Peoples Daily Newspaper, Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Kano state records 1,500 tuberculosis cases, says health commissioner PAGE 4

Vol. 8 No. 14

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Jimadal Ula 20, 1433 AH

N150

INSIDE

CAN wants Gen. Owoye Azazi sacked >>PAGE 4

Northern governors decry Easter tragedies

Displaced Fulani: NEMA confirms 3,605 resettled

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>>PAGE 10

mood to confront the members of the dreaded Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the country.

Ihejirika, who spoke yesterday at the opening ceremony of the maiden edition of a four day

Commanding Officers Workshop with the theme, “Enhancing Military Professionalism in the Nigerian Army to Meet Contemporary Challenges,” in Kaduna, equally hinted that the Army had begun the training of

Dangote offers job to First Class graduates >>PAGE 19

Heat wave: Eagles cancel Dubai training >>PAGE 44

Boko Haram: We are at war — COAS From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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he Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, has charged the officers and men of the service to be battle ready and be in a war

dogs to be unleashed on members of the sect.

The COAS said “Officers and men must at this point of insecurity in the country be combat-ready at all times because a situation where the Boko Haram

STF uncovers explosives, arrests suspect in Plateau

sect would engage the army at check-points without much resistance is unacceptable.

“It is high time for you and your men to be in war mood to be able to deal with the current Contd on Page 2

President Goodluck Jonathan (left), presenting a pair of uniform, bag and slate to a pupil during the commissioning of the first Almajiri model primary school, yesterday in Gagi village, Sokoto North local government of Sokoto state. With him are the state Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (2nd left) and Minister of Education, Prof.

Ruqayyatu Ahmad Rufa’i (2nd right).

Photo: Joe Oroye

From Nankpah Bwakan & Bayo Alabira, Jos

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he special Task Force, otherwise known as “Operation Save Heaven” yesterday averted an attempt to bomb a market in Riyom local government area of Plateau state 24 hours after an abandoned bomb-laden car was discovered in Kano.

But a man sighted close to a polythene bag allegedly containing the explosive device was however arrested.

The device was found in Makeri market at about 11 a.m. when villagers and traders arrived the market for their usual weekly Contd on Page 2

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

CONTENTS

Activities pick up at MMIA after Easter break

News

ormal activities picked up at the domestic and international wings of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, yesterday, following the resumption of work after the Easter break.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who went around the terminals at the airport, observed that the various airline counters witnessed long queues of passengers buying tickets to return to either their places of work or where they lived.

There was a high traffic of both commercial and private vehicles conveying either staff or passengers in and out of the airport.

Mr. Shamsudeen Alao, one of the commercial bus operators registered by the airport authorities to operate between Ikeja and the international

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Editorial

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Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

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Metro

16-17

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

S/Report

24

Motoring

26

Newsxtra

27-28

Arts

29-30

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International 31-34 Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-47

Columnist

48

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

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

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

A passenger on queue at Aero Airline counter, who did not want his name mentioned, said: “My brother, the Easter celebration is over and I have to return to Abuja where I work, after celebrating the break with my family here in Lagos.

“It was an eventful period and I also had enough time to rest”, he said.

Mr. Chinedu Obiora, who was travelling to Port Harcourt, was making telephone contact with a friend on when he would arrive there, so that the friend could pick him up.

He said that he had almost exhausted the cash on him and would not want to be stranded at the Port Harcourt Airport on arrival.

Mrs. Halimat Ibrahim, who was returning to Yola, suggested that the management of the airports should increase their

infrastructure, especially seats, to guarantee the comfort of passengers during peak periods.

“It is not ideal for passengers waiting for their flights to be loitering around, since passengers are expected to arrive the airports at least some 30 minutes ahead of their scheduled boarding time,'' Ibrahim said.

She, however, commended the seamless operations of the airlines, saying that flight cancellations would have complicated issues for passengers.

Meanwhile, patronage at eateries in the airport's arrival and departure halls was high.

A waiter in one of the eateries told NAN that they were having a busy time with higher “This is good for our business and God is really blessing us in the true spirit of the Easter season,'' she said. (NAN)

Environmentalist advises Kano residents to clear drainage Kano-based environmentalist, Malam Haruna Balarabe, has advised residents to clear their drainage ahead of the rainy season.

Balarabe, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Tuesday, said that it would

We must promote everything good about Nigerian cultures, says NICO Executive Secretary, Pages 24, 25

airport, said that he was happy that the break was over.

“The patronage was dull during the break as most offices were closed and workers enjoyed the period with their families.

“But as at noon today, I know how much I had raked in from workers that boarded my bus.

“That is also the situation with other bus and cab operators”, he said.

Also, Alhaja Biola Shittu, a food vendor, said that business activities had significantly picked up, compared to the situation between last Friday and Monday, when they could only provide skeletal services.

NAN also observed that most of the flights scheduled for the day were operating as at when due.

Some of the passengers who could not find seats within the terminal buildings, however, stood in groups, clutching their luggage.

prevent the state from been flooded during the season.

“Everybody has an obligation to contribute to the environment and prevent it from being affected by disasters because disasters affect everyone”, he said.

He called on the people to be proactive in preventing disasters

in view of the National Emergency Management Agency's forecast that the 2012 rainy season would be accompanied by flooding due to the climate change.

“If we protect our environment now, we might reduce the risk of flooding because if the drainage is emptied, the flood will flow freely

if the heavy rainfalls start”.

Balarabe, who retired in the state Ministry of Environment, commended the environmentalfriendly policies of Gov. Rabiu Kwankwaso and urged the people to complement the state government with communal support. (NAN)

Boko Haram: We are at war — COAS Contd from Page 1 challenges.

“Otherwise, how do you explain that troops on checkpoints duty would be attacked by this decadence? And they sometimes do that and get away with it. This is an area you must work on.

“As you are out in the field at every point in time, make sure you are either conducting an operation or you are gathering intelligence. You must be doing any of the two at any point in time.

“If your area is too quiet, you have a reason to get worried. We believe that how your troops perform is a direct reflection of the qualities of their Commanding Officers. That is why you are assembled here for the next four days to brainstorm on matters of service interest in order to improve and sharpen your professional skills.”

The COAS added that the Service had already completed the training of two batches of dogs troop that would be launched against the Boko Haram sect soon.

He explained that the dogs troop would complement efforts of regular combat soldiers, all designed to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

While urging the men of the Nigerian Army to deal ruthlessly with Boko Haram as well as other issues relating to terrorism in the country, Ihejirika added that the Service would be commissioning 14 boats that were recovered and refurbished for the use of troops in the Niger Delta.

“All these are aimed at ensuring that terrorism is stamped out of the Nigeria as a nation,” he added.

According to him, the theme of the workshop was carefully chosen to remind officers of the importance of military professionalism in dealing with challenges facing the nation and the world at large, especially as they relate to terrorism, small arms proliferation and related crimes.

He commended officers and men of the One Division of the Nigerian Army over what he described as their efforts so far in ensuring the security of lives and

property of citizens in the north- nation and indeed the Army are west and north-east geo-political well known to all of us. The zones. constitutional provision and the “Let me therefore commend directive of Mr. President and your efforts so far as the north-west Commander- in- Chief of Armed and north-east zones of the Forces for the Nigerian Army to country are beginning to see some work with other civil authorities respite from terrorist activities. to secure every part of this “But nearly is not good enough country are also well known.” as we must ensure that the citizens are more secured and safe and living peacefully in locations of their choice,” the COAS stressed.

On the choice of the venue for the training, Ihejirika said “We chose One Division to underscore the importance of the current operation of 1 and 3 Divisions troops. I am happy to note the numerous achievements of the divisions since the first bomb attack of this headquarters and the attacks on Kano.

“But you will all agree with me that a lot still needs to be done to make our society secure. Let me stress that the COAS, Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika challenges confronting the

STF uncovers explosives, arrests suspect in Plateau Contd from Page 1 transactions.

The traders and villagers, upon sighting the bag, became suspicious and immediately alerted the STF keeping vigil in the troubled area. On arrival, members of the STF

promptly moved and evacuated the bag.

It would be recalled that this latest discovery of the explosive device was the second in Makeri market.

Though, the identity of the suspect is still unknown, because

the STF could not confirm it, investigation is said to be ongoing to ascertain the genuineness or otherwise of device and the identity of the suspect.

However, the Media and Information Officer of STF, Captain Markus Mdahyelya

confirmed that a man was arrested and that the anti-bomb unit is studying the substance after which it would make its findings public.

“Our men in Riyom have taken custody of the device and the suspect,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 3

Press Council renounces Magistrate’s assault on journalists

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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he Nigeria Press Council has condemned the discretional order issued by Chief Magistrate A. A. Osoniyi of the Magistrate Court No 6, Ikeja Lagos, on Wednesday, March 4, where

she ordered that 13 journalists who were covering the proceedings in her court be assaulted and detained following an argument with a prosecutor who wanted the journalists out of the court.

In a statement issued yesterday, the management of

the Council also demanded that the 13 journalists who are said to be in the custody of the Area ‘F’ Police Command after being assaulted as instructed by the Magistrate Osoniyi, should be released with immediate effect.

“The court, the police and

journalists, all work in public interest and should accord each other mutual respect in the course of this national service. The discretional power of the court ought not to be used to humiliate journalists as if they are common criminals”, the statement read in

part.

Based on this, the Council appealed to the Inspector-General of Police to call his men to order in face of the alleged assault of journalists, so as not to undermine the transformation of the police force he has embarked upon.

15 unionists butchered in Benin over election From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

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L-R, Deputy Comptroller, Nigerian Custom sService, Mr. Ilo Ngozi, Area Comptroller, Mr. Edike Epowei, and Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos council, Mr. Deji Elumoye, during a visit by NUJ officials to the Customs Service, yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, in Lagos.

he election of new executives for Edo state chapter of National Butchers Union of Nigeria, NBUN on Monday in Benin City, turned violent, claiming at least 15 lives.

Some residents of the swampy Ogiso waterside location of a private abattoir in the state capital, which was the venue of the clash, told newsmen that trouble started as early as 5 am yesterday when butchers normally resume to slaughter cows for the day.

One resident said, “Youths, in their hundreds, armed with machetes went about chasing each other amidst gunshots allegedly fired by supporters of one of the unidentified chairmanship aspirants who was opposed to the conduct of the election by the national working committee of the union”.

It was gathered that the aspirant had early yesterday morning mobilized his supporters

5 robbery suspects escape from court in prosecutor’s car From Iliya Garba, Minna

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ive out of seven armed robbery suspects conveyed from Minna Minimum Security Prison to a Magistrate Court 6, in Minna Niger state capital escaped in a dramatic circumstances in the prosecutor’s car.

Our correspondent reports that the robbers were brought to the court premises with handcuffs but the prison warder unlocked the handcuffs as they were about to enter the court room, whereby they violently descended on the court officials with exhibits seized from suspects and left carelessly in the courtroom.

An eye witness told our

correspondent that the suspects whispered to one another before taking the arms that they eventually used to inflict injuries on the prosecutor and other staff of the court who were waiting for the arrival of the Magistrate, Hajiya Amina Musa before the court session could commence.

It was gathered that the suspects escaped in an ash colored Honda Accord car owned by the Mr. Tanimu Bako, the prosecutor attached to the court after using dangerous weapons such as cutlasses and sickle found in the court room to batter and left him in the pool of blood before he was picked from the court room in a state of coma.

Kaduna blast: State govt to provide palliative measures for survivors From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

K

aduna state government says it has taken covert and overt precautionary security measures to check the recurrent cases of bombings in the area According to the acting Governor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero, who spoke with reporters at the Government House yesterday, at the end of a meeting of the State Security Council, government will

settle all medical expenses of the injured and provide palliative measures to those who lost their property during the car bomb attack on Easter Sunday, on Junction Road.

Condoling with families of those who lost their lives in the incident, Yero said that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Ministry of Health were on top of the situation through the provision of relief materials for the victims.

Consequently, the prosecutor, who was bleeding seriously, was taken to Minna General Hospital as a result of the serious injuries sustained from the deep cuts of cutlasses and corrugated weapons.

The Magistrate, Hajiya Amina Musa, who confirmed the incident said, “It is unfortunate, but I thank God that I have not arrived then as only God knows what they could have done to me”, disclosing that two out of the seven suspects who stayed behind and did not participate in the fight to escape were now with the police.

She said that the police later recovered Bako’s car without the suspects at Maurice area of Minna where they bashed another car in

trying to escape from the police who were already trailing them.

When contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) in Niger, Mr. Richard Oguche said “We were in a meeting this morning with our commissioner when the news filtered in”, adding that “we have written to the prison authority to explain why it should bring armed robbery suspects to court without adequate security arrangement because it is their responsibility to take care of suspects in their custody until they are granted bail by the court or have served out their jail term”.

He said that the police were making efforts to re-arrest the fleeing suspects.

Boko Haram after me, says NEMA spokesman

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he spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Malam Yushau Shuaib, yesterday received a threat e-mail message purported to be from the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

The message accused Malam Shuaib of supporting the Nigerian Government against the sect and asked him to confirm or deny the allegation within 24 hours or “he will be visited with calamity”.

The text reads:

“Shuaib, it have come to our notice that you are supporting the Nigerian government forces against our fighters in your locality. Is that true?. Your answer must be sent to our operational email boko-haram@hotmail.com within the next 24hours as failure to do so or report to security agents would be visited with calamity on your house hold as u will be the last to be dealt with on failure to reply, we have our fighters detailed on your family”.

to the venue on learning that the national president of the union, Chief John Adun had set up an interim committee for the purpose of conducting the branch election.

This was also as the outgoing branch chairman, Sunny Omokaro had secured the approval of the state government to supervise the orderly conduct of the same election.

The out-going chairman of the branch was also severely wounded.

The government reportedly detailed the special adviser to the governor, Mr. Benson Osifo and the labour commissioner, Mr. Didi Adodo to this effect, a move which the National President of the union, Chief John Adun said was illegal.

But Adun who met with reporters displayed a copy of the union’s constitution which gave him powers to supervise elections into state branches said what transpired at the abattoir was the handiwork of those who do not wish the state branch well.

Borno govt to partner with Songhai on integrated farming

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he Borno state government has said that it plans to partner with the Songhai farms in Benin Republic towards building an integrated farm system in the state.

Governor Kashim Shettima disclosed this shortly after leading a high-powered delegation on a visit to the farm in Porto-Novo.

“Our visit has been quite educative, it has really opened our eyes on the verse potentialities in Africa. We are going back home with lots of sweat memories about the farm, I want to assure that we will initiate formal arrangements to open channel of communication for a partnership once we get home.

“We intend to send 500 youths for training in integrated farm system in a couple of days. We also intend to cultivate about 20 hectares of land at the Chad Basin through the program,” he said.

Shettima added that the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zanna Mustapha will lead another delegation including officials of the Chad Basin Development Authorities (CBDA) to fine tune arrangements for the partnership.

The Director of Songhai Regional Operations, Reverend Godfrey Izamojo had informed the delegation that the Songhai farm model as an African concept is aimed at empowering the youths to be self sufficient.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 5

U S should end World Bank tradition, Okonjo -iweala

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he United States of America should take the lead and break the long tradition of an American always heading the World Bank, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.

Speaking after a "marathon" three-and-a-half-hour interview by the World Bank board, OkonjoIweala said the decision on who leads the global development institution should go to the candidate with the best skills for the job.

Okonjo-Iweala, a nominee for the top post, said she did not ask for the support of countries, but pressed them to ensure that the selection process was open and merit based. Under an informal

agreement between the U.S. and Europe, an American has always headed the World Bank and a European has led the International Monetary Fund since their founding after World War 2.

Rising economic powers such as China, India and Brazil have called for an end to the long-standing tradition and are demanding more influence in global finance institutions.

Okonjo-Iweala is up against former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo and U.S. nominee Korean-American health expert Jim Yong Kim. Ocampo and Kim are set to be interviewed by the 25-member World Bank board yesterday and today respectively.

It is the first time that candidates from developing countries have challenged Washington for the top post.

"Somebody has to break this agreement”. Okonjo-Iweala told an event hosted by the Center for Global Development and Washington Post. "Therefore, who is the leader in this world? The U.S. is looked on for that leadership," she added.

The board is set to decide through consensus on a new president of the World Bank on April 16.

Okonjo-Iweala dismissed the argument by some U.S. politicians that the U. S. would stop financing the World Bank if a non-American took the reins of the institution.

She said she would use her persuasive powers to convince Congress to keep funds flowing to the World Bank.

"You cannot look at global governance in the same old way and should recognise the changing constellation of powers”, she said.

"I do not believe that if we ignore this reality we can really have global governance that works because these countries will not feel valued in the global system."

Okonjo-Iweala said her vision for leading the World Bank was influenced by her own life story of growing up in a village in Nigeria and her experiences as an international economist.

"It is not good enough to say you know about poverty. You have to

live it," she said.

As head of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala said she would focus on job creation, which was a problem facing both rich and poor countries alike. "Across the globe, policymakers are grappling with one problem, and that is the problem of job creation," she said,adding: "I have yet to meet a single poor person who did not want the dignity of a job."

She said her experience as finance minister and as managing director of the World Bank gave her unique insights into the complex problems facing emerging market and developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Sultan advocates more community schools in Nigeria

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Lagos state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (middle), his Deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (2nd right), Minister for Environment, Hajiya Hadiza Mailafia (right), Lagos state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello (left), and representative of the chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Mr. Kingsley Amaku (2nd left), during the 4th Climate Change Summit 2012 with the theme, "Vulnerability and Adaptability to the Climate Change in Nigeria", yesterday at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Kenneth Kaunda, Fashola, Tinubu, in “Lagos AIDS Walk” awareness campaign

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ormer Zambian President, Mr. Kenneth Kaunda, who lost a son to AIDS, is expected to participate in a walk tagged "Lagos AIDS Walk" scheduled for Lagos on April 21.

The 10-km walk organised

by Biire Child and Maternal Health Foundation, Lagos, would be flagged off by Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state and his predecessor, Chief Bola Tinubu.

The executive director of the foundation, Dr. Dare Ajayi, told journalists in Lagos yesterday that the walk was aimed at increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention and discouragement of stigmatisation.

Ajayi, who said the event was organised in collaboration with the Lagos State Agency for the Control of AIDS (LSACA) and other stakeholders, lamented the high rate of infected persons in Lagos.

"It is necessary to increase

awareness in a city such as Lagos where more than 500,000 people are said to be infected with HIV, with an additional three per cent of the population being infected out of ignorance.

"There is still a lot of ignorance about AIDS and this is the reason why the rate of affected persons in the country is still very high.

"It is important to create adequate awareness for the prevention of the disease so as to reduce its burden on the state and the nation at large", he said.

According to him, Lagos has the highest number of people living with HIV and there is need to create more awareness.

He explained that the 12 percent of the population in Benue living with HIV was less than the five percent of people living with the virus in Lagos, considering the population difference.

Ajayi said the walk was also

to raise awareness about existing laws against discrimination and stigmatisation of affected persons.

It is also to advocate for more political will and corporate support toward HIV prevention, treatment, care and support as well as to raise funds for AIDS campaigns.

The walk which is opened to the public would start at 10 a.m. from the Ebute Meta end of the

Third Mainland Bridge through Adeniji Adele and terminate at the Freedom Park on Broad Street on the Lagos Island.

Other stakeholders include Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NIBUCAA), Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA) and Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS). (NAN)

FG meets with stakeholders over fuel scarcity

By Muhammad Nasir

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he Federal Government has pledged to meet with stakeholders in the oil sector tomorrow to address the threat of a nationwide warning strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) which is

scheduled to begin on Monday, April 16, 2012.

It would be recalled that the oil and gas employees have listed about 16 grievances affecting members in the industry which it hopes the Federal Government would address squarely to prevent the proposed nationwide strike.

he Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III yesterday in Sokoto advocated the establishment of more community schools in the country.

Abubakar said this in Sokoto at the inauguration of the model almajiri school established by the Federal Government at Gagi Village, near Sokoto, in Sokoto South Local Government Area of the state.

“We must encourage self help and facilitate the establishment and sustenance of community schools.

We must, above all, restore the culture of Waqf (endowment) to support educational and religious institutions.''

The Islamic leader said education was a collective enterprise which could only succeed when pursued collectively .

He applauded President Goodluck Jonathan for his commitment to the growth and development of education in the country.

“Islam and Islamic civilisation had been predicated on knowledge and learning .The search for knowledge is an unabridged obligation upon every Muslim , male and female. The school provides succour and relief to the teeming millions who had been left out of the conventional school system.''

Abubakar said.

Earlier, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto state, also hailed the President for contributing immensely to the development of the state since his assumption of office.

He said that the Almajiris constituted a significant percentage of the population of the North which “poses some challenges for the achievements of the Education For All (EFA).''

Wamakko said the state government had established a similar school with 800 pupils at Tudun Dogo in Dange/Shuni local government area of the state .

He said the 23 LGAs in the state would be directed to establish similar Almajiri schools in their respective areas.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

HURIWA blames government for persistent bombings From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

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Bauchi state governor, Malam Isa Yuguda (seated), test running broadcast facilities at the newly commissioned Community Radio, yesterday in Kafin-Madaki, Bauch state.

non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Writers' Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has blamed the persistent killings in some parts of Plateau state on the failure of government at all levels to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of similar crimes and their sponsors.

The national coordinator of the association, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko called on government to strive hard to end the culture of impunity in the state.

HURIWA pleaded with diverse ethnic nationalities and adherents of various religious orientation to live in peace and harmony as well as work out comprehensive mechanism for the promotion of inter-ethnic, inter-religious dialogue and concord rather than reprisal killings.

According to the statement, "It is a war crime on the part of the state and Federal Governments to stand by and watch helplessly as innocent civilians are wasted in their hundreds by different well

Jonathan commissions first Almajiri Model School in Sokoto From Sadeeq Aliyu, Sokoto

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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned the first Almajiri Model Primary School built by Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in Gagi village in Sokoto state with a pledge to ensure that all Nigerian children have access to basic education.

President Jonathan said the idea of establishing the schools across the country was to cater for nine million Almajirai roaming the streets.

He announced that 35 of such schools were currently under construction in the first phase of the programme out of which 25 are day schools while 10 are boarding - all in the 19 northern states and one in Edo state.

The President commended the Sultan of Sokoto for providing land for construction of the school, saying that "it is what we expect communities to be doing

to demonstrated noble tradition of scholarship by Usman Danfodiyo".

In his remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa`ad Abubakar, expressed the need to sustain the schools and ensure that appropriate plan is made for upcoming generations to endow them with better educational opportunities than their predecessors.

Also speaking, Sokoto state Governor Alhaji Aliyu

Magatakarda Wamakko explained that his administration would give necessary support for the success of the programme and directed the 23 local governments in the state to establish such schools in their areas.

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof.

Mahmood Yakubu said the language of wider communication in the areas

would b e t h e l a n g u a g e o f instruction in the schools for the first three years and subjects would be taught side by side with Western education schools.

Built at the cost of over N240 million, the school is comprised of language and science laboratories, ICT, dormitories and workshop for technical subjects where students would be taught vocational subjects.

…says ‘We’ve fulfilled electoral promise’

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said that he had achieved one of his 2011 electoral promises to the northern people by commissioning the first Almajiri Model Boarding School in Gagi, Sokoto state.

The school, which is one of the 100 billed for commissioning by June this

year, was constructed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

President Jonathan noted that his desire to see to the realisation of a modern almajiri system of education was borne out of his conviction that Nigerian children must have equal access to quality education across the country.

"I am quite a happy man

today because during our campaign the issue of almajiri educational system was one thing we emphasised while we were in the northern parts of the country," the President said.

The school comprises of 15 blocks of classrooms, dormitories, language laboratory, clinic, recitation room, vocational workshop, Malam's quarters and a dining hall.

Northern governors decry Easter tragedies, condole victims From Iliya Garba, Minna

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he Northern Governors Forum (NGF) has condemned the Easter day suicide bombing that claimed over 40 lives in Kaduna as well as the collapsed church building that killed 22 others in Vandeikya, Benue state.

Governor of Niger state and chairman of the forum, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu further lamented the loss of lives following the collapse of the retreat camp at the Deeper Life Bible Church, Eyenkin in Kwara state.

This was contained in a press statement signed by Chief Press

Secretary to the governor, Malam Danladi Ndayebo.

The NGF commiserated with the various families of those killed in the tragedies and promised that measures are being taken to ensure that peace returns to the region and Nigeria at large.

The chairman of the forum,

who had sent separate condolence messages to the governors of Kaduna, Benue and Kwara states, stated that the forum was pained that the latest bomb in Kaduna occurred at a time when both federal and state governments were putting every measure in place to end the menace of insecurity in the country.

armed splinter groups targeting persons and soft targets of all ethnic or religious orientation."

Amosun sets up committee on boundary dispute From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

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gun state government has set up a three-man committee to look into the power tussle between two traditional rulers in the state over the boundary between their communities.

The concerned traditional rulers are Owa of Okun-Owa, Oba Gabriel Akinyemi Abiodun and Olowu- Iji of Odolowu, Okun-Owa, Oba Olusegun Mukaila Abojo in Odogbolu local government.

The commissioner for chieftaincy and local government affairs, Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo, while inaugurating members of the committee, told them that the matter before them required total commitment and thorough service in order to achieve the set objectives.

The committee is headed by Mr. Kola Peter Fagbohun, a Director of Administration and Supplies in the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Mr. Oludare Ogunjobi, a Principal Administrative Officer in the Service (as secretary), and Mr. Oluwaseun Okunaiya, who is to serve as the legal adviser.

Gov Aliyu decries poor relationship among civil servants From Iliya Garba

G

overnor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger state has expressed dismay over the dysfunctional relationship between senior and junior civil servants,nothing that it has affected the implementation of government policies in the state.

Aliyu made this known in an interactive session with permanent secretaries, directors and political appointees at Government House in Minna.

He said, "a wise Permanent Secretary is the one who takes counsel from his directors and other senior officials in his ministries or department by carrying them along so that if there is any manna from heaven they should equally be partakers", adding that, it is unfortunate that there is a dysfunctional relationship between permanent secretaries and directors on one hand and directors and junior staff on the other hand.

According to him, "there is need to hold regular monthly meetings between civil servants on grade level 7 and above with the commissioners and grade level six and below with the permanent secretaries for easy understanding of government policies."

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 7

Suswam’s Alleged certificate forgery: Accused persons open defense today

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

T

he three accused persons standing trial for allegedly defaming the character of the Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue state in an article published in Power Steering magazine, will today, open their defense before a Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Zone II, Abuja.

The accused persons had earlier filed a “no case

submission”, but the court sitting before Chief Magistrate Hafsat Soso held that they have a case to answer in the charges preferred against them by the police.

Chief Magistrate Soso, in her ruling, said the accused persons had explanations to make in respect to the offences for which they are been charged.

The Editors of the magazine, Dan Ekah, Chidozie

Ukpai and one Oseer Akeem were arraigned by the police for, “joint act of defamation of character, injurious falsehood, printing or engraving matter, known to be defamatory and sale of printing of engraved substance containing defamatory matter, contrary to sections 79,392,393,394 and 395 of the penal code law”.

The accused persons are alleged to have caused the publication of defamatory

materials in the September 2010 edition of the magazine which portrayed Governor Suswam as a fake lawyer and that he forged his WAEC certificate among other information pertaining the governor and members of his family.

The accused persons, who had earlier pleaded, not guilty to the charges had been admitted to bail in the sum of N500, 000, with two sureties

in like sum who must be resident in Abuja.

The court adjourned till today (April 11, 2012) for the accused persons to open their defense in the matter and granted the application by their counsel, Mr. Alexander Oketa requesting for a re-cross examination of prosecution witness 1 and prosecution witness 4 in the matter at the next adjourned date.

Kano records 1500 tuberculosis cases From Edwin Olofu, Kano ano State commissioner for health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf has said the state had recorded 1,500 Tuberculosis (TB) cases.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Kano, he hinted that all the TB patients had been placed on free treatment by the government.

Yusuf called on the people of the state to report any suspected case of the killer disease, urging persons suffering from it to come forward for the free treatment.

Similarly, he said the state government had reconstituted and inaugurated the State Task Force on immunization and polio eradication headed by the state deputy governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

He advised parents to make sure their children were vaccinated, warning that the disease was highly infectious and could equally affect adults.

He said over N81 million was expended to supply four haemodialysis and one reserve osmosis machine, installation, training and service maintenance as well as renovation /conversion works at Abubakar Imam Urology centre.

He further disclosed that the landscaping/interlocking works at four hospitals , Nuhu Bamali, Sheik Jiddah, Maternity unit of Murtala Muhammed Hospital and Wase Specialist Government hospital had cost the ministry over N79 million.

He said that, to motivate medical doctors who were not paid allowances before, the government had approved the sum of N24 million for both doctors and nurses in the state.

K

R-L: Lagos state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat and Special Adviser to the Governor on Works, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson, during the 2012 ministerial briefing in commemoration of the first year, second term in office of the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday in Lagos.

Adamawa labour unions condemn strike prohibition bill

L

abour unions in Adamawa have condemned the move by the state House of Assembly to pass a bill for a law prohibiting strikes by essential service workers.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Yola, the state chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses

and Midwives (NANNM), Comrade Adamu Watu, said the plan by the Adamawa lawmakers was unjustifiable.

Meanwhile, the bill which is being sponsored by Alhaji Hassan Kaigama (PDP-Maiha), has passed through second reading and has been referred to the House Committee on Labour.

The committee is expected to

conduct a public hearing on the matter and submit a report within one month.

NAN reports that the bill seeks to give the state governor the powers to proscribe any trade union or association of workers that engages in acts deemed to have disrupted the economy or obstructed the smooth running of any essential

service in the state.

The bills seeks to ban traffic warders, health workers, staffers of revenue service, and fire service workers from organising or participating in strikes when passed into law.

It also seeks to outlaw any form of picketing prior to the decision of the National Industrial Court. (NAN)

Why we fired key officials – power minister

By Muhammad Sada

T

he Minister of Power, Prof.

Barth Nnaji has given an explicit report on the recent retirement of three key officers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and its successor company, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

According to a statement issued by the ministers’ media aide, Mr. Anikwe Obuagu in Abuja, Prof. Nnaji explained that the key officers, whose

retirement was announced shortly after an emergency meeting with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of PHCN successor companies, were found to have violated established rules and regulations in the process of discharging their respective duties.

He said incessant complaints by members of PHCN workers union including the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) about the illegal

payments of the 50 percent salary increase ultimately led to the former executive, market operations of the PHCN, Mr. Uzoma Achinaya’s retirement; while lack of detailed information as to the cause of the second successive explosion in TCN’s Benin transmission station was responsible for the sack of former chief executive officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). He added the former Director, Human Resources of the PHCN, Mr.

Muyiwa Olushoga was sacked as a result of findings that relate to embezzlement, corruption as well as extortion and other financial irregularities.

The statement was in a reaction to protests against the deposition of the senior officials of the sector by members of NUEE. The minister maintained that the sacked officials had already been replaced and urged the staff to be law abiding and committed to duty in order to help the sector

achieve its targeted objectives.

In the statement, the minister wished that Joe Ajaero (NUEE executive secretary) would allow them to enjoy their peaceful retirement, because protesting on their behalf would not help them but rather spring up issues about gross misconducts and circumstances that would have the effect of tinting their well recognised and positive technical contributions to the nation.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PHOTOS: JOE OROYE .

A locally made pistol, a feeding bottle and baby shoes and unregistered motorbike were recovered from three men riding an unregistered motorcycle (Okada) around Obalende-Ijeh Estate area of the Third Mainland Bridge on Sunday night, displayed by the state Police Command, yesterday in Ikeja.

