on ladies for firmness

Donald Albritton stole exgirlfriend's ring, gave it to wife

P

olice say a northeastern Pennsylvania man stole his ex-girlfriend's engagement ring on Thanksgiving in hopes of patching up his relationship with his wife.

Scranton police say 35year-old Donald Albritton swiped the ring while his

had her injuries treated.

"They were gone," she said of her implants, according to the Sun. Chora is facing attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges for the Jan. 2, 2006 incident. He also allegedly broke into an elderly couple's home after Likness' shooting and held them at gunpoint.

There have been past cases where breast implants might have saved lives, according to the U.K.Daily Mail. Earlier this year, a Florida woman survived a stabbing when her breast implants shielded her vital organs from harm.

Likness received another breast enhancement surgery after she recovered from her injuries.

former girlfriend made Thanksgiving dinner and later gave it to his current wife.

Albritton was charged with theft and released on bail following his arraignment Tuesday. A phone listing for him could not immediately be located Friday.

Millionaire asks Santa for "latina girlfriend" via billboard

A

Southern California millionaire with a Christmas wish for a "Latina girlfriend" may be out of luck. His email address was peeled off a billboard just one day after it was plastered on.

Marc Paskin, 62, purchased a billboard in the San Diego neighborhood of Barrio Logan that declared, "All I Want for Christmas is a Latina Girlfriend."

The outdoor ad also shows a picture of Paskin's smiling face next to a photo of a wishlist, accompanied by his email address.

But the bottom half with Paskin's AOL email address of the billboard was ripped off Friday morning.

Paskin has not returned NBC 7 San Diego's requests for comment.

Paskin, a La Jolla real estate investor, was featured

on an episode of "Secret Millionaire" last year when he spent a week living on less than $50 a day.

According to "Secret Millionaire," Paskin has donated $125,000 to Detroit families in need in last year's episode.

He's also given more than $1 million to the UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center, which helps patients regain their sight.

Paskin lost his wife to diabetes and since then has felt compelled to help others in need, according to UCSD.

The sign can be seen on the I-5 and 28th Street in Barrio Logan.

Supermarket employee finds handgun in box of beef

A

Roswell N.M. supermarket employee found a .38 caliber super semi automatic handgun with seven rounds of ammunition in the most unlikely of places on

Wednesday, inside a box of frozen beef.

The worker discovered the firearm while he unpacked meat shipped from Colorado, according to reports. The

A loaded handgun was found in a box of meat similar to this one in New Mexico on Wednesday.

firearm was brought to Roswell Police Department later that afternoon.

Authorities don't know where the gun came from. The worker who found it wiped the gun clean, eliminating any fingerprints and a National Crime Information Center database search revealed no other clues, NBC News reported.

The case continued to take an interesting turn when authorities found out the meat was packaged over a year ago.

Continued searches in several other law enforcement databases could take months.

"You hear of people finding frogs in their salad or weird stuff like that, but never heard of this one," Sabrina Morales, Roswell Police Department public relations liaison told NBC News.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 43

Fertility treatment ‘asthma link’

Does the method of conception affect asthma?

C

hildren born after fertility treatments, such as IVF, may have a slightly higher chance of developing asthma, research suggests.

In a study of more than 13,000 UK children, five-years-olds were about twice as likely to have asthma if they were not conceived naturally.

The children were also more likely to need medication, which could be an indication of more severe asthma.

The findings were published in the journal Human Reproduction.

The researchers, at the Universities of Oxford and Essex, analysed data from children born between 2000 and 2002.

Researcher Dr Claire Carson said 15% of all the children in the study had had asthma at the age of five, but this proportion had risen to 24% among the 104 of them born through assistedreproduction technologies.

She said it was interesting that

the pattern had emerged, but far too soon to say if IVF treatment resulted in higher rates of asthma.

Other explanations, such as genetics, may explain the association.

Dr Carson told the BBC that parents should not be put off IVF. “Assisted reproduction technologies offer a chance to become a parent when there isn’t another option,” she said.

“For the majority of children asthma is quite manageable.”

Malayka Rahman, from the charity Asthma UK, said: “This study suggests that there might be an association between IVF treatment and asthma developing in children, but the sample size for this study is small and currently the research in this area generally is not conclusive.

“Those considering IVF should speak to their GP about the benefits and health risks in order to make an informed decision.”

Source: BBCNews.com

Childless couples have higher risk of dying prematurely

M

ost parents have claimed at one stage that their children will be the death of them - but the reverse could be true.

A new study suggests being childless may increase the risk of dying prematurely, especially in women.

Scientists say the study throws new light on the age-old question of whether life fulfilment provided by children can actually extend your years.

The answer appears to be yes - but only compared with people who want children and are unable to have them.

In these circumstances, adoption may reduce the risk of early death, according to Danish scientists.

But their investigation did not look at whether couples who choose to be childless are likely to have shorter lives as a result.

Among possible reasons for early death rates are risky behaviours, such as more drinking and drug abuse, depression and psychiatric illness, and physical illness linked to their infertility.

Professor Esben Agerbo, of Aarhus University, who led the research, said the study was a ‘natural experiment’ because it only analysed data from parents who wanted a child and were actively seeking to do so using IVF treatment.

He said it found an ‘association’ between being childless and dying prematurely but no link with higher rates of mental illness.

He said ‘Mindful that

People identify symptoms of depression more readily in women than men. association is not causation, our study suggests that the mortality rates are higher in the childless.

‘Rates of psychiatric illness do not appear to vary with childlessness, but in parents who adopt it is decreased.’ The study investigated death rates among 21,276 couples in Denmark registered for IVF treatment, which meant they all started out wanting a baby.

Among women who remained childless, the early death rate from circulatory

disease, cancers, and accidents amongst women was four times as high as that amongst those who subsequently gave birth to their own child, the early death rate was 50 per cent lower among women who adopted, says the study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Rates of death were around twice as high among men who did not become parents, either biologically or through adoption.

Rates of mental ill health

were similar between couples with or without children of their own, with the exception of slightly higher rates of drug and alcohol problems among childless couples.

The study found rates of mental illness in couples who adopted children was around half that of biological parents, but this may not be a true finding, said the study.

The researchers based their findings on data from population registers in Denmark on births and deaths,

assisted conception (IVF) procedures, hospital admissions, psychiatric service contacts, and labour market statistics for the period from 1994 to 2008.

Between 1994 and 2005, 21,276 childless couples were registered for IVF treatment with 15,210 children born and 1,564 adopted.

In Denmark, many parents who want to adopt have to complete a course of IVF treatment first.

The study found the rate of adoption was highest among wealthy people who tend to live longer and experience less psychiatric illness, this might have affected the outcome, they said.

Critics of the study said it was probably not representative of couples in general but showed that having a child was likely to be a much more important goal in life for people actively seeking medical treatment.

As a result the findings suggest those who fulfil their life goals have better overall health than those who do not.

Previous Danish research suggested childless women having IVF run a greater risk of suffering mental health problems if they fail to have a baby.

They seek help because they are desperate to start a family, but are a fifth more likely to end up in hospital suffering from psychiatric disorders than women who succeed in falling pregnant, a study found.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Corruption is destroying Nigeria, ACN cries out From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

T

he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said the country's poor rating by Transparency International in its 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has shown as an empty boast the Jonathan presidency's claim that corruption has gone down under its watch.

In a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party

expressed serious concern at the negative impact that runaway corruption is having on the country's economy as well as the image of the country.

It said that if left unchecked, corruption is capable of bringing Nigeria down even ahead of the slow intensity warfare and general in security in the country. ACN said the ''harvest of corruption scandals'' that have dogged the Jonathan Administration is probably unprecedented in the country's history, and that this has been attested to by the

Ex-CNPP scribe flays 28 parties deregisteration

M

r Joseph Boko, a former National Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), on Friday condemned the deregistering of 28 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday.

Boko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi that the action was ``autocratic and ultravires''.

The former CNPP chieftain said that eight of the parties were already in court and that the decision of INEC to deregister them showed disrespect to diligence of due process and the rule of law.

“This action is a violation of the right of the parties to peaceful assembly, which is a fundamental right guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.

T

he North East Youth Progressive has endorsed the Kastina state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema, to contest for the presidency come 2015 describing Shema as a 'silent achiever'.

The Secretary of the group, Usseini Abdullahi, who made the call yesterday while speaking with newsmen, called on northern leaders to support the choice of Shema for presidency as the Katsina governor is 'a suitable candidate' Abdullahi said the North East Progressive after careful consideration of politicians in the region endorse Shema adding that the is a bridge builder and a detribalized Nigerian.

He said "Shema is not only a sound lawyer and administeor but a silent achiever who has done quite a lot as governor of Katsina state. We need men of his calibre at a critical time in the history of this country. With or without zoning, Shema is a good material that can use his wealth of experience and leadership qualities to solve the problems of this country.

