Peoples Daily Newspaper, Monday 01, April, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 10 No. 66

Monday, April 1, 2013

. . . putting the people first

JTF kills 14 insurgents in Kano gun battle >> 2

Jimadal Ula 21, 1434 AH

N150

JNI, others meet over polio vaccines >> 10

PDP shops for Bamanga Tukur’s replacement

By Lawrence Olaoye

I

ndications emerged yesterday that top stakeholders in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have resolved to bow to pressure from some governors on the platform of the party to remove the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Sources close to the party leadership disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan who has been shielding Tukur may have caved in to pressures from several stakeholders to relieve the party’s chairman of his job.

The source disclosed that Tukur would have been ordered to resign had there been consensus on his immediate replacement.

He said “Baring last minute change, Tukur would be asked to turn in his resignation letter any moment from now.”

While a clearer picture of who should succeed Tukur has not emerged, some names earlier touted as possible replacements were Adamu Maina Waziri and former Bauchi state governor, Adamu Muazu who was a loyalist of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Tukur drew the ire of the President and the governors recently when he wrote to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asking him to recognize the Adamawa PDP faction led by Joel Madaki even when efforts were ongoing to resolve the impasse.

Jonathan had earlier set up a Presidential Committee headed by the Jigawa state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, to resolve the logjam and reconcile the feuding Contd on Page 2

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, his wife Victoria, and Senator Emmanuel Paulker during Easter church service, yesterday at Our Saviour's Anglican Church, Tafawa Belewa Square, Lagos.

Jonathan diverts subsidy funds for 2015 campaigns, ACN alleges From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

T

he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accusedPresident Goodluck Jonathan of diverting the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P) funds for

his 2015 presidential campaign.

The Federal Government floated SURE-P in 2012 claiming to use the fund to cushion the effects of removal of fuel subsidy.

The ACN in a press statement in Lagos yesterday said that contrary to the provisions of the

constitution, Jonathan appointed State Implementation Committee (SIC) to distribute the SURE-P largesse to PDP members in the states.

The statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,

noted that all state coordinators for President Jonathan’s campaign in 2011 are also the current state coordinators for SURE-P. “This is not a mere coincidence but a well-orchestrated attempt Contd on Page 2

Passengers stranded on Abuja-Lokoja road

>> 16

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

CONTENTS News

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

Stockwatch S/Report

23 24-25

Law

26

Education 27-28

JTF kills 14 insurgents in Kano gun battle From Edwin Olofu, Kano

S

ome 14 suspected terrorists met their waterloo in Kano, Kano State, yesterday following several hours of gun battle with operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF).

As at 3 pm yesterday, the soldiers who lost one of their men in the battle with the insurgents, cordoned off Yan Awaki Unguwan Uku, the area where the tragic battle raged, even as they conducted house-to-house searches for the insurgents.

The JTF averted what would have been a bloody Easter in the

restive city of Kano following the recovery of a primed car laden with explosive for suicide attack and assorted weapons.

The bloody operation almost marred the Easter celebration as residents of the area and other parts of the Kano metropolis who were scared by the defeaning sounds of guns and artillery shelling, remained indoors.

Brigade Commander of the 3 Motorized Brigade, Bukavu Barrack, Kano, Brigadier General Iliyasu Isa Abba, subsequently conducted reporters round the troubled area. He confirmed the incident stating: "My men were on cordon-and-search operations

in the wee hours of this morning at Layin Yan'awaki, Ungwa-Uku general area, when suddenly they came under fire from terrorists that triggered a gun duel".

General Iliyasu Abba said that the ensuing firefight left 14 insurgents dead, while undisclosed numbers of others were arrested.

"It was an opportunity to demonstrate our superior fire power, and the gallants officers and men gave a good account of themselves, but unfortunately we lost one of our gallant soldiers and one was injured".

The JTF recovered from the scene a Golf car primed with

explosives which was reportedly ready for a "suicide mission in the city."

Gen. Abba further stated that 14 AK 47 assault rifles were recovered during the operation against the insurgents.

Also recovered from the scene that comprises two adjourning houses in the dark spot, were several fabricated anti-aircraft machine guns, a pump-action gun, large quantities of Improvised Explosive Devices, and chemicalsfor making IED's.

Vehicular and human movements were restricted along the strategic portion of Zaria road and Eastern Bye pass during the operation that lasted for six hours.

In line with its long-standing policy, the JTF demolished two houses suspected to be the terrorists' haven, even as investigation was ongoing to track down the property owners, for them to face the law as accomplices.

PDP shops for Bamanga Tukur’s replacement Contd from Page 1

As the Lagos-Kano passenger train returns… , Page 4

Health

29-30

Int’l

31-34

Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-45

Leisure

47

Columnist

48

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factions in the state. Tukur’s action was viewed as further deepening the crisis in Adamawa even when the Lamido’s committee has yet to submit its reports on the Presidential task of reconciliation in the state.

Prior to his latest action on Adamawa PDP, Tukur has consistently incurred the wrath of the PDP governors who have refused to fund the party. Part of his sins is his refusal to call the p0arty’s National Executive Council (NEC)’s meeting where important issues concerning the party are expected to be resolved.

Again, Tukur’s insistence on party supremacy over all its elected and appointed members has been fingered as the reason why some governors on the platform of the party are insisting that he be removed as the National Chairman.

A source close to the party’s leadership who craved anonymity said “Tukur is carrying on like a School Headmaster who issues order to his pupils without considering their sensibilities.

Tukur’s determination to model the running of the PDP after the South African National Congress (ANC), where the party is supreme, has become the genesis of his trouble with the PDP governors who are used to issuing directives to the party leadership.”

He continued: “Remember, immediately after Tukur emerged the PDP National Chairman at the controversial Congress, he led his National Working Committee (NWC) on a working visit to South African’s ANC where he understudied the system in order to place the party above its elective officers in the country.

“But, the practice in the PDP, as you know, is that most members of the NWC are nominees of their state governors and are therefore accountable to them. So, his talking tough on party supremacy is alien to some of these state governors who have literarily become tin gods in their states. They also see this as a ploy to exclude them from taking important party decisions,” he added.

The source pointed out that the clash Tukur had with the Adamawa state governor,

Murtala Nyako, over his attempt to yank the control of the PDP state chapter from the governor.

According to him, Tukur’s insistence on recognizing the new Joel Madaki’s faction instead of the reinstated Alhaji Umar Minjiyawa Kugama’s faction in the state is one of the reasons the governors are averse to his style of leadership which they term dictatorial.

The source also pointed at the way 10 NWC members upturned Tukur’s decision to conduct the Adamawa state congress that produced Madaki by reinstating the Kugama led state Exco. He disclosed that the action taken by the NWC members excluding only Tukur and the Deputy National Secretary, Onwe S. Onwe, was instigated by the governors.

It was gathered that some of the PDP governors have perfected plots to move a vote of no confidence in Tukur’s leadership whenever he chooses to convene the PDP National Executive Council (NEC)’s meeting. Again, the source disclosed that the governors refused to fund the party in order to put Tukur in constant check.

It was learnt that the PDP

National Chairman awareness of gross discontentment among the governors over his leadership style partly informed his current reconciliation efforts.

Apart from the discontentment arising from Tukur’s leadership style, some governors are equally suspicious of the way Tukur is handling the party ahead of 2015.

Although the PDP Chairman is insisting that the party be returned to the people, many of them still believe that he is doing the bidding of President Goodluck Jonathan who installed him as the Chairman of the party.

But, Tukur has dismissed his purported removal’s plot by the governors as a mere figment of the imagination of the opposition. He said “All the governors believe in me; even they came out to correct the stories written in the papers. We work very cordially. They are our commanders. Mind you the Chairman heads PDP but a governor is his own commander in the state.

The only thing the Chairman and the NWC do is to strengthen his followership to support the governor so that in the next election we will still have the PDP winning.”

‘Jonathan diverts subsidy funds for 2025 campaign’ Contd from Page 1 to give the Jonathan campaign an unfair head-start ahead of 2015, with public funds, “the statement said.

According to the party, the crisis currently rocking the Lagos PDP over the sharing of SURE-P funds among its members has vindicated the ACN position that the funds meant to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal have now become a 2015 campaign war chest for Jonathan.

The statement said that, “today, the truth has prevailed as the PDP members themselves have confirmed that the SURE-P funds are being shared among them across the federation.

“Thanks to the alleged hijacking of the SURE-P funds meant for the PDP members in Lagos state by the Bode George faction and the crisis that it has

generated.

“The nation can now see that the Jonathan administration has willfully converted the money accruing from SURE-P to campaign funds.

“This is a very serious violation of the constitution, because the money being spent on fuel subsidies was in the past taken out of the Federation Account.

“This is money that should have been divided among the three tiers of government in accordance with the revenue allocation formula.

“But by virtue of the SURE-P arrangement, part of the funds are now available for the Federal Government to share freely by approving contracts, programmes and activities in accordance with its whims and caprices.

“The PDP-controlled Federal Government has now seen the

accruing huge funds as money which may well be spent with special favour for its cronies and party affiliates without regard to the Constitution.

“For President Jonathan, this is an impeachable offence.”

The statement listed some of the coordinators as Alhaji Bode Oyedele (Lagos), Mr. Joseph Ishekpa (Nasarawa), Alhaji Garba A. Kurfi (Katsina), Alhaji Aliyu Mamman (Niger), Alhaji Adamu Yaro Gombe (Gombe), Hon. Femi Akinyemi (Ekiti), Jarigbe Agbom Jarigbe (Cross River), Chief Abdullahi Ohioma (Kogi), Dare Adeleke (Oyo), Alhaji Al-Kasim Madoka (Kano) and Alhaji Kolo Bukar (Borno).

On the crisis in Lagos PDP over the SURE-P largesse, ACN said that a faction of the PDP in Lagos let the cat out of the bag.

“In Eti-Osa there are names

of criminals as beneficiaries, especially Ward HI. This is a waste of Subsidy money and defeating the objective of the programme.

“There are responsible eminent citizens who should be contacted to verify and screen the submission of names for beneficiaries but Bode George’s loyalists are putting names of touts and miscreants for his own personal agenda.

“On the basis of this, we are now calling for an independent investigation into how the money accruing to SURE-P has been disbursed since the inception of the programme with a view to establishing to what extent the funds have been abused, and in order to prescribe the appropriate sanctions for those found culpable.”

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 3

Sambo, Sultan want Ulama to preach peace, unity

V

House suspected to be the hideout of insurgents raided by JTF, yesterday in Kano. Inset are items recovered.

ice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar yesterday urged the Ulama in the country to continue to promote unity, peace and security of the nation in their preaching.

Sambo and the Sultan both spoke at the closing ceremony of the 27th Qur'anic Recitation Competition in Gusau, Zamfara state.

According to Sambo, “we must commend the Ulama who have always provided spiritual guidance to Muslims.

“While we note with delight their efforts at ensuring the proper and accurate interpretation of the Holy book to guide Muslims in their day to day conduct, we urge them to place the unity, peace and security of the nation as an important element in their daily preaching.”

Terrorist activities won’t break Nigeria, says Jonathan From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has said Nigeria will remain united in spite of efforts by terrorists to divide the country.

According to him, terrorist attacks would have been more devastating but for fervent

prayers of Nigerians for peace and stability.

The President spoke in lagos yesterday during an Easter Sunday Service at Our Saviour’s Church, Anglican Communion, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he was working very hard to ensure that

terrorism does not divide the country, saying the resultant effects of the spate of terrorist attacks in the country could have been more devastating if not for the fervent prayers of Nigerians for peace and stability.

He said that Nigeria would begin to enjoy a more stable electricity power supply from next

year, as, according to him, “efforts are on top gear to stem out the embarrassing trend.”

In his sermon, the Vicar, Igein Isemede, urged Christians to purge their hearts of any wrong doing as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ had atoned for their sins and afflictions.

Kaduna police probe death of four-year-old boy in water container From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

I

t was shock and disbelief for residents of Kakuri, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis when a dead body of a four year old boy was discovered inside a 50-litre plastic water container in a neighbor’s room at Mani Street in the area Neighbours say nobody knows how little Johnson Michael got into the water container and apparently got drowned.

Our correspondent learnt that the neighbor, one Manga Mohammed and his wife were not at home when the boy entered the room. Only Manga’s niece, 18 year old Jamilu was at home.

According to Johnson’s parents the boy was in good health when they left him with his 8 year old sister Happiness to play while the Mother went to Market.

It was while the boy and his sister were playing that it was alleged Jamilu sent Happiness to buy him a recharge card and when she came back the boy was missing.

“My father, mother and elder sister were not at home, so, Jamilu sent me to buy him MTN recharge card.

“When I returned my brother

was not at home. So, I asked Jamilu about my brother and he said he didn’t know.

“I started looking for my brother but I didn’t see him. When my elder sister came back I told her that I cannot find Johnson so I begged her to help me so that my father will not kill me.

“It was when we were still looking for him that Jamilu’s uncle and wife came back. When they opened their door the wife said is this not the Johnson you are looking for inside rubber?

“So his uncle brought him out of the plastic rubber and took him to our room. Later I saw my sister

crying that my brother is dead,” the girl explained.

It was alleged that after Jamilu collected the recharge card he locked his uncle’s room and left the compound without assisting them to look for the deceased.

However, Johnson’s corpse has been deposited at the Saint Gerald Hospital Kaduna mortuary where an autopsy is expected to be carried out.

Father of the deceased, Michel Johnson Agada, a security man with a private firm, said he was at work when the sad incident occurred.

“It was after I came back from work in the evening that I saw people in my compound crying

including my younger brother.

“I asked them what happened and they told me that my neigbour has killed my son. So, I invited the police to arrest him.

“They pleaded with me but since I am not Federal Government I told them I will not accept any pleading.

“I want my child alive. I will be very much happy if the case is transferred to court because I will go to any length to seek justice for my child.”

Command Public Relations Officer at the Kaduna Police headquarters, DSP Aminu Lawan confirmed the incident. He said that investigations would reveal the cause of death.

Teach your followers tolerance, World Muslim League tells Nigeria’s religious leaders From Mahmoud Muhammad, Sokoto

T

he World Muslim League has urged religious leaders to preach justice and fairness in order to promote peaceful coexistence among Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the international conference, on “Islam and the Fundamentals of Peaceful Coexistence in Nigeria,” organized by

the Sokoto state government, the Muslim World League noted that, justice, fairness and equity are universal values that engender peace, progress and patriotism.

The communiqué read in part: “there is the need for continuous dialogue among various ethnoreligious and tribal groups to enhance the spirit of cooperation and understanding among them.

“Nigeria should preach and live by the noble moral teaching of their religions.”

“Lame excuses of the freedom of opinion that justify insulting sacred symbols of any religion which engineer crisis should be abandoned.

“And there is the need to revive the sound peaceful historical relations that existed between Muslims and other Nigerians from time immemorial.”

“Mutual dialogue should be encouraged to provide an enabling environment and using the best available means.”

Sambo said that the Federal Government was committed towards the provision of quality basic education to all children of school age adding that, “the Federal Government has developed a model which integrates Western education and Islamic education.

“Contracts have been awarded for some schools for out-of-school children and Almajirai some of which have been completed and commissioned.

“Accordingly, government has planned to build more of such schools up 100 across the country with more emphasis and concentration in the northern part of the country.”

The Sultan urged the Ummah to uphold the tenets of the religion of Islam and assured governments at all levels of their readiness to assist in bringing solutions to problems affecting the country.

Also speaking at the programme, Governor Abdul Aziz Yari said the event provided an avenue for strengthening unity of the Ummah.

Gunmen kill Unimaid lecturer From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

U

nknown gunmen yesterday afternoon killed a senior lecturer with the Department of Mass Communication in the University of Maiduguri, (UNIMAID), Malam Murtala Mohammed.

Malam Mohammed who also doubled as a Doctorate Degree student, (PHD) in the university, was reportedly shot dead by three gunmen, who raided his house at the 202 Housing Estate in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

Both the state Police Command and the Joint, Military Task Force, (JTF), declined comments on the incident.

However, there were conflicting reports over the incident which reportedly occurred at about 2.15pm in the deceased’s home, few meters from the institution, along Bama road.

Late Mohammed was reportedly ambushed by the assailants, while driving out of the institution and was forced out of his car, before being whisked away in a waiting vehicle, according to sources at the university.

The gunmen have reportedly held the lecturer at gun point, before taking him to scene to slaughter him.

Chief information officer of the university, Malam Ahmed Mohammed, who confirmed the incident to newsmen last night, said the man was murdered by some gunmen in front of his house outside the institution, shortly after observing Zuhr prayers.

According to him, the lecturer died on the spot and that some soldiers, who arrived the spot later, have taken away the body and deposited same at the morgue of the university’s teaching hospital.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

As the Lagos-Kano passenger train returns‌ A

s the train meandered its way into Agege and crawled to a stop in front of the overcrowded Lagos station, Bashir Yusuf disembarked from the Second Class Coach where a dearth of seats had forced him to stand for five hours.

Mr. Yusuf boarded the KanoLagos train at Kaduna, where he paid N2, 000 and extracted a promise from the railway staff that he would get a comfortable space.

"When I searched the entire train for a seat and couldn't find any, I was very disappointed. I was lucky to get a place to stand," said Mr. Yusuf, 20, traveling in a train for the first time.

After decades in the doldrums, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, revived the Lagos-Kano train route last December to complement the existing Lagos -Ilorin and MinnaKano intercity train services.

The over 30 hour journey from Nigeria's commercial capital to the major industrial hub in the north has witnessed an impressive patronage since its return.

"As far as I'm concerned, being in the First Class coach, the journey is not so bad compared with the journey on the road," said Tanko Garba, 58, a passenger.

"It is cheap, and there is no fear of attack by armed robbers," he added.

There are about 20 stations scattered between the 1,126 kilometre distance between Lagos and Kano. And the train, with at least 16 coaches, is designed for three categories of passengers: the First Class Sleeper, with bed and air-condition; the First Class Seater, an air-conditioned coach that accommodates 60 passengers; and the Second Standard, with 90 passengers.

While the First Class coaches are relatively comfortable for the long distant trip, the Second Class coaches are like an overcrowded slum with loud verbal exchanges between passengers sometimes degenerating into fisticuffs.

"This place is like a war zone.

At least five people have tried to fight this night over space," said Mr. Yusuf.

During a recent journey from Kano to Lagos, the railway security arrested a young man who attacked a fellow passenger, handcuffed and locked him away inside one of the rooms in the coach.

"At the next station, we would release him and let him take his things off the train," said a security officer.

But such incidents are not rare in the Second Class compartments, designed to accommodate 630 passengers (in seven coaches) but end up carrying almost twice that figure.

In contrast, the passengers in the First Class coaches are much more concerned about things like leg room at their seats and the sanitary condition of the toilet.

In a train journey last February, the stench of the toilet in the First Class compartment spilled into the coach such that all the passengers had to be barred from using it.

"The railway is still on the old system and even most of the old system is now getting worse. You

Passengers have varying experiences on the Lagos-Kano train.

can see the toilet we have here, although it's a good toilet, there is no person that is mandated for the cleaning of the toilet," Mr. Garba said.

"During the time I experienced the something in the 1970s, every station there were coach attendants that they go to the toilets and wash them and sanitize them. Here there is no water, you have to buy water to clean yourself in the toilet," he added.

The NRC has been in existence for over a century. It commenced rail business activities between 1898 and 1901 with the construction of the first rail line, the 193 kilometre Lagos-Ibadan route.

With the completion of the 640 kilometre Kano-Maiduguri rail line in 1964, the present core of the railway network was put in place.

However, neglect by successive governments coupled with monumental corruption left rail transportation in the country gasping for survival, with the corporation running into bankruptcy more than once in the last two decades.

While no new wagons had

been purchased since 1993, some wagons date as far back as 1948, Jetson Nwankwo, a former Managing Director of the NRC, stated in his critique on Nigeria's rail transportation, in 2008.

Also, the old tracks contributes in limiting the trains to a speed of 35 kilometre per hour, a sharp contrast to that of modern trains - China's commercial trains move with an average speed of 200 kilometre per hour or more.

The President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, in 2006, signed a contract with the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company, CCECC, to modernize the Lagos-Kano rail line. Two years later, the project was suspended following a dispute.

In 2009, the Federal Ministry of Transport reawarded the contract for the rehabilitation to the CCECC, and Costain West Africa.

While the CCECC got the 488 kilometre Lagos-Jebba rail, Costain won the 638 kilometre Jebba-Kano end.

David Ndakotsu, NRC's Assistant Director, Public Relations, said that the Nigerian railway is undergoing a "massive

transformation."

"There is ongoing rehabilitation and modernization programme which is all embracing," Mr. Ndakotsu said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES. "That is, rehabilitation of the entire 3,500km track network, acquisition of new locomotive engines from General Electric, refurbishment of about 600 coaches and about 200 wagons for both passenger and freight transport, modernization of telecommunication programs, training of entire staff.

"This is the vision of the new railway. Extending rail lines to virgin areas," he added.

A poll of passengers during a train journey from Lagos to Kano and Kano to Lagos showed that almost all the passengers were happy with the revival of the Lagos-Kano route.

Most passengers interviewed said that they were optimistic of an improvement in services, though they expressed worries at the train's snail speed - it takes an average of 33 hours to complete the Lagos-Kano journey. At 200 kilometres per hour, a Chinese commercial train would complete the same journey in less

than six hours.

Bode Richards boarded the train from Lagos and arrived at Kaduna, a distance of 903 kilometres, 24 hours later.

"When we got to Minna, we saw a change. The movement was so rapid that somebody must have talked to somebody that this train was slowing down.

Along the line we got here at a good time," said Bode Richards, a consultant.

"We all need to give and take.

These guys working on the rail here, they have challenges, so we need to help them to grow. That's the way I see it," he added.

But Mr. Ndakotsu said that the corporation has already attained its maximum height in terms of services and operations.

"At the level of our economy, we are already there," he said.

Some of the passengers, however, stated that they were "misled and misinformed" after they watched on television the flagging off of the rail transport by Labaran Maku, the Information Minister.

"They showed us a very fine coach on AIT (Africa Independent Television), last two weeks, on Good Governance Tour," said Bola Ojo, 35, a nursing mother on her way to Zaria.

"They entered a very beautiful coach. I told my husband that my next trip is by rail. That coach on the telly has very big plasma TV. To make matters worse, they even interviewed passengers and they were happy. That was when I knew there was A/C from Lagos to Kano. But this is an old train," Mrs. Ojo said.

Another passenger, Abubakar, who sat on the floor almost throughout his entire 243 kilometre journey from Zaria to Minna, said that he was shocked at the deception.

"They didn't tell us that people can also sit on the floor, or even stand throughout a journey.

They lied to the whole Nigerians," a furious Mr. Abubakar said.

Despite such misgivings, patronage for the trains has continued to soar. The LagosKano route moves twice weekly, with all the 11 passenger coaches swarming with people.

Also, train routes in the Lagos area alone record between 16,000 and 20,000 passengers daily, according to the NRC. "There have been massive rush, massive demand, in fact we can't cope now," Mr. Ndakotsu said.

"All the major road transport passengers, most of them if they are going to Kano, Kaduna, Minna and so on, they are now taking the train. We are even looking forward, in the nearest future, to make it a daily operation (to the north) because it's always congested."

After 35 hours, the journey from Kano to Lagos, which began on March 18, got to its destination.

Mr. Yusuf, tired and exhausted, said that he would return to Kaduna, after his three week stay in Lagos, in a bus.

"I will follow Marco Polo (bus).

I'll pay for attachment, N2, 000," he said. (Premium Times)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Easter: Oshiomhole preaches sacrifice, righteousness From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

G

overnor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state says Nigeria will attain her full potentials when citizens resolve to live a life of sacrifice and righteousness.

In his Easter message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, Oshiomhole said: “as we commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who gave his life as a sacrifice for mankind, I enjoin the Christian faithful to toe the footsteps of their progenitor and emulate his spirit of peace, love, sacrifice and righteousness. ”The Bible teaches that righteousness exalts a nation, we must therefore be ready to wear the garment of righteousness in our dealings with one another.

“We must imbibe the spirit of love for one another and forgiveness to heal the wounds of the nation.

“I urge the faithful to forget the past, forge ahead and live in peace, love and harmony with their neighbours, in line with Christ’s teaching on the greatest commandment, love thy neighbour as thyself.

In our dear state, Edo, I enjoin the faithful to continue to maintain the religious peace, harmony and respect for people of other faiths which is needed in our quest to further propel our state to an enviable level in the country.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an NGO, on Sunday congratulated Christians in the country on the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is contained in a statement by MURIC’s Director, Prof. Is-haq Akintola, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.

It said that in conformity with the lessons embedded in the Easter celebrations, Christians must endeavour to be tolerant and forgiving of one another, especially with adherents of other religions.

“MURIC greets Nigerian Christians on this memorable occasion.

“We urge all Nigerians to demonstrate genuine respect for the manner of worship as well as the culture of other religions.

“There is an urgent need for the adherents of the various faiths in the country, particularly Christians and Muslims, to forge unity of purpose in nation-building.

“We therefore call for soberness and patience in the face of the challenges facing us as a people,” the statement said.

PAGE 5

Kwara Legislature urges FG to extend river Niger dredging From Olanrewaju Lawal,Ilorin

T

he Kwara state House of Assembly has urged t h e F e d e r a l Government to extend its dredging of the River Niger to Jebba, in Kwara, state to reduce the occurrence of flooding in the state.

After a debate on a motion

by Oke Ogun constituency, Kamalden Fagbemi, the

legislators described the proposal as fundamental to reduction of flooding in Kogi state.

While reading the resolution of the House, the Speaker Razak Atunwa, noted that flooding had done devastating damage to property and farm land in the area.

The House equally called on the government to as a matter of urgency resettle all the

communities residing on the river banks and waterways and provide assistance to the affected farm communities.

The legislature equally urged the state government to as a matter of deliberate policy ensure routine monitoring of waterways and prevent dumping of refuse on same.

The House also enjoined the state government to embark on advocacy for farmers, rural and

urban settlers along waterways, river banks on the hazards of flooding, global warming and the need to relocate and keep off from floodprone areas.

The law makers equally advised the state government to ensure that no building is approved by its Town Planning Development Agency in floodprone areas of the state to save the state further damage.

L-R: Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar, overall winner of the competition, Malam Kabiru Abubakar, Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Zamfara state governor, Alhaji Abdul-Aziz Yari Abubakar, Zamfara state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala Muhammad, during the closing ceremony of the 27th Qur'anic recitation competition, yesterday in Gusau, Zamfara state.

Stakeholders worry over implementation of new housing, urban development policies

By Udenna Orji

D

oubts have started to rise over the willingness of the Federal Government to implement its new National Housing Policy and Urban Development Policy approved by the Federal Executive Council in June last year.

The two policies are expected to usher a housing revolution in Nigeria, in the words of Housing and Urban Development Minister, Ms. Ama Pepple.

But apart from the regular reminders by the Housing Minister at various public fora that the policies will revolutionize housing, not much has been done in concrete terms to commence the execution of the policies.

A visit to the offices of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) could not yield fruit as the developers’ association claimed ignorant of any activities or actions by the Federal Government to give teeth to the policies.

REDAN as a critical stakeholder is expected to be carried along in the execution of the two policies but

government is yet to mobilize the association although it maintains that the actualization of the policies will be a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector under the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Executive Director, U.D Bond Shelter Services Limited, Mrs. Nkechi Ugochukwu, told our correspondent that, ”in truth, the Minister of Housing has introduced a lot of innovations in the housing sector and has shown tremendous passion in her commitment to reducing Nigeria’s housing deficit said to be in the region of over 16 million housing units.

“It was her doggedness that mobilized housing professionals together to formulate the new policies.

“Having used her doggedness to get the Federal Executive Council to approve the documents, stakeholders are appealing that she should continue with the high tempo and doggedness for which she is known.

“The Federal Government has always been good at approving policies or making

good regulations and pronouncements but the problem has always been lack of political will to executive noble policies.

“Industry operators are hoping that now that the policies have been approved, they should not be dumped in the archives as has been the way and manner of government.

The two documents hold the potential to actually revolutionise the housing sector with the attendant creation of thousands or probably, millions of employment opportunities.

“The implementation of the two policies will not be well done in the absence of necessary legal backing.

“Take for instance, the review of the Land Use Act of 1976, a piece of legislation agreed by the majority of Nigerians as the single greatest obstacle to housing development in Nigeria. “The reluctance of the legislators to work or complete work on this important Act has dumbfounded not a few Nigerians. There is also the foreclosure bill which is gathering dust at the National Assembly.”

Muslim group warns on harassment of Muslim students over hijab

By Zainab Yahaya Kandi

T

he Nigerian Muslims Network (NMM), an online forum for Nigerian Muslims at home and in the Diaspora, has decried what the group describes as victimization and harassment of Muslim students in Nigeria.

The group in a statement yesterday signed by its Amir, AbdulKadir, Ibrahim Taiwo, cited the recent cases of assault on Muslim students in Lagos.

According to the statement, “few weeks ago, one Mrs. E.C. Ukpaka, Principal of Kadara Junior Grammar School, Ebute Meta, was reported to have caned a (JSS 2) Muslim student, Aisha Alabi, 43 strokes of cane just because she wore hijab.

“Another case was reported in Mafoluku Senior Grammar School, Oshodi, Lagos where a female student’s hijab was forcefully removed and trampled upon by a fellow student.

“And, as if that was not enough injustice, the female student was later reportedly suspended by the school authorities.

PAGE 6

Gunmen attack police station, kill four in Gombe From David Hassan, Gombe

U

nknown gunmen at the weekend attacked a police station at Kumo, in Akko local government area of Gombe state killing four persons.

The gunmen reportedly stormed the area at 11pm last Friday, started shooting indiscriminately and over powered the policemen.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Fwaje Atajiri, however said that the police repelled the attack.

MDGs, stakeholders to brainstorm on national report

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Delta Steel pensioners decry FG's negligence T

he Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has decried the Federal Government’s negligence in the payment of pension arrears to disengaged staff of Delta Steel Company Limited (DSCL).

The NUP also said over 500 of their members who were disengaged by the Delta Steel Company Limited (DSCL) since 2005 died while awaiting their entitlement.

President of NUP, comrade Ali Abatcha who gave the indication in a statement said over 1,983 pensioners of the DSCL were laid off and later retired officially, adding that the death toll does not represent their wives and children.

The union noted that in June 4,

2012, it addressed a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan on the matter but regretted that there was no response from the President.

It added that out of the total sum of N11,709,797, 517, owed the pensioners, only 45 percent of the total money was paid to them.

The letter which was also copied the joint Senate Committee on Public Establishment and States and Local Government on Pension administration and management, Minister of Iron and Steel, DirectorGeneral of BPE, and the secretary NUP Delta Steel Company Limited also said 55 percent of the money is yet to be paid.

Comrade Abatcha alleged that the decision to stop pension payment

to the existing pensioners and the nonplacement of the disengaged staff on monthly pension was taken by the joint Managing Director of DSCL in collaboration with some BPE and Government officials to the detriment of the pensioners and disengaged staff.

Comrade Abatcha described as sad the way authorities are handling pensioners in Nigeria, because "since June 2012 that we wrote a letter to the President for intervention into the situation of DSCL pensioners, nothing was done till now while our members die daily.

"Another pathetic story of the DSCL pensioners is that the houses sold to them by Federal Government through BPE as part payment of their entitlements, we are constrained to

inform you that out of about 4500 units houses that were sold to the pensioners, about 600 units yet to be accessed by the pensioners as the houses are being occupied by illegal occupants who have vowed not to vacate the houses.

"Ironically, while this injustice to our members is going on unchallenged, our members are dying daily without enjoying the fruits of their labour. Sadly, as at today, the death toll of our members at DSCL has risen to over 500. This figure does not represent the number of wives, children and dependants they lost while hopelessly waiting for payments of their benefits".

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he office of Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (OSSAPMDGS) will hold a national workshop for the preparation of a report to be presented by the Nigerian Country team led by Dr. Precious Gbeneol, Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs as Nigeria's National Voluntary Presentation, NVP, at the High Level Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) in Geneva in July 2013.

The OSSAP-MDGs Deputy Director, Communications, Mrs. Kene Offie, said in a statement that the workshop would hold between April 4 and 5, in Abuja.

According to the statement, critical inputs from stakeholders from cross-cutting sectors locally and from the relevant United Nations entities will form the core contents of the NVP to be delivered at the ECOSOC forum.

The workshop which is being organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, will have a keynote address delivered by the Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman. According to the statement, "while emphasis will be placed on the accomplishments and challenges encountered in the implementation of National Development Strategies and Policies as stated in the guidelines for the preparation of the National Report, we intend to highlight the utility of the Nigerian MDGs Information System in both the Report and the National Voluntary Presentation as a crucial tool that has had impact on the implementation of Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs), including the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria."

R-L: Administrator, Methodist Cathedral of Unity, Wuse, Abuja, Very Reverend Dennis Mark; Methodist Archbishop of Abuja, Archbishop Chimaroke Iweha, and Very Reverend Ifeanyichukwu Nwade; during the church service to mark Easter Sunday, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Funding structure delaying power projects, says NSE

By Udenna Orji

T

he Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) says Nigeria's pattern of funding electric power projects through annual provisions in the budget is the major cause of the delay in completion of power projects and power sector reforms.

The federal government is

currently battling to complete several National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) in different parts of the country while also pursuing the power sector privatization and reforms.

But recently, power generation dropped from a little above 4,000 Mega Watts (MW) to its current level of a little above 3000 MW. The NIPPs are needed to come on stream to boost

power generation.

The NSE therefore called on government to take into consideration the life cycle of power projects and adopt a five to ten-year funding structure to ensure that projects are completed on time for Nigerians to begin to enjoy regular power for economic development.

According to the NSE President, Rahman Shehu, who led his

Wole Awolowo: Magajin Gari Sokoto condoles family

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

he Magajin Gari Sokoto, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba Marafara, has commiserated with the Awolowo family on the death of Wole Awolowo.

Marafa who is a grandson of the late Premier of defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in a statement in Abuja yesterday described the late Wole as vanguard of patriotism.

According to the statement, "on behalf of myself and the entire family of late premier of the defunct Northern Region, I offer my heartfelt

condolence to the family of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo over the death of Evangelist Oluwole Awolwo, Publisher of Tribune Newspapers.

"It is quite regrettable that he passed on at a time Nigerian needs the patriarch of late Awolowo family to serve as an example of vanguard of patriotism, and shining light of service delivery to common man.

"It is more gratifying to note that despite his privileged background, Oluwole lived a quiet life without courting public attention whatsoever.

"It is my prayer that God who

gives life and takes it, will give the family of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss.

"My heartfelt condolence goes to HID Awolowo, the mother of the deceased.

"The finality of death should serve as a lesson for Nigerians to love each other.

"It is not by mistake that Almighty Allah made us to live together under one umbrella called Nigeria.

"The challenge of nation building is a task that involves all Nigerians irrespective of ethnic or religious background."

members on a visit to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), "the nature of power projects is such that designs and construction stages normally exceed two to three years and the whole project cycle can be up to five years conservatively from feasibility to detailed design and construction.

"The annual budget for projects in Nigeria comes with a great deal of uncertainty in the allocation and amount thereby resulting in delayed payment to contractors and consultants, frequent project augmentation, delayed completion and utilisation of the project."