1

2

L-R: Edo state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole , congratulates Hajiya Nana Audu, after being sworn-in as a Permanent Secretary in the State Civil Service, yesterday in Benin.

3

Some pupils in their classroom after the commissioning of the first Almajiri Model Primary School, yesterday in Gagi village in Sokoto North local government of Sokoto state by President Goodluck Jonathan.

4

1

2

Processions of cultural dancers, from various groups, communities and neighbourhood during the 2012 Lagos Carnival, on Monday Tafawa Balewa Square, in Lagos.

3

4

PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Cop killed 4 youths over GSM memory card T

he family feud that caused the killing of four persons by a mobile policeman in Tudun-Wada, Jos, penultimate Thursday, was caused by a petty quarrel over a GSM memory card.

Six persons were also injured in the feud that started as a petty disagreement over the whereabouts of the memory card of a Chinese-made phone.

One of the injured persons, Mr. Sunday Daniel, told NAN on his hospital bed yesterday that “it is amazing to me that the petty feud led to so much disaster''.

Daniel said that his younger brother, Nengak, had invited the mobile policeman to intervene when the matter assumed some strange dimension.

He said that the policeman's intervention turned tragic and led to the killing of four persons, while six others, including

himself sustained gunshot injuries.

Five of those injured have been treated and discharged, but Daniel, who was shot at close range, is still recuperating at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos. Daniel, who received two gunshots on the abdomen and the chest, told NAN he had wanted to charge his phone when he discovered that the memory card had been removed.

On enquiry, he was told that friends of a nephew had removed the memory card and had promised to return before the fateful day.

Nengak, who was not happy with the nephew, prevailed on Daniel to pressurise the nephew to produce the memory card as quickly as possible.

Daniels reluctance to put much pressure on the nephew,

as suggested by Nengak, irked the younger fellow, who confronted him at a relaxation spot and accused him of laxity in the quest to recover the memory card.

He said, "The manner Nengak confronted me infuriated some friends of mine, who accused him (Nengak) of insolence. But Nengak became angry with my friends and they engaged in a serious argument over the matter. When I tried to calm him down, he slapped me and it was at that point that some of the youths around descended on him because they felt he had committed an abomination.''

Daniel added that shortly after the fight with the youths around, Nengak left the recreation spot only to return 20 minutes later with a mobile policeman.

"On arrival, he pointed at me and the policeman without seeking to know what happened, attacked me and hit me with his hands and legs.

"I suspect that the policeman was drunk, because while he was beating me, he was staggering and at a point even fell on the ground,'' Daniel said.

He said, however, that Nengak, who brought the policeman, got angry with the force man when the beating became severe.

"The last thing I heard was Nengak shouting at the policeman and telling that “I didn't call you here to come and kill my brother'', I only woke up to find myself in the hospital,'' the victim said.

The Plateau Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Samuel Dabai, while confirming the incident, said the mobile police officer had been arrested.

"We discovered that the mobile policeman killed four persons and injured six others with his rifle when he went berserk.

"The command has identified the officer who carried out the shooting. He is

Be your brothers’ keepers, Zamfara emir tells subjects From Salisu Zakari Maradun, Gusau

T

he Emir of Maradun in Zamfara state, Alhaji Garba Muhammad Tambari, has re-iterated the determination of his emirate toward ensuring the maintenance of peace and stability among the people of the domain.

Tambari was speaking with our correspondent at his palace in Maradun, shortly after the conclusion of the distribution of Zakkat to the needy in the emirate.

He said the emirate, in collaboration with the Zakkat committee, had successfully raised over N17 million as Zakkat, collected from individuals, groups and organizations across the emirate and subsequently distributed it among the eight categories of people that are supposed to benefit from the gesture.

R-L: Vice- President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, being welcomed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ade Adefuye, while arriving for the annual general meeting of the US EXIM Bank and Investor Forum on Agriculture, on Monday night in Washington DC, USA.

under arrest as I am talking to you now while investigation has commenced," Dabai said.

The police spokesman, who expressed dismay over the attitude of the mobile police officer, described the incident as very sad and unfortunate.

(NAN)

Ogun police kill 7 robbers From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

O

gun State Police Command yesterday disclosed that it has shot dead seven suspected armed robbers and arrested ten members of the deadly gang, said to be notorious in carrying out operations along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

This was disclosed by the Command Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who added that the robbers were killed in a gun duel while robbing motorists on the highway.

Adejobi recalled that recently, before the orders of the Inspector-General of Police to intensify patrol along highways all over the country, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Okoye Ikemefuna had ordered all Divisional Police Officers (DPOs)whose areas of jurisdictions cover the expressway to relocate their offices to the highways and personally lead patrol teams.

He said in addition, the commissioner divided the expressways into smaller beats of 4 kilometers radius for easy patrol and monitoring, adding that with this trend, the Command would provide the required security to all road users along the major highways in Ogun State.

The police image maker also disabused the minds of road users in Ogun State of unconfirmed and widely circulated stories of incessant robbery attacks on the highways, describing them as rumours.

The Command then released the following telephone numbers of the police through which motorists could pass useful information: 08037168147 PRO, 08032136765 Control Room, 08081771717 O/C Quick Response Squad and 08053253156 O/C Anti Robbery.

NAHCON inspects pilgrim’s accommodation in Saudi Arabia

By Maryam Garba Hassan

A

delegation of the National Hajj Commission of Nigerian is currently in Saudi Arabia to inspect pilgrim’s accommodation in Makkah and Madinah to ensure that they meet the Commission’s standard preparatory to being granted approval.

A statement signed by the principal information officer in Jeddah, Musa Ubandawaki,

revealed that the leader of the delegation, who is also the Commissioner in charge of Policy, Personnel, Management and Finance, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim Adebayo, said the onthe-spot assessment exercise became necessary to ensure compliance with the commission’s standard rules and regulation regarding pilgrim’s accommodation.

“We want to make sure that the accommodation that will be

provided for our pilgrims complies with our standard.

The exercise will provide proof that where our pilgrims will stay during the Hajj exercise it really worth it as it will no longer be business as usual. We will no longer allow a situation where our pilgrims are in any place or anywhere”, he emphasised.

He noted that the delegation, which had earlier met with the General Authority on Civil

Aviation (GACA), the Saudi Authority equivalent of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Establishment of Mutauwiff for pilgrims from African nonArabs with proposal for the linkage or integration of data and information that would enable pilgrims have advance information of their transportation and accommodation arrangements in Madina.

He maintained that NAHCON had set a new rule that requires accommodation providers to fulfill their functions in the provision of housing with capacity for not less than 500 pilgrims in a building, satisfactory performance in the prequalification test, proximity to the Haram and Turadudiyyah routes and provision of adequate toilet facilities in the ratio of eight pilgrims per toilet.

PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Cop killed 4 youths over GSM memory card T

he family feud that caused the killing of four persons by a mobile policeman in Tudun-Wada, Jos, penultimate Thursday, was caused by a petty quarrel over a GSM memory card.

Six persons were also injured in the feud that started as a petty disagreement over the whereabouts of the memory card of a Chinese-made phone.

One of the injured persons, Mr. Sunday Daniel, told NAN on his hospital bed yesterday that “it is amazing to me that the petty feud led to so much disaster''.

Daniel said that his younger brother, Nengak, had invited the mobile policeman to intervene when the matter assumed some strange dimension.

He said that the policeman's intervention turned tragic and led to the killing of four persons, while six others, including

himself sustained gunshot injuries.

Five of those injured have been treated and discharged, but Daniel, who was shot at close range, is still recuperating at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos. Daniel, who received two gunshots on the abdomen and the chest, told NAN he had wanted to charge his phone when he discovered that the memory card had been removed.

On enquiry, he was told that friends of a nephew had removed the memory card and had promised to return before the fateful day.

Nengak, who was not happy with the nephew, prevailed on Daniel to pressurise the nephew to produce the memory card as quickly as possible.

Daniels reluctance to put much pressure on the nephew,

as suggested by Nengak, irked the younger fellow, who confronted him at a relaxation spot and accused him of laxity in the quest to recover the memory card.

He said, "The manner Nengak confronted me infuriated some friends of mine, who accused him (Nengak) of insolence. But Nengak became angry with my friends and they engaged in a serious argument over the matter. When I tried to calm him down, he slapped me and it was at that point that some of the youths around descended on him because they felt he had committed an abomination.''

Daniel added that shortly after the fight with the youths around, Nengak left the recreation spot only to return 20 minutes later with a mobile policeman.

"On arrival, he pointed at me and the policeman without seeking to know what happened, attacked me and hit me with his hands and legs.

"I suspect that the policeman was drunk, because while he was beating me, he was staggering and at a point even fell on the ground,'' Daniel said.

He said, however, that Nengak, who brought the policeman, got angry with the force man when the beating became severe.

"The last thing I heard was Nengak shouting at the policeman and telling that “I didn't call you here to come and kill my brother'', I only woke up to find myself in the hospital,'' the victim said.

The Plateau Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Samuel Dabai, while confirming the incident, said the mobile police officer had been arrested.

"We discovered that the mobile policeman killed four persons and injured six others with his rifle when he went berserk.

"The command has identified the officer who carried out the shooting. He is

Be your brothers’ keepers, Zamfara emir tells subjects From Salisu Zakari Maradun, Gusau

T

he Emir of Maradun in Zamfara state, Alhaji Garba Muhammad Tambari, has re-iterated the determination of his emirate toward ensuring the maintenance of peace and stability among the people of the domain.

Tambari was speaking with our correspondent at his palace in Maradun, shortly after the conclusion of the distribution of Zakkat to the needy in the emirate.

He said the emirate, in collaboration with the Zakkat committee, had successfully raised over N17 million as Zakkat, collected from individuals, groups and organizations across the emirate and subsequently distributed it among the eight categories of people that are supposed to benefit from the gesture.

R-L: Vice- President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, being welcomed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ade Adefuye, while arriving for the annual general meeting of the US EXIM Bank and Investor Forum on Agriculture, on Monday night in Washington DC, USA.

under arrest as I am talking to you now while investigation has commenced," Dabai said.

The police spokesman, who expressed dismay over the attitude of the mobile police officer, described the incident as very sad and unfortunate.

(NAN)

Ogun police kill 7 robbers From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

O

gun State Police Command yesterday disclosed that it has shot dead seven suspected armed robbers and arrested ten members of the deadly gang, said to be notorious in carrying out operations along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

This was disclosed by the Command Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who added that the robbers were killed in a gun duel while robbing motorists on the highway.

Adejobi recalled that recently, before the orders of the Inspector-General of Police to intensify patrol along highways all over the country, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Okoye Ikemefuna had ordered all Divisional Police Officers (DPOs)whose areas of jurisdictions cover the expressway to relocate their offices to the highways and personally lead patrol teams.

He said in addition, the commissioner divided the expressways into smaller beats of 4 kilometers radius for easy patrol and monitoring, adding that with this trend, the Command would provide the required security to all road users along the major highways in Ogun State.

The police image maker also disabused the minds of road users in Ogun State of unconfirmed and widely circulated stories of incessant robbery attacks on the highways, describing them as rumours.

The Command then released the following telephone numbers of the police through which motorists could pass useful information: 08037168147 PRO, 08032136765 Control Room, 08081771717 O/C Quick Response Squad and 08053253156 O/C Anti Robbery.

NAHCON inspects pilgrim’s accommodation in Saudi Arabia

By Maryam Garba Hassan

A

delegation of the National Hajj Commission of Nigerian is currently in Saudi Arabia to inspect pilgrim’s accommodation in Makkah and Madinah to ensure that they meet the Commission’s standard preparatory to being granted approval.

A statement signed by the principal information officer in Jeddah, Musa Ubandawaki,

revealed that the leader of the delegation, who is also the Commissioner in charge of Policy, Personnel, Management and Finance, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim Adebayo, said the onthe-spot assessment exercise became necessary to ensure compliance with the commission’s standard rules and regulation regarding pilgrim’s accommodation.

“We want to make sure that the accommodation that will be

provided for our pilgrims complies with our standard.

The exercise will provide proof that where our pilgrims will stay during the Hajj exercise it really worth it as it will no longer be business as usual. We will no longer allow a situation where our pilgrims are in any place or anywhere”, he emphasised.

He noted that the delegation, which had earlier met with the General Authority on Civil

Aviation (GACA), the Saudi Authority equivalent of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Establishment of Mutauwiff for pilgrims from African nonArabs with proposal for the linkage or integration of data and information that would enable pilgrims have advance information of their transportation and accommodation arrangements in Madina.

He maintained that NAHCON had set a new rule that requires accommodation providers to fulfill their functions in the provision of housing with capacity for not less than 500 pilgrims in a building, satisfactory performance in the prequalification test, proximity to the Haram and Turadudiyyah routes and provision of adequate toilet facilities in the ratio of eight pilgrims per toilet.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

NEMA confirms 3,605 displaced Fulanis hosted in Cross River

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

F

ollowing a violent clash between farmers and cattle rearers in Benue state, 3605 affected persons mostly Fulani nomads are currently taking refuge in four temporary camps in Utanga, Obanliku local government area of Cross River state.

A team from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which had visited the

camps to provide relief materials last weekend, confirmed that the temporary camps accommodated 905 men, 1499 women and 1201 children.

The Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi commended Cross River state government for accommodating the displaced persons and for providing boreholes, tents and water tanks at the camps.

The NEMA boss asked the camp managers to ensure direct

distribution of the items to the displaced people and that efforts should be made to ensure their return to their respective settlements in Katsina-Ala, Benue State after the resolution of the conflict.

Mr. Mike Adeyanju, who spoke on behalf of NEMA boss also appealed to the displaced Fulanis to maintain peace and cooperate with people in their host community.

Responding on behalf of the host

community, Vice Chairman of Obanliku local government area, Mrs. Margaret Achinikon, said the council was instructed by the state governor to create the temporary shelters for the displaced persons.

She expressed gratitude to the Federal Government and NEMA for providing the relief assistance.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Director General Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Vincent Aquah, observed that the

continued influx of more persons to the camps require more facilities and supports from the government and stakeholders.

The representative of displaced persons, Malam Wakili Abdullahi, said they had fled to the camps for safety and security after the crisis that erupted in Katsina-Ala local government area of Benue state.

He thanked the host communities for their supports and promised to ensure peace and harmony in the camps.

Ministry condemns violence against women

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

W

Fulani children who were displaced during a violent clash between farmers and cattle herdsmen in Benue state gathered near relief materials to be distributed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), recently in Utanga, Obanliku local government area of Cross River State.

Drug trafficking: NDLEA seeks regional control T

he Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Ahmadu Giade, has urged regional bodies to be more involved in counter narcotic operations on the African continent.

NDLEA made the call in Lagos yesterday following the discovery of new tricks adopted by drug traffickers.

In a statement which was signed by the agency’s spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju, Giade said that active participation by regional organisations would boost the campaign to eradicate illicit drugs

from Africa.

According to him, the intervention of regional bodies has become imperative for a healthy and drug free life.

“Heroin is usually smuggled from Pakistan, Iran and India but things are changing with the seizure of heroin coming from Tanzania. This is strange because they have turned drug trafficking into a relay race.

The first set of traffickers will smuggle heroin from Pakistan to Tanzania, while another set will take it from Tanzania to Nigeria.

This is a new plan to evade arrest

but we shall now beam our searchlight on African flights.

“The role of credible stakeholders such as regional organisations must be maximised. This is needed to boost drug control operations in the world particularly in Africa.

“Regional organisations can assist in developing legal frameworks and provide funding for drug control programmes. This way drug control capacity will be greatly enhanced on the continent,” Giade said.

He said that drug couriers now ingest liquid cocaine poured into male condoms, pointing out that

these tricks were uncovered at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

“Two suspects were detected during screening of passengers on Kenyan Airways, while other two arrived from Venezuela by using Emergency Travel Certificate aboard South African Airline flight,” Giade noted.

He said that one of the suspects, a 43-year-old trader excreted 70 wraps of oily cocaine, weighing 2kg, while another 32-year-old teacher swallowed 54 wraps of the oily substance weighing 1.35kg.

(NAN)

Katsina to screen 3,000 redundant LG workers From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

T

he chairman of Katsina state Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Abdulkarim Abubakar has disclosed that his commission had set-up committees to screen 3,000 redundant workers uncovered in

the 34 local government council of the state.

Abubakar, who made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen, yesterday in Katsina noted that the committee was setup for local governments in each of the three senatorial zones of the state.

According to him, the list of the

redundant workers emerge a result of verification exercise and data capturing for workers in the 34 local government areas of the state.

The chairman, who added that the exercise was not intended to victimise any worker, stressed that it would afford the commission the opportunity to post such

redundant workers to where they would be useful.

“Look, if you go to accounts department in some of these local governments, you would meet some with over 100 workers doing nothing. In this situation we have to move some to where they are needed,” he said.

orried by the rampant cases of violence against women and girls in the country, and the recent rape of 42 female students, the Ministry of Women Affairs, yesterday added its voice in condemning violence against women and called for the reintroduction of the bill on rape, to protect women and children.

The Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, who made the condemnation yesterday while addressing the press at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja, described the acts as barbaric, and appealed to the appropriate authorities to protect the rights of the women in the society.

According to her, such dastardly acts prevail in the society due to the weak legal system which has failed to address the problem over the years, thereby allowing battery, rape, sexual exploitation and other forms of violence against women to take center stage.

She further called on parents to caution their female children against their immoral ways of dressing, which she said often attracts the offenders into committing the crime, adding that the ministry is set to partner other security agencies to put an end to the situation.

Rep urges corps members to be self-reliant

C

hairman, House Committee on Donor Agencies and Civil Society, Eseme Eyiboh, yesterday advised corps members to be self reliant by improving and expanding on their “mind power”.

Eyiboh gave the advice while distributing copies of films entitled “Uduakobong” to members of NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) under the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), in Abuja.

Eyiboh, who represents Eket, Onna, Esit Eket, Ibeno Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom state, urged corps members to imbibe the spirit of hard work, charging them to be more productive in order to compete favourably with their western counterparts. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 11

FRSC warns horse riders against disrupting traffic in Bauchi

T

he Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Bauchi Sector, has warned horse riders to stop riding in a manner that would obstruct traffic in the city.

Mr. Zakariya Mamman, the Sector Commander, gave the warning yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi.

He said the commission had been inundated with complaints from members of the public on distractions, persistently caused by horse riders on the roads, forcing traffic to a standstill or slowing it down considerably.

Mamman said that horse riders were in the habit of riding across the roads instead of moving in a single file, especially after wedding and other traditional ceremonies in the city.

He said there were circumstances when the riders’ action also caused accidents resulting in horses crashing in to cars or motorcyclists.

The commander said the manner in which the riders operated was a danger to the animals, too, because tarred roads were not suitable for horses to run on.

Mamman explained that horses running on the tar could skid and fall.

He said that the issue was also a concern to the Bauchi Emirate, which has already set up a committee under the leadership of the Ciroma of Bauchi, Alhaji Nuru Adamu, to come up with suggestions on how to solve the problem.

NAN learnt that the committee has already finished its work and handed over the report to the emirate which would, in due course, determine the next line of action. (NAN)

Anambra state governor, Mr. Peter Obi (right), handing over keys of vehicles donated by the state government to Chief Medical Director, Amaku Teaching Hospital, Dr. Lawrence Ikeakor (left), yesterday in Awka. With them is the state Commissioner for Health, Professor Linus Ilika (middle).

6 die in auto crash along Lagos Ibadan Expressway From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Abeokuta

S

ix returnees from the Easter holidays, including a baby were yesterday killed in an auto crash in Alapako village of Ogun state along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, while four others, who sustained injuries were rushed to the hospital as at the time of this report.

Our reporter authoritatively

gathered that the accident involved a commercial whitecoloured Mazda bus with registration number: XC 239 YEN was coming from Kano to Lagos at about 7.30am.

The driver of the bus was said to be over speeding and in the course of that skidded to the other side of the road and landed in a ditch, with six of the passengers killed on the spot, while the injured were rescued.

Both the dead and the injured have been transferred to the Ogun state University Teaching Hospital (OSUTH), as sources informed that the management were trying frantically to save lives of the injured, while the remains of the dead have been deposited in the morgue.

When contacted, the Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogere Unit AbdulRahman Sadiq, confirmed

the incident, explaining that, it was a lone accident caused by the driver who was overspeeding and violating traffic rules.

“The bus was coming from Kano and heading to Lagos and the driver was over-speeding and on getting to Alapako along Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, the bus skidded off the road and ran into a ditch, killing six of the occupants”.

Police abort robbers’ raid on 2 banks in Auchi T

he timely intervention of the police in Auchi, Edo, on Monday night prevented dare devil armed robbers from completely over running the local branches of two different banks in the town.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Auchi reports that the hoodlums, shortly after 10 p.m., reportedly launched simultaneous attacks on the banks both of which are located on Warranke Road.

NAN also reports that though the robbers did not succeed in their mission, they completely destroyed the banking hall, the manager’s office and the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of one of the banks.

The robbers, who were said to have come in two groups, attacked the two banks after blocking the entrance and exit points of Warranke road that connects the two banks.

NAN learnt that the robbers, who attacked the banks in a commando style, held the residents of the area hostage in their houses as they fired sporadically into the air while they made free use of

explosives (dynamite) during the raid.

Although there were no reports of death or injury to people during the operation that lasted for about an hour and thirty minutes, the robbers gained access into the banking hall after destroying the security door with explosives.

They also left the building housing the bank in shambles while in one of the banks, shattered remains of computers sets, furniture and other office equipment were seen littering the ground.

One of the banks was, however, “luckier” as only a bullet pierced its ATM without causing significant damage.

Mr. Ahmed Umaru, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Auchi police station, told NAN that the robbers did not succeed in taking any money from the banks.

He said the police responded swiftly to an alert on the robbery and succeeded in “chasing away” the robbers from one of the banks.

Asked what the police force would do about the robbers' new

approach to robbing banks in the night rather than day-time, the DPO said that police would respond accordingly.

“Since they have decided to change pattern, we will also tell them that we are battle ready for them, anytime, any day”.

A member of staff of one of the banks told NAN said that they could not ascertain for now if the robbers succeeded or not in their mission.

“We cannot really tell you anything for now until we carry

out some verification.

“All we can tell you is that nobody was killed or injured during the attack.”

However, an eye-witness, Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, dismissed police claim that they reacted quickly to the alert.

“The police did not come until about thirty minutes into the operation. I had informed the Otaru of Auchi (the paramount ruler of the town) who in turn immediately alerted the police on the robbery.

“I still had to call Otaru back about 20 minutes later and he confirmed to me that he had immediately called the police, who said they were on their way.

“We did not see the police until about thirty minutes later when we heard the noise of siren from their armoured personnel carrier (APC).''

Meanwhile, banks in the area say they would remain closed until after the meeting of the Auchi branch of the Bankers Forum.

(NAN)

CAN, JNI call on Yakowa to empower youth From Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna

K

aduna South local government chapters of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Jamaátu Nasril Islam (JNI) have called on the Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna state to as a matter of urgency empower the youths in the state.

The groups in a communiqué issued at the end of a seminar for heads of Christians and Muslims schools, jointly signed by Alhaji Salisu Abdullahi and Apostle Aderinto Rafael, stated that youth unemployment causes violence in the state.

“It is unacceptable for people to perpetrate criminality under the guise of religion and politics. The offenders should be adequately

punished,” the group said “To ensure commitment toward averting crises, the government of the day should adequately empower the youth to curb unnecessary violence.

Kaduna and Nigeria is our home we have no other place to go and we say enough of the violence.

Lets us embrace each other and live peacefully”, the group added.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

Obasanjo should let a sleeping dog lie

F

ormer President Olusegun Obasanjo was twice in the news last week; first for the right reason and second, for the very wrong reason. When he unexpectedly announced his resignation from the Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], many Nigerians, though skeptical of his motive, hailed his decision as an honourable one, considering the fact that he had earlier plotted to cling to that position for life when, on the eve of his Presidency, he made it an exclusive preserve of a former president. That he relinquished it, unforced, therefore, opened it up for other members of the party to vie for.

Many commended him for that.

However, the former president, in our opinion, deserves heavy knocks for his second effort to grab the headlines last week when he declared that he never sought a third term in office. While speaking on Channels television, Obasanjo said: “I never toyed with the idea of a third term. I am not a fool; if I wanted third term, I knew how to go about it…If I had wanted a third term, I would have gone about it the way I should have gone about it and I would have gotten it”.

We are amazed and vexed at the

audacious efforts of the former president to rewrite our very sad recent history after he has been forgiven for endangering our hard earned democracy. We recall that he made the same declaration early last year at the Annual Trust Dialogue.

That Obasanjo is making this

“

With his retirement from the PDP BoT, we hope he will go on to enjoy his time away from the limelight and let sleeping dogs lie nauseating comment for the second time suggests that he believes he can get away with almost anything and is still on that deluded messianic path that makes him infallible.

It is reassuring though that some of those who played active roles in ensuring that his evil effort at elongating his tenure was defeated at the National Assembly have spoken up on Obasanjo’s underhand tactics. Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, under

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”

whose leadership the third term bill was thrown out, affirmed that indeed Obasanjo sought it and even consulted the former US President, George Bush, as contained in Condelessa Rice’ biography. He also stated that, with Obasanjo’s authorization, monies were released from the CBN and shared to lawmakers for their support.

Obasanjo has consistently come across as a sly, opportunistic politician and his outburst over the third term issue only goes to affirm that. If he did not seek a third term that he now claims he was never interested in, how come then he did not speak up against it in the heat of the debate back then? Surely, if it had succeeded, he would have gone ahead to govern the country for another four years but since it failed he is quick to shift blame elsewhere. This is clearly not the hallmark of a statesman that he claims to be.

The third term saga and the furore it caused are now behind us and Nigerians are not particularly pleased that Obasanjo keeps drawing us back to those dark, heady days. With his retirement from the PDP BoT, we hope he will go on to enjoy his time away from the limelight and let sleeping dogs lie.

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OUR VISION

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

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 13

When “patriotism” becomes a crime against humanity and a sin again God…

By Ikechukwu Enyiagu

S

uperficiality is the first error of the proud and narrowmindedness is an abomination upon any throne of justice. When a man considers the passing of an exam more important than the lessons which it’s meant to imbibe, then what we are looking at may, after all, turn out to be a graduated ignoramus.

And when such people sit on the seat of leadership, error meets with error until compulsion tries to extract from the subjects the acceptance of what may be, at its best, an abomination to mankind.

Two cannot ‘successfully’ walk together if they are not in agreement – an agreement drafted on the understanding and acceptance of the indispensability of mutual respect, equity and justice.

This is the basis for erecting a structural (be it of marriage, childbearing, corporate institutions, business, leadership and service, etc.) depth in any relationship for the purpose of the results foreseen and desired. It is only after that these agreements are duly understood and reached that there can be said to be the need to form a common front for the defence of “collective interests.”

When it comes to a country, the

peoples (be they of ethnic, tribal, religious or racial groupings) must have what makes them thick to stick. This bonding understanding must be something peculiar to them, yet embedded in each of the characteristics of their individual groupings.

It must be something which identifies with their accepted roots, their co-existence, vision as a people, and their posterity; it must, therefore, be something strong enough to carry, in its foundation, the individual and collective aspirations of the groups thus involved. It is only after that these are carefully and understandingly put in place that anyone amongst them can boldly come out and declare his patriotism – knowing fully well that nepotism and patriotism are either sides of a coin which cannot both remain upwards at any given time. Where these are not norms, there cannot be a single patriotic individual – notwithstanding whoever claims to be.

The English dictionary defines “patriotism as” a person’s “love of (for his) country and (his) willingness to sacrifice for it”.

Going by my careful analysis above on relationships and mutual acceptance, the reasons for patriotism becomes vivid to the mind and inviting to the wills of

those thus involved. Patriotism is a kind of love which is directed at one’s country for many reasons amongst which are the presence and sustenance of: 1. Sources of livelihood 2. Justice 3. Security 4. Peace 5. Developments 6. Religious/ethnic tolerance 7. Unity 8. Enviable citizenship When the agreement so far reached sees to it that the citizens no longer run wild just to be able to have their daily necessities; when justice applies to the rich and powerful just as it does to the poor and lowly; when men can rest at home after the day’s struggle, or carry out their businesses in safety, or even travel the roads without being waylaid, molested, beaten up, robbed, raped, dehumanized and killed; when justice has become a national reason for one to stay in peace with the other; when those who lead are fully responsible and accountable; when men understand that God has set rules so that we each may understand Him better by living in peace and being tolerant of each other in worship of him as we choose, and in respect of our individual ethnic/tribal differences; when those involved

in this agreement and marriage, having overcome injustice, irresponsibility and religious/ ethnic intolerance, now stand as one in unity, and when men can proudly say: “I am a citizen of” without fear of being segregated, then it may be little wonder why men would not want to “die” for their country – even if that country unjustly rises up against another.

Nigerians, those the leaders (who include mostly those who say they are the laws: the House of Assembly and the Senate “honourable”) were elected and appointed to serve have, with every shrieking tone, demanded repeatedly for a Sovereign National Conference as the only alternative left against anarchy and chaos in a country which claims to have every right to sovereignty, but those elected to carry out the wishes of the people for the purpose of the people have denied their electorates the very thing which they swore to uphold - which is the utmost interest of those they represent. Their very reason is that “Sovereign” National Conference threatens the “unity of the nation.” How will it threaten the nation? Their answer: Each will want to go their separate ways, and “we don’t want that.”

And to them, their evil, cancerous and gluttonous fangs eating up everything that makes a united nation are the very things needed to compel its sustained “oneness.” Some uninformed individuals may want to argue that patriotism is better than justice, peace, tolerance, freedom and all that gives any nation its footing; but my question is: What is patriotism really better than: the ability of parents to take care of their children without breaking the law and without sending their children into the streets as robbers, prostitutes, murderers or, worse still, slaves; justice which brings sanity and accountability in the relationship between the elected and the electorate; security without which no one is safe – even in the comfort of his own home; peace which can never be without justice and equity – peace which loses its meaning when compelled; development which becomes strange in the society when the socalled leaders embezzle the public development funds with impunity; religious/ethnic tolerance without which nepotism and bloodshed become common; unity which must be achieved by mutual satisfaction and benefits; or the pride of being identified with one’s country amongst the comity Contd. on page 15

Okonjo-Iweala: Complications in World Bank Presidential campaign

By Patrick Bond

R

euters columnist Felix Salmon is unhappy with Jim Yong Kim, considering him a potentially weak World Bank president. Instead, Salmon and ‘establishment’ allies – The Economist, New York Times, Financial Times and dozens of ghastly Old-Guard WB executives support Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was nominated by the governments of Nigeria, South Africa and Angola.

A few years ago, Okonjo-Iweala served as Zoellick’s understudy, without visible discomfort, aside from “causing great turmoil” by abolishing new WB staffers’ openended contracts against the advice of her human resources department.

Most importantly, she gave the West enormous assistance seven years ago in maintaining neocolonialism in Abuja at a difficult time. As a result, writes a Foreign Policy blogger, backing OkonjoIweala’s candidacy is “an easy ‘reformist’ stance for economic conservatives to take. As these sources all note in their endorsements, Okonjo-Iweala is a fairly orthodox, free market, growth-oriented economist.”

Free markets and growth are rarely so ‘easy’ to fuse, of course,

and Okonjo-Iweala was not particularly successful in Abuja.

According to columnist Sonala Olumhense of the Osun Defender, “She was one of those who put together the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), which, we were assured, would cure (un)employment in Nigeria before our very eyes. NEEDS, when the scheme was launched early in 2004, would create seven million jobs within three years, they told us, one million of them before the end of the year alone.”