"We are therefore using this

much smaller and less-endowed nations like Niger, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Mali are better rated,'' the party said.

It blamed Nigeria's precarious position in the global anti-corruption battle on the fact that the Jonathan Administration has not only become corruption scandalprone, it has also allowed impunity to thrive by paying only lip service to probing the scandals and bringing perpetrators to book. ''The massive oil subsidy scam, the Malabu oil scandal, the pension scam, and now the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting 2.1 billion naira scam are just a few of the corruption scandals that have

dogged the Jonathan Administration. In all of these and more, the Administration has show an amazing lack of political will in investigating the scams and prosecuting perpetrators ''Worst still, key Administration officials have shown from their careless comments that they either do not understand what it means to fight corruption or they are just trivialising it.

One of such is Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was quoted as saying that Nigerians are unable to get petroleum products without stress because they demanded transparency and accountability in the oil sector.

“There is no other law that can override the nation's Constitution.So, on what basis was the deregistration?''

He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to prevail on INEC to rescind the decision.

Boko also called for the autonomy of the Local Government system and the scrapping of the state independent electoral commission.

He further stressed the need to include the national anthem in the Constitution as a national symbol, suggesting the modification of the lyrics's to inspire patriotism in Nigerians.

“The wordings of the present anthem create cold feelings amongst certain Nigerians, especially, those affected by the civil war.''

He said the wordings of the anthem needed to uplift the spirit of Nigerians .(NAN)

Group endorses Katsina Gov. for presidency From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

global anti-corruption body in its latest CPI. ''Sadly, despite the presidency's selfdelusion, Nigeria remains among the most corrupt nation's on earth.

According to the latest CPI, Nigeria Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's biggest economies -was not listed among the top 35 least corrupt nations in Africa, even when it is ranked the 35th most corrupt nations in the world! ''It is also instructive that Liberia and Sierra Leone, which Nigeria helped to liberate from the throes of war, are now doing much better in fighting corruption than the country (Nigeria), just like

medium to call on all northern Nigerian leaders o support Shema for 2015. Let them reconsider his invaluable qualities which he has effectively deployed in Kasina sate in last few years as governor and draw his attention o consider running for the presidency."

Abdullahi said the group was using he medium to call on the Katsina governor to run for the presidency come 2015 assuring that all the six states in the north east would work to ensure that Shema emerges the President

Hon. Leo Ogor (left), Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Transaction involving the Federal Government and Shell/AGIP Companies and Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, during a public hearing recently in Abuja. With him is a member of the committee, Hon. Ahmed Kaita (right).

Photo: NAN

Balarabe Musa wins Anti-Corruption Defender Award From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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s part of activity to mark this year International AntiCorruption Day, former governor of Kaduna state, Ahaji Balarabe Musa, has won the 2012 Civil Society AntiCorruption Defender Award.

The award was presented to the former governor yesterday at a public award presentation ceremony at the Hubert Ogunde Hall of the Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the late legal luminary and anticorruption activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, (SAN), and the late legal legend and jurist, Justice Kayode Eso won the award in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

In a joint statement dated 8 December 2012, the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism; SocioEconomic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP); Women Advocates Research

PDP tackles Aregbesola over workers salary, demolition From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West has berated the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, over his refusal to pay workers in the state their November salary, nine days after the month ended.

The party which also condemned the wanton destruction of houses in Osogbo, the Osun State capital under the guise of road construction said it was inhuman for government to be demolishing people's houses without first paying them compensation or providing alternative shelter for them.

In a statement issued by its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Kayode

Babade, the PDP said it was ungodly for workers to still be waiting for their November salary on the ninth of December, adding that; "it is either Governor Aregbesola is using calendars different from the normal one or Osun workers are already bearing the brunt of the governor and his party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) political misadventure in Ondo State."

The PDP urged Governor Aregbesola to pay the workers salary without further delay; saying' "If he could be paying his wife N18 million public fund per month for food, workers salary should not be delayed for one hour."

It also accused the governor of

indiscriminate demolition of houses in the state, saying; "Responsible governance demands that people be paid compensation before their properties are destroyed by government.

"It was this same Aregbesola that demolished houses in five communities - Ataoja, Iludun, Ofatedo, Okebaale and Costain, only for the government to propose payment of ridiculous compensation to the house owners.

"For instance, owner of a onebedroom flat were proposed to be paid N1 million, four-bedroom flat N1.5 million and an eight-room bungalow N800,00 until the properties owners protested to the State House of Assembly.

and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), and Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), which made up the award jury said Alhaji Musa deserved the award for his "incorruptibility, unquestionable integrity, and longstanding uncompromising stand against high level official corruption."

The statement signed on behalf of the groups by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said "Mr Musa was chosen for the 2012 Civil Society Anti-Corruption Defender Award for his consistent record over the years of standing up against corruption including as a former governor of Kaduna State, and for his leadership, courage and shining example to future generation of politicians and leaders.

He is a great source of inspiration to the anti-corruption movement in the country."

"Mr Musa once described former President Olusegun Obasanjo's as "phantom and mirage", doing nothing for the people and serving only to enrich politicians and government officials." He has also said that electoral rigging had to be stopped, and that "we need a revolution in Nigeria to have a positive change in the political system."

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Insecurity: Rep advocates foreign intervention

By Lawrence Olaoye

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member of the House of Representatives representing Ife federal constituency of Osun state, Rep Rotimi Makinde, at the weekend advocated for foreign intervention in the nation's security situation.

Speaking specifically on the Boko Haram insurgency, the lawmaker said "the fight against terrorism in the Northern axis of our country calls for international intervention and immediate rescue, Nigeria should not be left alone in this traumatic period" The law maker who is the Deputy Chairman House Committee on Human Rights said this recently in Geneva, Switzerland. He also made case for rights of Nigerian minority groups at the international conference organised by United Nations.

Makinde said "the responsibility to enhance sustainable peace in our land should be collective and all involving especially from the world leading economies."

While attributing the impasse to struggle among minority groups, Makinde said "Nigeria is currently going through security challenges that have as an underlying cause, the alleged marginalization of certain minorities. What is perceived, as religious violence is often agitation structured around competing identity claims based on ethnicity and the competition for land and other natural resources" He re-echoed the need to appreciate the peaceful manner the Nigerian government once adopted in resolving the Niger Delta restiveness. He noted that all attacks associated with Boko Haram are a new dimension that requires tactical and strategic approaches with international supports that will ensure a peaceful end.

On the call for protection of the minority, Makinde however assured that the House would do everything within its legislative capacity to ensure that the rights of every minority groups in Nigeria are protected under the law.

He said this could be achieved only through equity, fairness and justice, affirming that these virtues can help create an atmosphere where sociopolitical and economic growth will thrive among citizenry, irrespective of their ethnic background.

According to him, ''The establishment of the House of Representatives' Committee to deal exclusively with Human Rights provides a veritable platform for fostering the rights of minorities"

PAGE 45

10 LGs in Kwara to face prosecution over unauthorized loan From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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en out of sixteen Local Government Areas of Kwara State, would be facing prosecution for obtaining "unauthorised loans" to run their councils .

The affected councils, according to state government in a letter to the Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly were also alleged to have involved in unnecessary employment while its could not meet up its obligation. The state

government has vowed to sanction the affected council bosses.

The state governor, Alhaji AbdulFattah Ahmed in a letter to the Speaker, Barrister Razak Atunwa which was read on the floor of the House said two local governments; Kaima and Baruteen, have clean bill.

The Governor in the letter stated "as you may probably have been aware, the state government has for some time now been having a running battle with local government councils in the state

over maladministration occasioned by reckless spending which culminated in mass discontent and above all the inability to pay staff salaries and fulfill statutory obligations.

"However, as the situation continued to degenerate unabated and assuming a chaotic and calamitous dimension, government had to intervene quickly by setting up a committee to look into the matter and advise as appropriate.

High points of the committee's observations and findings include:

L-R: Chairman, Bwari Area Council, Mr., Yohana Peters, National Coordinator, Jummai Aduda Foundation, Mrs Hawah Phillip, and Director, Abuja Grassroots Association (AGA), Mrs Mary Gabriel, during the flag-off of AGA, at the weekend in Bwari. Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Confirm your stories, before going to press, Yobe Speaker admonishes Niger Gov. From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

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peaker, Yobe State House of Assembly, Hon. Dalo Dogo, has admonished Niger State Governor Dr. Muazu Banbangida Aliyu to confirm any story he had or read in paper before final conclusion or action.

He gave this advice weekend in Brinin Kebbi while addressing newsmen on denial the report that Yobe lawmakers flee state to Kano state as insecurity challenges in

the state intensifies. He said the Niger state governor's story was totally false even as he claimed "peace has returned to our state" disclosed these.