He lamented that the development comes on the heels of a creeping lull in power project activities as industry operators worry over an avalanche of problems including delay by the World Bank in signing the Partial Risk Guarantee Agreement with the Federal Government that will assure gas producers and suppliers that they would be paid for gas they supply to Nigerian power generation companies.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 7

KEBBI STATE OF NIGERIA KEBBI STATE PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNANCE REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IDA FINANCING 4667-NG STATE STEERING COMMITTEE, MINISTRY OF FINANCE GWADANGWAJI SECRETARIAT BIRNIN KEBBI

Request For Proposal (Rfp) For A Consultant To Prepare Draft Procurement Regulations, Training Needs Assessment And Standard Bidding Documents Background 1. The Federal Government of Nigeria has received a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the implementation of the Public Sector Governance Reform and Development Project in selected states. Kebbi state is a beneficiary of this credit and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consultancy services to benchmark the Procurement of Construction, Goods and Services (Guidelines) Law No. 5 of 2008 as well mainstream through a civil service sector wide approach (SWAP) implementation action of the procurement processes through issuance of bidding documents etc.

2. The broad objective of the project is to improve transparency, accountability and quality in the public finance and procurement systems with a view to strengthen governance in participating states. Specifically it seeks to ensure good governance by way of promoting accountability and transparency in the utilization of public financial and human resources.

Progress towards the achievement of these objectives will be measured by a) Adoption of more transparent and modern economic and financial management system and processes that are less prone to corruption and b) Implementation of restructuring plans in pilot Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government of Kebbi State and initiation of reforms in other MDAs. COMPONENTS: The implementation of the Project in Kebbi State is designed around two main areas: I. Public financial Management reforms and II. Public procurement reforms PUBLIC PROCCUREMENT REFORMS III. Institutional and legal frameworks similar to that at the Federal level aimed at achieving (i) increased value for money in the use of public resources (i.e. establishing due process in public procurement of goods, works and consulting services; (ii) broader participation of the private sector and transparency in the procurement process. The component will significantly enhance the achievement of the project development objective by establishing a well functioning procurement system which will provide information to support the process of budget development and execution and will benefit from the public financial management system with regard to timely appropriations and availability of funds to support the award and payments of contracts.

IV. Activities under this sub-component will include among others V. (i) The preparation and adoption of procurement reform strategy and implementation of procurement law by the Kebbi State Government.

VI. (i) Preparation of procurement regulations and procurement manual for the State Procurement Law and wide dissemination including in local languages; VII. (iii) Preparation and use of the state standard bidding documents for contract awards using open competition; VIII. (iv) Establishment of an effective, efficient and transparent independent complaints mechanism within the State Procurement System; and establishment of a reliable and regularly updated procurement databank in the state procurement agency.

IX. (v) Provide technical assistance for the setting-up of a functional State Public Procurement Agency (SPPA) including strengthening their capacity for post procurement reviews and value for money audits; X. (vi) Undertake training needs assessment and financing of the training of the SPPA and MDAs staff; XI. (vii) Procurement awareness and capacity building of Non-Government actors to help build demand for good procurement behaviour from public officials, non-state actors need to understand better the important role of procurement in the fight against corruption and also build their capacity to understand procurement processes and practice good procurement themselves. The specific actions will include: XII. Vigorous state-wide campaigns on role of good public procurement system in the fight against corruption. This will include seminars, conferences, printing and circulation of the new laws and regulations and preparation of Procurement Journals.

XIII. Demand-driven technical assistance to oversight and watchdog institutions and civil society groups to develop, build and strengthen their capacity to monitor procurement.

XIV. Implementation: In each State, the Due Process/Public Procurement Agency will have primary responsibility for the implementation of the subcomponent.

OBJECTIVES The public procurement initiative will support reform of procurement policies and processes, in parallel with institutional strengthening of the key public management and procurement agencies. The component will help;

i. Modernized financial management and accountability arrangement; ii. Streamline and modernized public sector procurement procedures.

SCOPE OF WORK Specifically, the consultant will be required to perform the following tasks: i. Drafting of procurement regulations and discussion with key stakeholders for revision; ii. Preparation of implementing regulations for the new procurement law iii. Wide spread of dissemination of the new procurement law and regulations; the consultant is expected to organize training and sensitization workshop and seminars including state and local government officials and civil society groups on the new procurement law and regulations and the importance of efficient procurement for the effectiveness of public spending in giving value for money iv. Establishment of reliable and regularly updated procurement data base; v. Procurement training and capacity building in the public sector including strengthened oversight capacity and public enlightenment and Preparation of state standard bidding document.

SCOPE OF WORK: SKILLS REQUIREMENTS Team leader: i. Advance degree in economics, law, public administration, management, sociology or any of the social sciences; ii. Experience in governance and institutional reforms strategies; iii. 10 years post qualification experience in reform programmes; Other key staff: i. The team should compose of legal expert with not less than 8 years post qualification experience and implementation of reform programmes; ii. A social scientist/ public administrator with experience in reform programmes iii. Knowledge of world bank funded programmes would be an added advantage DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT The assignment shall last for period of ninety days (90) DELIVERABLES i. Inception report within two (2) weeks from the date of contract signing; an of assignment; ii. Interim report within four (4) weeks after receipt of inception report; iii. Draft final report within the next three (3) weeks; iv. Final report within four (4) weeks from the date of submission of draft report.

REPORTING SCHEDULE The Consultant shall report to the Chairman, State Steering Committee on the project.

SELECTION METHOD Quality-Cost Based Selection (QCBS) COST ESTIMATE 300,000 USD (or less) PAYMENT SCHEDULE (i) 20% of the contract sum upon receipt of an inception report; (ii) 40% upon receipt of draft report and (iii) 40% upon receipt of final report Interested consulting firms are to submit proposals addressed to: Chairman, State Steering Committee, Public Sector Governance Reform & Development Project, Ministry of Finance, Gwadangwaji Secretariat, BIRNIN KEBBI. KEBBI STATE. The proposal should reach the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance on or before the 30th April 2013.

RESERVATIONS, REJECTION OF RESPONSE The Government of Kebbi State reserves the right to reject any proposal submitted in response to this advertisement without assigning any reasons thereto.

ALHAJI UMAR F. BAKO Permanent Secretary Finance, for and on behalf of Chairman, Kebbi State Steering Committee, Public Sector Governance Reform & Development Project.

Birnin Kebbi.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

www.kn.gov.ng/new/

91st KANO STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING On Wednesday 27th March, 2013 (14th Jumada Awwal, 1434 AH), the Kano State Executive Council held its 91stSitting under the Chairmanship of Governor Engr.

Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE. Fifty-nine (59) memoranda were submitted by ten (10) MDAs for deliberation by Council among which thirty-eight (38) were approved for execution with ten (10) of them being on policy issues while twenty-eight (28) have financial implications to the aggregate sum of Nine Hundred and Twenty Eight Million, Eighty Four Thousand, One Hundred Seventy Six Naira Ninety Kobo (N928, 084,176.90). Thus: 1. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Two (2) memoranda were submitted for deliberation by the Council from the Ministry of Education. Both were approved for execution as follows: a) Presentation on Progress Report (November, 2012 to March, 2013) from Kano State Agency for Mass Education:This administration realizes the significance of investing in human capital through the provision of education. Investing in human capital is in political-economic sense very much the same as investing in nonhuman capital, such as machines, structures, equipment and other material capital. Just as investment in nonhuman capital is expected to generate efficient and profitable outcome in business circles, so is the huge investment in human capital expected to augment the capacity of the State labor resources.This clearly explained the huge investment being made by the present administration in the education sector. In addition, to the support given to the formal education sector through the provision of more classes, equipment and instructional materials, the informal sector is not left unattended. This brings us to the purpose of this memorandum submitted by the Agency for Mass Education.

The Kano State Agency for Mass Education is among the commendably productive Parastatalsof the Ministry of Education known to champion adult education delivery of desired quality. Contents of this memorandum presented details of the activities/ performance of the Agency in the period November, 2012 to March, 2013.

Essentially, the Agency for Mass Education has a total of 638 Staff of which 271 are permanent and pensionable while the majority of 367 are on part-time engagements.

The main activities were highlighted in the report to include the following: · Mass Literacy Classes · Conventional Literacy and Vocational Programs. · Monitoring · Public Enlightenment · Mass Literacy Campaign Progress and achievements were presented along with problems and future plans in the report. The Agency indicated that thousands of prospective students were registered and admitted while hundreds of classes were established and those in existence were renovated throughout the lengthand breadth of the State with the support of the Local Government Councils.Briefly, this administration has awarded the renovation and drilling of boreholes in Albasu, Bagwai, G/Dutse, Fagge, Garko and Gaya, Gwarzo, Kiru, Kwankwaso, Kano City, G/Albasa, Minjibir, Bichi, Dambatta, Gezawa, R/Gado, Rano and Wudil Women Centers worth million of Naira.

The Agency expressed its gratitude to the Government for the support and encouragement granted to it at all times. Council assured that more moral and financial support would be given to the Agency to tackle the problem of mass literacy in fulfillment of this administration’s commitment towards educating the citizenry to put an end to ignorance. It is in this realization that the administration made available the sum of over N500 million since inception to the Agency to double its efforts in educating those not opportune to attend formal schools. This is beside the more than N100 million expended in the procurement of vehicles and renovation of the Agency Headquarters and other Centers to facilitate the admission of students in the 44 Local Government Areas.

Council is therefore, calling the attention of the citizenry to join the program for the tremendous benefits they can derive.In fact, the knowledge to be acquired through this program would be beneficial not only to the attendee, but to the State in particular and the nation in general. Through mass literacy, one is expected to improve his capacity to be productive to the society, thereby improving the quality of the State’s labor resources.

The Agency is directed to facilitate the absorption of the graduatesinto the formal postprimary institutions. The Agency should provide necessary facilities for their advancement by assisting them toeither sit for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) or National Examination Council (NECO) examinations, or join some vocational training institutes.

This administration has set up machinery to assist Mass Education graduates who qualify for admission into tertiary institutions in and out of the State to be given an automatic scholarship. b) Report on Constituency Projects, 2009 under the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB):This administration has inherited numerous abandoned and uncompleted projects most of which were awarded at the tails-end of the immediate past administration. Major road constructions were awarded, for example, after the release of the 2011 election results with a new Government coming in. This kind of action was meant to tie the incoming administration’s hands by committing it to a contractual agreement it was not privy to. This is in addition to over N70 billion unpaid bills left by the same administration for contracts awarded, workers and pensioners’ benefits. However, with prudence this administration has almost completed the abandoned major road contracts, such as Murtala Muhammed Way by Daula Hotel, Abdullahi Wase Road, Bank Road, Darmanawa- Yan tsaki Road, Independence Road, Mandawari-Aminu Kano Way, Mandawari- Kwanar Goda Way, etc.In fact, in the process of renegotiation with the contractors a saving of over N700 million was made from the initial contract sum agreed upon by the past administration. However, it was not on road construction alone that this Government met abandoned projects. Even in the education sector, numerous projects were left unattended by the immediate past administration in spite of the fact that the leading figures of the regime werebeing seen as educationists.

The State Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB)submitted a memorandum to the Council in response to its directivesto verify Constituency projects approved for execution in 2009 under the Board.

Reportedly, SUBEB Officials visited/inspected all the 24 Constituency projects contract sites in six (6) LGCAs comprising Gwarzo, Gezawa, Fagge, Municipal, Tarauni and Bunkure. Specifically, the visits revealed that: · Twenty (20) projects were satisfactorily completed to 100% level but were not settled by the immediate past administration. · Three (3) projects are still uncompleted (abandoned at various stages). · Work did not commence at one (1) project site though changed from the original. · Only 30% mobilization fee was paid to respective contractors. · The twenty (20) Contractors that completed their work are still owed 70% balance payment to the tune of N52, 353,394.17.

As such, SUBEB requested Council to approve the release of the sum of N52, 353,394.17 to enable settlement of outstanding payments to twenty (20) Contractors that have respectively completed their work.

Approval was granted by Council for the release of the requested sum of N52, 353,394.17 to enable payment of 70% balance for Constituency projects (2009) under SUBEB executed by twenty (20) Contractors while directing the remaining Contractors to go back to site within the next two weeks.

2. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT Office of the Secretary to the State Government submitted thirty two (32) memoranda for deliberation by the Council on behalf of some MDAs. Twenty-two (22) of them were approved for execution as follows: a) Presentation of the Status of Amana Taxi Empowerment Scheme as at February, 2013:Contents of this memorandum reminded Council of the establishment of the Amana Taxi Empowerment Scheme in June, 2012 with the aims of alleviating poverty and providing efficient and convenient means of carriage/movement of people within the Metropolis.

Part of the requirement was to acquire and organize a fleet of vehicles to float the Scheme, which was done as follows: S/N Make of Vehicle Number Source i.

Golf, Vectra and Buses 766 Purchased directly by Government ii. Opel Vectra 526 Allocated by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport iii. Buses 155 Allocated by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport iv. Cars and Buses 731 Collected and allocated

ENGR. RABI`U MUSA KWANKWASO Executive Governor, Kano State

v.

Taxis (Painted) 35 Not allocated

The whole essence is to squarely address the problems of commuting in the State and create employment / jobs for the teeming citizenry by leasing out these vehicles to KanoStateindigenous youths who are required to repay within a period of two (2) years through two recommended selected banks, which include FCMB and GT Banks respectively.

Council was presented with eight (8) salient issues on the Scheme for consideration as follows: · That the Scheme took off with 1,500vehicles comprising 1,000 Volkswagen (Golf) and 500 Toyota Hiace Buses. · That the total number of vehicles leased out to KanoStateindigenous beneficiaries is estimated at 776. · That the Unit Cost per Taxi to the Scheme is N750, 000.00 while that of a Hiace Bus isN1, 420,000.00. · That the beneficiaries hardly keep to the obligation of making the usual weekly payments/ deposits ofN8, 000.00 and N16, 000.00 respectively. · That the total recovery made since inception of the Scheme in June, 2012 as submitted by the two (2) banks (FCMB and GTB) were put at the total sum of N15,942,000.00 only. · That at the rate the recovery efforts are carried out without the effective supervision and control of an established structure/authority it will be difficult for the Scheme to sustain itself. · That an established structure/authority should be put in place to monitor the recovery efforts as well as ascertain the exact number of vehicles converted to personal use and proffer appropriate measures/actions to be instituted to bring to book those found wanting. · That the structure to be put in place should devise an effective means of regulating the operations of the Scheme in line with standard procedure. Emphasis must be placed on the recovery of those vehicles diverted as well as obtaining Insurance Cover for all the vehicles in the fleet.

So, Council was solicited to approve the following; i. Establishment of a Structure/authority that would organize the operations of the Scheme along Standard procedures. ii. Additional banks with a network of branches spread all over the 44 LGCAs should be involved so as to ease the burden encountered in making deposits/repayments. iii. Establishment of a Technical Committee with membership drawn from the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to proffer modalities for better management of the Scheme.

Council appreciated the presentation. b) Request for funds to facilitate effective regulation of the activities of Traditional Medicine Practitioners in the State:The Ministry of Health submitted a request for the release of the sum of N3, 017,120.00 to undertake a Statewide Registration Exercise of Traditional Medicine Practitioners.

Credence for the request emanate from the need to identify this category of Health providers put at the estimated figure of over 20,000. Advantages abound in executing the registration exercise, which include the following among others: i. The exercise provides forum of communication and sharing of knowledge and ideas in the field of medicine generally. ii. Government’s understanding of the extent of patronage enjoyed by the Traditional Medicine Institution. iii. The exercise opens up an additional source of revenue to the State through taxation put on the activities of the Traditional Medicine Practitioners.

The request was endorsed and recommended for positive response by Council so as to effectively regulate the activities of Traditional Medicine Practitioners as was done to general practitioners in general orthodox medicine/drug handler.

Council considered and approved the release of the requested sum of N3,017,120.00 to the Ministry of Health to undertake the registration of Traditional Medicine Practitioners exercise. c) Submission of the list of admitted Kano State indigenous Students into the Northwest University, Kano Seeking for Government Scholarship/Sponsorship to Enable them Register for Various Academic Programs:Authorities at the NorthwestUniversity, Kano submitted the list of admitted Kano State Indigenous Students into the Institution seeking for a Government Scholarship / Sponsorship to enable them to register for various Academic Programs. The Chairman Implementation Committee of the NorthwestUniversity, Kano, endorsed the list.

Contents of this memorandum reminded Council of the policy pronouncement of the sum of N75, 000.00 as the approved School/registration fee for NorthwestUniversity, Kano.

People complained due to their financial status and difficulty in affording the approved sum in respect of their wards. Typical of the present administration under the Leadership of Governor Engr.Rabi’u Kwankwaso, FNSE, Government declared its willingness to assist Students/Parents adjudged by objective criteria to be genuinely in a situation of inability. As such, the Implementation Committee of the University defined criteria for collating information on/from the affected segment of the society with a view to facilitating further scrutiny and verification by the Government.

Accordingly, a public announcement was aired and the affected Students were invited for documentation between Monday 4th-Friday 8th March, 2013 using the defined criteriain which the Candidates’ Primary and Secondary Schools Certificates were screened and all relevant information gathered.

Among the total number of 178 that turned up for the screening exercise, 158 satisfied the first stage of the screening which was only based on nature of Primary and Secondary Schools attended. The second stage requires verification of the candidates’ respective family income/background for which the Implementation Committee of the NorthwestUniversity, Kano requested for assistance/scholarship to the 158 Students that satisfied the first stage of the screening (as presented) upon further verification by their respective LGCAs of Origin.

Council noted, considered and directed the Ministries for Special Duties and Higher Education (Scholarship Board) to interview the applicants. d) Request for funds to facilitate the purchase and allocation of two (2) Toyota Hilux Double Cabin Pick-Up for the Office of the Auditor General for the Local Governments:The requested sum of N13, 900,000.00 was approved for release by Council to the Office

of the Secretary to the State Government to enablethe purchase and allocation of two (2) Toyota Hilux Double Cabin Pick-up to the Office of the Auditor General for the Local Governments.

The request was considered in line with the mandate conferred by relevant regulations on the Office of the Auditor General. More so now, as Council was intimated of need for means of transportation by the said Office so as to ease movement in conducting the annual review of financial transactions of the 44 Local Government Councils/Local Education Authorities as well as the validation of accounts submitted by the Local Government Councils. e) Request for funds to enable the conduct of Quality Assurance Step-Down Training and Carry out External Evaluation of Basic Education Schools in the State:The State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) submitted a request for the release of the aggregate sum ofN40, 040,550.00by Council to enable the conducting of Quality Assurance Step-Down Training and carry out External Evaluation of all Basic Education Schools in the State.

The decision by the Board to carry out the proposed endeavor resulted from the need to actualize resolutions of the 54thNational Council on Education (NEC) meeting held at KatsinaState in 2007. Recommendation and approval for change was proffered from the old system of inspection to a new one called “Quality Assurance”.

So, the Board proposed to conduct the Quality Assurance Step-Down Training for 7,248 Staff covering all the State and Zonal Inspectors, all supervisors across the 44 Local Government Education Authorities as well as Head Teachers of Basic Education Schools in the State. The sum of N28, 771,550.00was estimated/projected to cover the Cost for the purpose.

On the other hand, after the training exercise, all the State and Zonal Inspectors (External Evaluation) will carry out external evaluation visitations to all Basic Education Schools in the entire State. This exercise was estimated/projected to require financial commitment to the tune of N11, 269,000.00.

Approval was granted for the release of the sum of N28, 771,550.00to enable the conducting of Quality Assurance Training by SUBEB as the project is in line with the policy of the present administration to ensure good and effective Service delivery especially in the Education Sector. f) Presentation of the need to convene a Development Donor Conference in KanoState:The Honorable Commissioner for Planning and Budget advised Government, through the contents of this memorandum on the need to commence preparation for the Development Donor Conference in KanoState. In fact, since inception this administration has an open door policy on the issue of collaborating with Governmental and Non-Governmental Agencies towards the development of the State.Staging the Conference would open up opportunities for the State to solicit for additional donor support through the ‘Donor Development Basket’. Thus, Council approved the proposal submitted for the staging of Development Donor Conference for the State to achieve its development agenda as envisioned under this administration.

Council appreciatedthe open support of DFID for its readiness to provide experts to assist in the preparation of the Conference. g) Request for funds to enable the procurement of Uniforms for VIOs and the training of 150 newly employed ones:Contents of this memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport notified Council of the need to provide Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) with new sets of uniforms after eight (8) years without such good gesture from the previous administration.

Specifically, the State has only 65 serving VIOs but employment of additional 150 was successfully conducted by the Civil Service Commission as mandated by Executive Extract NO. SSCA/CA/EX/4/1/568 for the enhancement of safety on our roads and meet the challenges of the present-day traffic situation.

The Ministry requested Council to approve the release of the sum of N4, 957,000.00 to enable the provision of two (2) new Sets of Uniforms to 215 VIOs (65 old + 150 new) and facilitate the training/induction of the newly employed into the service. The expenditure was segmented as follows: · Uniforms (2 sets) for 215 Officers N3, 827,000.00 · Training of150 Officers N1, 130,000.00 · Total N4, 957,000.00 Council noted, considered and approved the release of the sum of N4,957,000.00 to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to facilitate the stated purposes. h) Request for funds to facilitate Turn-Around-Maintenance of 15/18 Tons Blenders at KASCO Fertilizer Blending Plant Complex, Dakata:The KASCO Blending Plants at Dakata require turnaround maintenance for which the sum of N4, 491,900.00 was requested for release by Council to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to undertake.Such blending plants are the production facilities used in the blending of fertilizer continuously distributedto farmers for agricultural production.

Council noted, considered and approved the release of the sum of N4,491,900.00 to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to enable the conduct of the turnaround maintenance. i) Request for funds to facilitate payment of furniture allowance to 78 Magistrates of the State:Office of the Secretary to the State Government submitted the endorsed request from the Hon. Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, through the contents of this memorandum, that sought for approval by Council for the release of the sum of N9, 750,000.00 to enable the payment of furniture allowances to 78 Magistrates of the State as was recently done to their counterparts (Shari’a Court Judges).This gesture is repeated every four years to this category of Staff.Council approved the release of the requested sum of N9,750,000.00 to the Ministry of Justice to enable the payment of a furniture allowance to theMagistrates. j) Request for funds to enable the repairs of TukuntawaEntranceBridge:The State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport tabled to Council a letter received from the Tukuntawa Focus Association of Sharada Ward in Kano Municipal LGCA requesting for Government assistance/intervention in repairing the TukuntawaEntranceBridge.

Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport reported having dispatched a team of Engineers to assess the affected bridge/area with a view to proffering a proposal for the repair works. The team reported that, the hydraulic structure was not a bridge but rather a “block work drain” that crossed the road covered with reinforced concrete across slabs provided to enable access. The slabfailed and a metal plate was provided as temporary measure perhaps by the communitiesto enable crossing/passage.

The Engineers recommended the removal of the affected section of the drain that crosses the road and replaced it with a single cell ring culvert, repairs of the existing earth road from the main road (Gidan Zoo to Sharada) and reconstructing the block side drain along the road. A provisional BEME on the scope of works was prepared to the tune of N4, 430,463.29.Council approved the execution of the project at the sum ofN4, 280,037.30. k) Request for funds to enable the continuation ofthe publicity, sensitization and mobilization activities for the 1st Quarter of the Year 2013:Office of the Secretary to the State Government submitted a request, on behalf of the Office of the Special Adviser Community Reorientation Council (CRC), through the contents of this memorandum, for the release of the sum of N10,613,437.80 to enable the continuation ofthe publicity, sensitization and mobilization activities of the CRC for the first quarter of the 2013. The programs/activities are planned/proposed to be aired on Radio Kano, ARTV, Radio Freedom, Pyramid and Rahama Radio Stations as well as Arewa Studio, Al-Sadeq Productions and A4 Communications Ltd. The request was considered relevant and Council approved the release sum of N10, 613,437.80 to the Office of the Special Adviser CRC to enable the continuation of the sensitization program (CRC). l) Request for funds for the Justice Sector Reform (Code 32000 Justice Sector Reform):Office of the Attorney Government/Hon. Commissioner Ministry of Justice submitted a request for the release of the sum of N15, 000,000.00 to facilitate the activities of Justice Sector Reform Team. The team was constituted as a forum where Justice Sector issues are jointly discussed by representatives of Justice Sector related Institutions.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013 The forum identifies challenges that impede administration of Justice, consider and proffer solutions thereto. Activities of the Justice Sector Reform team are supported by DFID. Essentially, seven (7) strategic objectives have been identified by the team in its action plan for which the requestedN15, 000,000.00 will be utilized. Details were presented to Council which substantiated credibility of the request.

So, approval was granted for the release of the requested sum of N15, 000,000.00 to the Ministry of Justice to enable the Justice Sector Reform Team conduct their activities. m) Presentation of third (3rd) Progress Report by the Committee on House Numbering/Street Naming:The Committee on House Numbering/Street Numbering politely reminded Council of its approval for the release of the sum of N356, 874,563.34 to the eight (8) metropolitan LGCAs to cater for the printing of data forms, folders, embossed plate numbers for houses and street name stand, etc. for the second phase of the entire exercise. Only 1/ 3 of the approved sum of money was released, which warranted printing of only 1/3 of the total forms and folders needed.

The Committee presented highlights of its activities, via the contents of this memorandum, indicating its constraints and challenges especially on finance for which it solicited for approval of the release of the aggregate sum of N319, 028,097.14 to enable the continuation of the house numbering/street naming at the eight (8) metropolitan LGCAs. Council noted and considered the presentation and approved the release of the requested sum of N319, 510,083.00 to the eight (8) metropolitan LGCAs to enable the house numbering/street naming Committee continue with its activities. n) Appointment of Key Management Officials for the recently established Kano Roads Maintenance Agency (KARMA):Kano Roads Maintenance Agency (KARMA) has been established by the present administration under the Leadership of the second incumbency of Governor Engr.

Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE with the aim of proper coordination of road maintenance in the State. What remains is the appointment of key management officials.

Four (4) positions were recommended by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport, which include the posts of the Managing Director, Director Operation, Director Research and Planning and Secretary/Legal Adviser.

Council approved the appointment of the following seasoned and accomplished personalities on merit to assume the recommended managerial positions. Thus; · Managing Director – Engr. Abubakar Muhammad Jibrin · Director Operations – Engr. Idris Wada Saleh · Director Research and Planning – Engr. Yahaya Yussuf · Secretary/Legal Adviser – Ma’aruf Mohammed Yakasai o) Request for funds to enable the procurement of working materials to evacuate debris dumped which blocked major drainage/walkways along Kofar Nassarawa to Kasuwar Rimi Road:The Senior Special Assistant on Drainage/Chairman Drainage Committee submitted a request, through contents of this memorandum for the release of funds or working materials for the committee to perform its function. This is in order to enable evacuation/ clearing of debris dumped on drainages/water ways leading to blockages along Kofar Nassarawa to Kasuwar Rimi Road in Kano Municipal LGCA. Genesis of the request was in response to a series of complaints received by the Committee on the issue.

Council approved the requested sum of N595, 800.00 to cater for provision of working materials (N197, 000.00), Food/other items (N118, 800.00), Labor (N280, 000.00).

3. MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION Two (2) memoranda were submitted for deliberation by the Council from the Ministry of Higher Education. Both of them were approved for execution as follows: a) Report of the payment of Students Allowances for 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 Academic Sessions:The Honorable Commissioner for Higher Education submitted the report of payment of Students’ Scholarship allowances for 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 Academic Sessions to Students studying in various Higher Institutions in the Country.

Council was reminded, by the contents of this memorandum, of its approval granted for the release of the sum of N397, 398,760.00to enable the payment of Scholarship allowances by the State Scholarship Board. The payment exercise was successfully conducted by the Executive Committee set up for the purpose.

During the payment the sum of N1, 499,800.00 was returned as unclaimed from the total sum released for the settlement of the allowances. Nevertheless, a shortfall of N5, 619,604.00 arose due to the inadvertent omission of some students by the Board. The Board utilized other sources to settle the allowances of those omitted and applied for refund from the Government. Council approved the following: i. The return of N1, 499,800.00 to the Government Treasury by the State Scholarship Board. ii. Release of the sum of N5, 619,604.00 to refund the sum utilized to settle the allowances of those omitted. b) Request for funds to enable the conduct of the 3rd Convocation Ceremony of KanoUniversity of Science and Technology, (KUST), Wudil:This memorandum informed Council on the need for the release of N25 million for the upcoming third convocation of the Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil.

This institution was established under the guidance of the informed foresight of Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE during his first tenure.

The request was considered credible by Council, which did not flinch in granting approval for the release of the sum of N25, 000,000.00 to the Ministry of Higher Education to enable the authorities at KUST, Wudil conduct the 3rdConvocation Ceremony of the University on Friday 19ththrough to Saturday 20th April, 2013.

4. MINISTRY OF WORKS, HOUSING AND TRANSPORT This Ministry submitted eight (8) memoranda for deliberation by the Council. Five (5) of them were approved for execution as follows: a) Request for funds to facilitate the continuation of Demountable Aluminum Partitioning at the 6th Floor, Relocation of Libraries and General Readjustments at the Temporary Site (Gidan Ado Bayero) of Northwest University, Kano:Establishment of the NorthwestUniversity, Kano is a foregone issue with the admission of 1000 students and the beginning of academic courses. What obtains now is to make the endeavor work. So, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport reminded Council, through contents of this memorandum, of what informed the award of the Contract on the ongoing Aluminum Partition works at the temporary site of the NorthwestUniversity, Kano. Other works became necessary/essential which calls for additional partitioning of the 6thfloor, relocation of Electronic and Conventional Libraries as well as general adjustments of all floors for suitable conversion into faculties and signage within the building.

The Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport evaluated and assessed the extent of works required and prepared Bill of Quantities to the tune of N58, 423,155.00,which was requested for release by Council to enable the execution of the stated required additional works at the temporary site (Gidan Ado Bayero) of NorthwestUniversity, Kano.

Approval was granted by the Council as requested for the release of the sum of N58, 423,155.00 to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to enable execution of the purposes mentioned above. b) Request for the continuation of enforcing banon illegal Motor Parks/Street congestion and removal of barriers Along Gateways into Kano:The Honorable Commissioner Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport informed Council of the significant success achieved during the most recent six months (October, 2012 to March, 2013) period of implementation of the Government initiative on the ban of illegal motor parks, street decongestion and removal of illegal barriers/speed breakers that cause accidents along the gate ways into Kano. This was in order to ease and sustain undisturbed flow of traffic. The effort faces the problems of resistance from roadside hawkers/traders, springing up of new structures and attacks by hoodlums, etc.

Nevertheless, five (5) strategies were employed in executing activities that ensured the high level of success recorded as presented to Council. Continuation of the exercise is therefore recommended but with an increase in the number of personnel/officers of which only 250 were used before. Increasing the number of Officers/personnel to 300 will serve the purpose better and ensure higher level of success. Formerly, Officers/ personnel from KAROTA, MOPOL, FRCN and Vigilante were used but supplementing the number of the workforce with Officers from the Joint Task Force will serve the purpose better. The entire exercise was recommended for extension for another three months (April-June, 2013). The financial projection of the exercise involving 300 Officers/personnel will be N12, 245,880.00.

Approval was granted by Council for the release of the sum of N12, 245,880.00 to enable the continuation of the exercise to ease traffic congestion, obedience to traffic rules and banning of illegal motor parks. c) Request for funds to sensitize the public on the duties and activities of Kano road Traffic Agency (KAROTA) through the Media:“Awareness is the mother of Caution”, as the saying goes. And, contents of this memorandum maintain that KAROTA was established with the multi-focused aim of reviewing, enforcing and accessing dynamic vehicular and otherwise traffic management and control strategies to improve the free flow of traffic, improve driving conditions and enforce rules and regulations on all road networks across the State.

Essentially, the public need to be aware of the fact that the establishment of KAROTA

PAGE 9 by the present administration under the 2ndincumbency of Governor Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE, is for their own good.

So, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport intends to vehemently publicize everything about KAROTA through radio programs and jingles at the cost of N5, 369,652.00, which was approved. d) Presentation on the registration and regulation of Tricycle Operation in Kano and request for funds to facilitate for logistics in the implementation of the proposal:Identifying, harnessing, accessing and strategizing for legal and orthodox ways/means of tapping all categories and sources of revenue are among the cardinal resolutions of the present administration under the 2ndtenure of the astute Leadership of Governor Engr.

Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE. The whole aim is to generate and accumulate the required revenue for use in the general development and transformation process envisaged for the State.

Many such sources of revenue have already been identified, harnessed and are being tapped internationally, nationally and locally while the generated/accrued revenue is vividly and continuously utilized in the execution of development projects in various sectors. Accessed international sources of fund/revenue include Donor Countries/ Organizations and Development Partners such as USAID, EU etc. while a reliable national example of sources of revenue to the State is the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program under the Office of the Senior Special Assistant OSSAP-MDGs to the President. Still, funds from the National coffers as determined by the National revenue sharing formula remain the main fuel that energizes the phase of development process in most States of Nigeria. This administration says no.Local or Internal sources of revenue have to be harnessed and tapped.

As such, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport presented to Council that the issue of registration and regulation of Commercial Tricycles operation in the State should be extended as to include revenue collection. So far, the Committee on the issue reported having registered a total number 183,220 owners/operators of twoand three wheeler (Machines) across the State and generated the sum of N18, 322,000.00 as revenue from the exercise.

Meanwhile, the Committee reported the commencement of side numbering of Tricycles for easy identification and issuance of identification cards (ID) to the operators at the cost of N700.00 per tricycle across nine (9) LGCAs comprising the eight (8) metropolitan LGCAs and Dawakin Kudu LGCA. Categorically, the Honorable Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport declared to Council that Commercial operation of Tricycles is a lucrative taxable venture in which about 6,000 estimated units of Tricycles are in operation. Most of the operators are responsible indigenous citizens of KanoState capable of contributing to the development and positive transformation of the State through prompt and regular payment of any form of tax or levy placed on them. And,this would dignify and upgrade the status of the operators in the society. Government may decide to use the services of a reputable Consultant in designing and collecting the tax/levy.

Council noted, considered and approved the release of the requested sum of N1, 800,000.00 to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to enable the purchase of paints, payment ofLabor Charges, etc. e) Distribution of retrieved furniture items from Abuja and Kano to some Educational Institutions of the State:The Honorable Commissioner Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport politely notified Council, through the contents of this memorandum that, in the course of executing some renovation works currently in progress within and outside the State some items removed were found to be in useable condition for utilization by some Government Organizations in the State.

The Entrepreneurship Institute, Horticulture Institute, Fisheries Institute, Driving Institute and Livestock Institute benefitted from the furniture removed from the Deputy Governor’s Lodge at Mississipi Street Maitama District, Abuja, Government Blocks of flats at Gwarimpa, Abuja, and Africa House (Government House),Kano.

A Committee Co-opted by the Hon. Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport judiciously/unanimously allocated all the removed Office and Home furniture items to either the identified Institutes or the Headquarters of the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport. Details on the removed/allocated items were presented for Council’s Consideration, approval and endorsement.

Council appreciatively noted, considered and endorsed the presentation as approved but directed for the presentation of the final report from the Ministry.

5. MINISTRY OF RURAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Presentation of Report on the Rehabilitation of Vandalized Electricity Networks (Phase I) and Notification of Retirement of Unused Funds:Contents of this memorandum, from the Office of the Hon. Commissioner Ministry of Rural and Community Development, reminded Council of its approval granted via Executive Extract NO. SSCA/CA/EX/18/1/54 dated 19th December, 2012 for the release of the sum of N70, 000,000.00 instead of the requested N146, 000,000.00 to the Rural Electricity Board for the rehabilitation of twenty five (25) shortlisted projects at 14 LGCAs. Reportedly, the Rural Electricity Board prudently utilized the released N70, 000,000.00 to provide ITC maintenance to well over twenty five (25) communities across nine (9) LGCAs. A situation report on the affected areas pre and post the rehabilitation exercise was presented to Council on Video Compact Disc that showcases the pictorial situations.