For Olumhense, “It was the original 419 [Nigerian financial scam]. Let me date-stamp all of this: Okonjo-Iweala was a key member of the powerful ‘economic reform team’ of that hour. In just months, NEEDS slipped into folklore; nobody from that team has acknowledged its existence since then, let alone taken responsibility for its deception.”

Last August, continued Olumhense, “at a media briefing to showcase the government’s economic priorities, she said that the major thrust of the administration’s economic agenda was ‘jobs and pro-jobs growth.’

Okonjo-Iweala did something else on that day. She spoke of the muchawaited ‘Transforming Nigeria Document,’ a mysterious guide

that has remained unpublished until this day.”

Then there was the “Vision 20:2020 blueprint” which for Okonjo-Iweala was “the bedrock of the economic agenda. But Vision 20:2020 is a myth, like transformation, or NEEDS, or reform, or the war against corruption,” concludes Olumhense.

This was confirmed by former Central Bank Governor Charles Soludo, quoted by Olumhense as ridiculing “the whimsical origins of Vision 20:2020.” Confessed Soludo, “The impetus was the Goldman Sachs report on the BRIC countries and the Next 11 countries, which included Nigeria… We all know it is not achievable… it remains a wish list.

The numbers simply do not add up. At best, it is a good slogan and an interesting joke.’”

The same dynamics worked in relation to debt relief. Back in 2005, Nigeria’s rowdy parliament was regularly rejecting foreign loan repayments as undemocratic and corrupt, given the country’s desperate poverty and the debts’ origins in the country’s military dictatorships. So Okonjo-Iweala first came to the world elite’s attention by working on behalf of the debt-collection mafia known as the Paris Club, with its

representatives from the US, Europe, Brazil, Japan and the Russian Federation. To their applause, by October 2005 she quickly emptied Abuja’s treasury under the rubric of ‘debt relief’.

IMF rip-off artists explained the scam: “The agreement envisages a phased approach, in which Nigeria would clear its arrears in full, receive a debt write-off up to Naples terms, and buy back the remainder of its debt. The agreement is conditional on a favorable review of its macroeconomic and structural policies supported by the Fund under a nonfinancial arrangement.”

What that meant was that Nigeria, $6.3 billion in arrears, would first pay $12.4 billion in upfront payments. As Rob Weissman of Multinational Monitor reported, “You can celebrate this deal, as the Paris Club does, if you ignore the fact that creditors generally write down bad debts as a matter of course (not charity), the billions over principle that Nigeria has already sent out of the country, the fact that the deal imposes IMF conditionality on Nigeria (even though the IMF isn’t providing credit to the country), and the reality of the severe poverty in Nigeria.”

Complained the Global AIDS Alliance, “The creditors should be

ashamed of themselves if they simply take this money. These creditors often knew that the money would be siphoned off by dictators and deposited in western banks, and the resulting debt is morally illegitimate. They bear a moral obligation to think more creatively about how to use this money. Nigeria has already paid these creditors $11.6 billion in debt service since 1985.”

According to Soren Ambrose, then based at Jubilee Africa, “The Paris Club requires that countries applying for relief be under an IMF program, but the prospect of agreeing to one is political dynamite in Nigeria. The Paris Club was however under great pressure to complete a landmark deal with Nigeria, where the legislature had threatened to simply repudiate the debts, so the PSI was deemed an acceptable alternative. Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on May 18 that ‘the IMF makes sure it is as stringent as an upper credit tranche programme and then monitors it like a regular program, but the difference is that you develop it and you own it.’”

But actually, you don’t own it, they own you. What the Nigerian case illustrates is that the IMF pulls strings on behalf of the G8 ‘donor’ countries, and the G8 will Contd. on page 14

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

A Parable of the President’s Church

By Okey Ndibe

M

ost big Nigerian politicians encounter no law – divine or secular – they feel tempted to observe. In fact, to be a prominent politician is to be above all laws, God’s and man’s alike.

Last week, a Nigerian daily, Thisday, wrote an editorial to scold President Goodluck Jonathan for reportedly accepting the gift of a church in his hometown from an Italian construction firm by the name of Gitto Construzioni. The editorial began: “At the recent dedication of a 2,500-seat church building in Otuoke, his village in Bayelsa State, President Goodluck Jonathan said the edifice was donated to him by the Abuja-based Italian construction company, Gitto Construzioni Generali Nigeria Limited (GCG). According to the president, the managing director of Gitto made him a promise to build and donate the church to Otuoke community after he (the president) had complained of the aging structure of his church, which apparently no longer befits the status of the president’s village.”

The paper categorized the gift, rather aptly, as “very disturbing” and wondered how Mr. Jonathan “could openly justify this sort of gift from a private company, whose various activities in the country have been mired in controversies.”

Surmising that the president had peddled the influence of his office to obtain the favor, the paper noted that such an act was “unacceptable for a president anywhere in the world and the code of conduct for public officials in Nigeria expressly forbids such.”

Thisday continued: “Gitto is one of the major contractors to the federal government yet the manner in which the president spoke at the church thanksgiving service conveyed the impression that he actually solicited for the

edifice since he openly voiced his really, really stinky has pointed criticism, it wrote a concern to the hearing of the transpired. penitent correction. Invoking company’s managing director In delivering its rare but “fresh facts,” the paper was now who apparently got the message. altogether appropriate censure, certain that the Otuoke Of course there is the argument the paper’s instincts were community, not Mr. Jonathan, that it is only a church building excellent. As the editorial noted, the had contacted Gitto “to renovate but Gitto is not known to be a contractor has been the subject of the worship center.” It added that missionary outfit; it “it has now is a construction firm emerged that bids for and wins that during contracts in Nigeria. the burial of Against the t h e Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text backdrop that the president’s messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written record of the father in contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 company with 2008 – by words, Articles 750 words.

Please include your name and regards to which time a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed performance has left he was still to: much to be desired, v i c e it becomes more president – The Editor, obvious that the t h e president goofed in officiating Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, accepting the ministers 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. questionable gift and had asked Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com worse still, that he the friends of SMS: 07037756364 would seek to justify Jonathan it. and the “We note particularly that several complaints. Let’s once community to come to the aid of corruption thrives in Nigeria today again quote Thisday: “We the church and assist in renovating because public officials do not know particularly recall that the N58.6 its aging facilities.” The church how and where to draw the line. It billion contract for the construction elders had done the solicitation, is therefore no surprise that some of the second Niger Bridge was wrote the now wizened paper, of these foreign construction awarded to Gitto Group in a without consulting then Vice companies do things they dare not manner which recently prompted President Jonathan. Finally, it was try in their home countries. Gitto the South East Legislative Caucus important that readers know that is surely no Santa Claus; it is a in the National Assembly to the church was merely renovated, profit-seeking company petition President Jonathan, not new, and that its capacity was accountable to its shareholders. asking him to review it. There are 400 persons, not 2500. Then the When the company therefore also protests against Gitto from paper sought to educate its spends millions of dollars on a ‘gift’, Akwa Ibom stakeholders on the readership by drawing attention its management would expect way it is handling the Eket/Oron to precedents: “It would be recalled returns so it is easy to understand section of the East-West Road that during the building of the why the costs of contracts in project while the Bodo-Bonny Road National Ecumenical Centre and Nigeria are the highest in the in Bayelsa State awarded the the National Mosques, several company in 2003 is today commercial concerns donated world.”

It was a blistering rebuke, and abandoned.” Given the company’s money, materials and services at surprising because of the quarters image troubles, the paper events some of which had in it came from. Thisday is by no concluded, “The Italian firm attendance the then President or whitewash its Head of State.” means a rabble rousing opposition cannot by building medium. In fact, some would incompetence It was as if, having ventured to suggest that the paper is as close to churches. And it is patently an unaccustomed terrain by the political establishment as it is inappropriate for President castigating Mr. Jonathan, the possible to get. So when such a Jonathan to have accepted the paper felt compelled to remind us paper chides the president on Greek Gift and proceeded to make all that facts can be sliced in several account of a serious ethical lapse, a light show of it.” different ways – and also that, this Well, the paper quickly being Nigeria, there was nothing bystanders are bound to take notice. It is a sign that something recanted. Hours after issuing its amiss in how Otuoke, the

WRITE TO US

president’s hometown, got a new (or refurbished) church.

With the paper on retreat, the field was cleared for Reuben Abati, the president’s spokesman, to launch a fiery offensive of his own.

In a statement issued April 4 and titled “Otuoke Church: President Jonathan Committed No Crime,” Mr. Abati told us the Presidency had “noted with surprise and some amusement, the patently laughable attempt by political opponents of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and their collaborators to brew up a storm in a cup over the alleged ‘gift’ of a church to the President.”

It was, as many statements from the Presidency tend to be, a formulaic and effete response.

Pray, what did the president and his handlers find amusing in press reports that portrayed the president as trading the influence of his office to secure a church for his hometown? Did the spokesman fail to realize that “amused” is the last thing he or the president should be, and that to profess such a reaction is tantamount to expressing disdain for the people and laws of Nigeria?

Next, Mr. Abati’s firebreathing response continued: “It should be clear to all knowledgeable and discerning Nigerians that these allegations are nothing other than another mischievous attempt to denigrate President Jonathan, cast unjustifiable aspersions on his personal integrity and distract him from the serious business of governance.” The foregoing contains no morsel of argument or rebuttal, being merely a desperate manipulation of sentiments. In it, Mr. Abati contrives to divide Nigerians into two implicit camps: the “knowledgeable and discerning” who must intuit “mischief” in reports of the president’s abuse of his office and the ignorant and blinded who Contd. on page 15

Okonjo-Iweala: Complications in World Bank Presidential campaign Contd. from page 13 continue to support the IMF if such functions benefit northern countries. According to the leader of Nigeria’s Jubilee network, Rev David Ugolor, “The Paris Club cannot expect Nigeria, freed from over 30 years of military rule, to muster $12.4 billion to pay off interest and penalties incurred by the military. Since the debt, by President Obasanjo’s own admission, is of dubious origin, the issues of the responsibilities of the creditors must be put on the table at the Paris Club. As desirable as an exit from debt peonage is, it is scandalous for a poor debt distressed country, which cannot afford to pay $2 billion in annual debt service payments, to part with $6 billion up front or $12 billion in three months or even one year.”

So as a result of this deal and others like it, what Okonjo-Iweala accomplished can be summarized in a graph from an IMF report on the financial meltdown, which

shows quite clearly that if you sell your family silver – all your reserves – in exchange for the write-off of vast ‘total public debt’ that could never have been repaid in any case, your Paris Club reward is to actually increase your rate of debt repayments to overall revenues. If you are a lowincome African country, OkonjoIweala’s gambit means that although technically you owe half what you used to, in relation to GDP, you are now are milked even harder (50 percent more from 2008 to 2009, during the worst economic crisis in memory).

If we take this logic to its extreme, then from the standpoint of promoting social justice, Okonjo-Iweala would be a better choice for WB president than Kim, because having repeatedly done deals of this sort against her constituents’ interests, it is fair to say that no one in Nigerian history united the country’s poor and working-class majority so effectively.

To illustrate, a few weeks ago Okonjo-Iweala doubled the fuel price overnight, on the instruction of IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and thereby introduced an ‘Occupy Nigeria’ spirit that helped connect the dots between Wall Street and African austerity.

Usually without such dot-connecting the result is an ‘IMF Riot’ by furious citizenries, but the protest normally pops up briefly and dies down, leads to intense violence and achieves very little.

However, thanks to OkonjoIweala’s arrogant subsidy-cut advocacy, that social fury was transformed into mass non-violent strikes (although her police killed several unarmed demonstrators) and after a week, prior to desperate state concessions and trade union capitulation, it very nearly toppled the Goodluck Jonathan regime. Such unique experience surely qualifies Okonjo-Iweala to play a role in humanity’s greatest task in coming months and years:

uniting a coherent global people’s movement against the One Percent that would make the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organisation protest look like kindergarten training for Occupiers. What more could the 99 Percent ask of old WB in his fading days?

A similar case for OkonjoIweala is made by her compatriot, Ikhide Ikheloa, who first confirms the credentials required for a promotion: “There is no one else better primed to execute the obnoxious policies of the World Bank against African and brown nations than Okonjo-Iweala. Her current tour of duty, although disastrous to Nigeria and her poor, has given her an impeccable resume to spread the World Bank’s gospel of uncritical capitalism and indifference to the world’s poor and dispossessed.” After all, says Ikheala, WB “is an ancient bureaucratic relic whose time has come and gone” and, suffering within their own apparent stage of economic dementia, “The

fawning over Okonjo-Iweala by Westerners has been comic…

Under normal circumstances, were Okonjo-Iweala a Westerner or white, she and her bumbling team would have been fired for gross incompetence. The show of double standards is galling and maddening.”

Still, Ikheala pleads, the ordinary Nigerian would love to see her backside, even if it means being kicked upstairs: “When Okonjo-Iweala departs for the World Bank, she will be leaving Nigeria much worse than she found it. That is the most compelling reason why she deserves the World Bank presidency. Nigerians need a break.

Such passion and impeccable logic is quite hard to argue against, if we want to express solidarity with Okonjo-Iweala’s 150 million+ victims.

Patrick Bond is hosting a workshop @ the Univ of Kwazulu Natal next week.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 15

Academic Terrorism in Nigeria: The best way to stop it is to expose it! (I)

By Churchill Okonkwo

W

hile the attention of the country is focused on the acts of terrorism being perpetuated by Boko Haram sect in the central and northern parts of Nigeria, academic terrorism being waged in our schools has never really gained traction.

Academic terrorism in Nigeria can be categorized into these six broad areas: • Special Centers • Sex for Grade • Cultism • Plagiarism • Cash for Admission

• Endless Post-graduate Program In Nigeria, the educational sector is similar to a flat wheel on which reside sequential images of students going to school, studying for JAMB, NECO, WAEC and degree exams while the academia teach and conduct researches. When examinations are conducted (as the wheel is turned), the students are “seen” to pass their exams and when it is time for assessment, the lectures have turns of publications in international journals. But in reality, the students do not pass and most of

the professors do not publish in international journals- but they look like they do. This report (first in the series) is an overview of the degree of rottenness in the educational system in Nigeria as well as a call to action.

Just last month, the principal of one of the secondary schools in my town got a shock of her life when she found out that virtually all her senior secondary III students have abandoned her school and opted for “Special Centers” for WEAC and NECO. It happened that one “Academic Terrorist” specializing in luring students to these exam centers of

‘guaranteed success” paid a scheduled visit to her students.

As I was writing this draft, my pastor told me about a young girl forced to abandon a nursing school in Imo State in an attempt to escape the sexual demand of an “Academic Terrorist” in her school. At the same time, some female students with nonchalant attitude to classes are busy scheming and planning on how to get good grades in exchange for sex.

Terrorized and afraid of being victimized, hardworking male and female classmates have thrown their hands up and

accepted the ‘sex for grade” syndrome as part of the system.

The huge sums of money that exchange hands illegally during admission processes in Nigerian higher institutions have been forcing bright but poor students to settle for a second choice course simply because the admission slots in juicier departments are being sold to the highest bidders.

Everyday in one of our schools, a student is bullied/intimidated into either fleeing from his girlfriend by a cult member or terrorized into joining one.

Churchill.okonkwo@gmail.com

When “patriotism” becomes a crime against humanity and a sin again God… Contd. from page 13 of nations?

Those (the so-called law makers and givers) who insist on a baseless and continued, compelled oneNigeria without any conscious, mutual agreement based on mutually-protected interests of the groups/zones/interest with stakes to the Nigerian project are the very people who have, with their every word and action, proven to be the enemies of the very Nigeria they claim to be patriotic about: they want peace while they allocate to themselves over N12,000,000.00 each for their “clothing” while they insist that the citizens will have to take home a less-than N18,000.00 minimum wage; they tell helpless and defenceless law-abiding citizen not to leave a terror-torn area, yet they cruise in escorts of bullet-proof cars – leaving the masses as their contribution for world population control; they claim to be patriotic and would send a man to about ten years imprisonment for stealing a corn out of hunger, but they will quash any embezzlement case against any of them to avoid being exposed themselves. Their sins are burdensome unto them and their generations. They claim they will get rid of corruptions, but instead, all they do is get rid of anyone who has truly come to fight corruption by exposing those behind it: the very “patriotic” Nigerians who claim to be ready to fight corruption. Their stance against ordinary citizens and their opposition against heaven have seen many Nigerians run out of the country and into many prison of the world: today, over 500 are in Brazilian prisons, while over 800 are in Togo – not counting those all over Asia and Europe.

Their actions and inactions have turned great number of Nigerians into citizens of different prisons throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, and all over the world. While they thus enslave their electorates, they still dig foundations for new prisons at home for the upcoming youths.

Their reason: “the law must take its course” as long as it’s for the masses alone.

I make bold to tell those who lead Nigeria – starting from the president, through the so-called

senate president, to the governors, traditional/religious leaders, and all those who claim to be “the voice” of the people – I make bold to tell you all that you are the ones who have remained unpatriotic against your so-called one-Nigeria. Your treacherous sycophancy and is based on the personal well of wealth you have each dug into the Nigerian purse against the advancement of the people. You well know that a Sovereign National Conference means freedom, peace and prosperity for all and sundry, but you would hang on to your deceit of an excuse which, even when you are aware is no longer fashionable, would matter not to you. Which business man doesn’t carry out an audit of his stocks, and which spouses do not have heart-heart talk when the foundation of their union is obviously and constantly threatened? The one who shies away from a board meeting is the very one who is dragging the company down, and the one who insists that taking stocks of our history will derail the future is that man whose gain (as he presumes gain to be) comes from the torture and pains he sees around. Africa, which was once known for traditional justice, has produced men who now hide under religion and democracy to enslave their brothers. But it is just a phase; evil has never permanently won.

“Nigerian” men (elders) of this generation have proven to be hopeless fathers for posterity and bad examples for the youths of our time. A man who leaves a land dispute between him and his brother unsettled before returning to his maker has only succeeded in creating enabling ground for family bloodbath. They, being evil, still can’t help but exonerate that young man who boldly admonished the three so-called friends of Job when they were boasting against him of their mysticism and righteousness.

When King Saul disobeyed the voice of God through Prophet Samuel because he thought that his love and concern – his patriotism – for the house of God (Israel) was bigger and more reasonable than that of Samuel who anointed him, or of God who

chose him, and went ahead to offer the sacrifice (on the mountain of the Lord’s battle) against Samuel’s instructions (as our socalled leaders do today in their bid to keep the people perpetually enslaved: mending abominable constitutions which can only serve them and their children for a time), his rejection by God was instant – even though he ruled a while more. The president of Nigeria, on his Easter message, was quoted to have said that Nigeria will be better “if Nigerians shunned hopelessness;” how petty can a country’s leader get? When you try to preach the gospel of hope to the people who only need a share (just for food) out of the billionth portion you and your cabinet of leaders have unashamedly apportioned to yourselves for your so-called “wardrobe allowances,” what hope-message are you preaching?

Even without decent daily meals for those you rule with iron fist, is their peace at nights in their beds, or their safety in their places of struggle, too much to ask from a so-called one-Nigeria which has

taken everything from them? It’s no wonder: those who called themselves and have forced themselves upon alters they claimed God called them unto have shown Nigeria’s politicians that everyone can be a shepherd of God’s people – provided they have the gift of gab which usually works on men who are always looking towards the hope for which Mr. president tends to rekindle: hopeless hope!

There can be no country without the people and no nation advances where its people have been enslaved. To these insincere and treacherous “champions of patriotism” in Nigeria, any demand from any person or group of persons for the rights and freedom of the people for whom they have been elected and sent to stand is tantamount to treason and unpatriotic act. Appealing to their consciences is like begging the devil for mercy; for this reason, as God is, He will break the jaws of the never-filled carnivores of Nigeria if He has to in other to free the helpless and the crying. For Nigeria with its

present structure, patriotism to her can only mean opposition to God. A government which stands against the life that God has freely given to all flesh, but protects hers with everything that government is cursed from above.

Nothing appeals to their conscience; the word of God no longer seems to pose any threat to the demon inside them.

They have fashioned priests unto themselves and have assumed the righteous God over the oppressed. But God is not man, and will never be mocked. For those whose rights have been seized by the spirit which rules Nigeria, and for those who are constantly beaten and compelled not to cry, there will shortly be yet a revelation of God’s power because when patriotism becomes a crime against humanity and a sin against the throne of God’s holiness, then one thing is imminent: God is about to move against the Pharaohs and the Nebuchadnezzar of our time.

Ikechukwu Enyiagu can be reached at ike.enyiagu@gmail.com

A parable of the President’s Church Contd. from page 14 dared to entertain the belief that, perhaps, the president acted improperly.

Then, throwing in a token third group – the “unwary who might be taken in by the antics of an unscrupulous opposition that has little or no regard for the truth in the pursuit of their self-serving agenda” – the spokesman stated “emphatically that President Jonathan never solicited or received a church as ‘bribe’ from any contractor.”

In the epistle according to Mr. Abati, what happened was that “a contractor who has worked and continues to work in Bayelsa state and other parts of Nigeria thought it fit, in fulfillment of its corporate social responsibility, to facilitate the renovation of the small church in the President’s home town of Otuoke.” Having offered this kernel, he added: “It takes a lot of desperation to translate this act of social

responsibility for which there are innumerable precedents in our country into a crime for which the usual suspects are now calling for the ‘impeachment’ of President Jonathan.” Then the Presidency spelt out what lesson we must take – not about its commitment to ethical principles but about corporate behavior in Nigeria: “It is indeed ironic that the groups and individuals now castigating the President because a company freely chose to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by helping to renovate a communal place of worship, are also amongst those who constantly berate companies doing business in the Niger Delta for not doing enough to support the development of their host communities.”

The Presidency ought not to be allowed to get away with such wooly thinking and tattered conception of ethics. Does anybody seriously believe that a major construction firm would invest in

renovating a church in the president’s hometown, without the president knowing? And even if it’s true that Mr. Jonathan played no role in soliciting the favor, he should have been alert to the appearance of wrongdoing? Is it so hard for the Presidency to grasp that it looks (to say the least) suspicious when the federal government awards major contracts to a firm that has handed a church to the president’s town?

Since when did the refurbishment of churches fall within the purview of “corporate social responsibility”? If the firm’s motives were altruistic, why did it choose to rehabilitate the one church where President Jonathan worships? As an international construction firm, can Gitto Construzioni disclose any other country where it has built or renovated a church for free? Has it ever donated or renovated a church in its home base of Italy? okeyndibe@gmail.com

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Gwagwalada residents decry constant flooding

By Adeola Tukuru

G

wagwalada residents have raised alarm over constant flooding and have called on the FCT minister, senator Bala Mohammed and the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) to come to their rescue

.

Some of the affected residents in Gwagwalada said properties worth millions of naira were destroyed as a result of the activities of the construction company, Dantata and Sawoe which is undertaking going some construction works in the

area.

A victim, Mr. Adeniyi Oduneye, accused the company of creating an artificial lake in the area without providing channel through which the water could flow out.

He said the flood was envisaged and communicated

to the company before the rain adding that the area had not witnessed any incident of flood for the past 15 years before the company moved in.

According to him, properties ranging from electrical appliances, foams, kitchen equipment, foodstuffs, documents as well as air-

Men of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) at work in the FCT recently

conditioners were submerged in the flood for over 14 hours.

He said his properties had remained in the flood throughout the night following failure of the company to respond to calls to come and open up the lake it created in the area.

Another victim, one Mr Okenwa Ifegwu, a Civil Engineer said the incident occurred on April 1,2012 at about 8 pm noting that he was able to save some his properties because he was at home when it all started.

“We sensed the problem immediately the lake was created and our advice was for them to open up channels for the water to have its way out, but they remained adamant to our observations telling us that they know when it will rain.

“They actually came the next morning after the incident to open up the artificial lake and access the level of damages promising to get back to the victims who could not sleep in their houses that night.

“We have not seen any of the company officials since then and when I got in touch with the manager, he said the matter has been channeled to the legal department of the company and so, have no business with the victims,” he said.

In his reaction, the Giri Site Manger of Dantata and Sawoe, who pleaded anonymity in a telephone interaction declined comment.

He noted that the matter had been directed to the legal unit of the company.

Council warns against bush burning to prevent Lassa fever

M

Customers patronising a garri seller at one of the parks in Abuja recently

r Haruna Labaran, the Head of Environmental Department, Bwari Area Council, has advised residents against bush burning to prevent rats from spreading lassa fever.

Labaran gave the advice on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari.

He said that bush burning would drive rats from the bush into houses where they would feed on edible items.

Labaran said that rats were the carriers of the Lassa fever virus that was dangerous to human health and urged residents to prevent them from getting

anywhere near their houses.

He said that buildings without good doors and good ceilings contributed to the spread of the disease and called for proper hygiene by residents to forestall contracting the disease.

Labaran said that the environmental unit would embark on a sensitisation programme next week to educate the people on how best to prevent the disease.

Lassa fever was first diagnosed in Nigeria in 1969.

The Lassa Virus comes from the family of viruses called Arenaviridae carried by animals.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 17

Children pumping water in Gwagwalada, Abuja

Hair dressers at Wuse market

An over bade pick-up van at Karmo, recently in Abuja

A hay loaded pick-up van vying for the road with two taxi cabs along Gwarimpa A truck loaded with sand along Abuja/Keffi road. road, Abuja

Photos: Mahmud Isa

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

As “Mama Gold” rice goes into ‘eclipse’ in FCT FEATURE

By Adeola Tukuru

A

resident in Abuja, Mrs Agnes Omotosho said that rice was as precious as gold during her youth days, noting that children of the rich eat rice in those days and we envy them ,compared to now, which has become a usual meal in most homes Rice has become a delicacy in most Nigerian homes, as it is a choice meal all day throughout the 7 days of the week. This negates practices in the past when the commodity featured on the menu of most families only on Sundays. This trend was attributed to the scarcity and price of rice as other food items like yam, Garri and beans were more easily available and cheaper.

To a Nigerian child today, such accounts may sound like a fairy tale unlike the older generation that witnessed this practice Peoples Daily findings shows that rice consumption in Nigeria has vastly increased since the 1970s and this triggered a surge in rice imports in the 1980s. Rice imports became an important share of Nigerian agricultural imports and foreign exchange needs, whereas rice became a structural component of the Nigerian diet.

This made rice a highly political commodity in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government imposed a ban on rice imports in 1985 with the aim to rely exclusively on domestic production to match the increasing demand. The

import ban resulted in an initial supply response, but eventually the supply leveled off.

In 1995 the import ban was lifted within a globalisation context. This resulted in a rapid surge in imports, despite subsequent increases in tariff levels. This made a strategy to limit the rice scarcity within an open economy imperative.

In spite of the relative increase in rice produce, some rice in which consumers prefer such as Mama Gold rice has been reportedly scarce in markets around the federal capital territory since the beginning of the year.

A trader at the Kubwa village market, Chibueze Okoli explained to Peoples Daily that since the scarcity of the rice (Mama Gold) began in January this year, most traders repackage other brands using the mama gold bags. This he attributed to the preference of the mama gold rice brand by consumers to others.

Research findings shows that Nigeria is fast becoming one of the major rice importers on the world market for the past five years. These imported rice is available in every nook and cranny of the Federal Capital Territory.

Malam Mubarak Salami, a grains seller in Kubwa village market attributed the scarcity of the mama gold rice brand to high demand and the cost of transportation.

“Most of my customers would not want to buy any other brand than mama gold.

They say it is sweeter and rises when being cooked. Aside this, the commodity has become very scarce because of the

recent partial removal of fuel subsidy.

“You know whenever there is an increase in the price of petrol, it will affect the price of almost everything, because of the cost of transportation,’’.

“A bag of Cap rice and Mama Gold rice now sells for N11, 500 and N9, 000 respectively compared to N10, 500 and N8, 000 previously. ”After Christmas sales, we had to restock and it fell into the crisis period of fuel subsidy removal when the transportation fares were doubled by transporters due to high rise in petrol price,” he said.

A consumer, Agbo Appollonia, who spoke to our reporter at the Nyanya market, attributed the high demand for the brand to its satisfying nature.

“You know there are so many rice brands in the market these days, but despite this, the mama gold rice stands shoulder above the rest. It tastes like our Abakaliki and Ekpoma rice which has this natural flavour.

It is unfortunate that some unscrupulous traders are now re-bagging other brands into these mama gold bags. But for me, I will always know the original mama gold” No matter the take of both traders and consumers, it is a minus to domestic production of rice if this trend is allowed to continue unchecked. It is hoped that with the federal government’s plan to ban the importation of rice, there would be a need to look inward and development our local rice that experts have acclaimed to be highly nutritious and full of necessary vitamins.

A bag of the much sought after "Mama Gold" rice

AMAC E. Ekeson, incapable of developing Jabi Park- FCTA

I

Micah Jiba

nterstate transport giant, E. Ekeson and Bros, which had entered into a contract with the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC for development of the Utako motor park to a world class ultra modern park, lacks the capacity to fulfill the terms of their agreement, a committee report has said.

Consequently, the Ministerial Committee on Fact Finding for the Development of Utako Motor Park called for a review of the agreement in the best interest of AMAC and the general public.

The committee was inaugurated on the 20th of February by the Minister of State, FCTA Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide to ascertain the capacity or otherwise of the various companies contracted to develop the park so as to know the way forward in the development of the park by the administration on behalf of AMAC. In its finding, the committee which was chaired by former

AMAC chairman, now member of the House of Representative, Hon. Zaphaniah Jisalo said that both E. Ekeson & Bros and ElSalem Nigeria Limited lacked the capacity to deliver on the terms of reference to develop the park to the desired state befitting the corporate image of the Federal Capital Territory.

The twin agreement between AMAC and Ekeson on the one hand and AMAC and El, Salem on the other was entered at different times by the council's administration for development of the Utako Motor Park.

In its recommendation the committee noted: "Based on deliberation and the site visit, the committee discovered that E. Ekeson does not have the technical and financial capacity to develop the Utako Park and therefore advices that the agreement with AMAC be reviewed."

The report also said that the administration should conduct

due diligence on the three companies that have indicated interest and any other interested investor for the development of the Utako park to ascertain their capacity to deliver on the proposed project in the park.

According to the report, AMAC and E. Ekeson & Bros have agreed to settle out of court and the terms of settlement have been reduced to writing but both parties are yet to sign the document even as it identified other liabilities on the park that must be addressed.

These report pointed out that the shops owners, warehouses owners and transport unions, form part of the bodies identified as other liabilities. They include: "National Union of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW); National Association of Transport Owners (NATO); Luxury Buses Association of Nigeria (LUBON) and Road Transport employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Email: amunuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE - Pg 20 Transcorp posts net profit of N4.67bn in 2011

Mob: 08033644990

FAAC allocation for the month of March 2012 S/N

BENEFICIARIES

SUB-TOTAL (N)

1

FG (52.68%) States (26.72%) L/govt Councils (20.72%) Derivation (13% of Mineral revenue-oil/gas) Value Added Tax (VAT) & Transfers

620.7 billion

Oil falls below $102 amid signs of weak US economy

By Muhammad Nasir

O

il prices fell below $102 a barrel yesterday as weak united state jobs figures and expectations of growing crude oil stockpiles raised the prospect that U.S. demand will remain tepid.