According to him, 24 state Houses of Assembly members remained in the state with their supporters in order to move the state forward adding "we don't have anywhere to go; Yobe is our home town, people of the tate have elected us to work in the state and to move it forward."

He said that, since the beginning of this democratic dispensation in 1999, only the ANPP has been ruling the state.

He said that the "ANPP has national spread and acceptability, but because of our good leadership, the party will continue to control the state for next 24 years by the grace of God." The Speaker said "you must all remember that there is a God that responsible for our lives as human beings. He alone has the supreme

Moro, Omeri, Bakare to lead national security discussion From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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ational Orientation Agency (NOA)'s Director General, Mr. Mike Omeri, Interior Minister Comrade Aba Moro, and Convener, Save Nigeria Group ( SNG)Pastor Tunde Bakare, will on Friday, December 14, be leading discussant on issues affecting the nations security.

The topic they will be turning over is: Treating the Threats to National Security: Socio-political Cum Ethno-

that the internally generated revenue of all the local government councils is abysmally low and cannot effectively complement other sources of revenue, such as the regular inflow of the state 10 percent to local governments and that local government councils should scale up their revenue drives, that the local government councils are experiencing dwindling inflow from the federated account, "That local government councils obtain loan from banks and other unauthorised sources without official authorisation and due clearance from constituted authority-with Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Offa, Edu, Ifelodun, Ekiti, Irepodun, Oke-Ero ad Asa local government councils being the worst culprits; that only Baruten and Kaima local government councils presented clean bills of health in this regard, "That all chairmen found culpable particularly in obtaining unauthorised loans should be sanctioned to serve as deterrent to others; that embargo be placed on general recruitment in the local governments with the exception of recruiting only qualified accounts personnel, who should be regularly trained for proper accounting system in the local government councils, that the local government councils should not exceed the reviewed personnel and overhead costs without the approval f the governor" "These recommendations were upheld after thorough appraisal with emphasis on the decision that the local government councils should not exceed the reviewed personnel and overhead costs if they have to break even without the approval of the governor.

religious Perspectives.

The event is scheduled to hold at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, by 9am.

Expected audience include: secondary school students, undergraduates, corps members and working class adults.

The twin aspect of the event is the unveiling of a book, titled: Cry for Change, an artistic work on sociopolitical and ethno-religious crises in Nigeria.

Other speakers include: Director General, Professor Bola Akinterinwa, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Director General, Barrsiter Omodele Ibrahim, Managing Director, Lands and Records Company. Mr.Sam Omatseye, Editorial Board Chairman, The Nation newspapers, Mr.Weyinmi Jemide,certified Master Coach and Founder, Weyinmi Jemide LLP and Yomi Odunuga, Abuja Bureau Chief, The Nation newspapers.

According to the author and convener of the event: Biodun-Thomas

Davids, a journalist and crusader, others includes Chief Mrs. Opral Mason Benson, Mr. Dimeji Owofemi, Executive Vice Chairman, Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc, Dr Fidelis ayeabae, Chairman, Fidson Health Care Plc,Mr. Remi Bello, Manging Director and CEO, Critall-Hope Nigeria Ltd and Basorun Folarin Sotubo, Chairman Folsot Nigeria Ltd. He added that while the event lasts, it will also feature duologue stage performance from the book and interlude music performance by King Ogbodo.

authority to judge and revenge wrong doing against us. Besides, the same God has bestowed on some members of our society the crown to lead his people, and the authority to protect lives and property.

Therefore, you must all leave everything in God's hands. You must wait for the authorities to do their jobs. You must not take laws into your hands by going after anybody" Dogo counseled.

Equally speaking on the matter, a lawmaker representing Jakusko state constituency, Hon Inusa Lawan Kaigama, said all members of the state cabinet incluing commissioners who fled the state at the beginning of the security challenges facing the state have since returned.

He said "life has gradually returned in the state; not a single member of the House had fled to Kano or elsewhere in Nigeria; we used to go Kano, Borno and Abuja usually to do our personal activities not as refuges. I am sure almost all the schools, both private and public have resumed. Even the burnt schools have been opened and reconstruction is going on" he said

PAGE 46

Tambuwal urges religious leaders to pray for peace

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he Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, has urged religious leaders to continue to pray for continued peace and unity in the country.

He made the call at the National Prayer session organised by the Tijjaniyya Brotherhood in Kano on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Prayer Session was held at the palace of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.

He called on religious leaders to intensify prayers to enable the leaders to steer the leadership of the country in the right direction.

He observed that Islam was facing great challenges brought about by the lack of clear understanding of its tenets by a seeming vocal minority in its fold.

According to him, religious leaders and traditional rulers must intensify efforts to bring the real Islam into mainstream consciousness in order to clear misgivings about the activities of some it's youths.

Tambuwal said despite the security and other negative challenges facing the country, hope of a bright future for the country had not been lost. ``There are many challenges facing Muslim youths in the country today, but they have to remain steadfast so as not to deviate from the teachings of their religion at all times.'' ``Islam like other religions, encourages peaceful coexistence between all people, as such any attempt to undermine the peaceful atmosphere should be resisted by all and sundry,'' he said.

(NAN).

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

2015: PDP organizes retreat for zonal, state publicity secretaries

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the weekend announced that it would ne organizing a retreat for all its zonal and state publicity and organising secretaries in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, ahead of 2015 general elections.

The party's National Publicity

Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in release made available to newsmen at the weekend disclosed that the retreat is expected to boost the capacity of critical stakeholders in the build up to the 2015 general elections.

The retreat, which will hold from Dec. 12 to Dec. 15, would have resource persons from within and outside the party. The resource

persons include the party`s former National Chairman, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, founding National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Aniete Okon and Chairman of Thisday Newspapers's Editorial Board, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi.

The others are Member, Board of Trustees, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Dr Akilu Indabawa, Political Adviser to the Vice

Benin Republic varsity honours lawmaker, graduates 242 students

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R-L: Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, presenting 2013 Budget proposal to Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Omirin, recently in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Era of ad hoc projects over in Abia – Gov. Orji

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ov. Theodore Orji of Abia says the era of spending state funds on ad hoc projects are over in the state.

Orji made this known while inaugurating electricity and borehole projects executed at Umuuwaya-Mbara in Amuzukwu Area of Umuahia North on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the projects were part of the constituency of Rep. Oluchi Ibeji,representing Ikwuano/ Umuahia Federal Constituency.

Represented by Mr Vigilus Nwankwo, the state Commissioner for Public Utility, Orji said Abia Government would only embark on quality and enduring project

known under the administration as `legacy projects'.

He said that his administration had embarked on a number of projects to reposition the economy and social ambiance of the people of Abia.

“When we came on board, the contract for the execution of 133/ 132 injunction substation at Ohiaya was moving at a snail speed.

“Though a federal project, we awarded contract for the provision of five feeders, now assisting evacuation of power from Alaoji to Umuahia,'' he said.

Orji said that since the projects became functional,

Umuahia and environs now enjoy steady electricity supply.

He urged the benefiting community, especially the youths to take advantage of the electricity project to establish small scale firms to support government in job creation.

The governor commended Ibeji for the installation of the 300KVA transformers and sinking the bore-hole.

Ibeji said he had provided 14 bore-holes and seven water scheme across the 32 wards in his constituency.

He said more projects would be extended to his people in the 2013.ts. (NAN)

Separation of powers is safety valve to democracy – Don

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rof. Eddy Eragbe of University of Benin on Friday said adherence to the principle of separation power was the safety valve to Nigeria's democracy.

He made the assertion in a lecture entitled, ``Democracy and Democratisation in Nigeria: an assessment of the fourth republic," delivered at the 20th convocation of Auchi Polytechnic.

Eragbe explained that there was a disconnect between those entrusted with political positions and the people.

President, Mallam Abba Dabo and Mr Colet Odenigbo, a media consultant.

According to him, all reporters attached to the party would also participate in the retreat to give them insight into the inner workings of the party. Participants are to arrive at the PDP secretariat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on Dec. 12, for accreditation.

The professor of history expressed regrets that the length of period of practising democracy since 1999 had not translated into better living condition for the people.

He noted that the judiciary had a role to play in ensuring that democracy in the country in spite of the challenges of insecurity, corruption and ineffective leadership. ``While we tasked those entrusted with leadership positions of this country to be alive to the yearnings and aspirations of the

people, we also say our judiciary must remain just, upright and incorruptible," he stated.

He commended the giant stride recorded by the national assembly in the performance of their oversight function over the 2012 budget.

Earlier, the Rector of the Auchi Polytechnic, Dr. Philipa Idogho, said that, though, the country had made progress in democracy, the majority of the people were yet to assimilate the values that would make democracy an integral part of them.