Notably, the project was executed on the direct labor mode by which 100% completion was achieved with a Cash Saving of N3,201,441.98.

The presentation was acknowledged appreciatively by Council, which directed retirement/ remitting of the Cash Savings of N3, 201,441.98 to the Government treasury through the Office of the Accountant General. However, due to series of requests by some Communities demanding for rehabilitation of other vandalized electricity networks in their midst, Council directed the Rural Electricity Board to prepare and submit second phase of 2013 vandalized electricity networks for rehabilitation for consideration in order to consolidate Government’s strive towards restoring electricity supply to areas with problems in the State.

6. MINISTRY OF HEALTH The Ministry of Health submitted two (2) memoranda for consideration by Council. Both of them were approved for execution as follows: a) Request for the release of KanoState Counterpart Funds for the Kano-GatesDangote Routine Immunization Strengthening Program:The Hon. Commissioner for Health reminded Council, through contents of this memorandum that, Kano State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Gates and Dangote Foundations for the Strengthening of Routine Immunization Services in KanoState. This was based on expressed commitment of Governor Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE to improve lives of the citizenry especially children and women. The giant stride taken was in order to address challenges facing Routine Immunizationand Primary Healthcare (PHC) Services, which include issues related to Leadership and Governance, financing and its oversight, Capital Investment/Maintenance, Supply Chain, human resource capacity/management and monitoring/evaluation.

So, the trio (Kano State Government, Dangote and Gates Foundations) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Implementation of which, so far, entails the Undertaking of preliminary activities, which include among others: · Development of Routine Immunization Operational Plan. · Setting up of Program Implementation Unit (PIU). · Opening of Basket Fund Account under the State Primary Health Care Management Board (SPHCMB). · Transfer of Services and Primary Health Care Personnel to the SPHCMB. Details were presented for Council’s Consideration/Perusal. Accordingly, the parties to the MOU will contribute funding annually from 2013 to 2015 to the SPHCMB Basket Fund for Immunization based on the agreed formula in the MOU as follows: Partner Year (2013) Year (2014) Year (2015) Year (2016) KanoState 30% —— 50% 65% 100% Dangote 35% PIU and 25% 17.5% ——— foundation Bill and 35% Technical Support 25% 17.5% ———Melinda Gates Foundation Essentially, the total amount of money budgeted for the year 2013 tag-named “RI” work plan is N457, 647,808.00 for which each party will contribute the following: · Kano State 30% = N137, 294,342.40 · Dangote Foundation 35% = N160, 176,732.80 · Gates foundation 35% =N160, 176,732.80 Total = N457, 647,808.00 Importantly, provision of the MOU stipulates that release of the contributory funds by the Gates and Dangote Foundations is contingent upon the State’s contribution being in place in the Basket Funds Account. As such, the Ministry of Health requested for approval by the Council for the release of the sum of N137, 294,342.40 as the State’s/44LGCAs Counterpart Funding Contribution to the Routine Immunization Services based on the sharing formula contained in the MOU signed by the State Government and the two Foundations involved.

Council approved as requested for the release of the sum of N137, 294,342.40 into the SPHCMB Basket Fund Account in satisfaction of the signed provisions of the referred MOU. b) Request for funds to facilitate the installation of Mortuary Chilling Units (Body

Cooler) at MurtalaMuhammadSpecialistHospital:Council was abundantly informed, by the contents of this memorandum, of the existing pathetic situation of the Mortuary at the premier MurtalaMuhammadSpecialistHospital. The Ministry of Health confided to Council that the existing Mortuary Chilling Units (Body Coolers) at the Mortuary of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital were replaced more than eight (8) years ago during the first tenure of Governor Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE to a capacity of 36 bodies at a time. These Chilling Units are presently obsolete and tend to defy all attempts at repairs which seriously affect smooth conduct of effective Mortuary Services at the premier Hospital. The situation has reached the unfortunate stage of rejecting storage of any dead bodies due to inadequate space to accommodate as well as to avoid the outbreak of diseases that could result to epidemics spreading to neighboring Communities.

As such, the Honorable Commissioner Ministry of Health proposed to the Council for the urgent replacement of the existing Chilling Units (Body Coolers) with five (5) Mortuary Cold Room (6-bodies drawers) (2480 x 2040 x 2260) and five (5) Semihemetric Refrigeration system to avert further deterioration of the situation. It will cost the State the sum of N95, 665,179.38.

Approval was granted by Council as requested for the release of the sum of N95,665,179.38 to the Ministry of Health to expedite action in the execution of the referred purpose so as to forestall any unforeseen developments at the MurtalaMuhammadSpecialistHospital and its surroundings.

7. MINISTRY OF LAND AND PHYSICAL PLANNING This Ministry submitted three (3) memoranda for deliberation by the Council. All of them were approved for execution as follows; a) Request for funds to facilitate the resettlement of people affected by the locating of the School of Information Technology, Kura:Contents of this memorandum submitted details on the issue mentioned above for Council’s consideration. The crux of the whole matter is that the newly established School of Information Technology permanent site will be established on land owned by the Kura Local Government and some private individuals who must be relocated and compensated. This led to the proposal for the engagement of a Consultant to execute the project. Others properties affected include the defunct SDP Secretariat and its surroundings composing of residential/commercial layout, some structures including two (2) rural housing units built by Kano State Housing Corporation (KSHC).

Essentially, KSHC was directed to relocate its housing units elsewhere, the Local Government was also directed to relocate its layout while other structures were assessed and accordingly paid for by the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning.

The Ministry of Land and Physical Planning requested Council for the permission to outsource the service from a competent and suitable Consultant of which Suleiman Survey and Company was presented as most qualified. The sum of N21, 698,250.00 was the negotiated sum of money asked by the Company to plan and design the new layouts for plots to be given as compensation to those whose properties were affected.

As such, the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning requested for the release of the sum of N21, 698,250.00 by Council to enable the execution of the resettlement of people affected by the location of the School of Information Technology at its present site.

Approval was granted as requested due to the credibility of the request. b) Request for funds to enable the payment of compensation for Site (Land/ Economic Trees) acquired for the construction of Bus Terminus by SHAANXI AUTO LOGISTICS and SOLUTIONS LTD:Council was politely reminded of its decision contained in Executive Extract NO. SSCA/CA/EX/4/1/326 of 2nd May, 2012 for the quick Win-Bus-Mass Transit (BMT) intervention at some selected corridors in Kano Metropolis by SHAANXI AUTO LOGISTICS and SOLUTIONS LTD. Approval was granted for the allocation of two (2) plots/pieces of land along the proposed corridors for the construction of their Bus Termini.

The Ministry of Land and Physical Planning has assessed an average of 5 hectares at Kwanar Dawakin Kudu and Jido respectively whose compensations are valued at N10, 986,250.00.

Approval was granted by Council as requested for the release of the sum of N10, 986,250.00 to the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning to enable the payment of the stated compensation so as to ensure commencement of the Win-Bus-Mass Transit (BMT) project/program. c) Request for funds to enable the payment of compensation for Air force-Base Perimeter Wall Fence on Ashton Road:KNUPDA submitted to Council, as endorsed by the Honorable Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning that, the perimeter wall fence at the Airforce base need to be relocated in order to allow for smooth construction/dual carriage way of Airport Road through Air force base Clinic to Ashton Road. This project is among those initiated by the present administration under the second incumbency of Governor Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE. Details were presented of the extent of work required in relocating the perimeter wall fence submitted for Council’s consideration.

Council was requested to approve the release of the sum of N9, 276,794.65 to facilitate relocating the perimeter wall fence at Air force base Ashton Road.

Approval was granted by Council, due to the relevance of the request, for the release of the sum of N9, 276,794.65 to Ministry of Land and Physical Planning to enable KNUPDA execute the project of relocating the perimeter wall fence at Air force base

by Ashton Road to enable smooth execution of the Construction/Dual carriage way of Airport Road through Air force base Clinic to Ashton Road. d) List of identified routes banned for the use of trucks/long vehicles Council deliberated on the need to control and curtail the unnecessary plying of metropolitan routes by tracks and long vehicles. These heavy-duty vehicles are leading to the destruction of these roads, congestionand are hazardous to the local population when parked within residential areas. Council noted with displeasure the behavior of some of these drivers of driving and parking their heavy-duty vehicles, such as tankers and trailers into residential areas. Council approved an additional(in additional to the ones earlier approved for years) ten routes banned for the use of heavy-duty vehicles, viz: a) Ahmadu Bello Road (b) Audu Bako Way (c) Abdullahi Bayero Road (d) Lawan Dambazau Road (e) Bawo Road (f) Sharada- Gidan Buhari (g) Sheka Aci Lafia (h) Gandun Albasa (i) Tukuntawa Sherada (j) Gidan Buhari- KERD RoadKundila Estate Roads 8. MINISTRY OF STATE AFFAIRS The Hon. Commissioner for State Affairs/Chairman Committee on Compensation respectfully reminded Council of its directive to the Committee on Compensation to look into the issue of payment for compensation submitted by the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning in respect of the acquired site for the extension of BandirawoCity.

Council was informed thatthe Committee on Compensation studied the details submitted and invited involved Staff of the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning for further explanations. Visitations to the site were undertaken by the Committee whose findings satisfied and fulfilled requirements/qualification for payment of compensation for the site to the tune of the sum of N56, 497,670.00 as authenticated for the request submitted by the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning on the issue.

So, approval was granted by Council for the release of the authenticated/requested sum of N56, 497,670.00 to the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning to facilitate for payment of compensation for the site acquired for the extension of BandirawoCity.

UPDATE ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 91STKANOSTATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL SITTING APPOINTMENT OF TWO PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS TO CHAIR BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS Council acknowledged the election of Alhaji Umar Faruk Rabi’u Dan Silaika as the Chairman of the Kano State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and that of Badaru Abubakar as Chairman of NASIMA. The Sitting congratulates the beneficiaries and wishes them success in their future endeavors.

USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS ON ANY EMERGENCY Council endorsed the useful phone numbers submitted by the security agents for easy access in case of any emergency on the metropolitan roads. Accordingly, the general public may easily contact KAROTA for breakdown of vehicle(s), traffic congestion, accidents, illegal/wrong parking on–08091626747. Similarly, the State Police Command could be contacted on – 08032419754, 08123821575. In addition, the State Fire Service can also be contacted on – 07051246833, 08191778888.

For update on the activities of Kano State Government click to www.kano.gov.ng/ new

Signed: Honourable Commissioner, Informatio, Internal Affairs, Youth, Sports & Culture

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Minister hinges attainment of MDGs on space technology

By Adeola Tukuru

M

Ulama under the umbrella of Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in a group photograph with experts from the Federal Ministry of Health, after a meeting on polio, on Saturday at the JNI national headquarters, in Kaduna.

JNI, Ulama, JAP, others meet over polio virus

By Agaju Madugba

T

he Kaduna branch of the Jama'tul Nasril Islam (JNI) met in Kaduna at the weekend with the Ulama from across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna state, Journalists Against Polio (JAP) and officials from the Federal Ministry of Health after which the stakeholders re-affirmed their resolve to intensify for the total eradication of the crippling

wild polio virus.

Describing polio as threat to the wellbeing of children, the Ulama pledged to return to their communities and spread the message of polio immunization to the people.

Speaking on behalf of the Ulama, the Kaduna branch Chairman of JNI, Alhaji Shuibu Makarfi, admonished parents on the need to make their children and wards available for administration of oral polio

vaccine.

In his presentation an expert from the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, said that Nigeria might be rid of polio soon, if the campaign for parents to accept the vaccine is sustained.

According to him, there has been rapid decline in the number of fresh cases of the disease especially with intervention of Muslim leaders and Islamic scholars.

Executive Secretary Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr. Sufayan Baballe Muawiyya, noted that the state has not recorded fresh cases of the virus since December 2012 According to him, "this is a clear testimony that Kaduna state is on the right track towards eradicating the disease," he said and urged the Ulama to sustain the campaign.

NEMA donates materials to gun attack victims in Taraba From Umar Dankano,Yola

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated relief materials to victims of the recent gun attack at Ganye local government area of Adamawa state.

Presenting the items to the beneficiaries at the weekend, Director Operations in charge of Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states, Mr. Apollos Jediel, said the gesture was to cushion the effect of the attack.

He explained that NEMA and the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA ) carried out an assessment in order to determine the kind of assistance to give the victims.

Some of the items donated included, building materials, food items, mattresses and rubber mats, among others.

The director urged the council to ensure that the items reached those meant for.

Receiving the items on behalf of the victims, the Ganye local government council Chairman, Alhaji Muhammed Farouq, thanked NEMA for the donations noting that there was a committee in place for the distribution of the materials.

Labour leaders have advised the Federal Government to employ competent people into strategic positions, to enhance the social and economic growth

of Nigeria.

The unionists expressed the viewpoint in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, while reacting to the advice that government should encourage its professionals abroad to return home.

NAN recalls that a former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, had urged the government to encourage its professionals abroad to return and develop the country.

Mr. Peter Esele, President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), said that professionals should be

encouraged to return and occupy strategic positions in the nation.

"Nigerians are everywhere and in strategic positions but it is sad that we respect mediocrity. We do not put round pegs in round holes.

"It is a matter of whom you know and this has affected development of the economy."

He advised the government to bring back the professionals and employ them in their specialised areas, irrespective of their tribe or region.

Mr Philip Agbonkonkon, the General Secretary, Amalgamated Union of Public,

Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Employees (AUCPTRE), also urged the government to encourage professionals to return to Nigeria and give them the opportunity to help develop the nation.

Agbonkonkon said that the economy would remain undeveloped if the country allowed its competent citizens to remain abroad.

The AUCPTRE official said that professionals should be put in their area of specialisation rather than corrupt and unqualified people. (NAN)

AFLPM reiterates commitment to peace in Africa

By Ibrahim Kabir Sule

T

he African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) has taken its peace advocacy to Mali, the West African country where several insurgent groups have been fighting the Malian government.

The AFLPM President is also the First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, facilitated the delivery of relief items to he Malian counterpart, Madame Mintou Traore, for onward distribution to victims of the violent conflict in that country.

The 16 plane load materials which include food items, clothing, drugs, beddings and other essential items were received at a brief ceremony in the Malian capital,

Bamako.

Dame Patience Jonathan reiterated her appeal for peaceful means of resolving differences and work more to prevent violence and war.

She stressed the urgent need to change the image of wars and violence given to Africa to that of a peaceful, stable and developing continent.

She expressed the commitment of African first ladies to contribute to peace efforts in the areas of advocacy, capacity building, negotiation, reconciliation, provision of relief materials and involvement in the rehabilitation of victims of conflicts.

She was emphatic that African women will continue to make their presence felt in troubled regions of

Africa to support the victims of conflicts with relief materials.

Receiving the items, Madame Mintou Doucoure Traore expressed the sincere gratitude and heartfelt appreciation of the people of Mali to theAFLPM for the Mission's magnanimous gesture and exemplary support to the people of Mali.

She promised equitable distribution of the items to victims of the conflict, especially in Timbuktu and Gao towns.

The delegation from Nigeria included the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, Special Adviser to the President on Gender, Dr. Asmau Abdulkadir, and former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Becky Igwe.

inister of Science and Technology, Ita Ewa, has described space technology as key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa.

Speaking at the just concluded 2013 National Space Dialogue and Media Conference organised by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in Abuja, Ewa said that the goals were achievable, particularly in countries where satellite solutions and products are effective and efficient.

"I wish to state here that almost every aspect of human problems can be tackled with relevant satellite and sensor platforms and applications.

"There is need for Nigeria to leverage on the spin-offs of the advances in space technology for sustainable management of its resources and wealth creation.

"This vision and resolution for space technology by Nigeria's leadership has played a fundamental role in supporting and enhancing the know-how training and transfer (KHTT) among Nigerian engineers and scientists.''

He added that Nigerian engineers and scientists trained during the 14 years of the space programme in Nigeria are currently not ranked among the best in Africa.

Ewa urged participants at the conference to come up with knowledge that will help the general public to locate and apply available spin-offs of space technology for corporate and individual empowerment.

In his presentation, the NASRDA Director-General, Dr Seidu Mohammed, said the agency was committed to the use of satellite applications for national development.

Seidu said the development of Flood Plain Geospatial Information System for Nigeria was one of the targets of the agency for 2013.

He added that NASRDA and NEMA would also develop Flood Vulnerability Geospatial Information System for Nigeria in 2013 using Nigeria Sat-2 satellite.

Seidu identified inadequate funding as a major challenge in the implementation of the space programme in Nigeria and challenged the private sector to invest in the space sector of the economy, saying NASRDA had built sufficient capacity to be able to manage any demand placed on it.

"NASRDA is currently involved in aggressive marketing of satellite imagery in Africa and other parts of the world.''

"There is the need for the establishment and maintenance of a space-based integrated natural and artificial resource information system for rapid and sustainable resource mapping, planning, monitoring and management," he said.

He said it was important for the agency to meet the needs of multi-thematic decision making for sustainable countrywide resource inventory.

PAGE 11

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Simple guides on how to avoid running out of money in retirement

H

ere's a checklist of the key strategies to maintain your spending power for as long as you live.

The first item is only for people who are not yet retired, but the rest apply to everyone.

Save more before you retire This is where most people fall down. It seems like every week there's a new report about how people aren't saving enough. If you're going to have money to spend beyond what you get from Social Security (and maybe a pension - if you're one of the lucky few who can still expect one), that money will have to come from your savings.

The two obvious ways to do this are to either spend less before you retire (thereby freeing up money to save) or work longer before you retire. I recommend the former; anyone can spend

Money Tip: Don't Serve Multiple Customers

M

any entrepreneurs think that the world is their customer base.

"We all start with a solution, and we think that if we build this thing that it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread," says Ash. "And often we say, 'I want to serve everyone, so I'm building a cloud-sharing app, or a photo-sharing app, and anyone that has large files or anyone who has lots of photos could be a potential segment.'"

The problem is that when you try to speak to every kind of potential customer, no one feels like you understand their specific problems.

So which customers should you try to reach?

Get to know your early adopters: Figure out who your early adopters will be.

Then, anticipate their problems and write them down in your business plan.

"If you can identify with them, and fulfill your promise to them, it may not be your full addressable market, but it gets you noticed," says Ash. "If you look at that pattern, even companies like Facebook…started with a very specific customer segment of the early adopter, which happened to be a college student, but not just any college student, but one on the Harvard campus.

They…start with a clear definition of who their early adopters are, and then they grow it from there."

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.

less, but a plan to work longer can go awry in many different ways (your job could go away, you could get too sick to do it well, etc.).

Useful as it is, though, "just save more" is by no means a complete retirement plan. A complete plan lets you start from where you are and make do with what you've got. Read on.

Spend less after you retire Spending less before you retire may be even more important, but that was covered in point #1.

Even though it's not as important, spending less after retirement has the advantage of being very easy - your taxes are lower (because you're earning less), and you're able to be more efficient about your spending

(because you're not spending a third of your time at work).

Find a way to earn money in retirement When you think about it, retirement is a funny idea. It used to be that everyone worked as long as they could. When they couldn't hold up to a full day of heavy labor, they worked shorter hours and switched to lighter tasks.

With the way work is organized (at least in the United States), it's pretty hard to scale back moderately. You rarely have the choice to work half as many hours for half the money.

But you probably don't need to earn anywhere near that much money. Just earning a few thousand dollars a year will stretch your retirement savings

much further than you might expect.

You can do that a lot of different ways, even something as small as finding a way to make your hobbies pay their way.

Wise Bread is full of ideas for earning a little more.

Invest for income Early in your career, you probably want to invest for maximum growth. But well before you actually plan to retire, you should start shifting some of your investments toward income - because income can be spent without depleting your capital.

That isn't the fashion these days. The modern wisdom of retirement planning is to figure that you can spend some of your capital every year, on the theory

that your money only has to last the rest of your life, and you're not going to live forever.

But investing for income, and then holding the line on spending beyond that is much safer.

Monitor your assets in retirement Since you can't know the future, there's no way to be sure that your portfolio will not achieve any particular investment return, nor that it will support any particular spending level. But you can know the recent past.

Your portfolio will decline if the assets you've invested in go down. It will also decline if you're spending capital faster than it's growing.

If you've got a diversified portfolio with a strong income component, you don't need to worry about day-to-day portfolio fluctuations. But year-to-year portfolio fluctuations need to have your attention.

Respond to changes When you see a decline in your assets (either because your spending is outstripping your income or because the markets have moved against you), find additional ways to economize.

This is really the key action for avoiding running out of money in retirement - if your capital is declining at an unsustainable rate, spends less.

There are a lot of ways to spend less, both on an emergency basis and over the longer term.

Use your smart phone for better health

T

he advancement of technology has made many amazing things possible. People across the globe can communicate over the internet without a hitch, allowing news to travel faster than it ever has. Smart phones are a big part of our world becoming "smaller." They perform numerous tasks, so users can accomplish a great deal with only one device.

Smart phone applications are available in many different categories, with one of the most beneficial being health.

In a number of different ways, these apps strive to improve our well-being. Here are some ways that apps can help you live a healthier life: Sleep Getting the right amount of sleep is vital. The quality of your sleep also has a huge impact on how you feel throughout the day. I recently downloaded a free trial of Sleep as Android and have been pleasantly surprised by its functionality. It records the amount you sleep, the amount of deep sleep you get (using built-in phone capabilities), and even nighttime noises. It's been interesting to experiment with what causes changes in my deep

sleep. My trial has run up, and I'm considering spending some more money to continue using it. There are also sleep apps available for the iPhone.

Food Tracking what you eat and finding new things to cook are excellent ways to stay healthy.

There are apps that count calories and help formulate a

diet that works for you, as well as apps that help you find the right recipes to fit your diet.

I use an app called Epicurious on my iPad. It not only finds good recipes, but will also display meal options based on what you have leftover in the fridge. There are many similar apps; be sure to check the reviews, as some are rated

better than others.

Fitness Working out is another great way to improve overall health.

There are many new apps on Android and the iPhone that perform fitness functions.

Looking for new yoga poses?

Need to find a good triceps workout? There's an app that can help you. Many apps will use GPS to map your runs and can even tell you how many calories you're burning.

Whether you're a runner, weightlifter, or just someone who enjoys getting a good workout, there are apps to suit your needs. Newer Nike shoes even have an app for Apple products that will sync your shoes with your device. This allows very accurate recordings of a few different parameters.

Other apps will track weight lifting activity or set up yoga routines. These can be very helpful for beginners and experts alike.

Use apps to better yourself Do some research on the smart phone apps available to you. What could you do to improve your lifestyle? If you want to improve your sleep, eating habits, or fitness, there's a plethora of apps available.

Share your Money Tip: do you have a business/money idea, and you want to share it with our dear readers? Then, send it to: ikabirsule@gmail.com or (text it to 08091904890)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

Jonathan, PDP's deceit strategy

T

he ultimate measure of a man, not just a leader, it is said, is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of crisis. Recently, there had been a disturbing inconsistency in the statements by the President and the ruling party, PDP, which creates a credibility baggage for it.

President Goodluck Jonathan, on March 19, had announced categorically at the Nigerian Summit 2013, organised by The Economist Conferences in Lagos that his government would certainly remove fuel subsidy eventually. His argument was that subsidy constituted a waste of resources that should be channeled elsewhere. The presidential announcement, expectedly, triggered off spontaneous reactions across the land, with organized labour all riled up.

The Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, advised the federal government not to heat up be the polity and did warn of dire consequences. "We all saw what the nation witnessed in January 2012 when the FG first took this step. The loss of lives and property was enough to teach any reasonable government a lesson that Nigerians would resist any hike in the price of petrol vehemently..." The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) also warned the FG

not to play with fire. Apparently thinking that the Federal Government may remove the subsidy today, the NLC and the TUC have scheduled a protest for April 10.

The flurry of angry condemnations forced the presidency to make a u-turn last week. It said the government was not contemplating any removal of the subsidy. Presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement, said

“

We know that Okupe's statement was an afterthought intended to manage the President's gaffe the administration had no plans to remove fuel subsidy because sufficient allocation for fuel subsidy has already been made in the 2013 budget. "We wish to state categorically that the removal of oil subsidy is not on the table of the Transformation Agenda of the President…this administration is not considering the removal of fuel subsidy in the nearest future and certainly will not embark on any such programme without extensive consultations and engagements

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”

across the various segments, interests and stakeholders in the Nigerian polity."

This official contradiction certainly has dealt a huge blow on the government's own integrity.

Who are we to believe, the President or his spokesman? We know that Okupe's statement was an afterthought intended to manage the President's gaffe. Two things flow from this scenario. It is either that the president was not properly advised, or that the quality of advice at his disposal was suspect. The bottom line, however, is that the reputation of the presidency is being destroyed by eating its cake and trying to have it.

Similarly, the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the national women leader, Ambassador Kema Chikwe, had at different times said President Jonathan would certainly recontest his office in 2015.

Curiously, Tukur, in what was a volte face, recanted last week, saying the President was undecided on the matter. Clearly, the body language of the PDP, the President and party members tells us otherwise - that the President, definitely, will run.

Our stand is that the president and his party should not be seen to be deceiving Nigerians on matters of life and death such as oil subsidy. If they are not sure of what to say in public, they had better shut up.

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

CHAIRMAN MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE DIRECTOR/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RUFA’I IBRAHIM ACTING EDITOR, DAILY HAMEED M. BELLO

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER ALI M. ALI

HEAD, ADVERT/MARKETING HUSSAINI ABDULRAHMAN, CNA

ACTING EDITOR, WEEKEND JAMILA NUHU MUSA

MANAGER, ADMINISTRATION HASSAN HAMMANYAJI

HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU ADESOJI OYINLOLA

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

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 13

Rice importation: How Customs underdeveloped Kano

By Jibrin Usaman Bichi

N

igeria is a in shambles.

This calls for its reinvention based on abandoned values. It is only then, that many will lease to worry about her future and puzzling story.

"Kano, tumbin giwa" is a popular Hausa saying that is used in describing the intimidating existence of a historic cosmopolitan city with its commercial vitality. This city has a tradition of assimilation whose vivid impact contributes vastly towards positioning it among the opportune-few commercialized and industrialized cities in subSaharan Africa. History had it that in the 60s, when commercial activities were as rare as an oasis in a desert, Kano's economy alone is equivalent to 2/3 sub-Saharan Africa nation's economy combines altogether.

What an economical feat!

The fact that this ancient city has produced a sizeable number of likes business- oriented Aliko Dangote, the Dantatas, the Ishaku Rabius and late Nababa Badamasi, just to mention a few, calls for a genuine reflection and

By Ola Onikoyi, Jr

D

eep in the hinterlands of Edo, one of Nigeria's sprawling metropolis, the Nigeria customs service lay ambush for oncoming trucks carrying contraband goods brought from the nearby West African state, Benin republic.

In the fleet of trucks apprehended were hordes of frozen poultry products, bales of second hand clothes, shoes, furniture and used tyres - all estimated at a cost of around $1.5 million. The customs service says it has confiscated thousands of goods worth billions within its three months of recent crackdown in the Edo smuggling route. The service estimates that Nigeria has over 1400 illegal trade routes which smugglers use to move goods in and out of the country. While there is no clear official figure, some estimates put Nigeria's contraband trade at over $2 billion per year. Combine that with $7 billion lost each year to oil theft in the creeks of Niger Delta according to estimates by Shell petroleum - and that's not all.

The majority of Nigeria's food production, services, trade and light goods manufacturing are operating within the informal sector and are mostly unaccounted for in the country's annual GDP calculations. A recent data by the IMF suggests that Nigeria is a country that thrives on its shadow economy which is around 68% of its total

study of the causes and or rational behind its speedy economic degradation caused by Nigerian Customs Service in Kano.

Conjure up an image of what a buoyant economy or rather a strong economic base is suppose to be vis-vis a state that once took pride in raising and parading a monumental groundnut pyramid, export-friendly hide and skin, profits churning markets the likes of ancient Kurmi market, Wambai market, Kanti Kwari Market Dawanau Grain Market and now Sabon Gari market and the list goes on and on, but all this are in high stage of collapsing because of illegal activist of men of

the Nigerian Customs Service from the Federal Operations Unit, Kaduna.

In the intelligence circle, "economic sabotage" is as scandalously destructive as it is graciously important in weakening an enemy state, which I believe the customs saw Kano Market as an enemy of state by forcing most of petty traders to increase the price of Rice because Customs are collecting unofficial duties from them.

Just suspend all sentiments and bias and just study the manner at which Nigerian Customs Service is operating in Kano Market and highways,

while they have left our borders open to the executive smugglers.

This is self-induced economic sabotage by our customs men.

A lot have been said about the Nigerian Customs Service, how most them enrich themselves through illegal ways of collecting and arresting innocent 'Yan Kasuwan" Kano inhabitants, treating them as smugglers when they come to buy rice at Kano Market. The customs operative usually responds that the Federal Government has banned the importation of rice or these goods are contraband and it's illegal to them in Kano, while they have allowed the same goods into the Nigerian market

“

With all the illegal activities of the Operations Unit of the Nigerian Customs Service, the Kano market is facing an economic downturn. People from other states are boycotting the market due to the harassment they face from this government agency. The popular Singer market now has only empty stalls as most business people have relocated their to Abuja and Lagos

free of charge.

This rice that Nigeria Customs marked as contraband is local rice processed within Kano, because of the increased of rice millers in the state, and sold at Singer market, but they would block our highway until you pay certain amount of duty before they being allowed to pass with this so-called contraband.

Investigations have shown that a small car loaded with rice has to pay N20, 000 before he would allow to pass.

With all the illegal activities of the Operations Unit of the Nigerian Customs Service, the Kano market is facing an economic downturn. People from other states are boycotting the market due to the harassment they face from this government agency. The popular Singer market now has only empty stalls as most business people have relocated their to Abuja and Lagos. In Kano Custom officers make them to pay very high levies on goods they consider to be contraband, by their own definition. Under-developing Kano is another form of economic sabotage by Nigerian Customs. I wish the new ComptrollerGeneral would look into this issue and call all his men and officers to order.

Jibrin Usaman Bichi is reachable on arewa09@aol.com

Nigeria: Re-writing the BRICS GDP. The wrong calculation of the country's GDP should not matter if not that the GDP is a tool used to estimate a country's aggregate consumption and it is the tool used to calculate economic performance and growth when identifying the strength of a country and the welfare of its citizens.

Based on the country's largely black economy, Nigeria is one that is overly underestimated in official estimates, economic forecasts and statistics. The country's GDP calculation is also based on 1990 prices meaning that when rebased sometime in 2013 to reflect current prices; Nigeria's GDP could see a rise of up to 40% which would mean that it would trail that of South Africa which stands at around $420 and Nigeria when readjusted $390 billion. Still, when Nigeria's GDP is rebased, a significant part of the informal economy would remain largely unaccounted for in the official calculation.

If Nigeria's GDP displaces that of South Africa which would likely be the case by 2016 Nigeria could cause a rewrite of the BRICS acronym to BRINCS, the club of emerging markets consisting of (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Displacing South Africa as the economic power house of Africa as early as 2016 may be seen as

a mere wishful thinking but few pointers would say otherwise.

First, South Africa's economy has been hurt in the last few years and it has barely seen a growth of 2.5% annually yet Nigeria inspite of all its problems has seen an average of 5% growth. Second, if those who govern Nigeria simply renew their commitment to reforms by formalising part of the black economy, the country could see yet another rise in its GDP level as the shadow market already accounts for major part of the Nigerian market. Third, Nigeria's annual growth in the next coming years will continue to triple that of South Africa with current GDP growth rates.

This implies that in 3-4 years Nigeria will match South Africa

by GDP. Nigeria's possible ascendancy into the BRICS would not only defy litany of negative estimates and statistics concocted by economists and institutions alike.

The country's case would be one of an underdog long underrated.

Ascending to the comity of BRICs would not end the deep seated corruption in the country; neither will it be the end to poverty. What the ascension will surely do is open up the country to a better atmosphere of economic opportunism, growth and a better and brighter future.

Few days back, the BRICS

finalised the launching of its own bank to rival the World Bank with a $50 billion capital in what is called a new banking system that would offer a new way of dealing with developing countries from around the world.

The bank will offer emergency currency funds and other trade mechanisms that will allow flexibility and other advantages to developing countries with fewer strings attached. It is this form of banking system that a developing country like Nigeria would need in an era of commodity price fluctuation and falling value of the dollar and euro. Nigeria may also be able to trade with other BRIC members in lighter terms than the developed west - and that is a better path to growth.

Provided that Nigeria gets it right politically this decade, the country's story could be one of prosperity and many successes despite the current high tension and gloomy pictures of poverty and corruption. In a Goldman Sachs paper: N11 more than an acronym, Nigeria along other next emerging markets are estimated to grow at 4% annually but a politically stable Nigeria if we account for current infrastructural, transportation and food production deficit can see a growth of over 10% annually in coming years.

As of 2012, Nigeria recorded

a growth of 6.7%, yet such growth was audacious in the midst of slow global economic growth, home grown terrorism and falling oil trade. Many critics would argue that in an economy where 60% of the population are impoverished with everything in the negative 10% growth is inconceivable. Critics may be right looking at the key pictures of horror and negativities that has characterised the country in recent years, but the positive growth can be accounted for with the fact that Nigeria has one of the fastest growing construction industry in the world, a thriving oil and gas market, rising service industry and a financial industry that is emerging.The need to meet current deficits in infrastructure, food production, housing, education as well as energy will drive huge growth in coming years and if the political economy becomes stable. It is a country with endless possibilities.

A 10% annual growth rate for instance would mean that Nigeria would emerge faster than several G-7 nations combined. Such growth could also put Nigeria ahead of growth of other BRICS members.

The ball is in Nigeria's court; it should play it and let the world see.

I am on twitter # olaonikoyijr or olaonikoyijr@yahoo.com

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 14

We commend infrastructural devt in Kubwa

By Idris Rabiu

K

ubwa Youth Empowerment Initiative (KYEI) is writing to express its sincere gratitude towards the FCT Administration for the provision of infrastructure in Kubwa Satellite Town.

Residents and other that ply the Outer Northern Express (Kubwa Express-way), daily will live to remember this administration. Two years back, motorists spent hours in traffic hold-up on this road.

Now it is a happier story. It goes without mention now that, one could afford to delay ones departure from the Federal Capital City (FCC) till after six o'clock (6.00pm); have a safe and smooth ride through the Kubwa

Kubwa, as Expressway. intended.

In addition, *Rehabilitation the beautiful of the local scenery (at Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text road that links night) of a messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written the above byewell contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 pass to illuminated words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and General road that a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed Hospital could easily be to: Kubwa along compared to IITA and G.S.S one of the The Editor, Kubwa fence. developed Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, This link, cities in the 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. when world. completed, Email: opinion@peoplesdaily-online.com However, would serve as SMS: 07037756364 this NGO is the only drawing the second link to attention of this administration to other Byazhin/Chikakore layout.

O.N.E.X. This bye-pass has areas that need urgent *A speedy completion of attained a high completion consideration. These areas: the Chikakore-Bwari road. stage, but for the portion *The Kubwa bye-pass, *Construction of about through Gado Nasko Farms. from Dutse-Alhaji round200m of road behind INEC in When completed, it would about, through Gado Nasko FHA area of Kubwa, linking ease flow of traffic and serve farms - Byazhin - Arab roadRoad 31. as an alternate route in to

WRITE TO US

*Completion of FRSCNYSC-Market road. *Help resolve the road conflict created as a result of construction of the interchange at the FHA junction, cutting off Ibrahim Dasuki road in FHA from the owner occupier. This has made access to owner occupier difficult for the FHA residents.