It was noted that market sentiment suffered after data showed the U.S. economy added just 120,000 jobs last month, half as much as each of the previous three months and fewer than analysts expected. The figure was particularly disappointing because investors had pushed crude prices up from $75 in October to $110 last month, partly on hopes that an improving U.S. economy would boost oil demand.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for May delivery was down 68 cents to $101.78 a barrel in electronic trading on

Flight schedule AIR NIGERIA (MONDAY - SUNDAY) LOS-A BJ: 07.15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.20, 18.30 ABJ-LOS: 07.00, 09.30, 10.30, 11.15, 16.15, 19.15, 19.35 ABJ-KANO: 18.40 KANO-ABJ: 08.35 ABJ -SOK (MON): 09.35 ABJ-SOK (FRI): 10.10 ABJ-SOK (WED/SUN): 11.20 SOK-ABJ (MON): 11.35 SOK-ABJ (FRI): 12.00 SOK-ABJ (WED/SUN): 13.20

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

DANA AIRLINES (MON - SUN)

the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 85 cents to settle at $102.46 in New York on Monday, while In London, Brent crude for May delivery was down $1.31 at $121.36 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In a statement by Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks and Opinions, “The U.S. economy isn’t growing as fast as we thought it was, “We’re going to have to keep an eye on the rest of the world’s economy this week.”

Meanwhile, analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt noted that while China’s imports of crude oil in March were slightly lower on a monthly basis and were seen contributing to Tuesday’s weaker prices, they are still 8.7 percent higher than in March 2011.

Larry also noted that among other things, robust demand from China would suggest that a fall below the $120 a barrel mark in the case of Brent and the $100 a barrel mark in the case of the Nymex contract is unlikely.

By Abdulwahab Isa

I

n line with global best practices in the finance sector, the internal audit department of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has begun the process of shifting to the Risked-Based Auditing (RBA).

NDIC Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Alh. Umar Ibrahim stated this yesterday in Abuja while declaring open a two-day seminar on Risk basedsupervision for NDIC staff. He was represented by Executive Director (Services), Mrs. Lola Abiola Edewor.

To commence the process, he said, some staff of the Corporation EXCHANGE RATES

CBN

ABJ-LOS (SAT/SUN): 13.05, 18.00 LOS-KANO : 08.10 KANO-LOS: 11.25 KANO -ABUJA: 11.25 ABUJA-KANO : 10.08

IRS AIRLINES

CFA • £ RIYAL $

4th Apr, 2012 BUYING 0.2954 203.7245 245.8728 41.3023 154.9

SELLING 0.3154 205.0397 247.4601 41.5689 155.9

PARALLEL RATES

LOS -ABJ: 9.45, 11.45, 2.45 ABJ-LOS: 11.30, 3.45, 4.45 LOS-KANO: 6.15 LOS-KANO (SAT/SUN): 16.30 KANO-LOS: 07.30 KANO-LOS (SUN/SUN): 10.30

Dangote offers automatic job to First Class graduates …Donates N100mn to Kano varsity

By Aminu Imam

T

he pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group of companies is offering automatic employment to First Class graduates of Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, a statement issued by the company said.

Seven students of the university graduated with First Class in the last academic year, the

NDIC commences risked auditing skill for internal auditors

LOS-ABJ: 07.02, 08.10, 12.06, 15.30, 17.10 ABJ-LOS: 07.20, 09.36, 13.05, 14.40

President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Vice-President/Nigeria Group Country Manager, Saipem, Mr. Giuseppe Surace studying the design of the proposed fertilizer plant, to be sited in Edo state.

• £ RIYAL $

BUYING 210 255 40 155

SELLING 212 257 42 157

had been sent on course to Malaysia and Kenya to acquaint them with how the countries handle their audits using the RBA approach.

According to him, “Our experiences in these countries have spurred us to organise training for other staff of the corporation in riskbased auditing”, and urging participants to pay adequate attention.

Umar noted that a three-day workshop had earlier been conducted by ATACOFF, to provide staff with the foundation on riskbased auditing, and twenty staff was trained and that they have started practicing the approach. He said the need for further training spurred the management to invite Leadway Associates to conduct the training.

statement said.

The statement quoted the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Ibrahim Garba, as saying that the Dangote has also donated N100million to the university, while at the same time helping to launch an appeal fund to give the school a facelift.

Alhaji Aliko is the Chancellor of the university.

The Vice-Chancellor said the Dangote Group had supported in the provision of electricity in the school, construction of a 1000-bed space hostel and the establishment of the Dangote Skill Acquisition Centre, among others.

The Dangote’s Regional Representative (North) Alhaji Isa Tata Yusuf said that the N100million donation shows the deep concern of the Group’s President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, about the state of education in Nigeria.

“The N100million donation to the school is meant to support the effort of President Goodluck Jonathan and state government in the development of education in the country. Last year, the conglomerate spent about a billion in the rehabilitation of some of our universities across the country,” Yusuf said.

Last month the Group supported the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with a million naira. It also gave a whooping donation of $500,000 to victims of explosion in the Republic of Congo.

The Pan-African conglomerate had expended N15.5billion in 2011 as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) works through the Dangote Foundation.

The statement quoted Alhaji Dangote as saying: “About this philanthropy, I think from this year, I personally want to take it very seriously. I want to be much more aggressive than what we have had in the past.”

According to him, “We already have a Foundation which will do all these things, but I am trying to see what we can do to encourage, not only Nigerians, but other Africans.”

He added: “I am not going to give all my money to charity, but I am going to try my best and give part of that money to charity. I am working hard on it.”

The statement said the Dangote Group donated N118million for the construction of the squash complex at the main campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and N50million to the University of Port Harcourt.

Management Tip of the Day

W

Focus on a problem, not your passion

hen it comes to careers, we’re told to follow our passions. But you might find greater satisfaction if you work on big problems.

Whether it’s an issue in education, health care, climate change, poverty, or technology;

figure out how you can contribute to a solution.

Choose a problem that you care about — even personally — and let this dilemma be your compass. Get out of the office, meet people who are affected by the problem, and connect with

those working in this area. Doing so shifts your attention from yourself to others.

By becoming less focused on yourself, you might become happier with your work.

Source: Harvard Business Review

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS

Nigerian agriculture to benefit from equity deal

I

n a landmark transaction announced last week, Zeder Investments Limited, a South African listed agricultural investment company managed and 40% owned by SA investment firm, PSG, is committing $46.7-million to acquire and expand an agricultural business that will be known as Chayton Africa.

Naira gains on subdued dollar demand as reserves rise

T

he Naira gained against the dollar as subdued demand for the U.S. currency and strong oil prices led to an increase in the nation’s foreign reserves.

CSCS undergoes restructuring

T

he Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) has sacked some of its staff as part of a reorganizing and re positioning process.

Stransact Partners take performance management workshop to Dubai

S

transact Partners, an independent transactions and advisory services firm would be taking about 20 selected senior management staff from Nigeria’s public and private sectors to Dubai, the United Arab Emirate for a workshop on performance management.

Samsung estimates record Q1 2012 profit, beats most bullish view

S

amsung Electronics, the world’s top technology firm by revenue, estimated operating profit nearly doubled in January-March from a year ago, boosted by sales of its flagship Galaxy smartphones and its Note mini-tablet and phone.

Absence of inflation index instruments tie down N2.6tr pension assets

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ack of high investment grade and inflation linked instruments in the market may hamper the investment of part of the N2.6 trillion pension assets, a development that may be threatening the nation’s Vision 20:2020 strategic plans.

Olokola Free Trade Zone to attract N4.73 tr investment in 3 years – MD

T

he management of Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) Enterprise, said yesterday that it would attract 30 billion dollars (N4.73 trillion) investments in the next three year time.

OK Free Trade Zone is a state of the art industrial zone of about 10,000 hectares located on the boundary between Ogun and Ondo states.

The Managing Director of the OKFTZ, Mr. Luk Haelterman, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the zone has huge investment potentials when completed.

He said that presently, the profile of the zone stood at between 20 million dollars and 30 million dollars.

“Presently, we have about 60 investors at the zone but we are targeting 1,000,’’ he said.

Haelterman, a Belgian, said that the zone could attract more vital industries, but hindered by lack of gas to generate required electricity in the zone.

He therefore urged the Federal Government to hasten the development of power plants in the country.

“We do not have gas access because no zone within the country is linked to gas facilities, which every zone needed.

“We need the help of government in area of gas network and gas supply to meet up electricity supply to the zone,’’ he added.

The OKFTZ boss said that the zone presently has a power plant capable of generating between 10

megawatts and 50 megawatts.

He said that a serious plant needed effective gas supply and “to have the required gas supply, government should provide enabling gas pipelines’’.

He said that government needs to come to the help of all FTZ operators to strived better in the country.

“Nigeria is very reach in terms of raw materials which attracted most investors to invest in the free trade zone,’’ he said.

Haelterman listed some of the benefits accruable from doing business in a Nigerian FTZ to include relative proximity to major

markets in Africa, Europe and America.

He added that a large domestic market for the 25 per cent of goods from the zones could be sold in the customs territory.

He said that Nigeria’s FTZ regulatory regime was liberal and provided a conducive environment for profitable operations.

Haeiterman said that the zone has freedom from legislative provision pertaining to taxes, levies, duties and foreign exchange regulations.

He said that 100 per cent of foreign or local ownership of

factory was allowable while one stop approvals for all licenses whether or not the business is incorporated in the customs territory or not.

“The zone has unrestricted remittance of profits earned by investors, permission to sell 100 per cent of total production in the domestic market.

“Rent-free land at construction stage, thereafter rent shall be as determined by the management of the zone. Foreign managers and qualified personnel may be employed by companies operating in the zones,’’ he confirmed. (NAN)

L-R: Osun state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr.Sunday Akere, Commissioner for Finance, Economic, Planning and Budget, Dr Wale Bolorunduro, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Economic, Planning and Budget, Mr. Abiodun Akintaro , during a press conference by commissioner for Finance, at the Governor's office, yesterday in Osogbo, Osun state.

Modest growth in Delta gets FG’s approval to step down 150mw of He said that the state that of Okpai which generates external reserves electricity in Asaba government had secured about 458 megawatts of

T

he Delta state government has gotten an approval from the Federal Government to step down 150 megawatts of electricity in Asaba, the state capital.

The state commissioner of power and energy, Mr. Charles Emetulu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba that Asaba remained the only state capital in the country with its electricity supply from another state. NAN reports that the PHCN in Asaba confirmed that the state capital currently receives a maximum of 23 megawatts electricity per day from Obosi Power Substation in Anambra.

approval from the Federal Government to build a power substation that would enable the step down of 150 mw of electricity in Asaba from the power flow from Okpai.

According to PHCN, Asaba needs on the average, 100 megawatts of electricity per day to solve its current energy needs, being one of the fastest growing cities in the country. “As a state, our daily power need is about 1,010 megawatts, but we can barely get up to 100 megawatts of electricity to address our energy needs.

“More so that the state has three power plants, especially

electricity and not a single drop for use in the state. “All the power generated from Okpai is transmitted straight to Obosi from where the state capital gets its supply, this is not good for the development of the state.’’

He added that “with the approval for the step down of 150 mw of electricity in Asaba, the problems of erratic electricity supply in the area will be resolved with the completion of the project and that with the deregulation of the power sector, the state Independent Power Project when completed would boost the energy supply for its industrialisation needs.”

Transcorp posts net profit of N4.67bn in 2011

By Aminu Imam

T

ransnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) released its audited accounts and consolidated financial statements of the group for the year ended December 31, 2011.

According to a press statement released by the company on Monday, Transcorp’s recorded N1.4billion as operating profit,

an increase of 88% over 2010.

Also, its revenue and gross profit increased by N451million or 19% over 2010, while its operating expense reduced by N258million over 2010.

The company reports a healthy improvement in its operating and financial performance following several strategic initiatives begun over the past year by the new management. In addition, the new Transcorp board and

management have commenced a program to redefine and refocus the Group’s businesses.

In a statement, the President and Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Obinna Ufudo stated: “In 2011, we have worked towards diversifying our business mix in order to enhance our portfolio returns. We will achieve this by creating a number of new businesses in our key focus sectors of Agriculture, Energy and Hospitality”.

has assisted Nigeria – FBN Capital

F

BN Capital Ltd., an investment company and a subsidiary of First Bank, said the modest increase in Nigeria’s external reserves in the first quarter put the country in position to meet its international business obligations.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves hit 35.6 billion dollars in March against the 34.7 billion dollars recorded in February and 33.3 billion dollars achieved at the end of 2011.

In its weekly review, FBN Capital Ltd said that the foreign reserves in the first quarter provided 6.2 months’ cover for import of goods based on the 2011 estimates and 4.7 months when services were added.

The company, however, said the growth of the foreign reserves was slow and at variance with the anticipated impact of current crude prices. “The progress has been slow and at odds with the trend in international oil prices over the 12-month period,” the company said in the review emailed to NAN. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 21

Dwindling infrastructure at Arts and Crafts Village, Abuja

By Miriam Humbe

S

ince his assumption of office as the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National orientation, Chief Edem Duke has never let the slightest opportunity to speak glowingly of his picture of the tourism

industry in the country pass him by.

To many observers, beside these arguably bogus statements, a lot of visible transformation ought to have begun in the tourism sector which has recently been touted as being capable of taking over from the

ED/CEO, National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr. Malgwi Maidugu

Refuse dump left unattended to (Inset):Door leading to one of the toilets in the village

oil and gas industry as the highest revenue earner for the country.

However, so much still needs to be done to revive the dwindling state of infrastructure at some of the tourist sites which are still begging for attention, especially the Arts and Crafts Village in Abuja.

Located at Plot 1519, Cadastral Zone AOO, directly adjacent to the Abuja Sheraton Hotels and Towers, the Arts and Crafts Village shares fence with the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre in the Central District Area Abuja, and plays host to large numbers of visitors on a daily basis. These include members of the Diplomatic Corps and their families who throng the premises either for sightseeing or to purchase some of the cultural artefacts on display at the various huts adorning the landscape.

The village also boasts of having played host to the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II and wives of world Heads of Governments, especially when Nigeria hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, in 2003.

In spite of its unquantifiable importance to the development of tourism in the country, infrastructure at the arts and crafts village have remained unattended to over the past years. This in addition to the fact that the signpost of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), the agency in charge of its existence, is mounted strategically at the entrance to the premises.

But the impression first timers, especially those of the international community, are bound to take home of the once prestigious Arts and Crafts

Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke Village is nothing but worrisome.

For instance, on the left hand, the first sight to behold upon entry into the village are the toilets with both doors permanently kept ajar all year long. The poor condition of the interior of these toilets can be perceived from a distance. This is aside from the fact that visitors are charged the sum of N20 naira for their use.

On the right hand side at the entrance is a heap of refuse dump crying out to be evacuated.

It is however not clear what efforts if any, are being made by the Mr. Mwajim Malgwi Maidugu led-NCAC to save the decaying infrastructure at the village. Efforts by Peoples Daily to get comments from the administration, which may aid in unravelling the puzzle behind the lingering negligence that has led to several years of embarrassment to the nation did not yield results.

Our reporter, who went to the NCAC office behind the old CBN could not speak with the officials as she was turned back by the

security man attached to the Executive Director, Maidugu.

The Assistant Director (Press and Public Relations), who also doubles as the Special Assistant to the CEO, also declined audience and refused to take calls to clarify issues.

For a nation in dire need of economic diversification, the neglect of such a viable edifice as the Art and Crafts Village leaves much to be desired. This is in view of the fact that the Federal Government at present is preaching the message of transformation. It is therefore the right time for government to show character in the transformation message by matching words with action.

Political will must come to play by restoring the arts and crafts village back to its past glory.

Foreigners who patronise this village must be saved the trouble of taking back to their countries the negative impression of Nigeria occasioned by the sights beholden at the village. Enough of talk and more action.

One of the conveniences located along the entrance to the Village in poor condition.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Nigeria, India trade hits N2.3tr in 2011, says NEXIM boss

L - R: MD/CEO, NEXIM Bank,Roberts U. Orya and Chairman/MD EXIM India, Shri T.C.A. Ranganathan in New Delhi, India recently

By Abdulwahab Isa

T

rade relationship between Nigeria and India has peaked at a tremendous threshold, going by the statistical data provided by the Managing Director of Nigeria Export –Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts Orya.

According to Orya, as at August 2011, trade between India and Nigeria has already hit $14.628 billion (about N2.34 trillion) per annum, a figure the investment banker said was much higher than any figure obtainable in other African countries.

As at 2010, India, with $5 billion worth of investments remains the largest investor in Nigeria. Already, EXIM India has a robust and ongoing partnership with NEXIM Bank to fully structure and deepen the Nigerian movie industry along the Bollywood model which receives a tremendous assistance from EXIM Bank of India.

Orya’s facts are hard and incontrovertible even as Nigeria is set to consolidate on the exiting positive trade bilateral relation it enjoys with India.

At the just concluded 8th CII EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership tagged: “Creating Possibilities; Delivering Values”, which took place at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi from 18-20 March 2012, the forum identified over 250 projects worth almost $30 billion in sectors like infrastructure, mining, agriculture, telecom

and healthcare in Africa with focus on Nigeria.

The CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership, launched by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2005, with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, has emerged in a systematic and focused approach to work on projects in Africa.

The Conclave has successfully been able to build a bridge between Indian and African business leaders as well senior government officials and has emerged as one of the largest congregation of senior ministers, policy makers and business leaders from Africa and India, cutting across sectors.

Nigeria was adequately represented by team from Nigerian Export-Import Bank, led by the MD/CEO, Mr. Roberts U. Orya, Executive Director (Business Development) Mrs. Folake Oke-Salami; members of the National Assembly headed

by Senator Ayo Adeseun and Hon. Chukwudi Onyereri.

The CII Conclave is guided by increasing outreach of information on Indian enterprise in the identified sectors to Africa; increasing interaction between the Indian industry and Africa to address specific opportunities; discussing possibilities for Indian participation in long term projects; and initiation of programs related to capacity building, including resource mobilisation for the same; and

Over 1,100 delegates including 36 Ministers from India and African countries as well as other political leaders, government representatives,

“

in agriculture, which has been identified as one of the key sectors to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in Nigeria and Africa, NEXIM could facilitate investment in, and access to agricultural equipment, information, training and improved technology, which are all essential to increasing agricultural productivity.

business heads, bankers and development specialists participated in the concluded forum.

Speaking during the forum, past president of CII and Chairman of Hero MotoCorp , Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, said, “most of the African countries are adopting India’s business model as there is unique opportunity for us to do business in Africa.”

In his opening address on ”India-Africa: The Growing Partnership” , India’s Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Mr. Anand Sharma, stated that the government of India’s agenda of cooperation with Africa was guided by the philosophy of partnership with equality.

“India has been a partner to Africa in not only economic growth but also in enabling the Africans to find their rightful place by investing in human resource development”, he said.

In his remarks during ‘networking lunch’ period, Managing Director , Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Mr. Roberts Orya stressed that Nigeria should be at the centre of the Conclave discussions due to the large size of her economy, abundant ‘beneath-the-surface solid mineral resources, tourism potentials, creative industries and huge population.

According to Orya, trade between India and Nigeria has already hit $14.628 billion per annum as at August, 2011, which is much higher than what is obtainable with other African countries.

Orya said Nigeria was well

positioned and equipped to play critical role in the promotion of Indo-Nigeria relations as according to him, India would have achieved its purpose of High Return on Investments(HRI) in Africa when a fully strategised, robust and mutually beneficial IndoNigeria relations is in place.

“Considering the already existing very cordial bi-lateral relations between the Republic of India and the Federal Republic of Nigeria that have continued to enjoy considerable expansion support from both countries there won’t be much hindrances to achieving that objective for the benefit of the country, West Africa and the region as a whole”, the NEXIM boss concluded at large business gathering in India.

He noted that NEXIM looks quite beyond Nigerian borders in its efforts to structure and deepen trade within the region.

According to him, India is third largest export destination for Nigeria after United States and Spain.

Half of India’s imports of cashew nuts are from Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau. Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso export high quality cotton to India.

The task before NEXIM Bank he affirmed is to leverage on its mandate and excellent goodwill and support of President Goodluck Jonathan administration to ensure that Nigerian exporters in the MASS sectors benefit from the opportunities offered by the Conclave.

For example, in agriculture, which has been identified as one of the key sectors to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in Nigeria and Africa, NEXIM could facilitate investment in, and access to agricultural equipment, information, training and improved technology, which are all essential to increasing agricultural productivity.

According to him, it makes no economic sense for a country to embark on mass production without access to export markets. He seized the opportunity of the forum to enlightened participants on NEXIM bank’s flagship project, SEALINK, which is being facilitated as a Public-PrivatePartnership (P-P-P) initiative to deepen and consolidate the gains Nigeria, West Africa and indeed Africa have recorded thus far in their trade relations with India.

He decried a situation where Nigerian, and indeed African exporters would spend • 2, 100/ container and wait for a minimum of 50 days to have their goods delivered from Apapa ports in Nigeria to Douala ports in Cameroun; while it costs just above $1, 900 to freight same from China to Nigeria.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 23

Report as at Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Security

Price

Change

Price Open High Low Trades

Volume

Value

Close

IKEJAHOTEL

1.38

INTBREW

5.98

1.41

1.41

1.41

1.41

+

5.98

+

0.61

-

0.03

10

217,800.00

302,096.00

15

150,430.00

857,886.70

24

2,626,702.00 1,602,288.22

7UP

41.75

41.75 +

5

15,845.00

628,607.77

JAPAULOIL

0.64

ACADEMY

2.09

2.09

+

1

40,000.00

80,000.00

JBERGER

30.25

30.25 +

13

94,471.00

2,796,879.68

ACCESS

5.61

5.61

5.89

5.61

5.88

+

173

7,070,273.00

41,108,734.20

LASACO

0.50

0.50

+

1

3,290.00

1,645.00

AFROMEDIA

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

+

2

1,000,200.00 500,100.00

LINKASSURE

0.50

0.50

+

1

200.00

100.00

AGLEVENT

1.32

1.38

1.38

1.38

1.38

+

3

107,729.00

LIVESTOCK

0.97

0.97

+

25

1,496,502.00 1,432,541.36

AIICO

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

+

56

15,986,521.00 7,993,260.50

LONGMAN

3.09

3.09

+

1

500.00

1,470.00

AIRSERVICE

1.94

1.94

+

1

25,000.00

50,750.00

MAYBAKER

2.30

2.19

-

11

297,040.00

651,627.60

ALEX

10.60

10.60 +

1

500.00

5,035.00

MBENEFIT

0.50

0.50

+

2

20,000.00

10,000.00

ASHAKACEM

11.02

11.00

11.00

10.60

10.60 -

62

1,175,872.00

12,668,016.61

MOBIL

139.30

51

465,070.00

65,987,615.14

ASOSAVINGS

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

+

1

1,627,333.00 813,666.50

MORISON

7.77

7.77

+

1

50.00

369.50

AUSTINLAZ

2.00

2.00

+

2

5,500.00

MULTITREX

1.10

1.10

+

1

1,000.00

1,050.00

BAGCO

2.14

2.15

2.21

2.04

2.04

-

0.10

51

2,982,591.00 6,175,754.90

MULTIVERSE

0.50

0.50

+

1

1,000.00

500.00

BERGER

8.50

8.09

8.09

8.08

8.08

-

0.42

13

316,258.00

2,557,434.64

NAHCO

8.02

8.00

8.12

7.88

8.12

+

0.10

89

1,144,613.00

9,168,000.95

CADBURY

12.01

11.41

11.41

11.41

11.41

-

0.60

57

1,107,394.00

12,635,365.54

NASCON

4.28

4.10

4.10

4.07

4.07

-

0.21

20

341,434.00

1,401,592.28

CAP

19.44

20.00

20.00

20.00 20.00 +

0.56

33

211,916.00

4,224,429.18

NB

97.50

97.00

97.21

97.00

97.21

-

0.29

150

2,831,096.00 275,017,239.98

CAPHOTEL

6.78

6.78

+

1

50.00

322.50

NCR

13.01

13.01 +

5

46,196.00

624,627.72

CAPOIL

0.50

0.50

+

2

1,010.00

505.00

NEIMETH

0.80

0.80

+

2

2,000.00

1,520.00

CCNN

5.00

5.00

+

15

306,400.00

1,562,795.39

NEM

0.50

0.50

+

1

4,000.00

2,000.00

CHELLARAM

6.43

6.43

+

2

7,082.00

43,271.02

NESTLE

400.10

103

396,350.00

165,448,576.87

CHEVRON

37.22

37.22 +

18

101,674.00

3,595,192.64

NNFM

21.48

5

4,156.00

88,751.09

CILEASING

0.50

0.50

7

3,306,000.00 1,653,000.00

OANDO

21.00

20.12

20.12

19.95

19.95 -

1.05

170

3,448,778.00 69,300,376.77

CONOIL

24.44

20

158,029.00

3,675,807.04

OKOMUOIL

29.41

30.88

30.88

30.88

30.88 +

1.47

9

228,718.00

7,062,811.84

CONTINSURE

1.01

0.96

0.96

0.96

0.96

-

3

735,000.00

705,600.00

OMATEK

0.50

1

1,000.00

500.00

CUSTODYINS

1.46

1.49

1.49

1.46

1.46

+

15

443,000.00

647,750.00

PAINTCOM

0.81

0.77

0.77

CUTIX

1.58

1.60

1.60

1.60

1.60

+

3

116,000.00

185,600.00

PORTPAINT

3.79

3.97

DANGCEM

115.50

10

8,594.00

987,611.21

PRESCO

10.68

10.15

DANGFLOUR

4.64

4.46

4.46

4.45

4.45

-

0.19

30

504,365.00

2,248,514.10

PRESTIGE

0.55

DANGSUGAR

3.75

3.75

3.76

3.68

3.68

-

0.07

71

2,003,056.00 7,448,422.53

PZ

24.00

24.00

24.00

24.00

24.00 +

DIAMONDBNK

2.38

2.32

2.49

2.32

2.48

+

0.10

91

47,030,010.00 114,436,161.55

REDSTAREX

2.39

2.40

2.40

2.38

2.38

-

DNMEYER

0.85

0.85

+

1

1,000.00

810.00

ROYALEX

0.50

0.50

+

DUNLOP

0.50

0.50

+

2

9,092.00

4,546.00

RTBRISCOE

1.17

1.16

1.16

1.13

1.14

-

ENAMELWA

36.19

36.19 +

1

10.00

343.90

SKYEBANK

3.85

3.80

3.90

3.75

3.89

+

ETERNAOIL

3.45

3.30

3.30

3.30

3.30

-

0.15

14

308,375.00

1,026,588.75

STDINSURE

0.50

0.50

+

ETI

11.10

11.29

11.29

11.10

11.11

+

0.01

74

14,750,344.00 163,939,873.70

STERLNBANK

1.14

1.19

+

ETRANZACT

4.47

4.47

+

3

500.00

2,125.00

TOTAL

139.69

EVANSMED

0.50

0.50

+

4

69,767.00

35,607.24

TRANSCORP

0.52

FCMB

4.40

4.33

4.40

4.20

4.40

+

84

13,499,314.00 57,811,326.87

TRIPPLEG

FIDELITYBK

1.40

1.41

1.42

1.40

1.41

+

0.01

56

12,924,517.00 18,264,338.41

FIDSON

0.96

0.96

0.96

0.92

0.92

-

0.04

19

FIRSTALUM

0.50

0.50

+

1

FIRSTBANK

9.53

9.85

+

FLOURMILL

58.00

FO

10.99

10.60

10.60

10.60

10.60 -

GLAXOSMITH

21.00

21.10

21.10

21.00

GNI

0.50

GOLDINSURE

0.59

0.57

0.61

GTASSURE

1.27

1.22

GUARANTY

13.80

14.00

GUINNESS

239.84

HONYFLOUR

2.27

2.20

2.20

2.20

2.20

-

IBTC

6.70

6.62

6.80

6.62

6.80

+

IHS

2.47

2.47

+

5.00

0.50

5.00

0.50

5.00

0.50

0.27 0.06

0.42

+

24.44 + 0.05

11,000.00

0.95 2.19 139.30

419.00

0.61

0.99 2.19

0.61

0.93 2.19

146.26 139.30 140.00 +

419.00 418.50 418.50 +

0.03

0.11 0.70

18.40

21.48 +

0.50

+

0.77

0.77

-

0.04

10

904,020.00

696,095.40

3.97

3.97

3.97

+

0.18

3

183,375.00

716,091.75

10.15

10.15

10.15

-

0.53

18

263,050.00

2,698,519.04

0.55

+

1

1,600.00

880.00

82

1,247,959.00 29,896,241.03

16

459,620.00

1,088,455.20

1

4,715.00

2,357.50

0.03

16

496,650.00

566,877.45

0.04

65

7,769,319.00

29,529,791.23

2

11,000.00

5,500.00

22

2,430,520.00 2,821,693.82

139.69 +

29

15,665.00

0.52

+

40

4,009,799.00 2,074,890.68

2.66

2.66

+

1

599.00

1,515.47

UAC-PROP

10.00

10.00 +

12

57,387.00

557,236.50

2,169,306.00 2,012,105.12

UACN

29.00

29.16

29.16

29.16

29.16 +

57

236,267.00

6,893,810.77

2,000.00

UBA

2.60

2.60

2.60

2.56

2.60

+

144

8,361,779.00

21,651,485.94

554 14,848,298.00 145,151,007.99

UBN

2.58

2.46

2.46

2.46

2.46

-

0.12

28

559,747.00

1,376,977.62

57

162,667.00

8,996,879.44

UNILEVER

31.00

31.50

31.50

31.42

31.42 +

0.42

69

674,107.00

20,997,631.67

22

79,571.00

848,378.56

UNITYBNK

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

+

20

13,459,267.00 6,729,633.50

21.00 +

24

386,109.00

8,119,554.00

UNIVINSURE

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

+

2

437,493.00

218,746.50

0.50

+

2

1,000.00

500.00

UPL

3.28

3.12

3.43

3.12

3.43

+

10

275,829.00

897,594.93

0.57

0.61

+

0.02

10

293,600.00

169,370.15

VANLEER

13.28

1

4,000.00

50,800.00

1.33

1.21

1.33

+

0.06

10

822,500.00

1,010,549.00

VITAFOAM

3.06

14

504,383.00

1,563,812.30

14.39

14.00

14.39 +

0.59

508 25,972,447.00 372,606,860.62

VONO

1

661.00

1,903.68

70

215,007.00

49,146,706.27

22

110,983.00

4,430,136.50

0.07

8

101,250.00

221,820.00

0.10

37 1

0.02

115.50 +

9.54

148,666.02

0.61

9.99

9.54

0.32

58.00 + 0.39

239.84 +

1,000.00

1.11 0.52

1.19 0.54

1.11 0.51

0.01

0.05

0.16

0.15

13.28 + 3.10

+

2.88

2.88

+

WAPCO

41.00

41.00 +

WAPIC

0.52

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

-

0.02

3

338,600.00

169,300.00

1,486,148.00 10,041,061.75

WEMABANK

0.51

0.50

0.50

0.50

0.50

-

0.01

20

315,000.00

157,520.00

500.00

ZENITHBANK

12.40

12.60

13.00

12.40

13.00 +

0.60

398 31,217,320.00 392,033,365.65

1,175.00

3.10

3.10

3.10

0.04

2,200,435.66

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

We must promote everything good about Nigerian cultures, says NICO Executive Secretary (I) Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma is the Executive Secretary of the National Institute of Cultural Orientation (NICO). In a recent interactive session with a team from Peoples Media Limited, publishers of Peoples Daily and Peoples Daily Weekend, Ayakoroma disagreed strongly with faithbased organizations that dismiss indigenous cultures as fetish. Excerpts:

W

hen you took charge what were the challenges you faced and how did you go about tackling them?