According to Idogho, the norms, attitudes and behaviour which ought to go with the concept of democracy does not appear to be fine in the country.

"All the same, we have made progress. It is to the credit of Nigerians that we are now able to transit from one government to another without military stepping in to truncate the process. ``We have done this successfully in 2007 and 2011. It is good that we build on this and improve on the process," she emphasised. (NAN)

ep. Abiodun Akinlade, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, was on Saturday conferred with a Honorary Degree by the Universite Des Sciences Appliquees Et Management in Porto-Novo, Benin Republic.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the institution is bilingual as it instructs students in both English and French languages.

It graduated no fewer than 242 students, most of whom are Nigerians from various departments.

In his remarks, Akinlade expressed satisfaction with the award conferred on him, saying it would spur him to do more for humanity.

The lawmaker stressed the need for schools to embrace Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool for national development.

Akinlade urged the management of the school to make sure the students mastered ICT. The president of the school, Dr George Gbaguidi, urged the graduating students to be job creators rather than job seekers.

He urged them to be good ambassadors of the institution, the country and Nigeria at large.

However, Akinlade explained that Nigerian universities are good but have limited resources to cater for the number of applicants, adding that the insecurity challenge in the country is temporary. ``All the countries in the world have their challenges; it's not peculiar to Nigeria. ``The Federal Government is looking into the issue of insecurity,'' the lawmaker said.

One of the students, Rose Adaji, a Business Administration graduate, told NAN that the challenge of gaining admission into Nigerian universities made her to enroll in the school.

Adaji, a Kogi State Polytechnic graduate, explained that the discrimination between the polytechnic and university graduates in Nigeria contributed to her enrolment in the school.

“It's a tug of war to get admission into Nigerian universities and I wanted to earn a degree in addition to my OND," she said. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

2015 elections: Taraba PDP warns members against meetings

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araba People's Democratic Party (PDP) has warned its members to desist from holding meetings ahead of 2015 elections as such action is against party guidelines.

Mr Victor Bala Kona, the state Chairman of the party, warned on Saturday in a speech he delivered at the first meeting of the party's stakeholder's forum in Jalingo.

He said it had been brought to the notice of the party that some members have been holding meetings in Abuja and other parts of the country ahead of the 2015 elections.

Kona said that a disciplinary committee had been constituted to try any member who contravenes the provisions of the PDP constitution.

He said that the party was above any member or group, irrespective of his or her position in the society.

Bala explained that the party was working at reconciling all aggrieved members to restore the confidence reposed in the executive and to eliminate negative perception.

He added that the prime agenda of the present leadership in the last nine months had been to fine-tune and entrench new vision, for dynamic political awareness.

The state's Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, expressed appreciation to the party leadership for the strides accomplished.

He added that though PDP was deeply rooted in the state, but there were still challenges and advised the leadership to address all weaknesses.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was attended by all party chairmen from the 16 councils, present and past members of the state executive council and the legislators. (NAN)

Forum pays tribute to T.Y. Danjuma at 75

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he Northern States Governors' Forum has congratulated Gen. T.Y. Danjuma who turns 75 years on Sunday.

Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger, the forum's chairman, said in a statement that Danjuma made positive impact in his chosen career.

In the statement signed by Mr Danladi Ndayebo, Chief Press Secretary to Aliyu, the governor said Danjuma made the impact because of his rare vision and good leadership. ``Were Gen. Danjuma not as visionary and courageous as he is, the Nigerian Army would not have attained the height it reached, and Nigeria would have been the worse for it. “It is no longer news that Gen.Danjuma rose through the ranks to reach the highest echelon of the military by hard work, perseverance and honesty and used his office to preserve the oneness of Nigeria,� he said.

Aliyu said the forum is proud to be associated with Danjuma's achievements, especially his efforts at keeping Nigeria one. (NAN)

PAGE 47

Buhari, Babangida, others grace VP's daughters' wedding F ormer Head of State, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was among thousands of well wishers that attended the wedding ceremony of two daughters of Vice President Namadi Sambo on Saturday.

The wedding fatiha, held at the Sultan Bello Mosque in Kaduna, was conducted by Sheikh Balele Wali.

Former President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, gave out the hand of Huwaila to Mukhtar

Ruma, while former InspectorGeneral of Police, Gambo Jimeta stood in as guardian to Aisha, who was married off to Awwal Abdulrahman.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim, led the Federal Government delegation to the ceremony, which was witnessed by Nigerians from across the country.

Among those in attendance were, Gov. Ibrahim Shema,

Katsina; Patrick Yakowa, Kaduna; Isa Yuguda, Bauchi; Tanko Al-Makura, Nasarawa; Idris Wada, Kogi; Rochas Okorocha, Imo; Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta; Babangida Aliyu; Usman Dakingari, Kebbi and Sule Lamido, Jigawa.

The wedding was also graced by traditional rulers, including the Oba of Lagos,Oba Rilwan Akinola, Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Mohammed Barkindo and Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar

Faruk Umar.

Others at the ceremony were members of the National Assembly, former and serving Ministers, top politicians and captains of industry, as well as members of the Diplomatic Corps.

Guests were treated to a grand reception after the wedding ceremony at the Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina House and Umaru Musa Yaradu'a Sports Hall, Kaduna. (NAN)

R-L: Niger stat Deputy Governor, Hon Musa Ibeto, representatives of Rivers state Governor, Professor Nemi Briggs, former VicePresident/Vice- Chairman Yar'adua Foundation, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Book reviewer, Mrs. Lola Shoneyin, during the 2012 Shehu Musa Yar'adua Memorial Lecture, at the weekend in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

PDP announces date for congresses in Adamawa

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he Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa has announced dates for wards, local governments and state congresses to elect new executives for the party.

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party in Abuja had dissolved the Adamawa executive of the party, under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Umaru Kugama.

The NWC then appointed a

caretaker committee chaired by Amb. Umar Damagum, to run the party in the state.

Consequently, the development caused a faction in the state PDP as the Kugama executive headed for court to challenge the NWC's decision while it continued to operate from a parallel secretariat.

Briefing newsmen on its plan for the congresses in Yola on Sunday, the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Alhaji Umar Damagum, said the NWC of the

party had approved Dec. 27 to Jan. 10, 2013 for the conduct of the congresses.

Damagum said the party had communicated the development to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The committee chairman, who displayed nomination forms for the congresses, also announced that membership cards were also available for those wishing to join the party as well as those who left the party and wish to return.

He urged stakeholders in the state to join hands with the committee in what he described as ``a crusade to save the party in the state.''

He condemned the action of some youths who set bonfire in front of the party secretariat on Saturday and said they were sponsored to frustrate the committee. ``We are here to work and no amount of intimidation will deter us from executing our mandate'', he added. (NAN)

APGA urges INEC to reconsider parties deregistration

Police foil attempt to attack Adamawa PDP Secretariat

he National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reconsider the recent deregistration of 28 political parties.

This is contained in a statement signed by the National Director of Publicity of the party, Mr Ifeanacho Oguejiofor, on Friday in Abuja. `` The action will ultimately work against the intent and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution which specifies the need for Nigerians to freely associate with one another. `` The action will close up the much-needed wide and open

he police on Saturday in Yola, foiled an early morning attempt to attack the PDP Secretariat.

The irate youths who made bonfire in front of the secretariat were dispersed by policemen dispatched to the scene.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the secretariat is being used by members of the caretaker committee, headed by Amb. Umar Damagun.

The dissolved state executive, led by Alhaji Umaru Kugama is challenging the legitimacy of the caretaker committee in court.

NAN further reports that the

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political and democratic space, which ordinarily allow every shade of opinion to be democratically expressed and be heard.

APGA urged the political parties de-registered by INEC not to allow it to affect their desire to contribute to the building of genuine democratic norms, ideals and culture in Nigeria. `` Such is what Nigeria needed most to build on for the general development of every facet of the country,"the party said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that INEC on Thursday de-registered 28 political parties because of their lack of inactivity. (NAN)

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caretaker committee was set up by the national working committee of the PDP. Mr Godfrey Okeke, the Adamawa Police Commissioner, who spoke on the incident said the situation had been brought under control.

He said that the youths who tried to create problems at the secretariat, took to their heals on sighting the policemen dispatched to the scene.

Damagun who spoke to reporters on the incident, alleged that the youths were sponsored to frustrate a crucial meeting of the party on Saturday. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 53

1

1] Wayne Rooney's first half brace was cancelled out by second half goals from Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta as City fought hard to retain their unbeaten status in a fierce Manchester derby before Robin van Persie's deflected free-kick dramatically won it for United in added time, the victory puts United six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

4

2] Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka heaped praise on the effort of his team after their 3-2 comeback win over Valladolid, singling out Mesut Ozil for a special mention.