Finally, the completion of the above listed works would go a long way in easing vehicular movement within and out of Kubwa, by reducing accidents and unnecessary hold-ups. The ongoing Re-habilitation road works along the Aso Bank Plc road in Kubwa is also commended.

Idris Rabiu, President, KYEI

IGP, your promise on police schools

By John Egbeazien Oshodi

M

ohammed Dahiru Abubakar, after being appointed by President Jonathan as Inspector General of Police in January 2012, made an open declaration about police training institutions. He promised that he was going to declare a state of emergency on the Nigerian Police training institutions as they are in need of serious reformation in terms of basic necessities like healthy facilities for sleeping, eating and lectures.

More than one year later after the new police head made his assertion, and asked the public media to be a direct witness to his plans, and requested for "prayers" is now faced with an open question.

The declaration of the emergency was apparently never realized as evidenced with the recent events, but the IG may very well have a set of good reasons for the nonrealization of the emergency plans.

His leadership and administrations have demonstrated the least evidence of backing up his promise, as the training centers and colleges, at least from the point of the historical Police College in Ikeja, Lagos, which remains a spot and site of national humiliation, shame and outrage.

As we all know, President Jonathan made a surprise visit to the Ikeja Police College and reportedly found the whole place unbelievable! The President's visit was in response to the good and bold

work of the media. The Nigerian people were told that the President found the entire place especially the boardinghouses, college kitchen, dining hall and other places almost beyond human living.

This was certainly a good move by the president but he showed unfortunately, the usual signs of Nigerian Emotional Democracy (NED) when he expressed a peculiar concern about when and how the Channels TV was able to film the rot and deterioration in the college. Mr. Jonathan reportedly showed anger and viewed the documentary by the TV station as a smear campaign, no, Mr. President, you are totally wrong! What does it matter? It is true that the police college in Ikeja is not the only training ground in Nigeria. But one thing is clear, the Ikeja police school is a place where current and future officials of national security are supposed to learn the science and profession of

police work.

But how can this be done in the face of being punished with an environment that is negative for healthy mental processing, a place with overflowing space for physical disease, and an environmental ground with constant exposure to burden of invisible ailments, resulting in possible disability, or likely premature death.

Mr. President, as you may know, training grounds generally have significant impact on the human body and mind as well as on one's future behaviours. A trainee's ready access to necessities like healthy food, accommodation, and even restrooms could affect how he or she behave months and years to come; particularly, when the time comes for him or her to become active as police man or woman on the streets and in the public.

Mr. President, now that the Nigerian Army

“

Engineering Corps is giving a helping hand in rehabilitating the police college which is the essence partnership in a democracy, a healthy smell from the new or updated lavatories, classrooms and hostels, will no doubt enhance the mental and physical wellbeing of these trainees. Your openness in allowing the Army to give a helping hand as we have seen in other democratic or presidential societies like America, where the Army corps of engineers always come to rescue in time of urgency is fully noticeable.

This move of yours should be commended, and be expanded to other institutions, especially, when the expending of funds is not the only way to engage in the maintenance of institutions in Nigeria.

As we all know, many projects in Nigeria are being handled sometimes in an evil and selfish manner, especially by those filled with

As we all know, many projects in Nigeria are being handled sometimes in an evil and selfish manner, especially by those filled with the spirit of psychopathy which has eaten so deep into the minds of many powerful persons. And it matters not whether the Ministry of Police Affairs or the Nigeria Police is in control of police funds in regards to the annual budgetary allocations for sectors like the training colleges. Especially, when some of these so-called leaders appear to suffer from what could be called the mentality of schizonaira or perceptual craving for corrupt money which remains prevalent in the society?

the spirit of psychopathy which has eaten so deep into the minds of many powerful persons. And it matters not whether the Ministry of Police Affairs or the Nigeria Police is in control of police funds in regards to the annual budgetary allocations for sectors like the training colleges. Especially, when some of these so-called leaders appear to suffer from what could be called the mentality of schizonaira or perceptual craving for corrupt money which remains prevalent in the society?

If it is true that the IG is partnering with the private sector to work on improving the police force that is a good thing as that is what is expected in our new global community where the spirit of corporate social responsibility is valued. Many Nigerians will agree that this is not the time to blame each other as it relates to who should take charge of funding or whether it is the function of the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Nigeria Police or even the Police service commission to clean the current mess; as each of these sections did not scream out publicly until the God-sent documentary was aired by Channels television station.

This type of media exposure in regards to the accumulated and ongoing consequences of schizonaira behaviors, conducts, and deeds in Nigeria is just what the people need at this time.

Thank God for this courageous form of the media, it is about time!

John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D.Jos5930458@aol.com

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 15

Change and how to be part of it

By Banky W

B

enjamin Franklin once said "when you're finished changing, you're finished".

I'd like to take that a step further by saying "we must be a part of the change we seek, or risk being changed ourselves".The question is no longer "will Nigeria change"… but rather, it's "will it change for the better or worse" and "who will lead that change".

History is rife with instances of regimes, institutions and societies seeming stable and unshakeable… but young people being fed up with the status quo, became the catalysts of Change in their societies. In recent times we've seen young people all over the world clothe themselves with the "change" mantle and become a part of the movement. We've seen that no matter the society, and no matter the circumstances of oppression and corruption, change is possible if the people decide that enough is enough.

From Tunisia, to America, to Egypt… young people are changing the world every day.

Nigeria should be no different.

They say "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

We cannot continue the same behaviours, year in, year out and expect better results. Except for prayer, you can't do the same thing over and over again and expect things to be better. And even with prayer, you actually have to get up and do something

By Ifeanyi Uddin

T

he judgement, a fortnight ago, of a federal high court, in which it found government's deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry "unlawful, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever, being in flagrant violation of the mandatory provision of section 4 of the Price Control Act, cap P28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004? was as intriguing as enforcement of the ruling will prove problematic. I am not learned enough to enter an unqualified opinion in this matter (I must admit), but I believe that arguing against marketdetermined prices for petrol on the strength of the Constitution's freedom of movement guarantee is similar to arguing against market determined prices for phone calls (and newspapers) on the back of the Constitution's freedom of expression guarantee.

It is no surprise that there are people in the country who would rather not pay for the services they enjoy. These folks are present everywhere, and they are not all freeloaders. Amongst their ranks are to be encountered ideologues of "government as nanny". Irrespective of the thought patterns that instruct it behoves a responsible government create structures for the enforcement of all properly entered contracts. The resistance early last year to government's

after all they say heaven helps those who help themselves.

Things young people can do: Be involved in the political process: Register to vote; actually vote for the right candidates; or sit back and let someone else steal your voice. Peacefully protest: Media, old & new; Twitter, Facebook etc. I believe that even though internet accessibility in Nigeria is still low, we cannot ignore the importance of such platforms. They serve as tools that can help in the movement.

And things are changing everyday… many phones today have some internet capability or the other. Efforts like OccupyNigeria, Light Up Nigeria, Enough is Enough, etc.

Newspapers, blogs, etc.

Become fully involved in the political process. It's easier to talk about and/or criticize people that are working than to do the work

yourself. Join a party and try to help influence policy. We can level the playing field if we all get involved in this Movement for Change. And it's not just at the federal level. Young people need to start getting involved even from the local and state levels in order to properly influence policy and society.

Use whatever voice or platform you have… constructively. I'm a musician and so you've seen me singing and speaking publicly about the need for the change in our country… but you can use whatever sphere of influence you have… be it with family, friends, school, neighborhood, church or mosque. Everyone has a voice and a role to play.

I'm here because I'm a dreamer. Everything I have now, that God blessed me with, was born out of my dreams. I

dreamt of becoming a singer; dreamt of owning my own Record Label company, and other businesses. I dreamt of being able to influence my surroundings, my city, my state and my country through my work. But Some people stop at dreaming while others actually wake up and set about trying to make those dreams come true.

I dream of a changed Nigeria where each child, no matter the background has a dream of his/ her own, and is given access to education, healthcare, and basic amenities in life to make those dreams come true. I dream of a changed Nigeria where the opportunities abound for anyone willing to work for them; where every man, woman and child is given a fair shot to avoid poverty and become a success at whatever they set their minds to do. I dream of the day in Nigeria

“

I dream of a changed Nigeria where each child, no matter the background has a dream of his/her own, and is given access to education, healthcare, and basic amenities in life to make those dreams come true. I dream of a changed Nigeria where the opportunities abound for anyone willing to work for them; where every man, woman and child is given a fair shot to avoid poverty and become a success at whatever they set their minds to do

where we finally live up to our potential - as citizens, leaders, countries, and as a continent.

If our children and future generations witness Nigeria in the same conditions we have her today, then we would have failed them. That's why I'd rather be here, speaking with like minds and putting my hands to the plow, than sitting at home being an arm chair critic.

We're all here because we want to be a part of changing Nigeria for the better. That's why we are getting involved.

Whether or not each person's intentions are pure… only God would know… only Time will tell and only History will judge.

However I'd rather be a part of the movement for change, than be one of those that are content to sit back and criticize.

I'd rather be a player on the field, or a coach, or a worker on the team, than be a fan in the stands, or home watching on TV. One of my favorite sayings is "the best way to predict your future is to create it". We can extend that to say that we must create the Nigeria that we want to live in. We must all speak up.

We must all work for it. We must all stand up and be counted, if our dreams are to become reality.

I'm Banky W, and I stand for change. Do you?

Banky W, a leading R&B artiste and occasional social commentator, spoke at the just concluded Bola Tinubu Colloqium in Lagos.

De-legitimising deregulation increase in the pump price of petrol was essentially a response to the federal government failing to carry out another such important duty. My sense of the ball, which government dropped then, was not so much the decision to raise prices, but the fear that the accounting behind government's decision was (and still is) fatally flawed.

That said, it is a big scandal to find that the Price Control Act is still in place, after 27 years of trying to make the structure of our economy more effective.

There is, arguably, a sequencing failure here. And nowhere is this failure more obvious now, after this high court ruling, than in the fact that the Nigeria Railways (NRC) Act 1955 has not been amended (or repealed, either). Yet since the act vests all rail tracks in Nigeria in the NRC, technically, it is either that the proposed Lagos State Metroline is illegal in the same degree, or that Lagos State plans at the end of the line's construction to hand it over to an NRC-appointed general manager.

Clearly, there is a strong case to be made for thoroughgoing legal reforms as condition precedent to further reforms of the economy. And I am hoping here that we agree on the need to reform the economy and how it is

managed. Still, just as crucial, there is a compelling need to look at how we think of the reform process, and the goals that we strive for. Ludwig Von Mises provides the central argument for me in this regard: "every step that takes us away from private ownership…and from the use of money also takes us away from rational economics".

There are few signals more efficient in an economy, than when the price of a good captures both the cost to the supplier of bringing it to the market, and the value to the buyer of using the good. The other alternative is

to have a munificent polymath agree one price for such goods/ services that approximates both the production cost and consumption utilities. Since this godsend must exercise this function across the economy, it is evidently a well nigh impossible goal, as all failed previous collectivist economies amply demonstrate.

Markets do fail. Because temporary imperfections in the structure of particular industries render monopoly supply the most effective means. Or, since no supplier can capture all the gains from providing the service

“

Markets do fail. Because temporary imperfections in the structure of particular industries render monopoly supply the most effective means. Or, since no supplier can capture all the gains from providing the service (education and health, for example) strong, non-market incentives are required to drive the price mechanism in affected sectors of the economy

(education and health, for example) strong, non-market incentives are required to drive the price mechanism in affected sectors of the economy. In principle, I am all for a transition from state-provision of any good/ service, to provision of same by the private sector. The state does not vanish in this process.

Instead, it emerges as a strong regulator of the space in which private operators play.

On this reasoning, what this ruling does is muddy the waters.

Besides, it draws attention to a number of questions. First, what happens to private sector investment in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry? Two levels to this question. There are those investments that have been committed in the hope of leveraging the liberalised price regime: tank firms, private jetties, tankers, pump stations, and staff. Then we must also mull over the outlook for planned investments. One thing for sure: until the outlook is clearer, bank lending to the subsector will slow to a trickle. All told, I consider this judgment a net negative.

Ifeanyi Uddin, an economic historian, and columnist for Premium Times, writes from Lagos

PAGE 16

FCT gets standard incubation centre for adult education

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) has constructed a standard incubation centre for the development of Adult Education in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A Director in the NBTI, Dr Abdumalik Ndagi revealed this during a just concluded orientation programme for newly admitted incubates of FCT Agency for Science & Technology’s Incubation Centre located in Karu,Abuja.

Ndagi said the centre will allow commercialisation of innovations; creation of jobs and enhancement of economic growth when fully operational.

He advised the new incubates to be responsible by obeying rules and regulations; keep their units clean; keep daily records; be focused, adding that there would be monitoring, mentorng and training in addition to strict admission and strict exit process.

The Director General of NBTI, Prof Gambo Laraba Abdullahi, who was represented by one of the board’s directors, Alhaji Abdul Shittu said the board had cooperated with other agencies to build capacities of incubatees in different equipment fabrications and had helped the same to access funds totalling more than N200 million.

The FCT sectretary for education, Alhaji Kabir Usman who was represented at the occasion Dr Aina Emmanuel said there were plans to open other centres in different area councils so as to boost the socioeconomic activities of the territory, urging the incubatees to take the incubation process with all seriousness so that they can be self-employed.

The Director of FCT Agency for Science & Technology, Mrs Rosemary Umanah said the incubation centre project took three years to materialise adding that the idea was to help people with ideas actualise their ideas.

Over 20 incubatees were inaugurated at the ceremony.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Easter: Passengers held up on Abuja-Lokoja road T

he North to South bound passengers, travelling for the Easter break on the Abuja-Lokoja road, were on Friday stranded for hours because of heavy gridlock on the expressway.

Some passengers who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) expressed frustration for waiting for many hours on the same spot.

Mr Okon John, one of the passengers coming from Ondo State, said he left home at 6.a.m., only to be trapped at Koton Karfe for three hours. “ Imagine, I left home very early thinking that I will beat this traffic, only to be held up here for three hours.”

•••FRSC blames drivers’ recklessness John appealed to the Federal Government to see to the completion of the road project to avoid future occurrence of the gridlock.

Mrs Grace Darby, described the traffic situation as horrible, alleging that government saw it coming but did nothing to avert the situation. “ I am appealing to the Federal Government to consider the plight of Nigerians plying this road.

Darby said that the AbujaLokoja road project was long over due for completion.

Mr Okocha Nwafor, a driver, said the situation was not strange

to him because he experienced the gridlock every year. “ This is not new to me, in fact, this is even better compared to what we suffered the previous year. “ It is a regular occurrence and we drivers are accustomed to it.”

He advised drivers who plied the Abuja-Lokoja road to exercise patience and respect traffic rules and road signals, including driving against traffic and complicating the traffic situation.

NAN observed that security operatives were at the scene trying to salvage the

L-R: First Lady of Mali, Madame Mintou Doucoure Traore, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, Minister of State FCT presenting relief materials donated by the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) to victims of conflict in Mali.

situation.

Meanwhile, The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has blamed motorists for the current heavy traffic jam on the Koton- Karfe Abaji road.

The Sector Commander of the FRSC in Nasarawa State, Mr Francis Udoma, told newsmen on Friday that motorists had turned the two-lane road into six lanes, thereby making it difficult for vehicles coming from both ends to move easily.

Udoma said the situation had considerably slowed down traffic flow into and out of the Federal Capital Territory but said FRSC officials had been deployed to free the road of the gridlock.

Udoma who was deployed to Kogi State for the Easter special operation, said his men had also been able to open the River Niger bridge to traffic after several hours of disruption caused by an accident involving a traileron Thursday night.

He said that the trailer loaded with 700 bags of beniseeds fell on its side at the middle of the bridge, thereby making it difficult for vehicles from Abuja to pass through.

Udoma, however, said that his men with the assistance of some good “Samaritans” had removed the bags of beniseeds and the vehicle and successfully re-opened the road to traffic.

He said the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene and Lokoja-AJaokuta-AyangbaAnkpa roads had been witnessing heavy traffic since Thursday afternoon.

He said officials had been deployed to ensure free flow of traffic during and after the holidays.

(NAN)

Sure- P: 2500 youths to benefit in AMAC

By Adeola Tukuru

O

ver two hundred and fifty youths drawn from twelve political wards are to benefit from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Sure-P skill acquisition programm.

The Chairman of the council,

Hon Micah Jiba noted that the program is part of his agenda lined up to take unemployed youths out of streets of Abuja.

In his words: “ This is the third batch of Sure-p programm and the first 150 batch was trained in selling recharge cards and while other batches are undergoing various

training such as driving, tailoring, sanitation and others””.

According to him the agenda of education and youth empowerment is his first priority since the beginning of his administration.

Micah further urged the youths to be law abiding and disciplined

during the period of their training.

Jiba also called on the AMAC residents not to engage act of lawlessness during the Easter celebration.

According to him, the Easter season is a time to show love to one and another without minding the religious differences.

Celebrate Easter with love, Clergyman advises Christians

T

he Area Superintendent of the Apostolic Church, Nyanya, FCT, Pastor Ime Udoinyany, has advised Christians to celebrate Easter with love.

He said at the “Good Friday’ service that the essence of Easter was sacrifice which came out of

Jesus Christ’s love for mankind.

Udoinyany said that the significant of Good Friday was in what Christ did on the Cross of Calvary for the love of humanity.

“Easter is all about sacrifice, hope, love and peace. Jesus Christ gave his life as a ransom for us.

“Love goes beyond telling

someone how much love you have for the person, Love is sacrificing something for another.

“Christ’s love for man is incomparable since He gave his life for us. Christ’s love for man makes Him take our place and die for us.’’

Udoinyany urged Christians

to demonstrate love and genuine care for one another in the true spirit of Easter and imbibe the lessons of peace, selflessness and sacrifice for the good of the country.

“Let the spirit of selflessness that is in Christ spur us to greater love for one another and renew

our faith in our nation.”

He urged Christians in particular and Nigerians in general to use the season to pray for peace and unity in Nigeria, while urging the faithful to rededicate themselves to the service of God and mankind.

(NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Residents of Tunga Maje call for solution to lingering blackout Police arraign man, 25, over esidents of Tunga Maje Abdulrauf, an Islamic scholar, the country.’’ operates a salon in the area, said village near Zuba in the attributed the situation to the Another resident, Mr the state of power supply in the trespass, theft FCT, has appealed to the deplorable state of the Innocent Okechukwu, said the community was threatening

R

FCT Administration to find a lasting solution to the lingering blackout in the community.

In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Tunga Maje the residents said they had yet to benefit from the relatively stable electricity supply being experienced in some parts of the FCT. Malam Abdulrahman

transformer serving the community.

He appealed to the relevant authorities to assist the community by replacing the old transformer with a new one.

“This community has not had regular power supply in the last three months, in spite of Federal Government’s efforts in ensuring stable power supply in

situation “has forced many of us to spend more money to fuel our generators on daily basis’’.

Okechukwu noted that the blackout had paralysed business activities in the community.

“We call on the FCT administration, particularly the Gwagwalada Area Council, to come to our aid by finding a lasting solution to this problem.’’

Mrs Marry Patrick, who

A Gbagi woman carrying firewood on her back yesterday in Kwali, Abuja.

her job.

“I spend over N10,000 to fuel my generator every week just to satisfy my customers because at the end of the day, I hardly make profit,’’ she said.

She also appealed to the relevant authorities to provide the community with a new transformer, saying that the residents could not afford to buy one. (NAN)

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

T

he police have arraigned Victor Gabriel, 25, of Apo Village, Abuja, in an Abuja Chief Magistrates Court, charged with trespass and theft.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Phillip Akowgu, told the court that Tony Uba of Asokoro District, Abuja, reported the matter at the Asokoro Police Station on March 21,2013.

He said that the accused trespassed into Uba’s room and stole his DVD player and a camera.

The prosecutor added that the accused was nowhere to be found until he was deceived on phone to come and collect a message sent to him by his uncle in the U.S. Akogwu said the accused was arrested when he showed up at the Asokoro General Hospital, where he was told to come and collect the message.

The prosecutor said the accused is charged with trespass and theft in line with sections 348 and 288 of the Penal Code.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge, insisting that he did not trespass into the complainant’s room.

“I did not pick anything from his room. I don’t even know how his room look like because I have never entered,’’ the accused said.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Musa Jobbo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 and a surety in like sum.

Jobbo ordered that the surety must be a civil servant, resident within the jurisdiction of the court and adjourned the case to April 15 for further hearing. (NAN)

Man, 26, bags 8 months imprisonment for joint act, extortion

Gwarimpa residents hail devt A control for ending night club noise

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Department of Development Control of the FCTA has been commended for tackling the issue of noise pollution that has been a great source of worry to the residents.

They also commended the department on the stoppage of illegal development in the area.

Development Control Director, Yahaya Yusuf, Director said he was happy that the hard work the Department is putting in to ensure a clean and planned city is being appreciated.

He said the department’s hardwork has pitched illegal developers against the Development Control Department in its bid to sanitize the environment and ensure that developers build in line

with the master plan.

Yusuff said it was quite encouraging when the Department received a letter of appreciation from the residents of 3rd Avenue, Gwarimpa Estate recently.

According to the Director “ This is not the first time that we are being appreciated, but the way the encomium is pouring in now, it shows the public now have a better awareness of what we do and how it is to their own advantage in the long run”.

In the appreciation letter, the neighbors thanked the Department for its swift response in handling the issue of noise pollution by the Grundies Night club.

The residents said they are grateful that the Department brought the illegal activities of the Night club located at the heart of Gwarimpa residential

Estate to a halt.

According to the letter, the activities of the Night club, which includes activities of prostitutes, music and fighting greatly disturb their sleep at night.

According to the letter; ‘we really appreciate the demonstration of your leadership quality which has once more come to bear as evident in the way the FCT development is being controlled’ Yusuf said “it is quite a testimony that will propel the Department to do more, as we cannot afford to rest on our oars now.

He said, “ we shall continue to work until the Abuja Master plan is restored” “The Department of Development Control was set up to Control development in the Federal Capital Territory in line with the Abuja Master Plan”

“The Department approves designs that are in conformity with laid down standards, and issues Building Plan Approval to deserving developers, monitoring and ensuring strict compliance.

“These regulations have not gone down well with developers who do not have approval either because they submit sub-standard designs, or just choose to erect structures without recourse to the Department.

There are also developers that commence development without all the necessary land documents, in which case approval cannot be given.

Before Building Plan approval can be granted, a developer must possess Right of Occupancy (R.of.O) or Certificate of Occupancy (C.of.O) from lands Department and duly signed by the FCT minister” he added

Grade 2 Area Court in Kado, Abuja has sentenced one Ehiobu Chukwuka, 26, of Berger Junction, Abuja, to eight months imprisonment for joint act and extortion.

The Presiding Judge, Ahmed Ado, sentenced the accused to two months imprisonment for the joint act with an option of N2,000 fine.

On the second charge, he sentenced Chukwuka to six months imprisonment without an option of fine because of the toy gun he used.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr Simon Ibrahim, had told the court that Miss Gift Isreal of Dawaki village, Abuja, reported the matter to the Utako police station on March 22.

Ibrahim said the accused, with two others, now at-large, threatened the complainant with a toy gun and forcefully collected her purse and the sum of N400.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 79 and 292 of the Penal Code.

Section 79 stipulates that: “ when a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such persons is liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him alone. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 17

BUSINESS

PAGE 19

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

Mob: 08033644990

INSIDE

- Pg 20

CBN begins gradual phase-out of COT charges today

L-R: Council Member, Ibadan Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), Mr Bamikole Olalekan, President, Mr Dimeji Fowowe, Vice-Chairman, Corporate Affairs Committee, Mr Segun Bolaji, and Deputy President, Mrs Margaret Amusan-Ogunmade, during the ICCIMA annual general meeting, yesterday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN

NDIC begins liquidation of failed mortgage institutions

By Aminu Imam he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said on Thursday it had liquidated the assets of seven Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMI) considered not viable.

Its Managing Director, Umaru Ibrahim, announced this at a meeting with the board and management staff of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), led by Mr Bisi Ogunjobi in Abuja.

According to him, though the liquidation directive by the

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was on 25 PMIs, the corporation could only identify seven at the moment. He, however, did not list the companies liquidated.

In 2012, the CBN directed the NDIC to liquidate the assets of 25 PMIs considered not viable.

The managing director said the corporation had begun the liquidation process of those it could trace.

He stressed that the corporation had to do a lot of search at the Corporate Affairs

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

500 even as the small basket price remained at N500, which is the same with a small basket of onion. A small basket of pepper previously sold at N600 has sharply increased to N700 as the Easter celebration approached.

However, a check at the section of meat sellers revealed that the price of a Kilo of meat has remained at N1, 000 despite of which the sellers surprised at the limited customer patronage in the market as against how the

T

Commission (CAC) to determine the ownership structure of some “invisible PMIs’’.

“A couple of months ago, the CBN had cause to revoke the licences of 25 PMIs and naturally asked us to liquidate whatever remains of them,” he said.

“Interestingly, we were able to trace only seven of them.

“The rest, I believe, were paper institutions; we are carrying out a lot of search at the CAC to determine the management, board, shareholders and other details of those invisible institutions. Having identified the

Easter: Foodstuff prices record sharp increase

A

s Federal Government declared Friday and Monday public holiday for the celebration of Easter by Christians, prices of foodstuff have traditionally been increased, even as the marketers complain of low market sales.

Although some food stuff’s prices have relatively remained unchanged, as the celebration approached, a cursory investigation

by Peoples Daily however found out that there has been an increase in the prices in most of the commodities.

The change in price of most of the foodstuff was attributed by marketers to the Easter festive season.

A 50 Kg bag of Sarauniya rice that was sold at N8, 000 before is now being sold at N8, 500 representing a slight increase of N500, as 25 Kg of the same brand upped from the previous N4, 000 to 4, 300.

Similarly, the price of a basket of tomatoes also increases from N3, 000 before this period to N3,

period used to be in the past.

On their part, Peoples Daily asked some customers, who agreed with some sellers that the prices of some food stuff items have remained without any change.

A woman found to be bargaining on a 50 Kg rice bag confirmed that there has been “a little increase in the price compared to how I bought it last time”, attributing the development to the Easter celebration period.

seven of them, we are in the process of commencing liquidation such that the established depositors would be compensated.

That, again, has proved to be a very difficult exercise because most of them were not rendering returns to the CBN or NIDC; therefore, determining the deposit liabilities of those identified institutions is a Herculean task.”

As part of efforts to reposition

Blackberry reports 1million Z10 sales

By Chris Alu with agency report obile phone maker Blackberry has said it has sold one million of its new Z10 smartphones.

In better than expected results the company said it made profits of $98m (£65m) in the quarter, after posting a big loss for the same period last year.

The Z10 handset is seen as crucial to the future of Blackberry, which has struggled to keep up with new Apple and Android phones.

It has been on sale for a

M

Management Tip of the Day

W

Make your mission meaningful

hen work has personal meaning, people feel a sense of ownership in their jobs. But few employers do what it takes to make this a core part of their organization.

This is apparent in the often bland, tone-deaf, and hollow mission statements companies adopt, which regularly turn out to be empty lip service to

values that aren’t lived every day.

To engage employees, develop an inspiring mission that people can get behind. It should be specific, relevant, and motivating. Of course, it’s not enough to have good words down on paper (or on your website).

Your organization’s

the sector, Ibrahim stated that the corporation had mapped out a framework for possible granting of financial assistance to deserving PMIs and microfinance banks.

Chairman of the Board of FMBN, Ogunjobi, underscored the significance of interagencies collaboration in addressing the myriad of challenges confronting the Nigerian mortgage sector.

leaders need to live the values implied in your mission statement and expect others to as well. By making sure all people in power walk the talk, you can begin to give employees the meaning they crave.

Source: Harvard Business Review

month in the UK, Canada and other markets.

It went on sale with little fanfare a week ago in the United States, Blackberry’s most important market.Blackberry reports 1m Z10 sales The figures do not include US sales.

Blackberry was previously called Research In Motion, but changed its name last year.

Analysts greeted the results cautiously, saying that it was too early to judge the success of the Z10 and its sister device the Q10.

Earlier in the week, Blackberry shares were hit when two major US brokerages expressed disappointment with the US launch of the Z10.

In a note to its clients Citigroup described the launch as “a big disappointment”.

The Blackberry results also showed the company lost three million users over the year. Its handsets are now used by 76 million people, down from 79 million 12 months ago.

In total, Blackberry said it shipped a total of around six million handsets in the three months to early March.

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS Delta Air

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elta Air is transforming the customer experience on flights between Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) with more than $3 billion investment through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology.

Speaking at the yearly Business Traveller Africa Expo and Conference Bobby Bryan, Delta’s commercial manager East and West Africa highlighted a range of in-flight and on the ground benefits to improve the product offering for customers flying on Delta’s daily non-stop service between Lagos and the U.S. In June, Delta’s BusinessElite passengers will see the introduction of the Westin Heavenly in-flight bedding transforming the sleep experience in the air.

Boeing

A

ircraft giant, Boeing Company has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Aviation to conduct an “airworthiness assessment” of all its Nigerian registered aircraft in the fleet of domestic airlines in the country.

Spokesman for the Minister of Aviation, Joe Obi confirmed the development in a statement rcently.

Obi disclosed that correspondences between the Managing Director of Boeing Professional Services (BPS), Ken Sain, Director for Africa and Middle East (Aviation Safety), Chamson Andjorin, and the Federal Ministry of Aviation bear testimony to this.

FIIRO

D

irctor-General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr Gloria Elemo, has appealed to the National Assembly to pass a legislation on compulsory use of cassava in bread making.

In her paper on prospects and challenges of cassava bread, at a seminar in Ibadan, Elemo observed that the absence of a legal framework to drive the cassava bread policy constituted a big challenge to the implementation of the policy She stressed the need to form strong advocacy and lobbying groups towards realising the objective of the policy. The seminar was organised by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

By Abdulwahab Isa

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), via a c i r c u l a r o n Thursday announced the ‘Revised guide to bank charges’, wherein it clarified for customers the appropriate tariffs and charges allowable.

Specifically, the CBN cancelled the N100 monthly Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) card maintenance fee introduced by some banks recently, pegging the maintenance fee at N100 annually.

It also pegged the mandatory cost of Short Message Service (SMS) alert at N4, subject to the Nigerian Communication Commission directives The circular, which takes effect from today, April 1, read: “In order to reflect current developments in the market and provide clarity on banking terms, the CBN recently conducted a review of the guide in consultation with all the banks and discount houses, Bankers’ Committee, financial experts and also considered inputs received from other stakeholders to produce the revised guide to bank charges.

On electronic transfers, the CBN guide stipulates N70 charge on transactions below N500,000; N100 charge on transactions between N500,000

CBN begins gradual phase-out of COT charges •cancels ATM maintenance fee and N1million; for transactions above N1million, a charge of N500 will be applicable.

Other customer charges, issuing fees for a debit card should not be more than N1,000; International withdrawals per transaction on debit cards to be charged at N240 rather than N1,000 being currently charged by virtually all the banks.

The CBN pegged the interest on savings deposit accounts at a minimum of 30 percent of the Monetary Policy Rate per

annum.

The Bankers’ Committee, had during a meeting in November 2012, scrapped the N100 interbank charge on the use of ATM cards. The Governor, CBN, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had said customers would no longer pay N100 on ATM withdrawals whenever they use banks other than theirs from December 17, 2012.

Following the scrapping of the N100 withdrawal charges on ATM by the Bankers’ Committee,

some banks had recently introduced the N100 monthly maintenance fee on ATM cards.

The development had drawn the ire of bank customers, who complained bitterly that the banks were exploiting them and indirectly taking back the suspended third-party ATM card withdrawal fee.

Also, “some banks charge as high as N50 for SMS to alert their customers of transactions on their accounts, far above the N4 that all Global System of Mobile (GSM) communication providers charge for each text message.

Naira strengthens as CBN boosts dollar sales

T

he Naira erased its loss and gained for the first time in three days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the amount of U.S. currency sold at an auction on Friday.

The currency strengthened 0.1 percent to 158.20 per dollar by 3 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It earlier

Inflation rates from Mar, 2012 to Feb, 2013 Max = 12.9 %, Min = 9 % for period in display.

Current Inflation rate = 9.5% Source:CBN

depreciated to 158.40 per dollar.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it sold $300 million to lenders at an auction on Thursday, compared with $276.6 million at the previous sale on March 25.

The regulator uses the sales to stabilize the naira as the cost of importing goods including refined fuel, which accounts for 70 percent of the local gasoline market, increases dollar demand and puts pressure on the currency.

“CBN’s increased intervention through the auction has ensured naira stays within the targeted band amid increased dollar demand,” Sewa Wusu, an analyst at Lagos-based Sterling Capital Ltd. said.

The CBN aims to keep the

IMF predicts 7% growth for Nigeria’s economy in 2013

Earnings Report for Banks Source:Pro-share Nigeria

currency within a band of 3 percent above or below 155 naira per dollar.

In the week ahead, the naira may gain to 158.10 per dollar, “with bias for moderate appreciation due to monetary policy support,” Kunle Ezu, an analyst at Ecobank Transnational Inc. have said.

The yield on the country’s 16.39 percent domestic bonds due January 2022 dropped one basis point to 11.20 percent in the secondary market, according to yesterday’s data compiled on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website.

Yields on Nigeria’s $500 million of Eurobonds due January 2021 rose one basis point to 4.323 percent on Friday. (Bloomberg)

By Abdulwahab Isa

E

conomic growth in Nigeria is likely to rise above seven percent this year with inflation slowing below double digits, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

It also emerged late on Thursday that British Barclays will add approximately $16 billion of Nigerian debt to its emerging markets government bond index from April 1.

In its 2012 review of Africa’s second largest economy, the IMF projected that the pace of economic growth in Nigeria would pick up to 7.2 percent this year from 6.3 percent in 2012.

It said Nigeria’s tightening of monetary policy was in line with the authorities’ efforts to contain inflation below 10 percent. The IMF also estimated that Nigeria’s currency, the naira, was “broadly in line with fundamentals.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held rates at 12 percent last week for the ninth consecutive time, citing concerns about ongoing external price pressures.

Nigeria’s consumer inflation rose to 9.5 percent in February from 9 percent in January, staying within the central bank’s single digit target. Food prices rose to 11 percent.

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

NSE: 0.051bn shares gained on investment From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

I

nvestment gains in the stocks of some quoted companies on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) last week has resulted in the market gaining 0.051 billion shares on listed equities.

Turnover of 1.612 billion shares worth of N13.542 billion in 23,021 deals were transacted, in contrast to a total of 1.561 billion shares valued at N16.636 billion that exchanged hands in 25,255 deals the previous week.

Specifically, the NSE AllShare Index (ASI) appreciated by 29.37 points or 0.09% to close on Thursday at 33,536.25, while the market capitalization of the listed equities on the mainboard increased by 0.11% to close at N10.733 trillion.

Also, the Bloomberg NSE 30 Index appreciated by 5.53 points or 0.35% to close at 1,602.88.

However, the stock market opened for four days during week as the Federal Government declared Friday 29th March 2013 a public holiday to mark Good Friday.

During the week, the Financial Services sector accounted for 1.347 billion shares valued at N8.138 billion exchanged hands by investors in 15,076 deals.

The Consumer Goods sector (measured by turnover volume) followed in the activity chart with 76.335 million shares valued at N3.518 billion traded in 3,337 deals.