Firstly, I took charge of an organisation that was ripped apart by boardroom politics. You work in an organisation so you will understand what I am talking about. NICO was crisis ridden. There were various interest groups, people who were disenchanted, and of course, coming in, you may hear different stories. The first challenge I had to confront was how we could carry everybody along. Let me use that term though we hear about it more in politics. For everybody to have a sense of belonging, for them to realize that our common interest should be NICO, not our personal interests, not our family interests, not our departmental interests. But everything we are doing should be to move NICO forward. And, of course, for that to happen, everybody has to be involved. I always draw lessons from my history teacher in those days and he used to tell us about Dahomey Empire. For the young ones, it was the present Benin, Togo, extending right to Badagary axis. And we were told that its source of strength was its unity.

They were united as a people and my history teacher used to liken the Dahomey Empire to a pot with many holes into which every citizen must put a finger to so that the water will not drain out. So that was the kind of picture I painted of NICO; we need to really work as a team. And, of course, the first thing I did was to ensure that the training school should be

given attention because if we are into training, if we are into research, the training school should be the platform. It shouldn’t be concerned to a unit under a department. If NICO has to justify its existence, it should be for training and research. And the training school takes care of that aspect, so it has to function as a department and, of course, with a director in charge who will be answerable to me. So we increased the departments from three which I met to five so that there will be maximum performance at all levels. And that helped a lot. Secondly, there is the need for us to create awareness. You did mention earlier that NICO has received some level of visibility in the past two years. But of course, if you don’t know about the organisation, if you don’t know what is happening, what they are doing, you will not appreciate the mandate of that organisation. Of course, I drew from my experience in Bayelsa state when I was Chief Executive. I had a good relationship with almost all the art writers and editors in Nigeria especially from the Lagos axis. I wouldn’t boast about the ones from the Abuja axis. But, those in Lagos, Ibadan, we were very much in touch with and, of course, they all were happy with my appointment because they appreciated what I was doing in Bayelsa state and they were ready to render assistance; whatever press release or programmes we had, they were ready to give it maximum attention.

So with that pedestal, it was easy for us to forge ahead.

And we made sure that we repackaged our in-house newsletter, the NICO newsletter, and getting

involved with programmes on radio. You may be aware that we are sponsoring Bush House, the living room of Bush House Nigeria; every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, on Kapital FM, we are on air. It is either we are being interviewed or our jingle is being aired. That has also helped. I believe in doing things and doing them very well. So the challenge I had was to make people see things from my perspective.

You see, the civil service structure does not help anybody coming from outside because when you do certain things, they will tell you that ‘this is not how we used to do it’. People are always resistant to change.

But I wanted them to change that mindset, to now think the way I think and try to do things the way I would want to do things. And I think along the line, many of them have been appreciative of our own approach and, of course, our ensuring that all the zonal offices run very well. In some organisations, it is believed that if you are posted out of Abuja, or you are posted out of the head office, then it is punishment.

But I have made people realize it isn’t so, and then they are seeing that going to a zone is not punishment. I will give you a story. There was an officer we posted to one of the zones. He went to the minister to get me to reverse the posting and of course, minister’s Special Assistant came and said this is what this person said and I told him that one, the posting is for the officer to express himself, for him to show his leadership qualities.

It is not punishment but I tell you what? I will give him three months. After three months, I will ask if he wants to come back to Abuja. And we left it

Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma at that. And after three months, my Special Assistant called him and said, ‘yes, oga said you should come back to Abuja’.

He said ‘ah S. A. no’. Because he realized that we were challenging them to do things and he saw that if that trend continued, he would be the better for it. And all of them are doing very well. Of course, those that are not doing very well, we chastise.

Because most times when we meet, we ask them to present their reports in the presence of others. And when you present your report and another person presents his report, you will know if you have performed or not, I don’t have to tell you. And they are challenged.

What else did you do to turn the place around?

I came in when the organisation was 17 years old and in those 17 years, there had been no management retreat for

organisational planning.

That time, we had a governing board to which we presented a proposal that there was need for us to collectively think as one to move the institute forward.

And I got the approval of the board and we did the first management retreat in 2010. And we’ve done the second one for 2011 and, of course, at the end of the exercise, everybody was happy. The one we did last year was even an improvement on the previous one. So these are the challenges we have tried to surmount and we are happy that we are seeing the result gradually and we believe that with time, the fortunes of the institute will change.

Will you say that the ordinary Nigerian has felt the impact of NICO so far?

I wouldn’t say NICO has made any serious impact. If we say so then it means that

everybody in the country knows NICO; it will be just like everybody in the country knows about NIPOST or the Nigerian Police. I wouldn’t boast but then what we are trying to do is to start from the top. You wouldn’t expect somebody in government to say he doesn’t know about NICO. If he says he doesn’t know or what it stands for, it means he is not listening to the radio or reading newspapers or he is not watching television and so on.

We are moving gradually. The idea is to see how NICO programmes and activities can be decentralized and go gradually down because the problems associated with the degeneration of our culture are very enormous and it will take conscious political will on the part of government to correct some of these things.

Take, for instance, Nigerian dresses. We are of the opinion that for Dress Nigerian to

catch up with the common man, it has to start from our leaders, and through a policy action. We have a memo that has been approved by the National Council on Culture and Tourism and it is for the minister to present it to the EXCO. We are asking, just like we are doing in NICO on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, that everybody should appear in Nigerian attires on these days and on the other two days, if you want to strangle yourself with a tie that is left for you.

That is our own thinking but if government does not do that, of course, civil servants, it will not be binding on them if NICO now preaches but if government at the level of the Federal Executive Council lives by it, let’s take it that every EXCO, that is every minister, that is the SSG, Head of Service, all of them appear Nigerian, they

dress Nigerian then the states will adopt that. If they have their EXCOs on Tuesdays or Thursdays and they now adopt that, it will be catching up. Then the Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly will now fix their own days. I understand Anambra state has Wednesday as Dress Nigerian Day; if all the State Assemblies do that, of course, it will catch up. If the honourable member is appearing traditional, his S.A. too will be appearing traditional. His P. A. too will be appearing traditional and after a time, maybe you are dressing and your madam says ‘ah daddy, you are wearing this today’, you just say, ah today is Dress Nigerian Day. As time goes on, of course, we will now go to the churches. Who says that as a pastor, you have to wear a suit and tie? If you love yourself as a Nigerian, if you don’t want to live a false life, then you know very well that we have to patronise our own. When this is happening, our textile industries will flourish.

There will be food for their workers. They will not be retrenching workers. The other day, somebody wrote in the paper that why is the president wearing ethnic dress when he is going outside? I was telling someone that I don’t think that person even knows his reasoning very well because if he knows what cultural diplomacy is, then he will not be saying that. Precisely, November 2010, I was in UNESCO headquarters for a meeting and the Hungarian Ambassador in UNESCO, the permanent delegate, she was looking at me, she and two other white ladies and at the end of the day, she came to meet and say, ‘I have been admiring your dresses. You look beautiful. Where are you from?’ I said I am from Nigeria. She said yes, I think your president dresses this way. I said yes. So she touched the studs and said, ‘what are these, are they buttons?’ I said yes, they function in two ways, they act as buttons and they are decorative. She said ‘oh, I love it. I wish my husband could have one’. She told me ‘oh my husband is on the big side, he’s really big.’ I said we have bigger people in Nigeria. And

by February last year when I went, I took one for her husband and of course, all the male in the Nigerian delegation. I went with ‘woko’, that is Jonathan if you want to call it that way; I

went with that for all the male staff of the embassy, that is the Nigerian delegation in UNESCO. Then for the ladies, since I don’t know their sizes, I went with Adire which they could use to sew different things but even at that, I went with the shorts and shirts; up and down, which is unisex and gave to them and they were very happy. And they said, ‘oh we now have something we can use to come to work on given days’. That is cultural diplomacy. Then for somebody to say that if I am going to London, I should wear a shirt. Nobody will look at me if I am wearing a shirt and a tie. But if I am wearing something unique, Nigerian, I stand out from the crowd and people will want to know, who is that person? Oh that is a Nigerian, so I am selling Nigeria out there. So I don’t expect to wear jeans and T-shirt when I travel out of the country because I will be lost in the crowd. So we believe that we can promote Nigeria through our dress culture. We can promote Nigeria through our languages and that is what NICO is doing and we stand for that.

You said something about changing the orientation of Nigerians from seeing culture as something fetish. You will agree that faith based organisations are the ones promoting this type of attitude. Have you made any attempt to relate with them?

It is a gradual process. We have a programme we have lined up for religious leaders.

The thinking that anything culture is fetish is being promoted by those faithbased organizations, as far as that is concerned. I will give you an instance. There was a time after a church service we were told that there was a programme. Dress code: corporate. For me, if there is an invitation and you tell me that oh, the dress code is corporate what is corporate?

And some churches will now go ahead to tell you black suit and red tie, or whatever. It’s really unfortunate. And you ask yourself: don’t they have banks in Pakistan, for instance, or Bangladesh or even Afghanistan? Is it not the same money they are counting? Do you need to wear a suit before you can count money? Incidentally, when we started this policy in NICO that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday should be dress Nigerian days, of course, there were

complaints but by the time I gave instances, they all bought into it and have embraced the idea wholeheartedly. We are not saying some of these cultural practices are not harmful.

What we are concerned with is promoting our rich culture and some of those things that make us proud to be Nigerians. These are the things that we need to embrace very well.

What are you doing to promote our indigenous languages in the face of the overwhelming influence of the English language in our national life?

We have a platform we call Nigerian indigenous language programme. For now, we have a long vacation programme in Abuja, Lagos and all our zonal offices. This programme started 2007 in the institute and of course one when I came on board, I reasoned that perhaps, it will not be so much effective for us to do a programme for four weeks in August and then wait for one year to now do another four weeks, because whatever you might have learnt within these four weeks would have gone by the next year. Our thinking is that after the four weeks, then he should go through a weekend programme for one year, then he goes through the four weeks again in another weekend. So by the time you do that for two years, you should naturally, be able to communicate appreciably. That we have started.

The weekend programme has started.

Actually, this programme also started in Lagos before Abuja and the other zones so the weekend, Lagos is now experimenting with it and,

by August this year, we will look at the result to see if there has been any impact.

Then we will now direct all the zones to start from September to do the weekend programme. And secondly, at the NICO training school where we have students from every part of the country, we have introduced a compulsory Nigerian language course. So every student is expected to take a Nigerian language other than his own. That is what we have started and we have finished with it for one year.

This is the second set that is going through the same programme again. At the end of the day, after two years, we will look at it to know the impact of that programme. The thinking is that those students will now

be our ambassadors in their various zones and offices.

From this point, we have written to the Nigerian Army and other military organs for what we call, Language in the Barracks, because our barracks are what we call microcosms of the Nigerian society. If you go to any barrack, every language, every ethnic group in Nigeria in Nigeria, you will get. But the unfortunate thing is that most of these children do not speak those languages. So how do we help them? We take the Nigerian indigenous languages to the barracks. In Lagos, we are almost finalising the process so that every weekend, the facilitators will go to the study centres that have been provided by the Army, Navy and the Air force to go and teach these programmes.

And we found out that the personnel are very enthusiastic. Because; you are Hausa, your wife is Yoruba and your children do not speak any of these two languages and you and your wife cannot communicate. It happens in most our families because of inter-tribal marriages. You can’t even whisper to your child. The other time we were doing the indigenous language programme, we did a drama piece where thieves came to the house and the mother speaking in Yoruba to the children, said, ‘hide this thing there’ but the children could not understand. And at the end of the day, they lost out to the armed robbers and she was very angry. The mother said, ‘you people must learn your mother tongue in this house so that we can communicate’. So that is what we are working towards. We need to learn our indigenous languages so that we can communicate.

These are ways of sustaining these languages. We know very well the factors that influence the survival of languages and when languages are swallowed up by some languages but we believe that we can try to sustain these languages by providing these platforms.

And, of course, we are liaising with NYSC because we know very well that that is a good platform for us to do some of these things, and apart from the language component, there is the culture component during the orientation programme so that people will appreciate the indigenous cultures where they are serving.

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

By Nuel Shepherd

Kia Optima Hybrid: Distinct and practical

T

he 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid ranks 16 out of 19 Affordable Midsize Cars. This ranking is based on analysis of 18 published reviews and test drives of the Kia Optima Hybrid, which includes reliability and safety data.

A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle.

The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.

When the term hybrid vehicle is used, it most often refers to a Hybrid electric vehicle. These encompass such vehicles as the Saturn Vue, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid Lexus RX 400h and 450h and others. A petroleumelectric hybrid most commonly uses internal combustion engines (generally gasoline or Diesel engines, powered by a variety of fuels) and electric batteries to power the vehicle. There are many types of petroleum-electric hybrid drivetrains, from Full hybrid to Mild hybrid, which offer varying advantages and disadvantages Power sources for hybrid vehicles include on-board or outboard rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), air engine/ compressed air; coal, wood or other solid combustibles; electricity; electromagnetic fields; radio waves; compressed natural gas/compressed or liquefied natural gas; and petrol or diesel fuel, to mention a few.

Reviewers are disappointed with the powertrain in the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid, but they are pleased with almost everything else about this midsize hybrid car.

The 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid is Kia's only hybrid offering.

Reviewers are very happy with the inside of this hybrid car. There are lots of standard features, including a rearview camera, satellite radio, Bluetooth, push-button start and a USB jack. The Optima Hybrid's spacious, comfortable interior and sporty exterior styling are also wellliked by test drivers.

The thing auto critics are most disappointed with is the Kia Optima Hybrid's powertrain. They say that it's not as good as other hybrid cars, mainly because the transition from gas to electric power is jarring. They prefer the smoother powertrains in rival hybrids, like the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid.

Also, several reviewers say they dislike the Optima Hybrid's regenerative brakes. They say that the pedal feel is a bit numb and they wish the brakes were more responsive.

Overall, the automotive press says the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid is a good choice for midsize car shoppers who prioritize good fuel economy, modern styling and high-tech features. If hybrid powertrain refinement is a bigger priority, you should shop the

competition.

Other Cars to Consider It is squarely in the same class with the likes of the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and a host of other family four-doors such as Ford Fusio, but there's very little square in the Optima's arresting profile.

Kia's distinct styling direction is a polar opposite of the exuberant,

sculptural look that's all over the Hyundai lineup and the Optima's fraternal twin, the Sonata sedan.

The Optima contrasts with a sporty, European-tinged look with a lower roofline, stretched headlamps, and a nifty upkick in its rear quarters. It's exciting-focused, clean, laid-back, with an athletic stance and flashy chrome wheels. The interior's a fine match, with a big set of gauges and a wide rectangular bank of controls

canted toward the driver, ersatz Audi with almost all of the sophistication and less clutter.

In performance, the Optima caters to three types of drivers.

Base cars have a 2.4-liter fourcylinder with direct injection, 200 horsepower and just a touch of unremarkable noise and vibration when it's wound out. A manual six-

speed is offered; we've tested the six-speed automatic, which teams expertly with the four. A turbocharged SX variant whistles along with 274 horsepower and paddle controls for the automatic, upconverting the Optima's personality into something authentically sporty, along the lines of the latest Buick Regal or the VW CC. The Ford Fusion Hybrid is a good sedan to cross-shop against

the Kia Optima Hybrid. Reviewers say its handling is the best among hybrid midsize cars, and they also like its spacious, high-tech interior.

The Fusion Hybrid's overall fuel economy is slightly better than the Optima Hybrid's. Keep in mind though that the Fusion Hybrid costs a couple thousand dollars more.

unrefined.

The 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid is available in just one trim with the option to add a premium technology package. The Optima Hybrid sees no changes since last year.

Optima Hybrid Performance Excellent fuel economy is one of the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid's

Shoppers considering the Kia Optima Hybrid should also take a look at the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

The Camry Hybrid not only gets better fuel economy than the Optima Hybrid, but test drivers say it has a better hybrid drivetrain.

Reviewers say Toyota has practically perfected the 2012 Camry Hybrid's transition between the gas engine and electric motor.

In comparison, many think the Optima Hybrid's drivetrain is

strengths, but test drivers say the Optima Hybrid's performance is not as good as other hybrids because the transition between electric and gas power is more noticeable.

Optima Hybrid Exterior Auto critics like the sporty, modern exterior of the Kia Optima Hybrid. Edmunds says, "The Optima's a looker and it remains so in hybrid guise, as Kia was wise enough not to dork it all up with zoomy graphics."

Optima Hybrid Interior High-quality materials, roomy seats and lots of standard tech features make the interior of the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid a good place to be.

Optima Hybrid Safety The 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid hasn't been tested by the insurance industry, but the federal government gives it excellent scores in every category.

Optima Hybrid Reliability The 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid reliability score shown is the Predicted Reliability rating provided by J.D. Power and Associates. This score is based on trending the past three years of historical initial quality and dependability data from J.D. Power's automotive studies, specifically the Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) and the Initial Quality Study (IQS). The 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid is covered by a five-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 27

Inside the prison ‘home’ where Osama bin Laden’s wives, children and grandchildren are hidden while await their fate

F

or nearly a year they have been locked up and out of sight, their lives and fates a mystery to the world.

Since Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals last May, his widows, children and grandchildren have been kept in a secure home while Pakistan decides their fate.

Now the Al Arabiya television network has obtained footage from inside their ‘guest house’ in Islamabad.

Inside, we see domestic scenes, as toddlers and children play with teddy bears and cricket bats, while the three widows of the former terrorist leader look on or read the Koran.

The house in Islamabad, where three of bin Laden's widows, as well as at least five of his children, and other grandchildren, are believed to be living

Inside the 'home' of Osama's family: One of the widows reads from the Qur'an as a toddler looks on.

Domestic: But the inhabitants are under armed guard while Pakistan makes move to deport Osama's relatives

Makeshift: The beds are propped up with bricks, and the building appears to be windowless or have the windows barred

Home: Bin Laden's three wives and two daughters lived with him in the Abbottabad hideout just 200 yards from a military base which was raided last year

But the boarded-up windows and a heavy armed presence outside indicate that while the place may serve as a home for the occupants, it is also a prison for Osama’s relatives.

Three of the terror leader’s widows and two daughters have been held behind bars since the Al Qaeda terror leader was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan last May. The group were all living with Bin Laden when his base was raided by U.S. Navy Seals.

The family of the former terrorist leader are now serving 45-day sentences for illegally entering Pakistan, but in reality they have been locked up since last May. Pakistani authorities formally arrested the women on March 3 and they will serve another two weeks behind bars before they are deported to their homelands along with the family’s younger children, said their lawyer, Mohammed Amir Khalil.

Two of the widows are Saudi and one is Yemeni, he said.

Khalil said Yemen has consented to the woman being returned, but he is still in discussion with Saudi officials.

Saudi Arabia stripped Bin Laden of his citizenship in 1994 because of his verbal attacks against the Saudi royal family.

As well as being jailed, the five women were also ordered to pay a fine of about £70 each. The lawyer does not plan to appeal the court’s ruling.

Yemen-born Amal Al-Sadeh, the youngest widow, and her four children were among 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities after the raid, which also included two other wives.

Pakistan was outraged by the raid on Bin Laden’s compound because they were not informed it was happening beforehand.

After leaving Afghanistan, Bin Laden lived in five safe houses over the course of nine years while on the run in Pakistan and

fathered four children - two of them born in government hospitals, according to al-Sada’s interrogation report.

Al-Sada’s account says she flew to Pakistan in 2000 and travelled to Afghanistan where she married Bin Laden before the September 11 attacks.

After that, the family ‘scattered’ and she travelled to Karachi in Pakistan. She later met up with Bin Laden in Peshawar and then moved to the Swat Valley, where they lived in two houses.

They moved one more time before settling in Abbottabad in 2005.

According to the report, alSada said that two of her children were born in government hospitals, but that she stayed only ‘two or three hours’ in the clinics on both occasions. The charge sheet against the three women says that they gave officials fake identities.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 28

Cancer-stricken Robert Mugabe is ‘fighting for his life’ in Singapore hospital

Z

imbabwean President Robert Mugabe was said to be close to death on Monday night.

The 88-year-old, who is believed to be suffering from prostate cancer, flew to Singapore by private jet on Saturday for treatment.

His wife, Grace, and close family members are reported to be at his bedside.

Mugabe has undergone several bouts of therapy in Asia in recent years.

But his condition has now deteriorated and there were claims tonight that he has agreed to hand over power to his feared henchman and Defence Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Rumours over Mugabe’s health have been rife in recent weeks because of his frail appearance.

There was heightened speculation when the Zimbabwe government postponed a cabinet meeting at the last minute.

The Zimbabwe Mail, quoting a senior official of Mugabe’s ZANUPF party, said the leader, who has ruled the country since its independence from Britain in 1980, was undergoing intensive treatment in Asia.

Mugabe was supposedly in Singapore to oversee his daughter Bona’s enrolment at university.

But registration does not start until September and opponents said it was unlikely he would travel

abroad to deal with such a matter in person.

Sources in Iran, which has a warm relationship with Zimbabwe, said Mugabe had agreed on his successor.

The Tehran Times said the tyrant had entered into a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to hand over power to 65-year-old Mnangagwa, who helped orchestrate the violent opposition to Britain in the 1970s.

The former Zimbabwe intelligence chief was also widely blamed for the brutality following the 2008 presidential election after Mugabe’s rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, took an early lead in the voting.

He is also thought to have played a major role in the crackdown of the opposition Zapu party in the 1980s that left thousands of civilians dead.

There was no comment on Mugabe’s health on Monday night from either his family or from the Zimbabwe government. Mugabe’s aides have denied there is a medical emergency, claiming he is enjoying an Easter break in Asia with his family.

But Zimbabwe’s vice president, Joice Mujuru, has reportedly cut short her trip to Asia to return home and prepare for the possibility of Mugabe’s death.

The leader is understood to have travelled to Singapore eight times last year for medical treatment. A

Aging: The dictator celebrates his 88th birthday in February this year diplomatic cable released last year

by Wikileaks said Mugabe was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and given five years to live because it had spread.

He is said to have defied pleas from his own doctors to step down.

His ailing health has been cited as the main reason that a hard line faction of his ZANU-PF party has pushed to rush through new elections.

The Zimbabwe Mail quoted a British-based Zimbabwe analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, as saying: ‘Mugabe’s health impacts entirely on Zimbabwe’s political landscape. Everything revolves

around his health and his age.’

In February, Mugabe declared himself ‘fit as a fiddle’. Last month he celebrated his 88th birthday with a lavish party in the capital, Harare, reputed to have cost £650,000.

The leader was said to have feasted on a cake in the shape of a crocodile.

Mugabe was hailed as a hero by many Africans when he came to power 32 years ago with Zimbabwe looked on as a model for a successful transition from white rule.

But the nation’s fortunes have plunged together with Mugabe’s

reputation.

He is now regarded as one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. He has been accused of murdering thousands of his own citizens and brutally crushing all opposition to his rule.

His policies have also been blamed for driving Zimbabwe into bankruptcy.

Mugabe’s land reforms in particular, leading to violent seizures from white farmers, have been harshly criticised by the British and American governments.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

“

Vigil: Robert Mugabe's family are with him as the Zimbabwean leader, who is said to be close to death, battles cancer in a Singapore hospital

Mugabe was hailed as a hero by many Africans when he came to power 32 years ago with Zimbabwe looked on as a model for a successful transition from white rule

Taking over? It's been reported that Mugabe entered into a 'gentleman's agreement' to hand over power to Emmerson Mnangagwa

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 30

FR OM THE FROM LIVE ST AGE STA

Sefi Atta’s Lawless & Other Stories

with Patrick-Jude Oteh 0803 700 0496, 0805 953 5215 (SMS only)

BOOK REVIEW

Re: Let’s save Nigeria now

By Mohammed Naseehu Ali

W

hether she is writing about a woman who has been maliciously accused of adultery in a Northern Nigerian state that has adopted Sharia-ah law and awaiting her sentence of death by stoning in “Hailstorm on Zamfara”, or she is writing about the wife of a Lagos “Big Man” who masks her loneliness with the drama of her spoiled, insolent children, one of whom is beginning to show signs of inheriting the family’s mental illness in “Madness in the Family”, Sefi Atta’s steady, quiet, and yet bold narrative voice is unwavering in its dedication to craft, originality, and last but not the least, truth.

Truth, that is, in artistic rendition of our lives.

Sefi Atta writes like one who has lived the life of each single character in her dazzling collection of short stories. The reader comes off with the sense of a story teller who is so in tune with the suffering and other life happenstances of her characters, that the reader is bound to find a commonality with them—be it cultural, psychological, social, or human.

Almost every character in these stories has come back to me—sometimes in a dream, other times while commuting by train to work or even during meal times. I know how

Sefi Atta, the author

A rejoinder to Eddie Ugbomah’s article in Clapperboard of Friday, March 23, 2012 on page 34.

Dear Sir,

I

The cover powerful and effective short stories and novels are by the length of time they stayed with me. Sefi’s stories stay with you, and in a very unobtrusive way, demand of you to think about the plight of the characters. Ironically this demand doesn’t take place during the reading of a story—it happens

long after you have finished and put down the story. To me, this effect on the reader is the highest mark of story-telling.

After reading about ten of Sefi Atta’s stories it is obvious that she is one of those writers who will not write a story unless the story is worth telling— artistically, aesthetically, and culturally. Sefi’s vast knowledge of her characters and their surroundings, her compassion for them, and her sense of duty to the art of story telling make these characters part of the fabric of our day-to-day lives.

Though I will never be a drug courier, by the time I finished reading “Last Trip”—the story about a cocaine-pusher who after many trips smuggling drugs inside her stomach by swallowing bulbs in Lagos and “shitting” them in London and New York, vows it will be her final trip—I was not only as nervous and anxious as the main character, but forgiving of her despicable vocation. She has a mildly retarded child to look after, a child on whom she uses the drug money to ensure he has a decent upbringing.

Sefi Atta’s stories evoke profound moral, ethical, and cultural questions most contemporary African writers find uncomfortable to tackle in their works. And the beauty of her writing is that she does all this in a quietly defiant manner, and at such a high aesthetic and artistic level, that one never feels the harshness of these questions at the time of reading, until hours or days after putting down the story.

Source: Africa writer.com

have read your article of the above title with keen interest.

Please permit me to defer from your thoughts.

First, I think we are still doing the business of theatre in the old ways which have continued to lead us into a dead end. I believe we should start exploring new ways of doing the same old business.

Let me briefly go into the idea of what you set out to do – you have this challenge and commission from the General Manager of the National Theatre, Kabir Yusuf to produce a Nigerian musical titled “Save Nigeria Now” which will be staged for four months in the first instance at the National Theatre.

Your idea of going about this idea is to constitute committees which you have identified as four, comprising who-is-who in Nigerian theatre and music and you also mentioned some famous musicals like “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Evita”, “Sound of Music” as some famous yardsticks for what you want to do.

In pursuance of this idea, the above musical will tour Nigerian cities with the ‘National Troupe waiting for handouts for doing nothing’ but you will ask the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation to support the idea by funding it because it will be a big project. This judgement I think we should leave for the audience. Also, I think it sounds ‘one kind’ for you to denigrate the National Troupe. But I think they have enough staff in their PR department to handle this.

First, must everything we do have an unimaginative title like Save Nigeria Now for it to be deemed as patriotic? Evita is an Argentine story. Why was it not titled Save Argentina From The Perons Now! But Evita on Broadway and film captures the rise and rise of Evita Peron while encapsulating the very story of Argentina. Has it occurred to a lot of us on the field that it is high time we really got away from

such piteous sounding titles for our plays and stage works?

If the idea is to capture an audience’s imagination, I doubt how sustainable this will be.

What is new about Save Nigeria Now? Second, has it occurred to us all that the very idea of musicals on Broadway or Covent Garden has a commercial bent to it? This brings me to the point we all should avoid. Why involve the government in the first place?

Why must we create a role for the government in the very things concerning the arts when the government should be avoided in the first place?

Any wonder why the government continues to treat the arts with disdain and levity?

For a lot of us the government has and will continue to be our first and last option for arts funding. This is wrong. Let me give you a recent event – the issue of the $200m intervention fund for the arts which we all listened with glee like school children and which we all heard on national television when the President announced with all seriousness and which we all fought ourselves for both physically and psychologically, who amongst the tribe of artistes has been able to access this fund? Does this paint the picture of a group of people who should be involved in our planning to fund the arts?

We are all complaining about the government not creating an endowment fund for the arts – why will the government do such when in the estimation of those in the bedrooms of power, artistes are like pampered children who should be given crumbs and let go? My answer to this is that each arts organization should as a matter of urgency create individual funding for the arts which will be their own sole support for their work.

This brings me to another thought in your piece – ‘that multinationals will be invited to participate’. For what? And what is in it for them? Have they just started throwing money into pipelines?

To be continued

PAGE 29

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

War Child: A novel by Bruce Cerew BOOK REVIEW

By Bemgba Nyakuma

U

pon witnessing the explosion its creators had mixed reactions.

However one thing was certain, they had ushered in a new dimension to war and the equilibrium in our existence. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” Cried Robert Oppenheimer as he watched the mushroom cloud of radioactive vapour rise into the cloud, leaving only fragments of jade green radioactive glass in the soil and a horrendous weapon of war for mankind. The history of mankind is a tale of an endless episode of violence, death, bloodshed and the misery all in the name of war. In spite of these harsh realities mankind continues to be plagued by this terror. Benjamin Franklin once said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace” yet sadly we are forced to hear and see the frightening images of innocent

men, women and children who have been murdered, maimed, raped, tortured and scarred by conflicts in their localities.

Driven by the will to survive, the victims are forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the indignity of life as a hopeless nomads and refugees.

In the process they attempt to cross paths strewn with perils, despair and hopelessness; many perish, some fall prey to uncertainty and many never have another shot at the better life they desperately seek. Yet the fortunate few that brave the hazardous circumstances end up in the chains of destitution, discrimination and under the constant shadow of fears in cities of the Western nations.

The ‘’War Child’’ by Bruce Cerew is a book that chronicles the tales of war; as seen through the eye of a boy, Ray, its protagonist and victim of horrors of the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The book paints a true picture of the plight of refugees and the horrors they are so atrociously forced upon by

“

The ‘’War Child’’ by Bruce Cerew is a book that chronicles the tales of war; as seen through the eye of a boy, Ray, its protagonist and victim of horrors of the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The book paints a true picture of the plight of refugees and the horrors they are so atrociously forced upon by lending credence to the voices of the maimed men, women, and children scarred and ravaged by war

The book cover

PEOPLES POEM OF THE WEEK Title: The

Devil now lives in Jos

(For our besieged city)

By By Toni Kan (i) The Devil lives in Jos And the language he speaks is hate He feeds on flesh and his drink of choice is blood He picks his teeth with the bones of innocents

Bruce Cerew, the author lending credence to the voices of the maimed men, women, and children scarred and ravaged by war.

The 318 page “War Child” is written as a narrative and employs a simple diction to tell its story. It is a tale of humor and tragedy, courage and fear, hopelessness and anticipation, love and betrayal, hope and triumph. “War Child” is set in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Netherlands.

The book begins with Ray’s struggles in life beginning from an early age in Eastern Nigeria.

The young Ray was constantly abused by his father (a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic) who could not come to terms with the boy’s inadequacies. Ray was thus sent away to the village of Amata to live with his grandmother.

There Ray finds love, fear and mysterious character in whom he suddenly finds a friend and comforter.

Now grown the boy Ray puts aside childhood traumas and insecurities returns to the city in search of a livelihood. But his hallucinations reappeared handing him the feeling of emptiness and his fears and delusions.