3] Ronan O'Gara kicks all Munster's points as they beat Saracens 15-9 in the Heineken Cup at Thomond Park.

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4] Al-Ahly booked a place in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-1 win over local side Sanfrecce Hiroshima, aging Egyptian legend Mohamed Aboutrika scoring the winner.

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5] Manny Pacquiao is knocked out in the sixth round in Las Vegas by arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

3

6] Peter Senior claims the Australian Open title in Sydney at the age of 53, the oldest player to win the tournament.

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All 36 members of Britain’s team in Budapest return with a medal after a successful European Cross Country championships.

PAGE 52

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Ndubuoke wants more NPL players in Eagles

By Albert Akota

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he General Manager of Heartland FC of Owerri, Fan Ndubuoke, has urged Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, to give more consideration domestic league players as he prepares to unveil the list of the final Eagles squad for the 2013 Nations Cup. Though Keshi has relied on the domestic players to prosecute some of the qualifiers, he had expressed worries over the physical fitness of the players because of the delay in starting the local league season.

Nonetheless, Ndubuoke believes that the domestic league players still have places in Keshi’ squad and should be encouraged by being included in the Eagles team that would compete for honours come next month, in South Africa.

Peoples Daily Sports recalls that no domestic league player

made the final squads to the 2008 and 2010 Nations Cups, even as many feared that no more than two may be considered

by Keshi.

“There is no doubt that NPL players have not been in action for some time now but that is not a reason to pink only two players, Al Ahly of Egypt won the CAF Champions League without Egyptian league on.

“So, I don’t buy that idea that NPL players stand no chance but we are playing matches within ourselves to keep the players fit, its football anything can happen because I trust our players.

“We have players like Gabriel Reuben that can play very well, Azubuike Egwuekwe can pair Yobo Ejike Uzoenyi fine left wing attacker, Godfrey Oboabona, a centre back, Solomon Kwambe right back.

“Henry Uche is an impressive attacking midfielder, Chigozie

Agbim, a fine goalkeeper, Papa Idris another centre back, Benjamin Francis left back, and Sunday Mba, an attacking midfielder. These boys have played for Keshi with good results, so why are we saying league players have slim chances?

“Ndubuoke queried.

Gamboa beats Farenas to grab WBA title

O

n the undercard, Yuriorkis Gamboa beat Michael Farenas 117-109, 118-108 and 117-107 in a fight for the interim WBA junior lightweight title.

Gamboa remained undefeated at 22-0, with 16 knockouts, but was knocked down in the ninth round of an exciting fight. Farenas, now 34-4-4; 26, was knocked down twice in the first half of the bout but gave the 28year-old Cuban Olympian a fright.

Gamboa, a former WBA and IBF featherweight champion, won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and now lives in Miami, Florida.

It was his first fight this year but he has beaten highly rated fighters such as Rogers Mtagwa, Jonathon Victor Barros, Jorge Solis and Daniel Ponce De Leon.

Farenas, 28, from the Philippines, had lost just once in his previous 30 fights.

Earlier Miguel Angel Vazquez retained his IBF lightweight title with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Mercito Gesta.

Vazquez, of Guadalajara, Mexico, improved his record to 33-3. He retained, for the fifth time, the title he won in 2010.

Before the fight, Gesta had been touted as the heirapparent to Pacquiao. But he suffered the first loss of his career after 26 victories and one draw.

Lalli, Britton are European champions

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Juan Manuel Marquez knocks out Manny Pacquiao in a non-title welter weight fight

Filipinos in shock over Pacquiao’s KO

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ilipinos watched in horror as Manny Pacquiao fell face down first to the canvas after being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines fell silent as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, lost for the second time this year.

“I’m so shocked. I can’t believe it when Manny was ahead on points,” barber Pedro Varela said after watching the fight at a cinema in a Manila shopping mall.

“It was a good fight, Manny gave it all. He was impressive; It was one lucky punch from Marquez.”

In a sensational finish to their fourth fight, Marquez knocked Pacquiao cold with a booming right to the face to beat the Filipino superstar for the first time after three controversial defeats.

Pacquiao, 33, was also knocked down in the third round of their non-title welterweight bout. He had Marquez on the deck in the fifth but it was all over one second before the end of the sixth.

The knockout may have brought to an end the career

of a fighter who was rated, not so long ago, as the best boxer, pound for pound, in the world.

And it gave Marquez and his many supporters the satisfaction of what they will regard as justice being done.

Pacquiao’s wife was in tears as her husband lay flat on his face near the ropes for several minutes while doctors tried to revive him. He did manage a smile a little later.

The fourth fight between Pacquiao, an eight-division, ten-time world champion and Marquez, a four-division, five-time champion, began at a fast pace as the Filipino tried to stamp his authority on the proceedings.

But a huge right to the side of the head knocked “Pacman” right off his feet in the second round. Pacquiao took the count and responded viciously in an effort to return the compliment but Marquez kept his cool.

The Mexican probably won the fourth round as well but found himself touching the floor with a glove on the deck as Pacquiao nailed him with a left in the fifth and went in for the knockout, unsuccessfully, as Marquez stayed on his feet.

Pacquiao now has a professional record of 54-5-2,

with 38 knockouts. Marquez stands at 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts.

The 39-year-old Marquez, who had lost twice and drawn once in their three previous meetings, sent Pacquiao crashing to the canvas with a stinging right in the sixth round of their non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The Filipino southpaw remained motionless for several minutes before finally getting up, smiling at Marquez and then shaking his opponent’s hand in middle of the ring.

Social media sites were abuzz after the fight, with fans praising both fighters. There were also outpourings of disbelief that Pacquiao had lost.

The Philippine army said Pacquiao, an elected congressman and a lieutenant-colonel in the reserve force, was still “an icon of perseverance, excellence and dedication not only to the soldiers but to millions of Filipinos”.

“Pacquiao did his best but Marquez turned out to be the better boxer,” military spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said in a statement.

Some Filipinos said Pacquiao might retire after

the loss. “I think that’s the end of his career,” state worker Miguel Manalo said.

Manila’s streets were deserted during the fight as Filipinos tuned into see the action. Police authorities have said crime rates drop every time Pacquiao enters the ring.

Meanwhile, president Benigno Aquino’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said the country would not turn its back on Pacquiao.

“Nothing will change. The people of the Philippines will continue to support Manny.

We join them in praying for the return of his strength and determination,” Lacierda said in a statement.

Vice-president Jejomar Binay also quickly declared his confidence that Pacquiao would make a comeback. “I’m certain Manny will rise from this adversity a better and stronger person.”

Businessman Jun Bayonico, who watched the fight live with friends and relatives, said, “We were all silent because we were unsure what happened. He was unconscious for so long.

“For so many years, he was our idol. We were saddened by what happened but maybe this is a sign he should retire.

It would have been better if he retired as a winner.”

talian Andrea Lalli won the men’s European cross country championship in Budapest yesterday while Ireland’s Fioannula Britton retained her women’s crown.

Lalli, 25, timed 30min 01sec coming home 11sec ahead of Frenchman Hassan Chahdi while Lalli’s compatriot Daniele Meucci took bronze, coming in two seconds adrift of the runner-up.

Spain took the team title with a total of 35 points ahead of Great Britain (38) and Italy (63).

Britton, 28, timed 27min 45sec in a thrilling finish edging Portugal’s Ana Dulce Felix by two seconds while Dutch runner Adrienne Herzog was third, a second further adrift.

It was double gold for Ireland as they won the women’s team title with 52 points, finishing level on points with France, who had to settle for silver, while Britain took bronze.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 51

Liverpool battle to victory

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iverpool proved they could win without talismanic striker Luis Suarez as they fought from behind to take three points from Upton Park.

Uruguay international Suarez was serving a onematch ban but the Reds struck twice late in the game to seal a win that sees them leapfrog West Ham in the table.

Former Hammers’ defender Glen Johnson opened the scoring for the visitors with a tremendous

Steven Gerrard

Man City apologises for Rio derby coin attack

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anchester City have apologised to Rio Ferdinand after the Manchester United defender was struck by a coin as he celebrated his side’s 3-2 win in yesterday Manchester derby.

The English centre-back was left with blood pouring from his face after being hit by a missile apparently thrown from the crowd in the aftermath of Robin van Persie’s injury-time winner

for United at the Etihad Stadium.

Greater Manchester Police have launched an investigation into the incident, while City expressed regret to Ferdinand.

“We apologise to Rio, said a spokesman from the club.

“We condemn the actions of the individual concerned. We are reviewing the CCTV with the police and our normal security. “We will support the

police with any investigation and hopefully identify the person as soon as possible.

Ferdinand himself made light of what had happened, writing on Twitter: “what a result, 3points! Sweet!