The Banking sub-sector of the Financial Services sector was the most active during the week (measured by turnover volume) with 945.036 million shares worth N6.661 billion exchanged by investors in 11,558 deals.

Volume in the Banking sub-

sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Skye Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the three banks accounted for 450.287 million shares, representing 47.65% of the turnover volume recorded by the subsector for the week.

During the week were also 234 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), valued at N575.812 executed in 5 deals compared with a total of 192 units valued at N476.541 million transacted last week in 4 deals.

Also, 3,500 units of FGN bonds valued at N4.009 million were traded during the week in 11 deals in contrast to 700 units valued at N1.992 million transacted last week in 18 deals.

All the NSE sectoral indices appreciated during the week; Bloomberg NSE Consumer

Goods, Bloomberg NSE Banking, Bloomberg NSE Insurance, Bloomberg NSE Oil and Gas and NSE-Lotus II advanced by 1.98%, 1.58%, 0.63%, 1.18% and 1.69% respectively.Thirtyfour (34) equities appreciated in prices during the week higher than twenty-two (22) equities of the preceding week.

Thirty-seven (37) equities depreciated in price lower than forty-five (45) equities of the preceding week, while one hundred and twenty-six (126) equities remained constant during the week in contrast to one hundred and thirty (130) equities of the preceding week.

Nestle Nigeria Plc. topped the gainers table gaining N90.00 kobo followed by Okomu Oil Palm Plc gaining N11.50 kobo while Dangote Nigeria Plc. led the losers chart to shed N6.50 kobo, followed by PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc. losing N2.79 kobo.

INVESTORS NEWS BITS

IOSCO

T

he Nigerian Stock Exchange has become an affiliate member of the International Organisation for Securities Commissions.

This was announced on Wednesday by the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunme Oteh, at the end of the quarterly meeting of the Capital Market Committee in Lagos.

By this, the NSE is on the way to becoming a member of the World Federation of Exchanges.

NSE

SEC to launch two platforms, revamp T Abuja Commodity Exchange

T

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced plans to launch the National Association of Securities Dealers and Financial Market Dealers Association platforms in May this year, as part of efforts to attract and retain the value of retail investment in the capital market.

Director-General of SEC,

Arunma Oteh told the monthly Capital Market Committee meeting in Lagos that the two platforms would broaden the capital market coverage and allow transactions and securities traded on the Over-theCounter to become more transparent, and provide a medium for long term financing for infrastructure development and Small and

Medium Enterprise growth.

According to her, the Alternative Securities Exchange, which would be launched in April this year would attract more companies to the market, as the listing requirements had been made less stringent than those of the main board.

She explained that these companies would later be listed on the floor of the

Royal Exchange poise to drive MDRI

R

oyal Exchange Plc. has affirmed the company’s commitment to drive the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative MDRI of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in order to deepen penetration.

Head, Retail Business, Royal Exchange, Mrs TemiTope, who disclosed this stated that the company is making strategic move to set up the retail end of its business to actually focus on encouraging individuals to have policies that are personal to them.

“We believe that this is more pure way to drive insurance

penetration. This is because if people have personal policy, it is easier to get them involved in corporate type when it gets to their businesses”, she stated.

She assured that the company has developed micro insurance products that would assist in protecting individuals to mitigate risk. ”On micro-insurance, we are firmly established on that and I can tell you that our company has policies designed to protect the people who are applying for loans and this is making sure that there is continuity in that economic stream.

“Also, we want to pay value

to products so that at the end of the day, people can be assured there are products to take care of their needs”, she said. Mrs Tobe equally stated that the company is developing customer friendly insurance products tailored to care for people’s health.

“We are also looking at the Health area. We have currently fine-tuned products that can take care of people’s health. We believe that a healthy nation would be productive. Therefore, we are hoping that all these and many more can drive MDRI and allow insurance to reach every Nigerian.

Nigerian Stock Exchange.

She also disclosed that the Commission would revamp the Abuja Commodities Exchange Market this year such that 70 per cent of the commodities under the privatization agenda would be sold to the private sector while 30 per cent would be retained by the government.

The SEC boss added that the process is currently ongoing, adding that a stirring committee had been set up to guide the process. She noted that when approved by the privatization committee, it would strengthen the market in terms of liquidity as well as enhance market stability.

In the area of pension, Oteh said that Pension asset currently stood at $20 billion, representing N3.2 trillion, adding that 13 percent N416 billion was invested in the NCM. She further said that the value of retail investors in the equity market, as at February hit 61 per cent while foreign portfolio dropped to 39 per cent from 70 per cent last year.

Source:Pro-share Nigeria

he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) confirmed on Thursday that it will grant all listed entities an extension of time of thirty (30) days from the due date of the required periodic financial submissions.

The extension offers fresh assurance to businesses and advisors challenged with the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as increased levels of regulatory approvals, including from the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC).

The General Manager, Legal and Regulation Division of the NSE, Ms. Tinu Awe, stated that during this period, the NSE will not apply the tag Below Listings Standard (BLS) beside the names of entities on the XCompliance Report, which is published on its website.

AMCON

T

he Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria ( AMCON) is to make some of its shares in banks available for the Nigerian Stock Exchange securities lending, as part of its effort to enhance liquidity in the stock market.

AMCON has 4 percent equity interest in Access Bank, 17 percent in Eco Transnational Incorporated , 4 percent in First City Monument Bank, 13 percent in Sterling Bank, 25 percent in Union Bank and 99.9 percent in Enterprise Bank, Keystone and Mainstreet Bank, respectively.

Security lending is the act of loaning a stock, derivative, or other security to an investor or firm.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 22

Fund re-sounds end to manual payment of petroleum marketers

By Etuka Sunday with agency report he Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board (PEFMB) said the Federal Government has stopped the manual payment of transportation claims to petroleum products marketers in the country.

The General Manager (Corporate Services) of the board, Mr Goddy Nnadi, speaking to newsmen in Lagos said the board stopped the manual payment of marketers’ claims after it launched an electronic claims management

T

T

he Managing Director, Metib Oil and Gas, Mr Adewumi Ilori, at the weekend attributed the lack of fund and technical capacities as constraints confronting marginal field operators.

Ilori told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that such limitations were some of the reasons several fields had not commenced production decades after they were allocated.

He said the programme, which was meant to boost local participation in oil exploration, had not contributed significant value to the sector because only 11 out of the many allocated field were producing.

“The most threatening problem facing small companies is bad wells. You are gone once you drill a well in a wrong place.

“Hence, it is critical to get correct data. The more quality your data, the more confident you are. And you need to start producing before you can get funding from banks.

“That is the most critical challenge; Before you bid, it is important you have some money to do some basic things.

This is because partners will rip you off if you don’t have some degree of financial backing,” he said.

Ilori warned marginal field operators to be more sensitive to their host communities’, aspirations and dynamics.

He said that the relationship between operators and host

solution, nicknamed “Project Aquila”.

“It is part of the original plan to ensure payment of claims within 72 hours. Project Aquila is an eloading and payment system that will ease the process of marketers getting their entitlements,” he explained.

Nnadi said that over 200 members of PEFMB staff and more than 1,500 marketers had been trained on the application of the Project Aquila software.

He also said that more than 15,000 petroleum products conveying trucks nationwide have been captured in the Project

Aquila website platform.

“The new electronic solution has brought more transparency in petroleum products distribution.

One major advantage of this eloading system is that it will enable the industry to generate accurate data on the petroleum consumption patterns across the country.

“It is a phenomenon that will greatly enhance distribution and marketing trends for the downstream sector”, he stated.

Nnadi said that the e-payment system would enhance monitoring of distribution of petroleum

products across the country.

He noted that distribution of petroleum products was not properly monitored in the past, thereby making it difficult to either confirm or certify deliveries at designated depots or “drop points”.

The general manager urged petroleum product marketers to ensure that their trucks were tagged with the necessary flyers and gadgets to be able to be captured in the project’s software database.

“Any truck not properly tagged will not be allowed to load products in any depot,” Nnadi said.

Expert identifies fund, technical hitch as problems facing oil, gas field operators

T

he Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank has disclosed plans to execute a $60 million ( N 9.6 billion) Regional Sealink Project connecting West and Central Africa.

The NEXIM Bank Managing Director, Mr. Robert Orya, made the disclosure at a stakeholder forum in Lagos, adding that the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI) would partner on the project.

The project is expected to commence within the next three years of complete operation.

“The purpose of the Sealink Project is to foster indigenous

D

ana Motors Limited, the sole distributors of Kia Motors in Nigeria, has launched the all-new flagship sedan – Kia Quoris – into the Nigerian auto market.

The car was introduced to the Nigerian public in a glittering ceremony held at the grand ball room, Oriental Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The event was graced by very important personalities and dignitaries including the Slovak Republic Ambassador to Nigeria, Miroslav Hacek, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria Choi JongHyun, and President, Middle East & Africa, Kia Motors Corporation, Alex Chung.

In his welcome address, President, Middle East & Africa, Kia Motors Corporation, Alex Chung, said, “Over the years, Kia has established itself as a leading automotive brand globally and also in Nigeria, with innovative designs and performance-oriented vehicles that meet the needs and lifestyle of our esteemed customers.

The Managing Director, Dana Motors Limited, Jacky Hathiramani, said, “Stylish, elegant and commanding, these are the qualities that set the Kia Quoris apart from the rest.

FG urged to invest more in development of libraries

T Some host communities in the Niger-Delta during a public protest over working conditions recently communities was crucial to production process.

He also said that host communities, especially those in Delta state, were properly and fairly engaged by operators.

According to him, five

percent returns are given to oil producing communities even before government’s pronouncement on the issue.

The question, he said, should border on how the funds would be equitably administered so

that it does not end up in few hands.

He said it would be better to educate host communities that business ventures have to make money before they can engage in charity activities. (NAN)

NEXIM Bank to execute N9.6bn Regional Sealink Project

By Abdulwahab Isa

Dana Motors launches allnew Kia Quoris

participation in the maritime sector through minimising of freight rate payment capital flight of the average of $5 billion annually.

The project will cut across West and Central Africa, providing immediate impact to the amelioration of basic road infrastructure which has slowed African and ECOWAS trade levels by 20 percent.

“The total project cost is estimated at 60 million dollars, with 36 million dollars to procure vessels, equipment, office space and other infrastructure. $24 million will be the working capital to cover the general and administrative

expenses, summarised as equity of 36 million dollars and debt financing of 24 million dollars,” Orya added.

NEXIM’s MD also disclosed that the project would make Nigeria a maritime hub for West and Central Africa and enable NEXIM achieve its planned revenue growth by improving intra-regional trade levels to about 15 per cent annually.

Commenting on the development, the National President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Ademola Ajayi said the Regional Sealink project would significantly reduce the

premium freight charges witnessed due to the unavailability of direct shipping line plying the West African corridor.

Established in 1991, NEXIM provides short and mediumterm loans to Nigerian exporters.

It also provides short term guarantees for loans granted by Nigerian banks to exporters as well as credit insurance against political and commercial risks in the event of non-payment by foreign buyers.

The Bank is also the government’s National Guarantor under the ECOWAS Inter-state Road Transit programme.

he Federal Government has been urged to invest more in the development of libraries for the country to excel in the education sector.

Dr Moses Ibeun, a lecturer with the Department of Library and Information Science, Kwara state University, Malete, gave the advice in a lecture in Malete, Kwara on Friday.

Ibeun said in the lecture, organised by the Students of Library Science of the university, that the development of libraries as an integral part of educational development in the country had been neglected in favour of social media.

He described the existence of social media as detrimental to the reading culture in the society and reduced the rate at which people patronised the library.

Ibeun, who said that information remained central to the development of any nation, stressed the need for the three tiers of government to invest more on information gathering, acquisition and dissemination.

The lecturer described library as the memory of the society, which supplied adequate information to users.

“Libraries are repository of knowledge, cultural heritage and literacy which needs to be protected,” he said. (NAN)

PEOSPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Report as at Thursday, March 28, 2013

PAGE 23

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

Self-employm ent as path to self-independence “

Gaining employment in Nigeria is, like in other parts of the world at large, a herculean chore. Amidst the sorrow, pains and suffering that is the lot ofjob seekers, a non-governmental outfit, Self Employment Assistance Programme, has stepped in with a unique solution: Training individuals to be their own boss rather than searching for someone to work under. Popoola Christiana Dayo reports…

S

elf employment involves the ability to be independent. That is, working for one’s self.

Self employed people work for themselves instead of being employees, drawing income from the trade or business they operate.

This makes individuals to be their own boss. In fact, self employed people are employers instead of employees.

They give commands rather than be commanded; deciding the amount of salary to be paid employees - irrespective of their qualifications - rather than vice versa if working for another organization.

According to a recent research, tens of thousands

of graduates are out there seeking for jobs daily, with their efforts generally proving abortive.

This is even as many universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education (private, and governmentowned alike) graduate a lot of students every year.

Due to the relatively few numbers of industries available in the country, and with the population of youths in particular and graduates in general snowballing, the handful of available jobs are, needless to say, unable to match the intimidating population of those that are willing to work.

“A lot of graduates and

President Goodluck Jonathan: His government has promised to creat jobs

non-graduates sit at home, complaining that securing a job in the country has become a family affair in most public organizations,” said a concerned company executive who asked not to be named. “Some even said that the few jobs available do not befit their qualification - that is, the salary to be paid is not what they expected due to the certificate they are holding (ND, HND, BSC, etc). “They forget the fact that one can be an entrepreneur.”

He added: “If the owners of those industries in Nigeria, apart from the government- owned ones, are also waiting to be employed, it means the percentages of unemployment would increase alarmingly. The way out, therefore, is self employment.”

This may explain why the efforts of some entrepreneur like the owner of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the chairman of Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Mr. Otedola, Alhassan Dantata, Adenike Ogunlesi, a founder of Ruff ‘n’ Tumble; the media tycoon, Raymond Dokpesi, and others, are appreciated by many.

No less noteworthy is the efforts of the Self Employments Assistance Program (SEAP), an outfit which offers a valuable option to eligible people who wish to run their own business.

According to one of the beneficiaries of SEAP, Morgan Ajigun, the programme help create jobs in an occupation that interests individuals and stimulate the local economy.

Hear Ajigun: “ From my experience, I can say that the programme gives one a flexible income

opportunity through traditional employment, so to say.

“Self-employment Assistance Program (SEAP) is a unique opportunity for you to enter into selfentrepreneur training and receive business counseling while you collect unemployment entrepreneurial training and receive business counseling. In the process you also collect unemployment benefits.

“If you qualify and enroll in an approved training programme, you do not have to look for other work while undergoing this programme.”.

Becoming selfemployed, he added, does not require millions of naira before one can start something.

“It only requires initiatives, knowledge, determination and a little capital to set up a goal”, Adigun concluded.

One can, in the view of some experts, become self employed right from secondary school, because by then one can differentiate between good and bad. That is the time you set a goal for yourself on what you really want to

become in future.

“The great people we are making reference to these days, they were not rich over night, they started with something small and today they are multibillionaires to whom many people are running for help, “ one of the business experts who asked not to be named, said. “In other words, they are collecting fish from them without thinking of how they can also be a fisher”.

There are so many businesses one can engage in. “Pure water” is one of them. So profitable is this venture that many sachet water sellers are said to be super wealthy. From the money made from “pure water” a legion of investors and vendors alike have built houses, bought cars, and trained their children in schools.

With as little as N5000, one can start selling petty things even right from secondary school. Things like earrings, powder, biscuits, sweet, bounce, donut, chin-chin, chips (either plantain, potato or other types) are also big money earners.

According to a lecturer

“

Due to the relatively few numbers of industries available in the country, and with the population of youths in particular and graduates in general snowballing, the handful of available jobs are, needless to say, unable to match the intimidating population of those that are willing to work

There are lot of them in the institution which I taught how to be an entrepreneur, some now have salons of their own; some have barbing salons and the like. Some are riding the motor cycles given to them: they will be riding and make delivery of the agreed amount of money daily Minister of Labour, Chief Chukwuemeka Wogu

in the Department of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Mr. Taiwo, a student of the institution went into “okrika cloth” trade with the sum of N2000. With this she made so much gain in the business, and also helped in payment of her school fees for that session.

“There are lot of them in the institution which I taught how to be an entrepreneur, some now have salons of their own; some have barbing salons and the like. Some are riding the motor cycles given to them: they will be riding and make delivery of the agreed amount of money daily.

“Some are into recharge cards, some are selling petty things in their hostels like kerosene, ‘Indomie’, eggs, pen, ‘“pure water”, bread and other things they know that people are in need of,” he added.

The sort of people mentioned above are selfemployed; they derive joy from this, making cool money in what they engage themselves in. They are students and at the same time their own boss; some of them even employ others to work under them! Ask them and they will maintain the fact that “self employment is the best way to be oneself”.

Applicants search of jobs

NLC President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013 08028402920 sbejike@gmail.com

Alamieyeseigha’s pardon: Falana threatens court action against criminal impunity

A

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that the controversial presidential pardon recently granted to former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha by President Goodluck Jonathan was likely to open a dangerous floodgate for criminal impunity.

Falana told newsmen at the weekend that President Goodluck Jonathan’s extension of clemency to Alamieyeseigha would jeopardize the prosecution of other corrupt former governors whose cases are currently in court.

He disclosed that progressive lawyers in the country were planning a new convention and that the group would help to combat injustices in the country and arrest the march to anarchy.

Falana said, in order to ensure that the power is not exercised capriciously or arbitrarily, the President is required to consult the Council of State, which is expected to take the interests of the country into consideration in advising the President in exercising the prerogative of mercy.

He said: “Sentiments apart, the power to grant pardon or clemency or even amnesty can be exercised by the President or

charges in the UK where he was convicted and jailed. Instead of dissipating energies on the pardon we need to strengthen the EFCC and ICPC [Independent Corrupt Practices Commission] and build a new legal system which will institutionalize the rule of law.

Right now, we have the rule of man.

“Hence, only the poor are jailed while the rich and powerful citizens are above the law. In such a situation the rich who may be jailed for one reason or another are pardoned by the President”, Falana stated.

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha

President Goodluck Jonathan governor depending on the circumstances of each case. In 1976, President Gerald Ford lost the election to Mr. Jimmy Carter because of the pardon granted his predecessor, Mr. Richard Nixon.

Mr. Bill Clinton got away with the controversial pardon granted by him because he did it on his last day in office. So, if the power is exercised recklessly, the President can be called to order”.

According to Falana, the

statement credited to the Adamawa state governor, Alhaji Murtala Nyako, that the pardon for those who were jailed for corruption was not tabled before the Council has not been denied, adding that the other people who were at the meeting have resolved to keep quiet so as not to embarrass the President.

“But the last has not heard on the matter as one of the NGOs has demanded for the minutes of the

meeting of the Council of State under the FOI Act’, he noted.

“Frankly speaking, the pardon of Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha has to be viewed in the context of the general atmosphere of impunity.

“This has aided other exgovernors to stall their cases; one of them got a perpetual injunction against the EFCC. Another one had a 171-count charge dismissed by a court in Nigeria only for the same fellow to plead guilty to similar

‘I did not flee the country’– Maina Sunday Ejike Benjamin

C

ontrary to speculations that the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina fled the country following the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Senate, Maina said he has being in the country.

Speaking through his counsel, Mahmud Abubakar Magaji (SAN), Maina said he did not travel out of the country and that he only went underground because of the threat to his life.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said he was ready to produce Maina’s international passport to prove that he never left the country.

It would be recalled that a federal High Court in Abuja, last week restrained security agencies from arresting the former boss of the Pension Reform Task Force and also vacated an earlier warrant of arrest issued against him by the Senate.

The trial Judge, Justice Adamu Bello, who delivered the judgment in the enforcement of a fundamental human right suit instituted by Maina, hinged his verdict on the ground that the Senate did not follow due process in issuing the warrant.

The judge noted that the upper chamber of the National Assembly failed to annex all necessary documents to aid the dismissal of Maina’s request before his court.

Bello, however, cautioned against misreading his judgment as an affirmation that the Senate lacks the powers to investigate or summon any person to give

Abdulrasheed Maina evidence regarding any subject matter under investigation, stressing that the injunction is about the warrant of arrest being set aside.

Maina sued the Senate President, the Clerk of the Senate before the court alongside the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service; Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration; the InspectorGeneral of Police; Senator Alloysius Etuk, Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service; Senator Kabiru Gaya, Chairman, Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration.

He urged the court to quash the purported report of the Senate Committee’s resolutions and declare the warrant issued for his

arrest as unconstitutional, null and void.

Justice Bello said: “From the reliefs sought by the applicant, the application is challenging the powers of the Senate to issue a warrant of arrest; a careful perusal of Section 35(1) shows clearly the right of liberty guaranteed the applicant by the Constitution, but however the right is absolute.

“Section 88(2) of the 1999 Constitution gives the National Assembly the power to invite or summon an individual for questioning in order to expose corruption and inefficiency among others.

“However, the power of the Senate is subjected to the provision of Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution, which highlighted the conditions to follow before an individual will be summoned.

“This power of the Senate

should be free from abuse and the term of reference should be clear.

Any invitation by the Senate outside the purpose highlighted in Section 88(2) is illegal and unconstitutional.

“The Senate ought not to have invited the applicant in the first place. A proper investigative committee must have been constituted in accordance with constitution”, he held.

The Judge said, the power to call for investigation by the Senate under Section 88(2) is predicated on a published resolution, saying that the respondents have failed to produce or annex vital documents to their counter affidavit; they only exhibited the warrant of arrest signed by the Senate President.

“The implication of not producing such vital documents means there is no evidence before me to show that investigation is going on the subject matter.

“The warrant of arrest was not validly issued. It is, therefore, set aside. The respondents are perpetually restrained from arresting the applicant on account of the warrant arrest being set aside. I will only advise the applicant to submit himself to the Senate”, Justice Bello said.

Reacting to the judgment, Magaji said: “We are not in any way challenging the powers of the Senate; neither are we encouraging anyone to be disrespectful to them. All we are saying is that, in the course of exercising their powers, the rule of law must be allowed to prevail.

We are only saying that the right thing should be done rightly”.

Lawyers seek review of bail process

S

ome Lagos-based legal practitioners have called for the review of bail process in the country, especially surety for accused persons.

Mr. Tunde Braimoh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at eth weekend that it was inappropriate that someone who did not really know an accused person should surety an accused.

“I don’t know who a ‘professional surety‘ is, but it is a defect, an impediment or a clog to the course of justice if such a ‘professional’ is allowed to surety an accused,’’ he said.

Braimoh stressed the need for proper verification of the address of any surety in court, adding that, if an accused person jumps bail, it will not be easy to hold a surety responsible when his or her address is not known.

Another lawyer, Mr. Ogedi Ogu said that prosecutors were not thorough in the verification of addresses of sureties.

Ogu alleged that some prosecutors were in the habit of collecting money from hired people who intend to surety an accused person.

He said that the attitude of some prosecutors undermined the nation’s bail process, thus encouraging the abuse of bail conditions.

“One way of sanitising our bail process is to thoroughly confirm the information a surety provides and documents he or she tenders before the court,’’ he said.

Mr. Spurgeon Ataene, another lawyer based in Lagos, on his part, decried the involvement of touts in the bail process, saying: “our bail system is in a state of crises’’.

According to him, a judicial system with a flawed bail process is bound to be unjust.

Ataene urged magistrates and judges to “temper justice with mercy ‘‘ when it comes to setting bail conditions so as to facilitate quick satisfaction of bail terms.

“People with no dignity and worthy name and persons that are reckless and jobless should not be allowed to surety any accused,’’ Ataene said.

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Educationist proffers solution to scarcity of teachers

By Zainab Yahaya Kandi

A

n educationist and director of the FCT Secondary Education Board, Hajiya Yelwa Fatima Baba Ari, has said that one of the ways to address the issue of scarcity of teachers in trade subjects and entrepreneur skills for secondary schools, is by employing the techers fulltime and by giving them incentive such as accommodation, especially in the FCT where accommodation is a big challenge.

Hajiya Yelwa gave the recommendation during an exclusive interview with Peoples Daily, Wednesday in Abuja.

According to her, the government is in the right direction by introducing the trade subjects in secondary schools in the nation.

She said teachers in the field are professionals and therefore can earn more than a salary earner in a month if they are to be on their own.

"What I will suggest the government to do is to give them some incentives to woo them. Since we cannot give them salary commiserate with what they would have earned if we allow them to be on

their own, we should arrange some kind of leverage where by the teachers and students can work and the students who will work as apprentice will be earning stipend.

“Another way to address this problem is by giving the teachers small contracts such as sewing of school cardigans or making of furniture for the schools to earn some extra money.

With such arrangement the teachers will give the best to the students and at the end of the day only the best among them will be retained,” she added .

It would be recalled that the Federal Government through the National Council of Education (NCE) in March, 2012 launched the newly restructured curriculum for all senior secondary schools in the country, known as Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC) which stated that students must offer one trade or entrepreneurship subject from the 34 approved entrepreneur subjects.

The new curriculum however aim at producing secondary school graduates with relevant functional trade and entrepreneurship skills to eradicate poverty, job creation and wealth generation in the country.

Fire destroys education equipment in Jigawa Ministry of Education From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

F

ire has razed the main store of the Jigawa state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology located at the government Commercial Secondary School, Dutse and destroyed thousands of computers, laboratory equipment and other teaching and learning materials worth millions of Naira.

Reports from the state indicated that the fire started from inside the store which was locked and contained science laboratory equipment, computers of school's ICT centres around 7.30pm.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Haruna Wakili confirmed the fire incident describing it as "terrible and shocking".

Prof. Wakili explained that many important equipment worth hundred millions of Naira were burnt to ashes in the store as a result of the fire outbreak.

According to him the fire lasted for about three hours before it was controlled and commended men of the state fire service for

their prompt and timely intervention and their commitment in ensuring that the fire did not spread to other buildings in the school.

The Commissioner announced the formation of a ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary of the ministry Malam Abdullahi Hudu, to investigate cause of the fire, ascertain the damage and to advise government on how best to tackle the matter.

Members of the committee includes directors of works, schools services, planning, research and statistics of the ministry, representatives of police and fire service directorate and Alhaji Sani Ya'u Babura while zonal education director of Dutse zone will serve as secretary of the committee.

The state head of service Alhaji Mustapha Aminu, Chairman Dutse Local Government Council, Alhaji Sanusi Abdul'aziz Dankofa and the district head of Dutse, Alhaji Jamilu Basiru Sanusi were among the people that visited the scene.

The committee is expected to summit its report on or before Wednesday 3rd march, 2013.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR MINISTRY This is to inform the General Public that the above named Ministry has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission,Abuja for registration under Part C of the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE; 1.Pastor Abiodun Emmanuel 2.engr. Oluyemi Emmanuel Akinola 3.mr. James Olu Ajayi 4.olaode Titilola Adunni 5.dr. Sunday Popoola 6. Mr. James Kolawole Ajose 7. Mr. Abayomi Oshikanmi THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE; 1.To propagate the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2.To engage in out-reaches and to help the widows, orphans and less privilege.

3.To serve as a place of worship for believers in Christ Jesus 4.To win souls for the kingdom of God Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General,Corporate Affairs Commission,Plot 420 Tigris Crescent,Aguiyi Ironsi Street,Maitama,Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed; SECRETARY

KEBBI STATE GOVERNMENT KEBBI STATE GOVERNMENT MINISTRY OF FINANCE BIRNIN KEBBI REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR AUDIT SERVICES Kebbi State Government (KBSG) has enacted the Pensions Reform Law 2008 for which purpose it has appointed a Pensions Board to see to the implementation of a contributory pension scheme.

The KBSG is searching for an accounting consulting firm to help the Pensions Board and pension system to: • Audit the existing pension system; • Identify persons illegally collecting pension; • Quantify the amounts (if any) of improper payments from the pension fund to individuals; • Identify pensioners who are re-employed and may not continue to collect pension benefits unless in accordance with Pensions Reform Law 2008; • Prepare a due diligence and monitoring procedures for the Pensions Board; • Conduct actuarial valuation of pension benefits and prepare cash flow projections of pension responsibility for both (a) existing 100 percent government funded scheme, and (b) contributory pension scheme (recognizing the commencement cut – off date for the contributory system stipulated by the Pensions Reform Law 2008); • Benchmark existing and ongoing due diligence procedures and monitoring efforts; • Develop a risk matrix for implementation by the Pensions Board; and • Generally identify systems and best practices that will ensure and guaranty the sustainability of a contributory pension system in Kebbi State.

The Kebbi State Government (KBSG) has authorized the search for an independent accounting firm to perform the audit of the pension fund financial statements for the fiscal years beginning June 2007 (6 months) and ending December 31st, 2012.

This is an advertisement requesting for proposal (RFP) from audit or accounting firms in the business of auditing pensions and retirement investment plans or accounting firms that offer financial planning and managing pension administration and audits.

The Proposal should be presented in 2 envelopes. One (1) envelope on the Technical Proposal and the second (2) envelope on the cost for carrying out the audit. Each envelope should be clearly marked “Technical Proposal Pension Audit” and “Cost Proposal Pension Audit”. The Proposal should be addressed to: The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Gwadangwaji Secretariat, BIRNIN KEBBI. KEBBI STATE. The Proposal should be submitted on or before the 30th of April 2013.

The Ministry of Finance of KBSG will conduct a preliminary review of the proposals to determine a firm’s compliance with the mandatory requirements and to evaluate the firm’s proposal on the following technical qualifications: (i) Expertise and experience which includes: • Firm’s start date; • Size of firm, particularly the governmental audit staff; • The quality of audit personnel and quality of management support available for technical consultation; and • Recent past experience on similar or comparable government audit engagements with over N5.0 billion in assets. (ii) Audit approach includes: • Adequacy of proposed segmentation of audit engagement; • Appropriateness of staffing (hours and level) for each audit segment; (iii) Adequacy of sampling techniques; and (iv) Adequacy of analytical procedures in evaluating internal control and auditing investments.

The firms submitting proposals will be scored on the above technical qualifications and evaluated before the appraisal and evaluation of the second envelope on cost proposal. However, firms will be eliminated due to any inconsistencies in their proposal and their proposed fees.

In addition to the mandatory and technical qualifications, the Ministry of Finance will also evaluate the fees and determine if the proposed fees are reasonable and commensurate to the audit scope and services proposed by the firm.

Before final selection each firm will be invited to a scheduled meeting to make a tenminute presentation, followed by a brief period for questions.

BUDGET Audit fees are included in the Appropriation Law 2013.

POLICY Under the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Kebbi State Government are required to furnish audited financial statements to the Auditor General of Kebbi State annually.

RESERVATIONS, REJECTION OF RESPONSE The Kebbi State Government reserves the right to reject any proposal submitted in response to this advertisement without assigning any reasons thereto.

Alhaji Umar F. Bako, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Kebbi State.

PAGE 27

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Education minister applauds coy’s partnership with UniLag

By Christiana Popoola

O

matek's flexible heart and hands of partnership has been applauded by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'I when she commissioned the 24-hour

Journalist, civil rights Icon, Gault to speak at AUN ceremonies

By Maryam Garba Hassan

J

ournalist, author and civil rights icon, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, will serve as the keynote speaker at the May 11 commencement ceremonies of the American University of Nigeria, Yola.

A statement from the University stated that Ms. Hunter-Gault will be conferred with the University's honorary doctorate at the occasion.

According to the statement, Gault has worked for the The New Yorker magazine, The New York Times, both of which are American public broadcasting networks, PBS and NPR, and has served as bureau chief for CNN in South Africa.

"She has received two National News and Documentary Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards, one for "Apartheid's People," a PBS NewsHour series about South African life during apartheid", it added.

Hunter-Gault is the author of In My Place, a memoir of the United States civil rights movement that recounts her experience as the first black woman to attend the University of Georgia. Her other books are News Out of Africa: Uncovering the African Renaissance and To the Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement.

The statement further explained that Hunter-Gault also received the 1986 Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the 1990 Sidney Hillman Award, the American Women in Radio and Television award, the Good Housekeeping Broadcast Personality of the Year Award, and a 2004 National Association of Black Journalists Award for her CNN series on Zimbabwe. She has also received awards from Amnesty International for her human rights reporting.

"We are very proud to have her serve as our keynote speaker. She is one of the most highly regarded journalists on the continent and in the United States. I believe her life of struggle, dedication to civil rights, integrity and professional success will resonate with our AUN community", said AUN President Margee Ensign.

The statement further said that this year's ceremonies will be preceded by the Seniors Week (May 6-9), Honors Society Awards Dinner (May 9) and the Senior Awards Ceremony (May 10) adding that the University will graduate more than 250 students with degrees in science, arts, and humanities for the 2013 academic session.

Hybrid Solar Power Solution the company built for the University of Lagos (Unilag) and the community.

The 24-hour inverter which presently is powered by solar is expected to be in use whenever there is power outage. By the new installation, conventional 60watt bulbs are replaced by 4watt bulbs in the hostels; the Auditorium and the classrooms are presently using 90watt bulbs.

The Minister said the energy saving installation would save the University a lot of money, helps in protecting the environment and save money expended on purchase of diesel.

The Minister also said that

Omatek, a Nigerian outfit, must be encouraged adding that the Ministry of Education is ready to partner with it in the area of provision of solar system to power computers, study and practical training in the assembling of computers by undergraduates of tertiary institutions.

Commending the Managing Director, the Minister who said she has made the womenfolk proud and has proved that women have great managerial ability added that the responsibility of moving the education sector forward lies with TVET (Technical and Vocation Education) and that Omatek has a role to play in the

practical sector.

The Managing Director of the company Mrs. Florence Seriki, said her organisation seeks to extend the solar project to all other hostels of the University and that with research and development, solar energy will become a useful tool in Nigerian homes.

She however revealed that in the 26 years of its existence, Omatek had been producing solar inverters for 15years adding that solar energy is now a must because ICT would soon penetrate rural communities that are not on the national grid.

Executive Secretary of the National Universities'

Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie who was present at the occasion, said that there must be a vital link between the Government, industries and universities, in order to move the education sector and the nation forward.

"The Nigerian education system is incomplete without public private partnership and the tertiary institutions are to be busy in research and development while industries are to produce practical samples of the finding of such research and the public are to invest in mass production if the nation must realise benefits from investment in the education sector", he said.

Primary School pupils playing violin, during the Rivers State Education summit, recently in Port Harcourt.

Photo: NAN

No room for cultism, exam malpratice, says rector From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

A

s the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria matriculates 7,000 students for 2012- 2013 session, the Rector, Alhaji Adamu Aliyu Shika, categorically said the institution maintained zero tolerance for cultism, examination malpractice and other social vices.

According to him, the warning followed management's commitment and readiness to maintain standard of learning in the polytechnic.

The rector while speaking at the 2012/2013 students matriculation held at convocation square, main campus Zaria, called on the 7,000 students matriculated students to desist from indulging in any act capable of distracting them from their primary goal of been in the institution.

"Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic (formerly Kaduna State

Polytechnic) since inception in 1989 has been progressively developing; running academic programmes leading to the award of certificates, professional diploma, National and Higher National diploma in 25 different departments with student's enrolment of about 12,000.

"The warning followed the management's commitment to continue to maintain zero

tolerance for examination malpractice, cultism, indecent dressing and other social vices so as to continue to maintain the status and good image of the polytechnic," he said.

Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the ceremony and former Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Suleiman Lawal Kauru, urged the state government to

provide more funding for the polytechnic to compliment the effort of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) that provided infrastructural facilities in the institution.

He also called on the students to take their studies seriously and avoid any form of bad behaviours that will tarnish the good name of the state and institution.