In search of greener pastures away from hassles of life in Nigeria, Ray emigrates to Monrovia. But before he could settle in the country was thrown into conflict. The war ushered in a time of bloodshed, death, sorrow and anguish. Ray forced to flee to Freetown, Sierra Leone in the hope for a life away from the misery of carnage in Liberia.

But yet again the gates of Hell were cast open.

The second part of “War Child” begins Ray’s eventual

flight to the Netherlands where Ray meets Jamo and Bar. The plot in the tale of their freedom from war, poverty and uncertainty in Africa climaxes with the rejection, misgivings and hardships of life in the observation camp. Living with other refugees the trio are challenged by myriad elements and the harsh realities of life in the west. In the face of these trials, betrayal and disappointment Ray meets and fall in love for the first time. But his joy is short lived when he is sent away to the Asylum Seekers Camp (ASC) in Haarlem. With no money, job or friends, Ray is overtaken by depression, hallucinations and feelings of suicide.

But just when all hope seemed lost, Ray meets Ginger, a lady who helps to rekindle his hope in life. But a sad and sudden twist brings their relationship with to a grinding halt. The Sad and dejected Ray returned to the ASC to the news from the immigration authorities.

In the end Ray finds falls in love again yet. With Trudy, the young man lived and learned the ropes of love, compromise and sacrifice which make relationship and companionship the pillars of a life worth living for.

The “War Child” is the compelling story of hope against despair, and a boy’s will to give meaning to his life. It is bold message to humanity to say NO to wars and its devastating effects which seek to destroy mankind.

Wars reconcile nothing and unless people themselves refuse to go to war, as Albert Einstein posits, we may be all consumed by it.

Source: Africa writer.com

(ii) The Devil lives in Jos He walks with a hood He wields a scythe in his hands He is a young politician with hungry eyes A money bag with no scruples (iii) His thoughts are grim His schemes are evil He will not be at peace Until the city is a pile of rubble (iv) The Devil lives in Jos He walks the streets of Gada Biu And sharpens his sword in Farin Gada His eyes aflame with blood lust (v) The Devil lives in Jos He is the neighbor gone mad The friend who has turned bad The Devil, now, lives in Jos.

QUO TE UOTE

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

–– Billie Contd Jeanon King. page 30

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

ANALYSIS

By Greg Miller

A

long the way, he has clashed with highranking figures, including David H. Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, who at times objected to the CIA's more pessimistic assessments of those wars. Former CIA officials said the two had to patch over their differences when Petraeus became CIA director.

"No officer in the agency has been more relentless, focused, or committed to the fight against al-Qaeda than has the chief of the Counterterrorism Center," Petraeus said in a statement provided to The Post.

Harsh, profane demeanor By 2006, the campaign against al-Qaeda was foundering.

Military and intelligence resources had been diverted to Iraq. The CIA's black sites had been exposed, and allegations of torture would force the agency to shut down its detention and interrogation programs. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government was arranging truces with tribal leaders that were allowing alQaeda to regroup.

Inside agency headquarters, a bitter battle between then-CTC chief Robert Grenier and the head of the clandestine service, Jose Rodriguez, was playing out.

Rodriguez regarded Grenier as too focused on interagency politics, while Grenier felt forced to deal with issues such as the fate of the interrogation program and the CIA prisoners at the black sites. Resources in Pakistan were relatively scarce: At times, the agency had only three working Predator drones.

In February that year, Grenier was forced out.

Rodriguez "wanted somebody who would be more 'hands on the throttle,' " said a former CIA official familiar with the decision. Roger was given the job and, over time, the resources, to give the throttle a crank.

Stylistically, Grenier and Roger were opposites. Grenier gave plaques and photos with dignitaries prominent placement in his office, while Roger eschewed any evidence that he had a life outside the agency. Once, when someone gave him a cartoon sketch of himself - the kind you can buy from sidewalk vendors he crumpled it up and threw it away, according to a former colleague, saying, "I don't like depictions of myself."

His main addition to the office was a hideaway bed.

From the outset, Roger seemed completely absorbed by the job - arriving for work before dawn to read operational cables from overseas and staying well into the night, if he left at all.

His once-pudgy physique became almost cadaverous.

Although he had quit

PAGE 31

A convert to Islam leads CIA’s terrorism hunt (II)

CIA Director, Leon Panetta smoking a decade or so earlier, his habit returned full strength.

He could be profane and brutal toward subordinates, micromanaging operations, second-guessing even the smallest details of plans, berating young analysts for shoddy work. "This is the worst cable I've ever seen," was a common refrain.

Given his attention to operational detail, Roger is seen by some as culpable for one of the agency's most tragic events - the deaths of seven CIA employees at the hands of a suicide bomber who was invited to a meeting at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, in December 2009.

An internal review concluded that the assailant, a Jordanian double-agent who promised breakthrough intelligence on al-Qaeda leaders, had not been fully vetted, and it cited failures of "management oversight."

But neither Roger nor other

senior officers were mentioned by name.

One of those killed, Jennifer Matthews, was a highly regarded analyst and protege of Roger's who had been installed as chief of the base despite a lack of operational experience overseas. A person familiar with the inquiry said that "the CTC chief's selection of [Matthews] was one of a great number of things one could point to that were weaknesses in the way the system operated."

Khost represented the downside of the agency's desperation for new ways to penetrate al-Qaeda, an effort that was intensified under President Obama.

Roger's connection to Khost and his abrasive manner may have cost him he has been passed over for promotions several times, including for the job he is thought to have wanted most: director of the National Clandestine Service, which is

“

responsible for all CIA operations overseas.

'A new flavor of activity' But current and former senior U.S. intelligence officials said it is no accident that Roger's tenure has coincided with a remarkably rapid disintegration of alQaeda - and the killing of bin Laden last year.

When Michael V. Hayden became CIA director in May 2006, Roger began laying the groundwork for an escalation of the drone campaign. Over a period of months, the CTC chief used regular meetings with the director to make the case that intermittent strikes were allowing al-Qaeda to recover and would never destroy the threat.

"He was relentless," said a participant in the meetings.

Roger argued that the CIA needed to mount an air campaign against al-Qaeda "at a pace they could not absorb" and warned that "after the next attack, there would be no explaining our

When Michael V. Hayden became CIA director in May 2006, Roger began laying the groundwork for an escalation of the drone campaign. Over a period of months, the CTC chief used regular meetings with the director to make the case that intermittent strikes were allowing al-Qaeda to recover and would never destroy the threat.

inaction."

Under Hayden, the agency abandoned the practice of notifying the Pakistanis before launching strikes, and the trajectory began to change: from three strikes in 2006 to 35 in 2008.

A second proposal from the CTC chief, a year or so later, had even greater impact.

"He came in with a big idea on a cold, rainy Friday afternoon," said a former high-ranking CIA official involved in drone operations.

"It was a new flavor of activity, and had to do with taking senior terrorists off the battlefield."

The former official declined to describe the activity. But others said the CTC chief proposed launching what came to be known as "signature strikes," meaning attacks on militants based solely on their patterns of behavior.

Previously, the agency had needed confirmation of the presence of an approved alQaeda target before it could shoot. With permission from the White House, it would begin hitting militant gatherings even when it wasn't clear that a specific operative was in the drone's crosshairs.

Roger's relentless approach meshed with the Obama mind-set. Shortly after taking office, Obama met with his first CIA director, Leon E. Panetta, and ordered a redoubled effort in the fight against al-Qaeda and the search for the terrorist group's elusive leader.

From 53 strikes in 2009, the number soared to 117 in 2010, before tapering off last year.

The cumulative toll helped to crumple al-Qaeda even as CTC analysts finally found a courier trail that led them to bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Roger does not appear in any of the pictures taken inside the White House situation room when bin Laden was killed last May. Officials said he stayed in place at CIA headquarters and barely allowed himself to exult.

For all the focus on "kinetic" operations during Roger's tenure, "he believes this is not a war you're going to be able to kill your way out of," said a former colleague. To him, "There is no end in sight."

When the bin Laden operation concluded, he stepped outside to smoke.

Staff writer Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Culled from The Washington Post

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 32

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe “well, on holiday”: officials Aid taps expected to open for new Malawi

M

alawi's finance minister expects suspended international aid to be restored under its new president, Joyce Banda, helping prop up a budget increasingly under strain after the previous president picked fights with overseas donors.

Finance Minister Ken Lipenga also told Reuters on Monday that former President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died on Thursday of a heart attack, had blocked plans called for by the International Monetary Fund to devalue the currency because he was worried the move would hurt the poor.

Aid-dependent Malawi slid into economic crisis over the past year as Mutharika, a professorial but temperamental former World Bank economist, squabbled with major western donors who then froze millions of dollars of assistance that had traditionally bankrolled about 40 percent of the budget.

"I expect the resumption of aid will happen," Lipenga said.

Foreign diplomats showed their support for Banda by visiting her residence even before she had been officially installed, but so far there have been no concrete signs the West is preparing to restart the flow of aid.

The finance minister has not yet discussed economic policy with Banda since she became president but he thinks she will be able to address some issues that raised red flags with donors including suppression of human rights and the media.

"The donors were emphasising the concerns of the Malawi people," he said.

In a watershed moment for the normally peaceful state known as the "Warm Heart of Africa" Mutharika's police killed 20 people in anti-government protests in July 2011, leading to international condemnation and a cut of aid packages from other donors.

The IMF, which has suspended a $79 million aid facility due to conflict with Mutharika, wants to see Malawi's currency, the kwacha, further devalued, saying too much of the state's precious reserves are being used to defend it.

Malawi devalued the kwacha last year to 165 to the dollar from 150. On the black market, the price is nearly double, reaching 295 to the dollar just before Mutharika's death.

On news of his death, the rate dropped to 270-275 with many anticipating an end to a foreign currency crisis that had crippled the economy. As dollars disappeared, fuel prices had soared and foreign goods such as medicine became prohibitively expensive.

Z

imbabwean officials yesterday dismissed reports that President Robert Mugabe was seriously ill in Singapore, saying he was well and on holiday there with his family, and was expected to return home this week.

Two senior officials from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, who declined to be named, said a website report about the 88-yearold leader battling for his life in a Singapore hospital, which was widely repeated by some international media, was not true.

"The president is well and away on a private holiday to help his daughter prepare for postgraduate studies, but we are expecting him home this week," said one of the officials.

"But some sick and malicious people are spreading false stories about him being seriously ill while others are saying he is dead or dying out there," he added.

The two officials confirmed Mugabe was in Singapore but declined to divulge any further details about his trip.

The speculation about

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe listens to speeches during his 88th birthday rally in Mutare about 265km (165miles) east of the capital Harare, February 25, 2012.

Mugabe's state of health flared after a small online newspaper, The Zimbabwe Mail, reported that Mugabe was "battling for his life" in a Singapore hospital.

A terse government

statement saying a weekly cabinet meeting set for Tuesday had been postponed to Thursday also fed the speculation about the president's health.

But one of the officials said

Mugabe was expected to chair the rescheduled session on Thursday.

Zimbabwe's capital Harare was quiet on Tuesday, with government offices and businesses re-opening after the Easter Holiday.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since the southern African state gained independence from Britain in 1980.

Although ZANU-PF officials rally behind Mugabe in public, in private many want him to retire and pass the baton to a younger heir, due to fears his advanced age may cost the party victory in upcoming elections.

This fear within ZANU-PF has intensified since reports, based on a June 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, that Mugabe is suffering from prostate cancer.

Asked whether the president had also used his 10-day visit to Singapore for a medical checkup, one of the officials said: "We are not going to be engaged over rumours, speculation and wishful thinking."

Egypt court blocks creation of constitutional assembly

A

n Egyptian court yesterday halted a move to create a new constitutional assembly pending a ruling on its legality, challenging the legitimacy of a body spurned by liberal and Christian groups because of its domination by Islamists.

The injunction slapped on the decision by parliament could delay the introduction of a constitution

needed urgently to clarify the powers of Egypt's new head of state, due to take over from ruling generals by mid-year.

The government and parliament had argued that the court had no authority over the move to form the constituent assembly.

But Judge Ali Fekri said the court "rejected the argument that

the court is not specialised and decided to halt the decision" that formed the assembly. He passed on the case's documents to a judicial panel for a review.

This case is one of several lawsuits that had demanded the dissolution of the assembly because it did not represent the diversity of Egyptian society.

Lawyer Khaled Abo Bakr said the

If available opinion polls can be trusted, they will have to make up ground on Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian foreign minister and Arab League chief who enjoys wide name recognition and has been on the campaign trail for a year.

But both Shater and Suleiman are expected to do well in the election due to be held in May and June. One is the representative of an Islamist group that is the country's best organised party and the other is a

former military man with establishment ties who is seen by his supporters as the best bet for an end to more than a year of turmoil.

Despite Suleiman's denials, his candidacy is widely seen as being backed by the ruling army council and sets the stage for a ballot box fight between a leading symbol of Mubarak's era and the Islamist movement banned under his rule.

Both Shater and Suleiman are viewed as mysterious figures whose distance from the public eye has been a hot topic in local media since their candidacies were confirmed. Their voices are hardly known to most Egyptians.

"Each of them belongs to the world of secret work," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a political commentator. They are "two sides of the same coin", added Ahmed al-Sawy, a commentator writing in Shorouk newspaper.

Suleiman, 76, barely spoke in public until he was appointed as Mubarak's deputy in his last days in office. As his intelligence chief, Mubarak had tasked him with high-profile diplomatic missions. His portfolio included Palestinian affairs. In his few days as vice president, his most memorable speech was the brief February 11 announcement that Mubarak would step down.

… Presidential rivals share secretive past

T

hey sit at opposite ends of Egypt's political spectrum and one of them was jailed by a government in which the other was chief of intelligence. Now they both want to be president.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Khairat al-Shater and Hosni Mubarak's head spy Omar Suleiman have moved firmly into the public eye as lastminute contenders in the presidential election, redrawing the electoral map just weeks before voting.

Presidential candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Khairat al-Shater gestures during an interview with Reuters at his office in Cairo April 8, 2012.

court's capacity to review the case rested on whether parliament's step to form the assembly was legally seen as an administrative decision.

"This means the assembly's activities are frozen; it is suspended until further notice, until the judicial panel convenes," he said.

Selected by parliament, the 100-member constitutional assembly is composed mostly of Islamists, who won the majority of seats in Egypt's first free parliamentary vote in decades.

Only a handful of seats were reserved for youth groups, women and for Christian Copts, who said they plan to boycott the assembly, following the example of liberal groups and the country's highest Sunni Islamic institution alAzhar, who all withdrew from the assembly.

The case was brought by lawyers and activists complaining that the body appointed by the Islamist-led parliament to write the constitution laying out the framework of laws and state institutions fails to reflect the diversity of Egyptian society.

The current constitution was suspended by the army rulers in February last year, shortly after they took power from Egypt's longserving autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak, who was forced out by a popular uprising.

The new document is expected to include more freedoms and define rules for the authorities including setting out the terms of presidential power.

It could also decide which institution of state will effectively rule the Arab world's most populous country.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 33

Suicide attacks kill 19 in Afghanistan S

uicide bombers killed at least nineteen people in attacks across Afghanistan yesterday, including 11 Afghan police, as insurgents ramped up violence ahead of the traditional summer fighting

months.

Two bombers, including one wearing a head-to-toe covering burqa, blew up a car laden with explosives on the airport road outside the western city of Herat, killing

eight civilians and three police, provincial governor spokesman Mohiddin Noori said.

Twenty-three people were wounded in the attack, which took place in a usually peaceful part of the

country near the border with Iran.

In volatile southern Helmand province, three suicide attackers targeted the district governor's office in Musa Qala district, killing eight police. Two of the bombers were shot dead, but one managed to detonate explosives.

"The first one opened fire on Afghan police. In response he was killed by our forces, while the second one detonated himself and police killed the third," said Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor.

A NATO spokesman on Monday said insurgents had so far shown no sign of planning a repeat of last year's unified spring offensive against foreign and Afghan forces, preferring isolated attacks on small units and bases.

The Afghan Taleban claimed responsibility for the Helmand attack, saying it had been targeting the district governor and police chief, as well as other government officials.

"Our Mujahidin are resisting and have brought huge fatalities to the enemy," Taleban spokesman Qari

Chinese activist jailed on fraud charges

A

Afghan security forces try to move the bodies of victims from the site of a suicide attack in Herat province on Tuesday.

Chinese activist rendered disabled by prior police treatment has been sentenced to a jail term of two years and eight months on charges of fraud and provoking trouble.

Ni Yulan was sentenced by a Beijing court yesterday. Ni's husband, Dong Jiqin, was also given a two-year jail term.

Husband and wife were arrested last year in a crackdown to deter popular uprisings, that China feared could resemble the ones in many Arab states.

Ni was convicted of causing a disturbance at a hotel where they had been detained by police. The court said the couple failed to pay 69,972 yuan ($11,100) in hotel bills between June 2010 and April 2011.

Ni was also convicted of posing as a lawyer and receiving 5,000 yuan through deceit ($795).

The EU issued a statement in

front of the court Tuesday saying it was "deeply concerned" about Ni's sentence and that because of her poor health she should be released immediately.

"The European Union is preoccupied with the deterioration of the situation for human rights defenders in China and will continue to follow these cases attentively,'' the statement read.

The sentencing took place under heavy security. The access road to the courthouse was cordoned off with a temporary checkpoint.

Dozens of police officers and neighbourhood watch members patrolled outside the courthouse and kept an eye on foreign journalists and diplomats from the United States and Europe.

Ni's daughter, Dong Xuan, said she was allowed in the court but was later taken away and briefly detained by police.

Syria: Troops being pulled out from provinces

S Police and neighbourhood-watch members kept an eye on foreign journalists and diplomats outside the courthouse

Lavrov, right, says Assad's government 'could have been more active' in implementing peace plan

yria's foreign minister says Damascus has begun withdrawing some of its troops from cities in line with a UN-backed peace plan to end a year of bloodshed in the country.

Walid al-Muallem, speaking yesterday after meeting his Russian counterpart in Moscow, said Syria wanted a say in the composition of an international team to observe implementation of a ceasefire in the country.

"We have already withdrawn forces and army units from several Syrian provinces,'' Muallem said.

"An end of violence must be simultaneous with the arrival of the international observers."

Brokered by Kofi Annan, the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, the six-point peace plan required Syrian forces to pull back from protest centres

by Tuesday.

But activists say that Syrian forces have attacked two towns as the deadline passed.

Shelling was reported in the northern village of Marea and mortar fire in the city of Homs, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Muallem said his government wanted guarantees from Annan that the opposition fighters would commit to a ceasefire.

"We will not ask the terrorist groups, which are killing, kidnapping and destroying infrastructure, for guarantees," he said.

"We want Annan to give us these guarantees."

For their part, Russia and China, who have twice shielded Syria from UN sanctions, called on the government of Bashar al-Assad as well as the opposition to work towards Annan's proposed truce.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Syria's government "could have been more active and decisive'' in implementing the peace plan.

Separately, Liu Weimin, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said his country hopes the Syrian government and opposition "stay with their commitment to the ceasefire and withdrawal, and create favourable conditions for easing the tension in Syria and pushing for a political resolution for the Syria issue".

Assad's crackdown on the uprising, that has brought clashes with an increasingly armed opposition, has killed more than 9,000.

The fighting has also spilled over Syria's borders and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, has accused Syria of infringing its border.

A day after Syrian forces opened fire across the border, killing two people in a refugee camp, Erdogan said his country is considering what steps to take in response, including measures "we don't want to think about".

PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

UK terror suspects to be extradited to US

Turkish PM makes first trip to China in 27 years

T

urkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in China for a four-day visit to strengthen business and political ties between the rising powers with booming economies. The visit comes despite differences over Syria and China's ethnic

Uighur region.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Erdogan arrived in Urumqi in the far western region of Xinjiang on Sunday and travels to Beijing on Monday. It is the first visit by a Turkish premier to China in 27 years.

It follows a February visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Turkey, when the countries signed deals worth billions of dollars.

Xinjiang is home to China's Uighurs, who are ethnically related to Turks. Ethnic tensions have led to violence in the region in recent years.

Abu Hamza is wanted in the USA for 11 terror related charges

T

he European Court of Human Rights has ruled that five UK terror suspects should be extradited from the UK to the US. The Strasbourg court held there would be no violation of human rights for those facing life or solitary confinement in certain prison conditions.

Abu Hamza, a radical preacher, and Babar Ahmad, an alleged fundraiser for "terrorists" who has been in prison since 2004, will now be extradicted to the US along with Seyla Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz.

The court's ruling can still hypothetically be appealed to its final Grand Chamber; however, in practice very few cases are reheard in that final forum.

The men have three months to try to persuade the Grand Chamber to reopen the entire case and examine it. If the men fail to launch an appeal, they will be extradited to the US. The case of Haroon Rashid Aswat has been adjourned as the judges need to see more submissions on his schizophrenia and how that would be treated were he sent to the US. All six had appealed against any US extradition as they say on arrival they might be held in a high-security prison in Colorado, known as a "supermax" prison and claim that if convicted there is very little or no prospect of ever being released.

In July 2010, European judges had stopped extradition proceedings, they had argued that the court needed more time to consider the complaints that the men's rights would be breached if they were to be sent the US, exposing them to possible life imprisonment without parole and solitary confinement.

Abu-Hamza, a preacher at London's Finsbury Park Mosque, rose to prominence for inciting racial hatred.

He is currently serving a sevenyear sentence in the UK. Described by the US as a "terrorist facilitator with a global reach", as he was wanted in the US on 11 charges related to claims that he took 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, promoted violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspired to set up a jihad training camp in the state of Oregon.

Babar Ahmed, has been held without trial in the UK for eight years has been refused bail since his

arrest on a US extradition warrant.

Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reporting from London says: " Babar Ahmed is Britain's longest serving prisoners who is held without trial."

"His supporters say it is a ridiculous kafkaesque ruling, in the USA he is accused of running a website which provided material for the Taliban and money laundering."

He denies terror-related charges, as in an interview he says: "I do not hold the Americans responsible for anything that has happened to me but I think it is fair to say that I am fighting for my life - and I am running out of time."

In a statement his supporters and family say they will fight the ruling.

"We are very disappointed with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. While the decision deals with the issue of prison conditions in the US, the fundamental question remains as to why this matter has even got to Strasbourg and why Babar even needs to be extradited to the US," said the statement.

Al-Fawwaz and Bary are accused of being involved in US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Aswat is accused of a being part of an alleged terror camp in Oregon, while Ahsan is accused by a US court of running an extremist website and funding the Taliban.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspects an honour guard with China's Premier Wen Jiabao (L) during an official welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.

Anti-poverty group ONE pushes for G8 food deal

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eaders of the world's industrial powers should commit to boost agriculture investments in poor countries and end hunger and malnutrition among the poor when they meet outside Washington in May, a group co-founded by anti-poverty campaigners and rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof said yesterday.

A new report by ONE Campaign said increased donor support for

agricultural investment plans in 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Central America could lift about 50 million people out of extreme poverty.

Leaders from the wealthy Group of Eight - the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia - meet near Washington on May 1819 where global food security is one of the main development issues to be

Second psychiatric probe says Norway killer not insane

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second psychiatric examination has found that confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is not criminally insane, despite a claim based upon an earlier assessment.

The findings contradict a previous evaluation, published in November, which found him legally insane.

Breivik is due to stand trial on Monday over a shooting spree last July, in which he admits killing 77 people.

The question of his sanity decides whether he will be sent to a psychiatric ward or jail.

"The main conclusion of the experts is that Anders Behring Breivik is found to be not psychotic during the time of his actions on July 22, 2011," the Oslo court said in a statement on Tuesday.

"That means that he is considered criminally responsible at the time of the crime."

The second evaluation was approved by a court in January following widespread criticism of last year's assessment that diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic - meaning he would most likely be detained in psychiatric care.

Many of his surviving victims believed he was sane, and that the only proper punishment would be a prison sentence.

Breivik has himself insisted he is mentally stable, and last week blasted the first psychiatric assessment as "lies", saying 80% of it was wrong.

In a letter to Norwegian tabloid Verdans Gang, he said being sent to a psychiatric ward would be a "fate worse than death".

"To send a political activist to an asylum is more sadistic and more evil than

killing him!" he wrote.

The 33-year-old has confessed to killing 77 people and injuring 151 in twin attacks on 22 July last year, but does not accept the charge of committing acts of terror.

He says the car bombing in Oslo and a shooting spree at a summer camp for young Labour Party activists on the lake island of Utoeya was part of a "crusade" against multiculturalism and Islam.

News of the latest evaluation come just six days before Breivik's 10week trial is due to start.

The findings of both psychiatric reports - as well as witness statements - are expected to be taken into account by the court when deciding whether Breivik will spend the coming years in psychiatric care or in jail.

discussed.

The global food price crisis in 2008, which led to increased hunger, malnutrition and social unrest, highlighted the years of under investment in agriculture in developing countries. Food prices have remained high and volatile since then, raising the food bills of the world's poor countries.

ONE said it would launch its "Thrive" campaign in France, Germany, Britain and the United States to highlight the need to tackle the causes of hunger.

Bono and Geldof were instrumental in a global campaign that led to the cancellation of debts of poorest countries in 2005.

This year's G8 summit is being held at Camp David, a rustic retreat located on a military base in the Catoctin Mountain Park, about 60 miles (96 km) north of Washington.

"ONE's new analysis shows that sustained investment in small-scale farming, together with a focus on ensuring children have enough nourishing food to eat, will have a huge impact on tens of millions of people around the world living in extreme poverty," said Ben Leo, global policy director at ONE. Leo said ONE's analysis identified 30 poor countries, home to about 26 percent of the 1.4 billion extreme poor, which have globally backed agricultural investment plans that need donor support.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 35

Boy, 4, is found wandering street with multiple stab wounds as man, 51, is arrested

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eighbours spotted child sobbing and bleeding outside house in Mansfield, Nottingham Boy's condition described as 'serious but stable' A four-year-old boy is in intensive care after he was found in a street with multiple stab wounds.

Horrified neighbours alerted police and paramedics after they spotted the sobbing and bleeding youngster outside a house in Frederick Street, Mansfield, Nottingham, at about 1.30pm on Easter Monday.

The boy was treated at the scene before he was taken by ambulance to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, where he is undergoing treatment.

Family are maintaining a round-the-clock vigil at the youngster's hospital bedside.

His condition is said to be 'serious but stable'.

It is thought the un-named boy was injured inside the terrace house before he was discovered in the street.

A 51-year-old man was arrested at the property where the boy was stabbed and is being questioned on suspicion of assault.

It is understood the man in custody is not a relative of the boy but is known to his family.

Detectives are currently scouring the scene of the attack for forensic clues.

A police spokesperson said: 'We believe this is an isolated incident and we do not think any other parties are involved.

'We will be interviewing the man in custody later today.

'Specialist support is being provided for the boy and his family, while house-to-house enquiries and a full forensic examination of a property in Frederick Street will be carried

out today.'

Inspector David Wilkes said police 'are investigating events leading up to the boy sustaining stab wounds'.

Police say their enquiries are ongoing and anyone with

son. He is a bright lad, sprightly and everybody knows him.

'We stayed with him until he came round. He should be out of hospital within two or three days.'

Neighbours said the boy's parents do not live together.

A close-up of Sid 'the snake' (Picture: Scottish SPCA

The youngster, named locally as Toby, usually lives with his mother, but at the time of the alleged attack he was being looked after by his father, it was claimed.

A neighbour said: 'The house where the lad was stabbed is a couple of doors from where his dad lives.

'I think dad must have popped out on an errand and left the boy with a neighbour.'

Another neighbour said: 'The dad has lived at the house for only a few months but had got friendly with his neighbours. I hadn't seen him with the boy before.

'Perhaps he was looking after him while the mum was doing something else over Easter. It must have been awful for the mum when she was told what happened to her little boy.'

Today the quiet cul-de-sac where the stabbing occurred remained out of bounds behind police tape.

A police officer stood guard while forensic scientists could be seen arriving and leaving the scene.

Cordon: Police guard the scene in Frederick Street, Mansfield, where a four-year-old boy was Search: Forensic teams have been scouring the scene for clues today stabbed

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man obsessed with breaking world records has finally stopped having his body and head tattooed with flags - after his wife threatened to LEAVE HIM. Guinness Rishi, 70, from Delhi, is covered in the flags of 305 different countries, 185 country maps, 165 mini flags and 2,985 characters.

Investigation: A 51 year-old man is being held in custody while police carry out a search of the scene

information is asked to contact detectives.

The boy's father, who did not want to be named, revealed his son was now out of intensive care and recovering in hospital.

The father said: 'He is my only

Eccentric ... Guinness poses with the mannequin head he dubs his 'assistant'

Tatt’s a record! Indian man has over 305 flag tattoos His long-suffering wife finally persuaded him to stop after convincing Guinness that no one else would want to break his world record - which officially stands at his 2009 total of 220 flag tattoos.

"I've beaten my own record and will invite the adjudicators to come update their books, so that my new total is recognised through the years," said Guinness, who changed his name from Har Prakash when he set out to break as many world records as possible five years ago.

His 22 records include such singular feats as making the longest will in the world - a whopping 489 pages, delivering a pizza from New Delhi to San Francisco, and, of course, carrying the highest number of tattoos on his body.

Guinness's wife Bimla is so angered by her husband's attentionseeking that she refuses to go to the market or be seen in public with him.

She has even sabotaged his bid to break the record for the planet's WORST political candidate - by promising to vote for him.

"I want to be remembered after I die," said Mr Rishi.

"But my wife is angry at me for getting so many tattoos and that is why she threatens to have nothing to do with me.

"I have not finished yet and am simply looking for a new record I can break."

Barcroft Media Mr Rishi's other records include 'taking on the world's oldest adoptee', after he legally took custody of his 61-year-old brother-in-law, and building the tallest sugar cube tower in the world, which stood at 64 inches.

Incredibly, the committed record-breaker also had all his teeth extracted so he could fill his mouth with 750 straws.

"People call me a joker, a madman. It doesn't bother me," said Guinness.

"My dream is to go around the world several times. I want the children of those countries to ask me, where the flag of their country is, spot it and then, in the process, become aware of my country and

other countries as well.

"In fact, I am donating my body to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, so that they preserve it and put in on display."

Courtesy: Dailymail.co.uk

Promoting harmony ... Guinness wants to spread the idea of world unity with his flag tattoos

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Olympic doping tests may have to be tightened after study finds that green tea could help cheats

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reen tea can help mask the levels of testosterone in the body, say scientists.

A study found extracts contained in the beverage, reduced concentrations of the hormone by up to 30 per cent.

Olympic doping officials have now raised concerns that athletes could use tea to hide increased levels of testosterone from standard drugs tests.

Testosterone is one of the oldest illegal steroids used in sports, and it is commonly used to build muscle.

Experts say athletes taking testosterone for doping purposes typically have 200 to 300 percent more in their bodies than normal.

During the study, researchers added green and white tea extracts - or catechins - to the hormone and discovered that they reduced the concentration by almost a third.

The recent anomaly could now lead to a change in the tests ahead of this summer’s Games.

Olivier Rabin, scientific director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA said: ‘It’s interesting that something as common as tea could have a significant influence on the steroid profile.

‘We may need to adjust our steroid (test) to allow us to exclude whether a test is modified by food or training or disease, before we can say that it’s doping,’ The study was conducted in a laboratory so scientists said it was too early to tell what the effect of green tea might be in humans, but similar results have been

found in rodent studies.

Other foods and beverages, such as alcohol, are also known to muddle test results and WADA has tight controls on other commonly consumed substances like caffeine.

‘There’s no reason to think we just happened to pick the only food in the world that does this,’ said Declan Naughton of Kingston University, who published the findings in the journal, Steroids.