Whoever threw that coin, what a shot! Can’t believe it was a copper 2p could have at least been a £1 coin.

City manager Roberto Mancini claimed not to have witnessed the incident, but he condemned it nonetheless.

effort before a Mark Noble penalty and Steven Gerrard own goal turned the game in West Ham’s favour before the break.

It was another West Ham academy graduate in substitute Joe Cole who pulled the visitors level in the second half with a James Collins own goal completing the comeback for Liverpool.

Gerrard, returning to captain the visitors after recovering from illness, saw an early effort deflected behind for a “I didn’t see, so I don’t know what happened,” said the Italian. “We have fantastic support but we can’t do what that person did, because it’s not good.

A fan wearing City colours also had to be restrained by home goalkeeper Joe Hart after walking onto the pitch and making his way towards Ferdinand after van Persie’s goal.

City had not lost a home game in the Premier League for two years and their defeat saw United establish a six-point lead at the top of the table.

Van Persie snatches breathless derby

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obin van Persie scored an injury-time winner to give Manchester United victory in yesterday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, as the atmosphere boiled over at the climax.

Two goals down to a firsthalf Wayne Rooney double, Manchester City thought they had snatched a point w h e n P a b l o Zabaleta followed up Yaya Toure’s strike by driving home five minutes from time. But after Rafael had been fouled on the edge of the area, Van Persie’s free-kick flicked off Samir Nasri before cannoning in off the far post.

As United celebrated, Rio Ferdinand was struck by an object which drew blood from a cut close to his eye. A supporter then ran onto the pitch and had to be restrained by Joe Hart before being carted away by stewards.

Rooney’s brace saw him jump to the top of United’s scoring charts in Manchester derbies, his ten goals taking him one clear of Sir Bobby Charlton. United’s defensive frailties have been obvious to everyone this term, so it came as something of a shock that City’s rearguard was the topic of conversation at half-time.

Dominant during the opening 15 minutes, the Blues were caught cold by the visitors’ first attack, started deep in their own half by Patrice Evra. Van Persie

cushioned a delightful return pass from Ashley Young’s flicked header, allowing the winger to drive over halfway and drill a low cross to the edge of the area for Rooney. Surrounded by three City defenders, Rooney took the ball to his left before cutting a shot back to the near post that Hart had no chance of keeping out.

City’s concerns grew when Vincent Kompany was replaced by Kolo Toure, bringing additional uncertainty to a defence which conceded a second a short time later. This time the surge came from the right wing as Antonio Valencia found an overlapping Rafael with a

Robin van Persie action

perfectly-weighted pass which the Brazilian crossed into the danger zone.

Rooney, who had been allowed to gallop unopposed from his initial pass, could not believe the space on offer which allowed him to tuck his first-time shot beyond Hart, allowing him to become the sixth player - and the youngest - to score 150 Premier League goals.

There was a conviction about United’s play that was missing from City’s. Mario Balotelli, preferred up front to Carlos Tevez, was the subject of his manager’s ire, yet Sergio Aguero was the one who had failed to control the Italian’s through-ball when the scores were still

level. Aguero was also the player who took on the entire Red Devils defence single handedly and squeezed a shot towards the corner which David de Gea did well to keep out.

After wasting possession once too often, Balotelli was replaced by Tevez, the Italian heading straight down the tunnel, although not before fixing Mancini with an icy stare. Ashley Young then had a goal ruled out for offside when he tucked home the rebound from a Van Persie shot that had cannoned back off a post, and United were

corner following some good work by Jonjo Shelvey.

West Ham then had a few minutes of dominance and Mohamed Diame, a one-time Liverpool target, saw his shot deflect off the back of team-mate Carlton Cole and drift just wide of Jose Reina’s goal.

Joe Cole had been introduced by Liverpool before the game was 30 minutes old and was warmly received by the home fans.

The former Chelsea playmaker has struggled

during his time with Liverpool and had little impact on the game until he struck a venomous equaliser after being played in by Sterling and, like Johnson; he refused to celebrate the goal.

The turnaround was completed just 12 minutes from time as Henderson swung in a low cross that Shelvey and Collins competed for with the balling looping up off the boot of the West Ham defender and over a helpless Jaaskelainen.

Juve win on Conte’s return

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Rio Ferdinand still digesting their disappointment as City countered to pull a goal back.

De Gea produced brilliant saves to deny Tevez and David Silva, but he was unable to keep out a third strike on goal from Yaya Toure, who calmly rolled Tevez’s cut-back into the bottom corner. It was the goal that lit the touchpaper for a thrilling finale, with tackles flying in from both sides as referee Atkinson tried to keep control.

There was one final twist to come, though, as Van Persie stepped up to end City’s 37-match unbeaten run on home soil to send United six points clear at the top.

Barclays Premier League LOG

ull-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was Juventus’ match-winner as the league leaders marked boss Antonio Conte’s return to the dugout with a 1-0 victory against struggling Palermo at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

It was the first time Conte has supervised his team on a match day since he was banned from the touchline for his alleged involvement in match-fixing.

Lichtsteiner’s goal five minutes into the second half was the only goal in the game as Palermo played the last 15 minutes with ten men after Michel Morganella saw red after picking up two bookings.

AC Milan continued their recent Serie A resurgence with an eyecatching 4-2 win on the road at Torino.

Successive wins over Juventus and Catania had lightened the mood in the Milan camp after a dismal start to the campaign, and this convincing victory means Massimiliano Allegri’s men are now well involved in the pack jostling for the European berths.

Milan’s victory came the hard way today after they fell behind to a Mario Santana strike, but four unanswered goals from Robinho, Antonio Nocerino, Giampaolo Pazzini and Stephan El Shaarawy took the game away from the hosts.

PAGE 50

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 49

Swimmer, 13, wins 3 silver medals

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he Lagos State S w i m m i n g Association (LSSA) said yesterday that it has discovered a 13-year-old female swimmer who won three silver medals for Team Lagos at the just-

IAAF Instructor wants focus on athletes’ strengths, weaknesses

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otimi Obajimi, an Instructor with the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has urged newly-discovered talents from the justconcluded 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) to focus on their strengths and weaknesses.

Obajimi said that it had become mandatory for such athletes to get themselves ready for the next stage of their careers.

“I spoke with Aminat Olowora after she won the 5,000m and the 10,000m events and asked her what her plans were? I told her that if she wants to compete in the international circuit, she will have the Kenyans and the Ethiopians to contend with.

“I made her to understand that she will have to adopt their training methods and carefully chose the kind of races to participate in, to aid her development,’’ he said.

The IAAF instructor stressed that she would have to think through her decision, before deciding on which events to feature in.

“She cannot just run the marathon because she won the gold in the 5,000m; she has to decide where she fits before stepping out for major events,’’ he said.

Obajimi also said that some budding long jumpers had caught his attention at the NSF. He added that the athletes would need to work on their physical structure, their capability in terms of speed and their techniques, to fit into a well-structured development programme.

Meanwhile, results in the

men’s marathon final: Kayode Seriki of Team Bayelsa returned a time of 2 hrs, 28 mins, 29:01secs for the gold, Philibus Sharubutu of Team Nassarawa came second in 2 hrs, 32 mins, 32:78secs, while Itam Isaiah of Cross River came third with 2 hrs, 33 mins, 07:00secs.

In the women’s marathon final: Vivian Ichuli of Team Cross River came first with a time of 3 hrs, 11 mins, 51:40secs, Lewechi Madubuezi of Abia clocked 3 hrs, 12 mins, 13:66secs, while Maria Kebang of Delta returned 3 hrs, 15 mins, 58:72secs.

In the 200m men, Hope Ikah of Edo came first in 21 mins, 48secs, Tamunotonye Briggs of Team Ondo returned 21 mins, 58secs, while Ukale Elvis of Delta State came third in 21 mins, 52secs.

In the 200m women, Margaret Benson of Edo came first in 23 mins, 73secs, Miriam Edet-Bassey of Cross River was second in 23 mins, 96secs and Peace Uko of Ondo State placed third with 23 mins, 97secs.

The 800m men was won

by Yahaya Hamadjan of Cross River in 1 min, 52:30secs, Hope Anagbi of Rivers came second with a time of 1 min, 53:36secs, while Johnson Akinsunjoye of Lagos State was third in 1 min, 53:51secs.

In the women’s 800m, Patience George of Cross River came first in 2 mins, 07:03secs, Esther Oluwatobiloba of Oyo State came second in 2 mins, 09:36secs, while Stella Sunday of Cross River finished in the third position in 2 mins, 10:90secs.

concluded 18 th National Sports Festival (NSF).