Aliyu, and signed by the Chairman local organising committee Abubakari Bawa Bagudo, expressed dismay over the bad condition of the school.

The communiquĂŠ stated that the infrastructure in the school has decayed all the facilities in hostels, classes and conveniences are not only grossly inadequate but also in sad state of dilapidation".

He said with the caliber of people that finished from the school, there is the need for the people to come

together and ensure that the school is put in place, while appealing to the state government to assist in providing the school with facilities of learning.

The association also concluded that its executive council will be dissolved while new one will be reconstituted in order to improve the condition of the school.

The school which was established in 1914 was among the oldest schools in North east zone.

Alumni association sets up committee on deplorable state of school From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

N

agari Old Boys Association Birnin Kebbi, has setup a 7man committee to look into the deplorable condition of the school.

In a communiquĂŠ issued at the end of the two day general meeting held by the association and headed by the Kebbi state deputy governor Alhaji Ibrahim

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 29

All you need to know about fibroma, surgery might not be required after all

A

fibroma is a benign, tumorlike growth made up mostly of fibrous or connective tissue. Tumor-like growths such as fibroma develop when uncontrolled cell growth occurs for an unknown reason, or as a result of injury or local irritation. Fibromas can form anywhere in the body and usually do not require treatment or removal.

Fibromas can occur in people of any age and either sex, but they are most often seen in adults. The most common types of fibroma include angiofibromas (small papules across the nose and cheeks that contain fibrous tissue), dermatofibromas (benign skin growths), oral fibromas, and plantar fibromas (in the arch of the foot, especially in children).

Focus on both dermatofibromas (skin fibromas) and plantar (foot) fibromas.

Dermatofibromas are round growths, commonly found on the

legs that can range in color from flesh-colored to red-purple. They feel like hard lumps under the skin. Dermatofibromas are harmless and only rarely malignant, so they are best left alone.

A plantar fibroma is a nodule, or fibrous knot, embedded in the plantar fascia in the arch of the foot. The plantar fascia is a band of tissue that supports muscle and extends along the bottom of the foot from the heel to toes.

Like dermatofibromas, plantar fibromas are typically benign, or nonmalignant.

Primary treatment options are nonsurgical and are aimed at relieving pain while walking.

Treatment options include steroid injections, orthotic devices, and physical therapy.

If you continue to experience pain after trying these approaches, if the mass increases in size, or if your pain increases, surgical treatment is an option.

Neither dermatofibroma nor

Treatment of fibroma

D

ermatofibromas are harmless, and treatment is not required unless there are disturbing symptoms or cosmetic concerns. Surgical treatment is an option if you wish to have your dermatofibroma removed.

For plantar fibroma, nonsurgical options are preferred because the surgical procedure requires a long recovery period and may lead to complications that can be worse than the plantar fibroma itself.

Noninvasive treatments for plantar fibroma Noninvasive treatments for plantar fibroma include: " Extreme cold, or cryoanalgesia, to shrink the fibroma " Padding or orthotics to ease discomfort when wearing

shoes " Stretching Invasive treatments for plantar fibroma Most physicians agree that it is wisest to reserve invasive treatments and surgeries for severe cases of plantar fibroma because the complications of surgery may be worse than the symptoms of plantar fibroma itself. Invasive treatments for plantar fibroma include: " Corticosteroid injections into the fibroma " Surgical removal of the entire plantar fascia (which is associated with a long recovery time and high risk of developing other foot problems) " Surgical removal of the fibroma (which has a high recurrence rate) Treatments for an injured dermatofibroma Treatment may be

Barr. Ishak Bello

plantar fibroma is serious or life threatening.

Seek prompt medical care for a fibroma that is persistent or causes you concern.

A plantar fibroma is a nodule, or fibrous knot, embedded in the plantar fascia in the arch of the foot. The plantar fascia is a band of tissue that supports muscle and extends along the bottom of the foot from the heel to toes.

Like dermatofibromas, plantar fibromas are typically benign, or nonmalignant.

Primary treatment options are nonsurgical and are aimed at relieving pain while walking.

Treatment options include steroid injections, orthotic devices, and physical therapy.

If you continue to experience pain after trying these approaches, if the mass increases in size, or if your pain increases, surgical treatment is an option.

Neither dermatofibroma nor plantar fibroma is serious or life threatening.

Seek prompt

considered when dermatofibromas get in the way of shaving or are continually irritated. In these cases, surgical removal can be performed.

Treatments for damaged, intrusive or injured dermatofibromas include: " Liquid nitrogen freeze " Surgical removal Potential complications of a fibroma Dermatofibroma has no serious complications.

Complications from plantar fibroma are usually the result of surgical interventions.

Although complications of invasive surgery for plantar fibroma are not usually serious, they can sometimes be more debilitating than the original fibroma. You can help minimize your risk of serious complications by following the postsurgical treatment plan you and your health care professional design specifically

medical care for a fibroma that is persistent or causes you concern.

Symptoms of a fibroma The main symptom of a dermatofibroma is the presence of a small growth that may or may not be tender. It may be itchy or sensitive to the touch, and the color may change over time. Because it has a raised surface, it can be irritated by clothing or shaving and may bleed if it is damaged.

The main symptom of plantar fibroma is a lump in the arch of the foot that is firm to the touch and may or may not be painful. Pain is usually caused by pressure from shoes, although walking and standing while barefoot can also cause pain, depending on the size and location of the mass.

Common symptoms of a dermatofibroma Symptoms related to discomfort from a dermatofibroma may come and go. Dermatofibroma symptoms are not severe and include: " Color that may change over time " Itchiness " Occasional tenderness " Possible bleeding with

injury " Sensitivity of the dermatofibroma to touch " Small lump with a raised surface Common symptoms of a plantar fibroma Plantar fibroma symptoms are not severe and include: " Enlargement over time " Firm lump in the arch of the foot " Pain with pressure, standing or walking " Spread of additional fibromas over time Symptoms that might indicate a serious condition Neither dermatofibroma nor plantar fibroma is serious.

However, in some cases, a plantar fibroma can become debilitating and require surgical intervention. It is important to keep in mind, however, that complications of surgery for plantar fibroma are often worse than the symptoms. Seek immediate medical care if you, or someone you are with, have any of these serious symptoms including: " Difficulty walking " Increased pain despite nonsurgical interventions " Increased size of fibroma

for you.

Complications of surgery for plantar fibroma include: " Flattening of the arch of

the foot " Postsurgical plantar nerve entrapment " Postsurgical regrowth of larger and recurrent fibromas

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Aiding people with Down Syndrome to cope with life

By Franca Ofili

I

t is estimated that up to seven million persons worldwide are affected with the Down syndrome.

Down syndrome is a natural chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human conditions, as it cuts across racial, gender or socioeconomic lines, while affecting approximately one in 800 live births.

Down syndrome is a condition in which an extra genetic material causes delays in the way a child develops, both mentally and physically.

It is a congenital disorder in which a person is born with three sets of chromosome 21 and it is characterised by mild to severe mental impairment and weak muscle tone, among others.

Global consciousness on the Down syndrome started about seven years ago when the inaugural World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) was celebrated on March 21, 2006 in Singapore.

On March 21, 2012, however, the United Nations (UN) officially declared it a global event.

The theme of this year's celebration of WDSD is ``I want to work''.

Speaking on the event, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the perceptible discrimination against persons with Down syndrome across the globe.

Ban stressed that these persons are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"In many countries, they continue to face stigma and discrimination as well as legal, attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their participation in their communities," he said.

The UN scribe noted that the discrimination could be as invidious as forced sterilisation and as subtle as segregation and isolation through both physical and social barriers.

Ban expatiated that prejudice against children with Down syndrome had obstructed their education, as this had compelled some parents of the children with intellectual disabilities to put their children in special schools or keep them at home.

"Yet, research shows and more people are coming to understand that diversity in the classroom leads to learning and understanding that benefit all children," he stressed.

He pointed out that for decades; the UN had been striving to promote the wellbeing and human rights of all people, adding that those efforts were strengthened via the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Mrs.IfyNwosu, the Coordinator of Down Syndrome Support Initiative, a nongovernmental organisation, stressed that the notion that people with Down syndrome were imbeciles was false because it had no medical justification.

She noted that uneducated persons often confused people with the Down syndrome condition with imbeciles, saying that they simply judged them by their looks.Nwosu also noted that due to the fact that there was no cure for the Down syndrome condition, many parents often decide to terminate such pregnancies at the early stage.

"Down syndrome is not preventable as long as you are still in your reproductive age.

"It's a chance you take in life, it is an error of cell division and the mother does not know how the child will look until the child is born, unless she goes for a check,'' she said.

However, Dr.IretiBabaniyi, a paediatrician, called on government at all levels to provide support for people with Down syndrome in the country.She also urged government to provide the enabling environment for children living with the condition to interact with other members of the society even if their parents were reluctant in that regard.

She added that due to their condition, some of the children with Down syndrome are

always locked up at home by their parents.

The paediatrician, nonetheless, advised people not to take undue advantage of the condition of persons with Down syndrome, adding that such persons are loving and trustworthy.

Babaniyi, however, bemoaned a situation in which persons with Down syndrome are not taken into account while formulating government policy.

She particularly solicited the establishment of special care units for people with Down syndrome, just like what was obtainable in advanced countries.The consultant also urged the Federal Government to include persons with Down syndrome in the treatment schedule of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Medical experts, however, warn that the age of a mother might increase the chances of having babies suffering from the Down syndrome.

Dr. Fred Achem, a physician, said that women within the age

bracket of 35 years and above had a greater risk of giving birth to children with Down syndrome.

He said that the condition had a combination of mental and physical symptoms due to the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21, which affected the normal development of the body and brain.

"Down syndrome cannot be cured but early intervention will enable persons with the condition to live productive lives well into adulthood, '' he said.Besides, Achem said that some defects which could lead to some of these deformities could be detected in pregnancy.

"They are what we call congenital abnormalities and they are detectable during pregnancy.

"These are areas where we do genetic counselling, so that mothers who have abnormal babies are advised on how best to avoid a repetition in their next pregnancy,'' he added.Achem said that the new trends in medical practice had given

“

Down syndrome cannot be cured but early intervention will enable persons with the condition to live productive lives well into adulthood, '' he said.Besides, Achem said that some defects which could lead to some of these deformities could be detected in pregnancy.

doctors the opportunity to look at a baby to ascertain if it was at risk of one kind of disease or the other in infancy.

Mrs. Rose Mordi, the National President, Down Syndrome Foundation of Nigeria (DSFN), called for the social integration of children with Down syndrome, so as to make them feel as normal as their peers.

She noted that it was also important for their peers to see them engage in normal things, just like them, in order to reduce the stigma associated with the condition.Mordi stressed that owing to their disabilities, children with Down syndrome could only attend special schools, reiterating the need to allow such children to partake in activities that would foster their pragmatic integration into the society.

According to her, the three major aspects of caring for people living with Down syndrome are early medical intervention, early educational intervention and vocational training as well as early social integration.

She underscored the need to encourage children with Down syndrome to live normal lives, adding that such efforts would go a long way in changing the general public perception of persons living with the condition.

Mordi said that even though her Foundation wanted to do more for children with Down syndrome, paucity of funds had been a limiting factor, as it was quite expensive to provide care for such children.

She said that even where government had been very supportive, more still needed to be done in efforts to adequately cater for the physical, educational, emotional and medical needs of children with Down syndrome.

Mordi, who claimed that her Foundation was caring for not less than 60 children with Down syndrome, stressed that it cost a minimum of N500, 000 to take care of a child living with the syndrome annually.

She stressed that due to their peculiarities, the children are predisposed to ailments such as eye problems, speech defects, respiratory tract infections and thyroid malfunction.

Mordi added that such children need to undergo regular medical check-ups which cost a lot, while a lot of efforts are required to give them education.She, nonetheless, urged the government to collaborate with agencies such as her Foundation in efforts to enhance the wellbeing of children with Down syndrome and promote their integration into the society.

Source: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

ANALYSIS

By Sarah Harvey

S

ometimes, a hypothesis that is posited first as one of several potential results is accepted over time as an inevitable outcome. Like a snowball effect, one theory gets adopted by a few talking heads and evolves until it is a generally accepted fact. This is proving true today in conversations about the Syrian civil war.

Journalists covering the Middle East today must be having a hard time finding new language to say the same things. Common mantras employ a variety of well-worn catchphrases about two regional issues that are too often conflated: the sectarian problems resulting from the US invasion of Iraq ten years ago and the civil war in Syria.

These two distinct topics are frequently paralleled, leading to common conclusions that Syria is likely to degenerate into a sectarian civil war as soon as the Assad regime is toppled. These associations of Iraq and Syria are made almost without explanation, as if the ongoing struggle perpetuated by sectarian rhetoric in one country is an inevitability in the other.

But Syria is not Iraq. Even if it was, the way the Iraqi population fell at each other's throats was not a necessary outcome of that country's history or the US invasion and subsequent blunders.

Iraq's plunge into chaos resulted from a specific set of circumstances that are in no way inevitable. Sectarian infighting and intra-communal terrorisation is not the only possible outcome of conflict in the ethnically and religiously plural Baath states of the Middle East.

My analysis here does not seek to explain how Iraq's outcome may have been altered if the butterfly had batted its wings differently; rather, it briefly outlines the variations between Iraq and Syria in an effort to remind the world that comparisons of the two nations demonstrate inaccurate and shallow understandings of both.

Demographics are important if you are going to get into sectarian fingerpointing. Iraq's population is 30 million: their largest sect, the Shia Arabs, is 60 percent of the population and was sidelined from government since before the inception of the state in 1932. The marginalisation of the majority helps explain the level of animosity and suspicion that was borne out between Sunni and Shia communities in the post-Saddam battle for power. But even those historical tensions are not the sole cause for the Iraqis' new reliance on sectarian identification: let us not forget that it was the American-derived CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) that dictated a confessional system of government, allotting certain ministerial and government posts based on sect and religion rather than democratic selection by the people.

Syria's 23 million person population, on the other hand, is dominated by a robust 75 percent Sunni population that has enjoyed strong business ties to the ruling elite and was by no means excluded from the accumulation of wealth that took place for those in favour under the Assad family's rule.

Furthermore, there are many more non-Muslim Syrians than non-Muslim Iraqis. Only 3 percent of Iraq's population is Christian; this number was definitely much higher prior to the 2003 invasion, but it never compared to the 13 percent or more non-Muslims in Syria.

Whereas Shia militias in Iraq may have targeted their Sunni co-religionists

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Syria is not Iraq

The media is controlling the navrative by insinuating an inevitable Post-Assad Iraq-style sectarian clash when such a scenario is far from certain. out of anger towards the previous regime - and Sunnis then retaliated - Christians in Iraq were targeted because they were an affluent but small community, ie easy prey for ransom-seekers and anybody who wanted to institutionalise violence in order to dominate through force. The same could certainly become true in Syria, if the same absence of security is allowed to emerge. But this is unlikely.

Syrians have cell phones. This was not true in Iraq, which had been cordoned off from technology for 13 years under international sanctions during the 1990s. All of the major Syrian cities were connected to the internet and most sizeable villages had one or two internet cafes, so that most of Syria was online between 2003 and the start of the conflict. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres recently told a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee that Syrians are the most technologically advanced society he has ever seen fall victim to a humanitarian crisis.

This means they saw what happened in Iraq. Contrary to the direction of some rhetoric coming out of Western mouths, this educated population can easily make the comparison between their own situation and that of their unfortunate

neighbours.

Much has been made of the Arab Spring's "contagion effect", referring to the phenomenon of revolutionary demands spreading from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya, Bahrain, Syria, and even Jordan.

This tangible demonstration of intra-national influence across Arab borders speaks to the power of a more-than-imagined Arab community. The logical conclusion, then, is not that all Arabs are destined to act exactly the same way but rather that the news coverage of one place has serious reach across borders and into living rooms of other Arabs. Peace-loving people the worldover have seen on television and the internet what Iraqis went through, and nobody has dealt more directly with the implications and causes of that crisis than neighbouring Syria. Even the most tangential exposure to Iraq would serve as a lesson in the horrible fallout of sectarianism; to suggest that Syrians could witness that conflict (not to mention Lebanon's 15 year civil war) and not do everything in their power to protect against it is to seriously undermine their intelligence.

What will the outcome look like? In the end, the people who dominate militarily on the ground will be the ones

“

in control. Whoever that is - and whoever came to their aid during the war - will have a significant role to play for years to come. But here is the critical departure from what happened in Iraq: regardless of who that control falls to, security will be maintained. The departure of the regime will not look at all like the US occupation of Iraq. Chaos will not ensue in the same protracted way that it did in Baghdad because law and order will be enforced by the opposition fighters who are responsible for Assad's defeat (and who, having witnessed Iraq, will somehow manage to resist the "urge" to take sectarian revenge on their "enemies"). Without Paul Bremer to disband the entire security mechanism, the indispensable ingredient for chaos - a power vacuum - will not materialise.

Toby Dodge has written extensively about this key ingredient being the only absolute determinant to a slide into chaos like Iraq in 2003. As Dodge and others point out, the reversion to "tribal" and family identities in Iraq was predicated on the absence of an alternative legitimate and capable power. It is the lack of security - not even the absence of food or oil - that necessarily resulted in ghettoisation of Baghdad and the resultant institutionalisation of sectarian hatred in the memories of Iraqis. As long

Much has been made of the Arab Spring's "contagion effect", referring to the phenomenon of revolutionary demands spreading from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya, Bahrain, Syria, and even Jordan.

as Syrian fighters continue to enforce order (really just as long as they prevent mass looting and lawlessness), civilians will not have to rely on clannish alliances or sectarian identification for safety.

Finally, though, the issue of memory should not be overlooked. It is actually this point that is both most difficult to measure and most appropriate to compare with Iraq. That is, the way this conflict plays out in thememories of Syrians will determine how they behave for years and even generations to come. That is why the media's constant refrain about sectarian numbers - this Christian group vs the Salafi opposition forces vs the Alawitesvs the Kurds - is not only false but dangerous. The more we talk in sectarian terms, the more it becomes a reality.

Groups inside the country and in the diaspora who are organising marches, publications, online manifestos and websites against sectarian rhetoric are critical in this regard. They are fighting for control of the narrative, but they are not fighting Bashar alAssad: they are fighting the media and the uncritical "analyst" who continues to use these inaccurate descriptions.

Their battle is critical because of its ability to influence the Syrian memory of the conflict - now and, much more powerfully, in the future.

The current regime has clearly recognised that sectarian fearmongering is its greatest chance for driving a wedge between the Syrian people. The least we could do - the absolute least - is not assist him with his campaign of sectarian rhetoric.

Syria is not Iraq, and 2013 is not 2003. Analysts and politicians, journalists and students have a moral imperative to reject the suggestion that Syria's day of sectarian infighting is coming.

Source: Aljazeera

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Rebels clash with army in Timbuktu

A file photo of Malian soldiers entering Timbuktu

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he Malian army has been fighting Islamist rebels in the northern city of Timbuktu after a suicide bomber

attempted to attack an army checkpoint.

The bomber was killed before he could detonate his bomb. This

was followed by militant attempts to infiltrate the city.

The army, backed by French air power, then moved against

the Islamists.

Earlier this year French troops pushed Islamists out of much of northern Mali but sporadic fighting has continued.

"The fighting is heavy and it is ongoing," Malian army CaptModiboNamanTraore told the Reuters news agency, adding that the army was in the process of "encircling" the militants.

At least one Malian soldier and two civilians were wounded in Saturday's fighting according to the city's mayor.

But the number of casualties following Sunday's fighting remains unknown.

The situation in Timbuktu remains tense, reports the BBC's Thomas Fessy from Bamako.

The people of Timbuktu had barricaded themselves in their homes after a group of Islamists infiltrated a western neighbourhood of the city overnight, our correspondent says.

The French left the Malian army on the front line for hours before they intervened and finished the job, he adds.

Egypt satirist Bassem Youssef released on bail

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he popular Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef has been released on bail, after questioning by prosecutors over allegations he insulted Islam and President Mohammed Morsi.

He was ordered to pay 15,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,190; ÂŁ1,440).

Mr Youssef had spent five hours at the public prosecutor's office, a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He has faced several complaints over his show El Bernameg (The Programme), which satirises many public figures.

On his Twitter feed, Mr Youssef said the bail conditions were related to three lawsuits, while a fourth was still being investigated.

The case has highlighted worries about press freedoms in Egypt.

At one point during his arrival

at the prosecutor's office Mr Youssef donned an oversized academic hat, mocking one which Mr Morsi wore recently when he received an honorary doctorate in Pakistan.

In a statement sent out on his Twitter account as he arrived, he said that lawyers and policemen at the office wanted their picture taken with him, and joked that this was perhaps the real reason for his summons.

However, the al-Misri alYawm news portal reported that the judge asked him to remove this and other tweets written during the questioning.

Bassem Youssef is a doctor who shot to fame after winning a large number of followers with his witty lampooning of public figures in amateur videos posted on the internet following the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule in February 2011.

He became a household name

Bassem Youssef when his satirical show - likened to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show in the US - began to be broadcast three times a week on one of Egypt's independent satellite stations.

But sketches in which he portrayed Mr Morsi as a pharaoh,

calling him "Super Morsi" for holding on to executive and legislative powers, and, separately, putting the president's image on a pillow and parodying his speeches angered one Islamist lawyer, whose formal complaint resulted in the investigation.

South Africa's Mandela spends fourth day in hospital

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outh Africa's anti-apartheid hero and former president Nelson Mandela spent his fourth day in hospital on Sunday after doctors reported he was making progress and responding to treatment for pneumonia.

Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said he had no fresh update from those treating the 94year-old Mandela and it was fair to assume the situation was unchanged from Saturday, when doctors reported he was comfortable

Visitors walk past a statue of former South African president Nelson Mandela outside the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl in the Cape winelands, March 29, 2013.

and breathing without problems.

"In the absence of an update today, the update of yesterday stands," Maharaj said. Bulletins issued since the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was taken to hospital late on Wednesday have reported him responding well and in "good spirits".

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994, is revered at home and abroad for leading the struggle against white minority rule, then promoting the cause of racial reconciliation when in power.

He has been away from the political scene for at least a decade and has become increasingly frail in his old age.

In the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in the sprawling black township of Soweto that Mandela once called home, worshippers attending Easter service prayed for the man seen by many as the father of their nation.

"We hear that the government

tells us that he's okay, that he's still undergoing treatment for his lung condition, and as I say, we pray that God's healing hand may be upon him," Father Sebastian Russouw said during the service.

On Saturday, in their first detailed report of his condition, doctors said Mandela had "developed a pleural effusion which was tapped", meaning they had drained excess fluid from around his lungs.

It is his third visit to hospital in four months.

Mandela was in hospital briefly earlier this month for a check-up and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones.

He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison on Robben Island and other jails for his attempts to overthrow apartheid rule.

Kenya deploys forces to check violence

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enyan police have deployed forces in the capital, Nairobi, and in the lakeside city of Kisumu to contain the continuing threat of violence after deadly protests on Saturday against a court decision that validated March 4 presidential polls.

Moses Ombati, the deputy police chief for Nairobi, said on Sunday that rowdy youths in Nairobi's slums were still trying to protest the court's ruling that upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president.

"There is tension obviously, but with the deployment of officers we have done we don't anticipate anything," he said.

Ombati said he hoped the presence of armed police would deter illegal protests like those that erupted on Saturday immediately after the court's ruling.

Kenyans said the calmer atmosphere this time was in part because of far greater trust in the reformed judiciary that ruled on the disputed vote, and also because former prime ministerRailaOdinga was swift to fully accept the verdict despite his disappointment.

"Our leader has conceded defeat, who are we to take to the streets?" said Elijah Onyango, 27, delivery man in Kisumu.

However, some Odinga supporters reacted angrily to his loss, taking to the streets and engaging the police in running battles.

Two people were killed and five seriously injured in riots in Kisumu, a city in the west of Kenya where there is strong backing for Odinga, said Ole Metito, police chief for Nyanza province.

At least seven rioters are now in police custody for their alleged roles in the Kisumu violence, he said.

"There was chaos in places where people were throwing stones. Now we have officers monitoring the general situation," Metito said.

Kenyatta, who is to be sworn in on April 9, said late on Saturday that he would be a president for all Kenyans and urged them to move past the election and build a nation "at peace with itself".

In a televised address to the nation, Kenyatta thanked Odinga for wishing him well.

"I want to assure all Kenyans ... that my government will work with and serve all Kenyans without any discrimination whatsoever," Kenyatta said.

Odinga said he accepted the verdict even though he regretted that some of the evidence produced by his lawyers had been disregarded.

"The court has now spoken. I wish the president-elect, honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, and his team well," he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 33

Asia and Karzai meets emir of Qatar for peace talks Middle East

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amid Karzai, the Afghan president, has met with the emir of Qatar to discuss plans for the Taliban to open an office in the Gulf state.

He discussed "issues of mutual interest" with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the state news

agency QNA said, without elaborating on the substanec of their talks. The meeting was also attended by the Qatari prime minister, Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani.

Karzai arrived in Doha on Saturday and also met with Afghan and Arab officials and businessmen. The delegation traveling with the Afghan

president includes ZalmaiRassoul, the foreign minister; SalahuddinRabbani, the head of the High Peace Council; and RanginDadfarSpanta, a presidential advisor.

Until earlier this year, Karzai was strongly opposed to the Taliban having a meeting venue outside Afghanistan, but the US wanted the Taliban on the talking table as it

prepared to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in the next two years.

"If we want to have talks to bring peace to Afghanistan, the main side must be the Afghan government's representatives - the High Peace Council, which has members from all the country's ethnic and political backgrounds," Faizi said.

Kabul has repeatedly stressed

that it would only start talks if the fighters broke all links with al-Qaeda and gave up violence.

Faizi said any Taliban office in Qatar must be held to strict conditions.

"It can only be an address where the armed opposition sit and talk to the Afghanistan government," he said. "This office cannot be used for any other purposes."

Hope fades for Chinese mine survivors

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Taliban disarmament has been the most pressing issue.

opes were fast fading that Chinese search and rescue teams would find survivors two days after a huge landslide crashed down a Tibetan mountain, burying scores of mine workers.

About 3,500 rescuers were searching for survivors and 300 pieces of large machinery had been mobilised, state media reported early on Sunday, with many workers said to be digging with their bare hands while battling snow and altitude sickness.

A total of 82 miners remain trapped after one body was found on Saturday, almost 36 hours after the massive landslide buried the workers under two million cubic metres of earth.

The disaster struck when a huge section of land tumbled onto a mine workers' camp in Maizhokunggar county, east of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, at 6:00am local time on Friday (22:00 GMT).

"The rescuers are conducting an inch-by-inch search, but they still cannot locate the missing miners," said Wu Yingjie, deputy secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Wu said that, given the scale of the disaster, the miners' survival chances were slim.

Xinhua, citing its reporters, said that many workers were digging with their "bare hands" because damage to narrow local roads had kept much of the large-scale rescue machinery from getting to the site.

Philippines wants US payment over reef damage

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Men of the state emergency team at the mines in rescue efforts.

he Philippines has welcomed the removal of a US minesweeper that had been stuck on a protected coral reef for 10 weeks, but stressed that compensation must be paid for the environmental damage.

Salvage crews contracted by the US navy on Saturday extracted the last remaining piece of the USS Guardian from the Tubbataha reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site in a remote area of the Sulu Sea. "We maintain there must be accountability and we will enforce our existing laws," said Herminio Coloma, a spokesman for president Benigno Aquino.

"We will adopt needed measures to prevent a repetition (of the incident)," he said.

Initial investigation showed that the ship had damaged about 4,000 square metres of the reef, famous

for its rich marine life that divers say rivals that of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Tubbataha is a protected marine park under Philippine law, and is off limits to any vessel unless permission is granted by park authorities. Fines can reach up to $585 for every square metre that has been damaged, officials said.

While only a small portion of the marine park has been damaged, the incident has stoked nationalist sentiment and revived debate about a controversial agreement that allows a US military presence in the country.

The United States has repeatedly apologised for the incident, but has not clearly explained why a naval vessel with state-of-the-art equipment ran aground in an area that local officials said was clearly visible in any map.

North Korea in 'state of war' with South

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US naval ship finally removed from reef ten weeks after running aground, but Manila demands financial compensation.

orth Korea has announced that it has entered a "state of war" with South Korea and would deal with every inter-Korean issue accordingly.

"As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol," the North said in a joint statement attributed to all government bodies and institutions.

"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over."

The statement was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North threatened on Saturday to shut down a joint industrial complex with South Korea, state news agency KCNA reported, in the latest warning from Pyongyang at a time of escalated tensions between the two sides.

The threat from the state body in charge of the complex just north of the Korean border followed an announcement by the North on Wednesday that it was cutting its last military hotline with the South.

But an official from the South said the joint industrial complex, which lies inside North Korea, was operating normally on Sunday despite the North's threat.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 34

Europe and Pope Francis delivers Easter plea for peace Americas NATO eyes missile shield progress with Russia after U.S. move

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ATO hopes a U.S. change to global missile defenses will dispel Russian concern and foster cooperation on an issue that has long strained relations, alliance Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said in an interview.

Russia has said U.S. missile shield plans could erode its nuclear deterrent.

It has softened criticism since Washington announced on March 16 that it would station 14 missile interceptors in Alaska in response to North Korean nuclear threats and at the same time forgo a new type of interceptor that would have been deployed in Europe.

However, Moscow has said it wants a series of consultations on the new shield set-up and U.S. and Russian defense officials are expected to hold talks on that in the coming weeks.

Moscow has long been at odds with the West over anti-missile defenses it has begun to establish in Europe, which both the United States and NATO say are aimed at preventing any attack from Iran and pose no threat to old Cold War foe Russia.

"The change in the U.S. plans ... just simply makes the situation much less ambiguous," Vershbow told Reuters. "There is now no reason for concern that the system going into Europe will have any effect whatever on Russia's strategic deterrent.

"We think there is a real window of opportunity and we hope that the Russians seize it," said Vershbow, who has held talks with senior officials from the Russian foreign and defense ministries as well as President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

The skipped interceptors were meant to be able to target long-range missiles, sparking concern in Moscow that they could be used against its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"On both the NATO-Russia and U.S.-Russia tracks, we hope the dialogue will pick up speed so that we can get at least closer to some kind of a deal on missile defense cooperation," said Vershbow, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia.

"To the extent we are able to make some progress on missile defense, it might also facilitate renewed dialogue on nuclear arms reductions both at the strategic level and the non-strategic level." He said broader NATO-Russia ties would get "a shot in the arm" if progress was made on missile shields.

Moscow has frequently said it is unlikely to go for further cuts in its nuclear arsenal unless Washington satisfactorily addresses its concerns about the defense system Washington has started to deploy in Europe in cooperation with NATO partners.

Russia is also pushing to host a meeting of defense ministers of NATO and Russia in Moscow in May and some in Russia have expressed hope for progress by then.

F

rancis used his "Urbi et Orbi" address to call for peace in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and across the globe.

He singled out "dear Syria", saying: "How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be before a political solution is found?"

Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar and pilgrims have attended church across the world.

Pope Francis, formerly Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected on 13 March, becoming the first non-European pope for almost 1,300 years.

He replaced Benedict XVI, who held the office for eight years and became the first pontiff in more than 700 years to resign, saying he no longer had the physical strength to continue.

In his UrbietOrbi (To the city and the world) speech, Pope Francis began with a simple "Happy Easter!"

The 76-year-old Pope, who has begun his tenure by emphasising humility, went on: "Christ has risen!

What a joy it is for me to announce this message... I would like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons."

Later in his speech, Pope Francis said: "We ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."

The Pope then mentioned troubled regions of the world in

Pope Francis has delivered a passionate plea for peace in his first Easter Sunday message since being elected. turn."Peace for the Middle East, and particularly between Israelis and Palestinians, who struggle to find the road of agreement, that they may willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has lasted all too long.

"Peace in Iraq, that every act of violence may end, and above all for dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort."

For Africa, the Pope referred to Mali, Nigeria - "where attacks sadly continue" - the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

He added: "Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow."

Pope Francis concluded by saying: "Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain,

wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st Century."

Alan Johnston, says the Pope has reinforced his image as a man of simple, down-to-earth tastes, not wearing the more ostentatious of papal costumes and, for the moment, not moving into the grandiose papal apartments.

Maduro calls opposition heirs of Hitler

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Henrique Capriles has accused the interim president of being a cheap clone of late president Hugo Chavez [Reuters]

nterim president Nicolas Maduro, heir to the late Hugo Chavez, has attacked supporters of his rival in the April 14 presidential election as being the "heirs of Hitler."

The opposition, Maduro said on Saturday, are the "heirs of Hitler" because they are conducting a campaign of "intolerance" by criticising the presence of Cuban doctors in Venezuela and local artists that have joined the Maduro campaign.

The leftist Chavez died on March 5 and his vice-president, Maduro, must now run for office in a special election to complete the late leader's term.

His rival is Henrique Capriles, candidate of the

unified opposition and the man the cancer-ridden Chavez defeated in an October vote.

Capriles ran a positive campaign against Chavez in October, even as the leftist president slammed him as a pampered member of the "rancid oligarchy" taking orders from Washington.

But with Chavez gone, Capriles, who is Catholic but has Jewish roots, is tearing into Maduro, who he derides as a cheap Chavez clone and a puppet of Havan a .

A mid-March poll of 1,100 people by the firm Hinterlaces shows Maduro with 53 percent support against 35 percent for Capriles.

Texas district attorney third law official killed in weeks

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district attorney has been shot dead in Texas, the third justice official to be killed in the US in recent weeks.

Mike McLelland and his wife were found dead on Saturday in Kaufman County. Kaufman's Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was killed in January.

Last week a suspect in the killing of the head of Colorado's department of corrections died in a shootout with police in Texas.

Authorities are investigating whether any of the cases may be linked.

No arrests have been made over Mr Hasse's killing but police are reportedly looking into a link between his death and the killing on 19 March of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements.

Speaking of the latest killing,

Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told the Dallas Morning News: "It is a shock. It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock and until we know what happened, I really can't confirm that it's related, but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise.''

The lead suspect in Mr Clement's shooting, Evan Spencer Ebel, died in a shootout with police in Decatur, around 135km (85 miles) from Kaufman, on 21 March.

Ebel, 28, was a former Colorado prison inmate and was linked to a white supremacist group in prison called the 211 Crew.

Kaufman County district attorney's office had been one of

several agencies involved in the investigation of two members of another white supremacist group on racketeering charges earlier this year.

Mr McLelland had previously had a 23-year career in the army, according the biography on his website, and had five children.

Mike McLelland (2nd Right) answers questions at a press conference in January in Kaufman, Texas.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 35

World's hottest pizza is three times stronger than police pepper spray I

t's called the Saltdean Sizzler, and according to recent tests performed by the Warwick University, it's three times hotter than the world's strongest chili and even police pepper spray. That makes it the spiciest pizza on Earth.

The world's hottest pizza was created by Paul Brayshaw, of Paul's Pizza, in Saltdean, England, a self-confessed spicy food fanatic and fan of the Man vs Food TV show. After opening his own pizza place, Paul decided to include a challenge on the menu, and stared working on the hottest pizza he could make. He used one of the strongest chilies on the planet the ghost chili - and spiced it up even more with a special chili paste with chili extract.

The 32-year-old father of two says the Saltdean Sizzler starts out as a regular pizza, with a

homemade dough base, regular Italian tomato and herb sauce and fresh mozzarella, but turns into a world of pain after he adds his killer sauce. Apparently it even changes from a nice "red tomato color" to an "evil black/red".