Charles Yesalis, a doping expert at Pennsylvania State University, said officials needed to react quickly.

‘Athletes will not wait for the clinical trials,’ he said. ‘I’ll bet there are already lots of athletes out there drinking loads of green tea,’ he added.

However some experts said the limited effects of foods like green tea on masking illegal drug use would be too small to help doping athletes.

‘You would probably need to drink the tea continuously to get any sustained but minor effect,’ said Andrew Kicman, head of research and development at the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London, which is providing the anti-doping laboratory for the upcoming Olympics.

‘It would be a very foolish athlete who’s thinking of doping with testosterone and thinks he could drink white or green tea to beat a drug test,’ he said. ‘And I personally wouldn’t want to drink nine cups of tea on the day of a race.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

A study found green tea helped reduce the concentration of testosterone

“

It would be a very foolish athlete who’s thinking of doping with testosterone and thinks he could drink white or green tea to beat a drug test The new facility in Harlow, Essex is where the athletes samples will be tested

Olympic sprinter, Ben Johnson, was banned from athletics for life after failing a drugs test for the second time in 1993

Studies have shown that tea can mask testosterone concentration

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 37

Nasarawa PDP decries escalating communal clashes From Ali Abare, Lafia

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L-R: Secretary-General, Airline Operators Of Nigeria, Capt Mohammed Joji, Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren and Mr Babatunde Irukera of NCAA, during the House Committee on Aviation Public Hearing on the high cost of Air Fare, recently, in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Bauchi CPC warns pioneer chairman to stop parading himself as chairman From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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he Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Bauchi state chapter has warned the suspended state chairman of the party, Alhaji Shehu Barau Ningi to stop parading himself as the CPC chairman in the state.

A letter to the suspended chairman, dated April 7, 2012 and signed by the Bauchi state Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party, Aliyu S. Abubakar, said the committee have concluded plans to notify the National Secretariat of the party and its Board of Trustees of the development.

The party observed that the suspended chairman and his cohorts persisted in their acts of indiscipline, holding clandestine meetings and sponsoring media advertisement indicating that

Shehu Barau still holds sway as the chairman of the party.

The Bauchi CPC reminded Shehu Barau of the letter served on him on March 29, 2012 by the National Secretariat of the party, which directed him to stop issuing any press statement in the name of the party and that he should withdraw all cases pending in court of law.

It could be recalled that Ningi was, via a letter of the National Secretariat of the Party dated February 22, 2012, suspended as member of the CPC for what the party described as gross intransigence, insubordination, anti-party, and disrespect of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.

In the suspension letter, the party said it took the decision due to the recalcitrant role he played in denying the party fielding

candidate for the recently concluded by-election in Sakwa state constituency.

Other reasons for the suspension of the Bauchi state chairman of the party, the CPC said, included Ningi’s refusal to handover the properties of the party in his possession to the state caretaker committee of the party.

Ningi was also said to have taken the CPC to court and refused to withdraw the case as directed by the party.

The suspension letter to Ningi which was signed by the Acting National Chairman of the CPC, Alhaji Mustapha Saliu similarly noted that he unilaterally conducted primaries that produced candidates of the party for the 2011 general elections, among others.

S/West PDP assures of inclusive party system From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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he National Vice Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South West, Chief Segun Oni yesterday promised to run all inclusive party system across the region assured that nobody would be sidelined.

Oni stated this at the inauguration of local government party chairmen held at the state Secretariat of the party in Ibadan just as he called for peace among party members in the state.

He said “we are not going to

exclude anybody; PDP belongs to everybody; the party is an all inclusive one; the umbrella is big enough to accommodate everybody.”

He urged party members to join hands together to achieve the objective of returning back to power in South Western states.

The former governor of Ekiti state hinted that the party would create a ground for inclusiveness of party elders to contribute their experiences as well as advisory council while state executive will act as party managers.

He maintained that, the party ought to have learnt its lesson

adding that PDP can contain everybody as one big party without belonging to any factions.

He said that the party will not leave anyone behind to ensure that everyone was comfortable in the party.

Oni assured that there will be no parallel or division in the party as the leaders of the party had resolved to work hard ahead of the local government election and 2015 general elections.

He appealed to Accord party members to work together with PDP so that by 2015 the current regime led by governor Abiola Ajimobi can go.

he Nasarawa state chapterof the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decried the escalation of communal conflicts in the state, urging the CPC administration to rise up to the challenge by identifying the immediate and remote causes of the conflict with a view to finding lasting solutions and prevent recurrence.

Delivering a speech at the state party secretariat in Lafia, Nasarawa PDP Chairman, Yunana Iliya, assured the state government that the party was prepared to avail it with its experience acquired during the past 12 years while the party governed the state, stressing that there are esteemed members of the party who were founding fathers of the state, who are

willing to make available to the state government their wealth of experience on how to achieve enduring peace.

While commiserating with those who lost their loved ones in recent skirmishes that occurred in the state, the party appealed to the CPC government to ensure that the cordiality and harmony existing hitherto among various communities and tribes in the state was not only maintained but improved upon.

The PDP Chairman also used the moment to appeal to aggrieved members, following the state congress that led to the emergence of the present party exco, to eschew whatever bitterness they might have felt, adding that the new exco was committed to the restoration of the party’s ideals and principles of fairness and justice to all.

Group blames bad leadership on voters’ attitude increasing awareness From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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ational Coordinator of League of Voters in Nigeria (LVN), Comrade Benedict Bem Kokoiwen, has said that bad leadership in a democracy was a product of the inaction or action of the electorate.

He also noted that when the electorates deliberately sell their votes or outrightly refused to vote during elections, they got bad leadership as reward for their actions.

He further observed that the

and consciousness that depicts power as belonging to the people was overwhelmingly received by them and expressed hope that in the future elections, the electorates would freely vote for the candidates of their choice.

The LVN National Coordinator urged the electorates to be more responsible by developing more interest in the democratic process as well as to be conscious of their voting rights by exhibiting high level of discipline and patriotism to avoid politicians always taking them for granted.

Group demands 35 % women representation in Anambra

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group, under the aegis of Women Arise for Change Initiative (WACI), Anambra chapter.’has called for a 35 per cent women representation in elective positions in Anambra.

The of the group Njideka Emeh, Chairperson of the Group, disclosed this while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Onitsha on Monday.

Emeh said that the non-conduct of the local council election in the state was hindering women from developing politically.

She urged the government to comply with the 35 per cent affirmative action as initiated by the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

She added that the low percentage of women in elective positions was hindering them from achieving their potentials.

“We are not only destined to be represented in the appointive positions but should be allowed to contest elections with our male counterparts.

“Gov. Peter Obi is the longest serving governor in Nigeria history,

who has not conducted local council election.

“And this is his sixth year in office as the governor of Anambra state.

“We know that about N1.5 billion is being collected for the 21 local councils in the state from the Federal Government, and the monies collected cannot be equated to the development projects on ground,’’ she said.

Emeh revealed that WACI would protest the non-conduct of the local council election in the state before the end of the month.

“We are going to mobilise three million women within and outside Anambra. We are going to wear all black as a mark of mourning against the government that had denied us our right to fair representation in government,’’ she said.

The chairperson also criticised condemned the increasing domestic violence against women and urged groups, mothers and public-spirited individuals to stand firm to prosecute anybody who endangered the lives of women.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 39

PAC decries high cost of party membership registration

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he Progressive Action Congress (PAC) yesterday in Abuja decried high cost of party membership registration and the cumbersome nature of the compilation.

NAN recalled that as at April 2 2012, INEC made a public pronouncement that only four out of 56 political parties had membership register.

The National Chairman of the party, Chief Charles Nwodo, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said the compilation of membership registration nationwide could not take anything less than N400 million to N500 million per political party.

L-R: National Financial Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Youth Vanguard (NYV), Abdulladi Rabiu, National Treasurer, PDP NYV, Bode Oriade, National Coordinator, PDP NYV, Bekes Apere, and National Secretary, PDP NYV, Ambassador Ibrahim Bala Aboki, during the PDP NYV Easter luncheon, on Monday in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Edo community tasks political office holders on youth empowerment

T David Mark brought stability to the Senate says Abatemi – Usman Richard Ihediwa

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ice Chairman of Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman has hailed the Senate President, David Mark on his 64th birthday anniversary.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Michael Jegede to congratulate the Senate President, the Senator noted that Mark has demonstrated, to a large extent, his political skill and ability in the coordination of

the affairs of the highest legislative body in the country.

Describing him as a man of history and honour, AbatemiUsman, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), added that the Senate President deserves to be commended by all and sundry for the stability he has brought to stay in the Upper Chamber in the last five years.

The statement quoted the Senator as saying that, “I congratulate the Senate

President, David Mark. His sterling leadership quality has provided an essential stabilising force in the Red Chamber and has greatly helped to deepen and strengthen our democracy. His wisdom, fairness and dedication to duty have earned the respect and confidence of all of us, his colleagues and the nation at large. I, my family and the good people of Kogi Central Senatorial District, wish him many more years of fruitful service to his fatherland.”

Adamawa labour unions condemn strike prohibition bill

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abour unions in Adamawa have condemned the move by the state House of Assembly to pass a bill for a law prohibiting strikes by essential service workers.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Yola, the state chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Comrade Adamu Watu, said the plan by the Adamawa lawmakers was unjustifiable.

Meanwhile, the bill which is being sponsored by Alhaji Hassan Kaigama (PDP-Maiha), has passed through second reading and referred to the House Committee on Labour.

The committee is expected to conduct a public hearing on the matter and submit a report within one month.

NAN reports that the bill seeks to give the state governor

the powers to proscribe any trade union or association of workers that engages in acts deemed to have disrupted the economy or obstructed the smooth running of any essential service in the state.

The bills seeks to ban traffic warders, health workers, staffers of revenue service, and fire service workers from organising or participating in strikes when passed into law.

It also seeks to outlaw any form of picketing prior to the decision of the National Industrial Court.

It prescribes six months imprisonment or N250,000 fine, or both for any employee who takes part in, or organises an industrial action.

Watu, however, said that the association would resist the law, explaining that strikes were legal and that labour matters were in the concurrent list of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He added that only the

National Assembly had the power to legislate on it.

“I think they are not doing justice. Moreover, it is not within their own powers as per the constitution, and I am assuring you that even the NLC at the state level are pursuing this issue.

“If they pass it into law it will not see the light of the day. It will not be respected.”

Similarly, the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Musa Abbas, said the state lawmakers had no powers to enact a law banning unionsm.

The issue of labour is on the concurrent list of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is only the federal legislatures that have the right to make laws regarding labour issues.

“So, when the state assembly comes into this issue of labour I see it as not their responsibility to make laws regarding labour.”

“ How many political parties can afford such enormous fund and task at a time when the Federal Government’s grants to political parties have been withdrawn. “ Even INEC found it difficult to issue hard copy of voters’ register because of the enormous task and fund involved. “ A man in the village may not be literate enough to send the list through the E-mail because the infrastructure is not there,” he said He said further that as rich as PDP, their electronic register failed, adding that this brought to the fact that there were areas necessary for the government to sponsor in the operation of political parties.

he people of Igarra community in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo have called on political office holders in the country to work collectively to ensure the empowerment of youths.

The call was made recently during the second Igarra General Conference organised by the Etuno Youths Association (EYA).

Mr Monday Orisaremi, President of the Association, while addressing the gathering, expressed regret that successive state governments and the Federal Government had marginalised the Igarra community.

Orisaremi, therefore, called on the sons and daughters of the community holding political offices to use their positions to ensure the development of the community.

He said that irrespective of political divide and other sentiments, the development of the community remained a challenge that must be fought.

According to him, as big as Igarra is, it lacks government

presence.

He said that an Institute of Management and Technology approved to be established in the area by the defunct Bendel State Government in 1980 was established in another community in Edo South senatorial district.

Orisaremi appealed for the establishment of some faculties of the state-owned university in the locality and called on the University of Benin to do the same.

He said that the association was ready to partner with any group or person whose activities were geared toward developing the town.

In his presentation, the senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Mr Domingo Obende, said that he was determined to bring development to the area.

He also called on the people to explore the possibility of establishing a solid mineral resources institute in the area to explore the abundance solid minerals available in some parts of the community.

Bayelsa Assembly screens 26 commissioner nominees

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he Bayelsa State House of Assembly yesterday commenced the screening of 26 names Gov. Seriake Dickson forwarded to be appointed as commissioners.

A statement by the clerk of the state house of assembly, Mr Aaron Gimiye,on Monday, in Yenagoa, said the screening would last for two days.

The statement directed the nominees to submit 30 copies each of their credentials to the clerk’s office.

NAN reports that the nominees include the immediate past chairman of the PDP in the state, Deacon James Dugo, and a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr Nelson Belief, and Mr Mitema Obodor.

It also includes a former president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr Felix Tuodolo, Mr James Agari, Mr Fred Obuah, Mr. Ambrose Alfred, Mr Markson Fefegha, Mr Zuwa Konugha and Mr Dein Binadoumene.

Also on the list are Mr Furuebi Akene, Mr William Alamene, Mr Gesiye Isowo, Mr Ball Oyarede, Mr Lawrence Erudjakpo, Mr Francis Ikio, Mr Duate Iyabi, Mrs Sarafina Otazi and Marie Ebikafe, both females.

The rest are Dr Sylvanus Abila, Dr Thomas Commander, Chief Kuroekigha Ben-Wari, Mr Ayakeme Massah, Mr Francis Egele, Hon. Salo Adikumo, and Mr Akpoebide Alamieyeseigha.

PAGE 38

Rep urges corps members to be self reliant

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ep. Eseme Eyiboh, Chairman, House Committee on Donor Agencies and Civil Society, yesterday advised corps members to be self reliant by improving and expanding on their “mind power”.

Eyiboh gave the advice while distributing copies of films entitled “Uduakobong” to members of NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) under the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), in Abuja.

The House of Representatives member, who represents Eket, Onna, Esit Eket, Ibeno Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom, urged corps members to imbibe the spirit of hard work.

He challenged them to be more productive in order to compete favourably with their western counterparts.

“The world globally is coming to a point where there will be no space for lazy people, you will only be recognised by what you have to offer positively.

“They said about 60 per cent of the people were unemployed, this is because people equip themselves with manpower and forget about mind power,’’ he said.

Eyiboh further advised the group to utilise their potentials for wealth creation, stressing the need to work toward sustaining future development of the nation.

“I want to appeal to you to adopt disciplinary measures, commitment and develop yourselves, so as to help catapult you to achieve your dreams,’’ he said.

Eyiboh, who is the Executive Producer and initiator of the film, said it was designed to educate and inculcate morals to the youths who had lost hope in going to school.

According to him, the film is very educative, it is not for sale and after watching it you will realise that education has no limit.

“I scripted this because of the personal experience I have had with some people and as an expert in public policy, I thought it is proper for me to come out to use the movie to create lessons to our people.

“As a first Decree/ HND holder, you have the chance of going higher by taking this period of national service to improve yourselves,“ he stated.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that people, who featured in the movie are Ini Edo, Patience Ozokwo, Desmond Elliot, Moses Armstrong and others, produced by Emem Isong and Directed by Desmond Elliot.

In his remark, Mr Stanley Okechukwu, president of the CDS, commended Eyibo for his effort toward ensuring that the youth were exposed to some of the impediment to social growth.

Okechukwu expressed optimism that the youth would internalise and put in practise all they would learn after watching the movie.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Edo Kidnapping: I Paid N1m Ransomed To My Kidnappers- Accord Party Scribe From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

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he National Secretary of Accord Party, (Dr) Samson Isibor, who was allegedly abducted by unknown gunmen believed to be kidnappers last week, has regained freedom after paying the sum of N1 million to his abductors.

Isibo was dumped at bye-

pass, near the African Independent Television, AIT, Benin Centre, in Edo State at the early hours of last Friday having been beaten to a pulp.

Isibo, who engaged newsmen at the Nig e r i a Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Edo state Council in company of his wife last Saturday attributed his woes to the

handiwork of aggrieved members of opposition party in the state.

The Accord party scribe, who doubles as the state chairman of Coalition of R e g i s t e r e d P o litical Party (CRPP), said in his formal declaration for the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN recently before the unfortunate incident pitched

him against his traducers.

Recalling his ordeal, the politician who thanked Journalists ahead of his thanksgiving celebration said "They said I should keep my mouth shut; they beat me, it was God that saved me…I paid N1 million. My brothers, help me thank God. They said why do I have to leave them".

R-L: President of Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, with Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, at the Presidential Villa in Niamey, during the Speaker's visit recently to Niger.

Katsina fast losing at the centre From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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espite being a PDP controlled state for the past 12 years and even producing late President Umaru Musa ‘Yar’adua, Katsina state is fast losing its grip at the centre.

Investigation by our correspondent in Katsina revealed that since the death of the former President ‘Yar’adua in 2009, the number of political appointees from Katsina state at the Federal level is fast diminishing.

During the tenure of late ‘Yar’adua, Katsina state had the

following political appointees, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma, Miniter of Agriculture and Water resources, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, Chief Economic adviser to the President, Chief Physician to the President, Dr. Salisu Banye.

Others include, Executive Secretary of PTDF, engineer Muttaqa Darma, Managing Director Inland Waterways, Architect Ahmad Aminu ‘Yar’adua and a Secretary in FCT, Alhaji Mustapha Bala Batsari.

The rest include FERMA boss, Engineer Barkiya, Coordinator Food Security

programme, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Muhammad, Custom boss, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi Inde and other appointees with lesser portfolios.

Out of these appointees since the demise of ‘Yar’adua, our Correspondent gathered that Katsina state now hold only four.

These appointees from Katsina state include Custom boss, Alhaji Dikko Inde, PTDF boss, Engineer Darma, Managing Director Inland Water Ways, Architect Ahmad Aminu ‘Yar’adua and a minister representing the state.

At the national level,

Katsina state has also lost in the PDP. Before the election of the PDP new executive, Katsina had Alhaji Tukur Mani as the National Treasurer of the party.

A caucus member of the PDP in Katsina state who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity lamented that in the process of constituting the new exco of the party, Katsina was given the slot of the National Organising Secretary of the party, but due to some political scheming it was shifted to Kaduna state which now occupies the seat.

Reps Diaspora committee condoles family of Nigerian killed in the US

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he House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora has condoled with the family of Mrs Doris Chibuko, a 40year-old Nigerian, killed in the U.S. A letter of condolence signed

by Rep. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the committee and addressed to the husband of the deceased, Mr. Efanye Chibuko, described the

incident as “very sad.''

NAN recalled that the deceased, mother of three, who was just two months away from her graduation at the Koreans Nursing School, Oakland Oikos University, East Oakland, California, U.S., was shot dead on April 2.

She was shot along with five others by a lone gunman, who opened fire indiscriminately on students

and teachers inside the small Christian University located in East Oakland.

The deceased who had worked as a lawyer in Nigeria, was in the midst of launching a second career in nursing, eight months into a one-year vocational programme, before the unfortunate incident.

“The committee sends its heartfelt condolences to the husband, Mr Efanye Chibuko,

the children, Chiemelie, three years old, Ify, five years old and Chioma, eight years old and her mother, who also lives in Oakland.

“We pray that the mercies of God will be with the family in these hard times.

“We also commend the Nigerian community in Oakland, who has rallied round the family and provided moral and emotional support.''

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 41

World Cup qualifiers: NFF ‘apprehensive’ over Kaduna

Eagles in training in Dubai Story by Patrick Andrew

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ollowing series of bomb attacks in Kaduna, particularly the Easter bombing that claimed scores of

people, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has expressed serious apprehension over the likelihood of staging the 2014 World Cup game at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium

Kaduna as planned.

A top NFF official has told a wire service that the football federation was now ‘apprehensive’ about having the Super Eagles play their

Olympic volley ball: Nigeria, 7 others fight for Africa’s single slot

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he Secretary of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Patrick Abobi, said yesterday that Nigeria and seven other countries would fight for Africa’s single slot at the 2012 Olympics male beach volleyball qualifiers.

Abobi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that the seven other countries were Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Angola, Congo Brazzaville, South Africa and Cameroon.

The secretary said that the qualifiers would hold in Mauritius between April 12 and April 16 adding that the federation has completed all arrangements to ensure that Nigeria gets the slot.

He added: “We will not disappoint the country at the qualifiers because we cannot afford to lose at this point in time; our players are the best in Africa.

“The players had been in camp since February and they have been training very hard; I am confident that they will

represent Africa at the Games.”

Abobi gave an assurance that the four players representing Nigeria at the qualifiers were totally prepared for the task ahead of them. The secretary said the players, who had been in camp since February, in Abuja, were decamped on April 6.

He named the players as Goodluck Anyosoeike, Osas Omoreghe, Isaac Igigba and

Abdulazeez Adamu, adding that as disciplined players they would do their best.

Abobisaid the team would depart for Mauritius on April 12 via South African Airline.

The secretary said that the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) would be at the qualifiers to assess the players.

Patrick Ekeji, DG, NSC

qualifying games in Kaduna largely to due to the security scare.

Nigeria were due to host World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifying and some friendly games in Kaduna in May and June in Kaduna, but the fatal bomb blasts have left officials worried, although officially all are putting on brave faces.

“At the moment, we are all apprehensive after what happened this past weekend,” an NFF official said. “We will meet soon and consider the situation.”

On record however, both NFF President Aminu Maigari, and Secretary General Musa Amadu were singing a different tunes “The match in Kaduna is part of our efforts to use football to bring unity to the country.

Nobody should raise unnecessary alarm,” Maigari said.

Amadu explained why Kaduna remained under consideration “Abuja and Kaduna are the only two good stadia in the country that have natural grass,” he said.

“The rest are artificial turf.

And we know the condition of the Abuja pitch at the moment. In any case, no one at the federation has officially come out to say we will play in Kaduna yet. So this is all speculation from the media for now,” Amadu was quoted by the wire service to have said.

The wire service also claimed that some foreignbased Super Eagles have expressed before serious reservations about security in Kaduna, which implies that they may not be eager to fill out against opponents at the venue.

Last year, the Super Eagles played a friendly against Zambia in Kaduna and the game went without incident.

Musa Amadu, NFF Scribe

...NFF mourns Jerry Azinge

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he Nigeria Football Federation yesterday expressed condolence for the demise of former Captain of the senior national team, Mr. Jerry Azinge.

Azinge, who died on Thursday, was captained the Nigeria’s national team and also played as member of the team between 1965 and 1968.

The lion-hearted defender made his debut for Nigeria in a friendly against Gabon in Libreville on August 30, 1965, which Nigeria won 4-1.

He played alongside the likes of Paul Hamilton, Sam Opone, Sam Garba Okoye, Sunday Anieke and Ifeanyi Osadebe.

Azinge then captained the team in a Zik Cup match against Ghana in Accra on October 22, 1967 that Nigeria lost 2-1 and in a 1968 Olympic Games qualifying match against Sudan in Khartoum on

November 17, 1967 that Nigeria also lost 2-1, but qualified on the away goal rule after earlier winning the first leg 1-0.

In his letter of condolence to the family, NFF President Aminu Maigari wrote: “Indeed, the entire Nigeria football family is greatly saddened by this sad event, as we recall vividly late Mr. Jerry Azinge’s tremendous contributions to Nigeria football, having captained the Senior National Team of Nigeria and also as a member of the team between 1965 and 1968.

“The late Jerry Azinge typified the old school, as he showed total commitment and dedication to the national cause all through his years with the National Team, and fought bravely for the Nigeria nation with gusto, discipline and elegance”.

Super Eagles, Pharaohs share hotel in Dubai

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igeria’s Super Eagles and the Pharaohs of Egypt are lodged at the Samaya Hotel and Resorts in Dubai and would thus share both accommodation and other facilities ahead of their Thursday’s friendly clash.

Match organisers say there was no need for separate hotels as the game is a friendly game and should create an atmosphere of friendship between officials and players of both teams.

NFF officials, who are also expected to join the squad today

to witness the encounter, are equally to be accommodated in the same Samaya Hotel.

Meanwhile, Ben Alaiya, the Media officer of the Eagles, said that Facilities in the hotel are quite commendable, adding that it’s a five-star hotel complete

with a gym and other facilities that sportsmen require to stay in tune for match situations.

“The game proper between Nigeria and Egypt will be played 8pm Dubai time and that is 5pm Nigerian time, officials of the organisers also

confided in us.

“The stadium to be used will be decided by Tuesday night as there are four international stadia in Dubai and none has yet been picked, as both countries have to agree on the staium of choice,” Alaiya said.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

Don’t make appointments on sentiment, Onigbinde advises NFF

CAF Champions League:

Cotonsport player hails Dolphins

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otonsport FC of Garoua, Cameroon player and DR Congo international, Boukama Kaya, has hailed Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt’s tactical approach to the game in their CAF Champions League match.

Dolphins lost 0 – 1 to Coton Sport in a CAF Champion’s League second leg match in Garoua, Cameroon on Sunday.

It will be recalled that Coton Sport had lost the first leg 1 - 2 in Port Harcourt a week ago, so Dolphin’s loss on Sunday ensured a 2 – 2 scoreline, which amounted to a 3 – 2 victory for Coton Sport based on the away goal advantage rule.

Kaya, a midfielder, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) through an interpreter in Garoua, Cameroon, said that the Nigerian team surprised everybody with its tactical play.

He expressed happiness that in spite of the stiff opposition during the match in Cameroon, Coton Sport was able to win 1- 0.

“He is saying that he is very happy because they have won.

That the match they played in Nigeria; they lost there because maybe they were not on their feet, but for today, they have seen a different team from Nigeria with a very good defence and a very good tactical way of playing, but they have won and that is his happiness.”

Kaya, who plays for DR Congo national team, said Dolphins were a team for the future because of their style of play and the talent in the squad.

Asked if he would like to play for any Nigerian club, Kaya said he had already got offers from European clubs and would soon go for trials.

He said Cotonsport had good potential to move to the next round of the CAF Champions League.

“I cannot say now that we will win the CAF Champions League, but we have good potential like other clubs in the league.”

F Adegboyega Onigbinde

Chief Patrick Ekeji, DG, NSC

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ensure that “square pegs get to occupy square holes” in football administration.

“I have gained considerable knowledge about football administration at the local and international circles based on merit.

“Bringing someone with irrelevant qualification for a position he is not suited for is suicidal to any profession, sentiments and personal interest has continued to be a cog in our will of progress,” the former coach said.

He said that his selection as a FIFA and CAF instructor was based purely on his vast experience and not on sentiments or nationality.

“I got into CAF and FIFA on my own after due diligence on my background; I did not have to apply I was chosen on merit.

He stressed the need for the involvement of administrators with pedigree, and added that such administrator’s background should be critically examined.

NNL bemoans poor officiating in first stanza

By Albert Akota

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he Nigeria National League (NNL) has bemoaned recurrent incidences of poor officiating during the first stanza of the league, which is now on recess.

The Executive Secretary of the league, Mallam Ayo AbdulRahman, revealed this while assessing the performances of match officials in the first stanza and regretted referees’ had been a major problem for the league.

He argued that although the members of the league board had worked tirelessly to ensure that things were done in accordance with set standard in officiating and administration, referees had rendered such efforts almost invalid.

AbdulRahman, who condemned the attitude of the referees, said the NNL board had

Wimbledon hires rugby league chairman as CEO he All England Club has hired a former British Davis Cup player as the chief executive of Wimbledon.

Richard Lewis, who is the English rugby league chairman, will replace Ian Ritchie, who left Wimbledon this year to run English rugby union’s governing body.

Lewis played for Britain in the Davis Cup from 1977-83,

ormer Green Eagles Chief Coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, has urged the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and other authorities to jettison appointments of technical officials and administrators solely on sentiment.

The CAF and FIFA instructor, who attributed the retrogression in Nigeria sports as being partly because of this, said making key appointments purely on sentiment has been unhealthy adding that lobbying for plum positions in the country’s football industry through professional agents has been major problem.

Onigbinde asserted that unjustified lobbying was one of the major challenges impeding the growth of football in the country and urged the powers that be to accord merit and competence priority in the appointment of technical personnel.

He wondered why things could not be done on merit to

and reached No 68 in the world rankings.

Lewis says “as a former tennis professional, the prospect of helping shape the future of the club and the premier tennis tournament in the world is one to be relished.”

Lewis will leave his role as chairman of the Rugby Football League at the end of the month.

A

total of 22 club sides have registered to participate in the Edo 2012 Challenge Cup competition billed to begin tomorrow in Benin.

The Secretary of the Edo Football Association, Mr Victor Edopkayi, who announced the fixtures on Monday in Benin, said the defending champions Bendel Insurance were among the tops teams that have entered for the event. Insurance are currently struggling in the National Division One League in spite of possessing years of premier league experience.

According to the fixtures, 19 of the participating teams are from Edo South Senatorial District with 18 of the teams based in Benin while the last club is based in Ugbogui, in Ovia-North Local Government Area of the state.

Two of the remaining three club sides are from Ewu and Ekpoma respectively in Edo Central Senatorial District, while the last club, Kukuku Dragon FC is based in Auchi in Edo North Senatorial District. The winner in the finals of the three-week fiesta will be played on May 4 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.

Cameroon target World, Nations Cups, says FF boss

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Sunshine stars of Akure continued their fine form in the Nigeria Premier League

set machinery in motion to ensure that the tide of poor officiating were sufficiently checkmated to forestall further dent on the image and integrity of the league.

According to him, both the secretariat and the board had taken stern measures to deter referees from further bringing the reputation of the league to dispute noting that several clubs and referees had been handed severe punishment.

AbdulRahman said certain clubs had been identified for its unhealthy habit of wanting to win at all cost at home and had been appropriately punished but added harder punitive measures were being considered against those who declined to align themselves with the desires of the board. ““Our aim is to develop the game from the grassroots, so we cannot afford to let some persons ruin the ambition. And of course,

22 clubs register for Edo Challenge Cup tourney

we cannot achieve meaningful results without the full support of referees, club owners, players and clubs managements and other stake holders in the country,” he stressing that all hands must be on deck to get needed result.

Chief Emeka Inyama

r Iliya Mohammed, the President, Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), says the federation’s target is to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations and 2014 World Cup. South Africa will host the next edition of African Nations Cup in 2013, while Brazil host the World Cup in 2014. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Garoua, Northern Cameroon, on Monday that the federation had commenced the process of building a new national team to achieve the objectives.

He said the federation was considering using the home-based players to prosecute the qualifying matches because it was difficult to assemble and blend foreign-based ones in less than a week.

“I think it is too early. Our main objective is that we should qualify for the African Cup of Nations and at the same time to qualify for the World Cup. This is our target, this is our main objectives. “And, we are trying to see if we can really count on the young and budding players who really listen to the federation, who are disciplined because as long as there is no discipline, there is no way forward.” Mohammed said that if a team lacked discipline, it would be difficult for them to record successes in national and international matches.

He also said that some players felt that as individuals, they could deliver the goods for their national teams, saying that such opinion was unacceptable in modern football.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 43

Lack of Nations Cup trophy haunts Nsofor H

ow has it been at Locomotiv Moscow?

It has been good, though the injury I had some time ago slowed down my progress, but I thank God I am good and in great condition now. I hope for better things.

How would you describe Moscow compared to the other cities you have been based in previously?

Russia is a great country and Moscow is a nice city. I am enjoying myself here, but Italy and England are better.

You have played in the EPL, Serie A in Italy and now in Russia, how would you rate these leagues?

They are all top leagues, but I prefer the EPL, it is the best league in the world. I am not saying the Italian Serie A is bad or Russia league is not good but EPL is rated above them all.

I still love to play there before I retire from the game, but now I want to help Locomotiv reach another level in their history.

Talking about your time in the EPL, which game was the most memorable one for you?