Samuel Ebito-Jesimiel, Chairman, LSSA, who disclosed this, gave the name of the youngster as Ayomide Bello, who won silver medals for the state in the women’s 50 metres freestyle, 50 metres butterfly and 200m breaststroke events in swimming in 27.18 secs,

33.18 secs and 3 mins, 21.86 secs, respectively.

Ebito-Jesimiel said that he was impressed with the speed of the teenage swimmer, adding that if properly guided, she could be a world-beater when she turns 18.

He said that Lagos State mostly fielded first-timers in swimming at the festival.

“We are particularly delighted that we discovered a 13-year-old, who was able to compete with seasoned swimmers and win three silver medals for us at the Games,” Ebito-Jesimiel added.

Team Delta topped the standings in swimming with 47 medals, including 20 gold, 17 silver and nine

Kickboxing event inconclusive as festival ends

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he 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos ended on Sunday without formally concluding some events in kickboxing which were to be decided on Saturday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

This was because of the unending protests from some aggrieved state athletes and officials who blamed the judges for biased officiating.

The Police had to disperse the participants and fans with tear gas on Thursday and the ensuing commotion at the event venue left many injured.

The protests which started on Thursday, reached a climax on Saturday with some athletes and officials contesting the judges decisions in some of the categories of the event.

The aggrieved athletes and officials declined

comments on the issue, saying that they had protested formally to the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the Games over decisions of the judges.

As at yesterday, the officials, coaches and athletes were on Sunday still loitering around the venue of the event at UNILAG, to see if the event would be completed.

Adegboyega Adele, Chief Referee of the event, condemned the manner in which some state officials and their athletes showed their grievances over some disputed issues during the competition.

“If you are not satisfied with the judges’ decisions, there are ways to channel your protest and if your proof is worthy, the decision could be reversed.

“The people involve are destroying their own careers because they are going to be

the most affected. It is very sad,“ he said.

Adele said that many of the coaches, athletes and fans were ignorant of the rules of the game, which he said, were the cause of the grudges which resulted in the crises.

“It is not every kick or punch that is worth a point or points, as many of them think. This is not Karate, Taekwondo or any of the other combat sports.

Kickboxing rules are different and you must have full contact before you can score a point, “ he said.

Simon Ajaka, a kickboxing official at the event, attributed the violence to the huge promises made by some state governors, adding that this caused some athletes to see the competition as a warfare.

“This is sports, for goodness sake; it is not a do-or-die affair.

I think the reward athletes

NCF to invite Identified talents to get NCF national call up

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he Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) has said that it would invite to the national team, players identified at the just-concluded 18thNational Sports Festival (NSF) which ended yesterday in Lagos ACP Sani Mohammed, president of the federation, disclosed at the last round of the tournament at the Games, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), but declined to mention the number identified.

Mohammed expressed delight with the talents discovered stressing that some young players exhibited brilliant moves at the festival, in line with the standards of the game.

“A good number of identified talents will soon join the present national team because their performances were outstanding, “They have shown that they can play the game very well enough to earn them places in the national team,“ he added.

According to the president, the players will be grouped according to their age categories, while their training schedule would commence early next year.

Mohammed said that comprehensive training programme would provide the basis for the development of the remarkable skills of the identified players.

He assured that with proper blending, Nigeria’s national chess players would be a force to be reckoned with globally.

Mohammed said that his vision was to set up a formidable national team that could stand out amongst others.

bronze, while Team Ondo was second with 15 medals, made up of six gold, four silver and five bronze.

Team Edo placed third with six medals: four gold and two silver, while Team Lagos settled for the fourth position with 14 medals, including one gold, six silver and seven bronze medals.

100m men’s winner, Nicholas Imhoaperamhe of Team Rivers, celebrating after crossing the finishing line

were promised has made some of them to turn the event into a battle,” he said Another official, who sought anonymity, attributed the crises to the failure of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the festival to assign enough number of officials to the event.

According to him, only 25 officials were assigned to handle about 400 fights, which he said, was inadequate.

“Under normal circumstances, a judge ought to take decisions over two bouts at a stretch, but here, a judge covers more than 10 bouts. We cannot escape some imperfections in such situations,“ he said.

Victor Bassey, a national official, who also lamented the abrupt end of the competition, called for training for kick boxing trainers in the country.

PAGE 48

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

Delta dethrones Rivers for 5th sports festival conquest From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

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eam Delta have dethroned Team Rivers to emerge the overall winner of the 18th National Sports Festival tagged EKO 2012, and in the process clinched the N20m Presidential largesse.

Delta scooped an impressive haul of 114 gold, 99 Silver and 75 bronze totaling 288 medals to win her National Sports Festival for the 5th time while defending champions Team Rivers were a distant second

with a total of 217 medals made up of 76 gold, 71 Silver and 70 bronze medals.

Hosts, Lagos placed third on the overall medal log with 64

gold, 47 Silver and 71 bronze totaling 182 medals and were followed by the 2002 NSF hosts Team Edo finished fourth with 25 gold,23 Silver and 44 bronze

medals that totals 92 medals in all.

The’ Big Heart’ first won the festival title at the Bauchi 2000 edition, but lost it to at the Edo

Calabar 2014 will be world class, says Ugbe

C

ross River State Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development,

F/Eagles confident of 2013 World Cup ticket

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efending champions, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria have expressed confidence they will scale past their first round AYC group to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup. The Flying Eagles have been drawn against Mali and debutants Gabon and DR Congo at the 2013 African Youth Championship to be hosted by Algeria from March 16 to 30.

The Nigeria U20s eliminated Mali in the semi-finals of the 2011 AYC in South Africa on their way to emerging as champions at the expense of Cameroon, while both Gabon and DR Congo will only be making their debuts at the tournament proper in Algeria.

Flying Eagles assistant coach Yakubu Maidajin described yesterday’s draw in Cairo as a favourable one, while maintaining this only means the team have to work a lot harder.

“It’s a favourable draw and we ought to qualify from this group. A team like Ghana would have proved a difficult opponent but good enough we are not drawn against them in the group stage.

“All the same, if we work hard this tournament would be a lot easier than when we won it last year because the teams in our group are most likely to have too much respect for us,” he offered.

Flying Eagles goalkeeper coach Alloy Agu said the country’s chances of going past the first round are very bright.

“It’s an interesting draw and our chances are very bright, but we cannot afford to underrate any of the teams especially Gabon and DR Congo who have been doing very well lately,” said Agu, who featured at the 1985 U20 World Cup in the former Soviet Union.

“We will rise to the occasion so as to meet our targets, which is first to qualify for the World Cup and then successfully retain our championship.”

The Flying Eagles eliminated Tanzania and South Africa to qualify for the 2013 AYC.

2002 Games. But they bounced back to win the Abuja 2004 and the KADA Games in 2009. Team Rivers became one of the few hosts to win at the Garden City Games in 2011.

Golden cyclist, Edward Osim of Team Rivers, who won the first gold medal at the EKO 2012 Games

Manu upbeat as Eaglets land in ‘Group of Death’

By Patrick Andrew with agency report

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he Golden Eaglets were yesterday handed tough opponents in the CAF U-17 Championships in Morocco. They are to confront Ghana, Cote D’ Ivoire and DR Congo.

However, Head Coach, Manu Garba, has expressed optimism that the Eaglets, who scored 21 goals and conceded just one during the qualifiers, have what it takes to survive in the ‘group of death’.

“The draws are very interesting because we have two other WestAfrican teams in our group. But I’m confident about our chances

despite the fact that we are going to play our traditional rivals,” he said.

“On paper, our group could be regarded as the toughest because of the records of all the four teams in the past championships. It is important that we play all the tough teams and win if we are going to be the overall champions.

“With good preparations and God on our side, we will qualify from our group irrespective of the oppositions to get to the semi-final stages and qualify for the World Cup.” Ghana are top of the U17 Championship all-time record after being crowned champions in

1995 and 1999. The Black Starlets were also runner-up in 2005 and twice second runner-up in 1997 and 2007.

Nigeria, on the other hand, are second in the all-time championship record following Golden Eaglets’ successes in 2001 and 2007 as well as being runnersup and second runner-up in 1995 and 2003, respectively.

Both Cote d’Ivoire and Congo Brazzaville are still looking for their first title but they came third in 2005 and 2011 respectively.

While Ghana edged out South Africa on a 5-3 aggregate to book a ticket to Morocco 2013, Cote d’Ivoire saw off Senegal on a 3-2

Mr. Patrick Ugbe, has stated that the games of the 19th National Sports Festival Calabar 2014 will be world class.

Ugbe said he has gone round Lagos with some prominent sports technocrats from Cross River, who have observed the general organization of the EKO2012 Games and would the logistics gathered to their preparations for the 2014 festival.

“The spectacular show put up

by Lagos, as hosts of the 18th National Sports Festival, has put us under pressure, but I can assure you that Calabar will be the place to be in come 2014.