Ever since he put it on the menu last year, Paul has sold over 1,300 Saltdean Sizzlers, but only eight men and one woman have managed to eat all six slices of the 10-inch pizza.

That's just 0.1% of challengers.

Word of the Saltdean Sizzler's hotness spread like wild fire, and Paul was even contacted by the Guinness Book of Records, who told him that if it would score more than 1 million units on the Scoville scale, it would be awarded the title of world's hottest pizza.

After a series of tests, scientists at Warwick University rated Brayshaw's creation at over 3.2

Photo: NY Times video caption million on the Scoville scale, which makes it three times spicier than the world's strongest chili and police pepper spray. Paul himself has only been able to finish two slices of his hot delicacy, and says the after effects are much worse than eating the pizza.

"There was no pleasure. Just pain. It was unbearable. I was

scared about swallowing it. The pain subsided after 20 minutes but then the relentless stomach ache started. I would never do it again. I would not wish it on anyone," said 28year-old Christopher Barnard, one of the brave souls that dared take on the Saltdean Sizzler challenge.

As spicy food fanatic Rob

House demonstrates in the video above, eating Paul's pizza is certainly doable, but holding it down is a completely different matter. If you're in the mood for even more hotness, check out the Atomic Burger and the Red Dog Saloon's Viper Hot Wings.

Caution, even reading about them could burn a whole through your intestines.

Australian shop charges visitors $5 just for looking

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ired of having people walk into her gluten free produce store looking around and asking questions only to leave empty-handed and

buy similar products somewhere else, a business owner from Brisbane, Australia, put up a sign announcing would-be shoppers they will be charged a

$5 fee for "just looking".

A photo of the notice in the window of Celiac Supplies went viral on popular social news site Reddit, this week. A lot of people

thought it was a joke, but reporters from the Australian Associated Press tracked down the owner of "Brisbane's only glutenfree and wheatfree store" who confirmed the measure was for

real. Apparently Georgina felt forced to take radical action after spending several hours each week giving advice to people only to see them walk out empty handed and buying the same kind of products from local supermarkets or online shops. "I've had a gut full of working and not getting paid," she told AAP. "I'm not here to dispense a charity service for Coles and Woolworths to make more money."

Her frustration is also fueled by the fact that in most cases her prices match those of larger supermarkets, but people still prefer to shop elsewhere thinking they'd find them cheaper.

As you can imagine, her $5 "just looking" tax has turned some potential customers away, but Georgina says a few have actually paid up.

"I can tell straight away who are the rat bags who are going to come in here and pick my brain and disappear," Georgina says. The only upside to this showroomingprevention fee is that people who actually buy something are refunded the initial $5. Still, experts believe this kind of approach will likely turn potential customers away and affect earnings.

Source: Brisbane Times

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

TV time 'does not breed badly behaved children' S

pending hours watching TV or playing computer games each day does not harm young children's social development, say experts.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) team who studied more than 11,000 primary school pupils says it is wrong to link bad behaviour to TV viewing.

Although researchers found a small correlation between the two, they say other influences, such as parenting styles, most probably explain the link.

But they still say "limit screen time".

This cautionary advice is because spending lots of time in front of the TV every day might reduce how much time a child spends doing other important activities such as playing with friends and doing homework, they say.

US research suggests watching TV in early childhood can cause attention problems at the age of seven.

In the US, paediatric guidelines recommend that total screen time should be

limited to less than two hours of educational, non-violent programmes per day. There are currently no formal guidelines in the UK. For the MRC study, published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood, Dr Alison Parkes and colleagues asked UK mothers from all walks of life to give details about their child's TV viewing habits and general behaviour.

Electronic entertainment Almost two-thirds (65%) of the 11,014 five-year-olds included in the study watched TV between one and three hours a day, 15% watched more than three hours and less than 2% watched no television at all.

Watching more than three hours' TV a day at this age predicted a very small increase in "conduct" problems at the age of seven.

After their seventh birthday, these boys and girls were slightly more likely to get into fights, tell lies or be bullies than their peers, according to their mothers' reports.

Time spent playing

Children may find it hard to talk about bullying

The study's lead author Dr Alison Parkes and Jane Gentle from Mumsnet discuss the findings computer games bore no such relationship.

And there was no association between TV or any screen time and other issues such as hyperactivity or problems interacting with friends.

Dr Parkes, head of the MRC's social and public h e a l t h sciences unit in Glasgow, said it was wrong to blame social problems on TV. "We found no effect with screen time for most of t h e behavioural

and social problems that we looked at and only a very small effect indeed for conduct problems, such as fighting or bullying.

"Our work suggests that limiting the amount of time children spend in front of the TV is, in itself, unlikely to improve psychosocial adjustment."

She said interventions focusing on the family dynamic and the child were more likely to make a difference and that much may depend on what children are watching and whether they were supervised.

Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology, at the London School of Economics, said the findings were a "good reason to ask why some children spend so much time watching television".

Prof Annette Karmiloff-

Smith, of Birkbeck, University of London, said that rather than focusing on the possible adverse effects of TV and video games, it would be better to look at what positive impact they could have on children.

Prof Hugh Perry, chair of the MRC's neurosciences and mental health board, said: "We are living in a world that is increasingly dominated by electronic entertainment, and parents are understandably concerned about the impact this might be having on their children's wellbeing and mental health.

"This important study suggests the relationship between TV and video games and health is complex and influenced by many other social and environmental factors."

National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said they were surprised by their findings.

Study leader Prof Andrew Steptoe, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London, said: "Social connections can provide emotional support and warmth which is important but they also provide things like advice, making sure people take their medication and provide support in helping them to do things.

"It would suggest that those practical aspects are quite important for older people's survival.

"There's been such an increase in people living alone. In the last 15 years, the number of 55 to 64-yearolds living alone has increased by 50%.

"And it might be that people in

those circumstances aren't looking after themselves so well."

Michelle Mitchell, director general at Age UK, said: "This study shows more clearly than before that

being lonely and isolated is not only miserable, it is a real health risk, increasing the risk of early death."

Source: BBCNews.com

Social isolation 'increases death risk in older people'

S

ocial isolation is associated with a higher risk of death in older people regardless of whether they consider themselves lonely, research suggests.

A study of 6,500 UK men and women aged over 52 found that being isolated from family and friends was linked with a 26% higher death risk over seven years.

Whether or not participants felt lonely did not alter the impact of social isolation on health.

Age UK says cuts to services for older people are compounding the problem.

It is not the first time that loneliness and social isolation has been linked with poor health.

But researchers wanted to find out if it was the emotional aspect of feeling lonely that was having an impact or the reality of having little social contact.

Those who were socially isolated - that is had little or no contact with friends or family - were more likely to be older and unmarried and have long-standing illnesses limiting their mobility, such as lung disease and arthritis.

People who described themselves as feeling lonely were more likely to be female and have a wider range of health conditions, including depression.

Both social isolation and feeling lonely were associated with a higher chance of death.

But after adjusting for factors such as underlying health conditions, only social isolation remained important.

That risk did not change when researchers added in whether or not someone felt lonely in their isolation.

Writing in the Proceedings of the

Source: BBCNews.com

Being cut off from friends and family and a support network poses a risk

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Leadership, the bane of APC, says Activist

By Lawrence Olaoye

A

n Abuja based social reform activist, Daniel Richard, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot fly because of its challenge of leadership and mutual distrust among its membership.

Explaining why APC will not pose a serious problem to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015, Daniel Richards disclosed that leadership problem stems from the fact that the Action Congress of Nigeria has already emerged as the principal partner in the merger while Muhammadu Buhari's Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and the All Nigerian Peoples Party have been relegated to the position of junior partners.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Richards, who is very active in politics without belonging to any of the partisan political parties said the ACN control has more elected members at federal and state level, more governors, more resources and greater influence in APC with its logo (broom) dominating the adopted logo of the APC. He maintained that in every political arrangement, it is the group that has the wherewithal that calls the shots and this might be the undoing of the new All Peoples Congress. "I cannot see APC flying because there is a serious leadership issue. Who will lead? Is it the Southwest group that is in the majority?

The people that are calling the shot are the people that have the wherewithal to finance the party (APC), they are the South-west group.

"If you are going to APC today you are going as a junior partner wherever you come from. If you are not from the South-west and want to be member of APC, you are a junior partner".

He declared that the party is doomed ahead of 2015 because of the history and political summersaults of the prime movers and leaders of the ACN since 1999. According to him, ACN was Alliance for Democracy, AD, in 1999 and in 2003 they went into loose arrangements with the PDP. By 2007 they have moved to ACN, in 2011 they voted PDP during presidential election and now they are in APC. He observed that by the serial transmutations of ACN it is really difficult for Nigerians to precisely say what the party and its leaders stand for. "Any person who wants to follow Tinubu has a problem as this is the fourth time his party is changing name since 1999", he said.

He described the APC, made up of parties from the North and Southwest as Kangaroo, pointing out that since the June 12 election of 1993, the North has never gone into election as a group; a situation he said is seriously affecting the region.

PAGE 37

2015: I can't be intimidated, Sen Kuta boasts From Iliya Garba, Minna

I

n a swift reaction to speculation that he may be defeated in the 2015 general election, the Senator representing Niger East, 'Zone B' Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta has said that he remains unshakeable and can not be intimated by anybody in the country and Niger state.

"For the age I am now, it is not possible for me to say that anybody

can intimidate me, it is not possible.

I can not be intimidated, this is what I have always said and I will always be ready to make peace.

Kuta in an interactive session with Journalists yesterday at the IBB Pen House Minna said that nobody is superior to him in Niger State in terms of politics as he has spent over 32 years in the game.

According to him, "Niger state belongs to all of us and I know that I can not be intimidated. There is

nothing that I have not seen in politics.

By April 16th this year, I will be 64 years old, and out of which I have spent 32 years in politics and out of the 32 years, for 25 years I had been in the opposition. I have always won my elections on the platform of opposition throughout since 1982.

"So, I have seen a lot in life; I do not fear death; I do not fear anybody but I respect people. I am not quarrelling with anybody but I am saying that I can not be intimidated by anybody

in this country not only Niger state.

Furthermore, Senator Kuta who is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character Commission, said "If my people say I should contest, I will and I will also ask God. I have said it time without number that nobody is senior to me in politics in Niger state. It is not possible for me to say 'NO when my people say GO'.

"As much as God gives me life, by the grace of God I will contest; I have never been interested in governorship but whatever it is that I am contesting as a Senator, my people are confidently behind me."

L-R: New Imo state Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, being congratulated by the state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha after his swearing in on Saturday, in Owerri.

Photo: NAN

Do not link Boko haram with Islam, Gov Aliyu tells Nigerians

G

overnor Babangida Aliyu of Niger recently urged Nigerians not to link Islam with Boko Harm as “Islam abhors extremism in all aspects.”

Aliyu made the call at the opening ceremony of a threeday workshop of Chief Imams of North Central Zone of the country in Minna.

“We all know that Islam is a religion of moderation and abhors extremism in all aspects,’’ he said.

Aliyu described a situation whereby some people linked the “heinous activities” of Boko Haram to Islam as unfortunate.

He said that the activities of the sect negated the basic principles of Islam, stressing that “Muslims do not attack another religion in the name of jihad.”

Gov. Aliyu, however, observed that many Muslims were ignorant of the rudiments of Islam because some parents had abdicated their responsibility of teaching their children the basic tenets of the religion.

He added that schools no longer encouraged moral or religious education.

Aliyu advised the imams “to mould and reform the society through wise preaching, sincere and honest admonitions, spiritual advice and community support at all times.

“You are entrusted with the guidance of everybody in the society; the leaders and the led, the rich and the poor, young and the old, father and son, husband and wife, that you see as servants of God.

“The imams should also be in the vanguard of mutual understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims; similarly, the imams should serve as guides to political leaders.

“They should reach out to the youth, inspire them in peaceful pursuits and teach them the correct understanding of Islam, to avoid them resorting violence,” he said.

He also appealed to the gathering to advise the government on whether the imams should be paid allowance or depend on charity.

The governor, who said that the advice should also include the method of selecting the imams and the location of Juma’at Mosque within a

community, said the effort was worth its salt to avoid conflict.

The Chairman, Niger League of Imam, Sheikh Ibrahim Fari, called for unity among the Muslim community to ensure better understanding and advancement of Islam and in the interest of the larger society.

He also called for adherence to the true teaching of Islamic tenets, obey the leaders and avoid abusing them for failure to tackle the problems confronting the country and its citizens.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 210 imams from Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, FCT and the host state were participating in the workshop.

(NAN)

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Why Governor Shettima preaches dialogue with insurgents, by Spokesman Isa Umar Gusau is Special Adviser on Communications to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State. In this interview, Gusau explains the governor’s message of dialogue and the need to consider amnesty for the insurgents as a way of addressing the violence the Boko Haram sect perpetrates in the region. Excerpts:

Y

our boss, Governor Kashim Shettima is one of the early callers for dialogue with the Boko Haram members and declaration of amnesty for them but some people feel it will be an injustice to grant amnesty to Boko Haram given the spate of killings and destructions.

What is your take on this?

When I was appointed by Governor Kashim Shettima a year ago, before I resumed office I went to him and requested that he explains to me the logic behind his pioneering and strict call for dialogue. I was coming from the Niger Delta, covering the region as a journalist and there were issues there but after the Governor explained to me, I have come to realise that dialogue is indeed the best option for us if we need urgent solution. Governor Shettima believes in the three Ds approach to crisis management: Diplomacy, Defence and Dialogue and these are usually applied interchangeably as effective and efficient strategies of managing crisis such as what we are facing in Nigeria today. Governor Shettima has regularly upheld in particular diplomacy and dialogue because the soldiers also say their guns are not meant for fellow Nigerians but enemies of Nigeria.

Shettima is always pained when anyone is killed, be it civilian, soldiers, police or any of security officials as well as when the sect members are killed because they are all Nigerians. When parents die, children are orphaned, women are widowed and in most cases, hopes are dashed. The Governor had explained politely to the President that it is the job of government to trace the insurgents, unmask them and dialogue with them.

Like he said, you must start dialogue with a step and you can’t get everyone over night. We have detainees, some of them can be approached; a leader in authority can choose a good time in order to see any high profile detainee to interact with him, speak to his emotions. It all depends on how much one is passionate about solving the issues and how much one even tries to

Governor Kashim Shettima understand the problem.

Leaders around the world, I presume do a lot of talks underground that we don’t get to know; there are negotiations here and there.

As bad as the U.S invasion of Iraq could be seen, they couldn’t have succeeded in penetrating the country without possibly working with some people in Iraq. That the U.S does not necessarily share their views on many issues be it religion or politics; we hear some world leaders visiting war fronts, they may actually be there for tactical negotiations that don’t get reported by the press because they may be done in high level secrecy. A world leader may meet a ‘high profile enemy’ in captivity one on one and put some cards on the table and tell him, look, you are in our hands, we want to achieve this, we need your help and this is what you stand to get and this is how we think you can help us. The leader has to take charge, initiate and control the process and this is what I have learnt from Governor Shettima; the man is just too tactical. He fully understands the peace process; it is just that he doesn’t have the

powers to get everything done, only the President can seal the process however one tries.

But some people are arguing that when it will be an injustice to pardon someone or a group that has killed so many people and is still killing more without showing remorse or being reachable... (...Cuts in), I even read one article by former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani Kayode, insisting that crackdown is the best way; a sort of eye for an eye but with due respect, I

think Kayode and some others with his kind of views have so much to study on the dialogue and amnesty being championed especially the position of Governor Shettima and other eminent Nigerians because there is logic in what he explained to me and to many people. Now, a lot of persons and groups, including Chief Kayode are looking at the amnesty issue from just one point of view, that is the view of forgiving if you like to say, an unrepentant killer.

But Governor Shettima is looking at the amnesty as a psychological strategy that will open doors for dialogue.

When a person kills one, he kills many in an attempt not to get caught but when you create an opening for a sort of freedom, you spare the lives of those he would have killed in an attempt to be safe. If you have an area dominated by certain groups of people who feel unsafe for being or doing x-y, the groups are likely to attack any strange face they see around the area based on suspicion arising from fear that the stranger is there to compromise their safety but when these people have some hope of freedom, their tendency to attack a strange face is reduced because the actual motive behind that would have been addressed. In addition to that, you can never round up negotiation so easily, you go in rigid but flexible at the same time; you go in with a clear objective, passion, open heart and importantly, strong determination and tact. You get experts to negotiate for you if you are not good at it but you require sincere commitment to agreements

“

Governor Shettima is looking at the amnesty as a psychological strategy that will open doors for dialogue.

When a person kills one, he kills many in an attempt not to get caught but when you create an opening for a sort of freedom, you spare the lives of those he would have killed in an attempt to be safe

reached if you want to achieve something sustainable.

Even in the negotiations, we hear or read between labour and government. They are never easy because parties sometimes go into negotiations with impossible demands; sometimes with the intention of meeting a far lesser objective. For instance the NLC can tell the Federal Government it needs N100,000 as minimum wage for workers whereas the NLC’s target is 20,000. That is how negotiation takes place; only a fool goes into negotiation, pronouncing an easy objective, you normally inflate your needs, you don’t know what the other party is coming up with. You probably remember how in 2011, Hamas negotiated the freedom of 1,000 Palestinians to free one Isreali solider in their hands. Some people saw the Isrealis as crazy but I think beside concern for their citizen, the Israelis government wanted a psychological warfare to create a sort of value for their soldiers and make the Palestinians fear the soldiers.

You know ‘if they can release 1000 of us for one soldier, then their soldiers must have some sort of mysterious fighting skills’ but all the same it was a victory for Hamas. I am not an expert in conflict resolution, but I know that negotiations take different forms. Let me give you an example: based on some media reports and as someone that covered the Niger Delta as a journalist and interacted with different researchers on the subject matter, when the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua declared amnesty for Niger Delta militants sometimes in June, 2009, there was no full negotiation with some of the leaders of the militant organisations. Alhaji Asari Dokubo for instance, whom I have met alongside other journalists and interviewed on three occasions in Port Harcourt, confirmed to me even as recent as 2012, that he did not and will never accept the whole amnesty issue because according to him, he didn’t commit any crime and he believes that only criminals are granted amnesty. Dokubo even went to court challenging the

Contiuned on page 40

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Why Governor Shettima preaches dialogue with insurgents, by Spokesman Contiuned from page 38 amnesty itself. But I think he is only being clever by half because he left the creeks along with his boys, laid down his arms and started walking freely only after the amnesty proclamation. Today he is sometimes a guest in Aso rock; he was even a member of Federal Government delegation to Hajj two years ago. Probably, Dokubo was just looking for a smart way out as a sort of image control maybe based on the war drums he had beaten before.

The fact is that without foot soldiers, there is no commander. When Yar’adua declared amnesty, it was the group of foot soldiers, the young frontline arms carriers, not the commanders that started coming out to commit to freedom obviously because some of them were tired of moving from one creek to another to hide. Some of them simply took risks and came out perhaps because remaining in their hideouts was not any better and the commanders, may be, smartly came out because you cannot lead where there is no flock. The amnesty made them to lose frontline men so they had to join. Some people talk of money, I can bet you that militants and their collaborators were making far, far more during the militancy era. Some of them probably didn’t want that era to end. Those who didn’t make enough or those who always want more, regardless what is wrong about the money is made. I also remember that Chief Ateke Tom only accepted the amnesty some hours to the deadline.

President Yar’adua had come up with a date in October, 2009, as the deadline and anyone who didn’t come out then was to be regarded as a criminal. So, many foot soldiers kept trooping out and as a commander even if one did not actually determine the ‘surrender’ of the his foot soldiers to drop their arms for amnesty, because the

commander is the one in position to sit down for negotiation with government officials, he naturally takes the credit, claim an exaggerated control and even inflate the figures of his men for whatever motive. So, the amnesty Governor Kashim Shettima wants is that which would open doors for sincere dialogue that will guarantee an immediate and sustainable peace and not some blind optimism.

But Governor Shettima was said to have met with some commanders of the sect members in 2012 for negotiations that hit the brick wall and another one that resulted into a cease fire declaration by a faction of the sect all of which have not produced results, how do you reconcile that?

First of all, I have no comment as to whether or not the governor held meetings with anyone in the first place, but what I do know is that the governor has been working so severely hard to end the insurgency by way of dialogue.

Everyday, Governor Shettima explores ways of establishing new form of communication to achieve his objective. He is very determined and he reaches out to the lowest category of persons or group the moment he hears of an opening. More than any other thing, Governor Shettima is desperate about ending the

Isa Umar Gusau insurgency by way of dialogue because he believes it is the best way out and like I said, dialogue especially the type the Governor is looking forward to is not an easy task and he knows and understands that very well.

The President who has the powers to declare the amnesty has foreclosed the negotiation right before the Governor in

“

Everyday, Governor Shettima explores ways of establishing new form of communication to achieve his objective. He is very determined and he reaches out to the lowest category of persons or group the moment he hears of an opening

Maiduguri, doesn’t that end the Governor’s objective?

No, it doesn’t it. In fact, it only rekindles the Governor’s spirit to be more determined; at least having heard from the President, he now knows where to press the buttons.

Let me also say that for us, we do not see it that way that the President has foreclosed discussions, not at all. The President is human, he is a democrat, he is leading Nigerians and Nigerians can choose how they want him to lead especially on certain issues. So the debates are going on; we are beginning to see more people keying into the Governor’s call of dialogue. If you assess the opposite debates, those against dialogue and amnesty have only maintained a particular number but there is a rise almost every day on those seeing the need for amnesty and i think the number will continue to grow and we will gain the right momentum. I believe the President will be

decisive when he sees the numbers climbing. The fact is that guerrilla warfare is not something you combat easily; even if you win by military tactics, the price may be too much to pay for that victory because so many more innocent souls would be lost to cross fires and that is what Governor Shettima and many other well meaning Nigerians want to prevent by their shared logic.

There was this repeated call for the President to visit Borno, now he went, what has the State benefitted?

The current debate for dialogue and the climbing numbers of those supporting the amnesty is one big benefit because before the visit, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and many others didn’t openly support the amnesty. The debate was not set, the debate came up after the Presidential visit and even though the President merely re-echoed what he had said, it became an agenda when he pronounced it at the affected States of Borno and Yobe. Then, we are expecting other material benefits from the President based on his promises on the issue of education, employment creation, agriculture through enhancing irrigation by increased commitment on recharging the Chad basin.

The President was in Borno with Ministers of Works, Education, Water, Agriculture and Finance, I don’t think he just went with them for no reason, I think they had reasons for being there.

Remember also that the focus of the Governor’s well articulated speech was primarily on security, roads, education and irrigation agriculture and affected ministers were all there. I am sure the President and his entourage have copies of the Governor’s submission, so we are waiting impatiently, I must say, for the President’s action to complement the many good efforts of the state government and better the lives of Borno citizens.

Easter: Rep enjoins political, spiritual leaders to preach peace

By Lawrence Olaoye

A

member of the House of Representatives, Rep Olusegun Dokun Odebunmi, representing Surulere/Ogo-Oluwa Federal Constituency has called on the nation’s spiritual and political leaders in the

country to preach the message of peace and tolerance.

The lawmaker, who noted that the frequent disturbances in the country are avoidable distractions, pointed out that the resurrection of Jesus Christ remained the ultimate demonstration of victory over

adversity.

He said “As a teacher, Jesus Christ of Nazareth travelled far from place to place, preaching about God and how people can learn to forgive and live together in peace and harmony.

Through his faith, he made the sick healthy again, the

blind see, the deaf hear, and the multitude satisfied. He gave hope to those who had given up. It must be emphasized that the frequent disturbances in our country are avoidable distractions.

“Therefore, in the interest of peace and love, which is a pre-requisite for good

governance, economic growth, industrial peace and harmony as well as the general well-being of Nigerians, we call upon leaders at all levels across religious boundaries, to enjoin their followers to be bearers of the message of peace in their utterances and actions,”Odebunmi urged.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 39

KEBBI STATE OF NIGERIA Kebbi State Public Sector Governance Reform And Development Project Ida Financing 4667-ng State Steering Committee, Ministry Of Finance Gwadangwaji Secretariat Birnin Kebbi

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR PUBLIC FINANCE SPECIALIST AND LEGAL EXPERT FOR PUBLIC FINANCE LEGISLATION TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) 1.0 Background The Federal Government of Nigeria has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of implementing Public Sector Governance Reform and Development Project, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consultant services in Kebbi State as one of the participating States implementing the project. The overall objective of the project is to "improve transparency, accountability quality in public financial management and human resource management systems with a view to strengthen governance in participating States".

The major statutory and administrative instruments governing the conduct of Public Financial Management (PFM) in Kebbi State, including the enabling regulations and manuals have, over the years, become outdated and were premised on a paper - based accounting system. In many respects, their provisions while proving generally inadequate in ensuring accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business, appear also grossly outdated and out of tune with the realities of modern governance. A Bill for the repeal of Public Finance (Control and Management) Law, enacted in 1958 that is now applicable and governing PFM system in Kebbi State and for matters connected therewith has been proposed for enactment by Kebbi State House of Assembly.

The need to review and address these inadequacies has therefore given rise to the urgent need for Kebbi State Government to develop and pass modern PFM Law and put in place regulations and manuals for effective implementation.

2.0 Objective This is a Request for a Proposal (RFP) from consultants to provide professional support in the review and re-codification of extant public finance documents and legislation in the initial process of developing organic public finance legislation in Kebbi State.

The Finance (Control and Management) Law will specify roles and responsibilities for managing public funds, set out the control environment, provide framework for financial reporting and auditing.

3.0 Scope of Services The Consultant's specific assignments are: PFM Specialist (Lead Consultant) a) Work closely with the State Steering Committee as the Activity Executing Agency (AEA) and State Project Coordinator to ensure the successful implementation of the public finance management legislation component as outlined in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and Project Implementation Manual (PIM); b) Conduct a comprehensive review of all existing frameworks and statutory provisions that currently govern the conduct of financial administration and management in Kebbi State public service. These include but definitely not limited to: the Public Finance (Control & Management) Law; Audit Law, Financial Regulations, Stores Regulations, Treasury Circulars, etc., and similar PFM Laws of the other countries; c) Examine current Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) initiatives such as the Fiscal Responsibility Law and the Public Procurement Act, Bill for the amendment of the Finance (Control and Management) Act, Cap 144 LFN 1990 and for matters connected therewith and Audit Bill with a view to adapting it to the needs and context of Kebbi State. Review of PFM Laws of other countries is also required. d) Provide a detailed profile of the identified weaknesses and gaps in the current statutory and administrative procedures governing the conduct of financial and fiscal operations of Kebbi State Government. e) As much as possible, situate identified initiatives within the context of national and international best practices in public finance management, bearing in mind, of course, their adaptability within, and relevance to the context of the Kebbi State public service. f) Build consensus through wide-scale interaction with the various stakeholders on the need for specific reviews of existing financial and fiscal regulations and procedures in Kebbi State. These stakeholders include members of the Executive arm, Kebbi State House of Assembly the legislative arm of government, Judiciary of Kebbi State as well as non-state actors and the public. g) Prepare a detailed report of proposed reviews - including regulations, statutory provisions, and processes, which have earlier been discussed with the stakeholders. h) Any other duties or processes associated with the implementation of public finance management legislation component of the project and the achievement of project objectives.

Legal Expert a) Work closely with the public finance management consultant to ensure the successful implementation of the public finance management legislation component as outlined in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and Project Implementation Manual (PIM); b) Review existing financial laws, regulations and other instruments c) Draft an organic public finance law, and related statutory organs, which reflects the findings of the review, and the requirements of fiscal responsibility and transparency. d) Participate as key resource person in seminars designed to sensitize members of the Ministry of Finance, Kebbi State House of Assembly, Kebbi State Executive Council, and other stakeholders on content of the draft Kebbi State Public Finance (Control and Management) Bill. e) Revise and produce a final draft of the Public Finance (Control and Management) Bill, based on feedback from key stakeholders. f) Production of final component implementation completion report; g) Any other duties or processes associated with implementation of Public Finance (Control and

Management) legislation component of the project and the achievement of Project objectives.

4.0 Expected Output (Deliverables) a) Within five days of starting the assignment, a timetable and approach to conducting the assignment. b) A detailed report of proposed areas for review; the recommended reviews, and any other new initiatives necessary to bring public financial management legal and regulatory framework in line with trends realities and challenges of State governance in today's Nigeria. c) Report on stakeholder consultative workshops d) A (i) revised draft Public Finance (Control and Management) Bill; (ii) Financial Regulations; (iii) Treasury Circulars, (iv) Budget Bill, and (iv) Audit Bill that has been sufficiently discussed by the various stakeholders in the State for submission to the KEBBI State Executive Council. e) Dissemination workshop reports 5.0 Minimum Qualification PFM Specialist (Lead Consultant) a) A degree in economics (specialising in public finance) or accounting; b) A reputable Professional Accountant with considerable experience in public sector accounting, financial management and auditing; c) Vast knowledge of the Nigerian public sector; d) Demonstrable experience in public sector budgeting, accounting and financial management reforms in Nigeria or elsewhere; e) Strong ICT skills and infrastructure; Legal Expert a) At least LL.B or its equivalent in Legal Studies with Minimum 15 years of related work experience. b) Demonstrated experience with Nigerian legal systems prior experience in public sector reforms is mandatory. c) Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. d) Comfortable working in pressured environment with capacity to deliver high quality outputs and results to tight deadlines 6.0 Reporting The Consultant will report to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance (MoF) for and on behalf of the Chairman State Steering Committee on PSGR&DP. The State Steering Committee however has the overall supervisory responsibility for the project.

7.0 Duration of Consultancy The Consultancy shall be for a period of 12 months, on a time-based contract.

8.0 Client Contribution The client will provide temporary office accommodation, as may be available, to the consultant for the duration of the assignment.

Selection method Quality-Cost Based Selection (QCBS) Cost estimate 240,000 USD (or less) Payment schedule (i) 20% of the contract sum upon receipt of an inception report; (ii) 40% upon receipt of draft report, and (iii) 40% upon receipt of final report.

Interested consulting firms are to submit proposals addressed to: Chairman, State Steering Committee, Public Sector Governance Reform & Development Project, Ministry of Finance, Gwadangwaji Secretariat, BIRNIN KEBBI. KEBBI STATE. The proposal should reach the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance on or before the 30th April 2013.

RESERVATIONS, REJECTION OF RESPONSE The Government of Kebbi State reserves the right to reject any proposal submitted in response to this advertisement without assigning any reasons thereto.

ALHAJI UMAR F. BAKO Permanent Secretary Finance, for and on behalf of Chairman, Kebbi State Steering Committee, Public Sector Governance Reform & Development Project.

Birnin Kebbi.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 41

Rangers ponder Warri Wolves N12m tag on Mba

Aminu consoles Nigeria with AYC Golden Boot

angers are likely to respond within 72 hours to Warri Wolves’ N12m prize tag placed on the neck of AFCON hero Sunday Mba. Wolves opted to impose the transfer fee on the player following the directive from the committee set up by the NFF that both agree on a transfer fee or be forced to accept whatever amount the NFF deem necessary for the player’s transfer fee.

Wolves, who through available record are the rightful owners of the player, had following the ultimatum given them adduced the amount but Rangers, which the player wants

hough the Flying Eagles failed to retain the African Youth Championship trophy, Aminu Umar retained the Golden Boot as he emerged the Goal King of the 2013 AYC tournament after Saturday’s final in Oran, Algeria.

He takes over from compatriot Uche Nwafor, who also fired four goals as Nigeria won a sixth AYC title two years ago in South Africa.

The Wikki Tourists striker scored four goals in as many matches to finish as top scorer in the biennial championship.

He fired a brace against DR Congo and then another double in a third-place match against Mali on Friday.

Aminu’s closest rivals for the Goal King award were Egypt’s Hamid Mahmoud and Ebenezer Assifuah, who both finished on three goals apiece after they failed to add to their tally in Saturday’s final.

Flying Eagles skipper Abduljaleel Ajagun scored twice from the penalty spot.

Meanwhile, the junior Eagles have escaped the ‘Group of Death’ at the 2013 U-20 World Cup after they were drawn with Portugal and Cuba and Korea Republic in Group B. The final draw for the World Cup was staged in Oran, Algeria, Saturday night after the AYC final between Egypt and Ghana.

Nigeria will open their campaign on June 21 against Portugal in Kayseri, while their other match dates are June 24 against Cuba also in Kayseri and then on July 27 against Korea Republic in Istanbul.

Ghana, beaten AYC finalists by Egypt, will be in the ‘Group of Death’ along with Spain, USA and France. Fourth-placed Mali are in Group D with Mexico, Greece and Paraguay.

Newly crowned African champions Egypt are in Group E along with England, Chile and Iraq. The 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup kicks off on June 21 in Turkey to end on July 13.

Defending champions Brazil and one of the most successful teams in this tournament, Argentina, failed to qualify for this year’s edition of the competition.

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to play for are expected to respond before Wednesday.

The Nigeria Football Federation had given both clubs till Thursday to decide on the transfer fee of the player and resolve the issues surrounding his return to club football.

“Warri Wolves have demanded for a N12 million transfer fee. We would look at their request and let them know what we can offer, then when we agree we get back to the NFF,” declared Foster Chime, the spokes person of Rangers.

Mba will set a new transfer record in the Nigeria domestic league if he eventually goes to Rangers for a double figure.

Sunday Mba

overall performance of the squad.

“This team won’t do well at the World Cup if we’re to assess them with the standard exhibited at the Africa Youth Championship.

It’s a far cry of a standard expected from the title holders.

“The World Cup is another kettle of fish compared with the African tourney. The World Cup is more professional where you meet teams that are tactically and technically sound. The antidote I would proffer to avert an embarrassing World Cup outing is thorough overhaul of the team.

“The coach must scout for new players who are intelligent, skilful, technical and tactical. In addition, he must carry out an

in-house cleansing of the players in his fold.

“I saw a technically and tactically deficient side at the Africa Youth Championship. The standards displayed were not champions’ stuff. The positives are the side’s qualification for the World Cup and sweet revenge against the Malians.

“The team must go back to work upon return to Nigeria from the AYC and work fast, too.

We may come up with a side who can challenge at the World Cup,” said the former Nigeria Football Federation technical director.

The Flying Eagles will play in Group B alongside Korea Republic, Portugal and Cuba with the opening game being against Portugal.

Disu urges Flying Eagles overhaul …Ghana’s Antwi wins T

he present crop of the Flying Eagles will not give effective representation at the FIFA U-20 World Championship in Turkey in June unless they are overhauled, according former Junior Eagles coach, Tunde Disu.

The junior Eagles were defeated 2-0 in semi-final by the Young Pharoahs of Eypt who went on to beat the Black Satelittes of Ghana in the final to emerge the new African Youth Championship champions.

Though the Flying Eagles avenged their 0-1 loss to the Junior Eagles of Mali that had defeated them in the opening group game by handling them 2-1 win to clinch the bronze, Disu was unimpressed with the

Aminu Umar, Golden Boot winner

Edafe Egbedi, Flying Eagles

AYC final match Fair Play

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ric Ofori Antwi won the Fair Play Award in the final matchGhana U20 goalkeeper Eric Ofori Antwi won a consolation Fair Play Award in the African Youth Championship final against Egypt on Saturday.

The shot-stopper was beaten during the penalty shoot-outs as the Black Satellites lost 5-4 at the Ahmed Zabana Stadium in Oran, Algeria.

The award was his second after being adjudged Man-of-the-Match in the semi-final victory over Mali also on penalties.

Antwi will maintain his first choice position for the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey. The Black Satellites are in a Group of Death comprising France, Spain and USA.