That was the 4-0 win over Manchester United which qualified us for Carling Cup final, I didn’t score but I assisted for all the four goals.

Are you truly planning to leave Locomotiv?

No. There is nothing like that. I am happy here, though I have suffered injury, I am looking forward to a better new season.

What has so far been the highlight of your career?

That was winning the Italian Serie A title with Inter Milan in the 2008/2009 season because that was my first major winner’s medal in Europe and it was a glamorous one.

I was also excited when we won the Africa Youth Championship in 2005 and then to reach the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I was looking forward to winning the Olympic Gold but we missed it by a whisker.

Any regrets so far?

No regret as such. But I am not fulfilled that that I have not won the Africa Cup of Nations yet, but I believe I will win that next year.

Salisu Yusuf, former coach of Kano Pillars

Nigeria striker Obinna Nsofor has revealed he wishes to return to the English Premier League after his recent loan spell at West Ham. The Nigeria international forward specially told MTNFootball.com that the EPL is the best league in the world and he enjoyed everything about the league and England while he was at West Ham. The 25-year-old Nsofor made over 25 appearances for The Hammers before he quit last summer as a free agent to join Locomotiv Moscow in Russia.

The former Inter Milan ace also disclosed he hopes to win the AFCON with the Eagles next year and that he would love to be based in Milan, Italy, at the end of his career.

You have scored some goals for club and country, which one would you choose as the most memorable?

I have scored so many important goals for Nigeria and my clubs that it would be difficult to choose just one goal. I scored the winning goal against USA that qualified Nigeria to next stage at 2008 Olympics and I won’t forget my first-ever goal for Inter against Roma.

My hat-trick for West Ham against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup was great and can’t be forgotten easily. In the league, I scored two goals against Blackpool. I can go on and on counting.

Obinna Nsofor

Finally, which city would you love settle down at after your career?

All the cities I have played would be good for me to settle down but I think I will choose Milan. I love the city more than any other one I have been based in.

Pillars look to upgrade Ganaru’s appointment

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ndications are strong that Kano Pillars’ caretaker coach, Mohammed Baba Ganaru will be confirmed as substantive coach/technical adviser before the restart of the second stanza of the league on April 21.

Ganaru stepped into the shoes of the erstwhile coach, Isa Ladan Bosso in acting capacity after he moved to Wikki Tourists at the start of the 2011/2012 season and guided the team to the top at the end of the first stanza.

Pillars amassed an impressive 32 points from possible 57 to lead the 20-team elite league.

An official of the club told SuperSport.com on condition of anonymity that the management of the Kano-based side is satisfied with the achievement of the coach and is poised towards confirming him as substantive coach of the team.

“Management is comfortable with his performance especially by taking the team to the top at the end of the first term.

Everybody thinks that time is ripe to ask the coach to continue on a permanent basis.

“We’re hopeful that the decision will be made before the restart of the second term. It makes no sense to further delay the decision, the coach has proven his worth and the only way to motivate him to do more is to confirm him as substantive coach,” said the Kano Pillars’ source.

The likes of former Enugu Rangers coach, Alphonsus Dike, former 3SC coach Fatai Amoo, former Kaduna United now Warri Wolves coach, Maurice Cooreman, among others have shown interest in picking up the head coach/ technical adviser of the team.

The official confirmed that the team will shop for more legs to beef up the squad for the second stanza.

“Yes, we’re determined to end the season as champions and we won’t leave any stone unturned toward realising the dream. We’ll look at our area of immediate need possibly get few quality players.

The second stanza will be tough, we don’t want to leave anything to chance,” he said.

Pillars will start the second stanza at home against Gombe United.

Family plans Memorial Service for Olubayo

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amily members of the late Olubayo Adefemi have unveiled plans for one year memorial service in honour of their son and the former Super Eagles defender who passed on in an auto crash in Greece.

Mr. Abiodun Adefemi on behalf of the family informed that a good number of activities had been lined up at the Atan Cemetery on the 18th of this month for the fallen hero.

“We are going to visit his (Olubayo) grave side on that day which marks a year that we lost our beloved brother.

“A service of songs will be held in his honour and some of his kits for the national team and the club sides in Europe will be on the display. We would display the boots he scored with against Belgium at the World Youth Championship in Netherlands.

“We are also going to display the boot he wore on his debut for the Super Eagles against Ireland.

Don’t forget that he had an assist in one of the goals in that game.

So we are inviting all his fans to join us as we honour our brother,” he stated.

Late Olubayo moved to Europe in the 2005 season and starred for Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem. He was later to team up with other clubs in the Israeli League where he spent three seasons.

His somewhat nomadic career saw him moving to Rapid Bucherest in Romania and then on to Austria with SC Rheindorf Altach in 2009, he did not last a season there as he joined Boulogne in the French Lique 1, and he was off again to the Greece to team up with Skoda Xanthi.

Adefemi was a member of the Samson Siasia led Under 20-squad that played at the final with the Lionel Messi-led Argentina team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

He was also part of Nigeria’s football team to the 2008 Olympic Games and he made his senior national team debut against Ireland on May 29, 2009.

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

NFF commends beach soccer sponsors

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he Nigeria Football Federation has lauded the initiative of Abuja-based Sports Solutions Limited for hosting a beach soccer clinic for young ones within the Federal Capital Territory during the Easter period.

Tagged ‘FCT Beach Soccer Clinic’, the project attracted over 50 school children with the Federal Capital and saw Nigeria’s FIFA Beach Soccer Instructor, Mr. Sunday Okayi impressing the kids with tips and lessons on the game. Chairman of the NFF Technical Committee,

Barrister Chris Green, said at the weekend that initiatives such as that of Sports Solutions are needed to powerfully drive football development in the country.

“Beach Soccer is an area we have demonstrated ability and if we have our kids getting the message from their young age, we definitely will be able to produce world beaters in no distant future”, said Green.

The NFF fully endorsed and supported the two-day programme which held at the FIFA Technical Centre, National Stadium and the Jabi Lake, with the NFF

Supersand Eagles

President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari delivering a welcome remark in which he applauded the project and enumerated Nigeria’s several impressive showings at African Beach Soccer Championships and FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup competitions in the past six years.

The kids fully enjoyed the clinic which took place against the backdrop of excellent security and medical provisions as the organizers took no chances.

Chairman of Sports Solutions, Architect Abdullahi Shime Abubakar, who has been involved in designing some of the best football stadia in the land, said he was proud to pioneer the project in an emerging area of the football sector.

“It is never easy to pioneer anything, but I am delighted at the happy ending to the programme. What we have set out to do is to identify an area where Nigeria has comparative advantage and plough hard into it, through encouraging our children from a young age.

“The next stage would be to bring together Gamesmasters of schools, who would learn a lot and then go back and spread the message in the schools. Beach Soccer is an area Nigeria has comparative advantage because of our long coastal lines, which are yet to be tapped.

“Also, beach soccer is cheap to play. You can build a beach soccer stadium with just N5 million, while you need hundreds of millions to build even a mini-stadium for regular football”, explained Abubakar.

Nigeria won the African Beach Soccer Championship in 2007 and 2009, and reached the quarter finals of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna, Italy last year, coming close to eliminating four-time world champions Brazil.

In December last year, the Supersand Eagles flogged all-comers, namely Brazil, England and South Africa, to win the first international beach soccer competition held on Nigerian soil – COPA Lagos.

CAF Champions League: Amokachi inspires Sunshine win, says Oboabana

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uper Eagles members of the victorious Sunshine Stars Godfrey Oboabona and Izu Azuka, have attributed their sterling performance in their team’s defeat of Recreativo de Libobo to the motivational talks by Eagles’ assistant coach, Dan Amokachi.

‘The Bull’ had challenged the players to show character against their opponents in the crucial encounter taking cognizance of the fact that Sunshine Stars needed to erase three goals deficit if they must seal a spot in

the next round.

The Ondo state sponsored team had been beaten 4-1 by the Angolans who felt that the score line was enough to see through to the next stage of the continental fiesta.

But Amokachi in a rare inspirational talk challenged them to upturn the huge deficit and ensure that Sunshine qualified ahead of their opponents.

It was so. Sunshine Stars defeated the Recreativo 3-0 to level on 4-4 score line but on away goal rule, they qualified at

the detriment of the Angolans on aggregate goals.

Incidentally, both players accounted for two of the goals that ensured Sunshine’s qualification for the next round of the CAF Champions League.

Oboabona said: “It was quite a tough match but we felt a sense of duty the last time when the Assistant Coach Dan Amokachi told us that we must always show extra edge when we play for our club side as that will form the basis of our continued invitation to the national

Heat waves: Super Eagles cancel Dubai training

By Patrick Andrew

D

ubai’s scorching heat forced the Super Eagles to cancel yesterday’s morning training which was meant to shape up the team ahead of tomorrow’s international friendly duel

Dan Amokachi

against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the capital of the United Arab Emirate Republic.

The venue of the match, which had been initially scheduled for Abu Dhabi, was shifted to Dubai at the instance of Pharaohs which had fixed it as its venue for friendly matches perhaps because of the insecurity back in Cairo, Egypt.

Already, the Pharaohs are scheduled to tackle Angola and Iraq at the same venue.

Eagles’ Media officer, ben Alaiya, was quoted by a wire service to have said that the team had to reschedule its morning training session because the scorching heat which he said was more than the players had experienced in Abuja.

It would be recalled that some point last January, Abuja had as much as 44 degree celsius, the weather in Dubai was said to have been higher than this.

However, Alaiya said the Eagles shifted to the training to 7.45pm Dubai time which translates to 4.45 pm Nigerian time, as they are three hours ahead.

Both teams who failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup are preparing for Nations cup and World Cup qualifiers in June.

Meanwhile, Head Coach, Stephen Keshi,

was expected to team up with the squad late last night after holidaying in the United States where his family domiciles.

It would be recalled that late on last week, Keshi spoke with the team from his

team. We are grateful that we were able to do exactly that and our team also came out tops. We hope to continue in the next round.”

On his part Azuka, said the coaching in the national team has always given them an edge over their teammates and it showed in the match, adding that the victory was a colective team work, as he hopes the Stars will go as far as winning the trophy because of the motivation they have been getting from the Ondo Sunshine State government. home in the United States and informed the players that he would rejoin the squad yesterday to be part of the final phases of their training sessions.

The Egypt clash is expected to kick off Thursday 5pm Nigerian time, which is 8pm Dubai time. The Pharaohs manager Bob Bradley had specifically requested that Nigeria present its domestic leaguebased Eagles for the friendly duel.

The home-based Eagles are also due to travel out to Lima in May for another friendly against Peru.

...Egypt open camp for Eagles thriller with 24 players

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he Pharaohs of Egypt arrives in the United Arab Emirates where they opened camp in Dubai, yesterday with a contingent of 24 players ahead of Thursday’s international friendly duel against Stephen Keshi’s tutored Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Egyptian National team coach Bob Bradley named a 24-man squad for the camp that will hold from April the 10th to the 18th. In addition to Nigeria, Egypt hopes to face two other teams namely Angola and Iraq.

Pharaohs Abd Al Wahed Al Sayed, Esaam Al Hadary, Sherif Ekrami, Mahmoud Fathallah , Ahmed Saied “oka”, Mohmmed Nagib , Ahmed Doedar, Mohammed Nasef,

Mohammed Abd Al Shafi, Ahmed Khairy, Hossam Ashour, Hossam Ghaly, Ibrahem Salah, Basem Ali, Ashour Al Taqi, Mahmmed Nagy “ Gedo”, Ahmed Hassan, Mohammed Abou Trika , Wleed Soliman , Emad Moteab, Ahmed Hassan Meki, Ahmed Temsah, Amr Zaki, Ahmed Abd Al Zaher.

The American coach did not invite Zamalek ace Mohamoud Abd Al Razek “ Shikabala”. “We invited Emad Meoteb after his recovery from injury and that will give us added depth. Amr Zaki too will be in the camp and thats added good news” the assistant coach Diaa Al Sayed told SuperSport.com.

Al Ahly and Zamalek players who played in the ACL this weekend have already joined the team.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 45

Soi soars to fourth 10km victory in Switzerland

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Thomas Longosiwa Edwin Soi

dwin Soi, 2008 Olympic 5000m bronze medallist and 2012 World Indoor 3000m bronze medallist, last month in Istanbul, scored his fourth win at the 28th edition of the Media Blenio 10km Road Race beating his compatriot Thomas Longosiwa by three seconds in 28:31, in Switzerland.

Geoffrey Ngugi completed the Kenyan sweep in third place in 28:47. James Kwalia from Qatar narrowly held off eight-time European Cross Country champion Sergiy Lebid by two seconds in 29:04.

Ngugi had taken the early lead together with Longosiwa in a pack which featured Kenyans Soi, Daniel Kinyua, Kwalia, Tesfaye Felfele, Solomon Tesfamariam from Eritrea and Ethiopia’s Tolossa Chengere along Lebid who chose to follow his own pace and was in eleventh place after the first lap.

Ngugi increased the pace during the second lap which was run in a quicker 3:29. His

initiative whittled down the leading pack to six men: Ngugi, Longosiwa, Kwalia, Soi, Kinyua and Ethiopian Yacob Yarso, the winner of the 2012 Stramilano Half Marathon. Lebid was still in tenth position but gradually reduced his gap lap after lap and caught up with them during the third lap.

Ngugi made most of the pace running in the front during the fourth lap together with Longosiwa. They clocked 14:33 at the end of the fourth lap while Soi followed closely one second behind with Kwalia and Kinyua.

Lebid ran a good race and managed to keep up with their pace until the fifth lap.

The race really hotted-up during the sixth lap when Ngugi, Longosiwa and Soi changed gear breaking away from Kwalia who began losing the ground with two laps to go.

Soi and Longosiwa launched their decisive attack dropping Ngugi with one lap to go. The penultimate lap was quicker

than the previous ones as they clocked 3:28, after which the leading pair engaged in a neckto-neck battle which went down to the wire until the final straight when Soi launched his devastating kick to romp home in 28:31 three seconds ahead of Longosiwa.

RESULTS Men’s race (10km): 1 Edwin Soi (Kenya) 28:31 2 Thomas Longosiwa (Kenya) 28:34 3 Geoffrey Ngugi (Kenya) 28:47 4 James Kwalia (Qatar) 29:04 5 Sergey Lebid (Ukraine) 29:06 6 Daniel Kinyua (Kenya) 29:20 7 Yacob Jarso (Ethiopia) 29:52 8 Tolossa Chengere (Ethiopia) 29:53

FIFA grants Nigeria three more goal projects

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orld football governing body, FIFA has completed plans to set up three goal project sites in Nigeria. The country already has a FIFA Goal Project located at the National Stadium Abuja package B and included a synthetic turf.

The first of such projects would be sited in Bauchi while the other two would be situated within the southwest and southeastern parts of Nigeria.

Chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation’s technical committee, Christopher Green, revealed that the federation got confirmation from FIFA on the development recently.

“Nigeria did make requests as is made elsewhere by affiliated members of the world football governing body, to FIFA. And FIFA has graciously approved three goal projects for Nigeria.

Very soon, we will have such facilities in Nigeria. The first is going to be in Bauchi,” Green said.

“Bauchi is the home state of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari but Green said sentiments were not put on the front burner when the decision was made. “That was not a prerequisite for citing the project.

Bauchi is part of Nigeria and I can tell you that five other geographical zones in the country will also benefit from the project,” he said.

FIFA’s Goal Programme enables beneficiary member associations to implement projects designed to develop football in their countries. It is

an expression of solidarity that gives national associations with few resources at their disposal the tools they need to function and grow.

Though each member association has the right to request funding for a project, the programme is essentially aimed at associations with the most pressing needs yet without the resources to respond to them.

Goal projects can also provide additional funding for larger projects for which national associations have been able to raise part of the necessary funding.

The objectives of the Goal Programme are laid out in its regulations.

The Goal Programme supports projects tailored to the needs of member associations in administration, training, youth football, infrastructure and other development projects catering for specific needs may also be considered.

Esther Sunday, Falconets’ midfielder (c) battles for the ball with Japanese players

Falconets off to Harare today

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Chris Green, Chairman NFF technical sub-committee

igeria’s U-20 women national team, Falconets, are billed to depart for Harare, Zimbabwe today for the decisive second leg clash against hosts the Young Warriors in Sunday’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifier.

A delegation consisting of 20 players and 10 technical and administrative officials will depart lagos aboard a South African Airways flight to Johannesburg at night, where the contingent will board a connecting flight to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

Nigeria won the first leg 3-0 in

Abeokuta on the last day of March, but Head Coach Edwin Okon says his squad is prepared for a stiff contest against the Young Mighty Warriors on Sunday.

“The Zimbabweans put up a strong performance against us in the first leg, and before their own fans, they will strive to punch above their own weight. We are ready for them. “Our approach will be to assume the match in Harare is the first leg. That way, we would not relax on our oars or think about any advantage that we might have”, said Okon.

The winner on aggregate will face off against the winner of the

fixture between Mali and Democratic Republic of Congo, which first leg in Bamako is yet to hold following the military coup that toppled the administration of President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Incidentally, DR Congo referee Julia Kyabuta Kanyembo will be at the centre when Zimbabwe host Nigeria on Sunday, with fellow Congolese Lukusa Kanjinga (1st Assistant Referee), Adelle Sula (2nd Assistant Referee) and Gladys Lengwe (4th Official).

The Match Commissioner is Palmira Francisco from Mozambique.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

PAGE 47

NAS Warriors lift 5th Promasidor para-soccer trophy

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AS Warriors have won this year’s Promasidor Para-Soccer Tournament, which final was decided in Lagos on Monday. They defeated the TC Terrors 10-9 in a penalty shootout after battling to a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Their triumph of the final of the 5 th edition of the tournament gingered them to uncommon celebration as the team sponsored by Yeni Kuti, the daughter of the late Afro-Beat Legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, did justice to Afro-beat renditions in styles.

Adamawa United beat Lead United, last year’s runner-up 1-0 to take the third position An elated Kuti later said that she was filled with joy, adding that her team had been battling to win the match but to no avail.

“We have been facing stiff opposition and a tough side. I do not even know what to say because I am too happy, my team and fans will all enjoy themselves to the fullest tonight, I am also going to reward them,” Kuti said.

Meanwhile, the proprietor of the defeated side, Theo Lawson, alleged that his team was robbed because they were not allowed to play their last penalty shootout.

“We were not allowed to play our last penalty but we have to accept it because we are the organiser and we do not want to create a scene,” Lawson said.

In her remarks, Halimat Muritala Nyako, THE

President, Nigeria Para-Soccer Federation, thanked the sponsor and organiser of the tournament for their support for the physically-Challenged athletes, saying that it was more competitive.

Nyako, who is one of the wives of the Adamawa State governor, Gov Nyako, also said that the tournament was well organied and highly competitive.

“I praise all the teams that participated here today and I encourage them to be stron; there is great abilitiy in disability,” Nyako said.

Meanwhile, Keith Richards, the Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, also reiterated the company’s unbroken sponsorship of the tournament, adding that the company would not let the physically challenged athletes down.

The 80 players representing eight teams were given N10, 000 each as appearance fees.

The winning team received N20,000 each and a gold trophywhile the second and third positions received N15,000, N12, 000 each with silver and bronze trophies respectivelywith the fourth position getting N10,000.

NAS warriors, TC Terrors, Adamawa United, Lead United, Premium Sports, Nasarawa United, Kwara United and Plateau United are the eight teams that participated in the just concluded Para-Soccer Tournament.

Hon. Bolaji Abdullahi, Supervising Minister of Sports

Toney, 43, KOs Gunn T

James Toney

Darley Perez

he former multi-division champion and veteran heavyweight, James Toney, shocked Bobby Gunn in the fifth round with a knock out forcing the referee to stop the fight held in Southaven, Mississippi.

Toney, 43, who won the International Boxing Union heavyweight belt, thus improved his record to 74-73, including 45 knockouts, while the loser, 38-yearold, now stands at 21-5-1; 18.

Two other seasoned campaigners, Edgar Sosa and Humberto Soto, added wins to their impressive records at the weekend.

Sosa, a former WBC light-flyweight champion, improved to 45-7, with 27 knockouts when he beat Wilbert Uicap in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Soto, a former three-division champion, moved to 58-7-2; 34 when he defeated Claudinei Lacerda, also on points, on the same card.

Uicab, who holds the WBC “silver” flyweight belt, knocked Sosa down in the opening round but lost the extra point in the fourth round when he was penalised for throwing his opponent to the floor.

Sosa soon took charge, knocked Uicab down in the sixth round and won 114-111 on each of the scorecards.

Soto, fighting at junior middleweight, beat Lacerda (14-3; 10) by 100-90 on each card.

Super featherweight Dante Jardon moved to 20-2; 18 when he stopped Berman Sanchez (26-4-3; 18) in the sixth round.

Hozumi Hasegawa, who has also been around the block a few times, improved his record to 30-4, with 13 stoppage wins, when he dealt Felipe Carlos Felix

his first defeat in Tokyo.

The Japanese fighter, a former WBC bantamweight and featherweight champion returned to action after a year and stopped the Mexican in the seventh round of their featherweight ten-rounder. Felix dropped to 18-1; 10.

Chauncy Welliver moved his record to 53-5-5; 20 and retained his WBC Continental Americas title when he outpointed 46-year-old Bert Cooper (8-24; 31) over ten rounds in Jefferson City, Missouri.

In Anaheim, California, featherweight Ronny Rios remained undefeated at 18-0; 8 when he beat Guillermo Sanchez (13-6-1; 5) over eight rounds – 80-72 on two cards and 79-73.

Sydney : Paul Fleming, who represented Australia at the 2008 Olympic Games, improved his professional record to 14-0, with 10 knockouts, when he won on points over six rounds against HwiJong Kim (4-4; 1) from South Korea. The Aussie southpaw won by 60-54 on each card.

Ontario, California: : Lightweight Darley Perez, still unbeaten a 25-0; 19, knocked out Alain Hernandez (18-10-2; 10) a second before the end of the second round.

On the same card, junior welterweight Jose Reynoso (16-3-1; 3) stopped James Hope (6-10-1; 4) in the seventh round.

Giza, Egypt: Joey Vegas improved to 13-6-1; 5 when he stopped previously unbeaten Hano Atiyo (12-1; 8) from Egypt in the eleventh round to win the African Boxing Union light-heavyweight title.

Vargas fights bout of Uganda.

Ebonyi commissioner wants improved domestic league

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hief Sam Mgbada, the E b o n y i Commissioner for Youths and Sports, has called on relevant football stakeholders in the country to boost the profile of the local league for the overall development of the sport.

Mgbada made the call on Monday in Abakaliki, while reacting to the impressive performances of Nigerian clubs in their Confederation Cup competition over the weekend.

Though Nigeria Premier

League defending champions, Dolphins were eliminated in the CAF Champions League, on away goals rules, after losing 0-1 to Cotonsport to level on 2-2 aggregate scoreline, Sunshine Stars FC of Akure defeated Recreativo Libolo of Angola 3-0 in Akure, to also qualify on the away goals rule after final scores stood at 4-4.

In the Confederation Cup, Heartland FC of Owerri defeated Unisports of Cameroon 2-1 in Enugu

to qualify on a 2-1 aggregate while Warri Wolves FC qualified by beating Kallon FC of Sierra Leone 2-1.

Mgbada remarked that that the impressive performances showed that the league need an enabling environment to thrive.

“The local league had been neglected for long by their operator which has brought about a taste transfer among football fans in the country.

“A five-year-old boy in

Nigeria can mention the full list of most English clubs but football officials in Nigeria don’t even know the players who play in the nation’s league,” he said.

The commissioner remarked that the absence of the basic requirements that made a league truly professional had impeded the growth of the domestic league.

“Most clubs owe their players several months and years’ allowances, medical facilities are

unavailable while most mangers are incompetent.

“The most basic requirement which is a standard pitch is lacking, as it is disheartening that most clubs play outside their home grounds due to the poor state of the pitches,” he said.

He, however, commended local clubs for their tenacity in spite of the challenges they had has to put up with. “The first step towards revamping the league is the active

involvement of the private sector, as government alone cannot effectively manage clubs.

“Governments don’t own clubs in foreign leagues which account for the high standard of the league in those countries.

“Government should, however, provide the enabling environment for private sector investment to thrive, as no business would thrive in an environment of uncertainties,” he said.

QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them — Char les Cale b Colton Caleb Charles

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

SPORTS

LA TEST LATEST Messi's 61st goal leads Barcelona past Getafe

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ionel Messi scored his 61st goal of the season and had two assists, leading Barcelona over Getafe 4-0 last night in the Spanish league and pulling the threetime defending champions within one point of first-place Real Madrid.

Messi capped a superb exchange with Andres Iniesta with a rising shot into the top corner in the 44th minute.

Messi leads the league with 39 goals, one shy of the record Cristiano Ronaldo set last season. Messi has scored in 12 of his last 13 games, totaling 23 goals.

Alexis Sanchez scored in 13th and 73rd minutes and Pedro Rodriguez in the 75th as Barcelona won its 10th straight league game.

Real Madrid can restore its four-point lead by winning at Atletico Madrid today.

Keeper crisis looms as Liverpool win at Blackburn

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iverpool defeated Blackburn 3-2 following Andy Carroll's superb nod a minute into added on time but are left with a goalkeeping crisis ahead of their FA Cup semifinal with Everton on Saturday.

Both Maxi Rodrigues and Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored a brace a piece before Carroll gave the Reds the maximum points, just their second win in seven matches.

Alexander Doni was dismissed just in his second appearance for the Reds as a replacement for the suspended Pepe Reina, who is serving a three-match ban for a headbutt on Newcastle defender James Perch.

However, the 32-year-old received his marching orders in last night's Premier League clash for bringing down Marcus Olsson in the box following a poor backpass from Jon Flanagan.

Third-choice goalkeeper Brad Jones, who replaced Flanagan following Doni's red card, saved Yakubu's subsequent penalty and now looks likely to make an appearance at Wembley at the weekend.

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INEC musn’t stand like a scarecrow

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nyone in doubt that Nigerian democracy is in dire straits and so thinks that we can sit back and bask in our democracy being better than what they have in the neighboring countries needs to read Alabi Williams’ expository interview with Professor Adele Jinadu (Guardian, Sunday April 8).

Jinadu is a former President of the Nigerian Political Science Association and a man many will credit, along with a handful of others, of laying the intellectual foundations of this democracy.

He didn’t mince words in dismissing the regime of consensus arrangement in the choice of leaders as a mockery of democratic principles. Although the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP loomed large in the backdrop of this very serious charge, he made no exception for the opposition parties, accusing them of lacking when it comes to internal democracy. “The consensus arrangement is flawed, lacks legitimacy and is undemocratic … unfortunately, the process for reaching consensus arrangement adopted by most of our political parties, including those who flaunt the armour of prodemocracy are gravely deficit in their democratic character.”

With all these things happening in broad day-light, many would wonder what has become of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the regulatorin-chief of the political party system. To begin with, this is not about Professor Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman who is a brilliant scholar and a respectable civil society advocate in his own right.

From the point of view of this critical admirer, Jega appears to have set himself for a great failure by limiting his sights and work to election management without the necessary attention paid to the legality, validity and the moral and ethical standards of persons and institutions in the party system.

Nigerians have the choice of either dismissing what happened with the circus called party congresses and the long line of rerun elections following various court decisions in the aftermath of the 2011 general elections which, in nearly all of the cases, returned those characters that were sacked following proven cases of fraud and cheating;so we can choose to lie down and pray that the courts which cancelled those elections may devise new ways of redressing electoral grievances.

Alternatively, we as parties,

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MUSINGS By

Garba Shehu garshehu@yahoo.co.in

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega individuals and civil society groups must send out clear, unambiguous message to the INEC and the parties that we are not prepared to accept such outrages as part of the political system and are determined to do whatever it takes to change the unwanted situation. When a court determines that a candidate has cheated or is unworthy of the post for which he/she ran, then goes ahead to nullify that election, what message does a party send by representing the cheater for a re-run?

What message does INEC, on the other hand send by pre-qualifying that candidate, and thereafter declaring him/her as winner of the re-run?

The record of voter turn-out in all these re-run elections is something to cheer. People turned out in large numbers to vote. Their faith in these democratic practices is heartening, which contrasts sharply with the general picture that people are not happy with politics and politicians, mostly due to their pathetic performance.

This large turn-out, I must add, is in recognition and the faith they have that the political process is the only way to deal with corrupt and inefficient politicians. The threat to this is the seeming nonchalance of INEC to the breaches of the democratic value system characterized by impunity and the lack of supervision and control

which the law vests in the INEC. There is a clear evidence that this is already posing a danger to our electoral democracy. Punishing the guilty to the full extent of the law, as recently advocated by Justice Dahiru Musdapher, the new Chief Justice of the Federation would appear to be the only remedy or deterrent that works. As a social scientist, Jega himself knows that a long term solution lies in behavioural and attitudinal changes in a situation where election rigging has been entrenched in the Nigerian society to such an extent. Equally important is that the INEC and the political class must stop taking the courts and the confidence of the people in the political process for granted.

Are they (parties, INEC) saying that we no more have the concept of free and fair election? Without cheaters suffering any loss or sanction, must we go on wasting public resources hosting re-runs when these merely reinforce the given electoral heists?

Are the parties and INEC saying to Nigerians that there is no more a concept of legal redress for purported loser? When court decisions are invalidated and falsified as you had it in the Bayelsa gubernatorial polls, are they telling the courts to stay out and that this window for a redress is also closed?

Are parties and INEC telling us that the concept of candidature is no more, when a candidate wins a primary election (Dr. Babayo) and is arm-twisted to surrender the ticket to the loser? With all these acts of crass brigandage, it is difficult to fathom why INEC sits there like a scarecrow, says nothing, does nothing and makes no effort to sanitize the party system as characterless politicians make a mess of it. The threat this poses to the declining electoral democracy cannot be underestimated. Based on this, INEC and the parties must team up with the police in tackling the various manifestations of the shameful reality of election rigging

and the rising incidence of impunity and dictatorship by and within political parties. There is no time to waste. The clock is ticking and we can only hope that it is not a doomsday one.

“Democracy,” said Winston Churchill “is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Electoral democracy has emerged as the political system of choice all around the world. In 2007, the Freedom House in the U.S. surveyed the world and reported 123 countries enjoying electoral democracy. In 1950, there were only 22. Of course a close examination of these countries will show that many of these democracies are far from the ideal.

The problem Nigeria has is that INEC with responsibility for the regulation of the democratic space seems content being the regulator of elections, leaving the value system, an important part of its regulatory job assigned to no one in particular.

The failure of this responsibility calls for a response from civil society on the scale and intensity of the war against Obasanjo’s third term aspiration.

Perhaps in recognition of the public perception of INEC's timorous posture to these undemocratic and unjust practices, Professor Jega recently complained that the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 have bound the hands of INEC, making it a passive observer in the internal conduct of political parties.

According to him, under these legal strictures, INEC can only monitor but cannot interfere or enforce any standard on the political parties.

One, however, feels that this defeatist posture is not enough to extricate Jega from public blame.

If INEC is so concerned about this disgraceful and outrageous assault on basic democratic practices, it should initiate amendments to the Electoral Act to give INEC stronger voice or say in the enforcement of internal democracy. There again, some cynical Nigerians may argue that the National Assembly members, as beneficiaries of unfair contest, will be reluctant to strengthen the hands of INEC in this respect. However, INEC should still set the ball rolling by initiating changes to the Electoral laws. Such move may put the lawmakers in the court of public opinion, making them decide between making laws for their benefits or the public interest.

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos, Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com ISSN: 2141– 6141