“The ceremonial aspect of Calabar 2014 won’t be an issue considering our pedigree in entertainment. Our annual Calabar Christmas carnival will put us in the stead to give Nigerians the best opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.

“Just as Port Harcourt and Lagos made use of higher institutions in the State as Games village respectively, we shall emulate that too for Calabar 2014. Ugbe assured Meanwhile, Cross River with 12 gold, 14 silver and 23 bronze medals placed 8th on the EKO 2012 overall medal table. As the host for the next National Sports Festival, Cross River realized their set target of being among the top ten states in medal placing.

aggregate and Congo-Brazzaville, the seeded team in Group B, trumped Tanzania on a 2-1 aggregate.

Golden Eaglets boasted the best qualification record by winning all its six matches but coach Garba has insisted that all of that is in the past as they now focus attention on the championship proper in Morocco.

Manu Garba

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

PAGE 55

Quick CrossWord (86)

Say what?

Here are some Ultra Quick Crosswords.

Can you do all three in five minutes? (III) ACROSS 1 Honour (7) 7 Display windows of a store (9) 8 Roguish (4) 10 Flavouring plant (4) 12 Relating to voters (9) 14 Chewing (7)

SUDOKU

Yesterday’s answer

DOWN

Getting Started Each sudoku puzzle is a 9 by 9 grid of horizontal and vertical rows, evenly separated into 9 squares with 9 spaces each.

Instead of word clues, each puzzle’s solution is determined by the pattern of the numbers already filled in you. You solve the puzzle by filling in the missing digits so that, when completed, each row and each square will have all the number from 1 to 9; each number will appear in exactly nine spaces within each puzzle.

2 Toilet (3) 3 Widespread (4) 4 Became ice (5) 5 Mortified (7) 6 Unshaven (7) 9 Hygienic (5) 11 Pack away (4) 13 __ Moody, actor (3)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Yesterday’s solution

This might sound barking, but dogs in New Zealand have been taught to drive.

Source: TheSun.co.uk

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

Ahly top CAF Champions League draw line-up

T

he three clubs who have dominated the CAF Champions League recently -- Al Ahly of Egypt, Esperance of Tunisia and TP Mazembe of DR Congo -- are among the entrants for the 2013 draw in Cairo on Sunday.

Title holders Ahly and Mazembe have raised the trophy twice each and Esperance once in the past five seasons of a competition that rewards winners with a $1.5 million cheque and a passport to the even more lucrative FIFA Club World Cup. Other former champions in the draw include Zamalek of Egypt, Vita Club of DR Congo, Entente Setif of Algeria, Union Douala of Cameroon, Asante Kotoko of Ghana and Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

There are also five former winners of other CAF club titles -- CA Bizertin of Tunisia, Enugu Rangers of Nigeria, FUS Rabat of Morocco, Al Merreikh of Sudan and Horoya of Guinea -among the contenders.

Esperance, winners once and runners-up twice in the past three finals, have compensated for the loss of Cameroonian striker Yannick Ndjeng by signing leading 2012 Champions League scorer Emmanuel Clottey from Ghana outfit Berekum Chelsea.

Clottey scored 12 goals, including two hat-tricks, as Berekum reached the minileague phase. His tally was seven more than Izu Azuka from semi-finalists Sunshine Stars of Nigeria, who is also on the shopping list of the Tunis club.

Mazembe, a mix of Congolese, Zambian, Ugandan and Tanzanian stars, were crowned African champions in 2009 and 2010, kicked out last year for using an ineligible player and made a limp semi-finals exit this season.

Messi breaks Muller’s record Lionel Messi yesterday breaks Gerd Muller’s 85 goals in one seasion record.

The Barcelona’s talisman broke the German’s long standing record in Barca’s game against Real Betis.

He scored twice before the half hour mark to equal and then break the record.

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE Not all Nigerians are comfortable with a united and strong North. Its current (weak) position therefore is welcome to its detractors and rivals.

–– Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former Head of State

Another look at the North “The way a cat walks is not the way it catches rats” South African Proverb. round this time last year the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) held a major conference on the economic and political fortunes of the North. Last week the region was again involved in a number of meetings which focused on its challenges and dwindling opportunities.

Beginning with the first Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation Memorial Lecture delivered by the reknown international diplomat, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the last week also witnessed two major gatherings of politicians, academics, professionals, media executives, religious leaders and an assortment of elders and young people all of whom had something to say or wanted to hear about the alarming state of society and economy in the political and geographic North. There were also smaller, but significant events: former Vice President Atiku Abubakar delivered the Shehu Yar’Adua Memorial Lecture in Abuja during which he restated his claim to lead with ideas and vision, and Vice President Namadi Sambo married off his two daughters in Kaduna, an event which locked down half of the city to allow the region’s and nation’s current strongmen to feel comfortable enough to attend a wedding in a mosque.

Six governors from the north-east zone attended a Summit, after the one convened a few weeks ago was effectively scuttled by their absence, and the panic that was caused when the convener’s remarks on the neglect of the region by the federal government, and the contemplation of its going its own way was used to taint a meeting which started with high expectations.

This particular meeting was in turn massively boycotted by the elites who attended the previous one, leading to the only conclusion that the gap between the governors and the political and professional elite in the region is growing wider.

In any case, all the appropriate sentiments were mouthed, although no one at that meeting could have failed to notice that a much bigger and better quality of forum was holding in Kaduna. The north east governors must be satisfied that they have reinforced their

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FIFTEEN MINUTES with Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed drbabaahmed@yahoo.com

Chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Niger state governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu positions as the region’s enforcers, and if all they do is to meet with each other and a few people who will not spring surprises at them, their positions are safe.

The two-day Kaduna conference, held in a venue with profound symbolism, appeared even more successful when viewed against the lackluster impact of parallel activities.

The inspiring lecture on the life and times of Sir Ahmadu Bello, and the lessons which may be drawn from them to deal with the crippling contemporary problems of the north was wellattended by the type of people from the north who have more name and pedigree than power.

Those with power now and ambitions for more were all

away on other engagements.

Predictably, the present loci of power in the north and the administration came under heavy fire, the most worrying being that they have abandoned the values and legacies of the late Premier.

Poverty, corruption and insecurity in the north have replaced the confidence and competence with which he and his team led a government that was all-inclusive, visionary and committed. Gaps in social cohesion and decays in core values have given rise to unprecedented levels of cynicism and hostility among the citizenry, and mediocrity in the quality of the leadership.

In spite of the lecturer’s valiant efforts to smoothen his punches, it was clear from the audience that the present leadership of the North (principally governors) are being held responsible for all the ills of the region.

Perhaps the quality of the people who attended the Kaduna conference held at the Arewa House, the residence of the late Sardauna where he was also murdered were sensitive to the weaknesses in the argument that today’s northern governors are to held responsible for all the problems of the region, because they avoided making copious references to them or their preoccupations. Or, perhaps, a conference attended by a former head of state, a former vice president, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

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A look ahead towards the next one year will yield no evidence that northern governors will do anything about those ideas and blueprints. It is obvious that they have neither the time nor the resources, to embark on bold and expensive ventures. They have too little left from monthly allocations to invest in agriculture, economic infrastructure or human resources

the host Governor and the cream of northern intelligentsia, political groups, elders and active politicians with grievances against the present administration’s governance record had found more value in focusing beyond the obvious in its attempt to understand the sources, dynamics and solutions to problems of the North today.

The Arewa House meeting was clearly intended to address the failure of this administration, as well as the current leaders of the North, to find solutions to its problems.

The impressive meeting of the ACF this time last year had yielded excellent ideas, suggestions, blueprints and strategies, all of which have been packaged and delivered to northern governors and the presidency. In the one year it has taken to do this, the North had become more insecure, poorer and weaker. A look ahead towards the next one year will yield no evidence that northern governors will do anything about those ideas and blueprints. It is obvious that they have neither the time nor the resources, to embark on bold and expensive ventures.

They have too little left from monthly allocations to invest in agriculture, economic infrastructure or human resources. They have nothing to leverage from the administration and other parts of Nigeria for additional funding, and the scope for reviews of allocation formula is becoming more limited with increasing politicization.

Worse, many of the northern governors are also actively eying the paresidency in 2015. Their ambitions will pitch them against each other, and against President Jonathan. The opportunity to rise and embark on some eyecatching and substantial project in the name of the North is therefore virtually nonexistent. Each governor will be engrossed in either seeking a second term, or deciding what he should do after his second term, while working to frustrate similar ambitions. In the next few months, a few of them will have to stick their necks out more prominently, and they will have no favours done to them by the Jonathan presidency anxious to tap into the weaknesses of the North, or contenders from the region.

Contd. on page 17

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