Hamilton calls for adequate sponsorship for NWPL

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aul Hamilton, a former Head Coach of the Super Falcons, has called for adequate sponsorship of the Nigeria Women Professional League (NWPL), for the country’s female football to yield better results.

Hamilton, who made the call in Lagos, said that only adequate sponsorship from corporate organisations can ensure the sustenance of the league.

The coach said that the slow pace of development in female football in the country was due to poor league sponsorship.

According to him, the stability of the league has a direct relationship with the performance of the national female teams in international tournaments.

“We have discussed in the past that the sponsorship of the Nigeria Women Premier League is poor; I even salute the players for their performance in some of the tournaments I attended,’’ he said.

Hamilton noted that the inability of some league matches to hold as scheduled was due to the failure of some teams to show

up because of lack of money to travel to honour their away matches.

“Many of them could not honour their away matches due to lack of money to travel, but with sponsors, the teams would be buoyant enough to honour such matches.

“In short, praise the girls who play the league because I do not know the source of their strength. At the moment, they do not have sponsors.

“Their appearance at international matches itself is worth celebrating because the league has not received the needed support,’’ he said.

According to Hamilton, good sponsorship would ensure an uninterrupted league, which he said, would invariably position the country at the top in women’s international competitions.

He then urged the government, corporate organisations and publicspirited individuals to intervene in women’s football, to enable it yield better results for the country.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Nigerian beach volleyball targets Rio 2016 Olympics appearance

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usa Nimrod, Chairman of the Beach Volleyball Commission of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), says the federation hopes to appear at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Nimrod’s optimism is borne out of what he terms ‘a fastpaced level of development of the game’ in Nigerian in recent times.

“Beach volleyball is moving very fast in Nigeria, and it should now aspire to the next level, which is for us to be at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,’’ he said.

The NVBF board member said Nigeria’s fast rate of development in the game is manifested in its position on the continent and the country’s qualification for many world championships.

“We are number two in Africa currently, and no African country has produced as much as the number of under-age teams we have produced in recent times.

“We have teams in the under19 and under-21 categories, and this is why we qualified last year for the World Youth Championship on Cyprus and the World Junior Championship in Canada,’’ he

said.

Nimrod said the Nigerian senior team was also at the African championship last year in Mauritius, finishing behind South Africa and Angola.

“We really have good teams, as we have recorded lots of achievements over the years.

We, however, hope to have lots of competitions and other programmes to complement this, for us to appear at the Rio Games,’’ he said.

The NVBF Beach Volleyball Commission chairman said the game had been further helped by its sponsorship by Samsung Electronics Nigeria.

“Samsung’s sponsorship is wonderful, and it has made the game here to be at a highlevel, and we are indeed grateful to the company,’’ he said.

Nimrod pointed at the company’s sponsorship package for the second edition of the Samsung Electronics Male and Female Beach Volleyball Championship to buttress his point.

“Samsung’s sponsorship is great, and it has put the competition at par with the likes of those popular competitions we have worldwide.

“For example, the Monte Carlo

event winners go with 2,000 U.S dollars, while the Samsung event in Abuja here has N150,000 for the winners,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the championship which will take place at the Jabi Lake Dam in Abuja, is holding from March 29 to March 31 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m daily.

It has a cash prize of N800,000 as well as Samsung products such as air conditioners, GSM phones and television sets, as gift items.

Winners in the male and female categories will go home with cash prizes of N150,000 each, while the first runners-up will get N120,000 each and second runners-up, N100,000

Nigeria Beach Volleyball team in action

Nigeria Beach Volleyball team in action

Serena focuses on French Open after edging Sharapova for 6th Miami title

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Serena Williams with Sony Open trophy

each.

Fourth-placed teams will also receive N30,000 each, while all the participating teams will receive accommodation subsidies.

No fewer than 20 teams participated in the three-day championship 12 of which were on hand at the opening ceremony on Friday.

fter beating Maria Sharapova for the 11 times in a row at the Sony Opens in Miami and leads their overall rivalry 12-2, Serena Williams has turned attention to the French Open.

THe American says she will begins her clay-court preparations for defending the French Open title even as Sharapova fifth times losing finalist of the Sony Open in Miami remains a fierce contestant for the French Open trophy.

In yesterday’s World No 2 Sharapova led by a set and a break before world No 1 Serena battled back to capture the final 10 games on her way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in the WTA Miami hardcourt final.

“My goal is to win a match at Roland Garros this year, take it one at a time. I love the French Open. I love the clay. I love sliding.

Hopefully I can just keep winning matches on clay,” Williams said.

Williams, who had shared the all-time Miami women’s title mark with Steffi Graf, won the last 10 games in adding to a trophy haul that included crowns in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008 and runner-up efforts in 1999 and 2009. “It’s so good to win No 6. Start of the tournament, I definitely didn’t feel like I would be here, not with the way I was playing. But it definitely feels good to go through everything,” Williams said.

Williams became only the fourth woman in the modern era to win the same event six times, joining Graf, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

Williams, a 15-time Grand Slam singles champion, also became the oldest women’s champion in Miami history, four months older than Evert when the legend won here in 1986 at 31 years and two months of age.

Williams will begin her clay season next week at Charleston, but unlike Sharapova she is not talking about taking the French Open trophy just yet. Four-time Grand Slam title winner Sharapova had won 11 matches in a row without dropping a set since losing to Williams in a Doha semifinal, including a title earlier this month at Indian Wells.

Sharapova missed a chance to match Graf and Kim Clijsters as the only women to win at Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

But after running off 11 match wins in a row overall before the loss, including a victory at Indian Wells without Williams in the field, Sharapova has greater confidence in her game and her chances to defend at Roland Garros.

She had hoped to collect a first Miami crown but was pleased that she took a set off Williams for the first time since the 2008 quarterfinals on clay in Charleston, South Carolina.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, 25, is a semifinal loser at the Australian Open, Indian Wells champion and Miami runner-up this year just as she was in 2006 when she won her only US Open title.

The $8.5 million hardcourt event, which also includes an ATP Masters tournament, concludes early this morning with Britain’s Andy Murray and Spaniard David Ferrer battling in the men’s final.

Team Bayelsa wins male, female Beach V’ball tourney

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ayelsa state’s male and female beach volleyball teams have won their first games at the second edition of the Samsung Electronics Male and Female Beach Volleyball Championship.

The male team defeated Akwa Ibom 20-18, 20-17 to earn a 2-0 victory over their opponents, while the female team thrashed their Enugu state counterparts 21- 14, 219 to also record a 2-0 victory in its opening match.

The championship which kicked off on March 29 with games holding daily from 9 a.m to 6 p.m at the Jabi Lake Dam in Abuja ended yesterday.

In the other matches played in the male category, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) defeated Nigeria Army 2-0 while Ondo state beat Katsina state 2-0.

Kogi and Nigeria Prisons both had 2-0 wins after their opponents, Urban Shelter School and Kano state respectively, were absent.

In the other matches in the female category, NIS defeated Ondo state 2-0 while Delta State University (DELSU) defeated Katsina state. Yobe state also beat their Niger counterparts 2-0 in the female category.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

PAGE 43

Man United, Chelsea battle for FA Cup semifinal berth

Instructor stresses need for early camping of athletes

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bel Ubeibi, an International Tennis Registry (ITR) Instructor, has said that early camping of athletes, especially for international competitions, will facilitate early detection of athletes using banned substance.

Ubeibi said in a telephone interview yesterday that early camping usually give the medical committee time to ascertain the true health status of players.

“Early camping of athletes, especially for international competitions, is very important, because it will give the authorities the opportunity to monitor the players. “Some of the athletes might have unconsciously taken banned substances, but when they are under the guidance of health experts in a camp, this can easily be detected. “Early camping also affords the medical committee the opportunity to determine the health condition of athletes and to make sure that they are fit for the competition,” Ubeibi said.

He said that it was common knowledge that international sporting organisations usually carry out random doping test for athletes before any international competitions.

Ubeibi, therefore, urged the national federations to first tidy things up at home before allowing their athletes to go for any international competitions in order to avoid international embarrassment.

He advised athletes representing the country in international competitions to be good ambassador and to avoid anything that could tarnish the image of the country.

The instructor urged coaches to foster good relationship with their players for proper execution of their training programme.

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Robin van Persie, Man Utd

Baseball and Softball association fixes dates for scorers, umpires clinic

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he Lagos State Baseball and Softball A s s o c i a t i o n (LSBSA), in a bid to improve the skills of its technical officials, had scheduled scorers and umpires clinics for April 11 and April 12.

Robert Onwukwe, LSBSA Technical Director, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that the clinic would hold at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos.

Onwukwe said that the clinic was important, and would help the officials enhance their proficiency and update their knowledge.

The director said that the clinic, the first to be organised for technical officials this year, would also keep them abreast of the latest rules and

regulations in the game.

“The clinic is to ensure that the technical officials are acquainted with the latest rules of the sport, and to aid the growth of the sport in the state,’’ he said.

He advised the state’s umpires and scorers to take advantage of the programme, adding that any officials that missed the course would not be rated for state and national competitions.

The director urged individuals and private organisations to contribute to the development of the game in the state and the country in general.

The introduction of baseball and softball to the country was jointly pioneered by retired Maj.Gen. Ishola Williams, Prof.

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and Dr William Boyd.

Frank Lampard, Chelsea prolific finisher

he FA Cup quarterfinals replay between Manchester United and Chelsea will be decided today at the Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fought hard to draw level 2-2 in the first game to force a replay.

Both sides were in Premier League action on Saturday, giving them little time to prepare for an encounter that carries with it the tantalising prize of a semifinal date with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

United manager Alex Ferguson made several changes for his side’s 1-0 win at Sunderland, with Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs among the players omitted from the squad altogether.

Despite United’s reputation for endurance in the major competitions, centre-back Jonny Evans admits it is something of a novelty to play two games in such quick succession.

Ferguson is desperate to see United end their nineyear wait for FA Cup glory, having seen his side beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in 2007 in their last appearance in the final.

The Scot will also be keenly aware that, with four FA Cup triumphs in the last six seasons, Chelsea are intruding upon United’s territory as the most successful side in the history of the game’s oldest cup competition.

However, his decision to shuffle his pack against Sunderland owed as much to his team’s dominant position in the Premier League table as it did to his desire to add a sixth FA Cup winner’s medal to his collection.

United’s win at the Stadium of Light enabled them to preserve their 15-point lead at the top of the standings and a 20th English title now appears a formality.

Life is not quite so rosy for Ferguson’s opposite number, Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez.

Last season’s European champions remain in contention for honours in both the FA Cup and the Europa League, but Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Southampton jeopardised their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Benitez defended his decision to leave Eden Hazard, Ashley Cole and David Luiz on the bench at St Mary’s.

Benitez also rejected suggestions he had purposefully rested Gary Cahill and Juan Mata.

Despite United’s record-breaking dominance in the league, which has now seen them amass 54 points from a possible 50, Benitez will take heart from his side’s performance in the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on March 10.

Then, United quickly assembled a 2-0 lead, only to wilt in the face of Chelsea’s stirring comeback in the second half.

Since that game, United have produced two laboured 1-0 victories, over Reading and Sunderland, but Ferguson confirmed that he will look to recall his big guns for the trip to west London.

Saturday Boxing Show, good platform for future potential, says ex-champion

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asheed Lawal, the first champion of the annual Gov. Babatunde Fashola’s belt in 2009— at the monthly “Saturday Boxing Show’‘— has described the event as a good platform for identifying future potential.

Fashola’s belt, which holds every December, is the high point of the monthly show, and is meant to discover the best boxer for the year.

The show is being promoted and financed by Olawale Edun, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance and currently, the Chairman, Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame (LSBHF).

Lawal said on Saturday at the 40th edition of the show, held at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Yaba, that amateur boxing had really developed in Lagos through the show.

The former champion, who now trades his professional

skills in Germany, said he had benefited a lot from the show, because it equipped him for his current form.

“The show is a good platform for young boxers because it will help them to develop their talents and prepare them for future challenges in boxing.

“I thanked Mr Edun for his initiative of promoting boxing and sustaining this programme, because it has helped to discover lots of talents from the grassroots,’’ he said.

The 29-year-old Lagosian, who won gold medal for Lagos at the 15th National Sports Festival in 2006 in Ogun, urged young boxers at the show to be focused in their career.

Lawal also appealed to young boxers to imbibe the techniques of the sport and obey the instructions of their coaches, for their future to be bright.

The boxer, however, added that he was still shopping for a good manager who would help him achieve his

goal of winning a world title.

NAN reports that in the nine bouts of the show, Kazeem Lukman of Badagry Pioneer Club, in the 56kg, defeated Olanrewaju Olakode of Lion Club.

Samson Taiwo of Golden Star defeated Akeem Adekunle of Always Club in the 64kg.

In the female bouts, Ramota Olaniyi of Always Club defeated Tawa Awise of No Shaking Club in the 48Kg, while in the 80kg, Fatimah Shittu of Day by Day Club humbled Mariam Akintunbowa of Lecturer’s Club.

Tobi Adedeji of Great Lam High School, Oshodi, in the 49kg exhibition bout for students, defeated Kola Okejimi of Alakotojun High School, Mushin.

Wahab Adeniyi of Azeey Primary School, Bariga, in the 23kg exhibition bout against Adeshina Adeniyi of Great Leader Primary School, Bariga, threw in the towel.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

AYAC: AFN to impove on steeplechase technique, says Nesiama Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, the Technical Director, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has said that the body would strive to improve its approach on the techniques used for the steeplechase event.

Nesiama stressed that the country’s performance in the discipline at the ongoing Africa Youths Athletics Championships (AYAC) had informed the AFN’s decision.

Sunday Adeyemi returned ninth with 6:50:82, while Ummike Akpo claimed the tenth position with a time of 6:53:91.

Mouhcine Benflah of Mauritius could not finish the race due to exhaustion.

Nesiama said that, in spite of the development, he was not too disappointed by the performance of the two athletes.

“To me, they did very well, compared to the way they

performed during the third Dr D.K. Olukoya U-18 meet, where they posted nine minutes in the event.

“But with what they have done at the AYAC, it means that they are improving by the day.

“The fright of crossing the

hurdles and water has been overcome by the athletes, especially the water jump”.

Nesiama added that the duo

Iheagwam urges younger athletes to attach importance to education

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ina Iheagwam, a 1987 100m All Africa Games Gold medalist, on Saturday advised Nigerian athletes participating at the ongoing Africa Youths Athletics Championships (AYAC), to also attach importance to their education.

Iheagwam said at the Warri Township Stadium that upcoming athletes should not allow their current fame to becloud their priorities.

“They should not say that because of sports, they will

abandon education, just as they will want to abandon education for sports. They should strive at combining the two because they won’t know which of the disciplines will eventually bring them to limelight,” she said.

Iheagwam added that because she attached equal importance to both endeavours in her career, she turned out to be a fitness coach at the end of the day.

“If I had abandoned education then, I will not be where I am today. Education, combined

with sports, is the best.’’

The former sprinter also urged athletes to be focused on their career path, and shun any act that could dent their image.

“I am appealing to these young athletes to continue to remain focused because that is the only way they can improve.’’

In the mean time, Ofonime Odion came first in the 400m event with a time of 54.46sec, Abimbola Junaid came second with 54.81sec, while Moroko Galefele emerged third with 55.52sec.

would be encouraged to feature in the event as often as possible, since it would soon be introduced in all national competitions.

“Our plan is to put steeplechase into our programmes, henceforth, to encourage the athletes and by that, they will improve,’’ he said.

Further, the technical director said that the AFN intended to expose its coaches to more training programmes to hone their technique.

“We will work on the techniques because, from what I saw, the athletes have improved but with more technical input, we should be able to boast of better results in the future,’’ he said.

Edwin Meli of Kenya posted a time of 5:42:18, Kahsay Hailu of Ethiopia came second with a time of 5:42:20, while Kiros Kebebew also of Ethiopia came third with 5:45:50.

Officials laud use of electronic distance measurement device at AYAC tourney

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fficials at the ongoing maiden Africa Youths Athletics Championships (AYAC), have commended the quality of the equipment being used for the championships.

Some of them said that the Electronic Distance Measurement devices had made the work of officials easy.

Yusuf Alli, a technical official at the championships, said that the devices were top-grade.

“It is good that such equipment have been purchased and technical officials are now conversant with the operation of the devices. The era of using tapes to measure has gone and the devices make work easier and very accurate,’ he said.

In the same vein, Babatunde Suleiman, a discus coach, said that the device was the best acquired for the championships.

He commended the organisers for acquiring the gadget, adding that it would go a long way to improve on the outcome of field events.

“It will help us to improve better on the field events. The organisers have done well,” he said.

Uruemu Adu, a sprint coach, noted that the acquisition of the devices would bring about an improvement in the performances of the country’s athletes.

Meanwhile, in the 400m Boys event: Tijani Keita of Gambia came first in 47.39sec; Ethiopia’s Gabiso Galcha came second with 47.75sec, while Nathaniel Oghenewegba, of Nigeria came third in 47.89sec.

In the 400m girls: Ofonime Odiong of Nigeria came first in 54.46sec, Abimbola Junaid of Nigeria came second in 54.81sec, while Moroko Galefele of Botswana returned a time of 55.52sec to clinch the third position.

Tijani Keita

Gatebe, Volgina in upset wins in Two Oceans ultra marathon

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avid Gatebe and Natalia Volgina provided the upset wins in Saturday’s 44th Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon held in gale force conditions around the Southern Cape.

Gatebe, the 2008 SA marathon champion, ran his own race from 21km but only took the lead from 32km at the top of Chapman’s Peak which saw many runners being buffeted across the road in the gusting wind.

Kenya Henry Kipsan was his sole challenge on the climb, but it was the group of 11 runners who provided the chase once over the Nek. Lesotho runners dominated the chase but Gatebe was well clear and running strongly through to UCT where

he took the tape in 3:08:54.

Western Province’s Mthandazo Qhina proved the best of the rest, but was so far adrift that he thought he had won the event when he crossed the line in 3:10:02. It was an impressive improvement for the talented 25-year-old who was sixth last year.

Moeketsi Mosuhli led home a quintet of Lesotho runners for third place in 3;10:23 with Collen Makaza the first Zimbabwean in fourth and Mike Fokoroni closing the top ten in 3:13:29.

Volgina’s victory in the ladies race was the first time since 2007, when Madina Biktagirova took the honours, that neither of the Nurgalieva twins took the top spot on the podium.

With Olesya dropping off the pace early on Elena, Mamorolla Tjoka, Thabita Tsatsa and Nina Podnesbesnova were in close combat going up Chapmans Peak, with Elena already looking to have lost her normal rhythm.

The contenders gradually faded as 36-year-old Volgina eased up the Nek on her way to a victory in three hours 38 minutes 38 seconds, which was only 36 seconds slower than her winning time in 2002.

Olympian Tstatsa, running in her debut ultra distance, held on well for second in 3:39:57, which also saw her take first in the 40-49 age category.

Three-time South African marathon champion Charne Bosman had a dream debut,

starting well outside the top ten and working her way through the field to reach Constantia Nek in seventh, then moving through the field to an unexpected third place in 3:40:19.

The 37-year-old will now allow a couple of weeks recovery before deciding whether to join Tsatsa and Volgina at Comrades.

A record field of almost 11 000 runners entered the 56km ultra marathon which offers R1.525 Million in prize money and attracts over 1 800 international participants.

RACE RESULTS 56km Men’s 1st: David Gatebe (Impala Platinum) (03:08:54)

2nd: Mthandazo Qhina (Nedbank) (03:10:02) 3rd: Moeketsi Mosuhli (Mr Price) (03:10:23) 56km Ladies 1st: Natalia Volgina (Nedbank) (03:38:38) 2nd: Thabita Tsatsa (Mr Price) (03:39:57) 3rd: Charne Bosman (Bonitas) (03:40:19) 21km Men’s 1st: Stephen Lesego Mokoka (Transnet) (01:03:36) 2nd: Lusapho April (Oxford Striders) (01:03:40) 3rd: Joel Mmone (Nedbank) (01:03:45) 21km Ladies 1st: Biru Meseret Mengista (Nedbank) (01:12:43) 2nd: Rene Kalmer (Nedbank) (01:14:54) 3rd: Irvette van Blerk (Nedbank) (01:15:20)

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

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PICTORIAL 1] Tony Bellew draws with Isaac Chilemba in their WBC light-heavyweight title final eliminator in Liverpool 2] Keep across the big games at the top and bottom of the world's leagues with the FIFA MatchCentre service. Relegation scraps and crucial continental qualification deciders make up an exciting weekend of football.

3] Nemanja Vidic is looking to finally add the FA Cup to his already impressive Old Trafford trophy haul before he heads off for his summer break.

4] Usain Bolt fell just short of his 150m world record as he opened his season with victory on Copacabana beach

3

Sale earns what could be a vital draw against fellow strugglers London Irish, also earning a four-try bonus point

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MAMMAN SANI. NOW WISH TO BE CALLED AND ADDRESSED AS MOHAMMED SANI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. KEBBI STATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS MANAGEMENT BOARD, UBA AND GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

PUBLIC NOTICE

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S

ome boxing stakeholders in Lagos have reacted to the decision of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), to stop the use of head gears in the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the body had also said that it would only recognise points generated by its electronic scoring machines in the next Olympics.

Some of the enthusiasts said that the decision was a welcome

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Boxing enthusiasts divided over new AIBA rules development, while some were not comfortable with it.

Obisie Nwankpa, the Head Coach of the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) and former Commonwealth Welter weight champion, said that the decision was a good one and added that it was not used during his time.

He added that the equipment had to be introduced

Boxing headgear

after the World Health Organisation (WHO) had described boxing as a dangerous sport.

“We did not use head guard during our time; it was only introduced when WHO said the sport was dangerous and threatened to get it removed from the Olympic Games.

“The rules will only affect Nigerian boxers because we take things for granted and don’t prepare early enough for competitions,’’ the former light welterweight champion said.

Jeremiah Okorodudu, a 1984 Middle weight quarter-finalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, said ‘’the decision cannot be contested since AIBA has given its nod.

“Since AIBA remains the controlling body for boxing, we have no option than to just adjust according to its rule.’’

Sunday Nwamuda, a coach with the Bayelsa Sports Council, noted that it would be very dangerous for boxers to fight without head guard.

“Though there is nothing wrong with using the electronic scoring

Whyte suspended over food supplement

A

British heavyweight has been suspended for two years after testing positive for a banned substance found in a food supplement.

UK Anti-Doping says Dillian Whyte tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine after winning a heavyweight fight against Sandor Balogh of Hungary on October 13 last year.

An independent panel found the case warranted a two-year ban, which was upheld after an appeal by the 24-year-old Whyte.

The agency says Whyte used the supplement Jack3D, which he bought over the

counter from a nutritional supplements store. It has since been removed from shops in Britain.

The appeals panel said the case emphasised “the dangers of athletes taking supplements which contain MHA.” Whyte is banned from all competition until October 12 next year. His victory over Balogh was annulled.

Whyte, who has been a sparring partner for Vitali Klitschko, David Haye and Dereck Chisora, was unbeaten after nine professional bouts.

However, his record changed to 8-1 when the result of his fight against

Balogh was overturned.

As an amateur, he once beat Olympic Games champion Anthony Joshua.

He would have challenged for the English heavyweight title had he not been suspended late year.

Another leading British boxer, Enzo Maccarinelli, has been banned for six months for using the same substance.

Haye, meanwhile, has announced that he would fight again in Manchester on June 29. His opponent will be identified shortly.

Haye plans to get in line to take on WBC champion Vitali Klitschko or his brother Wladimir, a multiple title holder.

machine to score points, but for boxers not to use head guards is dangerous, especially for amateur boxers,’’ Nwamuda said.

Wasiu Bisiriyu, Head Coach, Lagos State Amateur Boxing Association, also supported the stance of Nwamuda and urged AIBA to do a rethink on the decision.

According to him, even with the head guard,

Nigerian’s were part of the AIBA’s decision organ, unfavourable rules would be countered before it got approved.

“The absence of our personnel in AIBA’s decision making body had been responsible for the rules that are not favourable to us. I think we should gear up to take our rightful position in sports for us to have a voice”.

Charr to donate earnings versus Haye to Syria

M

anuel Charr has vowed to donate half his purse to the Syrian peace process if David Haye will fight him.

Charr, a former heavyweight title challenger, was born in Beirut en named Mahmoud Omeirat Charr. He has a Syrian father but has lived most of his life in Germany.

Known as the Diamond Boy, Charr wants to do something to ease the suffering in the land of his ancestors.

And he can think of no better fight to help him do that than against Haye, a Briton who has announced his return to boxing after a year-long absence.

“I’ve heard Haye is still looking for an opponent for

Bello wants association to promote hockey in schools

F

arouk Bello, the Public Relations Officer of Kebbi State Hockey Association, on Saturday advised the association to develop and promote the game in secondary schools.

Bello told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview in Lagos that encouraging the game in schools would assist children to master the art of the game early enough.

He said that children, who showed interest in the game could be nurtured to join the state’s team.

“Building a strong hockey team will depend on how much effort is put into promoting the game in schools, where you can catch them young.

“Furthermore, the children will be exposed early to the techniques and rules governing the game, which will make them develop into formidable players,” he said.

Bello said the state was blessed with young talents and the association should organise regular school competitions to discover them at the grassroots.

boxers still sustain lots of injuries, much less when they would not be using it.

Meanwhile, Adekunle Faseso, Chairman, Lagos State Boxing Clubs Association, has decried the absence of any of the country’s administrators in AIBA’s hierarchy, claiming it had impacted negatively on the country’s profile.

He said that if more

Manuel Charr

his next fight. He can stop looking. I’m here and I’m waiting for him,” Charr said on Friday.

The 29-year-old knows a clash with the brash “Hayemaker” would bring in perhaps his biggest payday, which is why he has pledged to donate half his earnings to charity.

Charr’s mother relocated to Germany when he was five after his father was killed in the Lebanese civil war. It is in memory of his father that he has vowed to make a donation towards peace.

“That’s why I’ve decided to give half my purse to peace projects and to the Syrian people if David Haye agrees to fight me,” said Charr. “We all need to

fight together so that peace may reign.”

Charr has lost only once in 24 bouts as a professional; in a WBC title challenge against Vitali Klitschko.

One of former cruiserweight champion Haye’s two career defeats was to Vitali’s younger brother Wladimir Klitschko in a unification bout in 2011.

Haye, 32, once claimed he would retire before his 31st birthday but he first came back to boxing last July when he knocked out British rival Derek Chisora in five rounds.

Now he plans to fight again in June and force his way into a mandatory shot at one of the Klitschkos.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Some Interesting Facts •The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating its letters is uncopyrightable.

•Windmills always turn counter-clockwise.

•The "Sixth Sick Sheik's Sixth Sheep's Sick" is the hardest tonguetwister.

•The longest English word without a vowel is twyndyllyngs which means "twins".

•1 x 8 + 1 = 9; 12 x 8 + 2 = 98; 123 x 8 + 3 = 987; 1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876; 12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765; 123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654; 1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543; 12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432; 123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321 •The word "dreamt" is the only common word in the English language that ends in "mt".

•Albert Einstein never wore any socks.

•The average human will eat 8 spiders while asleep in their lifetime.

•In space, astronauts cannot cry because there is no gravity.

•Hummingbirds are the only creatures that can fly backwards.

•An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

•Cockroaches can live 9 days without their heads before they starve to death.

•A flamingo can eat only when its head is upside down.

•The lighter was invented before the match.

•It is physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky.

•The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!

•Scientists with high-speed cameras have discovered that rain drops are not tear shaped but rather look like hamburger buns.

•The first Internet domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com on March 15, 1985.

•When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone back in 1876, only six phones were sold in the first month.

•Approximately 7.5% of all office documents get lost.

•Business.com is currently the most expensive domain name sold: for $7.5 million.

•In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia.

•In Canada, the most productive day of the working week is Tuesday.

•In a study by the University of Chicago in 1907, it was concluded that the easiest colour to spot is yellow. This is why John Hertz, who is the founder of the Yellow Cab Company picked cabs to be yellow.

•It takes about 63,000 trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of The New York Times.

SUDOKU

PAGE 47

Say what?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Last edition’s solution

Star attraction: A seagull stands on the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, during the second Source: Dailymail.co.uk day of voting for the election of a new pope

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MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

Gerrard completes Liverpool comeback

A

ston Villa remain in the Premier League bottom three after Liverpool came from behind to claim the three points and keep alive their faint hopes of securing a UEFA Champions League spot with their 2-1 win at Villa Park.

Villa looked on course for a third successive win after leading at the interval through Christian Benteke's 18th goal of the campaign.

But the Reds equalized through Jordan Henderson early in the second period and then Captain Steven Gerrard's penalty sealed victory for the visitors.

The home side, who yesterday slipped into the relegation zone for the fifth time this season, are level on points with Wigan Athletic but have an inferior goal difference.

Villa posed plenty of threat to Liverpool in the first half with Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor linking well and Ashley Westwood pulling the strings in midfield.

But Liverpool upped their game a gear in the second period as they closed the gap on sixthplaced Everton to three points.

Luis Suarez was a handful throughout the 90 minutes, despite his FIFA World Cup qualifier exertions in Uruguay in midweek, and came close on several occasions to notching his 30th goal of the season.

Liverpool needed only three minutes of the second half to get back on level terms. Philippe Coutinho's defence-splitting pass was seized on by Henderson who flicked the ball past Guzan into the corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Gerrard became the first player to be booked for a foul on Agbonlahor. Coutinho should have put Liverpool ahead in the 56th minute after beating the offside trap to run onto a pass from Suarez but he dinked his shot wide of the post. But Liverpool was not to be denied and went ahead three minutes later.

Suarez was brought down in the box by Baker and the resulting spot-kick was converted by Gerrard.

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE I think the question is: Are we, the thinkers of the North, satisfied with the way things are being run? The answer is No. — Dr. Paul Unongo, spokesman, Northern Elders Forum

The network is bad You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes You just might find You get what you need — Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

W

hile opening an international conference on "Islam and the fundamentals of peaceful coexistence in Nigeria," organized by the Sokoto State government and the Muslim World League in Sokoto, President Goodluck Jonathan assured Nigerians of his administration's commitment to protecting their rights and ensuring a harmonious living. He told the conference that Nigerians have "no alternative to peaceful coexistence" and "must therefore do everything in our power to ensure religion is neither misused nor abused to justify violence." He advised that dialogue and tolerance, rather than confrontation should be the principles that should inform collective and corporate existence of Nigerians. The Sultan also used the occasion to lament serious deviations from the true path by Muslims and Christians as the cause of the nation’s problems.

The conference on peaceful coexistence between faiths coincided with the Easter period, ironically of late, a time of great tension and stress. Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) both made passionate appeals for peace between the two faiths. The NSCIA statement said in this "trying period of unnecessary strife, tension, mutual suspicious and wanton destruction of innocent lives… Muslims in Nigeria shall strive to strengthen the cooperation and collaboration between our two bodies - NSCIA and CAN - for our mutual benefits and to the glory of God and Nigeria." The Kaduna State Chapter of CAN said Nigerians "must unite ourselves as one irrespective of religions, tribe and political affiliation".

In spite of the assurances from the President and umbrella religious organizations, many Christians chose not to go to church in some cities in the North on Good Friday. There were reports of massive deployment of military and police personnel to ensure that the Easter period did not register unusual assaults.

Patrols and checkpoints have been increased in some sensitive towns and cities, underlying the

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FIFTEEN MINUTES with Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed drbabaahmed@yahoo.com

President Jonathan worry that exhortations and appeals by religious and political leaders are unlikely to get everyone to sheath their swords, even for Easter. In villages in Barikin-Ladi LGA of Plateau state, blood continued to flow as it did in the last few days, in a conflict with almost pure ethnoreligious undercurrent.

The disconnect between the political and religious leadership in the nation and reality is very worrying. At the Sokoto conference where the President's message on the abuse of religion and the values of dialogue, understanding and tolerance was conveyed by the Vice President, the Sultan of Sokoto's recent call for amnesty to insurgents who have shown an interest will sit rather uncomfortably. The same President's spokesmen have recently gone to town on why calls for amnesty are misplaced or even outrightly mischievous.

They demand those who make the calls to prevail on insurgents to show faces first, and indicate a willingness to dialogue. Others have hinted that the insurgency is virtually finished militarily, and the mop-up operation is being disturbed by noise being made for amnesty.

The Sultan's call for amnesty has been echoed many times, even as attacks by the insurgency escalate. Some of the calls appear to be informed by the thinking that an escalation of attacks is informed by a refusal of

government to consider the amnesty option. Some of it is also informed by the belief that the granting of amnesty will weaken the insurgency, and strengthen the moral hand of government in dealing with it. There is also the belief that the refusal to act on the advice of leaders and elders diminishes their standing and capacity in their communities, and reduces them to a group which has neither the respect of government nor the insurgents.

So when the President sends a message to a forum with a heavy dose of foreign participation which is completely at variance with the established position of the administration, you have to wonder whether it is one of those speeches that are written and okayed by minions who have no regard for policy consistency or image of leaders. When the President says Nigerians have no alternative to peaceful coexistence, most participants will sit up in anticipation that he will say what he is doing to preserve the foundations of that coexistence. The World Muslim league is no stranger to the insurgency, and it knows that it represents in various forms, a repudiation of religious coexistence in Nigeria. The Sultan had taken a major gamble in joining the chorus for amnesty.

Its rejection by the government means they are now on opposite sides as far as solutions to the problem are concerned. He is likely to hear Mr President's words sounding rather hallow, particularly the parts that celebrate religious understanding and tolerance.

Participants at the conference will go through the motion of exposing the fundamentals of religious coexistence, but they will do this against a raging controversy and high tempters regarding killings by people who claim to be Muslims in the names of their faith. In spite of local Igbo leaders' strenuous efforts to deny that the recent park bomb in Kano was targeted at Igbo people, there are still many whose anger cannot

be assuaged. Many elements among the Christian Association of Nigeria are finding it very hard holding back the tide of anger that Christians are being killed by the insurgents just for being Christians; never mind the fact that Muslims die daily at the hands of the insurgents as well. Muslim leaders and clerics are losing ground because they can neither influence the insurgency, nor protect other Muslims from its bombs and bullets.

There are deep murmurings that there is more to these attacks than the pursuance of the goals of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunnah Lid dawati Wal Jihad (JASLIWAJ) or even the newer group, Ansaru. The failure of the Nigerian state to defeat this insurgency, or, as some cynics now insist, its reluctance to do so makes the position of the federal government highly suspect, particularly when it is steadfast in rejecting the option seen as a foot in the door. Its lack of an alternative strategy to the one it is deploying makes the rejection all the more puzzling to those who are charitable; and outrightly suspicious to those who see sinister motives.

President Jonathan is being put on the defensive in terms of policies towards violent insurgencies. This is the worst possible position he needs to be in. He is not communicating very well with the communities which are the first line victims of this insurgency. He is also not communicating with those who support what appear to be his positions, but would like to see an end to this conflict. There are others who presume to speak for him but make his case worse.

These appear to have the loudest voices, and they remind northern elders that they fished out militants from creeks who had grievances and guns and faces, and leaders from the north should do the same. They want the insurgency crushed if it will not remove its veil and discuss, and they want this done at all cost. They see a political solution as capitulation and reward for killing of particularly Christians and southerners. They speak for a sentiment that says the North deserves what it gets, between the insurgency and a rampaging JTF. There are many voices around this insurgency, and most of them make little sense. Government's communication network on this issue is bad, and it can only make the problem worse.

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 805 727 9862. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141